The No Frills KISS CE Quick Demo

The Demo only takes you through one session of combat, but each time you play you will face a group of enemies with varying capabilities and strengths. Sometimes you will win easy, sometimes it will be a battle, and sometimes you will face certain destruction!

http://www.greatworkgames.com/testdistro/wtgs-dist.jnlp

Best played at 800x600 or 1024x768 resolution (those were the design sizes, but it should scale if choose a larger size). Since this is a no frills demo, your graphics window may hang in blackness for 5-10 seconds while the program charges up. No sound is available on this round. The demo should work on Windows XP/Vista, Linux, and MacOS. Java VM 1.6 or higher is required. Go to http://www.java.com and get it if you don't have it.

CONTROLS:

Arrow Keys: Menu Navigation
SPACE Bar: Select Menu Item
Esc: Cancel Action, Move Back One Menu, Exit Game from Game Over Screen
F-12: Exit Game From Anywhere

MENUS:

ACTION: Main Menu
-> ATTACK: Physically attack an enemy
-> CAST: Cast Magic
-----> Heal: Single, regain a small amount of HP for one player
-----> Super Heal: All, regain a small amount of HP for all players
-----> Small Fire: Single, damage enemy with fire based magic
-----> Big Shock: All, damage all enemies with lightning based magic
-----> Poison Air: Single, poison an enemy
-> USE: Use Item
-----> Potion: Single, regain 100 HP (you'll need this!)
-----> Ultra Potion: All, regain 100 HP for all party members
-----> Zap Bomb: Single, prevent an enemy from using magic
-----> Neuro Tea: Single, regain 50 MP for a party member
-----> Remedy: Single, recover from all status effects
-----> Sick Bomb: Not implemented
->TALK: Not Implemented Yet
-> GUARD: Not Implemented Yet
-> ESCAPE: Escape from Battle/End Game


Enjoy!!!

Demo Nine

Another phase of integration and improvement has ended!

The following video shows expanded Enemy AI (cranked up to nearly a boss fight level), Status Effect Administration, and Recovery Bottle Usage. The first two rounds look like this (in words):

ROUND #1
(Gold Witch (2): Big Shock -> All Friendlies)
Starman: Zap Bomb -> Blue Witch (0)
Stella: Poison Air -> Blue Witch(3)
Blue Witch (1): Physical Attack -> Starman
Blue Witch (0): Remedy -> Self
Blue Witch (3): Physical Attack -> Starman

ROUND #2
Gold Witch (2): Big Shock -> All Friendlies
Starman: Ultra Potion
Stella: Big Shock -> All Enemies : Blue Witch (3) is ko'd
Blue Witch (1): Physical Attack -> Starman
Blue Witch (0): Physical Attack -> Starman

ROUND #3 and beyond:
(... see video below ...)



MUSIC by Raum.

KISS CE Core Enemy AI

I had travel plans for this past weekend that fell through on a technical issue and not by my hand. It would have been great to see my SoCal daughter, but I guess the stars weren't right for it -- for one reason or another. So having a long weekend at my disposal, I decided to buckle down and steep myself in the KISS CE code and implement the core enemy AI (as the video below demonstrates). Enemies, according to their specific and unique stats, are now able to cast spells (Heal, Big Shock, and Small Fire) and use items in their bag (Potion, etc.) based on various combat conditions. Also, I coded in some movement for physical attacks so that that both enemies and friendlies move up to their chosen target, strike (to be visually accentuated later with an attack animation and special effect), and then return to their original field position. Player items are now available for use in combat (Potion, Ultra Potion, and Neuro Tea for now) and a "turn disk" has been added so that it's easier to get a visual lock on who's turn it is (aside of the Turn/Round HUD) and which enemy is using nefarious magical attacks and healing. The next step after adding a few more items and spells for general use will be to implement both the delivery and cleansing of Status Effects for both sides of the combat zone. This will most likely be addressed slowly over the next couple of weeks -- modulated in accordance with basic money-work brain-power drain.

