Barchok Blog

Isotower Website

Todd — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 19:28:03 +0000

The Isotower website now has content, and is ready for launch. Screenshots of the latest version, an in depth feature list, and a few frequently asked questions.

The next step is to finish off the Alpha version and release an official demo.

Isotower – Not Dead

Todd — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 00:37:23 +0000

Isotower development is still alive. It did get delayed due to a month of a broken computer and various other issues, but it is now my main priority, and I’ve begun working on Isotower every Saturday, at the very least (I spend about 5 hours every Saturday working on it, and a few hours a day during the rest of the week when I can).

I’ve spent the last few weeks converting from SDL to the new and improved SFML. Doing this has given me an increase in framerate from 110 fps to 300 fps. The process has been fairly easy, since the libraries are fairly similar. The biggest hurdle has been converting the custom events from SDL to SFML, since SFML does not actually support creation of events. I eventually figured out a workaround, and, while not the best solution, it is the only one I could find that doesn’t require a massive rewrite of much of the code. The biggest advantage SFML has given me was being able to toss out the old GUI system seen in previous screenshots for a cleaner GUI. Once I get the chance, I’ll post some new screenshots of the game, and eventually, a new alpha version using SFML.

Fixed version of the pre-alpha

Todd — Tue, 10 Aug 2010 15:36:00 +0000

After releasing the pre-alpha, I went to make a backup copy of the source code. Something happened and I ended up instead reverting to a slightly older copy of the source, resulting in losing some of the work I had done. A few weeks ago, I managed to go back and redo some of the work I had done, and a fixed version of the pre-alpha with fewer crash bugs can be downloaded here.

There are still some other issues, and currently only rooms on the first floor will work right, but it is a start. Hopefully in late August, I will release a version with working elevators and generally more stuff, but with a current full time job, progress has slowed down more than I had hoped. If I can no longer work on the project, I will release what I have.

IsoTower Pre-Alpha Official Release

Todd — Thu, 01 Jul 2010 01:34:52 +0000

A few weeks ago, I made a promise to myself (and a lot of people on a specific forum) that I would have a playable pre-alpha demo released by the end of today. Today has come, and the pre-alpha is done (mostly) and can be downloaded here. If you want a video letting you know just what you’re getting, check it out below. EDIT: I’ve been getting pretty much constant reports of crashes in Windows 7 and Vista. I’m working on fixing those, but may not have a solution until the weekend. Until then, run the game with Windows XP compatibility mode. It’s not a perfect solution, but the only one I can offer at the moment.

Elevator Test Video

Todd — Sun, 09 May 2010 13:12:16 +0000

For the first time ever, a wild video of the game appears. It’s short and the quality is kind of terrible, but it does a good job of showing off a few new elements of the game. First, sound effects, there’s now a few of them, all made with sfxr. The build sound effect is a bit too loud, and will be fixed in later videos. Plus, there’s animation on the elevator. The elevator is now one step closer to working how it should.

Graphics

Todd — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:08:27 +0000

Short and sweet update, mostly concerning graphics. The artist that I’m working with has created some amazing graphics for the offices, and I decided to make some changes to the temporary exterior wall and ceiling graphics. I’m hoping to spend much of the coming week on the game, and may have something even closer to a game very soon.

Work Continues

Todd — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 15:57:06 +0000

I’ve been continuing work on IsoTower, and will be working on it full time fairly soon, as I have nothing better going on. Most of the work at this point has been making minor upgrades and changes to the engine, some of it stuff that makes the game a bit easier to use (including some GUI updates and confirmation dialogs), some of it minor visual updates, such as interior walls that disappear when your cursor is nearby (think the walls in the Sims 2). Also added is a basic save/loading system, though it’s not really a finalized version and things will probably change in the near future. I’ve run out of things to update, and will soon be tackling the problem of pathfinding, then finally have a chance to release the game unto the world.

I also have an artist on board, and will hopefully be getting rid of the plain solid color graphics that I’m using right now as placeholder art.

Isotower Transportation and Pathfinding

Todd — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 12:37:35 +0000

Now that I have the basic engine coded, the next step is adding elevators, stairs, and pathfinding. Once complete, the game should be close to the game play of Sim Tower, and ready for a more wide spread release, as it were.
Figuring out how transportation was going to work has been a major hurdle, since it had to feel ‘right’ in relation to Sim Tower, but had to work on what is effectively a 3d cube instead of a simple 2d plane. I’ve decided to keep things fairly simple, and just require the player to maintain some empty floor on a path to an elevator, similar to how roads work in the Sim City games. As long as a room is connected to an elevator or set of stairs via empty floor, then movement from the room to the stairs or line waiting for the elevator will be instant. If that ends up being too unrealistic, then I might have a delay based on distance, or similar. Elevators will generally work the same as they did in Sim Tower, though hopefully I can make them work a bit smoother, and make the interface for controlling them fairly easy to use. The elevator control window was too complex, and you had to change the settings for each elevator one at a time, resulting in too much wasted effort to achieve a slight increase in efficiency.
One final thing: I intend to allow something other than the lobby to be built on the ground floor. However, the lobby must exist and must be connected to the outside edges of the map. This way, it gives players more flexibility to build a tower with variety, or just build a single floor motel if they want to.

IsoTower Engine Demo

Todd — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 01:20:47 +0000

The core engine for IsoTower is done. There is, of course, a lot left to be done before the game is even at the level of Sim Tower, but a majority of the framework is in place now, and hopefully development will move quicker. You can download the engine demo here. There’s not much to it at this point, and the graphics are still terrible, but hopefully that will be fixed in a few weeks/months. Important controls are the ALT key to build empty flooring anywhere (even floating in space), and CTRL to move time forward much faster. Mouse wheel or +/- keys will change the floor you’re on, arrow keys move the camera around. There’s a readme with a few other controls, as well. The game is in C++/SDL, and feasibly will work on any OS, though it’s only tested on Windows XP. If anyone gets it running elsewhere, let me know.

IsoTower Plugins

Todd — Sat, 13 Feb 2010 01:55:47 +0000

Short and sweet status update on IsoTower. I’ve been struggling with how to add plugin functionality for a few days now, and I’ve mostly been working on building all the pieces to make plugins work they way I want. It’s almost time to put those pieces together and get the game to be able to load room definitions from an XML file, add buttons to the tool bar, and allow the user to build rooms. Once all of this is done, it will be time to smooth out any problems I can find and release an early alpha version of the game. I’m hoping to have room construction and a basic economy system at that point.