środa, 29 czerwca 2011

We’re currently thinking of implementing some new interactive stuff - stockpiles and rock pots. Both of these will likely be making an appearance in the next major build.


Stockpiles will allow teams to set up supply routes from the mines to the front line without having to run it there themselves. Workers (any anyone with some looted resources) will be able to drop off resources at a stockpile, which through the magic of videogames will be available at any other team stockpile. The catch is that if a stockpile is destroyed by the enemy, then a proportion of your stored resources will be lost along with it.


Rock pots should make defending doors less traumatic. Dumping rocks on the enemy’s heads will have the same effect as firing a catapult at them.



Next build will also contain some fairly notable nerfs unless someone can find a large hole in our plans:


  • Builders will be slowed whilst placing blocks

  • Knights will have to “reshield” after being hit, essentially reducing their ability to be a walking fortress. This means less futile struggles in doorways and potentially more frustrating melee, so this will need tweaking.

  • Archers will have extra warm up time on their arrows, preventing any effective arrow spam - especially at close range. We’ll be tweaking the length of this “zero force” warmup (think of it as putting an arrow to the bowstring) to get a good balance in but the point is archers will be more or less useless at close range.

Hopefully this will encourage a more defensive/support role for archers without making them fall prey to knights >80% of the time.

wtorek, 28 czerwca 2011

Build 71 released

New fixes and changes.
Looting / giving materials is now done with a new key [C].


You can capture the enemy outpost instead of destroying it:



A new voting system is introduced. Press tab and you can mark a player as being abusive. If enough players do the same, he is kicked.



Changes build 70-71:


- added new give/loot key [C]
- picking arrows or rocks is done with harvest key [RMB] (right mouse)
- only archer can pickup arrows; only builder can pickup rocks
- added Mark Griefer option on scoreboard [TAB]
  * available after 10 mins of game time
  * if enough players mark a player he gets kicked
 - outposts are capturable (stand on it; the more players the faster capture)
 - outposts are 25% stronger (2 bombs)
- fixed network memory leak
- dead bodies don’t block digging
- fixed picking class in destroyed tent
- less hits to gib
- if [TAB] pressed scroeboard stays
- unbalanced team with more players spawns longer
- fixed admin menu kicking
- most bottom row of map cannot be digged/destroyed
- decreased player name length to 20 characters
- fixed block menu not appearing on tent
- console doesn’t scroll if text entered in prompt
- fixed vote server crash
- fixed giving materials not working sometimes
- fixed rcon player ping kick console spam
- fixed 0 time ban from admin
- KAG servers can be joined from browser : http://kag2d.com/serverlist.php



EDIT: Linux server and client are updated.

If you own a server and miss the old Goldhunt gamemode just
open Base/Scripts/dedicated_autostart.gm


and replace LoadRules(“Rules/CTF/gamemode.cfg”);
with
LoadRules(“Rules/Goldhunt/gamemode.cfg”);


I haven’t tested it, so if it doesn’t work please tell me.

poniedziałek, 27 czerwca 2011

Build 70 released!

As promised bug fixes, abuse fixes and some balance improvements. Still more to come…


Changes build 67-70:


- fixed memory leaks on map creation/restart
- can’t vote on self
- player being voted on is marked with red circle
- added message to inform about banning during vote
- all votes are sent to rcon admin
- increased game start to 2 players on team
- added “restartmap_onlastplayer_disconnect” option to game rules (gamemode.cfg)
- decreased max player name characters to 27
- fixed player names having leading or trailing whitespaces
- fixed spikes not removing stone if placed on background
- fixed broken outpost working
- auto-balancing: if teams differ by 2 players can’t switch teams freely
- /kickid cmd is done by player id instead of index (/players views id’s)
- added Admin menu to main menu (for rcon logged players to easily kick, restart map)
- lowered default “nearspawn_multiplier” to 2.2
- bomb range is shorter
- maximum 1 bomb can be carried by Knight
- bomb always kills (unshielded) in close proximity
- gold is always buried at least 5 blocks underground

niedziela, 26 czerwca 2011

Next release I will be focusing entirely on bug fixing, abuse fixing and some balancing. This game is soo much fun, I shouldn’t say this because I made it, but I can’t resist. It hurts me seeing the fun spoiled so I want to deal with it.


