screen from the final version
Stalk
Very curvy.
Awards
New Zealand Order of the Fern Shoot - Awarded for curliness above and beyond the call of duty
Presented by gcewing
Scores
Ratings (show detail)
Overall: 3.1
Fun: 2.4
Production: 3.6
Innovation: 3.4
Respondents: 25
Files
| File | Uploader | Date |
|---|---|---|
|
endless-path-7.zip
— final
includes windows cython builds |
richard | 2010/04/04 21:38 |
|
final_screen2.png
— final
screen from the final version |
richard | 2010/04/04 02:49 |
|
Screen shot 2010-04-01 at 12.24.55 PM.png
Fading in and out... |
richard | 2010/04/01 01:26 |
|
stalk-2.zip
second tech demo |
richard | 2010/03/30 02:04 |
|
curves-thick.png
Thick curves ... still no game |
richard | 2010/03/29 07:38 |
|
more_curves.png
More curves! Still no game... |
richard | 2010/03/29 01:55 |
|
better_curves.png
Better curves .. still no game |
richard | 2010/03/28 09:43 |
|
curves.png
Curves .. definitely not a game |
richard | 2010/03/28 08:54 |
Diary Entries
Wibbly? Wobbly?
richard on 2010-03-28 02:24
Went to the park. Started doodling. Ended up with a page of:
It's not a game. Nor even a game idea. But I think the wibbly lines could be made to wobble.
It's not a game. Nor even a game idea. But I think the wibbly lines could be made to wobble.
Day One .. no idea!
richard on 2010-03-28 11:04
Day 1 is over and I have no idea what game I'll write this PyWeek. Not even a vague idea.
So I did some scribbles and wrote some code to put something like the scribbles on screen.
(bigger)
It wasn't a total waste though: I re-discovered my love of the golden ratio :-)
So I did some scribbles and wrote some code to put something like the scribbles on screen.
(bigger)
It wasn't a total waste though: I re-discovered my love of the golden ratio :-)
Curve generation ACTIVATE!
richard on 2010-03-29 07:39
So I can generate curves in pretty much the manner I want now (based on my sketches). Took a while to get the width part right, and GL's triangle strips had me very confusticated for a long time. Ditched them for quads :-)
Anyhoo, here's a vid of the ... "game" in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tGLTyulRj0
Anyhoo, here's a vid of the ... "game" in action:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tGLTyulRj0
Edging dangerously close to gameplay
richard on 2010-03-29 11:43
Well, because it's a video game I added shooting. And other player controls. I'm still not sure what the point of the game is yet... there's certainly nothing to shoot at. I'm not even sure there should be.
Give it a shot if you like: stalk-1.zip
Give it a shot if you like: stalk-1.zip
A demo that works better than the last one
richard on 2010-03-30 03:28
I've patched a bunch of cocos so hopefully this version will work on more people's computers:
stalk-2.zip
Move with WASD or arrows. Aim with mouse, shoot with LMB. No, there's nothing to shoot at yet.
Please let me know what you think.
stalk-2.zip
Move with WASD or arrows. Aim with mouse, shoot with LMB. No, there's nothing to shoot at yet.
Please let me know what you think.
Some reasonable progress
richard on 2010-03-31 11:04
Not a huge amount of coding today - just some on the train and at home.
I've got a new system for generating the wriggly path and curly branches off the side. Much more control and less gaps.
I fade out the path as you leave it behind which looks nice. No growing of the path ahead yet. Might just go for fading it in for now. Will see how that looks tomorrow hopefully.
I also refactored the curve generation significantly so that the path you follow and the branches off it are separately generated, allowing some nicer random generation. The refactoring also included splitting up the path creation so it's not a huge FPS hit (61-62 down to 50) when it fires every 20 seconds or so .. rather the FPS just dips a fraction (maybe down to 60).
No gameplay to speak of...
I was thinking maybe a sort of flying-ish thing where you have to fly along the path - stray too far from it and you "die".
I've got a new system for generating the wriggly path and curly branches off the side. Much more control and less gaps.
I fade out the path as you leave it behind which looks nice. No growing of the path ahead yet. Might just go for fading it in for now. Will see how that looks tomorrow hopefully.
I also refactored the curve generation significantly so that the path you follow and the branches off it are separately generated, allowing some nicer random generation. The refactoring also included splitting up the path creation so it's not a huge FPS hit (61-62 down to 50) when it fires every 20 seconds or so .. rather the FPS just dips a fraction (maybe down to 60).
No gameplay to speak of...
I was thinking maybe a sort of flying-ish thing where you have to fly along the path - stray too far from it and you "die".
Less popping
richard on 2010-04-01 01:33
The path and branches now fade in and out. It's a much more pleasant experience now with no popping in or out of bits and pieces. Also it's not as messy / ugly if the path loops back on the player now since the far path isn't visible until it's really needed.
Download and try if you like: stalk-3
Comments, as always, are welcome. Including any further ideas you might have about gameplay ;)
What do you think of the slight grey outline on the path to separate it from the branches?
