Sentience: VB Game (comments please)

Hum... as to the animals: don't you think dinossaurs is a bit too obvious? There are LOADS of other alien creatures capable of disassembling and eating a mech... Don't you guys have a TV at home? ;)

You can include giant worms... but they're stuck to the ground; when you walk over one you fall, it eats you and uses its new food to create 10 more like itself and die :)
You can also include bugs with corrosive acid capable of digging trough plated armour...
And plants that when touched explode (like hydrogen trees)...

See, there's lots of creatures you can use, just let me think of some more :)

Hey, I've heard a lot about Sentience and it sounds pretty good. But I haven't actually seen it. Could I maybe get a screen shot during the gameplay of the game?


Thx,
Drewski

Behemoth: I'm under the effects of chocolate :D

You can read more of my rantings & get some cool ideas for aliens in the forums here: http://communities.msn.com/InSpace ;)

Drewski: Look at Behemoth's signature... :rolleyes:

Vulturian Razor Bat : A large bat , approximately the size of a fully grown man. Has fangs so sharp they can slice through metal.
Usually fly in swarms ; so beware !

Xenomorph Species 7384 : Large, dark, evolved predators. Little else known about this species.

Jotaf98 : Odd parasitic creature found clinging to the side of toilet bowls.


And of course, for the giant sandworms in the desert, you must call them Shai'Hulud.

Drewski,

If you follow the link via either mine or Behemoths signatures, you can download the full copy of the game so far (self extracting zip - GameDev.exe).

It's not there at the moment 'cos we're not far from the next version which will be up within the next couple of days.

I'll post some screen shots for people to look at though in the meantime.

Alien lovers,

You're all nutters - but some of these ideas are great!!!

There's nothing to say we can only have one life form on the planet, more may make it a bit more interesting. As you progress the tech tree along some of the biological techs we were toying with the idea of having you produce biological creatures as weapons but we were swamped with other work at the time.

I think we can implement it, but it's not going to be for a while yet - Behemoth's snowed under with graphics. We can still thrash the ideas out though.

Right, we'll need monsters for each of land, sea and air. If anyone's capable of doing concept sketches for us to look at then that would be great.

Of course, if you come up with a creature design we use then you'll get a full five star mention in the credits!

Not that we're not already getting a 5 star mention in the credits

*acchem* ;)

grr. dumb machine

I suggested not being able to genetically engineer lifeforms as weapons, but I do agree with wandering monsters- lets not go over the top though.

Jotaf's harmful plants give me an idea though...

Ultimately, remember the machines were part of a terraforming colony, and can transfer and lush garden parasite into a junkie - infested concrete jungle in under 3 generations - where would the wild animals be then?

Well an entire habitable planet void of animal life is a tad unrealistic.

Though I would suggest getting all of the game play etc. done perfect before gallavanting off on wild fantasies about mutated killer guinea pigs of doom ....

Behemoth,

You did, didn't you. Okay, okay, no bio engineered killer bikini vampire penguins. (yet)

You mentioned you had an idea....?

Well, I've built a rough credits screen at the moment. I can't think what to do with it though, so it's just static text.

I'm debating putting some funky effects on there. Maybe some of Jotafs special effects???

Well all games these days seem to have the credits scrolling about the place , so there's an idea.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Jotaf98
Drewski: Look at Behemoth's signature... :rolleyes:

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Umm, I asked for a screen shot not the entire game. I don't want to download the game until I know it's worth my time. I have really slow internet. I mean REALLY SLOW. (28kbs shared between 5 computers)

Thx for pointing out where it is though ;)


Drewski

Hey drewski, I can give you a good price on a small LAN with ISDN internet access for all your machines through a router ...

PlenderJ: Hehe, it's not toilets, but bath tubes in girls' appartments :p

Arbiter/Behemoth: Well, I could make some sketches for you, but I don't wanna use my scanner right now so here's something drawn in Paint :D

The colors need a change I know; and it would be a good idea to have FAR more branches (there should be so much that the smaller ones would have to look semi-transparent ;) ) and some other nice effects on it :)

Jotaf,

Very nice. Put's Behemoths talents to shame.