PS. It’s better to run the game under Wine now on Linux (works perfect), because I haven’t still fixed it.


PS2. Hot fix released:
- fixed start game crash
- fixed not being able to join team again

piątek, 24 czerwca 2011

Build 67 released!

It’s time for CAPTURE THE FLAG!



This replaces the old default gamemode. The objective is now to breech the enemy castle and take his flag. Bring the flag to your tent and touch team flag to score! 3 points and you win the round.


All the new game mechanics and controls are explained in the tutorial poster:



There are a zillion things changed in this release. Please read the changelog for details but just to give you a short overview:


  • Builder has a little block menu (hold [F] and hover mouse on your block)

  • Default controls changes:

  • Change class with [E] on tent

  • No need to hold button to throw bomb; Light bomb with [F], jump to use momentum to add velocity to the throw and press [F] again

  • You can now give some material to your teammates by pressing [E] on them

  • Builder can now build an outpost; team members need to walk on it to set it as their respawn location; requires 120 wood and 60 gold

  • Dying near respawn takes much longer (up to 12 secs)

  • Many changes in generator (for example there is plenty of stone behind your tent)

  • Kick voting is done only within your own team (50% of team votes needed by default)

  • New in-game multiplayer map editor

  • Trees drop and regrow faster


  • New buildable spikes. You can place these on the floor, ceilings and walls. They work exactly as you think they should :).



  • Last but not least. This is probably the biggest game changer. Death to skybridges. Long live dropping an entire castle on your enemies heads! All constructions now require support (after about 5 blocks) and are physically collapsible. As seen on this video:

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37O5ysbQXjo]


Changes build 57-67:


- new default gamemode Capture the Flag
- construction require support if longer than 5 blocks
- added fully collapsible physical blocks
- added buildable outpost
- added HUD block menu (hold [F])
- change class button is now [E] on tent/outpost
- pressing [E] on team member gives 10 of each materials
- changed bomb throwing
  * pressing [F] lights bomb
  * press [F] again throws at default velocity
  * to throw further you must add momentum from jumping  
- decreased sack/flag throw velocity but is affected by player velocity
- not drawing 0 amount label on objects
- fixed catapult/tent resource icon red
- fixed healing heart not adding to 3 hearts in knight
- fixed client changing health
- Knight respawns with 1 bomb
- fixed respawn timer
- dying near respawn results in longer respawn time (gamemode config variable “nearspawn_multiplier”)
- fixed server trying to delete client object which was never sent
- fixed local player globally banned issue
- fixed chat position after death
- fixed label appearing on tent
- added buildable outpost tent
- trees don’t appear on mountains
- own bomb hurts self
- server list is sorted by player count
- fixed catapult rocks making sounds on die
- fixed m_generator not being loaded
- script can now load from generator files eg. LoadMap(“Scripts/generator_ctf.cfg”);
  * LoadMap(“”); - loads m_generator variable
  * LoadMap(“Scripts/foobar.cfg”); - loads random generator map from config
  * LoadMap(“Maps/foobar.png”); - loads map from png image
 - generator changes:
   * caves don’t appear under respawn
   * materials appear in larger concentrations behind respawn
- improved gib graphics
- added spikes trap
- fixed sacks/flag collisions near tent
- fixed sack/flag throw velocity lag on throw
- fixed tents not being saved on client (with /savemap cmd)
- stuck player gibs
- fixed and optimized collisions
- removed bugged map name from servers list
- fixed tutorial text background
- trees regrow faster
- materials and construction blocks appear as icons + count on HUD
- sound listener center moved to player instead of center of screen
- fixed player label appearing twice on u_shownames set
- fixed crash when wrong generator file specified
- background castle block costs 3 stone
- added and fixed chat console transparency
- fixed ladder and castle back giving wrong resource number on destroy
- fixed chat bubble staying longer after Enter pressed
- builder doesn’t animate if can’t build at position
- fixed invisible body looting
- added “Looted” text for empty bodies
- team members can loot bombs again
- fixed HUD images stretching
- can’t join again own team
- fixed team menu disappearing when [BACKSPACE] pressed first time
- added floating amount of materials added or removed (on mine, loot or give)
- vote kicks can be casted only against one’s team members
- added “readme” information in vote menu
- rcon players are marked with x in players list
- added unlockable map editor
- own player label dissapears when mouse cursor close
- HUD dissapears on death
- trees drop faster
- fixed door issue being placed on tree stump
- fixed spawning removing background behind tent
- map resets after last player left
- slow arrors give half damage

czwartek, 23 czerwca 2011

Public release on weekend

The new version is massive fun. I’m spending lots of time playing instead of developing. Fortunately it’s nearly ready for public release. Just a few more tweaks and it should be release for the weekend.


