The Frontier

Hey everyone!  Happy new year.  I’d like to reassure any one who has been following that great things are in store for 2011 with The Frontier.  The land mass problem has been solved, in theory, and now just needs to be executed.

I’ve come to a decision that a height map will be generated by the server and sent via network to each client on initial connect.  Each connect will then send updated xyz information to the client (for changes in height, etc.). 

Clients will not be able to dig deep trenches however.  Caves will be distributed randomly through-out the land, and will be “zoned” into.  You will be able to build within these caves, but with interior items only.  The same principle will be used for interior of buildings.  A default template of the house will be presented, and then the user can modify decorations and what not to suit their needs (chairs, rugs, etc).  Compared this to the Oblivion and Morrowind model.  This will allow you to have your own living space, and will present ownership capabilities therein.  Multiple people can own interiors, or individuals.  Whomever you wish to build.

This will be the next step for development.  Once this is complete I will post screenshots. :)

The networking has reached a point where it is solid enough to continue on to the next phase in development.  Now I must decide what will be the next phase and what direction I wish to take the project.

The following needs to be completed for pre-alpha:

• Landscape and world environment system. Meaning, very basic terrain that is randomly generated on the server, and sent to the client.  The ability for the player to walk around this world.
• Basic interface for chat, status reporting, and debugging purposes.
• Basic player model with basic animation sequences for walking and idle.

I believe that these are valid and sufficient goals for the first pre-alpha version, and will lay the framework for continued development.

More screenies as time moves on… :)

A test user connected to the server, viewed by another user.

The long GUID (“22as-2i9sdiasd-asdkoda-sadasd”) will be replaced the the name of the player, and the XYZ will be gone… possibly replaced with a title for the player, such as “Master Miner” or what not…  and obviously the cube will become the player model.

Blank.  But the basis for networking is done (you can’t see that can you :)  ).

Hello everyone.  I’d like to welcome you to the development blog for “The Frontier.”

The game is currently being coded, and I am very excited about the concept and look forward to it being in a playable state.

The basic premise for the game is: Survival.  You must survive from the point you start the game, onward.  Along the way you will be building settlements, towns, forts, or whatever you wish to try to keep out bad things.  The bad “things” range from simple wild animals, bandits, and could even be things more vicious… like other worldly creatures.

In order to build, you have to harvest natural resources that surround you and create the basis for construction.  Trees, plants, flowers, animal parts and other assortments of items will aid you with your quest for survival.

The best part about this all is… you can play with your friends!  That’s right.  It’s multiplayer, and will only support multiplayer for the time being.  Cooperate with your friends to build your fort, or work against them and steal their supplies from their fort!  It’s all up to you.

Once I get more coded, designed, and in working order, I will post them as they arrive.  For now, here is what I have (not much at all).