Apocalypse Run

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#1

April 9, 2012
Spring break! A perfect time to work on my game. I got some work done on it. I added in a GUI system, so I could make a sign. IT looks ugly but it works.
Speaking of GUIs, I made a level editor. I would upload it, but I isn’t very advanced. I need to add in an options menu. But I am proud of it. This is one of the first times I have designed a GUI system, so I was learning as I went. Anyway…

DOWNLOADS!!
ApocalypseRun.jar
Source.zip

April 2, 2012
I finally got something productive done! From my old post, I have added nothing, in fact, I lost some aspects of the game from last time. The reason for for this is because I re-wrote it in libGdx. LibGDX was much harder for me to learn than Slick was. I want to say thanks to KevinGlass (he made it right? I don’t want to feel stupid), for making such an easy to use library.

Anyway, I am posting it with less content because I want some feedback on how to manage some things like GUIs. Besides that, I must have also fixed my export options, because I can export libGDX games without the jars being corrupted. Now, you can look at the download section:

Download
Apocalypse Run
Apocalypse Run - source

March 8, 2012
Hello everyone! Me and my brother (usually with the username Desttinghim) started making a game called Apocalypse Run (as you could probably guess from the title). We started this project in a program called GameMaker, which you have probably heard of. We made a engine, where you just walked around paths, picked up loot (which was just generic boxes), and avoided zombies. You could also buy a weapon from a store. But it was glitchy, and we decided to remake it. Then we forgot about it for a short bit, and didn’t work on anything. When we got back to it, I had decided to learn Java, and I wanted to make it in Java. These are screenshots of my work so far (Note: MY brother did all the artwork):

[spoiler]
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/45994706/ApocalypseRun/Screenshot0.png

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/45994706/ApocalypseRun/Screenshot1.png

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/45994706/ApocalypseRun/Screenshot2.png

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/45994706/ApocalypseRun/Screenshot3.png

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/45994706/ApocalypseRun/Screenshot4.png
[/spoiler]

I’m not releasing a demo right now because of relative folder finding issues. I feel tempted to post the source code, but I’m not sure how to do that with Eclipse, other than just copying the folders. Plus it uses LWJGL and Slick2D.

Also, my brother continued a remake of it in GameMaker. His progress can be viewed here.

#2

I love the classic look. If you have specific programming questions, be sure to ask around. Java is an excellent language for such games. (I’m hoping to try Slick2D as well, just as soon as I get the chance.)

#3

I also really like the art. Reminds me of an NES RPG which I can’t remember the name of… ???

Anyways, are you using a tutorial set for Slick2D? I wanted to try it myself, but couldn’t find any good ones. If so, could you link them for me?

-Nathan

#4

You didn’t think the coke and code ones were good? I thought they were ok, but if you need any more help than that, I could help you out. Do you use IRC or skype or anything? :slight_smile:

EDIT: I like the art a lot too.

#5

I just searched around for a few different tutorials and then started programming. I never finished any of them. It was really easy for me, because the drawing functions are kinda similar to GameMaker’s functions. The only tutorial that I really followed was bucky’s (from TheNewBoston) tutorial in java game programming. The hardest part was learning Java, because GameMaker is not Object Oriented (in my opinion).

The hardest part specifically related to Slick2D was a few bugs with the build path, like forgetting to include the LWJGL natives. I was wondering why it wasn’t working for a while…

#6

Thanks! My skype name is nathan.kramber if you want to add me.

-Nathan

#7

Updated the original post! Also, tell me if you prefer people to put information in their new posts, or them just editing the original post, or both.

#8

Both. First post for someone who come to here first time so they read it. Last post for the rest, who monitor any update on thread.

#9

April 9, 2012
Spring break! A perfect time to work on my game. I got some work done on it. I added in a GUI system, so I could make a sign. IT looks ugly but it works.
Speaking of GUIs, I made a level editor. I would upload it, but I isn’t very advanced. I need to add in an options menu. But I am proud of it. This is one of the first times I have designed a GUI system, so I was learning as I went. Anyway…

DOWNLOADS!!
ApocalypseRun.jar
Source.zip

#10

Runs really smoothly and the graphics are cute, great job!

Your game uses up 100% of one of my cores! Did you set LibGDX to run at max FPS or something?! O_o

#11

I didn’t do anything with the FPS. I probably need to control it. I’ll look into it.

[EDIT] After looking around a bit, I realized I have no idea how to control how much CPU it uses up. I already have vsync enabled, and I don’t know what to do. I also realized that it was my code that I needed to change.

#12

April 11, 2012
I have changed a few things. The first being: I removed my GUI system. Others were telling me I should use libgdx’s built in GUI system, or TWL. I haven’t replaced it yet, so you can’t read signs now. I just don’t understand others GUI’s. I’ll look into libGdx’s source and figure out how it works, I think. Or, see if I can find a video tutorial. The first seems like a better idea.

Second: I made my chunks render faster. Using libGdx’s Pixmap, and a lot of ugly code, I made each chunk render it’s blocks onto a Pixmap once, and then draw the resulting texture. It’s a lot faster than having each block render itself, especially if all the blocks in a chunk draw a texture. The only thing not saved to the Pixmap is the background. I’m not sure if it matters.

Downloads
ApocalypseRun.jar
Source.zip

BTW, does anyone look at the source code? Or care that I post it? Because IT is one less thing I need to do if no one wants it.

[EDIT] Oh, and I just remembered. I also added in a few more people spinning around, and a person that follows you. Don’t do anything to confuse (A.K.A don’t do anything).

#13

I do like sources, but is up to you to do whatever you want :slight_smile:

#14

If your game is really appealling, sources will be wanted.

#15

April 18, 2012
I’m sure no one was disappointed that I haven’t updated in a while. But I am still going to be updating. List of changes:

  • Upgraded to libGdx’s built-in GUI library
  • Somehow fixed a bug that was crashing my game (I couldn’t find the source of the bug)
  • Made the signs messages look better
  • Made you able to read signs within a + shape
  • Added a menu
  • Removed all of the other entities because I was lazy.

Downloads
ApocalypseRun.jar
Source.zip

I thought about removing the source, but then I realized that I would probably find it the most useful.

#16

I made a video of all the work I have done (not much)!

vTP-X3utuiE

#17

The two followers remind me of Ultima 6/7, where I had to walk very deliberately through forest paths, lest the party members get stuck behind a corner. As I recall, in U6, you could lose your party members forever, but in U7 if a party member was left behind too far, they’d suddenly come dashing back in from off-screen. My speculation was that the pathfinding couldn’t track my character fast enough (on a 16MHz 386 CPU), so if they were off-screen by some threshold, the game just dropped them back nearby.

What is the role of the followers (party members) in your game? I still love the classic look. Thanks for the updates.

#18

Right now, they are just novel. I doubt any of the NPCs later on will have AI like this.

#19

Sorry for the double post, I’m releasing an update. Very minor changes, except in the Guis.

Download

#20

I was trying to play your game, but the character moved so fast, I couldn’t navigate very well. He seems to move several tiles with one press of the arrow key.
So far it seems pretty cool. I like the style of it.
Aazimon :slight_smile: