Paving the way!

Hey guys,

    Sorry it's been so long since my last real update! But I'm here today with good news and bad news. The Good news is that I've been hard at work updating QFang quite a bit! The Bad news is that there are almost no visible changes.

    I've spent the last few days working on optimizing my code. Previously, the game sent a total of Six messages per frame (and the game runs at about 60 Frames per Second, meaning about 360 messages per second) to update the player's location, height, appearance, rotation, etc. As of now, I've limited that to Two, meaning that rather than each client sending over 360 messages per second back and forth to the server, it now sends about 120. So, in essence, the game is running approximately 3x Faster than previous! Soon, I will modify the game to send just one message per frame, which will make the game run 6x Faster than previous, but that can wait.

    I've long anticipated working on the enemy system in the game, but I felt it was necessary to get this speed boost before starting so I didn't end up trying to fix a laggy game. Instead, I now have a game that is ready to take on an extra FPS drain. I won't go into the details, but with all of the entities in the game so far, I've cut the messages being sent to the server each frame down in total from about 3,840 to approximately 1,000.

    Oh yeah... and I've added in the game's first enemy:

All he does as of now is sit there. When you click on him, the game will tell you that you clicked on an enemy. Soon, clicking on him will start a combat situation, and he will free roam.

That's all I've got for now. Thanks for reading!

Dan

Back from Hiatus!

Hello all,

    I'm finally home and getting back to work! New Hampshire was lovely, and I had a wonderful time with Sarah! I even got to see a moose close-up!

    I started work today on Enemies and an Equip Weapon system. I also, as you all know, have the framework set up for the Trading System, so that's on the workbench as well, but it's not a priority! I'm also working on coming up with some Basic Items for the release.\

  TO DONATORS THAT PURCHASED AN ITEM:

      Please make a forum account and respond to my "Bought an Item?" thread! This is the only way to redeem your purchase!

    Also, for those of you interested in DONATION INCENTIVES, I've added a new one. Sort of a combo of the first and second. I've also lowered the price of the higher-end ones!

    So, regular-length story short, I'm back, so expect more updates!

Thanks!

Dan

Pre-ALPHA 3.0 has Arrived!

Hey guys!

    The moment you've all been waiting for, or at least the moment I've been waiting for, is finally here after several days of intensive coding! I'm finally ready to announce Pre-ALPHA 3. I decided that for the new version, instead of bombarding you with pictures like I usually do, that I'd make a short video instead. So I'm going to go ahead and talk about a few of the new changes, and then I welcome you all to view my video below!

    First of all, my bug list has been completed. I've taken care of every documented game bug to date! And yes, that includes the "Back to Game" button in the main menu. The Back to Game button is now functional! Speaking of the main menu, I've also added textures for the main menu buttons finally!

    Moving on to game play, I've completely reworked the HUD (Heads Up Display), and changed the inventory a bit. The inventory now displays all four player stats, as well as item modifiers for those stats, which have been fully integrated! It also displays the amount of in-game currency you have! I introduced a currency system called "Fangs". I'm not sure if that name will be temporary yet, but for now, I like it! I've also created an item type that can hurt the player, such as poison. I'm not sure what this will lead to in the future, but I created it with the intent of it becoming a weapon. You will also notice in the inventory screen that there is a "Drop Item" button now. The purpose of this is so you can delete items from your inventory. You'll also notice that the "Unequip" and "Use" buttons are now the same. It switches between one and the other depending on what item is selected!

    I've also added a new quest type called "Courier". Essentially, the point is to bring an item from person A to person B. The item is designated a "Quest Item", which means it cannot be used, worn, or dropped. Another addition to quests you may see are quest rewards! You can now get Fangs (money), EXP, or Items as prizes from quests!

    But why do you need money, you may ask? Well, I've also created a shop system. Some NPCs now own shops. You can talk to them to view their shop and buy anything they may be offering.

    Aside from all these big changes, I've also gone through and begun optimizing my code. One large fix was discovered by the lovely Sarah, regarding my HP system. So many thanks to her! The game is running more smoothly, reliably, and interactively as ever. (Is that a proper use of "interactively"? Probably not.)

    Before I release you to see the new game play video, for those of you interested, I have come up with a whole new set of Donation Incentives, so...

Check the Donation Box for a list of new Donation Incentives!

    I'm getting very close to needing cash to hire professionals to help me with models and pictures!

Thanks for all your support guys! Sorry for the wall of text! Enjoy the video:

(I recommend watching in 720p or 1080p!)

- Dan

Some New Items

Hey guys!

    Still not quite ready to post detailed things yet, but I figured I'd post some of the new items I've been working with! Unsure if these will appear in the release, but they're here for the moment!

(This first one's just a new image!)

A few little hints at some of my unannounced updates! Enjoy!

- Dan

Another Small Update!

