Xassar's Quest

[mmtbb]

Xassar (pronounced ksay'-zar) is an RPG game packed with a huge amount of features. Traveling through many dungeons, Xassar will advance from a peasant to tremendous power, facing monsters of the same caliber.

What is unique about this little game, is the implementation of rules from the Open Gaming System used as a base for Dungeons & Dragons.

Xassar is a monk on a journey to developing his powers. Every aspect and ability of a monk has been included all the way to level 20, and a few beyond! The monsters have also been brought to life directly from these rules. Almost every abilities of each monster has been accounted for! Original artwork, music and sound effects.

I'll write more later if time permits..

[br]../../e107_files/public/1177640620_7_FT0_demo.png

[PointOfLight]

Must... have...* If you need any help testing, please let me know :)

[matteo.m]

wow look nice...

[kornalius]

Oh my god John this came as a total surprise for me. After all this time working together you never even hint that you were working on such a complex game. This will be a huge hit I am sure.

With the cool new features and enhancements of version 1.30 coming you will really appreciate them.

I can't wait to try it out.

[kornalius]

Btw, I am an RPG freak! Can't live without them.

[MagNet]

Ah nice seems like it's pretty cool, from the gameplay and the done based on rules aspect but the graphics... oh well, freewareish - they're not bad just kinda well erm, I'm not much of a bevel freak you know :D.

[mmtbb]

MagNet,

hahaha, Ouch! ;-)
Hopefully you are refering to the graphics in the control area at the bottom? Those "bevels" are not eye candy. Every one of those "bevels" is a pushable command button. Windows XP style. What OS do you use?

If you are talking about the game area (where Xassar is), then that is different. For the tile game engine I created with a 20x20 pixel area (very very, small), it's pretty dang good if I say so myself.

[kornalius]

The graphics are nice don't let Magnet discourage you. He is doing nice gfx but he can't finish any projects he starts! ;)

[PointOfLight]

Alright, guys, let's not start any flame wars here :)* The graphics look just fine, and MagNet just happens to do a lot of multi-tasking!* As long as people are turning out something that shows what can be done with PPL, we all benefit in the end.* So how soon before you have anything releasable, John?

[mmtbb]

Thanks guys, I do appreciate the comments from EVERYONE.

Couldn't even give a time frame, though it is about 95% finished (a year in so far). I'll let you know soon. I have a few things to work on. I will post later a list of features though.

John

[MagNet]

Oh just noticed it's a top-down perspective...

Also I use XP and I don't say I love the Start button bevel or anything... I just think you could at least make the bevels smaller, it just doesn't look right if it covers so much of the button like this... or at least try different bevel profiles.

[mmtbb]

Here are a few stats for the game:

Monk:
All special abilities for each level like Flurry of Blows, Wholeness of Body, even Quivering Palm.
11 feats
3 completely new abilities

Monsters:
95!!(probably more before release)
60+ detailed stats (like Damage Reduction, immunities, Strength, spell casting, movement, Multiple attacks, Fortitude... etc.)
Actual psuedo-sight (lots of math :-))
Different sized monsters according to official rules.
Items:Rings,
Scrolls,
Amulets,
Boots,
Gloves,
Weapons
and a lot more...
General:
Fog of War lighting
Traps
Varying map sizes
Scrolling
Planes traveling (like ethereal)
True Pen and Paper fighting emulation
There are sooo many more, I'll try to add them as I get a minute here or there.

[kornalius]

Nice. This sounds like a big game. I can't wait to try it out.

[bmanske]

So is this why you have modules with 10,000 lines of code in them?

I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Brad

[PointOfLight]

It's been a few days.* Any new updates?

[mmtbb]

Yes,

I just finished the 4th background song last night. I have 1 more to go.

[mmtbb]

Small update:

Improved Tile graphics enormously

Adding Power Critical, Improved Critical, and Weapon Focus with 6 weapons, This effectively adds 18 more feats to choose from!

Finished writing 5th original background song

Added Sound FX

With how large the background music is, I have to use ogg format. Right now, however, there is a large unpredictable bug I am encountering with using ogg that causes the program to crash with no error messages. Hope to get it stable soon.

