Stickmen Wars #2 feasibility test

[SimonH]

My relentless search for free/easy graphics turned up Junior General and inspired me to have a go at Stickmen Wars 2.

Here's a feasibility test. (No load handler yet so plz wait! BTW, fps>20?) Ok, they're not really stickmen!

Currently the units just wander about and ignore eachother - in fact the current AI sux bigtime, but the principle's sound...
The idea is a multiplayer battle game where the opposing armies have to carry a flag from the middle of the map to the opponent's 'home' to win. Maybe 4 types of unit: cavalry, infantry, archers, cannon.
The working-as-a-group AI is going to be fearsome to do - any suggestions?

[CommanderKeith]

Very nice!  The FPS seemed way higher than 20. The 3d-ness is cool, so is the pathfinding

[Riven]

28fps on a 2.2GHz Intel Core Duo

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[williamwoles]

Nice! I got it running 10-11 fps in "Quite Mode" on my PC(so probably it doesn't count a lot), going to try in "Gaming" or "Performance" mode when going to be at home.. PC makes too much noise

But it's really nice work!

[noblemaster]

very nice 

[Eli Delventhal]

This is a great start. The 2D artwork functions very well in the 3D environment, and you did a very good job making the characters face the correct directions as they move. Very cool. Just add the "game" part in and it'll be super sweet.

[Abuse]

Solid 70fps here(q6600@3.2ghz, gtx260, win7 x64); presumably it can't go any higher?

[zammbi]

21- 51 fps. Av about 37. Using only 1 core.

2.27Ghz dual core, Gma 4500HD

[SimonH]

Thanks for testing guys! The FPS is unpegged so it should run as fast as the machine will go, but I reckon 20fps is about the playable minimum.
I'll see what it's like when I give the archers some arrows...

[EgonOlsen]

Looks very weird on my PC at work (Core2 Duo, Java6u18, Windows XP, Nvidia Quadro NVS 290, Firefox 3.5 and IE 8 )...



Might be related to the graphics driver...i'll try it at home later.

Edit: It is a driver problem. It goes away if i turn hardware acceleration three notches down in the display settings.

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[SimonH]

It is a driver problem. It goes away if i turn hardware acceleration three notches down in the display settings.

Phew! Odd though - it's all software rendered...

[EgonOlsen]

Seems to be a blitting issue with the Java-plugin or the browser...this driver behaves quite strange on other occasions too, so i wouldn't worry too much about it.

[SimonH]

The 3D engine can't handle that many textured arrows so I had to use 2D to fake it. It doesn't look that bad... They don't do any damage yet. Also added a new unit, infantry. Take a peek - there's still no load mechanism so forgive the blank screen at the start!

[Abuse]

Arrows look fine to me - though when compared to the height of the unit sprites the arrows must be ~3 metres long?!

Btw, if the browser window is closed while the applet is running I sometimes get this exception on the console:

1   2   3   4   5

Exception in thread "Thread-11" java.lang.NullPointerException    at View3D.draw(View3D.java:481)    at Tumble.paintGame(Tumble.java:661)    at Tumble.run(Tumble.java:215)    at java.lang.Thread.run(Unknown Source)

[SimonH]

Arrows look fine to me - though when compared to the height of the unit sprites the arrows must be ~3 metres long?!

Btw, if the browser window is closed while the applet is running I sometimes get this exception on the console

I just noticed that myself. There was a drawing error on the arrows (int instead of float). Fixed now. NPE should be fixed also.

[SimonH]

Cannons! Yaaay!
Maybe they should be drawn front rather than side on?

[SimonH]

And (very primitive) death.
What next, flocking behaviour or multiplayer?

[noblemaster]

Make a strong single player AI 

[Riven]

What next, flocking behaviour or multiplayer?

It's very important to add multiplayer as soon as possible. Slapping it on in the end never works.

[kappa]

AI is never as fun as playing a real opponent, so I'd go for multiplayer.