Of Gods and Mortals

KB89 said:
This is good Daxter. Very good. How many hours are you putting in a day to achieve these results?

Seems like a lot but really it isn't, I take several hours out of an evening daily to knuckle down and do some of this stuff. Although, that little script error set me back 2 days more than I'd have hoped but I'm glad I figured out why it was causing me crashes. And while OGaM is in alpha, crashing can occur so I have plenty of time to fix it and apply some polish.
 
Hello  :)

Just wanted to take a quick moment to bring a little post that can help identify how far through OGaM is before the story starts to be built.

Of Gods and Mortals Feature Compendium:

Overall Percentage Completed - 27%

This list will outline features in progress, completed and coming. This may also include existing BnW2 mechanics that are created through scripts.

Implemented:
  • Epic Cinematics
  • Creature Selection

In Progress:
  • God AI - 49%
  • Scaffolding - 65%

Coming Soon:
  • Belief System
  • Storyline
  • Creature Miracle Learning
  • Voice Acting

Minor Tweaks/Adjustments TBA:
  • Disabling the Construction Menu
  • Disabling Migrations and bringing back the focus on expanding your influence.
  • Belief system will use the existing impressiveness mechanic as a means of taking a town
  • Cutting back on the tribute system and make buildings obtainable through more silver scroll quests throughout the story

When overall progress reaches the 55-60% mark, hopefully then all the main features will be implemented. Also as long as the update versions are staggered, I won't reach v2.0 too quickly where I would like to move OGaM into beta. Once in beta, I can start bringing testers in, to help me build a public beta build. This build will not contain story elements but it'll be a complete run-through a custom map built on OGaM's foundations so people get a good idea of what to expect through the story campaign.
 
This is awesome; I can't believe how quickly the changes are coming out and how great the ideas are. OGaM seems to be taking all the best features of BW1 and 2 and heaping them together, which sounds fantastic. I'd love to help testing when the time comes - I'll see if I can get my hands on a PC.
 
This is great. It's good to have a clear outline to follow. It's an ambitious project, but not unrealistic. Also, once it's completed it could possibly spark interest from other people wanting to develope with your foundation if you plan to release it that way after you release ogam. You know what I mean? Like the scaffold system and creature miracle learning and belief system.
 
I hope so. The game is very old but it can be still fun after u get over the few flaws the game has. I'm also one of those people who took a look at Godus and it doesn't feel like what the Black and White series had.

I might also have to get my hands on Black and White 1 again to really nail down how some of these systems work so I can have them as close to the originals as possible. And while on topic about BnW1, it got me thinking, if u take a look at the list of features planned for OGaM, it's almost a very real possibility too, to release an entire remake of the Black and White 1 campaign now that scaffolds and god ai is in the game. I remember I tried to make the BnW1 campaign long ago but it wasn't far long as I have OGaM atm so I can give that a go again too.  :)

EDIT: I forgot to add to that feature list, the custom god AI scripts that will be in place for the main antagonist and minor roles, can't have them following the same patterns as the general AI. >_>
 
I've been playing a little bit of B&W1 on this crappy laptop. The laptop surprised me, because it runs B&W1 fairly well at 30-50 fps. I was younger when I first played B&W1 and didn't realize that it was done pretty well. Upon playing it again there is more depth to it than I thought - you just have to dig for it. The storyline with it is really really linear and I'm confused on why no one ever made a user created expansion pack for it.

I can agree with your opinion on Godus. It doesn't look like something I could get into. It's very different.

Since the B&W franchise is pretty much dead now except for enthusiasts like yourself and the wanna-be's like me. Building a solid framework and fixing those critical flaws in the mechanics and gameplay would be a good investment. Hope you don't take this like I'm telling you what to do :p

Do you know about the Oculus Rift? I have saw one or two threads where a few people who thought that using the oculus rift with B&W would be amazing. It would be fantastic.

EDIT: Daxter you might want to consider updating the 1st post on the 1st page. With your new outline.
 
KB89 said:
EDIT: Daxter you might want to consider updating the 1st post on the 1st page. With your new outline.

Good catch there.  :)

Gone ahead and done that. May have to consider re-doing videos for the God AI, Creature Selection and possibly a cinematic trailer for OGaM built into C4D or something like it ^_^

Also, here's a little code containing part of the scaffolding script. I felt like I should share how part of the scaffolding system works. :)

