T.i.m - The Imploding Mutant ( Wip )


Right, I'm in the mood for love... Errrm, I mean beer :lol:

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Changed complete enemy generation code, before we were using a simple sequential system that generated the enemies dynamically ( enemy type 0, once destroyed or out of screen enemy type 1, and so on )... This system would be ok for a basic shooter, but... T.I.M. will never be a basic shooter :).

Due to the way that I wanted the radar to work, I now pre-generate ( on system load ) all enemies and random enemy types, along with their random locations. ( we needed this to work for the radar to be able to show us all the real system info ). This also meant 4 hours this morning tracking down something that was causing a segmentation fault :lol:

This system also applies to allies, neutrals and unknown ships... It's also a needed system for ship ID tracking ( all ships are going to have a numberplate so that we can communicate with individual ones, or follow them, or selectively destroy them and so on ).

Not that this is really "new" news but I like to keep everyone informed when possible. Basically, I'm simply telling you all that the whole game is getting much better and that thanks to this generation system we may have gained a little extra speed too. The radar is also working great now.

... and now I'll have a couple of cold beers, it's kinda hot here ( 36 C ) ;) .
 
I have a whole crate of Paulaner Weißbier to drink tonight, well to start on! I would happily share it with you mate for this!


So does this mean that when we are flying along, we shoot some ships and not others , as in Elite?

Anyway, love the updates!
 
Arghhh, beeeeeeer ( I feel like Homer Simpson now :lol: ).

It means exactly that :) , during a mission, if we have to destroy a specific ship ( for example IO-1329 ), and we're in a friendly system, we will not break the law destroying that one but if we hit others, we'll have BIG problems.

Thanks to this system we'll be able to follow a ship from one system to another and so on ( the one system to anothe part is not finished yet but it shouldn't be too complicated after creating all the radar code :lol: ).
 
My pleasure, I've seen many other projects die ( not exclusively on GP2X evidently ) because people lose their initial oomph factor :), it's why I like to keep everyone informed.

Anyway, I think that it's pretty evident that I haven't fallen into that situation ( I don't intend to either :lol: ).

I hope to be able to get another video or at least some new screenshots sorted out by the end of the week ;).
 
Another quick update regarding my plans :)


I was sitting around staring at my monitor and thinking ( I do that alot :lol: )... There are going to be a couple of changes in the game engine, I'll list some of them here now ( others are secret ).

Planned changes :

Bi-directional navigation, we'll be able to switch the horizontal direction that we're flying in by hitting a button... Useful if you need to chase someone that has just gone past you :lol: ... We'll also be able to stop whenever and wherever we want ( in case we need to wait for an event )

Hopefully extended vertical system height, this minute we're limited to 300 pixels in Y, I want to raise this limit to create a bigger system depth feeling ( it's gonna feel huge out there ). This is something that I want to do, but I'm not quite sure of how I'm going to do it yet.

I'll be working on another 6 ship types ( quite frankly I don't think much about only having 3 enemy fighter types, we also need heavier enemies and the enemies also need to have cargo ships and so on ).

Right, no more info for the minute, this is quite a load of work but it's going to be great.
 
Glad that you like the ideas so far :),

I forgot to add that I'll also be implementing inertia and other similar effects as I consider them very necessary ( specially when we're switching directions or slowing down to dock at a station or base )

Funny, I originally thought that my ideas for the game had finished but I definitely think that this last set is needed ;)

Right, that's all for now, back to work and cold beers.
 
Yet another quick update :)

I'm not posting new videos and snapshots as planned due to all the changes that I'm working on... But I'll at least tell you all how progress is going so far.

Bi-directional movement is functional now ( I love it, and it's added a totally new way of playing ).

Basic inertia is now working too, I'm only going to apply it to the horizontal movement ( mostly when switching directions ). I don't intend to use vertical inertia as it would cause inaccuracy when trying to avoid enemies / enemy shots and isn't really needed.

I'm still working on all other parts of the game B) .
 
hehe, I'm fighting with four or five small bugs ( nothing serious as they are mostly related to the trading system and it's mostly because it isn't totally finished yet ), but the main bulk work implementing all the new changes has been sorted out :).

It's nice to be able to fly back and forth in the system, you can go, kill a few, and then catch up with the others on your return path ( if your ship is fast enough ) and blast them by surprise.

The final inter-system navigation is slightly different to that seen in the initial versions. Now we'll have a jumpgate at the left of the system, one on the right, one above, and one below. This covers all our navigational needs now.

More info and videos soonish B)
 
Quick update :)

I've taken ( am taking ) a couple of days off, I am not going to be coding in near 40C, it's kinda hot here :lol: .

I am writing ideas down and working on the story though ( at least on paper ). And this is mainly why I have no video or snapshot updates. I know that you are all being patient, but please be more patient if your patience falters :)... Summer in Southern Spain with a semi-bugg*red air conditioner is... evil.
 
Just encouraging you. This is the game I most wanna play!
 
Thanks for the encouragement :)

The game's actual progress is going well, just much slower due to my inability to stop sweating :lol:.. Last updates included jumpgates at North South East & West, a much higher system ( now we have an enormous playfield and we can fly back and forth ). I sorted loads of bugs out and found another couple of new ones.

I'm going to make the official templates available soonish so that people willing to design ships and so on have something to play around with as reference ( enemies, main ships, stations, etc )...

I just need to cool down... This heat is a nightmare B)
 
Uprising said:
Good to see you arn't going to get burnt out on this X-Code. :p

:lol: Fery Vunny

Oh, I have another update regarding the game, but I'll leave it for a day or three.

To those of you that have bothered to watch the videos and snapshots of my game... Do you think that you could design ships like that?, if so, mail me or send me a PM :), T.I.M. is going to need quite a bit of graphic design work.
 
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