Alternate Reality X - Next Steps

Firstly I feel I should explain my long silence on these pages, the forums and the ARX facebook page. Since August 2013 I've been extremely busy at work and at home with some big work related projects and deadlines, changes within my family, some travelling away from home and then to top it all off various family illnesses (myself included). Nothing serious but something had to give and that was my game development interests. All of these have meant that I have had little or no time to spend on Alternate Reality X. Anyway I am back now and keen to get back to work on ARX. Thanks for your patience and continued support during this time. Sorry for not keeping you up to date. Whilst all the above has been going on I've been thinking about ARX and my next steps for when life became less frantic.

I've been struck recently by how buggy the current version is and how my code is now desperately in need of a major overhaul. It's frustrating for players to put a lot of their valuable time into playing the game, only to come up against some serious bugs that I'm not aware of or have not had time to fix yet. I'm not beating myself up for this as I've effectively learnt everything I know about game programming through the course of developing ARX so it's not surprising that a lot of what is there has not been implemented in the best possible way and is not very flexible. I'd like that to change and I have a few ideas how to go about it.

I've also a strong desire to make it much more accessible in terms of multiple platforms (Mac OS X, Android etc). I've just bought an Ouya and I've had a great time trying that out and would love to make a version of ARX available on it. For those of you not familiar with the Ouya it's an Android based "micro-console" based around a Nvidia Tegra 3 chipset similar to a Nexus 7 tablet. It's available with a controller for $99 in the US and £99 in the UK and all the games are free to try. It's targeted very much at the small or independent developer and appears to be right up my street for the sort of the games and development I'm interested in. I was playing The Dungeon on it (under C64 emulation) on my living room TV yesterday which was pretty cool. As the Ouya is Android based, any games I develop for it would be easily ported to other Android devices. Windows will remain the primary platform for any development.

I'm not looking to change the basic presentation of the game much in terms of the current 3D engine and the 2D display for encounters and menus but I would like to bring it more up to date and make it easier for new players and players on other platforms to enjoy. There is Android and iOS support for SFML in progress and the new release of Unity 3D now provides functionality for making 2D game production easier (which ARX primarily is). Unity of course allows you to build different versions of your game across multiple platforms very easily. SilverAR has been working on his Unity AR so I wouldn't want to tread on his toes but his project is very different to mine, being a modern, full 3D Alternate Reality.

Probably a bit premature just now but I've started looking at firms who can produce printed boxes - I would love to have real fold out boxes similar to the original ones that Alternate Reality shipped in and full printed manuals (on the green / yellow paper of course!). Everything would be rewritten to expand on the original City and Dungeon documents.

 

I've also got several pieces of great artwork from Ted which I want to get out to players as soon as possible as they will really enhance the game in my opinion.

Let me know your thoughts.

Collection Fever

I blame YouTube. A few of the channels I subscribe to have had videos recently where people have received boxes full of classic PC games or have unboxed old computers I have fond memories of. Last week I browsed through eBay for old computers, games and accessories and I've been taking a regular look since then. I hadn't realised how active the vintage computer market was.



My first console - An Odyssey 2 known to me in the UK as a Phillips G7000
 

I haven't bought anything yet but I came close to buying a Commodore 64 on eBay. It wasn't quite what I was looking for though (in terms of accessories and games) and the final bidding went a bit higher than I thought it would. You can even search for Commodore 64's and buy them through Amazon it appears! In addition I really want to create a much more comfortable work and play environment / office at home with a proper desk. This would provide enough space for a couple of old timer computers in addition to my main work set up.

The original model of the Commodore 64 which I had back in the 1980s

If I do go ahead and buy some old equipment I want to use it - I don't want to just have them sit in a cupboard or gather dust. I would play some of the original games and would possibly be interested in trying a bit of old style game development. It seems the tools are out there now to make this a lot easier. Maybe a "Stone of the Citadel" "light" edition on the Commodore 64 :)

So what would I be interested in? My first console / computer was an Odyssey 2 but I never really liked it very much so I think I would skip that. An original "Breadboard" Commodore 64 would be my first choice. I was lucky enough to get a new C64 when I was about 11 years old and had it up until the 1990s. Lot's of memories of playing Elite, Alternate Reality: The Dungeon and Ultima IV -  good times. I followed that with an Amiga 500 which I went on to replace with an Amiga 1200 when it was released. The Amiga 1200 was reluctantly sold about 1995 to pay for a holiday to Egypt when a promised job extension fell through. A decent Atari 8bit machine and Spectrum (rubber keys version of course!) would also be good. Which model of Atari would people recommend as I'm not really up to speed with the various models. Obviously it would need to play Alternate Reality well! I'm also interested in picking up old games across most platforms - mainly RPGs.

The original Commodore Amiga 500 which I used to play Eye of the Beholder and Speedball 2

I also fired up the CCS64 emulator and had a lot of fun with my son playing Commando, Elite and Delta. He especially enjoyed Commando (which reminds me to get Mame set up properly some time) and just kept having "one more go". Just shows how a 30 year old computer can still be fun for a child who has access to the modern gaming platforms.

