I ported my A* pathfinding code from my 7DRL 2011 entry, GnomeSquad into “get ye axe”.
Now that I have the channel code down, passing stuff back and forth between javascript and python is (relatively) simple.
twpage
JavaScript = Die
Thanks to liberal debugging via Firefox and the firebug plug-in, I have working two-way communication from the browser to the app engine via the channel functionality. I have almost no idea how it works… but it does!
Mostly just for test purposes, I made the same map (in HTML5) click-able and it now dynamically updates (ajax style I guess?) the terrain type at the bottom of the page. Seems a bit slow but at this point I have not done any kind of optimization or testing so no surprises there.
Onwards!
You cannot get ye axe
Experimenting with google app engine, and using it to make a game.
The idea is to use this space as a devblog, and track the game through it’s life-cycle. Judging from my previous gaming attempts, this life-cycle will be extremely short.
Here’s the idea:
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| scribbly ye axe |
It’s sort of like the slow-form simple strategy (and backstabbing) of Neptune’s Pride…
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| Neptune’s Pride |
plus the dungeons and random potions and scrolls of nethack…
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| Nethack |
plus multi-player tactical gameplay ala shining force, or x-com, or GnomeSquad?? (just throwing it out there!)
| Shining Force 2 |
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| GnomeSquad |
plus the asynchronous nature of mobile games like wordfeud…
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| Wordfeud |
Plus… oh hey did I mention the backstabbing? Anyways, that’s it for now. Hopefully this spot will show the game as it progresses from “back of a letter scribble” to “hey this is a cool game you can actually play”. Wish me luck.
Android blogger test
Yeah I am trying out the android blogger app. For… some reasons that I’m sure will come to me later.
Also: new url!
Http://www.heroicfisticuffs.com
Apparently there is no way to add a link in this app?? Laaaame. Switching to tumblr NOW.
7DRL 2011 Reviews - Benhem
Next up is Benhem (OK, technically I can’t find a name for it and Benhem is the author, so “Benhem” it is!). Time to fire up the ol’ PuTTY for this one.
I am digging it already.
Benhem is not what I would call a complete game. But it does so a lot of potential. I really enjoy the old-school “gold box” design. The fact that it is played from a terminal is (in my book) a plus. Games that you can take with you anywhere? Just great.
The fact that so much is shown on the screen without any noticeable lag is impressive as well. I am used to playing nethack on alt.org and other servers and there are times when you can definitely tell you are not playing a local game.
I didn’t find any items. But I found lots of doors. And plenty of monsters.
I love the turn-based grid combat. You might say that sort of thing is my bag.
However, it seemed unfair that the monsters could attack me diagonally and I couldn’t attack them. Some terrain would be nice as well, so I could wedge my cleric in the corner while my fighter tanks. The author mentioned he is working on adding abilities and such things. I could easily see there being some fun tactical battles here. Again, no lag, which is nice!
The ASCII art is nicely done as well. It was immediately clear to me which of my dudes was the fighter, thief, cleric, and mage. (The fact that this is so easily done using so little information says something about the artist but also a lot more about our established canon of fantasy game imagery.)
So, not a complete game, but certainly an awesome tech demo. There is lots of promise here. Hopefully the author keeps it up.
You can find a list of all 7DR L2011 finishers on roguebasin or temple of the roguelike.