Horizon (Freeroam MMORPG) WIP

I know what your probably thinking, god another 2D tile based game, but let me explain. Over the last year i worked on a 2D game with a friend to see if i could make a retro version of for example WoW but with infinite free roam and multiplayer, but there were a few issues, the core engine i made had issues disposing of mobs, tiles, old items etc…so it was kinda crap, then through no fault of my own i lost all the code due to stupid github syncing issues -.- (i really hate it but im still using it for this project, guess im a fool), so i wanted to restart the project and take the core features of my old game but make it run better and feel more smooth.

The team:

  • Myself (JohnGreen): Developer
  • Neil Dady: Artist

What is done so far in terms of the project?

  • I have re-made the render engine and made it more flexible for my needs allowing for multi layer tiles, movable block etc
  • Faster rendering of tiles since now it is handled on a diffrent thread
  • Chunk based system to save and load tiles (the math was hell but you can look at the code if you so wish in my github)
  • Max map size of 68,719,476,704 X 68,719,476,704 (Boosted in V0.0.1_11)

What is planned?
There is ALOT planned for this project and its only just been started! Im currently seeking artists to help design; Tiles, players, mobs , items, clothing etc for the game to make it visually appealing whilst keeping its retro feel.

  • Randomly generating Mobs, Npc’s, Quests, Citys, etc
  • Fully customisable characters.
  • Skills (Some skills like woodcutting will have a cap but things like attack can continuously be trained)
  • Random dungeons
  • Story line based on Randomly generated factors in the game but the core story wont differ much
  • Underwater loot, citys, etc

Everything described in this article is a long way away from being finished but i am keen on keeping everyone up to date on what is going on in terms of development and if anyone has any questions feel free to ask! and development screenshots of the game are included below but currently most the work is in the background! (remember i am a coder and i’m not good at design so textures in the game currently are very basic)

Consept art for new textured being developed!

Game fully recoded and working with OpenGL

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Version
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Added
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V0.0.1_1 (7/12/14)
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First build of game
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V0.0.1_2 (8/12/14)
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Created player and started work on map rendering
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V0.0.1_3 (8/12/14)
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Added Tile rendering and player rendering on tiles
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V0.0.1_4 (10/12/14)
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Added Map and Minimap
Added player controle’s and other keyboard bindings
Added Tree generation
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[td]
V0.0.1_5 (11/12/14)
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Updated how Tiles were saved and changed it to save 16 x 16 areas into chunks
Fixed math problems
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[td]
V0.0.1_6 (12/12/14)
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Added basic inventory
Discontinued Map, Minimap and tree generation code
Allowed negative quards and extended max map size to 160,000 x 160,000
Re added Map code with new chunk saving
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[td]
V0.0.1_7 (14/12/14)
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[td]
Fixed several math problems
Knowen bug - the map seems to break (some parts duplicate due to a math error somewhere and it makes the map look like it tareing)
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[td]
V0.0.1_8 (14/12/14)
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[td]
Fixed Map Tarring
Added Player Animations
Multiple layers of the map working simultaneously
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[td]
V0.0.1_9(19/12/14)
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[td]
New Map handling methods now capable of having 9BillionX9billion in size maps
Added Inventory contaners
Added basic Biomes (Desert, Beach, Ocean, Forest, Jungle, etc)
Added new debug information
Added Trees
Added multi tile layering to allow for 2.5D effects (2.5D is forced protective of a 3D world in a 2D plain)
Added entity health
Hit Boxes
Block detection
Tiles now have a metadata value
Bug-fixing
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[td]
V0.0.1_10(25/12/14 Woooo burning that christmas oil)
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[td]
Added better map generation
Fixed Trees being chopped in half with chunks loading in and out
Optimised render methods
Idle player animations
Basic particle effects when running
Known bug: Chunks are not being disposed so causing Tick lag
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[td]
V0.0.1_11(1/1/15)
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[td]
Multiplayer update!
Basic server client system setup!
Cross client chat
Max possible map size now is 68,719,476,704 X 68,719,476,704 that is if you can walk that far :wink: (physically impossible for me to make it bigger xD)
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[td]
V0.0.1_12(31/1/15)
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[td]
Started from scratch with LWJGL
Added Map Generation
Added Inventory’s
Added Spawning entity’s
Added npc’s
Added Basic sound
Added particle effects
Added local map saving
Added Animated tiles
Added Npc chat

Known bugs : When generating the merge blocks between 2 biome’s (for eg sand and grass) there is fps loss due too allot of processing
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V0.0.1_13(25/2/15)
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[td]
Added NPC’s
Added Dynamic AI that allows NPC’s to be more unpredictable but make them seem more human
Added Multi World’s (Again) and support for houses (No textures yet)
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[td]
To Do
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Clean Up code
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New world render system seems very stable in the V0.0.1_9 Build you can now have a map 6,400,000,000 tiles in size and have no lag :smiley: epic

Looking good keep up the good work!

V0.0.1_9(19/12/14)
New Map handling methods now capable of having 9BillionX9billion in size maps
Added Inventory contaners
Added basic Biomes (Desert, Beach, Ocean, Forest, Jungle, etc)
Added new debug information
Added Trees
Added multi tile layering to allow for 2.5D effects (2.5D is forced protective of a 3D world in a 2D plain)
Added entity health
Hit Boxes
Block detection
Tiles now have a metadata value
Bug-fixing
Known bug: Chunks are not being disposed so causing Tick lag

I just added some new screenshots so you can see whats going on inside the game :slight_smile:

Ah. Thats MUCH better. I really like this project.

Thank you, im talking to some graphics designers to try and help me make the game look a million times better because i cant draw but they will be able to make all the tiles, players, items etc.

Haha yup. I’ve had the same issue many times. It’s a common problem within the developer’s world.

But its hard to get people involved in the project if they cant fully see what it could look like without there art

That’s why you create one hell of a game and then go find an artist who is impressed enough to come make art for you. No one is going to give you anything for free, unfortunately. You have to impress those artists enough that they WANT to make art for you because then they might get something out of it.

Thats some nice world generation you got there, maybe you could rough up the edges of the biomes a a little more.

you might want to create some better textures for the game and make it more fitting, the grass for example i guess its wool from minecraft?

other then that its greate!

Yeah i am truly not good at graphics im just working on getting the core of the game ready but yes we have a proper sprite sheet in the works with new cool looking 3X2 trees, loads of new textures and animations too :smiley:

Is there anything unique or interesting about this project that makes it stand out? Just genuinely curious as there are a lot of these out there.

The long term plan is to have it randomly make its own quests, towns etc so the story will be very expandable but im currently working on the core atm

Hi if you contact me via Skype and explain the technical details of the project I may be interested in producing some pixel art for your game.

Skype: sandbox.morpg

I added you a few days ago but no reply

Currently working on a online only update to the game like how RuneScape has multi worlds with the same inventory and player info

Been working on the server side of the game, a quick look at the console…not much but just to show im not dead xD

Blasphemer! Tile-based games are the best type of game.