Alien Runner W.I.P

[EgonOlsen]

As mentioned in the "new version" thread, i've started working on a kind of racing game, Alien Runner is the working title.


This is the first working version with placeholder objects, random level setups and a lot of glitches.

[EgonOlsen]

This is the current state:


Jumping over wood...


Passing the gates...

It has some less glitches, some optical enhancements like better lighting, blob shadows and particles as well as a basic level loader (but no real levels yet...).

[EgonOlsen]

Most of the actual level elements are in place now. I've added collectable items (little diamonds) and water pool that slows you down. Controls have improved too.


Water pool in the distance and collecting a diamond


Destroying a wall by bumping into it multiple times


Collecting again...

[raft]

looks very nice how do you make the shiny effect of diamonds and wall particles ? they are not actual 3d particles i suppose..

[EgonOlsen]

The glow is a textured plane with a white spot texture with alpha (BTW: beware of the the default conversion to 16bit that AE applies to textures. It somehow has a problem with alpha channels...i have to look into that) located in the middle of the diamond. The rubble is just a simple particle effect with particles using a rubble texture.

[raft]

when does this 16 bit conversion occur ? when creating the texture or loading the image from resource ? i tend to load images with oldy class.getResourceAsStream(..) method as it's the most portable way

so all the rubble pieces are different planes ?

[EgonOlsen]

When uploading the texture to the GPU, i.e. at the latest possible stage. The rubble pieces are simple textured, billboarded triangles that act like as if they were emitted by a fountain...just like the stars in Robombs when you collect an item.

[EgonOlsen]

The alpha/16bit-issue is fixed now. I've uploaded a new jar of AE.

[EgonOlsen]

Added some stuff like score- and time counter, multi colored crystals, achievements...the only major thing that's still missing is a virtual opponent (like a ghost car in some racnig games).

Right now, i'm working to get a good "flow", i.e. to make the racing fun...not too easy and not too difficult, let a slow down feel just right, limit the jumps...that kind of stuff. The method that does the player's physics already looks pretty terrible...

[EgonOlsen]

The "ghost player" has been added in its basic form and some level decorations are in. Due to the latest improvements to the engine's core and some optimizations in the game's code itself, it isn't any slower than before.

Oh, and the sky now has soft scrolling instead of being static.

[zammbi]

Looking great. Going to try sell this one? Since there is a lack of nice 3d games(none really running on low dervices) you might get some good money

[Thomas.]

How can I create skybox, please? ... something like is in your game...

[EgonOlsen]

It's not a skybox, it's just a bitmap blitted into the background. That's cheaper performance wise and for this game, it works just fine. If you have to use a real skybox or -dome, i tend to put the dome/box object in another world and render it in the same framebuffer. Just like i did with the skydome in this example: http://www.jpct.net/wiki/index.php/Advanced_example

[Thomas.]

Ok, thanks, I try it 

[EgonOlsen]

Looking great. Going to try sell this one? Since there is a lack of nice 3d games(none really running on low dervices) you might get some good money

I thought about it, but i think i'll make this game a free one for various reasons. If it performs well, i can still create some commercial stuff on top of it if i want to.