My First Java Game (Heavy WIP)[Updated 5/14/2013]

[kingroka123]

Hey guys, i just joined and i thought that i would post the progress on my game. It was originally a zombie survivor game hence the player sprite, but I might change it to a multiplayer Dungeon Crawler. The  most awesome part of this game is the level creation system shown at the bottom.
[Edit] this is staying a zombie game
It uses different colors from a png file to create different blocks. I don't know if thats how everyone does it but it was a great accomplishment for me.

Here is a features list:
Pre-V1.0
-Player Movement
-Player collision
-shooting
-health gui(doesn't actually work but... i've got the sprites there!;D)
-Map creation system
-Different tile types

 Pre-V1.01
-Smoother player movement
-added 5 or more tiles

 Pre-V1.2
- WAY better collision detection
- cool overlay thing
- noclip added  

Pre-V1.3
- ZOMBIES!!!
- lighting
- actual health gui
- invincible in noclip mode

Pre-V1.4
- More Health
- Particles(that stuff on the Bullets, very early in dev)
- Slower Zombies/Player
- Mouse aim/shoot
-3 weapon types (press e to switch, hold down to see full effect)
-More Zombies (a lot more   )

Newest Download (1.4):
http://www.java-gaming.org/user-generated-content/members/185943/pre-v1-4.jar

Just Press "N" to begin game after Main Menu

[Controls]
WSAD/ Arrow Keys- move
N- noclip
M- exit noclip
Mouse- Shoot
E- change weapon
Q- add player health

screenshots:

New Shot with the lighting  and zombies:


Newest shot with the overlay (please rate):


general shot of the game:



level creation through png:



new Tiles; grass and roads:

[HeroesGraveDev]

Some people think loading levels from images is inefficient and stops you from having special data.

I think it's nice and lets you glimpse the level without having to make a level editor.

I load the level from an image, and any extra data from .txt files.

Easy editing for the win!

EDIT: Just saw the words "First Java game" and "Multiplayer". Not a good mix. Programming networked games is a nightmare. I really hope you have had previous programming experience, especially in networking, if this is what you are attempting.

[Sparky83]

I do think so as well. Generating levels out of images is nice. What I like even more are nice editors. But I think that you can do lots of things with images, especially when you mix it with other techniques, like the mentioned text file. Maybe I will do something with this myself sometime.  

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[coltonoscopy]

I understand that feeling of accomplishment. :] I do all of my world/level generation via .png files as well for the sake of being able to visually glance at things and see them in action. That, and it's incredibly easy to make levels with a tool like GIMP if you go the hand-drawn route, assuming you adhere to a palette your engine can parse. For my own project, as I'm using libgdx and they have built-in support for Tiled maps, I plan on encoding my output to the Tiled file format (.TMX), not to mention for the fact that I can easily see my maps through the Tiled application without having to run my game engine. Thought I'd mention in case you have thoughts of trying yourself or going down that route; it's not mandatory by any means but feels like something that would be a neat way to utilize more of the framework, and Tiled beats a map renderer I'd be able to make in a reasonable frame of time.

[kingroka123]

i forgot to point out that the two tables there is a duplication glitch that is kind of anoying

[Vermeer]

I also am a fan of loading  this way. Some people are very visual and storing data this way can be very intuitive, and it also helps to get things working quickly.

You also have 3 sets of data, r,g,b, so 3 pieces of info can be saved per pixel, or even more if you where looking at it at bit level. I think if that is all your project needs, then it's a good way of working.

I guess some people prefer seeing numbers or scripts, others just like opening serialised txt documents and marvelling about how it's all stored in there.

Will keep popping back

[HeroesGraveDev]

i forgot to point out that the two tables there is a duplication glitch that is kind of anoying

That isn't enough info for us to help.

Image from which level is loaded?
Relevant code?

[kingroka123]

UPDATE!!! Zombies (finnally  ) download above

[kingroka123]

has anyone found any glitches in the game, another update coming soon

[wessles]

I love your idea for this game, but you need to slow down, literally. The guy moves too fast, so just multiply all of the speeds by about .3 or so. Your aiming system is a little bit out of date. You can stick to it, but your players will thank you for a mouse aim. I love your idea of level editing via png, and I think that you should make a program that makes levels. This game is also too hard. You need to make the zombies slow (+ or - a random amount so they don't group into one location), and make more of them. Also, give yourself more health, and add in different enemies.
So overall, this is a great Idea, and I love your lighting, which gives a night-time eerie effect. I love it. Just tweak the mechanics and controls slightly, and you could have a great game being developed. This is a good game, and I hope to see a full version soon!

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[Jimmt]

Enemies far too OP, moving off the map makes you speed up too much. Would recommend a menu or something, opening the jar and immediately popping into action is too sudden. Also, zombies seem to move a lot faster than conventional zombies. But most importantly, do not make your first game multiplayer. Work on a polished, complete single player game (actually, several), and only then should you even consider going multiplayer. Good work with the zombie pathing though.

[kingroka123]

thanks im developing this on a 10 year old laptop so it runs a bit slow for me 
but i will slow it down, ive already nerfed the zombies, next updat will include all of these.
btw, the next update will be very soon

[Jimmt]

thanks im developing this on a 10 year old laptop so it runs a bit slow for me 
but i will slow it down, ive already nerfed the zombies, next updat will include all of these.
btw, the next update will be very soon

That's a major problem, game should run approximately the same speed regardless of speed and resultant fps. You should use delta time. Basically - measure the time it takes for each frame, and multiply your movement constants by that (google it for code examples). Obviously you're going to have to change your movement constants because it's a very small time/number, but it's definitely worth it.

[kingroka123]

*Bump*

Update: V 1.4
 Remember to press N to start after Main Menu. Thanks for trying it out. sorry this was so slow (i have exams)

[wessles]

Crap, I would love to help with this game...

[wessles]

Hey! I did not realize what my brain was doing late one night after playing this game, but I started a project based on this game heavily, called horde. It is basically an 8bit version, with more advanced graphics. I am just now realizing that I was making this game based off of this game. I am sad that the development seems to have stopped, and happy that I have unintentionally continued it. Funny just seeing this... Bye the way, I think that you should work more on stick war. It seems promising!

[kingroka123]

thaks for the reply im glad you like it. Horde seems like a really great game and i cant wait to see it finished. i might take up this game again in the future but i just needed a break from the zombie genre.

thanks!

[wessles]

No, thank you for the idea!
Btw, now I have my first collaboration (w/ kpars. Great coder). We started today!