The Day of Integration

Well... the Day (or Week) of Integration turned into the Weekend of Integration due to having to spend a lot of brain power on money-work this week. But in the end, it all turned out as planned. The video below demonstrates the special effects that I've been working on integrated into the KISS CE proper. Ahh... I feel better now, and the day of getting back into the overworld game, and the attendant puzzles that will hinder the player's progress, is getting closer and closer. But before that, I think that I will take the time to model a robot for Starman and Stella as a third party member for their journey, and do some battle animations and movement for the characters. And then... the completion of Frank Starman and the Planet of Mysterious RPG Powers will get underway!

The Time is Nigh at Hand

Now that I mostly have Persona 4 out of my system (see video below ;-), I have started to lay the ground work for the integration of the combat special effects into the KISS Combat Engine proper. Ahh... getting back to it fills me with a sense of both happiness and foreboding. The latter is my natural feeling of undertaking a large/huge code project and is just something that I have to discipline myself and muscle through/past. After that bit of adjustment takes place the work is usually/mostly smooth sailing -- not only coz my skillz are r0x4r but also because I have taken the time to foresee how all the pieces will fit together. More later.

Camera Motion

I am on the final steps of creating the necessary special effects for the KISS CE and have brought camera motion online -- as the video below demonstrates. The Day (or Week, as the case may be) of Integration is nigh at hand! However, the timeline has been ramped down a bit since I have immersed myself as of late in the truly fabulous Persona 4 video game -- hot on the heals of Persona 3 earlier this year and Persona 2 just a month ago. How wonderful to have such great motivators!

Status Effects

The following video shows the results of the labors of the weekend. The status effects are Zap (the stars -- cannot cast magic), Poison (the bubbles -- hp drained by a percentage per turn), Sleep (the Z's -- player cannot act in any way whatsoever), and Disabled (the circle-slashes -- player cannot physically attack). The Day of Integration is nearly at hand!

Riding the Lightning

And beyond Heal and Fire, there becomes Shock. The following video shows the current progress on this particular effect. Only a few minor mods are needed (particle and trail timing, mostly) to make it worthy of in-game use. And beyond this, there are just a handful of other effects that are needed to make the KISS CE demo come to full fruition. Then, I can plug it into the three-area World Two RPG Demo which all of this is subservient to.



Yarghh! What a long and winding road! (But I am traveling it gladly! Although it will be very nice one day to have individual departments or working groups of people devoted to all of these various video game pieces (code, art, game/story, effects, etc.). I mean, I'm basically a one-man-band (or army, depending on circumstance) in all parts of my life, but this has to be the most number of positions I've filled, and spent the most amount of time, on a single personal-project/hobby before. Don't read this as a complaint, it's just a reflection on the facts ;-)

Heal & Fire

I took a rain/gwg day off of money-work yesterday to get a jump on abstracting my "sketch" special effects code for the KISS Combat Engine. Indeed, I got bogged down for about six hours trying to figure out one crucial piece to the code-puzzle... but after a fabulous meal of Trader Joe's Vegetarian Burritos, a few hours of Persona 2 (a thoroughly enjoyable PSOne RPG by Atlus), and a contemplative night of dreamwork, I awoke to the solution this morning -- just as the Prophet of Last Night said I would. The following video shows the surface of the beauty of the code below. It's still nothing spectacular to look at, but the foundation is layed for easy special effects manipulation and rapid attachment to KISS CE events in realtime. O come the Day of Integration!



For now, I head back into Persona 2 for a while before feasting and giving thanks for all of the good things in my life: my daughters, my family, my friends, my employer, my coding advancements, jME, Great Work Games, etc., etc., etc. Of course, everyday is Thanksgiving at my house but I suppose that this day its more notably especial due to it being a nationally sanctioned holiday and a paid day off from money-work... so I guess I can and will be thankful for that too ;-)

Proto-Heal

Over the past couple of weeks I have been working on special effects for the KISS CE and have recently upgraded jMonkeyEngine (the graphics rendering engine that I'm currently using) from version 1.x to 2.x and refactoring my code to work with it. The following video shows a prototype for a "heal" effect. Since this video was made, I have received some good input on how to make it look more heal-ish, but this vid is a good ("got to start somewhere") representation of where it all beagn.

