you might want to check out a game called Gimbal which is a space -fighting 2d game with lots of great ship customization.  its a ton of fun.

Roguecraft

Here's RogueCraft so far.  just implemented simple fishing.
press "h" to display commands any time ingame.
Enjoy!

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17548899/Wilderness/prototypeascii%206-8-2013/11-3-2013/RogueCraft%2011-8-2013.rar

RogueCraft

Im writing a new roguelike with a 2d map and it has biomes already.   tentatively calling it roguecraft.  same idea as Ascii Wilderness, but with better game design and the intent of minimal item management.

there's no item management so far, no inventory screen but theres a materials screen and building and crafting lists. and no limit on what you can carry.  Game keeps lists of what tools youve acquired and you select what to weild and equip on your body.

think Zelda.

download the pre-alpha if you want. run wilderness.bat to run.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17548899/Wilderness/prototypeascii%206-8-2013/11-3-2013/roguecraft.rar

new game

here's my prototype of the new Ascii Wilderness.   thinking about doing biomes.  It's 2d and not the old code very much.

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17548899/Wilderness/prototypeascii%206-8-2013/11-1-2013/11-1-2013%20Ascii%20Wilderness.rar

Awhile ago I said I was prototyping a new Ascii WIlderness without Z levels.

I'm working on it now and I've got a better plan of how this project is going to go

instead of it turning into barely readable code.

I've got a 2d map up and running with basic crafting and tree cutting complete.  You can list your materials, equip a weapon or tool.  It's pretty early.

But im having a ton of fun so it looks like I'll be working on this more over the winter.

Au revois

Check out my new fiction story, Apocalyptica Mortalis.

http://russapocalyptica.blogspot.com/

prototype

rewriting my code.

I got a simple map up and running (2D, thank the gods)

its really small but it has some basics

you can build a firepit, a fence, or a wall by pressing "b"

the wall is impassable by the c haracter.

the firepit, you can stand over and press "a" to activate the fire.

if you stand over an activated firepit and press "c" you will cook 1 unit of rawmeat.

I've got this crazy idea like I can program a roguelike that doesnt use inventory..

i HATE inventory.. I love fallout 3 but what kills it is inventory management..

games are about having fun not managing items and scumming the traders.

no traderes.. no saves.. no inventory.

so far "rawmeat" is an internal value and so is "cooked meat"

not sure exactly where im going with this but i thought the community might like a look.

here's the address of the prototype:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/17548899/Wilderness/prototypeascii%206-8-2013.zip

programming

i had afew minutes today

so I abandoned this project

and started a clone of it.

it's just afew hundred lines

the orignial "ascii wilderness" had gotten so overgrown with old code

I didnt know what was what anymore

so Im trying to write something simple

and keep it real simple.

fallout 3 fan fiction

I wrote some fan fiction for fallout 3

it may not be anything brilliant

episode 1 is on facebook under "The Wastelander's Apocalypse"

episode 2 is mostly online now at:
http://russellswasteland.blogspot.com/

Ive got about 10 more episodes (like 8 filled notebooks) to post that I handwrote. so when i feel like transcribing it ill get it online.

hope you enjoy.

-Russ

Working on some fallout 3 mods. on the fallout nexus you can find my mod look for "GOWMK"

its a weapon kit system expansion.

im having a lot of fun now with fallout 3,

still have the roguelike in my mind and i know i could write it in 7 days.

Just taking it easy and working on different projects.

The roguelike will happen.

The roguelike will happen.

I just have to get my fill of FPS and then... ROGUELIKE!!!

or maybe FALLOUT REVAMPED - Survival crafting zombie apoc wilderness survival..

with procedural landscapes?????? i know nothing about those but guess what all the fallout 3 assets are there we just need a system for peicing them together in a coherent way.

I played skyrim, borderlands 2, and NV...

RETURN TO FALLOUT 3!

