An early beta of Machines, Anarchy and Destruction is now available at the following link: http://www.orderlymayhem.com/downloads/mad_beta0.2.exe It weighs in at about 131 megabytes. This is an early beta release that was submitted to the 2009 IGF competition. It is in a playable (and hopefully fun) state. There is much more development to be done, so feedback is appreciated. We are looking for a modeller/artist at this time. See our post in the Help Wanted section: http://www.gamedev.net/community/forums/topic.asp?topic_id=518501 Here's a few screenshots:

I was quite hoping for some feedback from the gamedev community, good bad or indifferent. I must admit that I don't provide much feedback myself, so I plan on addressing that in the future, in the spirit of doing unto others.

I've also put together a gameplay video at: http://www.vimeo.com/2681161

Thanks.

Quote:Original post by BS-er
I was quite hoping for some feedback from the gamedev community, good bad or indifferent. I must admit that I don't provide much feedback myself, so I plan on addressing that in the future, in the spirit of doing unto others.

You might have garnered more feedback if you had submitted this to Image of the Day - the visuals are certainly worth it. As is, I missed this entirely the first time round, probably due to Xmas.

Quote:I've also put together a gameplay video at: http://www.vimeo.com/2681161

I like the sky, is that just a pre-rendered skybox? Terrain is also very decent looking.

The units are nicely modelled and animated, but they look pretty dull - a better light model and heavier normal mapping wouldn't hurt.

The gunshots and explosions could both do with some work, I especially dislike the way that the bullets leave from the centre of the screen, and are too big.

Gameplay looks frantic, but fun, and I love the way the tank handles. Overall, very nice!

Nice looking game. I think perhaps you should post your game in image of the day to get more views and feedbacks.

edit: opps, the previous post comes before me...

Thanks all for the helpful and constructive feedback. An image-of-the-day submission is a great suggestion.

Quote:Original post by swiftcoder
I like the sky, is that just a pre-rendered skybox?

No the sky consists of a number of textured quads for the clouds. The editor I developed allows for placing, sizing, rotating, coloring and "alpha-ing" those quads fairly easily. The sky backdrop is simply a few quads for color transition that align with the view camera. This gives the effect of transitioning to a brighter horizon. Simple but effective I think.

Quote:Original post by Servant of the Lord
That game looks really impressive; how long have you been working on it? The video looks great.

I've been working on the game's code for several years, most of it in my spare time back when I had a day job. A layoff in June '08 gave me more time, with the help of a severence package and a nice savings buffer.

It's been a learning experience. Here are my major takeaway opinions (not that anyone asked):
1) On-line collaboration relationships are generally too fragile to sustain an ambitious game project. Real-world friendships and close physical proximity have great advantages.
2) Relevant professional/scholastic experience of all collaborators is critical if you're aiming for something polished.
3) Capable artist collaboration is in very short supply. An elaborate 3D game may prove too ambitious given the difficulties in finding artist collaboration.
4) A small team footprint (i.e 2D-Boy's 2-man programmer/artist) seems to be a better formula for success, in conjunction with realistic project goals.

[Edited by - BS-er on January 3, 2009 4:19:47 PM]