D2TM - DEMO 4 Released!

[stefanhendriks]

It has been a while. And although it is actually a 'tiny' update from 3.5 to 4. For those who never played this 3.5 version, the improvements are more noticable.

Do note that this version is mostly an improvement in the engine itself. However, the basic implementation of the skirmish mode could be considered as the big feature of this version.

Download at: http://dune2themaker.fundynamic.com/?page_id=11

Please let me know what you think of this version. And thanks for your support so far!

Images

Changelist

What is changed between DEMO 3 and DEMO 4:

DEMO 4 - DEMO 3 
-----------------------------------------
BALANCING:
- Ornithopter rockets do more damage
- Rockets from Troopers do a bit less damage
- Rocket Turrets do a bit more damage to infantry & vehicles
- Normal Turrets do a bit more damage to infantry & vehicles
- Combat Tank does a bit more damage to infantry

FIXED:
- AI able to build multiple units from the same building at the same time (oops, cheating!)
- Workaround for harvesters doing nothing.
- Building troopers/etc for human player.
- Bug where "order" button would be misplaced (too low)
- Bug where you could select computer units via 'team' key's (ie, by pressing 1-5)
- Able to 'repair' units when no repair facility is built.
- Fixed bug Repair Facility. (Units always repair as if they were totally damaged)
- Memory bug in loading INI file. (causing byte shifts, which *could* eventually screw things up)
- Able to select enemy units when pressing group number

CHANGED:
- "Devided" -> "Divided" 
- Unit drawing , more accurate on cells.
- Unit drawing , health bar and spice bar is different.
- Unit drawing , selection box is changed
- Unit variables a bit more efficient.
- When buttons are unavailable, they are darkened instead of greyed out.
- AI will now not walk over spice blooms, but shoot them.
- Upgraded Allegro from version 4.0.3 to 4.2.0
- Upgraded Alfont from 1.19 to 2.10
- Source is now compiled under MSVC 7.0
- Dune 2 missions, briefings, etc is now centered in one "campaign" folder

NEW:
- More scenes added.
- Very smooth fading for Windtraps now (instead of using 256 color palette Blue values, it uses 16 bit values)
- Using some FBLEND routines for drawing transparant graphics and so on.
- "easy on cpu" auto-code. Will try to give cpu some slack if fps is above "ideal fps" (can be set). Especially useful on
  laptops.
- Skirmish mode, AI is primitive, but tough.
  - with totally new random map generator built in
  - able to create your own skirmish missions via INI files (up to 99 missions)
  - 4 players maximum (1 human, 3 CPU)
  - CPU can be Sardaukar
  * Able to see random created map by hovering mouse on the question mark. Default = invisible, so you can
    be really suprised to play (hit 'random map' and then 'play').
- Completely new written structures code (same functionaly as in demo 3 though): using true OOP.
   *NOTE: Bug detected, starport does not function 100% yet.
* - Skirmish mode - maps are named as "map##.ini" , up to 99 maps supported.
- RakNet library is compiled in project and will assist in network code in future releases.
- MCV can be deployed with D now (select and press D).
- Carry-Alls blow sand/spice when picking up unit on sandy/spicy terrain.
- Structures graphics updates
  - Real shadow blending done
  - Structures show ground underneath, so if no fundament is built the building
    appears on rock, etc. 
- When infantry or troopers get 30% health; a single soldier/trooper appears
  with 100% health. The other 2 died (leaving bodies on the ground).
- When not enough money, icons are a bit greyed out + a red cross is drawn over them.
- Tanks are able to squish infantry (leaves big blood splatter for infantry and tiny for soldier, etc)
- Shortkey B added to build last built icon on list (also applies for units)
- Shortkey P added to place built structure
- Shortkey U added to quick-upgrade
- Units can gain experience:
  - no stars = no experience
  - yellow stars (max 3)
  - orange stars (max 3)
  - red stars (max 3) -> max experience: twice damage done
  (*) Stars are gained by kills; infantry kills give units 2.5/10th star experience. 
      bigger units 4.5/10th star.  
  Units with more experience will deliver bigger hits on enemy units. 
- Tech Tree changes:
  - Repair Facility & High Tech is available from level 5 now.
  - Ordos WOR available at level 5.
- Force attack : Hold left control and click on cell to attack.
- Units & Structures blink when targetted, etc. 
- Rally points can be assigned to buildings. Select structure , hold left control and click on map.
  NOTE: Do not give an invalid location or the paths will fail to that. When units are unable to
        deploy from starport, they are brought via Carry-All to the rallypoint.
- Force move   (ALT)
- Force attack (CTRL)

REMOVED:
- 32/16 bit adjustment in windowed mode. (speed increasement was minimal)

[MrFlibble]

One word: Wow :O

Great job, Stefan! ;D

BTW Stefan, the changelist will look better if you use the "preformatted text" tags instead of "quote" tags :)

[stefanhendriks]

Lol you did not know these gfx? They where in DEMO 3.5 already ;) Glad you like them.

