neonext

What's up everyone? It's been a long time (a little over a year). Is it just me or has this place been slowly but surely becoming more quiet? What I really want to know is, what kind of interest remains for Dune 2 clones?

The demo has provided me with many favorable responses from employers. Many thanks to those who contributed with bug reports and ideas, they certainly helped. I am going to remain extremely busy until I am settled down in my new job, so unfortunately there will be a big delay in development. Even then it will likely be at a much slower pace, but I am still very proud of this project and I don't want to see it die. Vidi: I'm sorry you can't get the game working. It has been tested on systems as slow as 400mhz with 16mb of video memory. From what I remember, your system is way beyond that but let me know your specs so we can try to figure it out. Stefan: I've been keeping tabs on your development as always, and it's exciting to see the prospects that have come up. I sincerely hope that work comes along smoothly, and that there's a balance between adding features and keeping the workload managable, so we can someday soon enjoy the fruits of the effort. Andrew: I've just got to personally thank you here. You've been a tremendous help

it's hard to say whether it was some kind of copycat strike, or the responsibility of the original group. true, the results were nowhere near the results of the first bombings, but apparently the same explosive material was used in the bombs. perhaps they were just trying to shift from using suicide bombers to leaving the devices and trying to make an escape, which is a lot more difficult to pull off, hense the bombs not fully detonating. who knows

I highly doubt it. Illinois is one of the eight states where the use of eminent domain for private development is all but prohibited by law

Yup, I will fix this, in addition to the problem with it canceling contruction when there are items in the queue You are probably missing something. I'll see if I can get the "Our base is under attack" to be a bit more reliable. The AI builds many structures, the palace being almost the last one. This makes me think that perhaps the AI's should have different build orders based on the difficulty. If work on the next version goes smoothly, I will see if I can optimize the code some more. Once again, lots of good stuff. I have my work cut out for me

Version 1.01 is ready and waiting. Please let me know soon if there are any new major problems, as this will be the version I will be demonstrating to potential employers. New players can download the full repackaged game, which is about 23 megabytes compressed. http://redux.dune2k.com/ Special thanks to all players and those who have contributed with bug reports and suggestions. I couldn't have got here so quickly without you. REVISIONS SINCE 1.0 x Fixed problem with player giving orders to infantry to attack structures x Fixed problem with credits going well over the absolute maximum limit, causing the strange credit problems (Andrew) x Fixed some interface artwork problems that caused selected aircraft to be blackened out for certain sides x Harvest control has been completely changed. You now have direct control over your harvesters. The only time they automate is when they are first deployed, in which case they will search for the nearest uncovered spice field. Harvesters will continue to return to the same spice spot that they harvested from until givin a different order (Andrew) x Refineries will now pick up harvesters that are not full x You can now click on refineries when harvesters are selected to order them to return. When you do this, they will not lose track of their harvest location. If you want the harvester to return and not go back out to harvest, click on a cell that is adjacent to the refinery x At least one spice field is now placed near each player's base (Andrew) x Pending reinforcements no longer prevent a game from finishing. This should solve most instances where the player is left sitting on a map with no opposition left. Keep me informed (Andrew) x Fixed a problem with aircraft guidance. Aircraft should no longer fly off the map to the north. Let me know if you still catch it happening (Andrew) x Fixed a bug which caused overlays (such as walls) to become unavailable after a few games x Updated structs.txt to load all structures with multiple definitions correctly. This is needed for the campaign mode when players aren't loaded in their normal spot and for skirmishes where a player's side is changed (Andrew) x Added ability to base a structure's requirement on a structure# + owner's side#. Structures with multiple definitions (for side differences) can now be refered to by putting an 's' and then the starting structure number. See "Requires" entry in structs.txt for an example. x Due to the above fix, many structure requirements have been changed and the build menu layout has also been changed x The skirmish menu now properly assigns you to a player slot after a campaign has already been started (Andrew) x Fixed new bug that prevented the player from entering numbers into the chat box x Changed default map AI base layouts some and increased the max # of structures in the game to 128 x Fixed problem with short aircraft names loading incorrectly x You can now tell where harvesters will be drawn in refineries. In the refinery data section in structs.txt, menu type/item 2 are the negative x/y cell offsets, and type/item 3 are the negative x/y pixel offsets. Type/item 4 are the facing angles for the harvester x Added new value in aircraft.txt: Turn Rate, which decides how slow the aircraft turns and seems to mostly fix the problem with the aircraft turning in endless mini circles around its target x AI players with a difficulty rating of at least average will now repair their structures (Andrew) x Aircraft now target nearby units, infantry, and structures correctly (Andrew) x You can now tell the game where to draw the defensive structures' weapons over them. Use menu type 2 for the x offset value and menu item 2 for the y offset value x Added more weapon and structure slots to the game, if you are keeping your modified weapons.txt or structs.txt, make sure you add the extra entries to the end when you start using this new version x Fixed problem with structure menu items being carried over to another page when the box should be empty x Fixed bug which resulted in the free construction yard by selecting empty boxes explot (Cyborg) x Fixed a new problem with trajectories for weapons with "Arcing" property x Fixed splash damage done to structures x Some small misc fixes and changes

