Yea, so it looks like it's final.
The game will now be called Urban Empires say good bye to Gang War.
Don't worry it's still going to be "Age of Empires meets GTA with multiplayer" [grin]
Again just as a 'tease' here is the logo drafted up by Salsa back in Oct '06.
I'm actually contracting Josh/Salsa to create a much higher resolution logo for the game/website/desktops/etc, as well as some variants. I can't wait to see how it looks. So basically the final logo might look a lot different. My publisher is also creating some logos for the game.
Today my publisher and I also looked over about 6-8 different box art concepts, some of them look really cool, especially for a days worth of work. I can't wait to see the final product, and hold the box in my hand [grin]
So what have you been working on the last 3 weeks?
I've been totally distracted building the game's website and I've recently decided to implement my own custom rolled account server / stat tracking system, in addition I have to have a place for people to buy the game, a place for people to register their accounts / CD keys, etc.
I'm running this server myself out of my office right now I've got a dedicated T1 for the master/account/game servers, as well as the web/smtp server for sending e-mails and running the Urban Empires website. I should be finished with all aspects of the account creation / in-game integration by the end of the week. Overall I'd say the site is about 60% done :-/ I'm gonna have to bust some ass to get the site finished by this weekend, and then spend next week finishing the in-game stat integration, and polishing the game, + creating some more polished maps that take advantage of the new terrain.
Aw cmon' please tell me you have some new screnshots of the game after 3 weeks of no entries
Ok fine, I've actually put in some time on the engine before focusing on the website. Unfortunatly a lot of stuff is still in pieces / needs polishing. So I'm only going to post low-res screenshots :-p
ZOMG AIROPLENAE. Yes, now I can fly around the cities. It took half a day to implement.
ZOMG AIROBOATPLANE WATAR. Yes, now I can get into a boat and cruise through the in-game channels/rivers. It took half a day to implement.
I'm also workign on some other aspects such as a dynamic grass system to spruce up the terrain.
A funky debug shot...horrible work in progress, taken on a Geforce 7600, not my usual 8800.
These screenshots are embarrassingly early, I've only had a few days to focus on the game. I've been spending all my time developing the game's website since it'll be so closely tied to the game itself.
You'll be able to view lists of all active servers, browse user-created cities, all player stats, top players...etc...all from the site. I'm building this all from the ground up whilst learning how. I'm really not a PHP/MYSQL guy...but I'm learning. It's a welcome relief from trying to syncronize multiplayer vehicle physics over a network *shudders*.
Oh by the way, here is an in-model-editor shot of the speedboat...I made it myself...and just for contrast, one of the game's car models is beside it. It should also be noted that the ACTUAL triangle count of that boat is ~1970 tris...it was unoptimized at the time of the screenshot.
I'm working on a lot of stuff right now...and will have a juicy update as soon as I can get the site/datebase/game integration done, I can refocus on the game engine.
Stay tuned.
- Danny
