release – Rockbot

April 4, 2010

Welcome Beta 4

[lang_pt-br]Esta tem sido uma longe jornada, mas as recompensas estão começando a se mostrar. Apesar de ainda termos muitos problemas e bugs no código, esta é a primeira versão realmente direcionada para teste pelos usuários, e estamos orgulhosos dela, e esperamos que vocês goste! As maiores melhorias são:

editor de fases (apenas Linux por hora, mais tarde hoje lançaremos a versão Windows como um pacote separado com as dlls necessárias).
teleporte entre mapas usando buracos/escadarias, permitindo menos uso de memória e tornando possível a versão para DS.
Suporte a Nintendo DS – ainda um pouco lento, já que nosso código está repleto de informação de debug.
Suporte a múltiplos NPCs – agora eles são criados no editor, permitindo a nós, adicionarmos facilmente eles; por hora temos um Rock metall um Escudo a jato e um chefe, o Ape (Gorila) Bot.
Iniciadas as bases para comportamento de NPC – eles podem fazer diferentes coisas agora.
Suporte a som – temos música e sons em Linux e Windows e som experimental em PS2.
Alguns sprites novos criados por Rodrigo Hahn.
Um grande estágio para testes com vários tiles novos.

Os problemas conhecidos são:

NPCs que se movem, quando mortos, deixam um rastro de fundo fora do lugar.
o som no PS2 praticamente congela o jogo enquanto toca, você pode desabilitá-lo com o botão triângulo para uma experiência mais suave.
A versão de DS é lenta em razão de informações de debug.
alguns NPCs mostram comportamento errático e gráficos misturados – toda esta parte será refeita no beta 5.

Bom, chega de conversa, aqui estão os arquivos:

Linux (tar.gz)
Windows (32bits)
Playstation 2
Nintendo DS (coloque ele na pasta raiz)[/lang_pt-br]

[lang_en]This has been a long road so far, but the rewards are starting to show up. While there are still lots of problems to solve, bugs in the code, this is the first release that is really targeted for users to test, and we are proud of it, and hope you enjoy it!. Biggest improvements are:

stage editor (Linux only for now, we’ll ship the Windows version later today, as we need to find out all dll files that are needed to distribute).
teleport between maps using holes/stairs, allowing less memory usage thus making possible the DS port.
Nintendo DS port – still a bit slow, since our code is filled with debug information.
Multiple NPC support – now they are created by the editor, so we can easily add more; for now we ship with a rock metall, a jet shield and Ape bot as boss
Started the basis for NPC behavior – they can do different things now.
Sound support – we have sound effects and music in Linux and Windows, and experimental sound effects in PS2.
Some new sprites by Rodrigo Hahn.
A new, big stage, with improved tileset for tests.

Known issues are:

moving npcs, when killed leave a trail of background in the wrong position.
sound in the PS2 kind of stop the game execution, you can disable it with the triangle button to have a smooth playing experience.
DS version is slow due to debugging enabled.
some NPCs show strange behavior or wrong graphics – this part will be re-built in beta5.

Well, that is it, enought talk, here are the binaries:

[/lang_en]

Beta 3 released

This release adds Ubuntu and Playstation (both USB and CDROM) packages to the Windows one.

Please notice those known bugs while testing it:

projectiles are clearning the screen in the wrong position (above)
sometimes the game freezes
colicion detection have a bug that allows player to “walk in the air”

Now get it on our project page at sourceforge: https://sourceforge.net/projects/rockman-engine/files/

Changelog includes:

DONE – one/two player mode
DONE – allow multiple instances of a same NPC (to reuser the same graphics in a different position)
DONE – adjust players initial position
DONE – add players HP bars
DONE – fix collision verification when falling from a jump and moving left/right (still needs more work)
DONE – make NPC shield itself (shiled flag, plus frame zero in animation)
DONE – player hit animation
DONE – add collision verify into player hit animation to not move where it can’t
DONE – NPC hit animation
DONE – player hit animation
DONE – make players loose 3 hit points when touching a NPC
DONE – fix jump+shoot and walk+shoot animation
DONE – player teleport animation in stage start
DONE – “ready” text animation on stage start
DONE – align hit animation centered vertically and horizontally to the player or npc
DONE – editor: add fill tool (still needs work for non-continual areas like a square)
NOT – separate hit into NPC check into a separate function and call it even if player is stopped
DONE – make NPC shoot
DONE – NPC shoot must diminish 1 HP from players when hit them
DONE – NPC killed animation
DONE – editor: show locked areas only when in lock-mode
DONE – editor: always show grid
DONE – map PS2 joystick buttons correctly
DONE – fix timing for PS2
DONE – use timers instead of counters
DONE – adjust timings
DONE – npc face to RIGHT
DONE – npc shoot from left to right
DONE – optimize sprites: only clear-draw if made scroll or another sprite is over it, make it very short
DONE – initialize units for PS2 according to need (use argc to find run path)
DONE – 2 player on pc freezes when there is no joystick attached
DONE – player hit from shot coming from left, must face left
DONE – finish player sprites adjustments (teleport on P2, p1 new face)
DONE – fix small underscreen bug on top of the screen (changed map, still a mistery)
DONE – show projectile more near to the hit target (is vanishing too soon)
DONE – underscreen when player hit is doing something wrong, drawing background from previous version AFTER moving
DONE – fix scrolling that is goind beyound the end of screen width
DONE – create a complete map (without boss)
DONE – add a small text in the stage ending (beta and credits)
DONE – shots are moving in the Y axies when scrolling
DONE – fix npc-player colision function for PS2
DONE – make linux version run from anywhere (and not only from ./)
DONE – create an official PS2 build
DONE – create deb package for Ubuntu/Linux

Tagged: release

Welcome Beta 4

Beta 3 released