Ground FX

Contests Java Technology Game Development Contest - 2004
#1

well, here is my contest entry.

Feel free to leave any feedback other then the fact that it should use webstart (yes, that means you, Blahblahblah! :wink: )

Requirements/install instructions:

You need to install the CG Compiler/runtime from NVidia for the shaders:
www.nvidia.com/object/cg_toolkit.html
Choose the appropriate CG Compiler for your operating system

Make sure you are running the latest drivers for you video card

Install java from www.java.com (click on get it now in the top right corner).

Extract the zip file and execute the GroundFX.bat file.

http://www.tomsmallwood.net/groundfx/groundfx.zip

#2

Before I go to all that troubleā€¦ any chance of some screenshots?

Cas :slight_smile:

#3

http://www.tomsmallwood.net/groundfx/GroundFX0001.png
http://www.tomsmallwood.net/groundfx/GroundFX0002.png

This is untested on a Mac or Linux (we havenā€™t even taken those into consideration yet), and I wouldnā€™t recomend less then a GeForce 3.

#4

Um, I wonā€™t be complaining about webstart, then. Iā€™ll be complaining about lack of GF2 compatibility ;).

PS IIRC the first of those screenshots is from an early build, and seriously undersells your graphics ;). Suggest you take a new one (and update your JGF devdirary whilst youā€™re at it :slight_smile: ?)

#5

heh, yeah. Once I get some sleep I can clean stuff up a little bit. Part of the reason I posted here was because this was an 11th hour compile and I was having problems getting it uploaded. We should have a web page up later this week. Fortunately, I did hear for AThomas and he did get the project. :slight_smile:

I do plan on getting you a new diary entry as soon as I get caught up.

#6

What on Earth is that using CG for?

Cas :slight_smile:

#7

Right now, it is only using them for shadows.

#8

Ship is hard to steer, but I suppose I could get used to it. The demo is very limited so I donā€™t know if Iā€™m doing something wrong, but all I can do is fly down the tunnel till I get to the end. If I really try I can fly into a corner and penetrate through the level.

It seems a bit slow and ā€œfloatyā€ when I was expecting a faster paced game. But it looks like the start to something that may end up quite cool.

#9

Thanks! The physics do need a lot of re-working and we want to add a lot to game play (especially multi-player). Now that the contest is over, we need to step back and take a look at where we are vs where we want to go. Your comments are pretty much right on.

#10

Any reason why we canā€™t download this game? Itā€™s not on your serverā€¦

-ChrisM

#11

[quote]Any reason why we canā€™t download this game? Itā€™s not on your serverā€¦

-ChrisM
[/quote]
Me too:

#12

assuming that you need the nVidia Cg compiler, this game wont run with shadows on ATI? I havenā€™t tried it yet, but I would imagine that this is the case?

PS. I tried downloading it, I get a 404 error

#13

Shadows work fine on ATI 9600ā€™s and 9800 's (the development machine has a 9800 in it. They donā€™t work well on some older Geforce and ATI cards.

I temporily took the public version of the file down as there were a few things we wanted to get fixed on it. Iā€™ll get a new version up asap.

#14

FANTASTIC!

Ran REALLY well and SMMMMOOOOOOTTTTTHHHHH! Excellent work. The controls are spot on and found myself able to drift and turn around the end of the course really well. Great job!

-ChrisM

Some cool screen shots :slight_smile:

#15

Sweet, thanks for the screen shots :slight_smile:

I havenā€™t even touched the game since submitting it. I really needed to get away from it for a day or two.

p.s. swpalmer, you knew once you got to the end of the track, you were supposed to turn around and go the other way, right?

#16

still getting 404 ???, looks like a very good game, but I canā€™t play it. :ā€™(