[Rene]

It's good to see you've made progress, but on the first Skirmish game I was playing the game crashed because of a null pointer exception. I don't know what caused it as I was attacking the enemy base so a lot happened at the same time. Here's a link to the logfile in case you want to take a look at it:

http://www.xyzw.nl/log.txt

Also, did you make the Waging war on Arrakis map by hand in notepad? if so, I'm going to make an editor ;)

EDIT:

I've found a bug in the harvester/carryall code:

When there is a place in the map with spice, but it's completely enclosed in infantry-only mountains, the harvester will never be able to reach it. At the moment, you probably first check to see if there is a possible path to the spice, and only if there is a carryall is called.

[voxvox]

Today I discovered this DUNE 2 remake.

It is VERY nice, but I found some oddities:

-Trooper/Troopers are TOO strong (the game seems not to be balanced, you don't need any other type of troops).

One single trooper squad can destroy a Siege tank on 1vs1.

Raiders are destroyed just with 2 missiles.

-The harvester cannot unload the spice manually (you cannot force the harvester into the refinery unless it is full).

IMHO.

Excellent job!

EDIT:

-As I remember, in the original Dune 2 you are not able to build QUADS at the second level with ordos and atreides. And even harkonnen trooper squad.

-The game is heavily unbalanced by troopers. Play the second level with harkonnen and try to destroy the enemy. Then play the second level with ordos and try to destroy harkonnen.

EDIT 2:

-In the skirmish, with the visible map cheat, you can see that the enemy builds structures without placing them over concrete slabs. Structures does not have any penalty.

[MrFlibble]

Lol you did not know these gfx? They where in DEMO 3.5 already ;) Glad you like them.

It is true I did not play DEMO 3.5 :) I'll get DEMO 4 ASAP, but I'm fairly busy will all kinds of other stuff. In fact. I haven't touched the improved unit image and Mentat animation GFX I wanted to do in a very long time - hopefully I can find some spare time in near future :)

[Rene]

-The harvester cannot unload the spice manually (you cannot force the harvester into the refinery unless it is full).

Look up the controls.txt file in the D2TM directory, you'll see there are a few key commands.

To return the harvester to the refinery, simply press D.

[Heikos]

I can't get past the first "Missile Tank"-enabled mission with Atreides. The briefing says to destroy all Ordos forces, but when I do that the mission doesn't end. I've tried again by restarting D2TM and playing all missions again, but the problem was still there.

[Heikos]

I also noticed that the Devastator is not drawn accuratly on a cell. E.g. 4/5 of the tank is on the cell and 1/5 is on the cell below.

[stefanhendriks]

Thanks for all the feedback.

The Skirmish map "Waging War on Arrakis" was made with Notepad. A level editor would be very welcome :)

I do intend to support larger maps over time, so it would be good that such an editor would also be compatible with that.

If needed, i can provide the 'cell calculation' mechanism I have written. It is a simple class. (just pm or email me).

The troopers still need to be tweaked. I will make them less strong. I still want them to be anti-tank somehow. Infantry units (soldiers etc) are very effective against the troopers btw...

I will look into the found bugs.

Thanks again for taking a look at DEMO 4 :)

[Rene]

The Skirmish map "Waging War on Arrakis" was made with Notepad. A level editor would be very welcome :)

Yay :)

Let's see what I can do.

[Daemon]

This is absolutely incredible :).

Great work! Such a real Dune II feeling to it.

[stefanhendriks]

Thanks a lot! :)

[Dunenewt]

I think the sound of the money being spent needs to be a bit quieter, and also it seems to come and go with longer transactions.  Also, the Deviator seems a little bit fuzzy in appearance, and very inaccurate.  That's all for now, but I'm loving the game!

