Server/Client Architecture

With it being Thanksgiving and all, I was able to actually get some work done. I was still doing school work, but at the end of the day, I got to work on Galaxy Gangs. What I've been spending a lot of my time into is the client/server architecture. I have been basing it off of the Valve Source SDK networking concept. It's really kind of interesting and a really cool way to send information between a client and server. It all relies on this concept of tickrate. The server runs at a user-defined number of tickrates per second. Each tickrate, the server checks for incoming messages, checks the game rules, and updates its own objects. It also does some other things, but the major things are the ones above. The next thing the server does, is that it checks for clients that need updating.
For the most part, I think that will be 99% of the time. I still have to rattle my brain some to figure out on how to do this. After it figures that out, it sends out "snapshots" to the clients that need updating. The client captures and sends out user input at another user defined variable.
So in a nutshell: The client samples user input at a certain rate. Sends out all of that data. The server reads all incoming data and updates the game objects at a user defined tickrate. After each tick is over, the server sends out a "snapshot" to each client that needs it. Rinse, wash, repeat. Throw some lag compensation in there with interpolation, and there ya go.
I'm still working on this, but once it is done, hopefully it'll at least work like I want it to. I REALLY am excited to start working on the core of the game.

If you have questions, leave a comment! It would also be appreciated if you could follow the blog!

Dave

Choose Your Weapon

I've been working with the weapons a bit lately, just making some basic designs. Its funny how without even trying I have already implemented smart game design into my weapons. Currently each weapon has its own unique color and shape (yellow triangle, orange circles, blue lines) distinguishing itself from the others. This makes it very easy for the player to tell immediately what they are up against when in game. Of course this slightly becomes a problem due to our teams being distinguished by color too, thus having a green soldier with a yellow gun for example, but I do not think its too much of an issue. Of course, the problem here is that if I continue this pattern, I will be limited by the number of different colors, but I am far from that point at the moment.

E

So...

I haven't posted a blog like I wanted to recently. This is because I had a little crisis at my apartment and they needed to take it for a little. Regardless, I have the source code on my USB drive and I'm expecting to get my laptop back tonight and start working again. I would rather have my desktop in my apartment, but it's still be fixed. However, my laptop still has the engine on it and the IDE, so it should be fine to do some work until I'm allowed back in. Hooray for writing more code soon!

-Dave

Art of Trial and Error

Above shows just some of the iterations toward creating the final "death animation". Basically the above image would be used for when the player dies, this is the end result. The process I use to create the final image is pretty much trial and error applied many times through several iterations. First I started by just taking any two colors and doing a really rough sketch in a few seconds to give myself an idea of what im trying to make the final image turn out like. I then just used a series of lines attempting to map out the outline of the character I am creating, starting with the largest and easiest part, and working my way toward the more in depth areas. Overtime its easy to see how the drawing turns from something cartoony at best into something more believable by applying gradients and added details. In all, its a long process but the end result is a satisfying one.

Welcome!

Hey everyone! We're a yet-to-be-named indie game developer, trying to make our very own game. This game, called Galaxy Gangs, is a large work in progress between myself and a friend. We plan to use this blog as a development blog to let people know how progress is going and about any updates. We both will be using this blog so expect updates from the both of us.

We really love playing games and we wanna make a really fun experience. We hope we make something really cool that's enjoyable. Enough about us however, and more about our game. Galaxy Gangs, is going to be a top-down 2d multi-player shooter.

However, since there is only 2 of us, I can only write code so fast, and my friend can only make art assets so fast, so it will take some time. But, Rome wasn't built in a day :). There's not much to show at the moment, but here's just a screenshot of the game being launched.

Any questions, leave us a comment! 

-Dave