Do you have any tips or stories on collecting? Either post on the blog or drop me an email at acrin1 @ gmail . com. Any reasonably priced, good sources, preferably in the United Kingdom but will look internationally too. Funds don't allow for spending much so I'll be looking over the long term but would love to hear any related advice or experiences.

Alternate Reality X - The end is in sight!

Taking a break from enhancing the combat in Alternate Reality X I thought I would add some of the final elements of the game such as the Dungeon's final level and the end game. It's nice to get a change of focus and pace from time to time and helps to prevent me getting burnt out by working on the same thing for too long. Now that I have the final pieces of the game completed I will fill in the remaining gaps so that all the quests are complete and the game can be played through to completion. There isn't much more to add to make that possible other than putting in a few special locations - most of which are simple coding wise as they are not very interactive.

Exploring a strange corridor in Alternate Reality X

 

I thought about posting some additional screenshots from this section but didn't want to risk spoiling the ending of the game by posting the final screens and text for those who may not have seen them before. Hopefully these other screens will keep you going in the meantime.

Where will the elevator take you?

We just might have a completed Alternate Reality X by the end of 2013 which would make me very happy. Thanks for your continued support.

Donations & Update

As you are probably aware if you're following my project updates I accept donations for my work on the Alternate Reality X project and set this up a while back after a few supporters of the project asked me how they could donate to support the future development of the project.

If you've not yet made a donation towards Alternate Reality X, value the work I've put into the project and would like to see it continue to develop further then please consider making a donation via PayPal. The links are available from the Facebook page, the website and this blog. Any amount, however small is always appreciated and I obviously realise that everyone's means and situation is different. If you've already made a donation then I'm sincerely grateful and really appreciate the support you've provided for the project - thank you. It means a lot to me and helps me value and justify (to myself) my work on ARX and the time I put into it. It's good to see that other people value the time that's been invested.

I've mentioned before that it can sometimes be hard to justify the time that I'm spending working on Alternate Reality X to my family. As always there is never enough time to get everything done so I have to prioritise my time accordingly. Fit game development in with a full time job, household chores and admin and a young family and time is a valuable commodity. At least if I can occasionally say that all the hours I'm putting into the project has resulted in a little bit of money here and there then people are a bit more accommodating.

Reading some of the comments or requests on the forums I think it's easy for people to underestimate just how much time it takes to add a new feature or fix an annoying bug within ARX. Often the seemingly trivial features are the ones that take the most work.

I think I'm doing well this year with 7 releases of Alternate Reality X during 2013 so far, averaging about one per month. This is already the same number as I created in 2012 so it's looking fairly positive to date for 2013 :)

My development machine decided to give up the ghost yesterday so my next step is to sort that out before I get going on release 0.65. After that the next area I'm planning to work on is to expand the whole encounter and combat part of ARX so that it includes surprises, waylay, blocks, dropping weapons etc. Basically working to complete the combat system so that it has all the features of the City and the Dungeon. I've also got a bit more work to do on potions (which also relate to combat). I also want to start adding the remaining Dungeon establishments now that the City ones are all in place.

Thanks for your support.

Alternate Reality X - Release 0.64 Now Available

Release 0.64 of Alternate Reality X is now available from the download pages over at:

www.crpgdev.com.

I've added the final City establishment - the City Healers - to the game, City style potions, poison, diseases and a number of bug fixes. All 44 types of potion can be found in the game but several of them will need some work in the next release to be a 100% completed. Treasure Finding is working though and directly influences the probability of finding treasure after an encounter - something which people had mentioned in the last release. Potions are easier to find in this version than they will be in the final version to give players the chance to try them out.

The full list of changes include:

• Added City Healers - Includes heal wounds, cure disease, remove alcohol and remove delusions
• Added City style potions as treasure - Examine, Sip, Taste and Quaff
• Added Treasure Finding stat
• Added diseases and poisons and their effects
• Updated the wandering healer for the above
• Updated main menu with new image / layout
• Updated "Active Magic" and "Known Diseases" displays
• Added compass images from Jason and added background for use with large 3D window
• Added new guard / warrior encounter image from Ted
• Reduced encounter frequency
• Fixed Bug #027: Game hangs on second play through when creating character
• Fixed Bug #028: Compass images hard to see in full screen mode and needed position adjusting
• Fixed Bug #029: Crash when pressing ESC from Use object menu
• Fixed Bug #030: Shop stock items not saved as part of save game 
• Fixed Bug #031: Tavern and shop stock items not refreshed each day
• Fixed Bug #032: Guild lyrics display too quickly
• Fixed Bug #033: Death lyrics display too quickly

If you would like to support the continued development of Alternate Reality X then please consider making a donation towards my time and web site costs via the PayPal link on the blog, ARX Facebook page or website.

My Micro RPG in 24 hours

I've been very busy over the last few weeks with family and work activities which hasn't left much time for game development but I've been busy planning the next update to Alternate Reality X and carrying out research for my own original game. I'm still getting up to speed with Unity and have been inspired by reading some interesting articles from my two favourite blogs - The CRPG Addict and Tales of the Rampant Coyote.

