Progress Update 27/03/16

So not much progress for this weekend, but I did start out on the in-game menu and some architecture for enabling menus further down the line as well as keyboard shortcuts.

So far the in-game menu will be called by pressing the Escape key, and the buttons on the bottom portion of the screen (the 'button panel') are called with F1, F2...

The main menu is going to consist of some very simple options, and I'm reusing existing sprites as that's all I have to work with. The options so far are:

• Return To Game
• Yup!
• Save Game
• Simple, right?
• Load Game
• Simple, right?
• Video Options
• Not much for now - this is not a graphically intensive game in the slightest, and in actual fact will barely utilzie the GPU if at all, so this will probably just be resolution and fullsceen options
• Audio Options
• Music on/off and sliders for different audio elements
• Gameplay Options
• Some simple checkboxes for display types I think
• Exit Game
• Simple, right?

Here's a little sneak preview of the not-so-great UI using the existing sprites. I don't have any other sprites to work with for now, so they're all using the same things.

I anticipate to finalise the in-game menu and start working on the main menu sequence by the end of next weekend, probably with an actual downloadable release for progress.

That's all for now,
Peace out

Status Update 20/03/16

So while this blog has only been active for a day or so, it has actually been a good couple of months since I last released anything or properly worked on the Space Soldier Management Engine.

So what am I doing now?

Well, this weekend I've finalised the sound system to allow for individual volume control. Sounds pretty dull, right? Well, this will lead me quickly onto adding an in-game options menu which is essentially my next goal.

The thing about this engine is that ultimately I could be using something like Unity or Unreal to make the game a lot faster, have all the graphics, sound and networking already built for me and perhaps even make it better as I'm more familiar with that. However, the game I'm envisioning would only suffer from having advanced graphics I think - I'm not building a Starcraft 2/Dawn of War/Civilization style game with nice graphics and real-time interaction. My real aim for this engine is something more akin to the Dominions series - simple graphics and interface, but extremely high in detail and management. Customisation is king, and I'll be drawing a lot from games like Dwarf Fortress for that. So with that in mind, I am building everything from the ground up. I will be using some existing libraries to facilitate cross-platform functionality and simpler construction, but will not be using an existing game engine or game development library.

With all of that in mind, my current goal for a v0.2 release is as follows:

• Main menu sequence - splash screen, new game, load game, options, credits, exit.
• Basic division creation screen - created at this time to support Chapter Master's chapter creation parameters, though as ever everything will be kept extremely modifiable and will be provided as a core engine only.
• Completed chapter management interface - for this I intend to pre-define in mod files the specific structure of troops and divisions, such that you can allow for a Chapter Master style of 10 comapnies of 100, or something altogether different. I have plans for this interface already finalised and it will be touch navigatable.

At my current rate, depending on movitation, this should be done in a couple of weeks, but we'll see how it goes.

That's all for now
Peace out

Soldier Editor (v0.1)

The Story So Far

As it stands, the engine is still in its core stages of development - basic interface, graphics control, sound control, etc. I will be pursuing this project in a goals-oriented manner, building components as needed to complete discrete build objectives.

The first objective was to create a soldier editing interface. The current build can be found here. The release notes for this version can be found below It is worth mentioning that this release is far from a completed version, in fact it is simply a tool to utilise the pre-existing sprites and create interesting looking guys.

*** PATCH NOTES V0.1 ***

Build Version: 0.1 Alpha
Development Name: Soldier Editor
Download Link: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_0sZlHDudgndzBSVmpzYzgzNGM

The rar archive contains all files for a Windows environment build of the core engine with Chapter Master sprites in use to test.

Features

• Chapter Management button added, loads up Soldier Editor page only
• Background music added
• Mod support extended to include directory paths for sprites
• Soldier colour scheme made modular
• Colours are stored in RGB format, specifically R,G,B
• Colours stored in /Mods/CM/Settings.txt
• Styles can be compared withn /Mods/CM/Images/Soldiers/Aquila/ - Soldier 1-4 represent styles 1-4
• Basic crash fixing

That's it for now
Peace out

Space Soldier Management Engine, An Introduction

What is this?

The primary focus of this blog is going to be my development of the Space Soldier Management Engine, development name "Superhuman Space Soldiers". For the benefit of having a complete set of lore, artwork and references to draw from, the initial version is going to be generated with a simple, base game and will be assured compatability with other popular franchises.

Ultimately, however, I am creating a general engine here. Swapping out mods is going to be seamless and easy, and will allow for a variety of games including but not limited to European historical conflicts, the Age of Sail-based pirate adventures, far future sci-fi games, fantasy universe games and many more.

This project will be undertaken between paid contract work and will therefore vary in speed of progress and inevitably take quite a while to make.

A Little Background

So you're probably wondering "Who even is this Streamline guy?". Well, I'm not going to delve into any personal details but I will say that I have been programming for several years, primarily focused around cross-platform desktop applications in C and C++. Like many programmers, I have dabbled in numerous languages to varying extents, but have a particular love for C++. I have been working as a freelance software developer for roughly two years and have completed a number of projects, most pertinently I am currently contracted to create another large scale strategy game, which I am unable to disclose many details about at this time.

With all of that said, I have no concerns about ability or complexity of the project, the only determining factor for completing it will be time and motivation, as with all things.

So why blog?

Well, simply put, I need your help! This is a big project, and has lofty goals. The engine itself I can create all myself with no real issues, however there's more to a game than just an engine.

I have no artistic ability and will inevitably need assisstance in testing, quality control and numberous other aspects. This blog is intended to be a central repository of progress, knowledge about the engine/game, and to gather support and help in its creation. If you'd like to get in touch for any reason or believe you'd be able to help out in any way - little or big - please e-mail me at cmggamedev@gmail.com

That's it for this post at least.
Peace out!