[kornalius]

Screenshot please? I can't wait to see what the new gfx looks like.

[mmtbb]

Here are some updates to Xassar.

There are so many things I have worked on since my last update, that I couldn't even begin to post them all.
Almost all packaging is completed. There are a few more loose ends with this that are being ironed out though. Most of my time has been spent on optimization so it is about 96% done, but I still have a lot more to pound out.

As of now, the game will take about 7 MB of storage memory and 20 MB of Program memory to run on the Pocket PC! I may have to create a watered-down version (graphics and sound) for those who don't have this kind of free program memory. That will take a while.

Here is another screenshot. This one is inside the traveling Greary's Market:
[br]../../e107_files/public/1184945411_7_FT4920_demo2.png

[mmtbb]

Here is a quick update,

A ton of speed improvements and enhancements!
I have added 4 more feats! There are now over 22.
Added more monster abilities like Summoning, Regeneration and Non-healing energy to name a few.
Storage memory is down from 7 MB to 5 MB.
Running memory is down from 20 MB to 15MB! That is a huge improvement.

I am 99.5% done now! I should be finished shortly.

[kornalius]

That is terrific news. Do you have any updated screenshots?

[PointOfLight]

Man, I cannot wait to see this!* It's cool enough that it's an RPG for the PocketPC, but the fact that it's written in PPL just takes the cake!

[Cereal Killer]

Hey mmtbb, will this game support square screens (240x240)?

[mmtbb]

interesting question. Right now, no. however, I will lookinto this to see how hard it will be to make it compatible.

[Cereal Killer]

interesting question. Right now, no. however, I will lookinto this to see how hard it will be to make it compatible.


Please seriously consider supporting square resolutions, mmtbb. U are potentially sidelining a huge crowd here.

If u are keen, i could help u beta-test Xassar's Quest on my Treo750v. :)

[Mike Halliday]

What a fantastic looking game. Not much of an RPG fan myself, prefer side scroller action instead.

Your game looks amazing - How long in total has this taken to complete (IE man hours etc) - would be a good indicator for us all, so we know how long we have to put into our code to make is of this quality!

Also, what is the speed like? My 195Mhz OMAP Smartphone struggles with anything other than C++ or ASSEMBLER written software. :(

[Mike]

[mmtbb]

Thanks Mike.

It is hard to say how long. I have worked on this project pushing 2 years now. However, you must take into account that I have been using ppl for even more than this amount of time. A lot of time has gone into fixing thousands of problems bumped into along the way. I have worked with the rest of the small PPL crew to erradicate many things that would have taking hundreds of lines of code, and now only a few lines are needed. If I had to do it again with todays PPL, it would take half the time if not less.

Here is a time breakdown. I would say almost 80% of that time has been programming the Open Gaming rules (an almost insane task). The other 20% of time went into art, music, and now almost all my time is going towards the story.

I mention this because, I believe a normal game of VERY high quality would probably take 3-4 months using PPL. Mine has so many thousands of behind the scene rules being calculated every second that it is simple not a normal game.

As for speed, I have the ability to test on 100 Mhz, 206 Mhz, 400 Mhz and 620 Mhz. I have only tested on 206 and 620. 206 was alright, though 620 was much faster. I'll have to get back with you. Nearly every speed trick I could think of has been put into Xassar. I am sure there are more tweaks, but I am trying my best to make it playable down to 200 mhz. One more thing to realize (and this may give an idea of the complexity) is that my game is NOT dependant on FPS. You make one move at a time. Each time you move, everything else moves, processes, attacks, follows a script, does something. The only slow down is in the time from start to finish of a round (crazy amount of rules being executed).

[Mike Halliday]

Cool - sounds like its gonna be brilliant.

Can't wait to see the final version.

[Mike]

[kornalius]

mmtbb has been with us for more than 3 years (if I remember) and has helped PPL in a huge way. He has found soo many bugs throughout the years, drove myself nuts at times with them :) but in the end he is invaluable to us.

Keep up the good work and hope to play this one soon!

[PointOfLight]

ANY updates?* Please?????

[mmtbb]

Hi Eric,

The instructions are the next step. The only issues I am working on with the game are related to memory and speed.

