The Shining Source

Err... I could set up a more permanent ftp server

Heey Dev,

If you could do that, then that would be ... erm.. Awesome ..  

So,... I upload and Scott downloads ( and vice versa ) . hmm I like the sound of that .

Are you done yet ? (j/k)   :lol:

If you need a mirror / more bandwidth, you can use my server that is currently sitting there...

Well, my comp handles heat poorly, but as soon as it cools down, I'll set it up for you .

Fantastico  

I'll be hearing from you soon , then  

And if there's money involved , just PM me ok?  

I had a look a couple of months back for free webspace and the sites offering their services look very dodgy. However, I suppose that doesn't mean that they're unreliable. Anyhoo, I look forward to working on this project. I will soon be having a play with Blitz to see how it works and possibly fudge some AI code together which can then be "plugged in" to the current code (ideally anyway). I'm sure it's self explanatory and there will be various tutorials to look through and peeps to ask if I really get stuck.

How much space will you need roughly?

And second question, roughly how much monthly transfer do you think will take place?

More than likely there won't be too much transfer. We mainly need to send files to each other when either makes an alteration. I personally think it may be better to have another bash at zipping/rarring the files again and emailing.

It was exe files hotmail complained about before but we don't need to transfer them because we can just compile the source files and create it ourselves. Therefore, the only files which need transferring are source files, models and images, which generally compress quite nicely in an email.

If we do need to send each other files which hotmail deems dodgy, then zipping/rarring has solved that problem in the past for me.

Hey dude . The weather is slightly better now, so I think I can put something up now .

I'll need some desired usernames and passwords though .

Hiya Dev,

I've sent you a PM with a small list containing usernames & passwords.
If you need something else then mail me ok ?
Thanks in advance    

Hi everyone,

Wow, time goes fast when you're having fun. The airship is very much complete now, rotors are ..erm... rotating, rudders have a swaying motion.
The texture needs a bit of work near the cockpit , it kinda "warps" at the moment.
There's one thing about the airship that always bothered me, and that is: "you never see it land ??!!!. So how do get people get on or off ?

Well there's a simple solution. I'll make sure it never lands. The only places, where you can embark or disembark the airship, are near cliffs.
( I told you it's a simple solution )

I have also been busy with a new collection of underworld maps.
While you can place lights in MAPLET, and for simple maps this will suffice, these have their restrictions.
So I bought Gile , it's a  program that lets you add lighting to a scene . You can add spotlights , omnilights , directional lights and as many as you want.
You can tilt and rotate the lights too. Even changing texture-color is possible.

So...to cut a long story short:

Levels (or Maps) are made in MAPLET.
Applying correct textures and its size are done in DECORATOR.
Adding lighting is done in GILE.

[silence]

Okay, I admit this is getting ridiculous   , but when you see the results, it is absolutely worth it.

Camera-handling  in these maps always was a bit difficult . It got stuck in corners, behind pillars, or even disappear between map-sections.
So I've decided to remove the camera from the player.

Take a look at the following map.





This map is divided into a number of zones. When the player enters a certain zone then the camera is placed near that zone.
The system is versatile enough to change the width and length of each zone.

Every zone can "communicate" with the zones next to it . This is especially handy for traveling camera-shots.
You can have at the moment:

1- static camera / static camera-view
2- static camera / dynamic camera-view 
3- dynamic camera / dynamic-view
   
static camera        = camera does not move
dynamic camera        = camera does move
static camera-view        = camera does not follow player
dynamic camera-view  = camera does follow player

I'll try to extend it with zooming and panning.

Now for some bad news,

I lost one of my memory-sticks.. [ total bummer ]
Normally I use it for back-up, but lately I've been using it to store some code that quickly comes up in my mind.
Instead of memorizing, I type it directly to a bb-file (blitz file format) , so I can work on it at a later date.

Now, all my ( working ) code for the item-shop has been lost ( around 1100 lines of code )  ... *sigh* ... Another lesson learned, albeit a very costly one
Recoding the entire thing may take few full days. On the positive side , code for the weapon-shop is pretty much similar. so maybe I can cut a few corners

Well,... so much for now . If all goes well , then I'll send a running demo of the airship.