[gunner154]

Needs savegame feature... :-

Oh, and can band-box selection be made such that you just need to cover at least 50% of the unit to select it? Right now having to need to cover the unit completely makes band-box selection a bit of a pain (even though it sure beats having none of it in the original Dune 2).

[stefanhendriks]

I think the sound of the money being spent needs to be a bit quieter, and also it seems to come and go with longer transactions.

You mean the money increase/decrease is to loud? I really did not have any issues with that?

The money counting is seperate from the actual money you have. Also, you always immediately pay the amount requested, but the animation makes it look like it is counting to it. It has no link to the actual building time (though many see it this way).

Needs savegame feature...

Very true. I will see into this. I want it to be in some sort of open format, so you could 'easily' edit your savegames even when needed. But also, it would promote portability between versions of D2TM.

About the box-selecting feature,  i think i should take the center of a unit (the center pixel).

[stefanhendriks]

About the box-selecting feature,  i think i should take the center of a unit (the center pixel).

I have just fixed this. The next version will only require you to take the center of the unit within your box.

[Rene]

About the savegame issue:

Very true. I will see into this. I want it to be in some sort of open format, so you could 'easily' edit your savegames even when needed. But also, it would promote portability between versions of D2TM.

I think XML would be perfect if the files need to be portable and human-readable. Let me see if I can think something up.

[gunner154]

Awesome, Stefan. Keep it up!

[stefanhendriks]

I think XML would be perfect ...

XML would be a valid format as it is open. It would also be more 'friendly' to the engine as it is some kind of "view" of the engine state.

The easy way to save a game, without XML, is to save directly the classes as binary. But, since the code tends to change much, this would break compatibility as such.

So actually, all that is needed, is to find out what of the state of the game is needed to be saved in order to load and continue.

I know of a tiny, mem friendly (afaik) and fast XML parser for C++, called TinyXML. (see at allegro.cc).

Awesome, Stefan. Keep it up!

:) Will do as much as I can.

[gunner154]

Some stuff I noticed:

As Ordos, I was able to build missile tanks.

Also, how do you activate the palace abilities? Haven't tried Harkonnen yet, but I have no idea how to deploy the Saboteur and Fremen.

Also, how do I set a different primary building, ie unit emerging from a different structure?

After building my Ordos Palace, my Troopers emerged from the Palace instead of the WOR?

There is no way to cancel the upgrading of a structure. Intended? Instead, if I were to click on the Upgrade button again, the upgrade is completed INSTANTLY.

[rphl]

First of all great job on the demo. Especially the explosions kick ass!

I've been playing skirmish and a small part of the campaign, most things look and and work quite well but because it's only a demo there are a few mistakes in it.

I've written a few 'mistakes' down while playing the demo.  Some have a higher priority than others of course:

-Harvester doesn't enter refinery after pressing 'D'. It drives back to the refinery but when it should enter the building the harvester turns around and continues to harvest till it's 100% full. (the refinery lights keep flashing after the harvester goes back harvesting)

-Harvester doesn't drive over infantry

-Harvester seems to have very light armour, maybe it would be better to give it heavy armour.

-Skirmish: When for example you are Ordos and a CPU is Ordos as well, your own Ordos tanks and turrets don't attack the CPU ordos. Also giving a color to your own team and the CPU teams would be handy. Green vs. Green is very confusing.

-skirmish: CPU doesn't use concrete for buildings

-skirmish: CPU doesn't continue building the entire base

-Artreides campaign lev.2: Goal is to harvest 2700. I got 'mission complete' message after harvesting 2330.

-Sandworm: it kills infantry when it's beneath infantry without eating them. (it wasn't like this in the original)

-Sandworm: I've been playing the demo for a few days now but I have never seen the sandworm eat a vehicle

-No stop button for units.

-idea: a sell button

-There isn't a welding light in the factories when building a tank.

-Vehicles can exit the map.

-combat tank has very high rate of fire

-tanks can't enter the repair fac. by land

-gun turret overpowered?

That was all I've written down. I hope it is helpful!

Keep up the good work!

edit//

Just discovered that tanks actually -can- enter the repair facility by land.

[gunner154]

Hmm yeah I noticed the thing about units exiting the map (you can select them with band-box selection however).

You are able to select Carryalls with band-box selection and order them around (though they return to their routine stuff immediately after flying there) so I have no idea what this serves. It does get annoying when you try to select your army and the carryall just joins in.

