Storm2D Public Alpha Release

[r0land]

I Love the idea about having different classes. Simply this adds a lot to the game ; there can be certain servers / mods / gamemodes for only 1 class for example.
Also it generates a new tactic system for competive matches. While you can only say that you are good with a certain weapon or a certain task in Soldat you can specialize to play a certain class here.

I'm glad you like the idea about having multiple character classes. I too agree it can work well, just needs a bit more work at this stage. Each of the zombies use a different character class, and it works well there (they use different weapons, have different sized body parts, etc).

The last time I was trzing to play that game literally caused my computer to crash
 the autoupdater was automatically restarting the process when I clicked on the cancel button.
When I tried to remove the task (java) in my taskmgr then, it just came back
There was no way for me to cancel to autoipdate (on XP)

Wow, that isn't good. I really need to add a cancel button. I think it's an issue with threads still running when the main window is closed. Thanks, I'll try fix it soon.

The last time I played it the movement system felt a bit weird (compared to what im used of by solday)
At this time I was wondering why you added like 70? Weapons to the game before finishing the actual movemenh physics/animations.

The problem is each member of the team works on a different section of Storm2D so some things are more developed than others.
I work on the coding and most of the scripting apart from movement mechanics. MM does the movement and animations but he doesn't have too much time to work on them. Another member of my team (AL) works on the weapons and just adds new ones when he has an interesting idea. VirtualTT does the maps and Skykanden does the art.

Btw. There is no map editor in the folder, so is there a way to make maps for the public ? Or does storm 2d support the pms map file?

Storm2D does support .pms. I've been working on a separate version of Polyworks to allow it to have destructible polygons etc. I haven't made this available to the public yet, but will soon.

You said that you are going to replace the resources storm2d shares with soldat right now (sounds , interfaces , ...)
What direction are you trxing to move that game at ? There is already a class called "Soldier" if I remember correctly, which is exactly the same like what we have in soldayt. Are ypu going to make the game as much like Soldat or what are your plans here ?

The interface and fonts will be redone by Skykanden, to be more updated, minimal and look less like a complete clone from Soldat.
We're still not sure what direction we want to go in, this is the main reason for releasing the game now so that we can get input from you guys Yeah there's a Soldier (Soldat) class which has the same jetboot feature as Soldat. This is a great movement mechanic and we didn't want to get rid of it. We don't want to make it exactly like Soldat, but we do want Storm2D have some of the features that make Soldat great, such as the movement and balanced battles.

Also: I was wondering who you actually are. Talented devs don't come out of the nowhere , they need at least 2000 posts on the soldatforums or any other THD related forums

I've been playing Soldat for many years (back since 1.3.1) but wasn't really interested in joining the forums - more just loved playing the game  . I'm not really a forum guy but I'm trying to change that. I'll definitely be active on this thread and the Storm2D forums.

