Arising

[Damocles]

Arising is a classic RTS.

I`ve created it some years ago for JavaME mobiles phone, but never managed to finish it.
So here is a port to standard Java.

It does not have all missions integrated. (I could do that if i find the time)

here the applet version:
http://rtsmaker.com/arisingApplet.html

and the standalone jar: http://rtsmaker.com/arising.jar  (720kb)

and a very nicely edited webpage: http://rtsmaker.com/







I will work a bit more on the controls and implement sound-fx.
Until now it has still more of an alpha status.

Technical info:  it uses plain normal Java2D, with some wrappers for the original JavaME code.
Most of the work was to move it from keypad controls to mouse+keyboard.

Most of the graphics (terrain, units) where made in the gamestudio WED leveleditor   and then rendered isometrically and with
shadows + some GIMP editing. Was somehow the quickest way for me to make them.

The first missions are unlocked, and (since there is not save feature) the others can be restarted with
a "secret" levelcode you can look up when finishing a mission. (so 1990)

I appreciate you posting any annoying bugs and issues you find.

regards,
Damocles

[Axeman]

Hey!! This is great! I would reeeally like some massive Command & Conquer music to put me in the mood. Perharps it´s on it´s way..?

One "first impression" thing: I feel I have to get really close to the edge of the screen to get the map to scroll. It would be nice if this could be a little more... Forgiving.

[Damocles]

Yes, the border is only 20 pixels.
I will see if a larger detection border is handling better.
I probably use an extra empty boundary around the drawing-area then.

Still dome work with the controls to be done.

I also want to implement unit-group assignment to number keys then.
(to keep the stupid repair trucks in the back) 

Tip:  use "s" to stop units from haggeling around in contested areas when they cant find a path to their desired position,
 so they go into attack/repair mode quickly.

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[tberthel]

Very nice.

[Cero]

how would you play this on a j2me phone ?

and you should port it to android for good measure =D

[ReBirth]

Nice art!

[Damocles]

how would you play this on a j2me phone ?

and you should port it to android for good measure =D

It worked quite well. The user had an accelerated cursor, that was operated with the keypad.
Thats also why there is a pause function (as using the keypad would be too slow to control many units in realtime)
There was also unit group selection, which is not reimplemented yet to PC "standards".

Nice art!

Thanks, Im not really graphics artist. The method I used for creating the 3D models
and rendering it creates this nice classic 2D-Iso look. The GUI elements are created in GIMP.
Ok, the Main menu is a placeholder and not very polished.

You will notice that many of the assets are color-indexed. This was done to preserve a small size in the
resulting jar (down to 350kb on the low-grade phone version)

[ReBirth]

After play a bit*, it looks like Starcraft a lot. And the intro looks like Starship Trooper's news

*) time to increase the 20px border more interface will be good since there are lots of free spaces, so no need to click a menu just to bring up building selection.

[Damocles]

Yes Starcraft might have been some inspiration 

I will work out how to make the borderscolling more convenient, (bigger border,
extra mouseborder outside of the rendering and additional cursorkey controls)

Did anyone pass "locked" missions yet? I think on some of the later missions
it can get quite rough. Its hard for me to see if it is out of balance then if I know the maps 

[deathpat]

congrats, the graphics are really cool ! I'll try it back home tonight

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[Damocles]

Made a bigger border (for less unforgiving scrolling) and use a custom mouse-pointer.
Map can also no longer scroll out of the screen.

[ctomni231]

The game is pretty good, actually. I was messing around with the engine and encountered a bug. If you build a building on the south edge of the map and you build a unit, it completely crashes the game. I think because the spawning point is off the edge of the map and causes the game to crash, I was on mission 7 when that happened.

Other than that, it is pretty solid and fun to play.