You can always play the dev test version here.

I just made a new tutorial poster explaining the CTF mechanics and all the new stuff. Like the fact that bomb throwing changed (light bomb with [F]; throw with [E]). I changed this because it is easier to throw the bomb using momentum this way (no need to hold F).



Many people have asked for it so I setup a donation page (through PayPal).
If you really like the game consider donating some gold :). Any amount you want.


To encourage donating I have a present for you. Once you donate you’ll obtain access to the in-game multiplayer map editor. Details in this video:


[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ap0U754m94o]



Donate now

What do you players think of customisation of your avatar? How important is it?


Here I’ve presented a simple way of customising your avatar - you’d be able to set the skin colour, hair colour and gender of your player and we could probably get that up and working within say, about a week of the CTF release (no promises though ;) ).



I’d love some feedback on that more realistic proportion of worker as well - I’m thinking that the game world would feel larger and the animation would be more fluid at that scale, as well as giving the game a more unique aesthetic, but Michal is worried about losing “character” in the sprites with the loss of faces to animate… What do you think?



That’s the builder in an environment for comparison.


Forum thread here: http://kagforum.com/viewtopic.php?id=241


EDIT: I’ve noticed that some people think the two ideas are linked (smaller scale and colour customisation) - They aren’t :)

Pre-built maps

There is a topic on the forums where players post pre-built painted maps. This is an interesting thing that I would like to develop more alongside the generated maps. Competitive matches will surely need the same balanced map everytime.


Btw. I encourage you to join the forums & start posting now!

środa, 22 czerwca 2011

By some total coincidence I found the problem that causes the “still image, can’t move mouse cursor or open menu” bug that some users had on start. It seems different CPU architecture is responsible for it, I would have never found it, if the bug did not randomly happen on my dev server on which we are testing the new release.

wtorek, 21 czerwca 2011

[gallery]

Some screens from test version playtests.






Community member Neat has made a few videos with tips for new players wondering how to get into playing the combat classes! If you’re a bit lost at how some of the finer points work and have a half hour to spare then give them a look.



Neat wrote:


Basically the reason I died a lot was because I was narrating live so my mind was on two things. I’m not sure how I can do post narration yet, but if I figure it out I might use that instead so I can show people how to play while undistracted.


Any comments?



Here’s a link to the forum thread: http://kagforum.com/viewtopic.php?id=217

poniedziałek, 20 czerwca 2011

Test build released

I decided to release a test build parallel to the public version of KAG. You have the opportunity to play the latest dev release. There will be only a Windows version and we can play on my dev server (up to 12 players). So the testing is limited.


Be warned that there might be unexpected bugs that won’t allow to play the game.


With the first test version I want to test all the new features I added recently. Mainly CTF and the new collapsible physics code.


[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37O5ysbQXjo]


CTF is simpler than on the draft below. There is only one flag once 1 player is on each side.


Please post bugs/opinions about the test version on the forums. Please add a [TEST] marker in the topic so we know what version it refers to.


The changelog is located in the KAG directory in the file readme.txt. Please read it so that you know what has been added and don’t post confusing bug reports.


Download link.


Install this into a directory other than your default KAG installation eg. C:KAG_TEST
Later on updates for the dev release will be fetched automatically. My plan is to update this everyday if possible.

Woohoo! A really positive review appeared on DIYGamer.

Woohoo! A really positive review appeared on DIYGamer.

piątek, 17 czerwca 2011

Construction support

I’ve made a support system which means when you build something it will require support every few blocks so that it does not defy the laws of gravity. It is a very simple thing, the constructed block just falls when it is not properly supported. This will probably be the end of skybridges because they will be a lot harder to make.


This will be next release. I’m also coding a full physics engine for the blocks which means you will be able to bring down an entire castle if you destroy its supporting walls. That will come in the next few weeks.

czwartek, 16 czerwca 2011

Next release will introduce Capture the Flag gamemode. This is a draft/concept, not necessarily how it will look like.

wtorek, 14 czerwca 2011

Build 57 released

Lots of modifications, fixes and additions in this version. It’s best if you try it yourself. Updates download automatically once you start the game/server.