KISS CE View No. 2

After a bit of menu and target control reworking, and adding cast functions (such as the all important "heal"), the KISS Combat Engine is starting to feel much more like a game. After a few more steps in the code (adding animations, camera movement, leveling, item equipping process, and a reinit loop to make it work like arena combat so that the player can play for as long as they can endure and win) I plan to release the Demo as either a Java Webstart application or a downloadable package so that others may enjoy this simple pleasure or rip it apart with constructive criticism.

The following video shows menu navigation (and escaping to previous menus), single and multi targeting of spells, and from the player's perspective a "comeback" from what would surely have been certain "death" or "KO". Of course, keep an eye on the HUDs and their now happy disposition of "functioning as designed" ;-)

A View From the KISS CE Combat Zone

Over the past month I have been working on what I have termed the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) Combat Engine. It is coming along nicely -- and its nearly ready to plug back into World Two as a real game mode! The below video is a sample of where things stand right now: operative HUDs, simple combat rules, and turn ordering. The next steps are to build the Cast and Use Menus... and then... I can get onto the fun stuff of combat animations and special effects -- the infrastructure of which is already in place but awaiting the menu selections for the player to activate them.

It has been quite an exciting and educational journey to get to this point in the game/lab, and one that will, I am sure, serve Great Work Games well when a real-world endeavor is finally pursued (in 2009? ;-)

But for now, enjoy the view of life (and death) in the KISS Combat Zone!

Starman and the Three Little Witches

... otherwise known as "Starman watches the kids".... umm.... okay.

This will probably be the last video "demo" of World Two until at least the first area is ready to play -- that's right play -- as in the sense of it actually being a game with obstacles, puzzles, and creatures to overcome and objectives to meet. But, before all that, see the video below along with the numbered points that explain what is going on therein.




1) The "three little witches" (with red, blue and yellow dresses) demonstrate npc (non-player character/creature) movement control. The red little witch walks in a pre-defined circle. The blue little witch walks in a point-to-point pattern, in this instance a square. And the yellow little witch wanders a random path.

2) When the player runs into an interesting object (such as the save-point -- the thing with the spinning disks -- or a door/gateway or perhaps an npc to hold a conversation with) a "!?" bubble pops into view, informing the player that there is something to examine or take action about at that point.

3) Area transitions (with properly tracked last-location memory) through doors and gateways.

4) A simple jumping mechanic and simple jump/stomp game play.

5) An inter-area "warp" feature that allows the developer to quickly change areas to make development and debugging easier.

6) An intra-area "warp" feature to teleport to any area within the current map in order to make development easier in the sense that walking from place to place within a large area is no longer necessary.

7) Simple wall collision and avoidance.

8) An "overlord" game-tracking object that will help to maintain game state and progress both within a game and between games via game saves.

Of course, most of these demo points are still very rough , but with these pieces now in place, fine tuning, level building, and gameplay can be worked on with a greater degree of confidence and control.

Ahhhnward ;-)

World Two Refactored

July 4th Weekend

I spent the main part of the weekend redesigning World Two into a more modular and fashionable form. My work has not been without frustration or progress. But from here forth, additional programming and modeling will be easier for both myself and those who come after me.

At this time, the great work of the game worlds has come to a bud, both glad and green, and all those of GWG should be notably happy thereby.

A video of the great Game States of World Two is being uploaded right now, but until that morsel of magnificence is available, please see a quick render of a recent model... with great thanks to my daughter for picking out the image for the rug! I think it looks great beyond belief!

You feel tired and hungry.

Would you like to sit down and eat some fruit?