It's got possibilities. Explode on contact (except small units which can hide in them). Upon getting a required tech, you can harvest them for energy/what nots.

Reminds me of those things in Titan AE.

Plend,

Stop selling surplus IRA goods!

Drewski,

Attached is the main game screen. You can't really get an idea of the scope of the game from the screenshot - but rest assured, it's worth the download.

I'm hoping to have the latest version uploaded by this evening...

Hehe, Arbiter, that was drawn in Paint... :p

Did you see Titan AE too? That's where I got the idea... :D

Hum, that gives me an even better idea: what about an alien under the form of energy? Of course, it would look kinda like a ghost instead of glowing matter :)

Oh, and you could also make creatures that live in clouds... when they rain, you know what happens ;)

Btw, the pure energy creatures could get inside mechs, control them for a while (they would become agressive, incontrolable and more powerful), and when they got out the mech, its energy would be completely depleted; also his energy cells could be damaged (they'd sometimes lose them) :)

A nice upgrade would be an energy cell that would not only NOT be destroyed by them, but could also offer some resistance (the creature has a higher chance to fail the attack) ;)

Wow, lots of cool ideas here!

Jotaf,

Do you take class A drugs?

Thanks for the screen shot Arbiter. The game doesn't look half bad. I think I'll refrain from downloading it though because I don't need any more distractions from my own game :D I can't say my game will be any better than yours ( a far cry most likely ) but I'm gonna try. Wish me luck. I'm gonna need it :rolleyes:

Thx & LaterZ

Drewski

I try and download others games if they post them on here as you may end up getting ideas from them to help with your own project.

Also, you should consider posting yours for download on here so people can comment on it.

Sentience would not be the fantastic piece of software it is now ;) without the comments, ideas and support from the people on this forum.

Arbiter: I'm giving you MY ideas, probably ones that I could use in my own games (remember that I'm a programmer too!), and all you can say is "he's under the effects of class A drugs"?! :rolleyes:

I think I'm gonna start keeping them for myself http://www.vbforums.com/

The game's core files have disapeared. Atleast, when I looked, I downloaded an EXE that only had a DLL. Where's the game?

Jotaf,

Chill out matey! You ideas are cool. I was only ribbing ya. ;) Just look at the kind of abuse I give Plend (and he gives back) - it's just my type of humour...

And don't keep your ideas to yourself whatever you do - I want them!!!! :D

Those hydrogen trees are a pretty funky idea - I'm discussing with Behemoth to see if there's any way we can add them in.

KamiKazeKiwi3,

The actual game download (GameDev.exe) has ran off for the time being - we're minutes away from a new version which is the biggest improvement yet - I didn't wan't people to waste time downloading the old version.

If you want - I'll PM you when the new version is uploaded.

All,

Not long until the new version - just waiting for some final graphics to be done. Just so you know what you're in for...

Some of the new features:

Animated buildings
(cheesy) explosions
Improved graphics
Improved interface
Millions of bug fixes
Pods to collect
AI models for units
Computer controlled players
Improved pathfinding
Selectable factions

And much more!

Like I said - it's the biggest improvement yet!!!

:eek: <-- Jotaf, when he looks at the second item in Arbiter's list

LET THE CHEESY EXPLOSIONS IN!!! :p

Hey, what about another type of tree, which would tie up the mech if he stayed there for too long? It could be just like any other tree, but with "ropes" or something :)

Jotaf:

That's a fantastic imagination you've got - you'd do well in a creative role...What are you doing at the moment? :)

Also - don't take offence at anything Arbiter says, you should hear some of the stuff he calls me. You (and everyone else) are doing a fantastic job for us and we're very grateful (to you all).