I don't think you could sell anything in Dune 2, which might be why there's no Sell button now.

[stefanhendriks]

@Gunner

In a skirmish, while I started with a Deviator in skirmish, I was unable to build Deviators.

Instead, I was able to build Missile Launchers/Tanks.

Did you build a house of IX? After that you should upgrade your heavy factory one more time.

Also, how do you activate the palace abilities? Haven't tried Harkonnen yet, but I have no idea how to deploy the Saboteur and Fremen.

There are no palace abilities yet :(

Also, how do I set a different primary building, ie unit emerging from a different structure?

Select structure, and press P.

After building my Ordos Palace, my Troopers emerged from the Palace instead of the WOR?

I think that is a bug :(

There is no way to cancel the upgrading of a structure. Intended?

Yes, but cancelling it would not be much of an issue.

Instead, if I were to click on the Upgrade button again, the upgrade is completed INSTANTLY.

Really? Lol, nice bug! Did not know that.

@rphl

First of all great job on the demo. Especially the explosions kick ass!

Thanks! Yeah, I really like them as well :)

I've written a few 'mistakes' down while playing the demo.  Some have a higher priority than others of course:

Bring 'm on.

-Harvester doesn't enter refinery after pressing 'D'.

It drives back to the refinery but when it should enter the building the harvester turns around and continues to harvest till it's 100% full. (the refinery lights keep flashing after the harvester goes back harvesting)

Bug :(

-Harvester doesn't drive over infantry

Either a bug, or pathfinding issue. Also, the Harvester tends to 'attack' enemy units (when on fire), but it has

nothing to fire with, so it stands still and keeps staring the enemy to death...

-Harvester seems to have very light armour, maybe it would be better to give it heavy armour.

Perhaps you could tweak the GAME.INI file and find a better balance? I agree with you though.

-Skirmish: When for example you are Ordos and a CPU is Ordos as well, your own Ordos tanks and turrets

don't attack the CPU ordos. Also giving a color to your own team and the CPU teams would be handy. Green vs. Green is very confusing.

About color, yeah confusing. About not-attacking; did not know that! :(

-skirmish: CPU doesn't use concrete for buildings

I know; I also am not happy with the entire building base code, but it is a start.

-skirmish: CPU doesn't continue building the entire base

Only if you wait for a very long time, the AI somehow completes. I tried once 1VS1. And only when the

AI has little units (only then it finds the room to build stuff) and enough money it grows a bit larger.

But yes, it is buggy.

-Artreides campaign lev.2: Goal is to harvest 2700. I got 'mission complete' message after harvesting 2330.

I bet it is about the 'printing credits' versus 'actual credits'. The animating thing always lags behind

the actual credits. So this could explain this behavior. But, i would not say it is correct.

-Sandworm: it kills infantry when it's beneath infantry without eating them. (it wasn't like this in the original)

-Sandworm: I've been playing the demo for a few days now but I have never seen the sandworm eat a vehicle

First; sounds funny but is a real bug.

Second; another bug, dang it! :(

-No stop button for units.

S does not work? What about G?

-idea: a sell button

Yeah, very good idea. :)

-There isn't a welding light in the factories when building a tank.

Guess i broke some animations while refactoring structures. Also, i think the radar/outpost is broken

as well. Can you check?

-Vehicles can exit the map.

All borders? Or only the right/bottom?

-combat tank has very high rate of fire

-tanks can't enter the repair fac. by land

-gun turret overpowered?

All  bugs i presume, will look into those.

That was all I've written down. I hope it is helpful!

Keep up the good work!

thanks for the heads up! I really appreciate you try out the game.

Insert Quote

Hmm yeah I noticed the thing about units exiting the map (you can select them with band-box selection however).

You are able to select Carryalls with band-box selection and order them around (though they return to their routine stuff immediately after flying there) so I have no idea what this serves. It does get annoying when you try to select your army and the carryall just joins in.

I don't think you could sell anything in Dune 2, which might be why there's no Sell button now.

Weird about the carry-all, but I look into that. The Sell button would only be for structures i think.

[gunner154]

My bad. I had edited my post to take out the bit about being unable to build thee Deviator. However, if I was still able to build Missile Tanks (in 2 consecutive games as Ordos), which I shouldn't be able to build I think. Missile Tanks for Ordos should only be obtainable via Starport, right?

Oh and keep up the great work and good luck with the bug fixing :P