The Fruity Feast

The fruity feast for the banquet beyond belief is nearly ready:



(And just look at that choice silverware ;-)

Scale Test

A quick character vs banquet table scale test:



Not too bad...

A Couple of New Models

A couple of new models for Area Two of World Two:


A goblet for the banquet table

and


A "dragodendron" plant for the "halls of horror" ;-)

Whoa! Back At It!

After a nearly two-month break to deal with some of life's pressing issues, I am back in the saddle with work in World Two. The below video demonstrates complete area changes (notice the use of the Mysterious Doorway) and the use of slopes (and hence stairs and ramps) to allow the player to access different levels of a world model. Along the way from Area One to Area Two you will also notice a beautiful tree that I recently modeled -- complete with foliage that you can see through at the right angles!

Now We're Talking!

The Proto-HUD:




The Mysterious Doorway:

In the Lab with Item #7: The HUD

The prototype not the perfection!

Test World Two

Test World Two is now underway. The goals for this world are 1) three distinct areas (Starry Valley, The Mountain Passage, and Monolith Beach) that are connected by specific throughfares, 2) findable items, 3) save points, 4) wandering creatures, 5) battles (turn-based tactical and line), 6) NPC interaction, and 7) a working Heads Up Display. In short, its a very short rpg wherein you take on the role of Starman and test out Ashton V's programming skills ;-)

Now...



just what in the hell (I mean World Two) is Starman looking at?

The Final Steps to Monolith World

I must accomplish three things before actually beginning to code Monolith World:

1) Learn water effects so that I can use ponds, lakes, rivers, ocean shores, etc;

2) Achieve better NPC control and interactivity so as to further draw the player into the world/game;

3) Learn how to use the Heads Up Display (HUD) orthographic projection so that the player can be given useful information in real time.

Progress on item #1 thus far:

A Picture from the Oza Go Tournament

Clicking the picture will take you to the Oza Go Tournament pictures page. The following picture is at the bottom bottm left.



(Yours truly in the left foreground.)

The Right Thing at the Right Time

The weekend at the Oza Go Tournament was fun and inspiring. It was great to meet up with and interact with friends that I have not seen in person for years. It felt like zero time had passed since our last meeting. I made it home last night around 6pm. Now I step back into the makings of "Monolith World", having found a couple of perfect images for the job:

The Game of the Weekend

I am going to put down my computerized 3D endeavors for the weekend and meet some old friends at UCLA for the Oza Go Tournament. I'll be competing as 25 kyu and will probably get knocked off pretty quick. One of my friends stands a better chance of staying in the battle for longer. Parties interested in learning more about Go or the Tournament can click on the picture below.



It should be a good time for one and all!

Test World Demo Video

The explanation of what's going on is in the video.

Good Prognosis

I went to Physical Therapy yesterday for my right arm problem and got a good prognosis along with permission to slip it out of the sling and to do all that I can with it. I am very happy to report that I am typing this entry with both hands! How very good it feels to have my right arm and hand back in action and back at the keyboard! Of course, it will be a few months before I have full range of motion back, and a few more after that before it regains full strength, but even now it is feeling better than just a day ago -- the semi-atrophied muscles and ligaments stretching out from the month-long hiatus of disuse. And, more importantly, it means that I can get back into the code and get back to work on the prototype to "Monolith World" and then get the show on the road with the actual game that comes after. I will soon post a short video of where the Test World was at when I had the unfortunate fracture back in December -- for continuity's sake -- and then go forward from there.

Welcoming Stella

Please welcome Stella -- she is complete with skin and animations. Starman joins her for the Signs of Nox, being those of The Night.



In order from top to bottom and left to right, they are: Puer, Puella, Vir, Mulier, Osiris Risen, and Mater Triumphans. Please be careful when practicing these on your own, if ever you dare };-)>

UV Mapping Tests

Testing to see if the UV Mapping is properly aligned.



I did a much better job this time around.

