Tank Universal:Beta demo available

Community Forums/Showcase/Tank Universal:Beta demo available

MadJack(Posted 2003) [#1]
Hi all

I've uploaded a beta demo of TU to the following address;

http://blitz.idigicon.com/project_detailb.asp?ProjectName=Tank%20Universal

Note that it's a 15 meg download.

The game's been tested on two different graphics cards, but perhaps those on slower lines might like to hold off until those with high speed connections have downloaded and run the game to see if any major issues crop up (that may require a patch/re-upload from me).

The demo consists of two levels; a smallish arena (which contains a lot of action), and a larger, more mazelike/mountainous level.

Note that the lighting fx are not implemented fully in the demo, so you might like to use just the default options, but it's a work in progress.

Full instructions are given in-game.

As this is a beta test, would very much appreciate knowing about any bugs you encounter, and what you like and don't like about the game, or any improvements you think could/should be made.

pajones@...


Anthony Flack(Posted 2003) [#2]
Sweet... let you know what I think tomorrow...


fredborg(Posted 2003) [#3]
rrrrr...Memory Access Violation...rrrrr

Probably due to Win2000 not always adding a / to the end of the path. Only got as far as loading some stuff, before it bombed out.

Fredborg


MadJack(Posted 2003) [#4]
Fredborg

Bugger (and apologies).

So if a loadmesh command uses the string (given that I'm using Terrabit's datapak function);

loadmesh(pak("mesh\red\tankbase.3ds"))

Win2000 won't read it unless it's ("\mesh\red\tankbase.3ds"))?


MadJack(Posted 2003) [#5]
Please hold off downloading until I fix this.

Thanks
Phil


fredborg(Posted 2003) [#6]
I'm guessing (and only guessing) you're using CurrentDir or ChangeDir somewhere, if so just make a simple check like this:
mydir$ = CurrentDir()
If Right$(mydir,1)<>"\" Then mydir$ = mydir$+"\"
PS: Actually I'm glad it didn't work, as I don't have time to play around this week, and I'm sure I would have gotten hooked on it :)

Just a thought :)
Fredborg


CopperCircle(Posted 2003) [#7]
Great demo, I love the style, I think the turret control should be abit more direct, rather than pressing a button to stop the rotation, I found it a little hard to manuver the tank. I only got "Memory Access Violation" if I played with the settings. Default settings worked fine.


MadJack(Posted 2003) [#8]
Coppercircle/Fredborg

Guys, I'm a little confused here. So from Fredborg's post, W2000 has a slightly different filename convention than W95/98/NT/XP?.

To clarify, I haven't used any currentdir or changedir commands - all data loading has been through direct statements in the form of (e.g.)

loadmesh(pak("mesh\red\tank\tankbase.3ds"))

The 'pak' is due to Terabit's Datapak functions.

Would W2000 have an issue with the above syntax - "mesh\red\tank\tankbase.3ds"?

Coppercircle - can you tell me which setting bombed it out for you?


Neuro(Posted 2003) [#9]
Heheh I cant seem to find the convient link to download.


MadJack(Posted 2003) [#10]
Neuro

Until I've sorted out this W2000 issue, I don't feel I can leave it up there for downloads. Sorry about that - hope to resolve it soon.


Mustang(Posted 2003) [#11]
Yup - I got the Fredborg error too... I'm using W2Kpro. Definately the dreaded w2k bug.


FlameDuck(Posted 2003) [#12]
Would W2000 have an issue with the above syntax - "mesh\red\tank\tankbase.3ds"?
It might. So would NT/XP BTW. You might want to check "CurrentDir" for a trailing slash, or alternatively start off with one in your string. Ofcourse the "real" solution would be to create a custom Loader routine that sorts out such things and reports errors back in a more meaningful context than Illegal Memory Address.


MadJack(Posted 2003) [#13]
Flameduck

Hmm. Well the real motto might be, don't release a demo when it's 2am and you've got work the next day.

Have revisited the code and found a few things and have also rustled up a W2000 test box, so I'll give it another whirl tomorrow. If it runs as it should, will re-release.


Midnight(Posted 2003) [#14]
Is the demo coming back???? Pretty Please?????


Neuro(Posted 2003) [#15]
Yah, is it back yet? I wanted to try it out.


Anthony Flack(Posted 2003) [#16]
yeah, I couldn't run it either - (you guessed it, win2k)


MadJack(Posted 2003) [#17]
Anthony/Neuro/Midnight..

Upgraded to W2000 over the weekend and the install didn't go well, such that I was off the net for a while (and it was a mission getting a single copy of W2000 without having to pay a kidney to Microsoft for it).

TU has now been tested with W2000 and W95 and it appears to be ok with both. A number of bugs cropped up with W2000 - interestingly I'd been mixing entity pointers and floats in a single array and it was fine in W95, but caused errors in W2000.

The original demo was 2 levels - I'm going to release the single arena level only - the second much larger level needs some more revision in terms of keeping the action coming. The advantage though is a smaller download size.

Re-release this week sometime...