Happy New Year everyone

It is now possible to DERIVE items from the DEPOT and assign them to a character. I added a sorting function for the Depot-list.
In short,... this means that if you have 10 items , and you take out item no. 5 then items 6,7,8,9,10 will move up one place.
I still have to program a function that checks if there are no more than 99 items in the DEPOT. But this shouldn't be much of a problem. Anyway, when this is complete, then I continue with DEPOSIT (basically DERIVE in reverse , code-wise   )

You also can look at items in the depot , complete with info about how much it costs , who can equip it and what the range is (when it's a weapon of course) . I am currently busy with the comments for the items/rings etc.

Instead of creating a whole new database for the comments, I simply re-used existing code with a few extra words to make it look like brand new code. A very efficient way of coding, even if I do say so myself.

Some of this code can be used again for items that can be put in or taken out of the depot (the character-selection code and slot-select code in particular)

Code for the church (saving progress, promoting & raising & curing characters) is now in pseudo-code. So everything is coming very nicely.

Finished the function that checks if a weapon is made of mithril or not. This one works

I also finished the function which checks the compatibility of the weapon against the [race of the] character that bought the weapon.
The array that contains the "weapon-part" is now completed. Every weapon now has 7 compatibility-fields.
Added race-data for the character-array. Now "all"  I have to do , is to program the comparison. Function returns a 1 if it is compatible, or a 0 if it's not.    
 
Meanwhile on the modelling-front:

I'm busy finalizing a new Church-model (complete with church-bell) Modelling-phase is finished. Currently texturing the walls.
So... when this one is ready I'll make some screenies,ok?
(about the bell, it will be animated once it is loaded in Blitz)


BTW: congrats on the new look of the SHINING SOURCE (IT'S VERY ...erm.. SHINY )

Hi Peeps,

I know I promised some screenshots , ... well, you can forget that
I have something better .... "moving pictures" .

The first clip is the church I told you about . If you look closely , you see the church-bell swinging

http://www.shiningsource.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/church.wmv

The second clip is a demo for the torches and lampposts I'm planning to use in the game.
The fire consists of numerous particles. So it's NOT an animation.  

http://www.shiningsource.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/01/torchlamp.wmv

Hi all,

Here's another update.
 
I've created a new topic called "DARK RESURRECTION - PROOF READING"
In this topic you will find every bit of text that will appear in the game.

First topic is the text for the item-shop , the weapon-shop and the depot.
The code for these sections is now complete.   
I've written down the text for all possible action.
Please feel free to check the text to make sure it is proper english, and
change where necessary.

In the coming weeks I may create another topic called "DARK RESURRECTION - BUG TESTING"     
This entirely depends on the response to the question:

How many of you are willing to test the program?

If you are interested then I could setup a test-village, where you can walk around , equip and buy and sell stuff, take out and put things in the depot.
Hopefully I have enough time to incorporate the code for the abbey/church , and the walkabout sections.

Other things I can add (if you want)

Objects ( Trees, Fences , Houses , Bridges , Underworld Maps , Forest Maps , Village Map (obviously) )
Music for a number of scenes.
Saving and Loading Data (it will be quite interesting when you save data, quit the program , and run the program again to check if it is the same data )

Naturally there are lots of different PC-configurations, so it would be very nice to see how everything runs along.
For instance:
 
1- Does the game run fast ?   ( or is it slow like melasses )
2- What is the screen-resolution ?
3- What type of graphics card do you have ?
4- How much RAM do you have ?
5- What type of processor do you have ?
6- What's the loading time between maps ?
7- Preferred input-device ( just keyboard for now , but I may include a joypad .

and of course lots of things I can't think right now


Your input is greatly appreciated.

I can't test it on my laptop (no 3D card), but I can test it on my other machine which is an old 800MHz/256Mb WinMe machine. Depending on which country I'm in, I might also be able to test it on a few other machines