Thanks again ;)

Ian

Thanks Behemoth :)

I had another idea, it was to use Battle Moons, but it doesn't fit into your game so... what about using rocks to make certain mechs? They would be able to camouflage themselves (so they can make surprise attacks) and they'd have a better armour :) (or lower, it should depend on the rocks you're using)
Or you could have some creatures like this... kinda like if they were inside shells or something ;)

Noooooo...:eek:

I think we've got enough resources for now! I do like the idea of another type of wandering monster though...I'll put it to Arbiter at some point. Thanks ;)

Quote:

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Originally posted by Behemoth
Noooooo...:eek:

I think we've got enough resources for now! I do like the idea of another type of wandering monster though...I'll put it to Arbiter at some point. Thanks ;)

---

How about a wandering drunk scotsman in a kilt ?

No drunk Scotsmen. Not even a 35 ton mech would make a dent on one of them...

No more resources either, we've already scaled down the number once....

We could do with a comprehensive list of 'wandering monsters' and a description of how they behave/what they do.

If I can thrash out the necessary details we can get them in the version after the one that's coming.

We were also discussing the benefits of killing them (research points if you're discovering a tech which leads to breeding them, raw materials etc).

Any further ideas? So far we have...

Vulturian Razor Bats
Supergiant Mutated Dinosaurs :rolleyes:
Hydrogen trees
Bugs (with sunroof & £250 corrosive acid optional extra)

(PS - Jotaf, with regards to your rock, Behemoth and I were discussing the use of Chitin and Synthetic Chitin as armour types)

(Behemoth - we need to discuss the way sensors interact with foreign bodies, I'll call you later about it)

don't bother - I left my phone at home...will be back 5 - 5:30 ish...

Examples of research ...

If you were to cut down a fully grown hydrogen tree, and researched it, then fuel costs could be cut ...

Or if you shot down a tyranno-pterradon, and researched that, you could then make aircraft (or at least make your aircraft faster or whatever)....


...

yeah, thats about it. we were going to make it a little more general than that though - if you dissect a sandworm ( ;) ), you'll get a bonus on your research towards biological techs - don't tell me you've forgotten our beautiful tech tree :eek: :( :p

No no of course I havent forgotten about it.
To forget about something assumes that you knew it was there in the first place ;):eek::rolleyes:

Iggerant irish bloke.

You've seen the tech tree...

Press '@' on the keyboard (to explore all the map) and then choose research from the menu button above turn complete.

As well as all the map, you get all the techs too, which means you get to see the glorious tech tree.

Magic


RRRRAAAARRGGHGHGHGHGGHHHHH!!!

I'm stuck.

On the stupid sodding AI! What an arse it is too!

Look at the attached, that doesn't make finding bugs easier either. I have more forms than you can shake a stick at and thousands of lines of code in those modules.

I'm think I'm going to go somewhere and vomit. :(

:confused:

And I trust you to code my game?!

Holy monkey****....
thats a lot of code by the looks of it ;)

Hey arb, I see you're using Office 97. I can give you a good deal on upgrading to Office 2000 or XP if you'd like ;)

Plend,

I already have office 2000 I just don't want it. Smells of camel sperm.

Yup, there's a lot of code - managed to the AI working but after 400 turns it runs out of stack space. I think I've fixed that though.

I also get arrays that are temporarily locked and nothing in the help file applies. Any ideas?

Behemoth,

Quote:

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And I trust you to code my game?!

---

Who's game pig****er?

Code:

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This array is fixed or temporarily locked (Error 10)
 

Not allarrays can be redimensioned. Even arrays specifically declared to be dynamic and arrays within Variantvariables are sometimes locked temporarily. This error has the following causes and solutions:

You tried to use ReDim to change the number of elements of a fixed-size array . For example, in the following code, the fixed array FixedArr is received by SomeArr in the NextOne procedure, and then an attempt is made to resize SomeArr:
Sub FirstOne
Dim FixedArr(25) As Integer    ' Create a fixed-size array and
NextOne FixedArr()    ' pass it to another procedure.
End Sub

Sub NextOne(SomeArr() As Integer)
ReDim SomeArr(35)        ' Error 10 occurs here.
. . .
End Sub

Make the original array dynamic rather than fixed by declaring it with ReDim (if the array is declared within a procedure), or by declaring it without specifying the number of elements (if the array is declared atmodule level).

