Fate of Io: where's the code?

where's the code?

2002/12/03 18:45:08 PST by jcore [0/6]

Alright, so I've read through the forums, listened to some of the music, looked at some of the art, and even took a cursory glance at the story and gameplay.

The one thing I haven't seen is mention of the programming aspects of the game (other than the debate between 2D and 3D).

This project seems to be off to the right start, and I'm interested in contributing, but I'd like to know at least the following:

What programming language(s) will the game be written in?
What type of source code organization strategy will be employed? (CVS, patches, etc)
What toolkits/libraries will be used for handling low-level routines?

2002/12/03 21:31:12 PST by Temporal [manager]

You know, it's funny, but in almost two years you are the first person to ask such things. We don't seem to get many coder-types around here, believe it or not. Where do I start?

Originally, the plan was to use my game engine. You can find it at:

http://www.gauge3d.org

As you can see, the project is stalled right now, and will probably be stalled for quite some time. Personally, I still think that gauge3d will be ready for Fate of Io before Fate of Io is ready for gauge3d, but I'm sure many people might disagree with that.

So, as of now, there are two options:
(1) Assume we will use my engine eventually, and just avoid working on stuff that is engine-dependent for now. (This is not as bad as it sounds; coding is actually a very small part of making a game, assuming you are going to use a ready-made game engine.)
(2) Choose some other game engine, or start working on a custom engine specifically for Fate of Io. Despite popular belief, I am not against this, and never have been. However, if FoI goes this way, someone else will have to lead the effort, as I have too many other projects I am working on.

Option (2) has been suggested a few times, but as yet no one as actually gone out and offered to lead any such effort, so we remain with option (1).

What do you think?

2002/12/03 22:35:50 PST by jcore [0/6]

I'm almost as over-extended as you are, and so I'd rather not take a lead position (especially since you seem to have more programming experience than I). I sought out this project due to a fall-out of interest on the project I started: Ecclesia RPG.

From reading the board here, Fate of Io has gone through or is going through many of the things I encountered while working with Ecclesia RPG. I've learned how pointless it is to try and rush other people on a volunteer project, and I wouldn't want to repeat that mistake here.

If you are interested, I would be interested in seeing (and possibly working on) the programming language that you are developing, if it will soon be usable for working on the game in the near future. I personally have felt a push away from imperative languages, but as of yet I haven't made the effort to take my existing code and rewrite it in a language such as haskell (and I don't even want to think about writing all of the C library calls).

Anyway, unless something comes up I will probably just lurk for a while. It seems that the talent is here just waiting to move.

2002/12/04 13:25:40 PST by Temporal [manager]

If you would like to discuss language concepts, feel free to drop me an e-mail. Otherwise, you can wait for my prototype at the end of the year. It will be a bit (read: months, at least) before the implementation is fast enough for a game engine, but I'm hoping to recruit some minions who will happily work on that optimization for me, while I/we work on the engine in parallel. :) Yay open source!

2004/11/29 10:48:12 PST by fatedragon [0/0]

at first i thought he talking about cheat codes i was think why dont u put in cheat codes

2004/11/29 17:32:27 PST by mystik3eb [0/43]

I've always been against cheating, unless it's an old-school Nintendo game that I've already beaten without cheating, but even having the cheats available just lets others cheat anyway. So I'm against having cheats in FoI at all, personally. Strategy guides are different. But that's just my opinion.

2004/11/30 02:53:18 PST by Temporal [manager]

My opinion: If people want to cheat in a single-player game, that's their decision. They aren't hurting anyone other than themselves. That said, I don't see any reason to make an effort to provide cheats. But, being an open source game, I'm sure other groups will develop cheats, and I see no problem with that.

2005/04/26 08:25:09 PDT by MorbidChylde [0/0]

Why not develop the game in a 'maker' program? I know it sounds bad, but if you think about it doing so will broaden the range of people who can actually take part in the building of the engine. I don't necissarily mean something like RPG Maker 2000 or the like, but rather something like Game Maker (http://www.gamemaker.nl/). I can code (note amazingly, but well enough), but I actually prefer using Game Maker. It's a happy medium between ease of use and freedom of control. You can code in Game Maker (it has it's own programming language, GML), but it also supports drag-and-drop style coding (which is good for beginners). I have a fair grasping of most of the concepts in the C languages, but I am pretty well-versed with Game Maker. In any case, it's just a thought.

2005/04/26 10:12:13 PDT by Temporal [manager]

If a group of people are willing to do the coding for FoI in some game maker, then they are free to do so, and if they succeed, that's great. Personally, I will not assist in anything like that. Not to be mean or spiteful; it just wouldn't be interesting to me. :P If I code the engine, I will want to code it from the ground up, because (1) I can, and (2) I have a severe case of NIH (not-invented-here) syndrome. :)