not really... cant think of anyone with something AMD, let alone Athlon

what should i do then? just upgrade to a new cpu/mobo combo and be done with it?

well, it seems the new power supply has solved the power-related problems, such as the system not turning on and the system shutting off on its own, but i still cant get the startup screen to show. while i was working on it, i took a close look at my cpu and near the core it is black on both sides, with a discoloring on most of the inner part of the chip. i'm thinking that i burnt the chip too much with that old fan :( no beeping or anything when i try to start up, no power led either. it looks like it's been narrowed down to either the cpu or the m/b, so i'm wondering... if you had a faulty cpu, would the power led not light up? should i just try to replace the cpu, or could it still be a problem with the m/b?

If they aren't even able to build trikes and it still happens, then there is definitally something else wrong. I'll look into it The Dune 2 mod doesn't use the engine to it's full potential. The CnC mod is much better in terms of graphic quality and amount of action. The Total Annihilation mod is only about halfway done, but is surprisingly similar to the original, with only slightly worse graphics. The Star Wars mod is mostly done, and features a different playstyle, where aside from running around with your troops and their laser pistols (and the various vehicles of the star wars universe), you fly space battles where you control a single xwing or whatever. I need to add more support for using just a keyboard, but it works great with a gamepad. The last mod, the original Redux 3 modern war themed game, is a mix between the Star Wars mod and the CnC mod. Each mod uses at least one major feature not used in the others. It might be possible to release some of them in the future, but for now there is no chance of releasing to the general public :(

i'll be picking one up tomorrow, hopefully it works. My old one was 300W so I am going to get one that is the same wattage. IIRC that is the important thing

This is a problem with the order of structures in struct.txt and the references to them in the r3m map file you are using. For the next version, I took the time to reorganize structs.txt and update the map file to reflect the changes. This is strange... I haven't seen it yet, but I will investigate Air units are never counted. This should only happen in campaign mode and is probably a result of the bug where units run off the right side of the map Will do. Would be nice for structures too. Also a sell button, I've been wanting that feature for awhile, as I often get caught with no form of income and a bunch of now useless structures Guard mode on units has not been implemented yet, I will add it to the list I have seen this too, I'm not sure what is causing the problem but I will figure it out. Harvesters always go to the closest available platform. EDIT: It turns out that silos have indeed been coded to raise the credit cap for each player. There are bugs in 1.0, however, that prevent this feature from working properly, which makes the credit cap become the absolute maximum, which is currently about 32000. There are also bugs with this limit, and when it is crossed the credit meter will not function correctly (and possibly some other strange behaviour changes as well) This is the biggest remaining thing I'm working on for the next update. There are definitally too many problems with them They are just cheating ;D I might take the time to go through the map file and sort the structure entries so that they are in the right build order, but for now the AI players will just be given an extra edge over the player This is probably the coolest bug fix in the next version. Orni's will now act like units do, attacking things within its weapon's max range I will try to add something to at least try to prevent units from ever leaving the map. Let me know if this still happens in the next version It used to be completely random. The new way is much better - this game is quickly becoming very cool and fun to play :) I thought I had fixed this bug, thanks for the report. Your posts are always full of good bug/feature list items. Thanks again for your help