You tried to redimension a module-level dynamic array, in which one element has been passed as anargument to a procedure. For example, in the following code, ModArray is a dynamic, module-level array whose forty-fifth element is being passedby reference to the Test procedure:
Dim ModArray () As Integer    ' Create a module-level dynamic array.
. . .

Sub AliasError()
ReDim ModArray (1 To 73) As Integer
Test ModArray (45)    ' Pass an element of the module-level
' array to the Test procedure.
End Sub

Sub Test(SomeInt As Integer)
ReDim ModArray (1 To 40) As Integer  ' Error occurs here.
End Sub

There is no need to pass an element of the module-level array in this case, since it's visible within all procedures in the module. However, if an element is passed, the array is locked to prevent a deallocation of memory for the referenceparameter within the procedure, causing unpredictable behavior when the procedure returns.

You attempted to assign a value to a Variant variable containing an array, but the Variant is currently locked. For example, if your code uses a For Each...Next loop to iterate over a variant containing an array, the array is locked on entry into the loop, and then released at the termination of the loop:
SomeArray = Array(9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1)

For Each X In SomeArray
SomeArray = 301    ' Causes error since array is locked.
Next X

Use a For...Next rather than a For Each...Next loop to iterate. When an array is the object of a For Each...Next loop, you can read the array, but not write to it.

For additional information, select the item in question and press F1.

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Hey arb, can you email me a copy of sentience or upload it again koz i kinda lost it :rolleyes:

Plend,

I'm hoping to upload the latest version tonight.

It's gonna kick arse!

The challenge is basically, break it if you can.

There's loads more to play with (including automating units and computer players).

I'll PM you when I upload it.

It'll be worth the wait... :)

Hrmmm well I wont be here tonight :)
I've not internet access at home - only at work.

So you've until 5:30 to send me something :)

I'll see what I can do... ;)

Uploading now.

Should be less than 10 mins - but I guess you'll be gone by then.

Booo - I hate a 56k connection. :(

Nah still here.
File is now downloading.
16KB/sec bwahahahah.

Should take a total of about 3 - 5 mins.
Ill be gone once its down tho.

File is now fully uploaded.

4.3 mb

Have fun!

Hey Arbiter, I know how to fix your problem ;)

You get that error when you try to access an array that is in a module that hasn't been loaded yet. So, just load it by calling a sub or something, and voila :D
(What I did in my game was change the array to a module that I knew it was loaded - the onw with Sub Main :p )

Quote:

---

Originally posted by plenderj
Hey drewski, I can give you a good price on a small LAN with ISDN internet access for all your machines through a router ...

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I already have a LAN. I don't know about the ISDN access either. I live kinda far out. (All my friends think I live out in the sticks! :mad: ) Also, I'm not too sure what a router is and what its for. And how much would the internet access cost? Just for kicks.

One more thing plenderj. Your location in Dublin, Ireland might put a hamper on things with me being in Washington, U.S.

Jotaf,

Thanks for the pointer, it's worth bearing in mind.

Unfortunately, that's not the problem as the array is defined in my main module (along with all my other arrays) and I'm getting the problem after about 50 turns of the game.

It's driving me mad!

Weird, maybe it's a bug in VB. Ask Microsoft's technical support. And if you manage to contact the guys that programmed VB, they might be able to tell you why that's happening :)

erm... what he said.

Code:

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temp = Jotaf98.Brain.GetIQ
 'Error: Object "Brain" Does Not Exist.

---

:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D:D

Nope, he was talking about this:

VB Code:

'The first part seems to work...
Dim drewski As New Bie
 
'But it crashes on this line:
PaintPicture drewski.Brain 'Error: Object "Brain" is not initialized

:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p:p

Okay, enough of that before I get burned. Or visa versa :D



BTW: Mine was better. ;)

Children,

Behave...

