Tethical, online FFT clone

[Kivutar]

Thanks Cheetah, I'm waiting for your map.

[EDIT] We tried to play tethical online. It is too laggy. I think this is due to http and the way I use it (no threads). So I started rewritting the network layer using the datagram protocol (https://www.panda3d.org/manual/index.php/Datagram_Protocol). This implies rewritting the server in Python. It is a huge work, and there will be nothing graphical to show so there won't be videos for a while.

[Kaffe]

Go onward, soldier. You have our support.

[MysticKnightFF5]

This will probably end hilariously. "Screw hacking FFT...let's just mod tethical" XD
Then we'll change our site name to "TethicalOnline.com" and become a famous hotspot and do all this other bs x3 Like gusanos.
All we need to do is add a single player on top of the multiplayer so that we can share story modes with eachother and co-op. yummy co-op.

[Kaffe]

Maybe we should start that homepage right away.

[Kivutar]

Go onward, soldier. You have our support.

Thanks. I rewrote the network code of the lobby. Now I have to write the one for the battle, wich is the big part because I have to translate the 3 libraries (map parsing, movement algorithms, attack algoritms) to python.

This will probably end hilariously. "Screw hacking FFT...let's just mod tethical" XD
Then we'll change our site name to "TethicalOnline.com" and become a famous hotspot and do all this other bs x3 Like gusanos.

In a few years maybe

All we need to do is add a single player on top of the multiplayer so that we can share story modes with eachother  and co-op. yummy co-op.

Now that the server libraries are going to be translated to python, we can use them directly in the client and have an offline mode.
Or maybe it would be smarter to let people run a local server to emulate an offline mode: IA could be bots. And adding storyline features like character dialogs and chaining battles directly into the online mode would allow a sort of co-op.

* Kivutar stops dreaming and starts to clean the code

[MysticKnightFF5]

Dream on Kivutar, with enough time, blood, sweat, tears, blood, swearing, hatred, blood, hard work, and your blood, one day all of what I said will be more than possible. If dbp comes back, he seems specialized in the "offline mode" section of game programming, so you may want to talk to him about maybe customizable dialogue boxes and such x3
God knows if that doesn't happen a "Tethical RPing Group" will be made, and it'll be lulzy.

[Atma]

so, when the engine is fully coded and running how will the non-programmer types edit settings like screen resolution, camera zoom, keyboard/button mapping, etc?  Also, are we going to need secondary programs for creating things like story events or characters, abilities and equipment?  if so, would it be possible for someone to start working on these, or at least keep the creation programs in mind?  i'm hoping that stuff like this would be possible for others to do so it's not all put on ur shoulders.  i'm just thinking that stuff like a map builder or something that works with ur program could be built in preparation of ur program.

oh, just to clarify what Pickle Girl Fanboy was talking about... are the 'units' essentially just a rectangular plane that a texture is assigned to?  and i guess the same for the terrain?  this means we can put any res image we want, right?

just a thought, most of the maps of FFT have been mainly flat squares, or inclines, but is it possible to add more terrain effects, so it appears more uneven?  or perhaps keep the flat/incline as is but allow for normal/displacement mapping of the textures to simulate depth?  (tho, just thinking about this... even if it is possible, it may be better to keep it simpler so it's more mod friendly for a broader range of people)

oh, and i <3 u  

[Kivutar]

@Cheetah: the model exported well, but the logical export gave something unreadable...

Maybe we should start that homepage right away.

I started it at http://tethical.kivutar.me/. For now it is just a blog, but Drupal is very extendable.

so, when the engine is fully coded and running how will the non-programmer types edit settings like screen resolution, camera zoom, keyboard/button mapping, etc?

I am from the old school and strongly believe in text files, like JSON, YAML, etc.
But some of these things may end in the SQL database that will store the accounts and characters, so we can perform JOINs on it.

Also, are we going to need secondary programs for creating things like story events or characters, abilities and equipment?

This sort of tools is very helpfull to make an engine user friendly. Typicaly when the configuration files are very complicated, like it is the case for the maps. (But is it not a need, even if it would be great).

if so, would it be possible for someone to start working on these, or at least keep the creation programs in mind?

Sure! For example, I really need a sprite exporter. The bad thing is that the destination format may change due to the design instability: we are in the very early stages of the developement.
A map editor would attract a lot of contributors.
To be honest, I have never hacked FFT and have no idea of what is event editing. If plan to add a storyline mode, I won't be the project leader for this part, just a developer.

i'm hoping that stuff like this would be possible for others to do so it's not all put on ur shoulders.  i'm just thinking that stuff like a map builder or something that works with ur program could be built in preparation of ur program.

This is a very good idea. I think that the server side map format is quite stable now. A graphical editor to place tiles on a map is possible.

oh, just to clarify what Pickle Girl Fanboy was talking about... are the 'units' essentially just a rectangular plane that a texture is assigned to?  and i guess the same for the terrain?  this means we can put any res image we want, right?

Yes, you must keep the ratio, and the resolution must be a power of 2. But you can do it. You can double (or x4 or more) the resolution of sprites, GUI, map textures, fonts, all the PNG.

just a thought, most of the maps of FFT have been mainly flat squares, or inclines, but is it possible to add more terrain effects, so it appears more uneven?  or perhaps keep the flat/incline as is but allow for normal/displacement mapping of the textures to simulate depth?  (tho, just thinking about this... even if it is possible, it may be better to keep it simpler so it's more mod friendly for a broader range of people)

Yes it is possible to make the map model more precise. If you know how to use Blender, you can try it. The map logic has nothing to do with the look. You can already do that on FFT with Ganesha.

oh, and i <3 u

Thank you, i <3 you all@FFH

[GeneralStrife]

Congratulations on getting your own forum!

[Durbs]

Congrats on the new forum! You've earned it! Keep up the epic work!

[Kokojo]

Congrats on the new forum! You've earned it! Keep up the epic work!

I was happy when I got mine, so you better be happy!

[Kivutar]

* Kivutar is very proud and happy

[Cheetah]

Wow, I am so disappointed I don't have time to try out all this new stuff.

I'm also sad that my custom map didn't work. I have gotten it to work in the actual game though, any idea why Tethical is having difficulties?

[Kivutar]

I don't remember the error message but it was about tiles, and how they are enumerated. It is easy to fix by hand. Writting ourself the tiles info is the only way to add custom map, I did it for some of my map, so we can do it for yours too. But the exporter needs to get fixed to support those custom map. For now I lack time to fix it.

[Asmo X]

This is god damn amazing. Can't wait to see this up and running. Good work

[MysticKnightFF5]

This is god damn amazing. Can't wait to see this up and running. Good work

For once, Asmo, we agree completely.

[Asmo X]

Who are you?

[Dome]

Who are you?

Magitek

[Kivutar]

I almost finished to rewrite the network layer. We'll see soon if the lag is fixed.

[Pride]

We can't wait! Keep up your great work ^_^