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Posted: 22 Jul 2006 20:25
by Bjarni
This is a nice idea for making a new "game" in the game. I just wondered about a few things.

Why Charon? It's a far away place, cold (even air freezes to ice) and tiny. The worst issue is actually the size as it affects gravity or rather, lack of it.

Why replace toyland? Despite popular romours, it's actually used by some people. We can just add a 5th terrain type.

To make this complete, it should replace more or less all graphics and sounds, so I wonder if this works, then we can make OpenTTD work without the TTD files (they would still be usable, but not mandatory) and then OpenTTD works out of the box. That would be a really nice addition :D

This will be a whole lot of graphic drawing, so the question is if it should be done in 8 bit colours since work on a 32 bit graphic engine have begun. That graphic engine is progressing very slowly though... Maybe it's best to simply use what we got now. For all we know right now, the 32 bit graphic engine might never be released in a working condition, but I thought I should mention it so it will not come as a big surprise.

Posted: 23 Jul 2006 01:05
by Ben_Robbins_
Sorry, cause this is kinda off-topic...

Bjarni: Is there anyware that the progress on the graphics engine can be seen in some simple sort of 4/10 or 27% or stage 2 out of 7 style...cause I don't really understand the progress page on the wiki. (nothing wrong with it, I just don't get stuff)

''maybe its best to simply use what we got now''? Do you mean chuck all the 32bit graphics stuff, or by 'now' are you just putting the sentence in tense? (as in..'for the present')...I didn't quite get you.

''never be released'' Um....although theres a ''might'' in there, this sounds really lame. Is the 32bit graphics stuff just in vain?

P.S. to Keep this post from being 100% offtopic spam, I'll say, I think this mod idea is quality, and yes, start developing it!

Posted: 23 Jul 2006 01:23
by Born Acorn
The way things are going, it hard to say. It may be in vain, it may not be. We have no models. Only pictures of them. Not to mention Crazy_Vaclav pulled all of his graphics, including practically all the planes.

There are also conflicts. I've heard discussions from developers saying that if the 32bpp graphics will cause too much recoding, then they'll keep it as it is, while I've seen others say 32bpp will change the way OpenTTD plays, including tracks and new airport designs, and things like different scale, such as two minitiles per tile. There'll be a clash there sooner or later.

Posted: 23 Jul 2006 01:46
by Aracirion
hmmm I think then it should be sorted out soon .. cause there are some people working on the grafix, and it would be lame if that would be in vain.

personally, I'd like to see certain changes in game play, not least more realistic sizing, but this can be discussed

I think the planes are not lost but could be salvaged

Posted: 23 Jul 2006 01:59
by Ben_Robbins_
Shorley just making something more zoomed in should have no debates at all... You take something.....and zoom in

All the scaling, double track stuff and crap is additional changes...shouldnt they be debated seperatly?

I think we can get the models back of crazy soon. But I'll double my efferts! As long as the goal isnt removed, then I think people will always work hard when theres something to aim for.

Posted: 23 Jul 2006 03:37
by Tidus97
off topic. why not start a 32bit graphics topic/post?

Posted: 23 Jul 2006 08:54
by Bjarni
IRC wrote:<Bjarni> egladil: people wants to know when the 32 bit engine will work, so do you have an ETA? I mean like this year or next year or something like that
<egladil> Bjarni: unfortunately i don't know. hopefully this year :)
<egladil> i'll try to get back to work on it as soon as i've bought a new computer
<egladil> which will be in about two weeks when i finished work
well, that's all I got.

Re: Preliminary Thesis

Posted: 23 Jul 2006 09:42
by Bjarni
SirXavius wrote:Several modifications to the main code of Transport Tycoon Deluxe (open-source) will need to be made, as enumerated in this list.

• Besides the new actions and functions that the default vehicles will need to have, roads will need to be made into square panels which use magnetic technology to move cubic metal containers (as opposed to driveable vehicles) along its course. Since all tracks use the same speed, all the track vehicles will have the same appearance and speed (which does not need to be displayed). This may be a simple translation of the maglev system, without the train engine.
Do you mean like road vehicles or like trains without engines?
SirXavius wrote:• Monorails should be easy to transfer from OpenTTD, only the graphics need to be updated.
a whole lot of stuff can be reused if they get new sprites
SirXavius wrote:• Leviant, or hovering, transports use the same ability to fly as aerial vehicles but can be impeded by ground objects. This may require adding (as opposed to altering) hard-coded functions to the program.
this could be very hard to do
SirXavius wrote:• Flight vessels such as space freighters and orbiter shuttles will need to disappear for a time when they go to orbiting stations off-map.
I guess stopping them and skipping the sprites from the drawing routines will be the way to go here

Posted: 23 Jul 2006 13:32
by SirkoZ
Boring, count me out. GPMI (the Quake/UT-like mod system for OpenTTD) needs much work before all this. ;)

Posted: 23 Jul 2006 14:39
by Mambaru
It's not like there has been a lot of tangable progress so far. Most of the changes that I've whitnessed so far has not changed OTTD one bit.
It's all been 'under the hood' so to speak.