Jotaf,

The new version's up if you want to have a play.

Plend,

Have you had chance to have a look yet?

I downloaded it extremelly early in the moment, even before the message. It got an error when I tried playing, and I need a manual, can't understand ANYTHING. Also, how'd Chenko get in there!?

Kiwi,

What was the error?

Just a couple of things I noticed while playing last night :

(o) Scroll bars dont move correctly.
When at bottom right of map, scroll bars should be at bottom and at right.
Seem to be always at top left ?
Happens after first go (?)

(o) Buttons in main menu on loading take a while to doodle their yoke.
Especially the button to pick random name.

(o) Continents not real enough.
Continent building is great, but world doesnt look real enough.

(o) Mech design still a little confusing.

(o) All Windows command buttons should be replaced with pictures instead.

(o) Create new world takes a lot longer than used to.

(o) Docs button takes quite a while to load. Looks good though.

(o) You bundled an intermediate file with the zip.

(o) Why do you have an excel spreadsheet with the game ?

(o) When running other sounds (eg. mp3 files) while loading sentience,
user gets a message saying that DS couldnt load.
Mousepointer is busy, not normal pointy clickey pointer.

(o) Sentience doesnt steal focus when loading.
Assumes it must have focus ...

(o) [Sentience] text after DS error loading message is cut and not all displayed.

(o) Choosing terrain options in new game is quite difficult to see.
Font should be changed more (bigger font) or something.

(o) There could possibly be a better way of packing all the bitmaps together ?
One large zip file that you open on loading etc. perhaps.

(o) Icon for sentience executable is that of VB.
Should be changed methinks.

(o) Move unit popup still doesnt work ... well not for me anyway.

(o) Minimap looks a little too-detailed / complicated / too-low-res.

(o) Buildings look real cool , as do the pods.

(o) In component design, is quite tedious to click on each part,
and then click on 'Add to queue'

(o) Ability to load/save pre-designed worlds.

(o) World editor
With ability to modify *all* aspects of a world ; properties of things etc.

(o) Ability to upgrade older saved games.

(o) While testing if sentience would crash when trying to load an arbitrary.
text file as a saved game it told me it doesnt load older saved games.
Should differntiate between old saved games / any arbitrary file.

(o) My name is Jamie Plenderleith, not Jamie Plender ;)

(o) Easter eggs ... or rather the (possible?) lack thereof.

(o) Rivers. No rivers in terrain ... unless I havent seen them yet.

(o) Ability to build buildings.

(o) Warehouses to stockpile goods/resources/parts.

(o) Undocumented feature ? Each click on each feature of a new map gives
a random value

(o) Game should run at 1024*768

(o) Active game area should be much bigger

(o) Buildings etc. bigger + more details + more colourful (eg. like C&C)

(o) By clicking on terrain and not on any units or buildings,
causes red box to appear+disappear in top left of game area

(o) Just discovered button at right of bottom scrollbar and bottom of right
scrollbar. Very cool. Should be documented + have a tooltip.
Whats it do though exactly....

(o) Water animation *very* difficult to see

(o) Blueish piece between sand+water off-colour

(o) Active AI > Explore does nothing (seems so anyway)

(o) Tooltips should be displayed by sentience, and not by windows
for every object/menu/option/graphic in game

(o) Should be confirmation message before allowing a mech to just blow up.
Explosion animation nice , possibly should be bigger or more violent ?

(o) On mini-map, clicking should centre green box around click.
Instead of going to above-left

(o) Cant alt-tab back into game

(o) Mini-map's green box not aligned with game area

(o) After self destruct, red box still around area where mech was
with right click menu still available

(o) World map should show your buildings/units as small dots ?

(o) Grab a copy of C&C Tiberian Sun (+FireStorm) and Zeus : Master of Olympus
and The Settlers IV