I took out the shooting - I just don't think it fits at all.
I am thinking that you maybe have to fly along the path, keeping close to it (or you die or something). Points for speed, and perhaps for collecting things just off the path? And maybe avoiding things?
Download and try if you like: stalk-3
Comments, as always, are welcome. Including any further ideas you might have about gameplay ;)
What do you think of the slight grey outline on the path to separate it from the branches?
I took out the shooting - I just don't think it fits at all.
I am thinking that you maybe have to fly along the path, keeping close to it (or you die or something). Points for speed, and perhaps for collecting things just off the path? And maybe avoiding things?
Not much progress
richard on 2010-04-01 12:00
I spent my game-programming time today experimenting with different ways the player can control their avatar in the game. Most of them sucked. I'm sticking with the latest, least-sucky version and hoping that inspiration will strike. I've got a few more things to add into the "game" ... I'll see how it goes.
I also experimented with cython - and wrote a blog post about it. That was kinda fun, but mostly a diversion from thinking about how to make my tech demo into a game :-)
No, you still can't choose your own path :-P
I also experimented with cython - and wrote a blog post about it. That was kinda fun, but mostly a diversion from thinking about how to make my tech demo into a game :-)
No, you still can't choose your own path :-P
Adventures in growing ... and cython
richard on 2010-04-02 11:57
So today I avoided the issue of gameplay by experimenting more with how the path appears on screen to the player ... how it grows.
I now have a rather pleasing (in my opinion) growth animation for the path and the branches off the path.
Try it out if you like: stalk-4.zip
(marked as a final upload just in case I don't get a chance to make another)
I ran into a problem where enough branches being grown drops the frame from a steady 60FPS to around 30FPS (on my MacBook). Not so pleasing.
I've optimised a few things with cython. The result is that I can now happily re-generate the path curves and vertices every frame and the FPS doesn't dip below 60.
Neat.
Along with my own curve code I've implemented cython versions of the euclid module's Vector2 and Matrix3 (since my curve code uses those implementations for parameters and determining normals and the like).
I now have a rather pleasing (in my opinion) growth animation for the path and the branches off the path.
Try it out if you like: stalk-4.zip
(marked as a final upload just in case I don't get a chance to make another)
I ran into a problem where enough branches being grown drops the frame from a steady 60FPS to around 30FPS (on my MacBook). Not so pleasing.
I've optimised a few things with cython. The result is that I can now happily re-generate the path curves and vertices every frame and the FPS doesn't dip below 60.
Neat.
Along with my own curve code I've implemented cython versions of the euclid module's Vector2 and Matrix3 (since my curve code uses those implementations for parameters and determining normals and the like).
OMG it's a game!
richard on 2010-04-03 23:58
Well will you look at that, I managed to get some game into my fancy tech demo. Try it!
endless-path-6.zip
I went out last night and saw the quite excellent Micmacs à tire-larigot and had way too much dinner afterwards and retired about midnight.
And woke at 4AM with my brain telling me it'd finally figured out how to make a game of the tech demo I'd been working on all week. I told it to shut the hell up and rolled over. And again.
At 6:30AM I got up and started working on the game again. About an hour later I realised that daylight savings had ended and it was actually 5:30AM. The deadline for me is 10AM. Plenty of time to write a game, right?
Well I managed to get something out of the mess. I hope you like it :-)
ps. link updated with new file which fixes some stupid bugs
Bug fixes
richard on 2010-04-04 09:22
I've fixed a couple of stupid bugs in the path following of baddies, and also in some other display stuff which was just dumb.
I've also added some information to the opening screen to indicate whether you're using the accelerated euclid / curve modules (ie. cython) and also whether your system supports anti-aliasing (ie. looks pretty at all).
If your system can't do anti-aliasing I'm sorry, it's just not going to look as nice as my screenshots :-(
I've also added some information to the opening screen to indicate whether you're using the accelerated euclid / curve modules (ie. cython) and also whether your system supports anti-aliasing (ie. looks pretty at all).
If your system can't do anti-aliasing I'm sorry, it's just not going to look as nice as my screenshots :-(
Version with Windows files uploaded
richard on 2010-04-04 21:41
A generous friend (Michael Foord) has compiled the cython files for me under Windows so I've uploaded a new version with those files bundled. Hopefully cython's internal machinery will be happy to use them:
Download: endless-path-7
I'd be interested to know whether this works for you if you are on Windows and do not have cython installed.
Thanks, Michael!
Download: endless-path-7
I'd be interested to know whether this works for you if you are on Windows and do not have cython installed.
Thanks, Michael!
Endless Path REQUIRES Python 2.6 and cython 0.12.1
richard on 2010-04-06 23:28
And cython 0.12.1
As mentioned in the README :-)
If you don't use these versions you will get a crash either at startup or as the game proper starts.
As mentioned in the README :-)
If you don't use these versions you will get a crash either at startup or as the game proper starts.