Code:
begin script ScaffoldDragSelection(ThisScaffold)
	DistHandToScaffold = 0
	TargetPosScaffoldFromHand = 0
	NextScaffoldCivic = 0
	NextScaffoldHouse = 0
	PlannedScaffold = 0
	oTown = get town with id 0
	HouseCivicVisual = 0
start
     HouseCivicVisual = create visual effect VISUAL_MIRACLE_TORNADO_GROUND on ThisScaffold time -1
     SCALE of ThisScaffold = 1.00
     SCALE of HouseCivicVisual = 0.20
     override mesh for ThisScaffold with "m_greekabode_a"
     enable ThisScaffold indestructible
begin loop
if not key KB_LSHIFT down
  if hand position not near {ThisScaffold} radius 5.00 and NextScaffoldHouse == 0 and bindable action BINDABLE_ACTION_TYPE_ACTION performed
     SCALE of ThisScaffold = 1.00
     SCALE of HouseCivicVisual = 0.20
     override mesh for ThisScaffold with "m_greekabode_a"
	NextScaffoldHouse += 1
     wait 0.5 seconds
  end if

  if hand position not near {ThisScaffold} radius 5.00 and NextScaffoldHouse == 1 and bindable action BINDABLE_ACTION_TYPE_ACTION performed
     SCALE of ThisScaffold = 1.00
     override mesh for ThisScaffold with "m_greekabode_b"  
	NextScaffoldHouse += 1
     wait 0.5 seconds
  end if

  if hand position not near {ThisScaffold} radius 5.00 and NextScaffoldHouse == 2 and bindable action BINDABLE_ACTION_TYPE_ACTION performed
     SCALE of ThisScaffold = 1.00
     override mesh for ThisScaffold with "m_greekabode_c"
	NextScaffoldHouse += 1
     wait 0.5 seconds
  end if

  if hand position not near {ThisScaffold} radius 5.00 and NextScaffoldHouse == 3 and bindable action BINDABLE_ACTION_TYPE_ACTION performed
     SCALE of ThisScaffold = 1.00
     override mesh for ThisScaffold with "m_greekabode_d"
	NextScaffoldHouse += 1
     wait 0.5 seconds
  end if

  if hand position not near {ThisScaffold} radius 5.00 and NextScaffoldHouse == 4 and bindable action BINDABLE_ACTION_TYPE_ACTION performed
     SCALE of ThisScaffold = 1.00
     SCALE of HouseCivicVisual = 0.30
     override mesh for ThisScaffold with "m_greekabode_e"
	NextScaffoldHouse += 1
     wait 0.5 seconds
  end if

  if NextScaffoldHouse > 4
	NextScaffoldHouse = 0
  end if
end if

if key KB_LSHIFT down
  if hand position not near {ThisScaffold} radius 5.00 and NextScaffoldCivic == 0 and bindable action BINDABLE_ACTION_TYPE_ACTION performed
     SCALE of ThisScaffold = 1.00
     SCALE of HouseCivicVisual = 0.55
     override mesh for ThisScaffold with "m_greekstoragepit"
	NextScaffoldCivic = 1
     wait 0.5 seconds
  end if

  if hand position not near {ThisScaffold} radius 5.00 and NextScaffoldCivic == 1 and bindable action BINDABLE_ACTION_TYPE_ACTION performed
     SCALE of ThisScaffold = 1.00
     SCALE of HouseCivicVisual = 0.60
     override mesh for ThisScaffold with "m_greekaltar"
	NextScaffoldCivic = 2
     wait 0.5 seconds
  end if

  if hand position not near {ThisScaffold} radius 5.00 and NextScaffoldCivic == 2 and bindable action BINDABLE_ACTION_TYPE_ACTION performed
     SCALE of ThisScaffold = 1.00
     SCALE of HouseCivicVisual = 0.45
     override mesh for ThisScaffold with "m_greekbathhouse"
	NextScaffoldCivic = 3
     wait 0.5 seconds
  end if

  if hand position not near {ThisScaffold} radius 5.00 and NextScaffoldCivic == 3 and bindable action BINDABLE_ACTION_TYPE_ACTION performed
     SCALE of ThisScaffold = 1.00
     SCALE of HouseCivicVisual = 0.35
     override mesh for ThisScaffold with "m_greekgranary"
	NextScaffoldCivic = 0
     wait 0.5 seconds
  end if
end if

if ThisScaffold != get object held
	if ThisScaffold == get object left clicked or ThisScaffold == get object right clicked
 		stop visual effect HouseCivicVisual
        	stop script "ScaffoldRotation"
		clear left clicked object
		clear right clicked object
	     		wait 0.5 seconds
    		run background script ScaffoldSize(ThisScaffold, NextScaffoldHouse, NextScaffoldCivic)
			wait 3 seconds
	end if
end if
end loop
end script ScaffoldDragSelection
 
Hello

As an additional update to scaffolding, I just remembered one key thing about it. The ability to place town centre scaffolds to create new towns. Finally black and white 1's functionality is brought into Black and White 2.

Here is a screenshot in-game of a town centre scaffold.  :D

TownCentreScaffolds_zps6aba8f78.png


The next thing to work on with this I believe, is to add functionality to allow a player to craft and place new town scaffolds and make them a part of the game world. With this addition, I'm moving towards completely removing the support of impressiveness and platoons for a more traditional black and white 1 move and perhaps even introduce random quests when your influence reaches a town.

