After 4 months of work we have a playable alpha build for the public. There is still a lot of work that needs to be done before we are anywhere near a final build. However this alpha is a big step in that direction. You can grab the alpha in the downloads section of Mod/IndieDB profile page.
UPDATE: For those having a problem with the download Kingsley has made another download mirror for your use.
We want to thank the community for all the support and feedback we have been getting since we first announced Survivors of Ragnarök. Not to be cavalier or anything but we believe we have the most kick-ass community around. You guys are awesome and can't wait to keep churning out updates and crafting a game that you guys will love.
So without further adieu, we would like to mark 2.15.11 in the books of Valhalla. Our image section is open to the public so feel free to upload what you guys have made in the alpha. Odin himself can not wait to see what creative things can be done with a very limited amount of tile and object types. We hope you guys enjoy the alpha and it would be great to know what you guys think about it the alpha. Your input and feedback is much appreciated.
As always don't forget to follow us on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, and Blogger.
I can't express either my happiness because of the release, or my sadness because of the fact I can't play until tomorrow morning, so all I can say is thank you for all of hard work you guys have done to bring this to the public.
Well, I hope you tell us what you think when you get a chance to play!
Looks nice.
Thanks.
Makes me think of minecraft. DANG! Now I got to go play it.
SoR or Minecraft? Either way, have fun.
So I played for a while and I found that I can actually block his way out (through ladder) by placing on it piece of meat (as I saw I can't place anything or destroy ladder which is only one on his way).
Second things is I would like to have smooth camera, not jumping one.
That's all for this build :)
We've been getting both those complaints a lot and will be changing those things. Expect them in the next update! :)
Woot i love you guys.....downloading now!!
Thanks as always irpwnu2!
There's a few technical changes that need to be made. You need to have a matrix translated camera, and not redraw using the camera offset which causes it to look blocky and jumpy because the camera offset obviously redraws in 32 pixel increments.
Also, please get rid of the software emulated mouse. It's EXTREMELY obvious and not friendly to users. It's rather annoying to use.
We meant to have the camera move the way it does, but we have planned to change it to per pixel movement like you suggested and will be doing that for the next update.
But you talk about our 'mouse' and I'd really like to hear more about that, what is it specifically you don't like about it? I don't understand completely.
I dunno too what's wrong with mouse
In the alpha, the mouse feels as though it's software emulated. What I mean by that is instead of grabbing the input from the mouses drivers you seem to be emulating the mouse by taking mouse input and calculating your own values as to where the mouse should be.
It's pretty evident because the mouse input is actually delayed causing the cursor to trail behind where you'e actually moving the mouse and therefore making the input feel laggy and unresponsive.
I noticed it while playing, and because of it I had to slow down my rate of input since my mouse movements were not 1:1 with my mouse because of the delay.
2d minecraft=win
You guys = Win
Congrats!
Don't take this the wrong way, but...
It seems like you don't know much coding compared to how ambitious you are and how amazing your artwork looks ^.^;
My tip:
Get community to help you, release for free.
Much of the actual coding work went into developing the engine from scratch. We use no third party graphics API and not to mention pathfinding was a long grueling process to get working and functioning.
Garrett in my opinion does a fantastic job, I don't know many indie games that have pathfinding implemented.
He trolls softly.
Not trolling, but I admit I might have been overly harsh.
See post below.
@Theon
Trust me when I say this, that this is no where near the finished product. The people wanted something, French Rice Games wanted to get something out there, so here this is. The fact of the matter is: How do you learn if not doing it yourself? Releasing a great game is a plus, but enjoying the ride and learning as you do it is what the indie experience is all about! Not everyone has been in the industry before, and sometimes people just want to push the limits of what they can do. It's only going to get better from here on out.
So to counter tip your tip: Tell us exactly what you think should be worked on for the coding aspect. I'd rather be told what needs to fixed/changed so it can fixed/changed rather than let someone else do it FOR our coder, you know?
Oh, yeah...
I guess I sounded kind of hars. Sorry.
I realize that this is an early alpha build, but the camera movement made me flinch, the mouse feels weird and the overall impression wasn't very...smooth?
Yes, it is cool that you want to learn on your own, and "push limits", but most people would learn stuff like this through first releasing some free games (which might not be perfect). You guys sounded so confident that you wanted to go commercial, so I guess I was expecting a bit more.
