So, I’ve been building a nice clone to a game probably only a few of you know. I’ll give you a hint: Maxis published this game in 1994. And for those of you who played the original probably already knew which game I’m cloning when you read the title.

And here is a screenshot of how I far I’m along:

Yeah, that’s not very far. Damn you, exams and stuff.
I’m planning on finishing my game by the end of the week.

There was a pretty severe memory leak in my game which either caused the game to slow down to an unplayable state or crashed entirely. This issue has been fixed.

Furthermore, a readme has been included which specifies the goal much clearer (well, at least I hope so). Also there was a problem with shooting cannon balls which prevented the player from winning if used uncorrectly, so shooting has now been removed completely. It didn’t really work anyway.
And I found out that you need the Visual 2005 C++ Redist package to start the game, so the required DLLs to launch the game have been included as well. The Mac OS X version also works on Mac OS 10.5 now.

The links have already been updated. If you had any problems earlier, I strongly suggest to try this version. For those of who already downloaded my game, you can download a patch here (90 kB). (Just replace the exe.)

Thanks to everyone who played and rated my game and especially to those who gave their feedback. Much appreciated.

The Good
- This is the first time I’ve been using OpenGL and SDL for something that is more than just a techdemo and I have to say the transition from plain SDL to SDL + OpenGL went quite smoothly
- The core gameplay elements made it into the game
- This is the first time I’ve been using Lua for scripting in a game. I wanted to use Lua more extensively, but it’s just a small part now, still I’m quite pleased with that element and how that went without any problems along the way
- Graphics and music are mostly how I imagined it, I also made some sounds with SFXR, but those didn’t make in the final game
- Basic AI: That’s really awesome, it was implemented like 30 minutes before deadline and it’s great that it works

The Bad
- I almost slept 24 hours of the time (my alarm was not working) and was too tired from staying up so late to get up early
- There was generelly a lack of time, for example, there were some things to be done for college and I discovered Mass Effect, which was a really bad idea to double-click the Mass Effect icon, it was time-consuming and took a lot of will power to exit the game and get back to coding
- I almost went with Unity instead of my own framework and the decision took a few hours
- There were some issues with my camera, that’s why there aren’t any deskphotos or foodphotos from me
- Since I’ve been using SDL + OpenGL for the first time for a real game that has actually been finished, some parts of my framework are still in its infancy (espacially the texture loader routines), that’s why there are some problems with washed-out textures and memory leaks

I’ve uploaded the linux port and there’s now a gameplay video on youtube. The timelapse video is coming, don’t worry.

Now I’m looking forward to try everyone’s entries.

So, I finished my game. It is playable, but not exactly what I had in mind and there are definitely better games out there.

There are a few features that didn’t make it into the game:
- Powerups
- Sea fights

Download it here

It’s 3:10 AM and I’m getting tired. Linux executable as well as gameplay and timelapse video will be uploaded tommorrow.

Still not much progress, but here is a screenshot:

The “fog of war” (light) is working quite nicely and I changed the gameplay a little: The player doesn’t need to colonize the islands, he just needs to find them.

About photos: Well, I made few photos (deskphoto, foodphoto, …) but for some reason when I plug my camera to my computer the camera shows the low battery sign and turns off automatically, but taking pictures works. Either there is something wrong with my camera or I need to charge all my batteries (and I’ve already tried four sets of batteries).

I’m a bit behind my schedule, this post is gonna be short, so that I can get back to coding.

A few things about the game I’m trying to make:
Name: Colonial Age (working title)
Short description: As you may probably guessed from the title the game is set during the colonial age. The player controls a ship and needs explore the whole map and colonize as many islands as possible.

Gameplay elements:
- Position of islands will be random
- Powerups (like superspeed, etc.)
- Rudimentary AI (there will be an enemy)
- Simple sea fights

This is gonna be my third LD. I’m pretty excited and I hope the theme is not gonna be Twilight Fandom.

Here are the tools that I’m going to use:
Compiler: FreePascal 2.4.0rc
Target platforms: Windows, Linux, Mac OS X (and maybe GP2X if I have too much time)
Editor: Komodo Edit
Graphics: Cinema 4D, Gimp
Music: GarageBand
Sound: cfxr (Mac port of sfxr), maybe Audacity

You can download my basecode here: LD16_Basecode (It uses SDL + OpenGL for graphics, SDL_mixer for audio and has support for Lua scripts)

I also wrote a little command-line tool to help creating timelapses on Mac OS X, download it here (32 bit executable for Snow Leopard and source are included). It basically just uses the “screencapture” utility to create a number of images (quite similar to the AppleScript that has been posted here) which then just need to be converted into a video (using iMovie, Window Movie Maker or similar). It should also work on Linux (if scrot is installed), but I haven’t had time to test it.

Finally, here is an updated version of Cavern Defense.
This is mainly a bugfix release and all critical bugs have been fixed, so it is quite playable now and there is now sound under Mac OS X.
I’ve update the menu, the intro and the instruction screen and it should be more clearer how to play the game.
For more information on what has changed take a look at the changelog.txt

Here are the downlod links:
Windows (6,2 MB)
Linux (4,8 MB)
Mac OS X (12 MB; Universal Binary)
Source (132 kB)

If you want to compile the source, you also have to download one the binary releases and combine those two because the resources folder is not included in the source zip file.

As promised here are the linux and mac os ports:
Mac OS X (11,2 MB)
Linux (4 MB)

And here is the windows port (again, for the purpose to have all files in one post):
Windows (5,4 MB)

Linux notes:
- You need libSDL, libSDL_image, libSDL_mixer, libSDL_ttf and libSDL_gfx installed on your system to run the game.