Here's my story. I was introduced to Soldat by my brother when I was about 13 and instantly loved the game. I'm not much of a gamer actually and I get sick of games very quickly. Soldat was the only exception. About 1-2 years in I realised there was more to the game than just playing CTF and DM, and I started experimenting with scripting, tutored by an awesome Soldat player called Saintpoida. I really didn't know what I was doing but he kept teaching me and I don't know where I'd be today without him. After about a year of that and making simple Soldat hacks () I slowly got into game programming. I discovered I loved the creativity and problem solving of programming, and that I liked programming more than playing games most of the time (I think this is the issue with a lot of game developers, they like playing games more than making them ). Over the next few years I experimented with Assembly, Visual basic, pascal and delphi, Java, C, C++, and C#, mostly using DirectX to make simple 2D and 3d games. It's always been my dream since I started coding to make a Soldat clone. I just knew I wasn't ready to do it. In my last year of highschool I made a 3d deathmatch tanks game using C++ and DirectX (also inspired by Soldat) and began to believe that I might succeed in making a Soldat clone someday. I started programming in Java in preparation for university. In 2011 I began a degree in Computer science (which I finish in 2 weeks! ) and learned a lot about programming that I had missed from solely teaching myself from websites. Around this time I really started noticing that a lot of players were leaving Soldat. All the New Zealand and most of the Australian servers disappeared. I realised that it was time to see if I could make my Soldat clone. I chose Java because I had experience in it, It was multiplatform (I only had access to a windows pc) and originally I wanted to make it able to be played in a browser(This isn't the case any more). Minecraft had become popular and I knew I could use the same engine (LWJGL) to make my game. I spent many hours planning the game with my friend AL (who I met on Soldat) and worked hard on the game for about 3 months before sending an email to MM (my idol) with a video of my Soldat clone, not even sure whether I'd receive a response. I was shocked when I got an email back from him - he said it was the most promising clone he'd seen, and that I could possibly work with him on Soldat 2 - that a lot of people had asked him but hadn't shown they really had what it took to do it. Back then the game was made in Java AWT (No OpenGL) and the map was made out of images (like liero or worms), not polygons. There was no networking, everything was fully hardcoded but it did have a couple of weapons, AI with pathfinding and simple biped animations. I was so surprised by his response, and to this day it was probably the best moment of my life. I spent the next two years working hard on the game while studying full time at university, completely recoding the engine at least twice. I realised then that I hadn't really been ready to make a Soldat clone back when I started, but I had to go through that process in order to get to where I was. MM guided me with the networking code (Using the Quake 3 model) and replacing Box2D with my own verlet physics. After about two years of coding I began working in earnest with Transhuman Design, using the KAG lobby and account system for Storm2D, and THD servers for the update system and website, helped by jrgp, Shadlington, Furai, FliesLikeABrick and others from THD. Finally we were "ready" for a release - not because the game was done but because we just needed to get it out there and into the next phase of its development. Now we're here, looking to build a community for Storm2D and improve through input from everyone who tries out the game.

Keep the work up, nice thatyou have updated the website lately btw. (it was pretty outdated a few weeks ago, it's important to keep websites for projects up-to-date because visitors might think the project was abondened if the latest post was a few year(s) month(s) ago.

Yeah, definitely. I've now made it a priority to keep the site and forums up to date. Thanks

[r0land]

But the pings show in game are higher. Much higher.

Maybe storm doesn't report the actual ping properly? Does the game appear sluggish/laggy for you or are the numbers just wrong? My guess it's either that or you have broken ipv6 connectivity and storm chooses v6 over v4 when it's available.

Yes, there's an issue with server pinging from the lobby at the moment - If you refresh the lobby again the pings will be more accurate. Or you can just join the game and press F1 to view the scoreboard. Your ping will show on there much lower.

[r0land]

I tried an earlier version of Storm2D but was put off by the art style, animations and movement system. It looks improved in the trailer though so I'll give it another shot. Still, it would be so awesome if one day Soldat and Storm2D merge together into a game that has the best of both worlds.

Remember Storm2D is still in Alpha. Honestly I'd love the same thing as you. It might just take a while longer for Storm2D to get there.

[r0land]

But the pings show in game are higher. Much higher.

Maybe storm doesn't report the actual ping properly? Does the game appear sluggish/laggy for you or are the numbers just wrong? My guess it's either that or you have broken ipv6 connectivity and storm chooses v6 over v4 when it's available.

Yes, there's an issue with server pinging from the lobby at the moment - If you refresh the lobby again the pings will be more accurate. Or you can just join the game and press F1 to view the scoreboard. Your ping will show on there much lower.

This is fixed now in the latest version. 