got the new heatsink today, and now things are even worse. i cannot get the computer to even begin to start. cant even get to the cmos screen. i'm really starting to think it is a power supply problem, because the first time i started it up it ran for a few seconds and completely shut off on its own. could a faulty mobo cause this? also the power LED wont turn on, and it used to sometimes and thats when i knew it would boot up properly, but i cant get it to come on at all anymore. however, there is an LED on my mobo that turns on whenever i have the power cable connected to the board. most of the time everything sounds like it is starting up (fans are spinning, hard drive being accessed), but sometimes nothing turns on at all. i tried a different, older power supply but i cant see the wattage or anything on it, and it didnt help. i dont want to have to go through the process of replacing the mobo if i dont have to, and i wouldnt be too thrilled about buying a new cpu, so i am really hoping it's a power supply problem, but i want to be sure, so please help narrow down this issue :-

this exploit has been fixed in the next version, due out very soon. is the game working for you now?

So far the only advantages the AI's get are the amount of credits they receive from harvesting I have seen this too and it is annoying. I will try to get the routine to force placement of at least one field within a certain range of each player's base I can't figure this one out, because it rarely happens. Kinda funny though ;D Another quality bug report Andrew! Keep up the good work :)

- Changed rally point assignment to 'y' key. Clicking a location with units selected in addition to your structure will no longer place a rally point there, unless you press 'y', in which case it will let you place the rally point and then allow you to continue to give orders to your units (andrew) This is intentional, because with the new feature of being able to click on the radar to go to that location, it is quite annoying that the map scrolls when you're trying to click somewhere on the top right of it. In the future i will put a margin in between the map and the edges, so that you can click where you need to and still be able to scroll up/right They do not yet have the ability to repair - I need to put this back on the to-do list This will be fixed soon Yup I still need to fix this

i will be repackaging the whole thing soon, but there are a couple of things i need to add to the code to get the other mod up to par, and i need to fix a couple of the more serious problems with the latest release. once this minor update is finished i will release it along with the whole game as one file

The map files are editable text files, but so far there is no way to place spice fields in specific places on the map, nor is there any way to make the spice fields disappear from harvesting (or explosions). If you are willing to create new maps, I might make a quick update with these features, along with fixing the exploit that cyborg pointed out. If I have time, I will build a map editor into the game, but for now the text files will do. Let me know if you have any questions about their contents

