I originally wanted to finish this at Monday or Tuesday, but I had not enough time this week to improve much on the Dungeon Quest game. Many of the cool features of the game were already implemented in some unit tests at the GDC like splitscreen support and shadow mapping, but we had not time to test and finetune all that. There were also a lot of bugs and smaller issues in the beta version. Below is a long list of all changes and some new screenshots. When the XNA Update is available that allows deploying to the Xbox 360 with just binaries I will provide an updated version that runs on the Xbox 360 too and supports splitscreen multiplayer gaming.
Download the game installer here (40 MB): DungeonQuestSetup.zip
Alternative download (slow! from this site): DungeonQuestSetup.zip
Note: This game requires a Shader Model 3.0 GPU as it was build for the Xbox 360 and optimized that way. For lower end PCs it pushes way too many polygons each frame anyway so that it will be too slow. If you have a low end SM 3.0 GPU (like the Nvidia GeForce 6600), make sure you run in a lower resolution (see below for details).
Here is a little video from the current version of the game. Enjoy!
Screenshots:
Ok, let's get started. What is this guy doing there. He doesn't look very friendly, maybe it is better to hit him in the head!
First quest completed. This key is important to open the door to the second level.
Nonstop fighting action. Well, at least if you don't lose your way.
This is how it looks like after I got angry. I told those guys, don't start any fights!
Ohh no. I did not use all my skills (see right side) and this Ogre killed me too quickly. I guess I have to start over.
The credit screen when the game ends. Notice my book :)
No reason to stop, let's start over and try again. The fight is continuing. The game is not that hard, you just have to use all skills and avoid being hit by fireballs or big enemies when you have low hit points.
Improvements:
- Improved performance a lot by optimizing some internal code and using all ps3.0 shaders now (sad thing is it only runs with ps3.0 hardware now).
TIPP: If you have a low spec ps3.0 graphic card (like the GeForce 6600 or lower) use a smaller resolution, the game will run much faster. Use the DungeonQuestSettings.xml file and enter a smaller resolution there (e.g. 800x600). The game is heavily GPU bound (like all my games) and it pushes several million polygons each frame (scene alone has almost a million polygons, but it has to be rendered 3 times for all shadow mapping and post processing effects). Runs on XBox 360 or GeForce 7x hardware very good with 100fps and more.
- Fixed parallax mapping for the cave and improved the specular effects, looks much nicer now. Also increased view distance and light affect range.
- Improved the music and sound effects, also added a lot more events and little sounds.
- Added many text messages to help the player understand the game better
- Check if computer can do ps 3.0, else shows big message on screen.
- Support for 64 bit systems (did not start before)
- Reduced glow in post screen (see comments of beta version)
- Fixed game logic and quests (did not work at all in the beta)
- All game actions get a nice message now in the center (killed ogre, got key, quest complete, new weapon, etc.)
- Implemented several new animations for hitting and dying
- Fixed text size in 3:4 resolutions (did only look correct in 16:9)
- Improved gravity (much stronger now) and fixed several collision bugs
- Fixed collecting key, added it to the UI and also allowing dropping weapons now
- Allow switching weapons (right/left shoulder buttons or Q/E or Mouse wheel)
- Selected enemy ring to help you see which enemy is attacted
- Rumble Xbox 360 controller when hit/getting hit
- Added end screen and credits with book link, credits
- Improved weapons, damages and made the game more balanced.
- Show high score list when game over
- Mouse support for dungeon quest (shooter like, just asdw for moving)
- Block door when we don't got key! Also added sphere collision for monsters (they don't intersect anymore)
- Fixed shadow mapping and added a lot of cool shadow effects and pseudo point light sources.
- Added nice looking vista compatible icon, also tested the whole game on vista, runs fine :)
- Added some grunt sounds and an ambient theme in the background!
- And many more ..
The source code is not yet released. I will probably work a little bit more on on when the XNA Update comes out and then maybe release it. Sorry for now, I know many people want to take a look right now ^^