My pathetically limited spare time. There are no third-party components with the exception of physics.

We should just go the route of EA. Release what we have and then send patch after patch after patch until it's almost fixed. haha.

In regards to the name, just move on. We've already had this discussion and changed it. It's old news and won't garnish anymore responses.

u didnt use anyprograms

Other than a compiler and a few small tools... I use a tool to help with texturing, and Photoshop... that's about it

wow, nice job

I think Neil uses Maya (and I believe Photoshop) to aid in his artistic wizardry.

I am guess unpro didnt use openxdk.

Hey I went through this thread about a week ago and I must say that it looks like a very quality homebrew release. Can't wait to see a demo or full version soon!

BTW, when I started, I got to about half way through the thread and it said december and thought there was probably a lot of posts this month. I was sure surprised to look a little further and see 2003 in the date.

Welcome to 2005 all!

Devguy: Yeah, it's been a significant time frame

throwingks: The openXDK doesn't support most of the Xbox's capabilities at this point. It's still in it's infancy (not sure if it's still under dev)

It's definitely in development and lots have happened. If I'm not all wrong they've network and sound working. They sure have a long way to go, but they've been working hard on it lately. Just take it cool unpro, getting frustrated it's never released will only make your code worse. I'm sure you don't like coding it anymore, get the joy back in it (if possible). I bet you will feel incredibly reliefed when you're done with it.

I still enjoy working on it - but still dreadfully lack spare time. I just got overly ambitious with what I wanted to do with it but now I'm in it for the long haul (have been for a while). I will be very relieved to finish it so I can take advantage of some technologies and techniques I've picked up or discovered along the way and get started on something new.

Gronne: Yeah, I heard the networking and sound is working - a great achievement for the openXDK team. I'm glad to see theyre still into it.

hey, unpro, when are u thinkin about realeasin the demo?

as soon as possible...

I have lost my fingernails, biting them with anticipation, of any updates!

Delete me!!!

So nervous you're double-posting

This weekend should yield more debugging time on the ongoing problems I'm having. Once I get past this hitch, I don't foresee any problems even close in complexity to this one.

every day i check this thread, looking for a glimmer of hope! soon SOON! lol

keep it up bro

I don't know if you said this already but, what are the controls gonna be like? I think it wold be really cool to at least have the option of treating it like a real tank where the L thumb stick controlled the left wheels and the R thumbstick controlled the right. Like Wild Metal Country from Rockstar (free pc game). I have been playing that and just imagining the possibilities of your game. I am excited!!!!

there was talk at one point for the trigger buttons to control the individual tracks.

but i dunno what he eventually decided.

Right now the analog sticks are assigned directly to the throttle of the tracks separately. It still may change though, because it sucks to use up both analog sticks.

Why not use the Halo 2 scorpion style controls.

Left joystick and right joystick move the vehicle and the turret, respectively.
L is for primary fire.
R is for secondary fire.

Maybe even 'A' could be the Horn!

That's actually plan B, and what will probably be used since plan A utilizes both analog controls. Originally, we thought it might be cool to control the tracks separately, giving it a unique aspect.

Unique---fun

whatever combination you come up with that is the best mixture of the two is enough for me.

And you always have the option of giving us the option.

Hey unPro, this is the first time I've looked at this thread, but the whole thing you've got going seems really cool. I'm interested in everything to do with game development but I only know how to do a little c++ programming and modelling in 3ds Max, and I know how hard it all is so I just want to say keep up the good work mate. You must be learning so much from this project and its even inspired me to have a go at creating something simple like snake for my xbox just to see if I can do it. Good luck with the rest and I can't wait to see the finished game .

How hard would it be to setup options. Type A or Type B and invert. If in type A (both sticks throttle) would the D-pad aim the cannon? Or do I misunderstand the game?

no offesne unpro but you said there would be like a test beta a few months ago on the weekend id really like to seethe game with my own eyes

Real Established Developers put back the release date contantly, unPro is doing solo, so when it's released, it's released.

Give the man some time

This is why i try not to set dead lines when i'm writing software though.

No, you understand it well. In the case where both sticks control throttle on the treads, the dpad would be responsible for aiming the turret.

And we'll definitely try and offer multiple control schemes a la halo.

Glad to here you posting

glad to read, surely?

but i have to agree, its nice to see ya posting, been quiet lately.

Still bogged down with 'real' work?

Been almost 2 weeks, any updates unproffesional?

Anything, even "yes I'm still working on it", would be very welcome here.

Still alive and working, yes. Alot going on in my personal life at the moment. I even decided it's time to leave my job... a very good decision, and I'll no longer be able to bitch about 14hr days

I posted some semi-useless news on my website. The project is still very much alive. I never lost interest, so don't worry

Thanx for letting us know your still alive man!

