The Shining Source

Finally an update!

Here goes: after a long vacation, I decided it was time to buy a new
PC. Here are the specs.

RAM: 1024 MB
Intel Pentium 4 processor 3,4 Ghz
Ati Radeon 256 MB graphics card
DVD writer/re-writer
Canon scanner
Creative I-trigue 2.1 speaker set

It’s “Da Bomb”, yes?

And yes, it’s has Windows XP. …. So here’s the bad news: I CAN’T RUN DIV GAMES STUDIO, even in Windows 95/98 mode. That sucks.

So, I was forced to wait for the end of the year, when (supposedly) DIV for Windows will be released. Now, waiting for December, (when it’s still july/august) is a long time. So, I thought “let’s fool around with the code in Blitz”, just to keep my mind into programming.

And then it hit me. (ouch!) Why not make a 3D version? I have Blitz, I have Maplet, I have Photoshop, and I have my eye on Gamespace 1.5 (and maybe Truespace )

Also on the cards are: Ultimate Unwrap, Quill3d, Terragen, Cartography Shop 4 and a few others

Right now, I am very proficient in Maplet: I can make levels, bridges, houses, stairs, ramps etc. in the blink of an eye.

Learning Gamespace light (which is exacty like Gamespace 1.5, except you can’t make large models) comes slowly but surely. (there’s a huge amount of buttons 0_o !)

I can understand Blitz3D a lot better than a few months, except for “Types” and Collisions. I’m reading a lot of tutorials on how Types work and the effects of collisions.

So.. yes.. Dark Resurrection goes 3D (erm.. finally?)

Not all work from the DIV version is lost though. I already have ported all the data over to Blitz, and it gives me the chance to catch up on issues I really should have fixed a long time ago. (for instance: the maximum_damage still was being worked on, the sound system still needed a few tweaks here and there,)

One big improvement is, that Blitz3d can play MP3’s, so I can use Devlyn MP3’s, if he has them around somewhere, that is (D: which I do :)).

Sorry if I can’t show anything right now, but I will correct this (very) soon ok?

That’s all guys, for now :)

From Shining Force Central:

Ok, well we are making a Fan-made game. It is made by an engine like other fan-games. Anyway There is going to be the top 20 best battles ever to be played the SF series. and you can pick any character you want that is on the list. There will be 10 SF characters from each game. We will be re-creating these battles into more of a fire elebem type battle feild.

See the topic at SFC.

From the Shining Flash website.

A SF Console demo is now available in the member’s area. This is the first demo ever for this program. It is a game editor which you can use to create maps with characters, chests, hidden items.. etc.

Here’s two screenshots for your viewing pleasure:

Cortez posted a request on Ye Olde Blah not too long ago. Although his project is in quite a far stage, he is in desperate need of people to help with graphics ripping:

For those who’re not aware that there’s already an engine for the game: uses SDL, is cross-platform, C++/some i386 asm, opensource, gpl’ed. Only battle engine & AI is missing.

I have not abondened the project. People who have promised to help me bout specific things abandoned me. There’s no progress, because there’s no one who’s gonna rip the graphics for me, and make the maps (I’ve written a map editor too). Sir Phill was going to do this, but somehow changed mind.

Well, anyway. I’m telling to those who want to see this game remade: I’m not going to rip graphics, make maps & tilesets, rip sound, etc. I will only write the program. I’ve found a friend who may do z80 disassembling. If you want to see progress, do a data ripping job. If there’s no one who’s eager to take this job, this project is hereby canned.

In case there’s someone who’s gonna help, my uni’s going to start soon, depending on my exam periods, there may be delays too. Otherwise, you already know.

If you are interested in ‘saving’ the SFFC remake by doing some simple graphics rippage, feel free to respond here!

The thread also contains additional links to the latest release, by the way :).

Hello everyone at the Shining Source. I am Stordarth, Leader of the Bowie Online project. Here’s a few facts about the project at the moment:

This game uses an engine called Player Worlds (PW), and is an Massive Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game (MMORPG). You will be able to join up with your friends in a massive online world, and battle foes, each other (once level 10 or higher) and solve quests and gain items.

The game is primarily set in the world of shining force 2. Our mappers are working hard to remap Grans Island and Parmecia with great accuracy, using tiles ripped directly from the game, to provide the shining force 2 authenticity we hope for. However, true authenticity will not be possible, since the style of Bowie Online is very different from the game it is based around. Bowie Online is not a turn based war game, it is more of the style of Shining Soul, in that you wander the world, destroying enemies in a hack-and-slash game engine.

Every character sprite from SFII is featured in their promoted forms, and the staff, and those who earn them, can have their own snazzy custom made sprites, marking them out as special individuals.

Mapping is progressing steadily. Grans Island Overworld is already complete, but the slow rate of tile ripping is this project’s limiting factor, and since im the one doing it, besides all of the other things i have to do, its no wonder its going slowly.

This said, beta testing has already begun amongst the moderators of our forum, and is reprotedly going well. a special town, unique to Bowie Online (BO) and an accompanying dungeon are already completed for the purpose of beta testing, and will also be the main location for newbie players to get to grips with the game upon release.

We dont intend to leave it there either. Once the world of SFII is finished, we plane to create our own lands, all linked by the secret place, the tunnels of the ancients (where claude the golem resides in the original game).

That about covers all the news I have right about now. Once some big developments occur, ill post here again. until then, farewell.