Month: February 2010

Still on AI.

Actually had some fun last night.. drinks hot tub/friends.. so little work got done.. now I am tried though.. but still tonight back to AI I decided to finish up the AI with node data. IE ducking area cover area etc…. that is tonight in the mean time we can all stare at this together …

Really burned it up last night.

Tonight after the day job:
First redo the AI.. this AI has to be smarter as it is not zombie warriors. It is __ something __ else.. and much smarter then you if a bit confused.. SO I am removing the navigation method system with a new ai system that thinks a bit more 😉
I should be able to get a system working in about 3 hours. and fully operational in 6 so it maybe tomorrow evening before I get to the skill sets. I may want to first add the editable menu so I can start moving on the combat stuff quickly.

I want to get the AI back in the levels using the new system (a few minutes)
Then get the ability system back up and running to implement the new weapon systems. IE different guns/ammo etc.

The living design doc is on my forums at :
http://necromancerrising.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=103

I am going to flesh that out a LOT more before I get into the weapons system so that will be tonight to ;)…

Tonight working on M.E.!

WOW did I flow tonight….. one of those HOLLY CRAP what is going on it is all working first shot!

IE check out the new and improved tier one level… No flat stuff anymore! RAAAAAWWWRRRR!

Seriously looking good imho…

I would urge you to checkout the new version of the lite app and tell your friends.. here is a quote from one happy user….
“HOLY—!!!
The Suckling Abyss???
That just made my head explode from sheer awesomeness.”

Man those words keep me going 😉

Today I may post a video of debug stuff in M.E. The plan is to wrap up the new collision system close the hood. Then I need to Create multi-level rooms for more fun =).. I plan on play-testing for a while and then to finish up tier one and get a alpha testing group together to help mold the game. =).. Hopefully within a few weeks depending on how the regular job treats me. =-)

Have a great day!

PATCH IN LOTS PATCHED

I pulled the patch this afternoon as I had some time off to get into Necro and it was taking forever to review. Now here is the new patch list. It has been tested and it is uploading to apple as I type =).

The game feels a LOT better… a LOT..

FIXED–JORAM 12x Health Reduced to 4.
FIXED–Armor bonus points worthless past 15-20
FIXED–STUN BOMB TEXT
FIXED—-Pickup skills should not show level like stun bomb.
FIXED–Reset to town button in restore
FIXED–HUGE BOOST to boss drops….20% time awesome weapon 80% time awesome armor
FIXED–Baseline boost also to boss drops
FIXED–juggernaughts rage problems
FIXED-Make early level minions harder then they are.
FIXED–Increase health big short ability
FIXED–Increas Energy Big short
FIXED–REMOVE YOU HAVE SKILL POINTS TO DISTRIBUTE
FIXED–MISS REMOVED FROM POISON RESIST.
FIXED–RESISTInG POISON AND STUN
FIXED–DEATH_BLOW
FIXED–TWEAKED LOW LEVEL MOBS DIFFICULTY
FIXED–LEVEL DIFFERENCES EFFECT LESS
FIXED–AT LEAST 1 XP ON KILL
FIXED–MAKE SURE THERE IS ALWAYS A TOWN PORTAL SPELL ICON IN THE INVENTORY.
FIXED–Loop after killing Alpha One
TWEAKED–Difficulty boss / minions strangeness
TWEAKED–Leveling speed around level 12

FIXED–MANY STACKING ISSUES INCLUDING POTIONS. SOME OLD POTIONS WILL NOT STACK WITH NEW SO DRINK UP.
FIXED–Add in haunting town
FIXED–Add in haunting Boss
FIXED–Add in code for haunting
FIXED–DISSAPPEARING ITEMS WHEN DRAGGING BETWEEN LAYERS.
FIXED–COMBINING SILVER AND MANY OTHER ITEMS.
FIXED–STRONG HEALTH POTION
FIXED–NERF holy bolt
FIXED–NERF firecracker
FIXED–Boost upper level bombs
FIXED–nerf holy bolt
FIXED–fix lightning BIG BUFF.
FIXED–menu cannot be repositioned
FIXED–Fix town button offset
FIXED–Stun skill buff not sticking. ( wow debug code made it out )
FIXED–Skill drops (firecracker dropping on dungeon level 14)
FIXED–Block is going down in points
FIXED–STORE BUTTON OFFSET
FIXED–Swipe to look switch BACK to joysticks!
FIXED–difficulty mobs
FIXED–SKILL DROP RATIOS ( some are still like purple and Orange drops (ala wow) but they have been dramatically increased)
FIXED–Potion in attack menu dissappear. show wrong number on return.
FIXED–Tiny/silver pieces not stacking.
FIXED–CALL WEBSTERS DICTIONARY AND HAVE COPPER RENAMED TO COPER
FIXED–SCHEMATICS WILL NOT DROP ANY QUALITY LESS THEN COMMON
———————————— END PATCH VERSION 3.0

M.E. all clean

No I am finishing the interface and will proceed to refactor the room generation code into a cleaner system. After that I am going to tackle a new collision systems so the levels will not be just flat. I liked flat levels due to the fact that it is a phone or ipod basically. But now I want full up and down. All the AI systems already support it just the collision system needs an update. -=)

Back to work!
-Ryan

Working in M.E.

