[WIP] Stunt Playground *beta 3 released!!

walaber · Post by **walaber** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 10:50 am

have a look at the readme. that's where you choose cars. press the left/right arrows (or the A/D keys) to choose the car, and then press RETURN to choose that car, and start driving!

Post by **DWORD** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 10:52 am

Just scanned the readme for changes since last version. Must have missed that.

Post by **Kencho** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 2:02 pm

Downloading right now. Those screens and the new features are making me bite my nails!!

Post by **Kencho** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 2:24 pm

Woooooooooooooowwwwwwww!!! It rulez!!!!

I have a new thing to waste my free time with

The game ran without any trouble, maybe some small physics problems (don't try to drive while touching the arena boundaries...). About gameplay, smooth, cool, and fun. I would suggest adding an option for automatic/manual gears (I'm not a car-racing-games fan, so the racing games I actually like are mainly automatic -- see Burnout, Lotus, Stunts (:)) series...)

Anyways, a great work. You should do a "Special Ogre Edition" for the next release of Ogre

spookyboo · Post by **spookyboo** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 3:25 pm

This is fun. It ran without any problems. Unfortunately there is no sound. This would add to the overall feeling.
2walaber: Nice job. How on earth do you find the time to create it?

MrSandman666 · Post by **MrSandman666** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 3:39 pm

The one thing that saddens me is that there won't be a linux version for it. This would be the perfect game for taking a break when doing some work.
Unfortunately I use Windows only for "serious gaming" (i.e. Gaming that takes potentialy more then a few hours).
I've been wanting to check this out ever since the first demo was released but every time I reboot to windows to play Diablo 2 I either forget about it or the urge for slaying some monsters is so great that everything else has to be delayed.

A linux port of this thing would be so sweeeeet but Newton doesn't exist for Linux... too bad.

But I'll try in Windows some time (soon?). I promise!

Till then, congratulations and my greatest respect for creating what looks like an incredibly fun game and a nice piece of programming/software engineering.

Fredz · Post by **Fredz** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 5:19 pm

MrSandman666: it does work pretty well with Cedega under Linux, I guess it should work the same with Wine.

Robomaniac · Post by **Robomaniac** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 5:51 pm

Nice job, i really like the feel of the editor (i'm even gonna steal it for the cf editor), however, it randomly crashes almost any time it run, no explaination :\

MrSandman666 · Post by **MrSandman666** » Wed Mar 09, 2005 6:47 pm

Currently don't have Wine installed and Cedega costs money which I don't have...
I find Wine to be too much of a hassle, since it usually takes forever to get a program up and running. That and the drivers for my Radeon 9200 are crap under linux... But thanks for the hint. I might actually give it a try some time since I'm sick and tired of rebooting.

Anyways, I managed to try the demo at last!

My report:
Great concept, great potential, great looks but:
- For some reason the mouse wheel doesn't work on my platform. This is the first time I've had it happen. It works under windows (for scrolling and stuff like that) and I believe it works in other games, too. This little flaw makes it impossible for me to rotate items which is a major hindrance in creating a nice track. I'll have to test whether this is a problem with my mouse or with Ogre.
- The other thing that bothers me is the camera. It's almost impossible to maneuver in tight spots since the camera doesn't update quickly enough. Oftentimes I have no clue as to where I'm heading since the camera is pointing into the wrong direction. This could be fixed by making the camera switch sides when you drive backwards and switch back once you drive forwards. Other then that I really like the "laid back" feel of the camera.
- Did you notice the bounding box always seems to drag after the actual object in the editor?
- Did you know that you can actually crash props into the ground? I found this out by accident. I wanted to rotate the camera but used the wrong button so I ended up slamming the prop down. It got stuck in the ground and I could really move it any more. I had to delete it and get a new one.

I hope this didn't come off too negative. I'm just good at finding flaws so that's what I do. My philosophy is that you have to know your faults if you want to fix them.
Overall I really like the program and the whole idea behind it. I, too, was a great fan of the old Stunt game. Unfortunately I managed to loose the disc it was on. And I also don't have a computer that could run it properly any more...

So, thumbs up! Good work! I'm really looking forward to seeing the final version!

Fredz · Post by **Fredz** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 12:30 am

MrSandman666: Cedega is freely available and compilable via CVS, it's just the binary packages that cost money. I've never encountered a problem with OGRE apps for now (using OpenGL), and some commercial games works well with it too. For your old DOS game, try dosbox, does wonders.

walaber · Post by **walaber** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 4:17 am

thank you very much everyone for the excellent feedback! the game is still very much a WIP, and I will be adding more graphics, vehicles, and sounds before it is complete.

as for ports, I think I have some exciting news... Newton has been released on the MAC platform, and a Linux version is also in the works! which means that since I'm using Ogre and CEGUI, I should be able to get this game working on all 3 platforms eventually!

as far as I know I'm not doing anything in my code that will cause portability problems, so once the game gets closer to complete I hope to find someone willing to port / compile my game on MAC. I have debian on my system, so hopefully once the linux version of Newton is out, I'll be able to handle that port myself

right now I'm working on fixing the scale of the objects, they are already much improved on my home system. I'm also looking to add some particle effects as well. then I'll add some sounds with FMOD.

