My multiplayer RTS

[WILL]

Very nice looking great so far.

[pjpdev]

Looks great... Keep up the good work.

[Reiter]

I am impressed by the examples. However about the netcode I am also unsure as Jdarling already mentioned:

if it were that easy all game companies would be doing it

Companies like Blizzard Entertainment (SC, WC, ...) which always had a strong focus on smooth and clean network code would probably have introduced such a technique. These features are also one reason for their titles success at all. - However, I hope you prove me wrong !

[User137]

Major games want quick reaction times, this kind of network code may not provide that if you understand how synchronized ticks would work. It may be roughly usable in game like starcraft (IF it didn't have fov but it does so it is not usable) but take fps, diablo or world of warcraft like game this would not work.

And for another downside, if you disconnect for some reason you have to transfer image of the whole game situation. To do that you have to be quick enough for catching up (caching the ticks that pass while starting up) with the normal packets or stop the whole world while doing that.

As for current status:
- There is now 2000 polygon mothership class ship with "plasma" animated hull, (not completely happy with model yet) but i got wild ideas for big lightning based attacks for it And being as logical defence mechanism also.
- Matter-beam pylons are modelled and put in game and i'm happy enough for those to be final.
- Water is seamless with map but looks bad depending on map size.

[User137]

The mothership first prototype (fully animated, don't know if i should use that high poly version..):
http://i39.tinypic.com/ay4zt5.jpg

- Mothership consists of 2 layers of texture-animated vertex arrays + particles
(Object renderer is dynamic enough to allow anykind of effects and object mixing)
- Minimap texture now more accurately reflects the terrain and follows mouse clicks
- Water seamless and properly scaling
- Network code has been in the "mind process" for long time and is starting to prove simpler than i first thought, though some remain unclear until tested. I can likely use current physics completely as is. Thought about joining while game is in process, it should be possible without stopping world.. needs queue that is just a little complicated. Basically i can first send all static data like terrain and then start queuing and send everything dynamic.

[NecroDOME]

Looks nice with the shadow!

[chronozphere]

wow.. It looks really... eh... alien.

Great work!

[User137]

(First apologies for long delay which will still vaguely continue. If you want to help with project in any way i have msn available.)

Hmm.. you may scrap the idea of that mothership, i have Maybe much different kind will be in though later.

I've had much time to think things and i still don't doubt the possibility to do this in network realtime. This is not like starcraft, the system is entirely different.

I will rethink the terrain completely in light of new idea that has risen... This fight will not be held on planet surface, but above it. I want camera that is completely free to zoom, rotate and show beautiful atmospheric imagery, stars and sunlight! I realized that it is very necessary to control the big army, creating HUD for unit groups across the planet. It's all hectic amount of work incoming but i want game that i like to play, really want to play.

Mechanic race travels the stars with big colony ships, planting the "seed" that is structure enough for player to establish a mining colony and in the end gather enough resources to dominate and secure the planet. It will be the basis to build new colony ships and galactic fighters to support in the big battles which this game does not cover. However i might make a galaxy little similar to Spore in which players can join each planet at the time and continue the conflict (however i don't think i will make any central server or such). Take it as single/2/4.. player campaign to take over the galaxy.

So.. big problem will be rendering the planet itself which can also be a gas giant. In my mind of mining colony i see starbase like structures, matter beams sweeping the surface, energy stores and so forth... with quite sophisticated user interface.

What i have done though is testing throughly my TCP/IP component to see how i will handle sending and receiving data, that is now very clear. There are limits if i send too much packets too fast the socket buffer will get filled and destroy data without telling me anything. Each client had unique buffer which are handled smoothly even if both send data simultaneously in between each other. I will propably do first TCP test before the terrain change.

[User137]

Had this funny idea again on moving from Delphi to world of open source and Free Pascal... and this time it became real!
http://i49.tinypic.com/2v7ugxk.jpg

My graphics and game libraries are in biggest parts converted to work with Lazarus and Free Pascal so i don't ever have to worry about licensing stuff anymore. Besides the UI is extremely good, in some ways better than Delphi. Biggest problems were with PNG and JPG alpha channeled loading functions but after little reading they are now propably faster and better than before.

Simplicity for adding textures to project still remains:

tex.AddTexture('mypng','textures\image.png',true); // transparency enabled
tex.AddTexture('mybmp','textures\image2.bmp');

Edit: Network component's propably going to be Synapse.

[Reiter]

Had this funny idea again on moving from Delphi to world of open source and Free Pascal... and this time it became real!

Whenever I see a chance to substitute some software by an open alternative without losing all the benefits I would do it. Good decision !