Anyway, I'm still tracking this, and I wish you the best of luck!
I didn't realize the camera was such an issue until we received all the comments, if anything it took a little more coding work to get it to move on a tile by tile basis then it would to make it per pixel. No worries though, we were planning on changing it from the start and will have it changed for the next update.
What is it about the mouse you don't like?
Why use a custom engine when there are great engines like FlatRedBall freely available which handle a lot of the basics for you?
its more work but a lot more efficient in the long run if you write an engine for your own game from scratch. plus you learn a lot in the process. and that's always a good thing.
Wow, this looks fantastic guys, I'm installing right now. Keep up the good work !
Thank you so much :)
I can't to see what you're going to add next . You guys are doing great keep up the good work.
Thank you :)
Congratulations on the release guys, and thank you for letting us be part of the process.
SoR has incredible potential and I cannot wait to see it grow into maturity.
Couple of quick comments/questions about the release:
- While I'm pretty sure you're aware of this, I'll mention this anyway: The climbing of ladders needs to get tweaked a bit. Jumping on the bottom, then climbing on the side of the top block is kinda silly (Seems to work fine if the dwarf cannot jump due to a lack of space however). The dwarf also doesn't move across them if you needs to get somewhere, but jumps down one block, then up again.
- On one occasion, my dwarf was drinking when I placed a piece of meat somewhere, and he got stuck in the block he was standing on, becoming unable to do anything. I couldn't replicate the bug however, so it seems to be a rare thing.
- Sometimes I cannot remove a ladder, but other times I can. Not really sure what triggers this.
- In general, the dwarf seems to love climbing, even if it is the least efficient way of getting somewhere. For example, if I put a bunch of planks just above the dwarf, then put a piece of meat right under them, the dwarf will always first climb on top of the planks, then climb down right before the meat, instead of simply walking under the planks. If you make several layers, the dwarf will travel in a pyramid shape, first going up as high as he can, then down. While it is good for a dwarf to get his exercise regularly, if they want to keep their fort running at peak efficiency, they really shouldn't be afraid of taking shortcuts every now and then.
All in all though, this seems like a nice solid base to start expanding from. Keep up the great work guys!
Oh, before I forget, will we eventually be able to resize the game window, or will it always be a set size like this?
This looks like the perfect game for Android, any plans for that?
Okay, pardon my ignorance, but how do you get it up and running?
Just unzip the file and double-click the .jar file. Might have to update your java first, though.
Ah! That is why. Yes, newly formatted computer has no java on it. Much thanks.
I'm pretty disappointed actually, this isn't even an alpha. There's literally no gameplay.
Actually, this exactly what an alpha is. A very bare-bones release just to see if the stuff you have made so far actually works without blowing up the universe.
From what I understand, this build/release is mostly to test the pathfinding and whatnot, and to serve as a base to add on more and more features in the months (years?) to come.
Besides, remember the very first Minecraft builds? They had about the same amount of "gameplay".
awesome... i cant spawn a chicken?
Not yet ;)
@schipman
Tsugumi pretty much already covered this (Which makes my job easier) but an alpha isn't supposed to represent a finished product, but present the bare bones framework from which future builds are going to be based off of. Taking an FPS for example, just being able to walk around a world could be considered an alpha. Does it have any shooting mechanics or enemies or ANYTHING other than being something where you walk around in a first-person perspective? Nope. Hell, your person doesn't even have a gun yet.
For SoR, our "gun" to come is multiple dwarves actually building and doing things and not a magical mouse cursor overlord. Our enemies will have to be intelligently designed (by Loki, seewhatididthere) with their own brand of pathfinding which the dwarves themselves set the framework for. The best is yet to come.
@TheShadowMG: Fear not, the chicken will be an integral character in the overarching story of dashing tale wrought with strife and betrayal.
@Tsugumi:
-Couple of quick comments/questions about the release:
-Climbing/Jumping oddly
***This is actually has to do with a problem I pointed out to Garrett about 30 seconds after he told me the build was ready to test. With the way the old animationed processed, I ended up catapulting the dwarf into space if I tried to add to a ladder he was already climbing on. It had something to do with the initial climbing coding, and this odd movement is a temporary fix.
-Animation freezing/stuck on block
***We've noticed the same thing. It seems to happen sometimes, but I don't think any of us have replicated it consistently. We know about it though.
- Sometimes I cannot remove a ladder, but other times I can. Not really sure what triggers this.