Gold sacks can’t go behind tent now.
This is added because the game will be more interesting if the sacks are in front of the team spawn instead of being hidden at the side of the map.


The most obvious new thing is gibbable (is that a word?) corpses and a radius of sight which allows you to spot yer gold easier.



Changes 51-57:


- fixed local player globally banned when bot banned
- my player is highlited in players list
- dead player collision radius is smaller
- build block cursor blink red if not enough material
- bomb now gibs people
- new death fall frame
- fixed ping kick not kicking
- bedrock layer lays on the bottom of each map
- modified bedrock look and amount
- bedrock bomb destroying leaves rocks
- bubble emote shows for 2 seconds after pressing key
- added mandatory vote kick typed reason
- vote caster displayed in vote box
- number of votes displayed
- vote dissapears if passes
- added radius of sight into earth
- fixed network errors and previous release lag
- added dirt block [experimental]
- added new config variable m_generator; specifies the map generator config file (default: “Scripts/generator.cfg”)
- knight destruction is 50% slower
- thick rock has its own destruction animation and takes longer to harvest
- thick rock takes 6 hits
- rock digging takes 5 hits
- ground digging takes 3 hits
- door needs 5 wood and 3 stone
- ladder needs 4 wood (10 in tree block)
- destroyed door gives 1 wood and 1 stone less
- trees are higher (more wood)
- sacks cannot go behind team tent
- cannot carry own team’s sack on to the enemy side of the map
- health is synced over network
- fixed sack team changed on client when picked up
- changed chat font
- increased small font size
- fixed mouse cursor stuck in menu
- if hit someone map isn’t hit

niedziela, 12 czerwca 2011

Hello

I just made my first interview about King Arthur’s Gold. You can read it on nightmaremode.net. It is also time to introduce myself, you will see that I am also the guy behind Soldat.


I also wrote a really long post about how I got to make KAG on my other blog. If you’re interested how it all started head on to http://mm.soldat.pl.

piątek, 10 czerwca 2011

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UpXs6VAlC9s?feature=oembed&w=500&h=374]

Working on new release. Here is a new death fall frame and explosion gibs!

środa, 8 czerwca 2011

Build 51 released

I’m working fast, I want to fix all the issues so I can focus on the pleasant parts of game making.


There is a bunch of fixes in this version. As well as graphical and network optimizations.


I added a new master ban. This means that if you get banned twice within a period of a few hours you will get banned on all servers for the rest of the day. You won’t be able to download servers lists or join servers. If you get banned by mistake please report the circumstances of when it happened. I will try to fix these issues.


There is also a new map block called Bedrock. It is indestructible. This should make the map more interesting, especially in later stages of the round when everything is dug up. Should also provide some interesting castle placement strategies.



And last but not least the long awaited Knight shield down block!



Changes build 49-51:


- added Show Minimap option to video options (turning off minimap increases performance)
- pixel particles don’t show up if FPS drops below 20
- fixed minimap colors
- fixed grass tile appearing as dirt
- added knight shield down
- optimized netcode: not sending entities out of sight
- gold tile appears more distinct than stone
- fixed console kick not banning
- fixed rcon player possible to kick
- removed invalid net object not found messages
- fixed respawn queues not deleted on client
- global banning added
  (if player gets banned twice in some period of time he gets global banned for a couple hours)
- added new bedrock block (indestructible)
- trees don’t grow now in holes-
- added error message appears if game runs without Administrator privileges
- tweaked speed hack detection
- added s_system config variable to set sound system (for troubleshooting)
    (KAG/Base/Scripts/autoconfig.gm - global s_system =
        0 - autodetect (default)
        1 - DirectSound 8
        2 - DirectSound
        3 - Win MM
        4 - ALSA (Linux)
        5 - Core Audio (MacOSX)
        6 - No sound)


The respawn seconds counter is disabled in this version, I know about this and will fix it later.

wtorek, 7 czerwca 2011

KAG's 1st month

I must admit I’m a bit overwhelmed. Both happy and overwhelmed by the response KAG has gotten. It all started somewhere on reddit and a bunch of people came in playing. Then there was:


Indie Games


PC Gamer


TIGSource


RockPaperShotgun


and yesterday


Kotaku


Everytime a big gaming news site writes about my game new people come and tons of problems come with them :). Every server I have and even don’t have, starts shutting down for some reason and instead of enjoying the flow of people I have to fix stuff. Murphy was right. Everything that can go wrong really goes wrong. Anyway, give me a pat on the back if you feel KAG is worth the effort.


