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Program Announcements / Helios, a complete and frantic retrofest. < kill stuff at the speed of thought >

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Darkbasic MADPSP
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Posted: 4th Jan 2006 20:32
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@Teh Go0rfmeister

Nice avatar
@moggie 100
lol hax in paint rofl

Experienced DB http://www.greatgames3d.com (work in progress site)
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Avan Madisen
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Posted: 6th Jan 2006 00:01
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One thing I have thought of with the landscapes, are you using the meshes in the same orientation? Basically I'm thinking that if you rotated the landscape meshes around in 90 degree shunks you could, in theory, quadruple the variety of landscapes in the backdrop. Although if you've removed the back-facing polys from the meshes that'd be a problem if you don't have copies of the originals.

Another idea would be to try scaling them in different directions to try and avoid the tiled look and it would help to bring a little more variety.

Heck, here I go talking about improving the graphics of your game that already looks pretty damn good. (slaps self in the face for you)

Don't look at me like that!
You're just jealous because the voices are talking to me!
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geecee3
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Posted: 6th Jan 2006 07:11
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heh, that's cool m8.

helios is going to be ripped apart and expanded with lightmapped backdrops, per level enemies, bosses, various weapons, better bonus rounds and other goodies to bring a bit of variety to the game. It'll actually be more of a follow up as the only code being re-used will be the tile wrapping system, which itself is being expanded to cope with mapping data to allow for more complex environments that are not so repetitive. It will take about 2 months to finish the engine and media, possibly more, but it should be a magnitude better than this game. it will also be a great deal bigger in filesize too unfortunatley, I'm estimating an unpacked filesize of at least 150Mb possibly more depending on how much detail I put into the graphics. Shader support as an option is also planned.

thanks grant.

Ohd Chinese Ploverb say : Wise Eskimo, not eat yerrow snow.
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Avan Madisen
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Posted: 6th Jan 2006 22:11
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I did a side scrolling shooter with 3d graphics a while ago that had a rolling landscape in the backdrop. The landscape was a group of small matrices all butted up together with a random loop. The tricky bit was getting different sized matrices linked together to it looked seemless. Worked ok but for the amount of detail I'd want to do now it wouldn't be practical.

Don't look at me like that!
You're just jealous because the voices are talking to me!
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Ermes
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Posted: 11th Jan 2006 08:28
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really really good.

i must say the most of the time some people publish a "ball on a matrix" game, and of course we say "yes, very nice" just to be kind.

but this time, is totally different.
This game is the first game i've ever seen in dbpro worth to be purchased.

i was stunned by:

1) the 3d landscape
2) the light trails of the objects
3) the planet with its rings
4) the playability
5) the beautiful 3d object of the player's ship
6) the retro sound effects

no weak point.maybe the aliens are too small.

geecee3 can you teach me something o my master???

Free Download for a Free World
go to my www to play RAVEN, THE FLIGHT OF RAVEN, SUNDAY DRIVERS and SUNDAY PANZERS!
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Steve Fash
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Posted: 12th Jan 2006 19:06 Edited at: 12th Jan 2006 19:07
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strange for some reason i'm getting :-

Athlonxp2400,768mb ram, radeon 8500...

For game/demo music for YOUR PC productions visit:-www.futuredevelopments.org.uk
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geecee3
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Posted: 13th Jan 2006 15:21
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hmm. it sounds like it may be a DX issue Steve.

what version of DX do you have installed?
the program was compiled with DX 9.0c 4.09.0000.0904

thanks, grant.

Ohd Chinese Ploverb say : Wise Eskimo, not eat yerrow snow.
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Steve Fash
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Posted: 13th Jan 2006 17:01 Edited at: 13th Jan 2006 17:16
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dx 9.0c version :-
4.09.0000.904, according to dxdiag.
It's the Feb one I think....
Tried different setting on the gfx card from performance, to quality etc etc.
Also, the helios window text apears in the taskbar and the screen goes black first. Then a dbpro project text stays in the taskbar for a small while before going off...

Steve

For game/demo music for YOUR PC productions visit:-www.futuredevelopments.org.uk
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geecee3
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Posted: 15th Jan 2006 10:56 Edited at: 15th Jan 2006 10:59
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well steve, the only thing i can syggest is giving you r the source and media files to see if you can pompile it yourself, i know that mouse cannot get this code to comple on his computer, and another member of the TGC staff cannot run it either. this is very odd indeed. the game is compiling on various computers here with no problem and it also executes perfectly. the 8500 you have is more than fast enough to play this game. the only other thing i think it may be is the audio, i have wrapped the mp3 music files inside a .WAV header, this may be causing issues on some computers. If you want to compile the game on your own machine i will have no problem releasing the source and media to you for this purpose.

thanks again , grant.