At least there is someone out there trying to think outside of the box and keep OTTD fresh and alive.

Posted: 23 Jul 2006 22:19
by SirkoZ
Fresh? Outside of the box?!!
Are you crazy?! (Open)TT(D) is the best toy/real-train simulator that I've seen that allows you to build your own landscape/rails.
Now - tell me where can you buy a change-able model, that will fit inside one room and be totally moldable, please, thank you?!

If you want it fresh and don't realise it's a classic, you'd better stop playing it because it's 10 years old already. :?

Posted: 23 Jul 2006 22:29
by richk67
Mambaru wrote:It's not like there has been a lot of tangable progress so far. Most of the changes that I've whitnessed so far has not changed OTTD one bit.
It's all been 'under the hood' so to speak.

At least there is someone out there trying to think outside of the box and keep OTTD fresh and alive.
I wonder if you are looking at the same OTTD as the rest of us?

OTTD has been radically enhanced over the last year through loads of player-created patches. Yes, they havent reached the main release yet, but some have. However, many many patches are included in the MiniIN; a user-created build with loads of new features. A new map generator, subsidiaries, snow in temperate maps, lots of stuff...

Keeping OTTD fresh and alive? Yes, all OTTD patch developers are doing a grand job!

Posted: 23 Jul 2006 22:48
by SirkoZ
Of course :) - not to mention mini_Integrated_nightly_build of OpenTTD, Mambaru.

Posted: 23 Jul 2006 22:51
by Griff
If you make it, i may play it.

Posted: 23 Jul 2006 22:56
by Bjarni
I think some people might have misunderstood this. This is meant to be an option, not a general game change. If people don't want to use it, then they got the option not to do so. Just like today people got the option not to use toyland.

Also our goal is to make the game we want, not to make a 100% clone of an old game. If somebody gets a good idea for additions, then we should think about if we want it, not if it fits some retro feeling. However we should consider giving people the choice to make the game stay in some "classic mode" or whatever we should call it, but it's not the same as it's the right thing to do for everybody.

Posted: 23 Jul 2006 23:15
by Mambaru
The mini-integrated is all I play at the moment. Given how many changes (damn fine ones at that) which have been made.

Also sorry about the tone of the post. I was not exactly in a good mood at the time. :oops:

I am all for changes to OTTD which make it a different experience from plain vanilla TTD. If I understood enough about coding then I'd jump on the wagon and help.

Posted: 24 Jul 2006 14:35
by SirXavius
Ok guys, stick to the topic :?

You got the right idea, Tidus, as far as the land surface. I'm envisioning a dark bluish-gray hilly surface polished like marble, except for a few areas that still have carbon debris and rubble. The water will shimmer black-violet-indigo, and yes the whole atmosphere will be dark. The contrast with the distant sunlight will be sharp, however, and buildings and vehicles will stand out starkly.

Right now, the immediate changes will encompass graphic changes (almost entirely), all new cargoes and industries, and new vehicles (altho magnetic rail can be directly transferred. However, because of the change in "road vehicles" (equivalent to maglev "mine cars"), and hovering (as opposed to flying -- altho essentially that's what they'll be doing) craft, the Action pseudo-sprites will have to be recoded (which i haven't learned to do yet). We don't hafta change palettes or coloring systems; just stick to the template for the Temperate gameplay.

This will replace Toyland's scenario, for now, until we get the thing going and it's starting to take shape. Then we'll make it its own mod (a 4-set game, like the current TTD)

To answer your question, Bjarni, about why the moons of Pluto...I wanted a futuristic place where the advance of technology allows us to develop on other planets. Mars is overfictionalized, and the Gas giants are not really "colonizable." So i did some research on the moons of the outer planets, and chose Pluto and its 3 moons, mostly because little is known about these bodies, and as a creative artist, the less is known for fact, the more you can let your imagination run wild. But one minable moon is as good as another, as long as humans could build on it.
And don't worry about gravity on small planetoids; in the year 2565 (for the purposes of our mod), we discover how to apply the Grand Unified Theory, and by passing a resonated electromagnetic current through certain non-conductive materials, the gravitational mass of a small amount of matter (relative to a planet) can be amplified, simulating gravity. Of course, it takes A LOT of energy, which is one advantage of a nuclear plant.

One other thing if i don't respond right away; i'm not on the Internet at home, so to get to these forums, i go to the local library twice a week...

Posted: 25 Jul 2006 06:06
by Tidus97
ohh ok. ill get working on the terrain and water but before i do that can someone post all the terrain sprites (grass only!) so that i can just paint over them please? thanks

Posted: 25 Jul 2006 07:04
by DaleStan

Code: Select all

$ grfcodec -d trg1r.grf && gimp sprites/trg1r.pcx

Posted: 27 Jul 2006 05:31
by Tidus97
no i mean the images