X@Com - Xcom as roguelike

[Kyzrati]

Ya, I noticed, but that was a month ago.

[moriarty]

On a side note: Strangely, the OpenXCom forum failed to notify me about your post in this thread--I just happened to come by today and saw it as I was browsing the forum normally... Wonder what's up with that? The forum/site been busy with all the recent X-COM hype on the web? Seems like the project has become a lot more popular lately, since I've also been getting more link hits from NineX than usual.

I think it might also be an XCOM:EU "bystander effect" the forum activity for the new 2k/firaxis game has exploded since the game was shown on PAX east and announced for pre-order on steam, so perhaps some of the old fans who forgot about the game have woken up and started looking for the original again, finding us in the process

[Kyzrati]

Ah yes, that's what I was thinking, but haven't been following the new XCOM, so wasn't aware of anything specific that might've triggered the increase. PAX would do it.

Hey, their publicity is our publicity

[Kyzrati]

R7 released.

[michal]

I've posted about R7 on OpenXcom blog. Check your stats

Btw, what about Linux? You're considering it?

[Kyzrati]

Gee, thanks michal

Actually, the fact that X@COM sits on the OpenXCom sidebar has always consistently driven a fair amount of traffic my way. A good number of visitors on your site apparently click down that list looking at other X-COM-related games--what a great idea to list them all there! Of course, a dedicated blog post has already given me three times as many forwards as usual in the past 6 hrs or so

I do plan on releasing a Linux version some day, but it'll take a bit of doing since I'll have to recompile a bunch of different libraries (which generally makes me want to rip my hair out) and rewrite a bit of windows-only system code. So it's non-trivial despite the fact that the 99% of the code is cross-platform.

[SupSuper]

I do plan on releasing a Linux version some day, but it'll take a bit of doing since I'll have to recompile a bunch of different libraries (which generally makes me want to rip my hair out) and rewrite a bit of windows-only system code. So it's non-trivial despite the fact that the 99% of the code is cross-platform.

Ha I know how that feels, everytime I even consider adding a library to OpenXcom it's a nightmare waiting to happen. At least in Linux you'll find packages reasdy-to-go for the popular libraries.

[michal]

Kyzrati, i had a chance to test new release for a while on windows. I must say i'm really impressed by your ascii design. UI looks great, colors are really good. Game of course is interesting too. I've also met some new alien

You should record some HD youtube video, many ppl could see how good it looks.

[Kyzrati]

Glad you like it michal--I was wondering if you've been playing, since I've never heard you comment on specifics even though you've always been quite an advocate for the game

I do have a YouTube channel where I occasionally post videos, and I'm actually making a new video *right now* to show off all the latest UI features and current state of the game.

The existing UI is going to be improved so much in the future--I haven't even started dedicated UI work yet (getting closer to that dev branch, though)--so hopefully you'll like what it becomes even more!

Ha I know how that feels, everytime I even consider adding a library to OpenXcom it's a nightmare waiting to happen. At least in Linux you'll find packages reasdy-to-go for the popular libraries.

A nightmare I'm happy to stall on for as long as possible... By my estimates about 8-10% of X@COM players use Linux, though, so it'll probably be worth it eventually. I don't use a standard build system so getting libraries compatible with my games is doubly annoying. I've always enjoyed reinventing the wheel, anyway, so at least third-party library use is not too rampant

I do like the idea of Linux source packages being easy to acquire and deal with, but I have to become more proficient with Linux itself before I could do it without derailing the project out of shame =p

[michal]

Glad you like it michal--I was wondering if you've been playing, since I've never heard you comment on specifics even though you've always been quite an advocate for the game

I could play more on linux

Btw, have you ever thought about open sourcing x@com or at least your roguelike engine?

[Kyzrati]

I could play more on linux

Hehe, You'll have your day then

Btw, have you ever thought about open sourcing x@com or at least your roguelike engine?

Definitely, especially the engine. But I'm a somewhat obsessive perfectionist, and would never be able to do something like that unless I was convinced it was something that others could use without a lot of help and support on my end (it's not), so I don't think so.

Instead I want to make X@COM so moddable that others will be able to create completely different TBS games through a mod, which is pretty close to open sourcing, without the programmability (scripting instead). It'll include a hugely detailed manual on how to make all your own particle effects, objects, maps, entities, etc. Mostly because I'll need the manual for myself anyway to create the game, otherwise the project eventually gets so big I can't remember everything myself, anyway So others can benefit from my horrible memory by having a great resource for making new versions of the game, and we can all benefit from playing them

[Volutar]

Kyzraty, will you make it moddable at graphics renderer instead of text? Like number of graphics engines for dwarf fortress.

[michal]

Well, i guess 2d tiles should be possible:

https://cogmindrl.blogspot.com/2012/04/not-7up.html

Am i right, Kyzrati? Is it supported by your engine?

[Kyzrati]

Quite right. Tiles will be supported as in Cogmind (same engine), though no multi-colored tiles (meaning a single tile may not use more than one color, not that all tiles have to be the same color...). There will be sprite packs for the game; the characters used are just glyphs on a spritesheet, after all.

They'll be moddable, too, just like in Cogmind, so you could change the entire appearance of the game quite easily, assuming you can edit a .png file

[michal]

So all tiles are one bit only and you're coloring them in engine?