I have also experienced an occasional crash when clicking the "GO" button... I'm not entirely sure what the problem is... I will keep an eye out while I work on other parts, and see if I can determine what conditions cause the crash.

MrSandman666 - perhaps I should add an option where holding the "SHIFT" key works like the middle mouse? I know some systems/mice handle the hiddle wheel differently...

Here are other basic game features I absolutely intend to add:

improved camera system with multiple angles!

some kind of "instant replay" system... this I think is absolutely necessary for this type of game!

Post by **DWORD** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 10:04 am

walaber wrote:Here are other basic game features I absolutely intend to add:
improved camera system with multiple angles!
some kind of "instant replay" system... this I think is absolutely necessary for this type of game!

/me drools.

MrSandman666 · Post by **MrSandman666** » Thu Mar 10, 2005 10:15 am

walaber wrote:...and a Linux version is also in the works! which means that since I'm using Ogre and CEGUI, I should be able to get this game working on all 3 platforms eventually!

W00t!

Me be happy camper!

walaber wrote: perhaps I should add an option where holding the "SHIFT" key works like the middle mouse? I know some systems/mice handle the hiddle wheel differently...

That would be great indeed. Although I find the idea of scrolling the mouse wheel for rotating very appealing. I have yet to test whether this is a problem with my mouse or with Ogre/SDL (or whatever you might be using for input)

walaber wrote: improved camera system with multiple angles!
some kind of "instant replay" system... this I think is absolutely necessary for this type of game!

Wow, can't wait to see these come in! The replay camera is an absolute "must"!

Fredz:
I didn't know that cedega was freely compilable! Is that a recent development?
I did try dosbox and it's pretty cool (although some games seem to have problems with it) but I lost my disk and my current computer (a laptop) doesn't have a floppy drive

(yes, I know, I could get an usb drive if I really wanted to, but as I said, I lost the disk...)

neocryptek · Post by **neocryptek** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 3:28 am

The new demo fixed running problems here!

@Kencho: the mustang is automatic.

One thing that would be cool would be someway to set a 'static' bool that specifies if the prop should be handled by the physics or not, so one could build 'solid' jumps, walls and such.

Very fun to play around with! And the controls just start to grow on you for placing, brilliant!

-N30

Post by **Kencho** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 11:54 am

Yep, I noticed. I meant also for using the brake as the reverse gear (if it's possible...

)

walaber · Post by **walaber** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 12:16 pm

I see what you mean... after the car comes to a stop, it automatically switches into reverse gear? that shouldn't be too hard..

eventually I'll completely seperate the automatic and manual settings, so the user can choose which they want to use.

in other news, I just (literally 10 seconds ago) got my instant replay system up and running! you can currently record for up to 10 seconds (this can be adjusted), and it records the car perfectly!! all I need to do is add a recorder for the props, and the instant replay system is in! you can even change camera angles mid-replay, and continue driving after you're done watching a replay

QUICK REPLAY VIDEO - here's a short video of me playing forward and backward through a recording I made in-game. you cann see that the interpolation still needs a little work, as the slerp sometimes makes mistakes... this is the first time I've ever used the slerp command, and so far I'm amazed. it's almost too easy to interpolate between rotations!! with a little more tweaking, I'm sure I can clean up the occasional hickup... I'll also add a GUI-based control system, where you can play / rewind / fast forward / slow-mo / etc.

Post by **Kencho** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 3:51 pm

Bullet-time stunts, like Burnout3

I'm still playing with this version, and I already want one more!

SpannerMan · Post by **SpannerMan** » Fri Mar 11, 2005 7:10 pm

walaber, your demos and videos are always really high quality, and these latest offerings are no exception. For such a young project this is showing spades of potential.

In the past, and for various reasons, I have been seriously put-off from even touching Newton. But the more I play your demos and see how fast you progress, Im starting to think twice.

Anyway, just wanted to show my support, keep it up!!

walaber · Post by **walaber** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 6:10 am

okay, I completely fixed the instant replay system... no little "hiccups" anymore, and the props are also recorded.

here are 2 more videos for your enjoyment

REPLAY VIDEO 1 - "smart" car crashing into a stack of barrels... played in forward/reverse from several angles.

REPLAY VIDEO 2 - here you can see another replay featuring the "GT" car, with some of the re-scaled props. notice how when I step on the gas the props under the wheels get pushed back realistically

Robomaniac · Post by **Robomaniac** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 6:47 am

All i can say is:

Wicked sweet tottally awesome!

Great Job!

Post by **DWORD** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 9:52 am

Yeah, "Wicked sweet tottally awesome!"

Post by **Kencho** » Sat Mar 12, 2005 10:45 am

If you would sell it, I would buy it

walaber · Post by **walaber** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 3:29 am

thanks again for the comments! lately I've been working on adding particles to the game (dust and sparks)... here's another video that shows them off:

PARTICLES VIDEO

unfortunately I can't make particles work in reverse easily, so for now the particles dissappear in replay mode... still thinking about this one

monster · Post by **monster** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 3:35 am

THAT'S SO COOL!!!

Post by **nfz** » Tue Mar 15, 2005 5:55 am

I'm speachless....