Idle RPG DS version 0.2, New Game Started

I wasn't originally going to announce the release of this version as it really doesn't add a whole lot to show for the player. But I didn't want people to think that progress wasn't being made towards this game. Admittedly I haven't worked on it as much as I could have (curse you Guitar Hero 3!) but I am working on it at a snail's pace.

Download: version 0.2


In this version..

- Started the "new game" function.
That means the player can click on the 'new game' menu option and it, gasp, works.

- Added the ability to name your character name and the character's class name
Once the player clicks 'new game', a keyboard pops up on the bottom and allows a 25-character player name and a 25-character class name. The class name has no effect on the game itself, just like the IRC version. It's just for looks.

- Added the save function to the game.
After entering the class name it'll save what the player has inputted and kick it back out to the main menu. TO BE ADDED: a "are these names okay?" type question before saving them.

- The main menu will now tell you if there's a game to continue (won't be grayed out)
If the player's card allows FAT, it'll be easy to confirm if the player and class name saved correctly because "Continue" won't be grayed out anymore. The continue option still isn't clickable but at least it'll let people know if it's saved right.


I don't know when the next update will be but it should contain at least the start of the actual game. So until next time.....

Idle RPG DS version 0.1, The about menu is done!

I decided to start working on the game a little earlier than expected. I wanted to get some of the more basic stuff out of the way and start a menu. I'm kind of proud of the end result considering I've never really touched C before this.

The screens are a little bland but considering the original version of Idle RPG is ran on IRC, which is text only, I don't want to make it too flamboyant. Keeping it simple to pay an homage to the original and to try to keep the size of the game down.

Download: version 0.1

Sorry, no source yet. Probably won't be released for awhile. Especially while in development. We'll see when it's done.


In this version:

+ The title graphic.
+ The main menu
+ The about menu
+ Added the abilty to check for FAT support and display a warning if unable to use it.


That's.. it. More to come when I start working on the actual game engine. I'll start that after I get some questions answered over on PAlib's forums.

Until next time.....

Idle RPG DS

Did you know regular ol people like you and me can write programs to work on the Nintendo DS? Well, while I'm sure some of you know of the "homebrew" scene (as it's called), I have recently installed all of the IDEs and programming tools necessary to actually do it.

My first test of programming on the DS will be with idle RPG. For those who have never heard of it, it's a "game" (loosely) in which you earn experience and level up based on how long you "idle" (don't touch anything). It's popular on IRC chatting networks. Basically if you talk, quit, join, or do anything other than idle you take a penalty and have to wait longer before you level up again. As you level up you find random equipment that enhances your stats and randomly fight other players of the game (the winner gets time taken off his/her amount and the loser gains time).

It's not really exciting but I think this would be a great test of learning how to program on the DS. Such a game would require learning how inputs and outputs work, how to recognize key presses, recognize when the stylus is being used, how to use random functions, etc etc. Everything that would be necessary in a real game.


Planned:

+ Tons of equipment that it can randomly pick from.
+ Stats on top screen, 5 most recent "news" on the bottom screen.
+ The same time penalty for touching any of the buttons and using the stylus as you would via talking and such in the IRC version.


Something I would like to add in a future version (i.e. way down the road):

+ The ability for a ranking/score system. Compare your rank with others.
+ graphic icons for the equipment.
+ maybe a little character running around doing things while the DS is idle.


We'll see how it goes. I'll start coding it next week once I'm done with all the preplanning. You know, assuming Tropical Storm Fay doesn't make Panama City into the next Atlantis.

Call This Number ... Working Again!

Thanks to Geemer of irc.esper.net, I finally found another free voice mail box to replace the old one I had. WOOHOO! So if anyone wants to call and leave some crazy anonymous messages, please feel free.

646-495-9204 with the extension: 96810


Yeah, it's a little longer than the old one. But it's free, so what can I say?

Weeeeeee!

Call and leave insane messages!

And here's the page with all the old messages and, hopefully, new messages to come: http://iyou.cyberbotx.com/voicemessages/

New Forum

Hey all. I'm just writing a quick blog to let everyone know that we have a new forum. While my old one won't be shut down, everyone is encouraged to sign up for and post on the new forum: Icy Internet Prison.

Help make IIP a popular place to post!

Kon version 1.0.9 release

A fairly decent update for the bot.

As previously mentioned, this update changes the way sentences are structured. The topic, if the bot can find one, is now no longer the first word of the sentence. Instead it tries to build a bit of the sentence around it.

Another major change is the way the LB Brain is constructed. With this version it starts a longer depth to try and help with the pure randomness. People who compile Kon can turn off the longer depth and go back to the shorter depth by changing the variable shortDepth in LB.cs to true. The reason I did this is for those larger brain files. The larger the brain file the more random it starts to become. If you increase the depth, however, it should still be random but not to the point of insanity. Unfortunately, there's no way to convert your old brain files over so you'll have to start over.

This update improves the look of IRC in the bot's window including the appearances of: PART, NICK, NOTICE and MODE messages. It also allows the bot to see who joins multiple channels, whereas before it would only show the one channel set to join at start.

The last major advancement for this update is what I call RandomTalk. RandomTalk is exactly what it sounds like: it allows the bot to randomly talk when it's not being addressed. It works on a percentage that's set in the config file. There's also a command that admin and users can use to set it: !randomTalk [#]. By itself (!randomTalk) the bot will tell you what percent it's set at. With a number from 1 to 100 (example: !randomTalk 100) will set the percent to that number. To turn it off set it to -1.

And that's all for this update.

Download Binaries: Click here
Downlod Source: Click here (and download all the files)

Kon version 1.0.9 In Development

It seems like I just can't stop messing with Kon. Even after the release of 1.0.8 six days ago, I've already started development on the next version. Not only that, I've already fixed a bug and improved the sentence development bit of LB Brain.

Thus far:

• Fixed a small bug that prevented Kon from seeing the first word in a sentence if it could potentially be a topic of a sentence.
• Changed the way topics are picked so that it randomly chooses one if there's more than one.
• Changed the way topic sentences are constructed. Now Kon tries to build the sentence AROUND the topic, not START the sentence with the topic. This may or may not work as intended.
• Added a little more filtering to LB Brain responses to try and not end up with a lone " or a misplaced ) at the end of sentences.
  

More to come.