[Damocles]

Ok, thanks for the info, I might have overlooked checking for level boundaries there.  
(..and I`m a poor software tester, how come i didn't test that..)

cool that you made it to level 7  (not cheating I hope  )


some technical infos

Its actually not an isometric rendering, but based on 24x24 px square tiles. (that why manually creating the terrain is a pain)
Generally the same method used as in Starcraft (minus the nice editor)

Here the simple Mappy Tileeditor.
I made the level in 4 layers.
(terrain, units, pathfinding and triggers)

http://rtsmaker.com/MappyScreenshot2.jpg

   
old testrendering in WED:
http://rtsmaker.com/rendertest1.jpg
 

[ReBirth]

Ah one more, click on text narration shouldn't end the story but complete current sentence

[Damocles]

Alternative small-screen version online: http://rtsmaker.com
(you might have to refresh your browser)

[deathpat]

Hi,

ok I tried it and it's pretty fun
Here are a few remarks in no specific order:
- I've got a bug: there's a black square rendered on top of your custom mouse cursor, as if the native cursor was still rendered ... but with a black square
- I think it would be cool to be able to scroll the map with the keyboard ( arrows )
- fullscreen !!! That would be cool too
- I'm not a big fan of the ingame menu:
  - it's difficult to open it without scrolling the map
  - when the menu is opened, the mouse is like "captured" by the menu, meaning that if I click anywhere in the screen it actually selects a menu option, it would be better I think to close the menu when clicking outside.
- when building something, it would be nice to be able to cancel after selecting in the menu but before clicking on the map ... maybe with the right click ..
- it's impossible to fire at a moving unit! This is quite frustrating because the enemy was keeping coming to my base, causing damages and then leaving with just a few lifepoints left ... and I wasn't able to kill them
- maybe it's a bit early to ask this but I don't like when my units are pursuing automatically enemy units. With this it becomes rapidly a mess where all your units are just going everywhere in the map without control. It would be nice to give orders to the units like "stay in position!"
- I've found a bit strange to come back to the main menu between each mission. It was kind of "breaking" the mission flow.

Ah one more, click on text narration shouldn't end the story but complete current sentence

+1 !

Otherwise I though it was really nice and fun, it was a good surprise to have a tutorial level at the begining and to have naration/cut scenes. The graphics are cool even if the tiles do not tile perfectly ( meaning that we see a break in the textures ) .. but that was a detail.

Good job !

[Damocles]

Thanks for the feefback.

I actually use an "empty" custom cursor to make the normal cursor invisible.
In your case this must not have worked and used a filled (not a transparent) square instead.
What JVM and System do you have? (edit: ok, just see that this is in Windows for me too,)

Yes the ingame menu is not very optimal. It is this way because in the original version it was to be used
with the keypad / softkeys of a phone. Thats also why it pauses the game (much more hassle on a phone to make quick inputs)
I migh just make a qickexit when clicking pressing outside of it.

The Enemy-AI retreats when it is hurt too much.
I think its funny. Because normally Game-AIs keep on fighting until they are dead.
I will map the "S" key to a new state "keep position" or
just make the player-AI stop pursuing units when going to far from the last command-position.

Regards, Damocles

[JFixby]

looks really awesome

reminds me the "Mayday: Conflict Earth"

[JFixby]

there should be building disposal function.
I've constructed too much turrets so can't build units anymore

[Damocles]

You can select a unit/building, and then in the menu use "remove selected unit"

Unfortunately the highlight of building does not show up, but it selected when its name appears in the bottom.

----

Also patched that black cursor box. (did not show on Linux, so I noticed that quite late)

-Minimap can now jump camera by clicking on it
-Dialog will display full text by clicking it before exiting

[forthx]

Nice game, I play tutorial and first mission.

As casual rts gamer (on PC), I think that it could be nice if we can bind group of unit (like Ctrl+1..9/1..9 in starcraft or C&C) but I understand that it could be irrelevant on smartphone.
An other problem I have on PC is the scroll: when my mouse quit the applet zone the scroll stop. it could be very annoying wen you are in the middle of a fight. Maybe it could be interesting to not stop the scrolling.


Great job and good luck!

[Damocles]

Hi, Thanks for the feedback.

There are several more missions

For the scolling: I had "nonstopping" scrolling before, but this also had problems with scolling
out of scene when you move the cursor out of the applet (checking Skype etc.).
So I stop the scrolling when the applet looses pointer-focus.
Actually the best alternative is to add keyboard scrolling.

You can use the "X" key to stop the action, and still issue commands (a feature done for the old cumbersome keypad phone input)

In the code is actually group selection, but its still mapped to Phone keys  

If i find the time and mude, I can add more features and maps.  

[sugarrushx6]

The System of Tarsonis, eh?
Starcraft reference?

Yes Starcraft might have been some inspiration 

Also, in the tutorial mission, it says:
"Here are some strong turrets WICH..."
But, I like the game. Really fast-paced, and the only nice RTS I could find in a browser