S'all I needed to hear.

Now I can without worry. lol

Everybody needs to chill. This is Unpro's baby and he'll see it through. Life has a way of getting in the way of the fun stuff. Unpro, I hope you are making a good decision about your job. I don't know your situation and don't care if this homebrew ever gets released. Stay positive and treat your family the best you can. Everything else will work itself out. Good luck.

What dude? Noone has posted anything for a week. And, noone was being mean. Just curious what's up.

I'm glad you're curious... it's good to know people are still interested in the project. I'm doin' fine... the decision was rough, but it'll work out much better this way.

Job decision or game design decision? Whichever it is, I am glad you are happy with it. Keep up the good work.

I was referring to the job decision

I've been watching the development of your game, as well your site (theunprofessional.com) for a while and I'd finally like to give some input.

One possible control scheme could be:
L/R Trigger: Control L/R treads
L Control Stick: Aim
R Control Stick: control speed of both treads (for going in reverse, or for people who dont want to use the l/r triggers all the time)
x button: fire primary
y button: fire secondary
a button: action
b button: cancel

These controls would probably be the best because it feels very awkward to push up on both control sticks while also having to aim using the d-pad, on the original controller anyway. You should definitely keep the idea of being able to control right and left tread speed, as that would set you apart from games like halo, and since this is a primarily tank game you should focus on controlling the tank in more robust ways than other (non tank based) games do.

Also, I'm good at c++ and opengl programming, as well as network programming if you need help in those areas. I have two other, fairly low-priority, projects im working on, but I'd be very interested in helping you out whenever you need it.

Good luck with everything, and I'm looking forward to seeing the finished game.

Also, I noticed in one of your screenshots (http://theunprofessional.com/screenshots/bummersmoke.jpg) that your skybox had some lines at the seams. If you haven't fixed this yet, it's really easy to fix. Just add this code after every glBindTexture call for your skybox:



where
GL_CLAMP_TO_EDGE = 0x812F
GL_TEXTURE_WRAP_S = 0x2802
GL_TEXTURE_WRAP_T = 0x2803

I think those are all defined in glext.h

The skybox is pretty cheeseball ATM. I'm using D3D rather than opengl, but i'll fix the problem as soon as I get to it.

Also, I like your controller suggestions. The only problem is that sometimes you need to run the treads in opposite directions. In other words, it's necessary to sometimes have the left tread in reverse, and the right tread going forward. It helps the tank make tigher turns, and can even turn on a dime. I've got all this working... but to do it, I'll have to eat up both analog sticks for control. Still open to other control schemes though.

We may just allow you to switch the tank's "mode"... so you can focus the entire controller on driving, or targeting. But in the event of driving, you can still target and fire, just not as easily (D-pad perhaps). I kinda like the idea of it being harder to shoot while you're driving, but if you park your tank, you can get better control over your turret and targeting. I'm also thinking of incorporating modern laser targeting like what's used in the M1A2. When a tank is bouncing over terrain, it can still maintain a decent lock. But if it's too easy to kill this way, this feature will be removed or purpose made a bit crappier than the real thing.

how bout using the seisetivity of the triggers when you pull hard the turret goes up when you pull softly they go down and you use the left anr right trigger to aim

Sounds kinda difficult :-P

yes but it would work and when can we excpect a movie or something

I think that original idea of controlling the tank with the triggers would probably suit this game, where:

L- left wheels
R- right wheels

You press the one only to turn and both at the same time for going straight.

Problem that rises is that the triggers don't go backwards, so unless you have a button (a,b,x,y,black,white) that would shift the tank into reverse, you couldn't go backwards.

Then you could aim with one of the sticks and fire with one of the buttons.

The other method brought up was Halo 2's tank driving controls.
L- machine gun fire
R- tank shells
Left stick- move tank
Right stick- move cannon

Not exactly the most innovative, but it is proven to work fine and I don't think anyone would kill you for borrowing it.

Anyways, good luck. I would help to program, but I don't know jack of C++. All I have is some basic knowledge of Java and some knowledge of Basic (Ti-83+ version).

I could be wrong but i don't think triggers are pressure sensitive. If they are, i know it's not to the degree that the buttons are.

Well triggers are analog (256 levels). But they aren't "pressure sensitive" by default... in other words, a developer has to determine how fast a trigger is pressed... it isn't handled by the hardware.

you still with us unpro? its been a while

It has; I'm with you more than before, actually. As of this week, I'm back to an 8-hour shift = more time for what I enjoy. Stay tuned.

will do

does that mean your back workin 'for the man'?