One of my long time issues with game development is the classic problem of trying to create something which is beyond my abilities, too time consuming or too epic in scope. I was interested to hear over on Matt Chat that Richard Garriott of Ultima fame wrote over 20 smaller RPGs before he wrote Akalabeth. This game Akalabeth in turn became the basis for Ultima I.

The gave me the idea of writing a very small game in a short space of time to help me get up to speed on Unity 3D. It also gives me a completed game project and a personal confidence boost. The intention is to wrap this up in say 24 hours of development time maximum. It's not practical for me to do the 24 hours straight so this will be a couple of hours at a time. For what I have in mind this should be feasible. I spent about an hour yesterday and came up with the example room below which I was happy with.

Exploring a room in the old castle

 



Here's what I have in mind:

• Single Character
• Simple Character Creation - possibly limited to naming your character
• Simple inventory
• Single Quest - recover a stolen item and leave the castle alive
• Static map level - built using a small set of building blocks
• Random encounters using a text based system (e.g. Might and Magic 1, Alternate Reality)
• Random treasure from encounters
• Optional - Shop where you can buy weapon upgrades or healing
• Optional - Add some further back story and lore for my Stone of the Citadel game
• Optional - Add some additional map levels
• Optional - Add a few spells

I'm thinking of something with about the same level of interaction as an Ultima 1 Dungeon or a Might and Magic 1 level. Should be fun.

 

 

Alternate Reality X - Release Roadmap - May 2013

Updated: 22nd May 2013

 

At the time of writing release 0.63 of Alternate Reality X is now available. Ths list below includes unimplemented and new features. Release 1.0 will include all the content and features of the original City and Dungeon scenarios. It will be fully playable with all the quests completed plus a few more extras which will be unique to ARX. I have not included dates at this point and intend to keep implementation flexible but have grouped features in the major release sections where I think it's most likely they will be added to ARX. I would typically expect around 2-3 releases per group. New art, sound and music assets will be added to the game across multiple releases.

I'll update this as I expand it and probably put it into a tabular format so I can tick off each item as work on it is completed. The list is likely to get longer initially as I add more items and expand some of the individual items into smaller pieces of work.

 

Comments as always welcomed.

--

Release 0 .6x

• Major changes to the object and inventory system for dynamic object creation such as clothing and custom weapons
• Further work on City Shops
• Add City Healers
• Add experience modifiers following successful encounter 
• Display clean ups across resolutions and different display options
• Add check for successful retreat from encounters
• Adjust encounter frequency as currently seem too frequent in City
• Potions - City Style - sip, taste, quaff etc
• Merchant - trade for timepieces or compass (via menu)
• Use crystal to charge guild ring
• Thieves stealing items
• Devourer "devouring" items
• Add encounter treasure item - eyes
• Add some of the remaining combat features (surprise, waylay, flee, summon spell cast, block, disarm etc)

 

Release 0.7x

• Add duration based spells - Strength, Dexterity, Charisma, Fireblade
• Add combat spells - Cold Blast
• Spells (nearly all)
• Add additional encounter tables for the Dungeon
• Add Rathskeller Bar & Grille
• Add all encounter weapons
• Add encounter treasure items - scrolls, eyes, wands, horns, cards etc
• Add Dungeon Level 4
• Add effects of hunger, thirst and alcohol
• Add "Examine Items or Spells" option - Low priority
• Add Dungeon level 1 and 2 special locations and quests

Release 0.8x

• Add Dungeon Smithy
• Add Bank Vaults
• Add Weapon Enchantress
• Add Dungeon Chapel
• Add Smithy animation
• Add Dungeon level 3 and 4 special locations and quests
• Add remaining unique treasure items
• Weapon durability, breaks and repairs
• Darkness - light spell, torch light, helm of light

Release 0.9x

• Add Encounter animation scheme
• Add City Rain and Storm effects
• Add any remaining Dungeon quests & locations
• Add Dungeon ending sequence
• Add curses, diseases and poison
• Turn point + sub square movement (possibly)
• Delete saved game
• More info on saved game - time and date, char level, location etc

Release 1.0

• Add the AR introduction sequence
• Produce the ARX manual and supporting documents
• Add an ARX icon
• Everything else I've forgotten!

Alternate Reality X - Release 0.63 Now Available

Release 0.63 is now available for download from the downloads page at www.crpgdev.com. It includes the much requested City shops. I've started work on the City Healers but there is a bit more to do and there is still some furtehr work to do on the Shops to make them similar to the original City.  This release contains:

• Added City shops - core functionality including randomised stock, viewing, buying and wearing
• Trying to close program now brings up options screen for save & quit
• Adjusted gate counter speed to make it closer to the original games
• Code to adjust lyric speed against different processors by Scott
• Improved timings for lyric files for City Smithy (both original and new music versions)
• Fixed Tavern opening and closing times

If you like what I'm doing and wish to support the project's future development please consider making a small donation from the blog, webpages or ARX facebook page link.

More updates coming soon!

