Well basically I worked with as a graphic artist with a programmer for over two years to make a game. We split up a couple of weeks ago because we couldn't agree on a lot of stuff, even though the game was getting pretty far into development, and also because he wasn't implementing enough of the features I wanted because he was too lazy. So, not knowing very much about programming at all, I decided to keep all of my artwork and learn how to code the game by myself.
I've only been programming this game for around two weeks now, but essentially I'm creating a game that has already been thoroughly designed and documented over the past few years, so I know pretty much exactly what I need to do to get it done.
That being said, it's a team-based 2d platformer with cross-platform online multiplayer support and a unified campaign that players all around the world can participate and have an influence over. It's actually distinctly different from the game I was working on before, but that's because I have complete control over it this time.
Some of the features the game is going to have:
- Normal, specular and luminescent mapping
- 6 layered parallax scrolling
- A versatile random map generation system, including the ability to randomly generate map graphics. All maps are based on seeds and generated client side, so servers never need to transfer files to players. Maps are stored on the hard drive in image format and streamed into memory when they are needed, allowing for very large, high quality maps.
- Destructable terrain
- World-wide, unified campaign that all players can participate in and have an influence over
- Dynamic, procedurally generated music
Obviously this is an extremely ambitious project, especially for a single person, and especially for someone who has only been using C++ for about two weeks now. However, I've been working on the game for > 80 hours a week since I started working on it two weeks ago, so I've been making fast progress. Also, the fact that I've already for the most part documented the design of this game over the past few years helps me to move ahead quicker too because I already know what I'm supposed to be doing.
We were using Irrlicht before, but I didn't really like it because it was slow and full of 3d stuff I didn't want. I'm using SFML primarily because I want cross-platform capability.
I just want to clear up any misconceptions about me being clueless or strictly a hobbyist. To be honest, I think coming up with your own functional normal mapping shader algorithm within two weeks of learning C++ is a pretty good effort.
