Dune 2 - Windows version (my Dune 2 clone/project) getting shape!

[stefanhendriks]

afaik it does not have any networking functions built in. However, there are some people giving advice about good libraries which are pretty good. I did not really search for any networking library yet, as i am not experienced in network programming i won't be worrying about it till i finish the actual game.

[Gobalopper]

Ok if I do get some free time, maybe next term, I might take a look. I've did a bit of networking last year with basic Unix pipes and sockets, not much but a start. :)

btw, we should probably update the Arrakis website sometime soon. ;)

[stefanhendriks]

true. I might even try to use the same engine to get a new arrakis version done, or just for fun as a demo to show how easy it is to modify stuff in the engine and such.

I still don't know how to acces the http server of dune2k as a matter of fact. I am sure we can solve these things so i can update the page when needed. If you could mail me to s.hendriks2@chello.nl with some details or whatever then we can settle these things. My current dune2k mail still awaits over 500 mails to be recieved which 90% are virusses. Is there a way to delete them on the server before i even recieve them? (aka, is there a virus scanner on the server?).

[Gobalopper]

Ok I will send that info to you. We don't have a virus checker on the server, maybe on the new one. You can use the web based email program to delete them though, see the staff board for the address.

[minniat]

on-topic: I cant wait to finish it either, but i dont that much time. However, i take it easy and it will be released 'when its done'.

Converting ASM is well,a lot of work! I know some people who wrote/write programs in ASM (mostly library functions) and its amazing how they get stuff done.

Don't expect super advanced code from my Dune 2 clone, i always to it the easy way and probably the first release will be so easy to optimize it probably requires a few releases after that to be 'fully' completed. Anyhow,it would be cool if someone could implement networking for instance, that would be so cool :)

But this function isn't a lot of work. It's only 24 assembly commands but... in Amiga assembler and I can only convert it to plain C to make it useful to PC users.

If the second part is directed to me then... what's the point?

I do not require advanced code in any way. Sincerely I couldn't write

something like you do. I'm publishing things that I've been looking for during the analyzing of the code and consider them useful.

[XTF]

Is the Amiga processor 16-bit or 32-bit?

[minniat]

It's a "bit" offtopic, but M68k is fully 32bit.

But nowaydays Amiga users uses PowerPC processors...

[stefanhendriks]

it was not really directed to you personally Minniatian, more in general.

I prefer writing clean code and easy understandable instead of super fast optimized code which is hard to read. Thats all i meant ;)

I am considering releasing a demo when you can build bases, nothing more , nothing less. Maybe i release the source with it, but i am thinking of it not to do so because it is not finished. Maybe i will send it to just a few people who would really like to see it (if you want, i can send you the current status if you want to read the code so far, but don't expect a reall clean code as i want it to be).

Anyhow, my code is mostly commented. Actually, sometimes it looks more like a commented part then real code. ;)

snippet:

// Give correct facing angle, used in MAIN.H
// note: Not to be used with drawing yet, use convert_angle() with this result first then
int face_angle(double angle)
{
  int a = (int)angle;

  // chop 360 degrees in 8 pieces
  int chop = 45;        // 45 degrees is one chop

  // 360 degrees is UP, 270 = RIGHT, 180 = DOWN, 90 = LEFT, 0 is also UP  
  // when deviding 360 / 45 you will get results like:
  // 360 = down
  // 0 = up, etc

  // Because 360 is UP, we need to reverse it now
  a = (abs)(a-360);

  // we now can return the correct facing, but do note that this value is not how the
  // picture is stored in our 8bit pictures. The drawing routine will fix this up for us
  // its a pain in the ass but i hate the unlogical order which Westwood used to put their
  // units in and i dont want to recode stuff here now.

  return (a/chop);
}

and if you wonder about the convert angle routine:

// Converts the face_angle produced with the function above, into a correct number for drawing
// correctly.
int convert_angle(int face_angle)
{
  // Drawing works like this:
  // The unit looks at the RIGHT at the 1st picture. So you start at position 0,0 and copy the
  // correct part of that unit (using the properties given by the unit structure database). When
  // a unit looks a different way, you use this number to multiply by the width of a frame in
  // order to start at the correct positions.

  // Due the fact that we use 0 as UP , and since WW uses 0 as RIGHT, we have to convert.
  // another problem is that we go clockwise and WW does NOT. 

  // I am gonna be robust in this, i wont think of any fancy formula, but just hardcode this
  // shit and do something usefull. Grmbl



  // How the real facing is................ and what it should be for drawing... (multiplier!)
  if (face_angle == FACE_RIGHT)       return 0;
  if (face_angle == FACE_UPRIGHT)     return 1;
  if (face_angle == FACE_UP)          return 2;
  if (face_angle == FACE_UPLEFT)      return 3;
  if (face_angle == FACE_LEFT)        return 4;
  if (face_angle == FACE_DOWNLEFT)    return 5;
  if (face_angle == FACE_DOWN)        return 6;
  if (face_angle == FACE_DOWNRIGHT)   return 7;

  return 0; // just to make the compiler stop whining ;)
}

see? :D

[XTF]

You should use switch instead of if in the last sequence of code.

BTW, 32-bit code is much easier to read then 16-bit code.

How did you find the top offsets in the EXE?

[stefanhendriks]

yeah, i could use switch, true.

32 bit code easier then 16 bit? I dont know what you mean exactly.

About the offsets, i don't know actually. I extracted the units from the Dune 2 pack files, and the first one was pointing to the right (if i am correct). I use the Dune Legacy bmp files (because i dont need to assemble them myself then) and they follow the Dune pack file order if i am not mistaken.

[XTF]

The second part of my reply was aimed at Minniatian.

BTW, I rewrite the random function and now it's only seven lines.

[stefanhendriks]

About the random function, nice! And the reply.. oops ;)

[stefanhendriks]

[attachment archived by Gobalopper]

[vidiware]

Can you release a alpha stage thing? So we nice supporters can test it?

Can you include network play?

[stefanhendriks]

i won't release anything 'alpha'. I will probably release a version where you can harvest stuff, build a huge base and such. Maybe even kill something (though the AI will be ZERO).

I am not experienced in Network coding. But i do include an empty source file with some comments in it to give general ideas and thoughts. The engine is capable of handling 'clients' i think, because you can set flags to specific 'think' functions for each player.

Example:

- you have a REAL player (you)

- you have a CPU player (computer opponent)

- you have a CLIENT player (not you, nor computer, it only recieves data and acts as the 'other side' does).

the 3rd is on paper, its a sketch, its an idea. it is not really coded. It does have some flags here and there built in, but i don't know how to do networking so anybody who does know could try to implement that.

[vidiware]

your screen shots look great.

Do you need any help with things? Im not good at programming in c/c++, can you teach me how to make tetris for example?

I can do graphic work and other stuff

[stefanhendriks]

i don't need any help for now, and i won't help you write a tetris game either. I don't have much time so i can't help anyone. However, i recommend to visit http://www.allegro.cc , this community has a lot of games (including Tetris clones) with source, you can learn from there how to write one.