Thanks,
Acrin1

Alternate Reality X - City Shops

I think I'm going to need more money!

I've been very busy working on various tweaks over the last few days for the next release of Alternate Reality X which is now coming up to 0.63. I hope to have this out today or tomorrow. Possibly the most visible change in 0.63 will be the addition of City Shops. This is the one feature that people repeatedly seem to ask about so I thought I would try and add it to this next release. I now have it working fairly well and just need to set up the code to vary the clothing stock at the 15 different shops in the City.

Exploring with my new outfit

 

I've still a few more details to add such as adjusting the clothing costs for each of the shops but hopefully you should be able to finally buy some clothing your City character after years of wandering!

Alternate Reality X - Release 0 .63 and Spreading the word

Making the artwork and display more consistent for release 0.63

I've started work on release 0.63 and will be aiming to finish off any pieces of gameplay that are only partially completed (like the D & P Provisions in 0.62 for example) as well as adding some brand new parts to the game that people have been asking for. I'm also working on tidying up some of the display settings and making the old and new media and display more consistent.

If you get the chance please spread the word about Alternate Reality X through any forums or websites you use where you think there might be an interest in this type of project. Or alternatively drop me a note of any webpages or forums where you think I should post updates.

If you like the work I've done on Alternate Reality X so far then you might consider making a small donation from the blog page, via the webpages at www.crpgdev.com or using the link on the ARX facebook page.

Best wishes,
Acrin1

Alternate Reality X - Release 0.62 Now available

Release 0.62 of ARX is now available for download at http://www.crpgdev.com/downloads.html. It includes additional Tavern features and allows you to buy provisions at the Dungeon Damon & Pythias shop. If you find yourself struggling in the City and you've previously made friends at a tavern then you may receive some help.

The Plan

Thanks to those of you who have posted your suggestions, thoughts and observations about Alternate Reality X in response to my concerns and worries. These gave me a lot to think about and I now see a much clearer plan forming.

I agree it seems a shame to not finish the City and Dungeon - my original goal was very clearly to ONLY build these two existing scenarios and stop there. Looking back this seemed to be a very sensible approach given how much I underestimated the work that was involved in just the 2 original scenarios.

Based on suggestions and comments I've received I think I might have a better solution in mind and now understand the real areas which concern me and how to avoid them. I think when I stood back and looked at what I was trying to complete I felt the overall package just wasn't achieveable. I was considering all the remaining work for the City and Dungeon PLUS new brand new scenarios PLUS moving everything over to Unity 3D. Add that to my concerns about putting my own original content and ideas into something which I have no ownership of and you can see why I was concerned.

My plans probably won't keep everybody happy but I've outlined below what I have in mind.

• Finish ARX as a combined City and Dungeon game using my existing code and software set up (e.g. C++, SFML, OpenGL). I will keep all the original place names, maps and content. This will give me the satisfaction of completing what I originally set out to do, bringing proper closure to ARX (for me) and hopefully giving most ARX followers and supporters the core 2 games in one nice integrated game that they can still enjoy. The experience would still be unique as you have the opporutnities and dynamics of being able to move backwards and forwards between both scenarios.
• I would not develop the other scenarios within ARX but the option would be there for others to possibly take on further scenario or ARX development once the core City and Dungeon were completed. A number of people have expressed an interest in getting involved in coding for ARX and I think would be particularly interested in taking a completed City and Dungeon and expanding them.
• I will develop my new game using Unity 3D as I planned. It's fairly clear in my mind how this will shape up and what sort of CRPG it will and won't be but I'll save the details for a future post. A lot of my experiences working on ARX will be a big help with setting up what I believe will be some of the more difficult parts of the game. Comments I received on games in general were a great reminder or pointer of what I want to achieve in my own game. I want to capture some of those feelings I had playing Ultima, the Bards Tale and of course Alternate Reality and the spirit of these pioneering games.

Whilst there will be quite a lot of common RPG style code and functionality between the projects I think it's unlikely at this point that I will move ARX to Unity. It really depends how confident and quickly my development in Unity comes along in the next few months.

 

By keeping ARX focused on the City and the Dungeon as I originally planed and focusing my new work and ideas on my Unity based project, I think I'll avoid a lot of the problems that I was worried about. I'll be taking things steady, take my time and whilst I will be providing a "roadmap" of sorts for ARX don't be surprised if it doesn't contain any dates, just be confident that work will continue.

 

Best wishes,

Acrin1

Thoughts about Alternate Reality X

Alternate Reality Online

 

I recently started reading through the old Alternate Reality Mailing List archives at: http://www.alternaterealityarchive.com/ and it made me think carefully about my own attempts to recreate / port the Alternate Reality series of games to more modern platforms. If you're interested in Alternate Reality I'd recommend you take some time to read through the archives (starting with the oldest entries).

Back in the early days of the mailing list it was not uncommon to have the creator of Alternate Reality, Philip Price post on the mailing list. Dan Pinal and Ken Jordan who designed and programmed Alternate Reality: The Dungeon also posted regularly. Whilst browsing through the posts I came across posts relating to the new AR Online which Philip was set to create working with Monolith and later his plans for a version of AR which he was going to create in his spare time. Sadly neither ARO or the later version progressed beyond the early stages.



