Re: [Adonthell-devel] Back again...

[Kai Sterker]

On Mon, 24 Mar 2003 14:34:16 -0800 Micah J. Cowan wrote:

> Well, aside from the misspelling of "price" as "prize" in at least one
> spot of 0.3 (and somewhere in the documentation, I think), the only
> thing I can think of that needs work is the actual creation of more
> levels... :-)
> 
> Although I did read that we've switched to a 640x480 format: did that
> require that all the graphics used in 0.3 be redrawn--or were they
> simply resized to 50% of their previous screen coverage? If the
> former, has that work been finished? (I apologize for asking questions
> that could be verified simply by downloading the current CVS tree, but
> I won't have an opportunity to do that right away...)

If you run v0.3 in 640x480 mode, the graphics are resized on loading. So
when playing in fullscreen mode, you gain nothing (except that it's
easier to get X running in 640x480 than 320x240). When playing in window
mode, it no longer hurts the eye, but you don't gain any more details.

However, graphics for 0.4 will be created with the new resolution in
mind. Also, there are quite a few things that will change in 0.4. Some
parts will just have the code cleaned up, others will be improved, and
some will be rewritten. And there will be plenty of new stuff.

In more detail:

* We'll split the code into different modules to reduce dependencies
  between the classes. Alex is currently working at that.

* Plenty of the lowlevel code will be reused mostly unchanged, except
  that it is adapted to the new structure and namespaces. That includes
  lowlevel gfx code (screen, surface), IO (fileops), timing and event
  code, python code, and possibly more.

* The window system will be updated to use TTF and to support unicode.
  That is progressing quite well.

* There's a new input system that should support gamepads and allow
  configurable keys. That's pretty much in place.

* The mapengine will be rewritten. 

* Character schedule stuff will be improved.

* Items will be added. (Lowlevel stuff is already partly in place and
  working fairly well. See the architecture and scripting guide in the
  "doc" module of CVS.

* Combat will be added. Lowlevel stuff is in progress, but I haven't yet
  decided on the actual design. I'm still waiting for the newest version
  of the game rules. Slightly outdated version available on the website:
  http://adonthell.linuxgames.com/files/rules_v0.5_pdf.tgz

All in all, 0.4 will be very different from 0.3 once it is finished.
That's why we won't expand the 0.3 demo, but rather do a new one.
However, most of the new code is still under heavy construction or not
even started yet. But when Alex finished his works on the modularisation
and a new CVS modules has been opened, development might speed up a bit
(or at least get visible again).

Then we'll have to write proper editors to start creating content for
the new demo. A lot of the current redesign work is done to make it
easier to write those editors.


I'll have to catch some sleep now, but if you're interested, I can give
more details on any part of the code. The current CVS code contains my
work on items, and some test scripts are available here:
http://mail.nongnu.org/archive/html/adonthell-devel/2003-02/msg00027.html

The combat code is just a collection of python scripts available here:
http://mail.nongnu.org/archive/html/adonthell-devel/2003-03/msg00062.html

And for a glimpse on the new code structure, see here:
http://mail.nongnu.org/archive/html/adonthell-devel/2003-03/msg00085.html

We hope to have this alltogether in one place soon :).

Kai