The influence system may have to be tweaked a little so it extends much greater than usual since impressiveness and platoons are a no-go eventually.
 
The ability to create new towns was an ability that BW2 sorely lacked. I couldn't even manage to create new towns in script without all the complicated scaffolding business, so well done!! I'm sure this feature will allow much more dynamic and varied gameplay than the standard fixed towns ever did. However, will the towns have names or display that BAD_STRING or whatever error? And it looks here like the town centre doesn't have the influence ring around it that it normally would. I imagine that these are only small things that need addressing and that this picture is just a preview. I'm interested in seeing the script for creating new towns! 
 
SkelApe said:
The ability to create new towns was an ability that BW2 sorely lacked. I couldn't even manage to create new towns in script without all the complicated scaffolding business, so well done!! I'm sure this feature will allow much more dynamic and varied gameplay than the standard fixed towns ever did. However, will the towns have names or display that BAD_STRING or whatever error? And it looks here like the town centre doesn't have the influence ring around it that it normally would. I imagine that these are only small things that need addressing and that this picture is just a preview. I'm interested in seeing the script for creating new towns! 

I'm yet to add the scripts for town centres. The screenshot is just the scaffold itself, it's not meant to have an influence ring until it has been placed in the world.  :)

I suspect once I have put the functionality in there, it should make it into the next content video update.
 
Turning B&W2 into B&W1 is epic.

I'm not a programmer or anything, but I have the feeling that this is somewhat kinda simple for you Daxter not just because you have the knowledge, but it's just something that isn't too difficult to implement. Maybe you just haven't started on the BIG tasks yet? This all just seems so simple that it's just the time that you have to push through in order to achieve your goal. Have you encountered any bugs with the scaffolding system you created yet or is it soundly constructed/programmed into the game now? I guess I'm just waiting for a hiccup in production.  :upside

 
KB89 said:
Turning B&W2 into B&W1 is epic.

I'm not a programmer or anything, but I have the feeling that this is somewhat kinda simple for you Daxter not just because you have the knowledge, but it's just something that isn't too difficult to implement. Maybe you just haven't started on the BIG tasks yet? This all just seems so simple that it's just the time that you have to push through in order to achieve your goal. Have you encountered any bugs with the scaffolding system you created yet or is it soundly constructed/programmed into the game now? I guess I'm just waiting for a hiccup in production.  :upside

First of all, would like to mention that I wouldn't necessarily say I'm "turning BnW2 into BnW1", although I  would like to steal the ideas from the successor cause it looks like BnW2 would benefit greatly from them with the fine-tuned systems already in place. There are a few minor issues again though, one being the fact that a square box is not a model in the game which would fit perfectly with the scaffolds but oh well.

If anything, I'd say all of this is a challenge. From building the structure, to implementing in such a way that it has as few impact on existing controls as possible. Scaffolding itself is not so buggy as it is prone to crashing, which is just a minor case of scripting issues that I can get to later on. I'd say everything I'm doing is a big task, most stuff in OGaM seems so quickly implemented is because I already had in place a preset of how I wanted to make some things work and what coding in the compiler would make it a thing.

If I had to pick something out of it as a "BIG Task", Id say the Belief system since Black and White 2 supports the impressiveness/war mechanic and has cut back on the expansion of the influence ring quite largely.
 
Another additional update to Scaffolds. This time it's a mechanic change. I was thinking about what people were suggesting previously and Fenton_Pat made a good one.

So instead of Shift clicking for Civics, I've decided on Pat's idea and going for the flag based system. In this screenshot below you'll notice 2 flags next to the Lumbermill, one for houses and the other for civics.  :)

This eliminates the need for the shift button altogether and puts the focus back on the hand and using the mouse.

OGaMNewScaffoldImage_zps0662062f.png


And now, to continue to work on script created towns. Cheers.  :)
 
Neat-o.  I like it.  Contributing is fun  :D .

So is it that you click on a flag before picking up your scaffold or does the flag turn into a scaffold when you try to pick up the flag itself (or something else :p )?
 
You click on the flag to produce your scaffold. Then it acts as normal. Scripting this way also minimizes bugs with the system since pressing shift, f and the action button is too clunky but also minimizing possible crashing.  :)
 
Daxter said:
You click on the flag to produce your scaffold. Then it acts as normal. Scripting this way also minimizes bugs with the system since pressing shift, f and the action button is too clunky but also minimizing possible crashing.  :)

Ah yes.  Nice and simple.  I like it.
 
The textures can be changed - perhaps it'd be a good idea to design some new flag textures and include them in the final version of OGaM, but as yet it looks like Dax has enough on his plate :P
 
SkelApe said:
The textures can be changed - perhaps it'd be a good idea to design some new flag textures and include them in the final version of OGaM, but as yet it looks like Dax has enough on his plate :P

If someone wants to design some textures for them, go ahead.  :p
 
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