There was lots of enthusiasm from fans (including myself) who wanted to try and recreate their own version of AR. Some generated a lot of excitement, others had brief tech demos but that was as far as they went. My first effort was made using Mike Roberts excellent TADS3 Interactive Fiction system (see http://www.tads.org/index.htm ). It allowed you to move around an overhead map of the Dungeon and City (using the original data) but  you could visit Dungeon establishments, buy and sell items and join guilds. It wasn't possible to create a real 3D view with TADS3 so I moved onto SDL, then using OpenGL and then SFML. I've become a parent again, changed jobs twice and moved house during the time I've worked on my Alternate Reality. I first started working on my TADS3 AR remake in 2004. Obviously development has not been constant since then but even so that's quite some time on my part!

One of the things I came across was a roadmap from Philip Price for his remake in his spare time which interested me after my own attempts to produce a roadmap for this project. It was high level but what struck me was that his new Alternate Reality was always going to be very different to the original game, even back in 1997.

Alternate Reality Online - Creating your character

I'm now at something of a crossroads regarding my own efforts to port or recreate Alternate Reality. I still haven't completed the basic port of the City and the Dungeon let alone start work on the new scenarios other than outlining the content on paper.

Philip was understandable tight lipped about his ideas for the new AR back in 1997 - 2000 and I can understand why. For whatever reason he hasn't been able to or has decided not to revive AR but he may still create a new AR game. There could be a Philip Price AR kickstarter just around the corner for all I know and that would leave my efforts where? My investment in creating new scenarios would be very significant and would really be almost 100% my own ideas so why would I tie myself to copyrighted material that I can't control. Alternatively Philip could contact me at any point and ask me to cancel the project because there was something he wasn't happy with. If that happened I would respect and adhere to his wishes.The unknowns and the copyright issue concern me a lot these days with so much significant work still to do.

I've been asked to put together only very small expansions for the Arena, Palace and Wilderness but that's never appealed to me for this project and I don't think would be respectful to Philip's original game. Sure I could slap a couple of quick maps together and a handful of new encounter types and some basic quests but that wouldn't be the AR most of us were hoping for.

Many of you have suggested a kickstarter for ARX or alternatives. I would love to do a CRPG kickstarter and whilst I might not get a single backer at least I would be failing or suceeding on my own merits and need have no concerns about copyright issues or that I'm on dubious legal ground. I can't do that for an AR related or copyrighted AR type project. If I do a kickstarter it would be for a game of my own which did not contain any copyrighted material or names. And yes I would like to make some money for my work when we're talking about a significant investment of my time.

I have lots of ideas for new gameplay which I haven't really seen elsewhere and don't really want to tie my own original ideas to someone else's copyrighted work. I realise some of you will be disappointed with my comments or planned approach here but I've given it a lot of thought. I didn't have the skills or tools back when I started my AR remake to have the opportunity to create the game I wanted but I now feel that is possible. My investment in time for development projects needs to be considered against my family, work and financial commitments.

Alternate Reality Online - New tavern interface

I sometimes feel I've made a rod for my own back by sticking too closely to the original games, trying to emulate the originals AND provide a more up to date alternative. What I do want to do is create a CRPG which is as enjoyable as AR and learns from its innovation but I no longer feel I can afford to be tied to its legacy or its original look. It has been a bit of surprise for me how even minor interface or content changes from the original have upset people. However on the other side many people feel my AR if far too close to the original and limited by the content or technology style of the original series. The feedback I have is that many people don't want a carbon copy. I don't feel I can continue to attempt to serve everyone's needs within this one project. I'm not talking about creating a bland AR rip off with all the names removed but one which players of AR (and other classic games) would enjoy which is providing a gameplay experience and level of detail which the popular RPGs today don't necessarily meet.

Let me know what you think whether via the blog, forums or by email to acrin1 @ googlemail.com

Nothing is set in stone of course and anything could happen in the next few months or year but this is the general direction I'm intending to take with my development project for the time bring.Thanks for all your support and encouragement they have been greatly appreciated and I hope you'll continue to keep an eye on developments here.

Future CRPG Developments

Thanks to those of you who were kind enough to send me documents, resources and even your own 3D models for Unity 3D. I've not had the chance to go through everything yet but they look really useful and have given me a real flavour of the possibilities of development in Unity. I've decided that I will be moving my development projects over to Unity 3D from now on; the benefits far outweigh the negatives in my opinion.

I believe I must have spent hundreds of hours working on my Alternate Reality port development and if I'm honest it's not as complete as I expected it to be. If I'd known when I first started looking into it and poking around with the maps that I'd still be working on it in 2013 I think I would have run a mile! It's become very hard work at times as the project has reached a significant size. I've learnt a lot from working on the project and I'm still learning all the time as well as improving my skills but a lot of my time has been spent "recreating the wheel". At this point with some significant code changes needed in ARX to properly handle objects I don't feel it would make sense for me to continue using my current home brew system.