Hello,

    I'll keep this one short as well, as I'm planning to have a bigger announcement very soon, and I'll leave all details to that. I just want to let everyone know that I'm still working! The trading system is still not done yet, but all that is left is the implementation menu. All the gross networking stuff is done!

    Another update is that since my previous post, I have completely finished my bug list! I'm sure it'll start to grow again soon, but for the moment, it is blank! I've also added in some new quest rewards and updated the inventory menu again! On top of that, I've also implemented a new Quest Type called "Courier", but I'll give details in my next post.

    Looks to me like Pre-ALPHA 3 is right around the corner! Wish me luck!

- Dan

Small Update!

Hey guys,

    I'll keep this one short, because I don't have much to report! It's been a day of bug fixes, mostly. I fixed several chat errors, HUD errors, Inventory glitches, and Quest glitches. I've also done done work on the Escape menu.

    Most importantly, I've started work on a Player to Player trading system! So far, I've managed to successfully send a message from one client to another.

    Next, it's just a matter of implementing a trading GUI and then hooking it up to transmit messages.

    So, all is going well! Here is my updated To-Do before Pre-ALPHA 3 list:

• My Bug List [Satisfied with what I have done.]
• Fixing Player Rotation [Not started]
• Stackable Inventory Items [Done]
• Player -> Player Trading System [In progress]
• NPC System [Done]
• Main Menu [Not started]
• Options Menu [Not started]
• Fix Mouse Rotation [Not yet fixed, but it can wait.]

If all goes well, another day or two and I'll have another massive update to share!

 - Dan

More Updates and User Friendliness!

Hey all,

    I've been updating and changing things all night! I'm very close to Pre-ALPHA 3.0, but I still have a few things to do! About half-way through my work today, I put on a music loop video and continued to work for a little while. I looked at it just before I started to write this...

    I don't feel like I've been working this long. I enjoy coding too much... Anyway! Here are my updates for y'all to see. The big update of the day is... *drumroll* A CHAT BOX!

    That's right! A big ol' chat box for all of your messages and whatnot. You press the 'T' button to bring it up currently. It will display up to 15 messages that have come and gone. I'm working on a way for it to store all of them, but it's not a priority at the moment. You'll also see that I altered the appearance of the regular HUD a bit!

    As you can see, when the chat box is not active, it appears half as opaque, and only displays six lines at a time so it doesn't get in the way. These messages are all sent to the server before getting to the player, so I made sure they registered in console as well:

    The whole chat system went much more smoothly than I expected. Once I finished that, I moved on to the next step: Quest Interaction! Yes, quests now use the chat system to tell you important things like quest goals, character dialogue, etc. Here's the new and improved "Into the Fire" quest that I showed you yesterday:

    I also created a new Quest Type! It's called a "Chat Quest". Essentially, it's a quest in which you have to go talk to somebody, then return to the original person. Here's a sample quest I made of this type:

    And as you can see in all these pictures, the chat box only displays six lines, but when you go into the chat box, you can see more.You may also notice that Quests now have a Reward feature. Quests can now give items as rewards for completing quests. In this case, I made the Blue Test Item no longer a default item, but rather something you obtain through these quests. Thirston has two quests, as you have seen. He will not give you the second quest until the first is complete, and he will not give you any more quests after you finish them all. He will just idly make chit-chat, or if he has no idle chat set, he will just sit there.

    So let's take a look at the inventory, shall we? I've changed and upgraded several things:

    Aside from Empty Slots now appearing as "- - -", you will now notice that items have their icon displayed beside them. But wait, there's more!

    When you click on items, they are now highlighted, so you can see what you have selected more easily. You may also notice that there is no longer an "Unequip" and a "Use" button on the inventory screen. It now toggles back and forth. If you select an item that can be equipped, it turns into an "Unequip" button. If you select an item that can be used, it turns into a "Use" button, as such:

    And yes, the potion is green now. The blue potion looked a bit too much like water to me. I also fixed a bug in which pressing the unequip button repeatedly while the same item was selected would cause it to unequip multiple times, resulting in negative health.

    Also worth noting, you can see below that quest text does not get sent to the server, so only you will see it locally, and you won't see others' quest text either!

    I'm happy with the progress I've made, and I intend to continue for a little while before I slumber. I've also added another new DONATION INCENTIVE! They are also listed under the donation header on the blog now. This is a big one, unfortunately, but I usually try to keep them cheap! Until Friday night at midnight, if you donate $15.00, you can DESIGN A QUEST for the game! As always, it must fit the game's theme, of course! Also, I'm lowering the price of my previous incentive (Naming a character) to $3.00! It seems a better value in retrospect. Keep in mind, by the way, that I'm constantly adding new Quest Types. You won't be limited to the current two choices!

Thank you for your reads and follows!

- Dan