Phil Hassey - game dev blog
Phil Hassey as Syndrome
"Look, stores don't sell
costumes like this to just anyone."

Archive for April, 2013

Galcon 2 – beta9 – iOS beta, Linux beta, and more options!

Friday, April 12th, 2013

Hey there! Another swell Galcon 2 beta is available for Kickstarter backers on Windows, Mac, Linux (Ubuntu 12.04), and for a select few, iOS!

I’ve set up a server for Galcon 2 finally, you can try out multiplayer by clicking Play, then Client, then “Quick Join g2s1″ . Other players are hosting modded servers as well, and you can get info about those in the forums.

Linux users who have an Ubuntu 12.04 compatible OS can check it out finally! Also, if you want to run a server on any OS you can now run Galcon 2 with the command line options “-headless -mod path/to/mod_server.lua” to start up a headless server.

I’ve added a ton of new options to the Controls tab in Settings. Check them out and customize your Galcon 2 controls to your preference. Be sure to stop by the forums and tell me which settings you like the best.

And on the Kickstarter reward front, Nan has started packing the fridge magnet sets! Watch for a survey in the mail to fill in your address. To save on shipping, we’re packing the box set with the magnets, so those will be delayed a bit (I hope that’s okay! It means more of the KS funds will be used for the game instead of just for postage.) Here’s a packaging action shot:

P.S. If you want to join in on the iOS beta, keep checking these announcements, and in the Galcon 2 forums. I’ll be inviting a second wave of beta testers sometime in the future.

Galcon 2 – beta8 – rewards update, video options, and more!

Saturday, April 6th, 2013

Yo! Another beta is ready for you to play! Kickstarter backers can download it for Windows or Mac. Linux users: I spent some time this week preparing the game for Linux, so someday this will be ready! My main goal with Linux is to have it work “headless” so you can run servers on Linux (but also play on Linux.)

I will be hanging out on the forums/chat this morning, so hopefully we can do some group play-testing of the game!

Little update on the Kickstarter rewards: getting rewards together is pretty involved! But we’re making progress, we have all the magnet sets in, and we’re getting in most of the packing materials, and whatnot. So pretty soon we’re going to be able to start sending these items out! I can’t wait for you to see them in person! We also got in a ton of poster tubes, and we’re currently working with a box company to get the box set details sorted out.

New features this time include video options, so now you can go fullscreen or windowed in any res you want. There is also a “Size” option where you can pick how large your screen is. Small simulates how the game will look on phones, medium/large on tablets. Huge for big HD desktops (other desktops may prefer medium/large.)

Another feature I’ve added is the ability for modders to use vector art in their menus, this means they could add in really slick looking post-game power-graphs/charts. Nobody has implemented this, but I hope to see some cool use of this feature soon!

Lastly, thanks to everyone’s bug reports, I’ve included over twenty bug fixes. Just to give you a bit of a peek at what goes on while I’m making games, this is how I track what I’ve done in the past week:

== beta8 ==

= 4/4/2013 =
– code: add bounds check for all id’s sent through Lua API to other functions.
– removed boring items from TODO.txt
– spaghetti: clean up the trans code so it’s not so dynamite jack oriented
– gutted view/audio/video/settings sub-systems out of game.cpp and into their own “separate” classes / files

= 4/3/2013 =
– vector drawing HTML element?
– added in vectorart support to html
– ipad version: re-require login now that we’re back from GDC (menus_mods.hpp)
– added vignette to menus background.
– menu: quit
– added background visuals to menus.
– re-worked all menus to work in any resolution, etc

= 4/2/2013 =

– settings: fullscreen
– settings: video res
– fix positioning of on-hover planet info
– mods: ability to remove planets/etc. if fleets are going to said planet, delete those fleets as well.
– mods: labels in other colors
– top of keyboard numbers don’t work on some keyboards (but did work in Galcon Fusion)
– should be able to type numbers in chat when hovering over the chat box
– dual: keep score of how many wins/losses per player
– galcon: there’s a moment in co-op where a previous send() command can come in after a round ends, but during the pause, and cause a fleet to launch early. it should ID by game or something so that doesn’t happen?
– dual: hide enemy ship numbers on your side
– turns: hide enemy ship numbers during their turns
– after pause if you typed it doesn’t resume text properly, goofs up.

= 4/1/2013 =
– mod_client not getting the HTML update between co-op rounds.
– be able to chat on pause screen
Рduring trans, allow keyboard presses, but NOT mouse clicks… (so chat can continue during the pause)
– have production have +80 instead of just 80 so it’s more obvious
– tab-completion of names not working on client side? (case sensitive?)
– make ping case-insensitive.
– allow single character chat

Anyway, thanks to everyone for checking out Galcon 2! I’m going to open up the iOS beta to a limited group of people pretty soon, so I’m looking for volunteers on the forums. I’m limited to a small number of players, so I can’t promise that you will be added.

Cheers!
-Phil