Trying out a free model in a Unity scene

Unity 3D has the advantage that it's an all in one development system so I can do a search on creating a mini map, an inventory system or rain effects for example and I will get dozens of links and videos suggesting how to produce the effects or functionality I'm looking for. It's all provided in one, nice integrated package. You only need to do a quick search on YouTube to see there are hundreds of tutorials and examples of Unity and how to use it. Compare that to my current development where I need to read up on issues relating to C++, OpenGL (for 3D), SFML for my media library and Visual Studio or Code Blocks for my development environment. That's a long list! SFMLs use of OpenGL has also nagged me a bit as many Windows players don't have the correct OpenGL drivers installed. I'll be doing some tests on older kit with Unity to see how well it runs.

Once you have a working Unity game you can publish it to Mac, Linux, Web and mobile platforms relatively easily (ok I'll need to buy into optional upgrades of Unity for Apple IOS and Android versions but it's there ready to tap into when the time is right).



Web Player, PC or Mac?

Now I'm not naive enough to believe that Unity is going to write my game for me but I do think it is likely to make me more productive and so far I'm having fun using it which is why I started doing this in the first place. I'll still have to write lots of code (in javascipt, C# or Boo) but there are thousands of examples online and it all appears to be well documented and a lot of the core game functionality can be handled through game objects or properties. So far it's been a pleasant environment to work in. So far I've had an on screen graphical inventory up, a menu system and and my own mountains and wilderness to explore created in very little time. I think once I've got a better grip on the basics I believe I'll be able to make much more rapid progress.

When it comes to creating additional scenarios or environments the other problem we're already running into is limited art assets. Unity has an extensive asset store with a mixture of free and payable assets, many of a high quality. It also supports a variety of 3D model types. It took me minutes to find and download some reasonable free models and import them into my Unity scene.

From the messages I've received most people seem to think that Unity is a good move forward. I think it will provide some security for the project as Unity seems to have a large community and in the event that I stopped working on it, others would be able to pick it up and continue work. A more polished engine and game are likely to get more players interested in the game who will in turn improve the chances of the complete series being developed.

Hopefully you'll agree that this is the right way forward and still feel supportive towards the project. One chapter may be coming to a close but I think an exciting one is about to begin.

Exploring Unity 3D

I've just got home after being away for over a week so I've not done any further work on Alternate Reality X during that time. However I spent a few hours today familiaring myself with the basics of the free version of the Unity game development system and I'm pleased with the results so far. On first use it seems like a very powerful system to use.

Exploring the Wilderness in my first Unity 3D effort?

I've tried out Unity before but have never really sat down with a clear objective in mind and tried to learn some of the basics. I'm reading Beginning 3D Game Development with Unity by Sue Blackman and so far I've managed to put together a few scenes and have my character move around in a full 3D environment. After creating some simple terrain using the built in tools and then adding mountains, hills and clearings I was able to add my character and walk around the landscape I'd just created. I have to say I enjoyed the moment where I climbed to the top of a clearing and a series of mountains loomed into my view.

My map from above and players view in the game window

I also played around a bit with creating the user interface and found some nice free assets on the Unity web site for creating menus, text and buttons. I've also been researching how Unity would work for more traditional 3D Dungeons and walls such as those in but without the limitations or visual restrictions that my current system has. From my research and the contents of the book it seems that people have used Unity to create all sorts of games from role playing games, first person shooters to 2D point and click adventures.

The next thing I'm keen to try is converting one of the City or Dungeon maps into a Unity scene with a few nice extras which I would have struggled to implement. I'm excited by the possibilities but I won't rush into making any decisions just yet.

Let me know what you think.

Alternate Reality X - Release 0.61 Now Available!

"New" Dungeon gate graphics

Release 0.61 of Alternate Reality X is now available from the downloads page at www.crpgdev.com.

I've switched from Microsoft Visual C++ 2010 to Code Blocks for development and also upgraded to a newer version of the SFML library. These changes uncovered some bugs which had previously gone unnoticed but might have caused players to experience crashes. Compile times on Visual Studio 2010 were much slower for me than the 2008 version and I liked the option with CodeBlocks of using the same development environment and project files to compile native versions of ARX on Linux and Mac.

This release also has a few visual changes with the addition of some new encounter artwork from Ted to replace my placeholder images. I think they work really well and can't wait to see what Ted comes up with for some of the other characters. I've also added some images you might not have seen before from the 16bit Amiga version of the City and the unreleased Amiga version of the Dungeon. Hope you like them.

The main changes in release 0.61 are as follows:

• Switched to CodeBlocks and MinGW for development
• No longer requires Visual Studio C++ runtime installed
• Switched to latest version of SFML 2.0 (downloaded 1st March 2013)
• Improved compatibility for players using Intel graphics cards
• Fixed Bug #019: Offer menu won't page back when offering to Pauper
• Added check for arx.ini configuration file when the game is run
• Flags for Trolls, Goblins and Oracle now correctly included in save games
• Added "Loading..." message when loading image resources
• Added 3 new encounter images from Ted for use with alternate wall textures
• Removed the Might & Magic 6 encounter placeholder images
• Added Amiga City & Dungeon interiors for use with alternate wall textures

With the major changes behind the scenes in this release there are likely to be some new bugs I've not seen yet but hopefully you enjoy the release.

