Yes, it’s another “while you are waiting” post. Deal.
I’ve got a couple friends here at work whose websites are definitely worth checking out.
First, Patrick Rogers. He’s an avid Go player who recently hit traffic gold on his site by being the first person to post the complete lyrics to all three episodes of Dr. Horrible.
Second, Brandon “Rusty” Parks. Rusty’s a real character, as you’ll be able to tell when he starts talking about how the universe has a discrete pixel size and a discrete frame rate.
Third, Bobby Thurman…who I actually don’t work with any more and probably should keep in better contact with.
And finally, you know those people who keep coming into game development forums or IRC channels and ask how to program an MMORPG? Yeah, laugh at them. Go ahead. Because everybody knows that nobody can possibly write an indie MMORPG. And oddly enough, it’s being worked on by all three of the gentlemen I detailed above! What are the odds?!
Well, I don’t know about the RPG part. That is a lot of content. But here’s a guy making a MMOG, he was in wired I believe so you may already know. http://news.quelsolaar.com/#home. So I’m sure the RPG part isn’t too much of a stretch.
I just happened on to your site while doing a Google search for Powermonger. I was reading a book on RTS programming (http://www.amazon.com/Programming-Game-Direct3D-Carl-Granberg/dp/1584504986/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1217231939&sr=8-1) when I got a hankering to see the old terrain of Powermonger. I can still remember playing it for the first time and being blown away by the 3D terrain and that ability to rotate and zoom. So cool. It doesn’t look so hot by today’s standards of course, but there’s still something about it that’s magical to me.
Anyhow, I just thought I’d say hello. I love the work you’re doing on Planitia! Very cool and I’ll have to download the beta and play around with it. Looks like a lot of fun. Interestingly enough, I came across another cool looking Powermonger project that you might find interesting, if you haven’t seen it yet. (http://arkiruthis.blogspot.com/)
I am in the long and brutal process of learning to program (I’m a stock trader not a software development guy) because it’s always been a dream of mine to build an RTS game. I am going to enjoy reading through your Planitia blog to learn from your experience. Keep up the great work! Also, I love your game walkthroughs, I watched the Powermonger walkthrough and it was really cool to see the ‘ol game in action.
Best regards,
McChief
Oh, yes, I am fully aware of Arkiruthis’ Powermonger remake project – indeed, I’ve helped him figure out various things about the original game so that he could make a more accurate remake. I should probably blogroll him at some point.
Once Planitia is finished (and I am currently planning on being done with it by the end of this year come hell or high water) the entire game, with source, will be free. I also plan to write a couple more articles on what I’ve learned during Planitia’s development, including a big article about implementing its multiplayer component (which I am currently knee-deep in).