The game has a tremendous amount of code. Back in May, Xassar reached 10,000 lines. Today it is well over 20,000 lines of code! Though great for complexity, this unfortunetely takes a lot of memory. There is also over 10 MB of media, including music, sounds, and graphics. Though this is nothing for the desktop, its PPC version is weighty.

All said, it is very, very close to being completed.

[mmtbb]

I am finished with Xassar's Quest! Right now I am just doing an overhaul on my website, a little spring cleaning. I finishing Xassar's page and nailing down the last behind the scenes items (web info, billing etc.) You should all see it shortly.

[zehlein]

That's good news indeed!
Any chance to get a review copy for my PocketPlayers website!? :-)

[kornalius]

Wooo hooo. I cannot wait!

Zehlein, cool web site you have there. Great news section, too bad I cannot read German (I think it is German right?).

[zehlein]

Yes, you are right, it's german...

[PointOfLight]

Man, I can't wait to try this.* There is going to be a demo version, right :)

[mmtbb]

zehlein,
I'll see what I can do.

Eric,
Yes, there is a demo :-)

[mmtbb]

Well, for better or for worse Xassar's Quest was released today! I can't believe how long this project took. I promised myself I wouldn't quit the project until it was done (more than 3 years). Now for the onslot of tech support :-) I don't know why I do this to myself. Enjoy.

http://www.climbwalls.net/dungeonsforever.htm

[zehlein]

mmtb, the download for both jbpiano and xassar won't work for me. I get an error:

"CGI Timeout
The specified CGI application exceeded the allowed time for processing. The server has deleted the process"

btw, I'm still interested in a review copy of your game for www.pocketplayers.info

[mmtbb]

Yikes. I am having some strange problems with the site. I'll have to look at this ASAP

[mmtbb]

It looks like I have an old server hot plan. I am in the middle of upgrading so it will take a few days to get back up. :-(

[PointOfLight]

That's a bummer.* Hopefully it won't take too long to get up and going, because I really want to get a copy of this.* Where will we be able to buy it from?

If it would be of any help, I could provide an alternate download for the demo until your plan is upgraded.

[mmtbb]

Thank you eric. It will be available to buy straight from my site. I am working with my host right now, and I think I will have it up soon.

[mmtbb]

OK, it's back up. Go to!

[PointOfLight]

Sweet!* I've already downloaded and installed the demo.* Also, I posted a news item over at http://www.myworldofhandhelds.com/

[mmtbb]

zehlein,

Send me an email and we'll chat

[zehlein]

It is zehlein@pocketplayers.info

[mmtbb]

Hmm. I submitted the news for Xassar over at PocketGamer a week ago, yet it hasn't been announced yet. I re-submitted the info on Thursday, still no post.

I have watched their announcements over the past two weeks. They are only putting up one game every other day. I noticed a few of their links are broken as well. Does anyone know if they are having problems over there?

Also, can any of you suggest other popular sites to announce Xassar on?

[kornalius]

aximsite.com
pocketpcthoughts.com
clickgamer.com
pocketmatrix.com

Those are the main ones I post PPL news to.

[mmtbb]

Interesting. AximSite and PocketMatrix sound good. I thought ClickGamer was a software retailer. I couldn't find a place to submit news. I wrote PocketPCThought a while ago. THey never responded. I'll have to try again.

Thanks

[kornalius]

True, sorry ClickGamer is a software retailer, did you post your game for sale there?

[mmtbb]

no. not yet. I think you sign a contract, don't you?

[kornalius]

I don't remember but I believe I didn't have to, I know you have to with eSellerate.

[mmtbb]

Has ClickGamer been good? 35% profit is a huge amount to lose. Has it been worth it?

[kornalius]

It all depends on the promotions you are willing to do with their newsletter. Without any don't expect anything good. They will only pay you when you sale over 1000$ in the month.

[PointOfLight]

If anyone is interested, I've spent a good bit of time with Xassar's Quest, and I've posted a review here (http://myworldofhandhelds.com/joomla/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=128&Itemid=1). Hope you enjoy, and I highly recommend checking out this game if you haven't already.