I ripped out a huge chunk of Objective C and am cleaning up the mess now. A good thing that needed to be done before the code became a monster in the future. It is just something that stinks because you could be adding new items/features/assets… instead of refactoring old code. In the end it is just as rewarding knowing the engine is getting stronger =).

Wee..

The current job I work kind of now refuses to continue letting me get some code done during the day due to the lack of income from Necro. So I am taking M.E. to my own company and doing it at home! No problem though because that way I will not have any pressure to release it and can get it out when it is done =). I like it a lot. Patching Necro will be done at home to. The next patch after 3.0 will address the difficulty complaints =).

It will be better this way also as the game work was making me stay late at work when I can work on the game stuff at home. No real difference to users beyond me not being able to respond during the day at times with code answers. It really should not effect to much! =)

Working on M.E. now.

Going to be a nights only thing for now on for M.E.. Not a bad thing as that means the day job has lots of work! 😉 And I can do this at home with my family around me. Of course the first job is salary without overtime ( and lots of overtime ) HOWEVER, I am thankful to be employed in this awful economy so boss when you read this thanks!

So Version 3 of Necromancer is in to apple with the haunting. Please keep the feedback coming as it is helping mold my ideas to what players want.

I thought I would drop a skill list for M.E.

Nasty paste job =)
_PISTOL
_GRENADE
_SHIELD
_FIRE_SPEED
_STUN
_MACHINE_GUN
_SHOTGUN
_MINE
_FIRE_TRAP
_PHASER
_TURRENT_PISTOL
_TURRENT_MG
_TURRENT_PHASER
_LIFE_DRAIN
_DAMAGE_RETURN
_LIGHTNING_GUN
_TACHYON_CANNON
_ROCKET
_FIRE_BALL
_SAWED_OFF_SHOTTY
_GAUS_RIFLE
_ACID
_MINI_NUKE
_ENERGY_DRAIN
_PLASMA
_FLAME_THROWER
_STUN_BOMB
_FLACK_GUN
_SEEKING_MISSLE
_PLASMA_BOMB
_BFG
_FIRE_BOMB
_BEAST_EXPLOSION
_SEEKING_PLASMA
_EATER
_INFERNO
_SPINNING_SHOOTER
_PLANET_QUAKE
_RIFT
_ICE_BOMB
_MASS_DRIVER
_ACID_BOMB
_ACID_TRAP
_UNFREEZE_TIMERS
_SPIN_SHOOT_MOB
_NUKE
_INVINCIBLE
_SEEKING_FIREBALL
_RUN_SPEED_SHORT
_EVENT_HORIZON
_STUN_AREA
_HELL_RIFT
_VOID_BOMB
_TOWN
_POTION_HEALTH
_POTION_ENERGY
_POTION_REJUVINATION
_POTION_STRENGTH
_POTION_ARMOR

O anf yes yes yes I HEAR YOU! The menu system in necro suffered… so here

Fully functional generic menu system written from scratch since I do not get the benefit of those 2D games and cocoa touch. Yet I prefer that. I know how everything works and were and ITS FAST!.

OK back to work I only have an hour before bedtime as I got off at 9:00 to drive home…

Struggling with taking M.E. Multiplayer..

My roadmap is to end up with a M.M.O. on the iPhone. I am still a long way from there but my tech direction has multiplayer in mind the whole way. So code chunks are decided on each project. I think I am going to go with the next step for Mission Europa. It is a good time to start. The first step is a Battlenet style system since I cannot afford server hosting personally =).. My server will just provide the players looking for a group.

Well was going to post more but real job hitting =)

Today the haunting.

Good stuff! I need apple to get the patch out so I can get the game off to review sites. 😉

Well real job has jumped in the way… =).. so no work today on Necro most likely. Maybe a little mission Europa.

BTW the email worked.. =).. it is finally “In Review” not waiting for review.. So hopefully within 48 hours. =)

Of course Mission Europa is Nights ;).. Necro Day =)..

Finish menu items and get back to the haunting.

No idea why apple is taking so long these days. I wish they had a tiered system where the small weekend apps without much investment or risk were on a different conveyor belt then the apps that took enourmous investments of time and money. Those small 2D apps can be made in hours.. yet get the same placement as apps with 100,000 man hours. It just seems like they would want to promote more cutting edge games. Who knows it doesn’t upset me now that it is out. Just wish there was a better system =)..

Ok, I need to finish the menu systems on M.E. then get back to the hauting. I have had requests for a lite version so maybe in a month or so one might make it. I just need the time =)…

So far my experiences with lite versions have been poor but who knows!.