***Try removing it from the top down. I think for now, what was done was to prevent you from removing ladders from anywhere but the top to prevent an impossible climb from taking place. If it's a different situation than what I just described, please say so.
- In general, the dwarf seems to love climbing, even if it is the least efficient way of getting somewhere. While it is good for a dwarf to get his exercise regularly, if they want to keep their fort running at peak efficiency, they really shouldn't be afraid of taking shortcuts every now and then.
***Genel's brother actually brought this up to Garrett last night, as well as us previously talking about it. Climbing is an efficient way for dwarves to build muscle and keep in good condition, so they prefer a climbing path over another. At least until we add alcohol into the game, at which point they will learn to phase through walls. Joking aside, it's something to do with pathfinding that hasn't been stomped out yet.
Phasing is for girly elvish types. A true dwarf would simply punch right through the wall, no matter what material it was made out of.
I noticed one more thing just now. It seems my dwarf can't climb on a ladder on any part that isn't the top or bottom. He will simply walk up to the side of the latter, then stand there happily swinging his arms.
Interestingly enough, I initially thought this was due to my dwarf having a block above his head, blocking his way onto the ladder (what with him climbing them like a block at the moment. But when I removed it, he immediately bugged out and froze/got stuck like I mentioned earlier.
Tried it a second time and it happened again. Same a third and fourth time. So I think I found a way to reliably replicate that bug, yay!
Can I post urls here? Let's try:
Members.home.nl
Members.home.nl
Members.home.nl
Hope this helps somehow.
Yeah we are aware of the ladder situation :-/
That is one of the first things Garrett is looking to fix for our next build. As for the above bug, I'm not quite sure if Garrett has seen the post yet but I will let him know.
@Everyone mentioning the mouse
We talked about it last night, and editing the cursor (or even putting in a menu for you to further change it) is on the list of things to do.
Cant play, I just get an "Could not find the main class. Program will exit."
There is a new download mirror in case you are having problems with the current build downloading from Mod/IndieDB.
Gamepron.com
I just downloaded it again from the download to check and it works fine for me. Perhaps you need to update your java?
I'm excited to see you guys have released this for the general public to play around with and judging by what I've seen, you guys have something very, very interesting on your hands. I do have a few questions for you, though. (I realize these are entirely down the road questions, but I'd like to know!)
- You say you're striving for a 2D Dwarf Fortress feel, which I absolutely love. However, will you be going with some of the same complexities that are available in Dwarf Fortress, such as having farms for your dwarves, as well as other specialized professions?
- I think I read somewhere that you'll be able to jump into a body of a single dwarf and control his movements. Is that permanently? Does that dwarf become the leader of the whole group?
- Will their be immigrants to the new settlement and will there be multiple soil types, or are you going for a more Minecraft feel in terms of terrain simplicity?
Thanks, looking forward to hearing from you guys!
- Ashley
www.2girls1game.com
Hey Ashley,
To answer your question in one quick dwarven strike: The mighty hammer of Thor will tremble underneath the full release of the game.
To answer your questions individually....
- Yes we plan on having the same complexity as DF. I'm not entirely sure if I can talk about this right now but what the hell. We plan on each dwarf having it's own individual stats when it comes to farming, fighting, mining, crafting, etc. Dwarves with greater stats in said area will be top priority in completing tasks such farming, mining, and fighting off the occasional goblin.
- Because we draw heavy inspiration on Dwarf Fortress we plan on creating an adventure mode. You will be able to explore the ruins of destroyed bastions of old, scour the land for wealth and fortune, and occasionally attack a chicken. As for being able to control a dwarf during a normal game we do not have plans for it. However it does sound like an interesting idea. You can and will be able to promote a dwarf leader however.
- As your fortress expands in scale it will start attracting more dwarfs and traders. In terms of soil as for now there is dirt and sand. We however plan on expanding on this concept however it is not on the top of our to do list.
I hope that answers all your questions. I may have said things that the others may have not wanted to discuss right now at this current moment but meh. I'll just refuse to do new art assets if they get mad at me.
-Genel Jumalon
When I finish the download it says it has an error that is annoying as hell, I download it atleast 5 times still doen't work :(
There is an alternative download you can use if you are having problems. I posted i updated our news posts as such.
Gamepron.com
Wait....Gamepron??
Ty I'll try it ASAP
Mistake.