I'm playing with FWE + MWK + EVE + Xephas dynamic weather + dynamic crosshairs

and all kinds of other mods..  vanilla Fallout 3 SUCKS. modded = AWESOME

A New Game???

Ok so have you ever heard of minecraft? Neat game.. the worlds made of blocks, you can build with them, make survival things.  SO the author of that game wrote a game for a contest called "minicraft" which he wrote in 48 hours using god knows what language.  I can do that.

so I think I've accomplished with Ascii wilderness what I set out to accomplish.  I'm a better programmer, not the greatest, but i have an idea of what I can do with LUA, and its time to just start over.  I've experimented with this graphic system and that system and line of sight and complex algorithms.. so I know what I can program cleanly and what will end up getting messy.

So I have a new goal. I'm going to program a game.  It's not going to be post apocalyptic, it will be a roguelike wilderness survival game using Native American lore. (read: crafting tepees, longhouses, axes out of stone, flint, obsidian.. hunting game).

Goodybye Ascii Wilderness.  I will always borrow your code.

dont be sad, whats in the future is a game that I can complete in a sane amount of time.

so I think the first thing to do before i program anything.......

is make a design document....

its funny how you pick up the good ideas as you go along... LOL.

and as I design it im going to design the game to be "easily programmable" because i know my own limits and i dont need to throw myself against a wall to make this game engine.

so anyway I'm thinking about a new project and I'm making a plan on how i'm going to succeed and have something at the end that's playable and fun and simple and imaginative and also
conserves CPU.

have a nice day!

where's my pen and paper?
 

1-19-2013

Not working on Ascii Wilderness and Im not sure when I will again.  I'm going to attempt a rewrite one of these days, after all I should have a central AI who controls the minds of all the critters and creatures.. I think a lot about game design these days.  A lot of what drives me crazy in today's games is item management (IE: skyrim), and clunky interface (IE: minecraft)..  I keep thinking back to Half Life (the original) and I remember how much fun you can have with 6-10 guns and no inventory page... 

I think realism has got to take a back seat in Ascii Wilderness.  Realism can lead to clunky issues  (likeovercrowded inventory with strange items, compulsive hoarding)...

We need to return to the arcade game, where playing was maximized and "managing" was minimized.  Whether you are playing a RTS game or a RPG game, "managing" can be fun or hell.  Fallout: New Vegas was one of the worst games for inventory management, while "DOOM 3" was great for inventory management - there wasnt any.. And guess what, it was basically just as good a game if not better for not hauling around a carpet bag of loot to sort through all the time trying to find an item with the right "buff".

In arcade games, playing is maximized and realism is minimized...  That means, fuck it - we don't need to count our arrows and bullets and hoard thousands of them - Just give a gun - and I don't need 30 kinds of ammunition - thanks Dead Island.

We are past the days when Link could find arrows and hearts all over the place.  Players want immersion but realism is not always the answer.  I guess I'm saying we need a return to the heart of the arcade game - fun.  And it's no fun to manage an inventory.

So I guess I'm back in the game design phase and hating modern games which have pretty graphics and crappy mechanics.  I mean dead island - really, the zombies get stronger as I get stronger and I the gun I just found does 1 point of damage more than the last one I found and now I have to discard my gun and power up a new weapon??

I have been playing cataclysm (roguelike) and a 2 dimensional map seems like a good idea (My 3 dimensional map poses all kinds of issues and im not a professional programmer)..

I'm not working on the code these days..  I originally started coding to see what I could do.. It turns out to be a lot but I have my limits.

I know when I get into the programming I have a TON of fun..  I guess I'm working on gaining some better direction before I go and start programming.. No one wants another dwarf fortress (LOL OMG no!)..

I think the virtue of most games is in their simplicity.. Where simplicity is really elegance.

I'd like to program again one day...  Programming is really joyous for me, especially with LUA.  I don't know when I'll start programming again, I guess I need a clearer vision for the game at this point.