By Tyler
|
August 27, 2008
I spent a day writing a quick Javascript DHTML tetris clone, complete with sound effects and some funky graphics.
I was getting tired of working on my Javascript roguelike game and decided to leverage the work done on the Javascript tile engine to create a complete playable game. Tetris seemed like a good choice, seeing how everything is one a discrete rectangular grid.
This will probably receive more plays than the roguelike despite taking about 1/50th the development time. I’m starting to see roguelike development for what it is: a time eating unhealthy habit.
http://game.tyler-dewitt.com/arcade/tetris.htm
By Tyler
|
August 8, 2008
Click here to play:
http://game.tyler-dewitt.com/roguelike.htm
This is an alpha release of a simple roguelike created using the gTile Javascript game engine. You are an adventurer braving the depths of a dungeon in search of treasure.
This implementation features line of sight, graphical tiles, context menus for mouse driven interface, and plays entirely in a browser. As an alpha release, the gameplay is not currently well balanced, but it is playable.
I’m interested in feedback concerning bug reports, usability and overall feel of the game. All comments are appreciated.
http://game.tyler-dewitt.com/roguelike.htm
Some improvements have been made to the map editor for the gTile javascript game engine.
The goal is to create an interface that is robust and simple enough to use that your average person can create a little rendition of their room, apartment or office space complete with characters, and then send it around to their friends and colleagues to play.
The map editor runs entirely in a web browser using only Javascript and DHTML. The interface is similar to a drawing program, with the intent that a user’s previous experience with desktop applications will reduce the learning curve. A palette of tiles is presented next to the editable area. Users can draw, erase, select and move tiles. A standard drop down menu bar has commands for saving and loading areas. The game can be played immediately at any time.
Although the game engine itself works well in all browsers, the map editor is currently only supported in browsers with native support for the canvas element; meaning any browser except IE.
To test drive the map editor, sign up for an account on http://game.tyler-dewitt.com
Features to be added include:
- user uploading photos, sounds and custom tile sets
- ability to add simple behaviors and data to objects. For example, specifying the text or sound that character will say when you chat with them
- more advanced interface for scripting custom behaviors for in game objects
- IE support with IECanvas, although performance may be poor.
People have asked about the graphics used in demo for the javascript game engine. There’s a mildly interesting story behind this.
As a youngster I used to spend hours writing computer games in BASIC on a Mac Plus. When the Mac was upgraded to a Macintosh Performa, I decided I was ready to craft a masterpiece with this new color display. The problem was that my old version of Quickbasic didn’t run on the new Macintosh Performa.
Hence, while awaiting Christmas and a new SDK package for the Performa (Metroworks Codewarrior) I intended to get a head start creating the artwork for the game. Using ClarisWorks and the 256 color palette that was available, I spent literally hundreds of hours zoomed in to a 25 x 25 grid, editing individual pixels one by one. I crafted over 1000 tile graphics in this fashion.
The goal was not for particular realism. Apart from the limitation of trying to make something recognizable on a 25 x 25 grid, there has to be another element to strive for instead of realism. I aimed for stylized symbols.. akin to war miniatures, chess pieces or the face cards of a deck. I envisioned the overall look as giant boardgame, with everything in the universe neatly packaged into discreet stylized quanta. I was not without inspiration. In particular, the artwork of John Raymond’s Dungeon of Doom was highly influential.
The actual coding for the project never amounted to very much. With the sprawling scope and my inexperience, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. High school came along and I eventually shelfed it. Fortunately I preserved the artwork.
Fast forward 13 years, and here I am sitting on a pile of old school fantasy style tiles. They are old fashioned and out of date, but I figured it would be a shame to let them go to waste. I scaled them by a factor of two with no interpolation to preserve the look of them on an older low resolution display.
I’ve thought about why I spent so much time on it. Obviously now I could never justify devoting that kind of time, nor would I have the patience to follow through with it. I suppose at twelve years of age, time seems like an inexhaustible resource. Questions like “Is this worth the time? Will it pay off?” never enter the picture.
See the artwork in the game demo.
This is an effort to create a browser based game engine entirely in Javascript and DHTML. A two dimensional tile based view has been chosen for simplicity and accessibility. Game play is achieved through rich interactions and behaviors of game objects, rather than fancy graphics or animation.
My work to date is here: Javascript tile based game engine.
The engine is perhaps best suited to creating adventure and roguelike style games, but may also be used to create 2D virtual world representations of communities and geographical locations.
Example: Using a web based editor, a representation of an apartment, building or town is created. Friends and community members are invited to the site to explore the virtual world and interact with characters, places and objects. Amusement and hilarity ensues.
The game engine runs entirely in a web browser. Supported browsers include IE6+, Firefox 2.0+, Safari 2.0+ and Opera 9+.
Screenshots:
Screenshot 1
Screenshot 2
Screenshot 3