I have uploaded the latest update to the official Redux site http://redux.dune2k.com/ Please give it a try. I will catch up with the bug listing eventually, so no hurry is necessary with the bug reports, but please let me know if there are any problems getting the update to work (or anything else critical that would require repackaging it) I think the vast number of bug reports from the last couple versions has helped the game development in a tremendous way. I tried really hard to fix as many things as possible, and I am really proud of the current state of the game. Special thanks to the dune 2 community for your support, especially Cyborg and Andrew REVISIONS SINCE BETA 3 - Fixed exploit where you could build a free construction yard by clicking around the text provided by a radar outpost - Fixed exploit where you could build a free construction yard by deselecting your structure while placing one you just built - Structures no longer show what they are building as being more than 100 percent complete (andrew) - The map no longer scrolls when the cursor is over the minimap - Scrollspeeds have been reduced - Fixed tracking (screen-centering) of selected aircraft to adjust for presence of sidebar - AI players now conduct air strikes with their aircraft, and are likely to choose construction yards, defensive structures, and offensive structures for their targets - You can now assign vehicles, infantry, and aircraft to unit groups by pressing CTRL-#, press the # of the group to select them - Fixed problems with aircraft targeting infantry - You can no longer place structures outside the map limits (andrew) - Infantry and units now fire over walls that are on their own territory - Guard mode has been added for aircraft, and it switched on by default when the aircraft is first constructed (andrew) - Limited the amount of colors that are changed for drawing of units and structures, increasing the framerate by a large margin. - Fixed drawing of sidebar icons for units and structures. Both now have proper color conversion, and structures no longer show black backgrounds. - Fixed problem with selecting indivual infantry occupying the same cell (andrew) - Infantry are no longer color blended, resulting in a large improvement in FPS - The "Fastest" gamespeed setting is invalid and has been removed - Added unit explosion sound - You can now only select aircraft after they have finished taking off - Fixed drawing of craters - Commands for selected units now show up on the sidebar, and are usable there - Fixed bug where death hands wouldn't show up in windowed mode - Added scout action for units - Added destruct action for units - Fixed bug which allowed destroyed structures to be repaired - Added another weapon slot for turrets to have their own cannon weapon, to better balance their firepower (cyborg) - Fixed guidance problem for shots fired by structures, and changed stats for turret rocket weapon (?) - Death hands now use their accuracy rating. 5 percentage points equals about one tile of possible difference. Also lowered thier splash value by 1, slightly limiting the spread of their devestation (cyborg) - Changed stats for power plant. They now produce 75 power instead of 200. This is an editable value in structs.txt - Fixed radar inaccuracies (andrew) - Removed restriction on when you can box select - Fixed bug where placing a structure would give move orders when units are also selected - Fixed cursors drawing when you have a structure and units seleted at the same time - Added sliding sidebar option to game.txt which allows you to lock the sidebar (andrew) - Changed rally point assignment to 'y' key. Clicking a location with units selected in addition to your structure will no longer place a rally point there, unless you press 'y', in which case it will let you place the rally point and then allow you to continue to give orders to your units (andrew) - Allies no longer can squish each others' infantry, attack cursor no longer shown over allied units/structures, and you are no longer allowed to give orders to attack your allies (andrew) - Weapons with "Nuclear" property (death hands) now also destroy your own units/structures (andrew) - Fixed placing structure over a structure bug (andrew) - Fixed single concrete slab pricing (andrew) - Disabled "wormsign" special unit announcement (andrew) - Fixed bug where you couldn't see rally points beyond a screen length of its structure (andrew) - Messages are now cleared at the start of a game (andrew) - Fixed messed up graphics in power plant display (andrew) - Added ability to press Home key to return to base (andrew) - Rally points now only show for unit producing structures (andrew) - Clicking on the radar (at top right of screen) centers the screen on that part of the map (andrew) - Patrol mode has been added for vehicles - Guard mode has been added for vehicles (cyborg) - Infantry's turning speed is now based on a low constant value instead of the infantry's speed (cyborg) - Fixed unit deaths by nuclear hits (andrew) - Fixed unit scoring tallies by slash damage deaths - Fixed bug that showed construction options for certain structures that dont build anything (andrew) - Battles no longer load for fights that are automatic wins (andrew) - Normalized carryall graphics (cyborg) - Fixed problem with sandworms trying to attack structures (cyborg) - Fixed problems with sandworms killing themselves when attacking (andrew) - Clicking on cities now loads the map for the region it's in (andrew) - You can now cancel construction of aircraft, structures, vehicles, and infantry (andrew) - Radar viewing now requires a structure with the radar action (andrew) - Weapons with "Nuclear" property can now target units, infantry, and structures(andrew) - Shroud is now drawn on radar minimaps - There are now limits to how far off the map you can scroll - Many small misc fixes and changes

Yes, they represent the total # of reinforcements sent into battle. In campaign mode, the mini score window at the top right should tell you the amount of reinforcements still left to be dropped off, which at the beginning of a battle should be the same as the what was in the territories on the map. Supposedly you should be able to add vehicle reinforcement objects, which will draw from the same pool. The other category (the other number on the score besides troop reinforcements) is air reinforcements. You can change the infantry icons to be aircraft icons to have certain regions produce aircraft reinforcements, but I figured it would be best if the dune 2 mod just kept to troops In the next version, all 4 sides build ornis, which have been much improved in the way they operate. Ornis now automatically start out in a defensive manner, staying near their base, until ordered otherwise. Be careful of the AI players sending a whole pack of them at once to destroy your construction yard! The AI players now get their core base up and running much quicker, including building base defenses sooner. As for the easy killing of the enemy troops, I've noticed too that you can mow down enemy troops easily that way. It seems to me that this only happens when they are going to their rally point and your description of it would also indicate this.

Due to the overheating (or whatever it is) problem with my main development system, I have been testing the new version on a much slower machine - a P3 running at 533 Even after switching out the TNT2 with my gForce3, i would still get an average of 15 FPS when more than a few objects were on the screen, especially infantry. The one good thing about losing my development machine is that it has allowed me to test changes to increase the FPS for people with slower machines. Without making any noticable cutbacks and without optimizing the code using profiling, I have managed to increase my framerate by an average of 30 FPS. Andrew, please let me know your framerate average when you try the new version

There is some but i doubt there is enough. there appears to be a lot of contact. i've been building computers for 10 years but somehow overlooked the importance of it - i guess i just never needed additional paste before. that leads me to a question: how much is good to put on? if you cover more of the surface, will you get better heat reduction?