[darDar]

autoupdater.ini

Code: [Select]

address=web1.thd.vg
port=50283
address2=//for switching...
port2=50283
since thd.vg is offline now (and I don't know when it will come back) people can not update their clients ( and there doesn't seem to be an option to run the game without updating)
you should maybe release an alternative address. There should be 2 addresses in that anyways (for the case we have now, when one is broken)

[r0land]

autoupdater.ini

Code: [Select]

address=web1.thd.vg
port=50283
address2=//for switching...
port2=50283
since thd.vg is offline now (and I don't know when it will come back) people can not update their clients ( and there doesn't seem to be an option to run the game without updating)
you should maybe release an alternative address. There should be 2 addresses in that anyways (for the case we have now, when one is broken)

Yeah, this is a bit of an issue. I'm not actually using that INI file, it was more a thing to do in the future but I didn't get round to it in time. The thd.vg failure was completely unexpected by me and the URL for thd.vg was hardcoded in the game.

EDIT: Now that we are using a .net (update.storm2d.net) domain it's much more reliable and it's very unlikely the same problem will happen again.

 I made a post about it on the Storm2D forums news however I don't think many people saw it. You can patch your game to the latest version that uses the new update URL: http://www.storm2d.net/download/ (Click the patcher link at the bottom, it's only 1mb rather than redownloading the game)

The game should be able to run without updating, you just can't play on multiplayer because you won't have the latest version.

Thanks,
roland

[darDar]

There was an article released about the latest progress and plans for Storm2D
You can find the article here : http://www.thd.vg/post/93954923345/storm2d-progress-update

some mockup made by Skyanden, since all visuals will be redesigned:

[darDar]

Here's a preview of how the animated scenery will work. That's some really cool thing in my opinion and it will make the game very dynamic.

This .gif might take a while to load



The .gif below (low quality) shows the new lightning and the parallex scrolling which was done few days ago and will be in the map editor of the upcoming big update. (map editor + new visuals + fixes + fixes + hopefully the movement)


Here's a mockup for the "Conquest" game-mode, which is a mode about capturing and defending several bases on the map (similiar to Battlefiled and other popular games)



Be sure to give your feedback or suggestions on the official forums at http://forum.storm2d.net/

There's also the place to follow the development blog, which happens on a weekly basis in this topic "Weekly Changelogs"

[Blacksheepboy]

Wow that weekly changes link is broken. Took a sec to edit it.

[darDar]

Wow that weekly changes link is broken. Took a sec to edit it.

Thanks, fixed it

[darDar]

some preview of the upcoming "liquid" polygon type.



There are splashes being added soon. Liquid polygon types affect objects / players going through it (Bullets getting slower, ... )

[Blacksheepboy]

Now we get our water.

[15th_account]

I've always been curious with Storm2D's development, but the art style still nauseates me. I think it's that you're taking Soldat's sprite graphics and adding blurry particle effects that just doesn't mix well. And the characters seem so stale in their movement, like they've all shit themselves. Whenever they're in air the legs move as one uni-leg.

I just really want you to fix that already. :|

[L[0ne]R]

I've always been curious with Storm2D's development, but the art style still nauseates me. I think it's that you're taking Soldat's sprite graphics and adding blurry particle effects that just doesn't mix well. And the characters seem so stale in their movement, like they've all shit themselves. Whenever they're in air the legs move as one uni-leg.

I just really want you to fix that already.

Agreed, but AFAIK they're already working on improving the art style and remaking the sceneries. Source: http://www.thd.vg/post/93954923345/storm2d-progress-update

So we just have to wait and see how it goes.

[darDar]

another preview of the liquid polygon type, now with splashes!


and a preview of capturing bases for the upcoming primary mod.


The large update should be released in the end of the year (~November) (hopefully).

And the characters seem so stale in their movement, like they've all shit themselves. Whenever they're in air the legs move as one uni-leg.

Agreed, but AFAIK they're already working on improving the art style and remaking the sceneries. Source: http://www.thd.vg/post/93954923345/storm2d-progress-update

Yeah, looks quite appealing in my opinion!
I can't disagree here, yeah but the whole movement system will be redone for the next update (that's the plan).