Yes, could you try to upgrade to Java 1.5_02 and
check if the problem remains? In the comming update,
I added some code to track loading problems. Then,
it’s easier to check where the program hands.
A new version is online fixing problems during game
start (hanging). Let me know if the problems remain.
Also, if there is a crash, the “moves done” won’t come
up anymore, you can redo your moves.
Screen resolution and display problems are fixed. The
game should now also display nicely in Macintosh
OS X 10.4. Anybody available to test it on Mac and
give me some feedback?
I had no technical problems with your game the last 40 days. 
some suggestions:
- example battle: 240.000 vs (80.000+fortified) -> attacker lost, 79.000 defenders left. Ähem… you should adjust the combat rules
- place a standard militia in each country based on population, so you can’t land with ships in enemy territory and capture countries with 1-man-armies
- provide a maximum of men to recruit based on population
- again, show moved armies
- make the ‘next’ button bigger and place the ‘end’ button somewhere else
- (provide a optional 2d view, 3d looks nice but does not enhance gameplay )
- focus the camera on your own countries at the start of the round
was great fun playing it, but the first two points are really destroying the gameplay
Alright, the game is back online! It’s on a new server. I redesigned the map. It’s in 2D instead of 3D now.
Some bugs are fixed, e.g. the battle-problem. I am also planning to do some other important updates
such as:
-AI
-join game after it started
-create own games
-implement a “real-time” option (e.g. 2min/turn)
Somebody interested to do some testing? Please join one of the games. I will start it as soon as I
get some 5-10 people together! Please provide feedback!
Web: http://www.aevumobscurum.com/original/index.html
Webstart: http://www.aevumobscurum.com/original/webstart/AevumObscurum.jnlp
Screenshots (better resolution): http://www.aevumobscurum.com/original/screenshots.html
Screenshot of 2D map:
http://www.aevumobscurum.com/original/image/screenshots/screenshot32.png
I am interested, game look very good (on screens). But, I don’t like that it goes on fullscreen without asking me if I wanted that. Why not have an option to play it in windowed / fullscreen mode? Anyway, I will try it later, at home, then 
Good point. I will change the game so it starts in windowed mode and fullscreen mode can be selected if desired.
What the graphics concern, I think they look better during the game than just in these screenshots. I implemented
a “real-time” flood fill algorithm for all the rollover effects etc.
Look nice!
I am registered, now waiting…
Bruno
Sorry for the wait. I am going to change the game so it starts right away but people still have the
chance to join in later.
That’s a problem at the moment because many people assume the game starts once they join.
The wait makes some people loose interest. What’s your opinion on that?
Alright, I added a demo mode to the game, so you can play against a computer AI! Anybody dare to try?
Webstart: http://www.aevumobscurum.com/original/webstart/AevumObscurum.jnlp
Screenshot:
http://www.aevumobscurum.com/original/image/screenshots/screenshot-2.2.2-1.jpg
Hey very nice game!
I tried it just before Xmas, but with everything else going on I never got the time to write down my thoughts, but I’ll try to write them down now as good as I can remember…
I like the look of the game, never got to see the 3D version, but everything looks quite neat. I really like the idea of being able to play a “quick” game against several AI players, should possibly be made more than just “Demo” mode I think, but then AI needs to be improved a bit, and maybe create a few different scenarios. I was a bit confused by the fact that each round didn’t contain the same tasks (setting taxes, recruiting and so on). Probably becomes natural when you have played it for just some time, but I thought it would have been nice with some indicator showing the tasks and highlight where you are at so to speak. I also found it a bit confusing in the beginning to follow the movements and attacks. Didn’t quite get where the area “army left” or whatever the message was indicating. I think the map panned at the wrong moment, but can’t quite remeber. Would be nice to see number of armies left displayed on the map just as you see your own troops just during the round events. Also a bit strange that the militia is either 700 or 5000 iirc. Would be nice with a range or maybe just completley proportional to population. AI was also very bad at defending their kings. From first round I had armies next to the king in germany. Even though there was plenty of room to move that king to areas with no enimy forces as neighbours he stayed there. So I recruited everythign next to that king, easily won the battle and got that whole kingdom. Gave me enought money to do roughly the same with kings in France and Italy. The road to world domination was paved and then I wasn’t allowed to play anymore in demo mode :’(
Seems like a really nice game, but I personally won’t have time for multiplayer game over several weeks or so Wouldn’t mind playing the “demo” all the way to the bitter (or sweet) end though!
Regarding events and movements, I have some enhancements planned. The user interface is still not quite as intuative as I would like it to be! Setting tax & Getting tax alternate from turn to turn. I am still planning to improve the statistics to make it more fun.
Yes, the AI is not very strong. I just implemented it for the demo so people can get a feel for the game.
The initial army sizes + that they are constant for neutral fields is bad. I put it onto the todo list … Thanks.
[quote]Seems like a really nice game, but I personally won’t have time for multiplayer game over several weeks or so Wouldn’t mind playing the “demo” all the way to the bitter (or sweet) end though!
[/quote]
I am planning to eventually make some money with the game? So, I don’t quite want to give away too much yet! Sorry. I don’t mean to necessary charge money for it. I have some ideas, so maybe the basic game is free, but offering some tournaments where you have to pay to take part. What do you think? Playing the game is free, but you can also play tournaments, e.g. pay $10. If you win, you get $200? I think adding some player statistics/rating system is cool as well! What’s your take on that? I don’t know if monthly/yearly subscription is good too?
I figured it’s time for some update! I did quite some reworks in the last couple of months - mostly due to active player feedback (I hope some of my experience is useful to you guys - thanks also for all the support I got from this forum):
Major changes:
- added diplomacy (build alliances, non-agressive pacts etc…) - just got positive feedback adding this feature (player feature request)
- added community/clan features: Aevum Obscurum allows you to add your own clan. got 3 clans added to the game - it’s not much, but it is a start; it somewhat helps people identify themselves with the game?
- added installers (mac, unix, windows, linux): Install4J - I prefer web start, but a lot of people out there just have problems installing Java. The installers just call the web start file, i.e. I never have to upload any patches/updates, because the installer just basically starts the game using java web start - Aevum Obscurum is a multiplayer game and you need to be online; it does not make that much sense to distribute your game that way if your game is standalone. Also I managed to limit the download to just as little over 2MB!
- added the game to some game directories - if nobody knows about the game, who is going to play it?
I got some small group of active players together. I am trying to keep up with feature requests, although I am a bit limited in time. It’s more fun to have people playing the game, rather than developing a game for yourself.
That brings up the question: how about creating a game on pure user feedback? Why create a game that only I like? How about a game that is created by a couple of volunteer game designers. They don’t need to do any work, they just come up with the design/ideas.