Mac OS X notes:
- For some strange reason (specific FreePascal/SDL_mixer/Mac OS X – bug) there is no sound on Mac OS X.
- Be sure to copy the application from the image file to a directory with write permissions because the game creates a log file.

And if you don’t want to read my journal online, I put together a PDF and added a short post mortem:
Click here (3 MB)

Click here to see Cavern Defense Timelapse
(I realized I hadn’t chronolapse running all time during the LD, so my timelapse is rather short.)

I’m not entirely happy with the result since there are still a lot of bugs and it’s not that much fun to play as I hoped.
If you just tuned in, Cavern Defense is a turn-based strategy game for two players.

Here is the final screenshot:

Download it here (Win32 binary and source)
I’ll be adding a linux and Mac OS X binary in a few hours. It’s 5:00 AM right now and I desperetaly need sleep.

I totally overslept today. Nearly all gameplay features are implemented, but the game is still not fully finished and I still have some severe bugs to fix.

So, here is the latest screenshot:

Click on more to see what I had for lunch/dinner.
(more…)

About 10 hours have passed since I officially started coding. Well the screenshot isn’t that impressive and I still have to cut some features and hope I’ll finish in time.

Today I concentrated on gameplay features. You can move your circle around and attack the enemy (that other circle). All I need to do is to add more circles and the game is finished
Well, there is a lot more to do and the circles are going to replaced with real graphics, still working on those. It’s gonna be a busy day tommorrow.

Just finished my breakfast and I’m ready for some action.

Here is what I had:

Food: Flatbread with crème fraîche, green onions, cheese
Drink: Lemonade-Cola mix (as long as it has coffein, I’ll stay awake )

It is not carved in stone, but that’s what I have right now:
A turn-based strategy game in which the player commands a few evil units to keep the good guys away from the cavern.
I’ll try to keep it as simple as possible so I can finish in time.

Click to enlarge

I’ll start coding after breakfast.

I guess I voted for this theme. I just picked a catchly title for this post, but still have no clue what I will do. Maybe it’ll be a platformer game with some “Dungeon Keeper”-elements or something else entirely.

Anyway, I made a photo of my workspace. Here it is:

Chaotic as usual

Btw: It’s about 06:30 AM here (Saturday), I just woke up and I’m still a little sleepy, so it might take a while until a brilliant idea comes to my mind.

I’m just getting ready for this week-end. I bought a few bottles of coke, some crackers and sweets. And if things get too frustating I still got a bottle of beer left.

Tools I’m gonna use:
FreePascal 2.2.4
I’m also using a custom, platform-independant framework (based on SDL) called Elysion Frameworks. If you’re interested, get it from http://elysionsdl.sourceforge.net (use the latest files from SVN)
GIMP
GarageBand (if I find the time and need for some background music)
Dr. Petter’s SFXR (if I the time and need for some sound effects)

I haven’t found a fitting name yet, so for the moment it’s called Robot Sandbox/Playground something. The basic idea: You have a few robots and you can control one at a time and there is a lot of stuff lying around to play with. For example: One robot can grab a box, move this box around and put it on a tile with water, consequently other robots can walk on this tile.

Furthermore, those robots can’t work forever, so they need to recharge and that’s why there are batteries.

That’s what I’ve done so far:

Yeah, the robots are missing at the moment.

I’m not sure if I’m gonna finish in time. I have three exams next week and I really need to study.

Allright, it’s final or as final as it can get. If you haven’t read my previous post, here’s the short description: You are a constructor who can travel through time with the only goal to make as much money as possible.

Download here: Stoney_MiniLD9_TimeTravelConstructor.zip (15,7 MB; Windows Binary + Source)

My idea: As a constructor/economic specialist something you need to gather resources in order to win the game. Unfortunately other citizens already build their houses on the best spots directly beside the wood you so desperately need. Now you need to gather time energy which allows you to jump back in time and build whereever you want to build before anyone else can.

And this how the game looks like at the moment:

What development tools am I using? The same as last Mini LD and last LD48, FreePascal with ElysionLegacy (a small wrapper around some functions of SDL + SDL_Image + SDL_TTF + SDLMixer)
How do I use the sound pack? I will use it for some background music.
Am I finishing in time? I sure hope so. There are still a few hours left.

The second competion game after my MiniLD #8 entry that I finished in time. But I still got some time management issues and I had to cut a lot of gameplay features which I originally intended to include.

So anyway, what’s this game all about? This time the hero in this game Stickman is trapped in a cave where the wall of doom is coming down from above. To rescue himself he has to get to the door at the buttom of the level. But there is one major problem: Stickman cannot jump. But he can use portals.

Download here: http://www.freeze-dev.de/files/games/Stoney_LD14_StickmansEscape.zip (2,6 MB; Win32 and Linux 32 bit binary included plus source code; Readme with instructions and a PDF with some drawings, first screenshot and stuff with like that which could be classified as a very short post mortem.)

This is the first LD entry I finished. It’s a mash-up between Tower from LoneStranger and Lunar Fortress. What you have to do in this game is keeping the evil letters from reaching your tower by clicking on them. It’s really simple and it makes absolutely no fun.

Written in Object Pascal and compiled with Turbo Delphi, but should compile with FreePascal. Also, there are some performance problems. I got around 70 FPS on my MacBook and around 25 FPS on a Intel Essentials D945GCLF2 (Dual-core atom processor @ 1.6 GHz and GMA 950 graphic chip) board. For those who try to play it, have fun.

Here is the link: Windows Binary + Source (ZIP)