I can’t wait to fix everything and start coding awesome stuff again. I think I’ve decided to switch the default game mode to Capture the Flag. Gold will be used for buying equipment or creating castle rooms.

poniedziałek, 6 czerwca 2011

Build 49 released

As promised I am dealing here with the most critical issues. Mostly spoilers like griefers and hackers. This might not be perfect and please report if you have new problems with this version.


There are a few gameplay changes like the addition of a random heart that spawns out of a slayed enemy. You can pick it up to restore health. This feature is experimental.

Anything, including ladders can now be built directly on a castle background wall without the need for support. This is added so that background walls have more use (before other features come).


There is a new block that can be mined, called thick stone. It has 3x the regular stone block stone amount. So you can build 3 castle blocks from it.



Changes build 45-49:


- smaller cursors
- new archer cursors
- servers list is read from cache incase master is down
- your player has a name tag at all times
- name tags are drawn above player
- fixed end game crash reason
- added healing heart spawning randomly from killed player [experimental]
- ladders can be built anywhere against backgrounds
- anything can be built directly on a castle background wall
- build block cursor snaps to build position
- disabled map border fadeout
- casting another vote time increased to 10 minutes
- default vote kick ban time increased to 60 minutes
- if player being voted disconnects he is banned automatically
- rcon authorized player cannot be kicked
- added basic speedhack protection
- added hand cursor on block placement
- autoupdater does chmod +x on .sh script files
- players banned by IP and additional unique ID
- local server always disconnects if joining foreign server
- fixed map dimensions being too small
- added thick stone resource block (3x stone)
- fixed infinite ground background ladders
- added autorestarting functionality on new build release


To whoever is finding holes in the server security: give me a means of contact and we can work on improving the code.


If you installed KAG in a folder with spaces or () (like C:program files) move the game to c:kag for the autoupdater to work. This is a bug that will be fixed.

I’m gonna be dealing with a number of issues that prevent happy gaming in the next release. It should be out today or tomorrow.

czwartek, 2 czerwca 2011

Forum and Wiki are live!

Official King Arthur’s Gold forum & wiki website are online and ready for you to participate in community action!


Forums: http://kagforum.com


Wiki: http://kagwiki.com


The GetSatisfaction page is more for direct issues, problems and for voting ideas (and for giving praise:). Forums are more of a discussion thing where you can hangout and talk with your game enemies (or friends).

Build 45 released

I am dealing with the most critical issues in this release. There are also some new graphics, including a majestic title screen made by Geti!




I’ve spent some time on optimizations so the game squeezes a few more FPS now, which might be an issue with lots of players.


Note about the changelog: some entries from now on will be labeled as [experimental]. This means that I want to try something out. If it is good it will stay, if not it will be removed in the next release. So feedback about these changes is especially appreciated.



Changes 40-45:


- local games do not register in server list
- menu is higher when items go under screen
- fixed missing tutorial display
- server list can now scroll
- fixed infinite rock catapult exploit
- can’t build or fire in break time (temporary fix for server crash)
- all objects are destroyed on server first (server crash on restart fix)
- optimized tile rendering speed by 10-20%
- optimized offscreen particle effects
- optimized too far sounds
- fixed generator crash
- default windowed mode
- added “chmod +x KAG” to dedicatedserver.sh
- fixed dead player floating up
- dead players fall off ladders
- fixed fall through map
- new cursors
- new resources graphics
- fixed crash after kick on client
- new title screen & menu colors
- master servers sends only servers with same build number
- tutorial poster runs automatically after game installation
- added icon for shortcuts
- knight has 1 heart more health [experimental]

środa, 1 czerwca 2011

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kroakAVTL2E?feature=oembed&w=500&h=374]

The old trailer was a bit dated so I made a new one with fresh footage from the latest version. Enjoy! Please link to this video if you are reviewing the game or just spreading the word to your friends. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kroakAVTL2E)