Thanks for your continued support,
Acrin1

Alternate Reality X - Release 0.61 Status

Release 0.61 of ARX will be released as soon as I fix a bug when entering guilds which leads to a crash.

The main change in this release is that at least on a temporary basis I've switched to the CodeBlocks development environment using the MinGW C++ compiler. There were 2 main reasons for this - firstly compile times increased significantly with Visual Studio 2010 from a few seconds for a change to about a minute which was really making small changes very tedious, and secondly CodeBlocks is available on Linux and Mac making native versions of ARX much easier to produce as the same environment can be used across all platforms. The switch of environment has raised a few new compile bugs though which I need to deal with before releasing 0.61.

From a player perspective the other major change I've made is that I've almost 100% dropped the use of "RenderTextures" in the SFML media library. My use of these created lots of problems for players with Intel onboard graphics and a few issues on newer machines I had access to. My code was also messier and harder to debug when I had these in. My new 0.61 version works much better on old harder which I'm much happier with. I don't see why a player shouldn't be able to use an old laptop to play something based on a 25 year old game series just because it has intel graphics.

I've also added code to better handle monster vulnerabilities and invulnerabilies to various damage types. Bit more work to do there though to make it complete.

There are a few new encounter images which I've been sent as well which are included for players playing ARX in a full window. These will hopefully gradually replace the handful of placeholder MM6 images I've used currently.

Hopefully I can have this release wrapped up fairly soon.

All the best,
Acrin1

Alternate Reality X - Release 0.60 Now Available!

Release 0.60 of Alternate Reality X is now available for download from:

http://www.crpgdev.com/downloads.html

It contains the following additions and bug fixes:

• Implemented City and Dungeon encounters as a single set using same encounter object format
• Combined encounter images into single set using Dungeon images for majority
• Added all Dungeon fixed encounter specials (32 in total)
• Added weapons for encounter specials above
• Added a Dungeon Quest
• Fixed Bug #002: Delay of a couple of seconds when entering some shops / modules due to music loading
• Fixed Bug #003: Mini map edges don't refresh properly
• Fixed Bug #004: City map wrapped at some points instead of leading to Wilderness
• Fixed Bug #013: Lyric strip appears over shop / module image at 800 x 600 resolution
• Fixed Bug #014: Daggers only type of weapon dropped after winning an encounter
• Fixed Bug #001: Goblins and Trolls don't recognise that you're carrying rival ring half
• Fixed Bug #016: Oracle offerings did not include weapons etc
• Fixed Bug #017: Pauper could not accept all positive items and never rejected offers
• Fixed Bug #018: City encounters didn't drop weapons

Hope you enjoy it. There should be another release out soon in February.

Thanks for your continued support and feedback- greatly appreciated.

All the best,
Acrin1

Release 0.60 - Coming Soon

Release 0.60 of Alternate Reality X is coming along very nicely with a particularly productive late night / early hours to bed development session last night. So far I've completed the following for release 0.60:

• Implemented City and Dungeon encounters as a single set using same encounter object format
• Combined encounter images into single set using Dungeon images for majority
• Added all Dungeon fixed encounter specials (32 in total)
• Added all weapons for encounter specials above
• Added one of the Dungeon quests
• Fixed Bug #002: Delay of a couple of seconds when entering some shops / modules due to music loading 
• Fixed Bug #003: Mini map edges weren't refreshing properly
• Fixed Bug #013: Lyric strip appearedover shop / module image at 800 x 600 resolution
• Fixed Bug #014: Daggers were only type of weapon dropped after winning an encounter
• Fixed Bug #001: Goblins and Trolls didn't recognise that you're carrying rival ring half

There are a few more things I'd like to add before release but I would expect to have this available for download by the end of the week.

Encounters

I've now merged all the City and Dungeon encounters into a single set as previously they were treated as two separate sets of encounter types meaning that a thief in the City did not behave the same as one from the Dungeon. This led to some confusion for players and made some of the code more complicated than it needed to be. I think I've been holding back to some degree but I think I've realised that if I'm really going to make Alternate Reality X a true, single game or environment then I need to make some aspects of the game more consistent across the different scenarios. This includes content such as encounters, weapons, items and the game mechanics. I have decided to keep the individual graphics for each scenario just now but even that may change over time.

I've also added all the fixed encounters for all levels of the Dungeon. There are around 32 in total. Now I'm modifying all the encounters covered by these fixed encounters so they have the correct weapons (e.g. Ebon Blade for an Undead Knight). I then need to add some more of those treasures that they are protecting!

I should have another release out in the next few days.

Keep on supporting the project in whatever way you can as this keeps my spirits up and let's me know there is still interest in the project.

Thanks,
Acrin1 

Alternate Reality X: Release 0.59

Release 0.59 is now available from the downloads page at www.crpgdev.com. This release fixes and adds a number of features around experience awards, levelling up and level up bonuses for the seven primary stats. There's more work to be done to make experience points accurate across the whole of ARX and the City.