Mask

A step along the way during face-grouping in preparation for UV Mapping.

All Boned Up

Nasawoman is all boned up with (almost) nowhere to go. In the current picture, she is driving -- possibly a Mars buggy after terraforming has taken place.



The UV Mapping and Skinning is next.

One Small Step

Testing the stability of the Root Bone with one small step:

Ready for Boning

Nasawoman is finally ready for boning.

The R&R That Turned Into Something Else

The idea to take a small break from 3D modeling and play a decent amount of Final Fantasy VI got thrown way off course due to a power outage that lasted from about an hour after my last post here until about an hour after sundown yesterday. During the time without power, I finished Fianal Fantasy Tactics on PSP (which is one of the best games I've yet played, I think, and which I will give a full critical review to on this blog one day soon), made good progress on Final Fantasy Tactics Advance on Gameboy/DS, started Jeanne D'Arc on PSP, read a significant amount of Neil Gaiman's American Gods, and wrote up a detailed design and event outline for "Monolith World" (the working title of the first actual and whole 3D RPG that I will program using the current technology). So, even though the original plan for R&R was sent aspinning, substantial and satisfying progress was made elsewhere and I feel decent enough about that -- plus it's always exciting to play a bit of Urban Survivalist at home.

Ready for Boning

The Nasawoman mesh is complete and now ready for boning -- however, I'm taking the day off for some R&R with Final Fantasy VI.

Abject Shock and Horror

Imagine my abject shock and horror when I snapped the two sides of Nasawoman's face together for the first time and saw...



Patrick Stewart staring back. (On some level, it probably makes sense that a Nasaman would want his Nasawoman to look like Captain Jean Luc Picard in drag, but such a thing is definitely not acceptable to Starman.) Mission Fix That is now underway.

With Depth

The newly reasoned technique seems to work better than that used for Starman.

Without Depth

Progress on Nasawoman's face.

Nasawoman Bodyworks

Nasawoman's body is finished up to the point of final shaping adjustments -- which comes right before boning and animation.



Ahh... I long for the day when I finally sit down and work on non-mittenesque hands. After the plantworks though, after the plantworks....

A Quick Spin

After I give her the hand and foot treatment, I'll give her [a] head.

"Nasa-Woman" Begins to Take Shape

Applying what was learned with Starman to a female model.

The Funny Plate Got Screwed

A little over two weeks ago I fractured my right proximal humerus. I had surgery to install a plate to put everything back together and hold it all in place. Today I visited the doctor for a post surgery review. The prognosis is good (start physical therapy in two weeks and get a return-to-work review in four) and I feel happy to finally be "on the mend". The below 3D "sketch" is my portrayal of what the x-ray that was taken today shows. Yes, that's right: one rather largish plate and nine screws... a rather significant piece of hardware, if you ask me.

Welcoming Starman

The "Starman" model is finished. He celebrates with the following series of poses.



Which is LVX -- the Light of the Universe.

One Step Away

The model is now one step away from being finished. All that is left is to add basic animations (walking, running, jumping, etc.) and then drop it into the test world and call this learning experience done. And then its onto more "real" work -- in terms of putting all the pieces together into a game.

Out of the Lab

After a few experimental stabs at the complexities of uv mapping, and going back to fix a few bad/amature modeling mistakes, I have finally stepped out of the lab and have begun to put this guy's skin on.

In the Lab with UV Texture Mapping

Getting the base checkerboard material right....

The Bones Are In

The Sign of Shu (the Egyptian God who holds up the sky)

Updated Development Environment and Technology

The present development environment and technology for 3D worlds and RPG endeavors consists of:

* Workstation: a fairly high powered Gateway PC with dual core AMD CPU and NVIDIA GPU
* OS: Windows Vista Home Premium
* IDE: Eclipse
* Language: Java
* Game API: LWJGL and jME
* 3D Modeling/Animation: MilkShape3D
* UV Texture Mapping: Unwrap3D
* Painting: The GIMP