Changes included in this release are:

• Removed levelling up cap (previously level 5)
• Added stat bonuses when levelling up
• Added Strength, Intelligence and Charisma bonuses for repeated successful actions
• Dungeon encounters now award correct experience points when you defeat them
• Dungeon encounters now award correct experience points for 50% of hits during combat
• Removed "spinner" special from Dungeon level 1 map (location 40,15) as it left player trapped
• Added Knight to Dungeon encounters & related alignment adjustments
• Added Pauper introduction message
• Added text for quests to Oracle module

If you like what I'm doing with ARX then please consider dropping me a note, spreading the word online or making a small Paypal donation towards my time. 

All the best,

Acrin1

Alternate Reality X: Added levelling up

Managed to spend several hours working on ARX focused on levelling up and investigating correct experience point awards for combat. I've noticed that many people playing ARX have managed to get up to level 5 very easily and part of the reason for this is that in many cases the experience awards have been way too high.

I've removed the level cap that was in place at level 5 so you should now be able to develop your ARX character up to a very high level. I've also added the missing stat bonuses which you should receive when gaining a level so your seven primary stats may now improve for each level of experience you gain.

Investigating the experience gained from encounters in the Dungeon I believe I now understand that the Dungeon awards it's experience on 2 levels:

• Firstly you receive half the experience for any hits you land on an opponent e.g. if you hit for 6 points of damage you would instantly gain 3 points of experience.
• Secondly on winning an encounter you appear to get an experience bonus which is based on the opponent's initial hit points multiplied by a factor - in many cases this is two but in the case of say a Ghost this could be as high as eight.

I've added these into ARX for all encounters as it's my intention now to have only one method of calculating of experience in the game rather than differentiating between City and Dungeon. I will however spend some time playing the City to see what level of experience awards it provides.

Alternate Reality: Attention to Detail

I've been working away on adding the Dungeon Oracle to ARX so that we can sign up for all those Dungeon quests but while I was sifting through a capture of the binary for this part of the game I noticed something that interested me as someone with a long time interest in game design. Whilst many games of the era (and most recent games too!) are happy to have a single response or set of outcomes from the gameplay The Dungeon designers always added two, three or more varied responses to each of the modules. It's a simple thing to do but so few designers or programmers bother to do it. I think this shows attention to detail that is so often overlooked or not considered. They didn't take the easy route or quickest options to finish things but added extras to the game which is probably why we still play these two games.

Did you know that if you upset the Oracle repeatedly he will tell you not to come back for a month? I never knew that and if you return before the month is up then be prepared for trouble.

One of the other things I've been looking at is the design of the City shops. Where most games would provide you with a stock selection of clothing, in the City we have four values for each possible item - value, material, colour and type - giving us literally hundreds of possible clothing items some of which we will never see within a game. We have a similar feature in the shape of the Weapons Enchantress who can modify numerous attributes of your weapons (based on your choice) allowing us to potentially create some very interesting custom weapons of our own if we have sufficient patience (and precious stones).

For me this means I need to alter my object code for ARX as it currently doesn't allow for the flexibility and custom nature of items such as procedurally generated clothing from the City (the D & P apparel items are static) or the custom weapons of the Dungeon. I overlooked the complexity of attention to detail in The City and The Dungeon when I first set up the object code and took a simpler route like most games do. Once I've done this and I want to do it soon then I'll be able to add City shops, the Dwarven Smithy and the Weapon Enchantress to ARX.

Despite playing this game on and off for over 25 years I never realised those features and details were in there. This is one of the key things I love about Alternate Reality - I'm still discovering things about it 25 years after it was created - how many other games - past or present could we say that about.

Alternate Reality X: Release 0.58

Release 0.58 is now available from the downloads page at: www.crpgdev.com. Please note that you may need to download the Microsoft Visual Studio C++ 2010 x86 Redistributable Runtime from Microsoft's site. Release 0.58 includes the following additions and bug fixes:

• Switched development to new version of SFML 2 media library
• Switched development to Visual Studio C++ Express 2010
• Added Barred door interaction in Dungeon - Locked, Bolted and Enchanted
• Added some Dungeon unique treasures - Razor Ice, Sword of the Adept, Map Stone & Amethyst Rod
• Expanded weapon format to include bonus to hit, parry, 2 handed, alignment, minimum stat requirements
• City Enclosed areas added by Dalimar
• City deathtraps fixed by Dalimar
• Fixed some Dungeon zone colour schemes
• Started work on Dungeon Oracle module
• Bug fix: Fixed so more than 44 rectangular map zones can be defined
• Bug fix: Fixed crashes relating to songs with longer sequences of lyrics
• Bug fix: Fixed images for staircases,
• Bug fix: Goblin Lord & Troll Tyrant now carry a Sceptre of Evil (not a dagger)
• Bug fix: Lyrics strip image overlapped with shop image for 800x600 resolution

Hope you find something of interest in this release. Thanks for your continued support for this project.

All the best,
Acrin1