PS. please excuse my dire spelling and punctuation, this is what happens to me when i move from typing code to plain text. sorry.

Ohd Chinese Ploverb say : Wise Eskimo, not eat yerrow snow.
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Steve Fash
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Posted: 15th Jan 2006 19:55
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Hi Grant,
I don't see a problem in you emailing me the media etc (or a link to download it from)...
I'm quite dissapointed not being able to play it yet as I loves shootemups (old c64'er u c)...
email is in my profile or you could get me at

stevefash_at_googlemail.com

Cheers mate,
Steve

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Undercover Steve
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Posted: 15th Jan 2006 21:12
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Simply amazing game. Maybe the DBP tetris? TGC needs to advertise this thing, so that it can attract users! I can imagine after playing this game, and then seeing it was made in Dark Basic Pro, I would buy Dark Basic Pro!

We have fallen Into an abyss! Dear God captian! There all Bars.
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Ric
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Posted: 17th Jan 2006 01:37
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Quote: "If only I could turn this into some kind of business or other so I didn't have to do a REAL job, that would be nice. then i could make even more stuff. heaven."


Looking at the DBP forum, it looks like you succeeded in this ambition! I'm sure there are plenty of people here who have this kind of dream - so you're our new role model! I'd love to see an article in the next newsletter about how you managed/are managing with the transition from hobbyist to full time professional.

Congratulations and good luck.

Ric.



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SirFire
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Posted: 17th Jan 2006 06:27
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Wow, I really wish I could play this game, unfortunately, my monitor scrambles at anything over 800x600.

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Flindiana Jones
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Posted: 17th Jan 2006 18:15
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Very nice...very nice indeed...Though it took me a while to figure out what the pods were, and how to rescue them.

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Bizar Guy
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Posted: 18th Jan 2006 02:59 Edited at: 18th Jan 2006 02:59
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The tgc definitly needs to make a page reserved for the greatest games ever made in dbc or dbpro to show off to potential customers. It could become one of the ultimate goals on the forum to make the next legendary DarkBASIC game to be featured on it.

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geecee3
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Posted: 18th Jan 2006 16:14
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hey SirFire,

point to this for an 800x600 16bit colour version

http://members.thegamecreators.com/geecee3/programs/helios16b.zip


thanks, Grant.

Ohd Chinese Ploverb say : Wise Eskimo, not eat yerrow snow.
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Steve Fash
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Posted: 18th Jan 2006 16:29
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Grant,
Turned off onboard sound and added a new soundcard (well, one I had lying around)...
Still no joy, same crash error
Steve

Downloading 16bit version just to see if that runs....

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Steve Fash
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Posted: 18th Jan 2006 16:34
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nah, similar problem



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Mabuggi
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Location: UK - Universal Kingdom
Posted: 19th Jan 2006 16:54
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Congrats Grant on your new job.

You have my dream job, and Im not jealous (well thats a total lie) but I am 100% over the moon for you (and thats definitely true).



Dream come true, When do you start taking requests for games?

I'll have a beer with your new TGC paycheck

Mabuggi

DAB Studios
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SirFire
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Posted: 20th Jan 2006 08:56
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Wow Grant, thanks for the low-fi version
Awesome game man! Brilliant graphics!

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geecee3
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Posted: 25th Jan 2006 19:38
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@Mabuggi, thanks man

@SirFire, Glad you like it m8. the lo fi version actually looks more like a real arcade machine on my monitor. lowish reas and pixely look, i found it quite pleasing to play, my personal build of it is at 1600x1200x32, it looks nice at that res.

cheers, Grant.

Ohd Chinese Ploverb say : Wise Eskimo, not eat yerrow snow.
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FoxBlitzz
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Posted: 28th Jan 2006 06:19
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My new computer has trouble running games compiled with older versions of DBPro, as seen here. Could you possibly upgrade to 5.9 and recompile an executable?

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+
1GB DDR-SDRAM (May increase to 2GB one day)
512MB ATI Radeon X1800 Series - Finally! A card that does pixel shaders correctly!
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blanky
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Posted: 28th Jan 2006 20:05
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Upgrading versions of DBPro often completely breaks programs, and geecee3 has publicly stated on IRC how he prefers 5.7 for it's speed and relative bugfreeness.

Support us! Click! Image! Visit! Site!
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Moggie100
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Posted: 29th Jan 2006 18:52 Edited at: 29th Jan 2006 21:32
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Although that said, I have compiled a version under 5.9, and done *some* speed compensation, its not as good as the real deal, but its playable - running at about 76% 'normal' speed.

Uploading now...

[edit]
Ok, 'tis uploaded.
Its the best I can manage right now, but I'll see if I can boost its speed some more at some point.

Grab it from [Link removed, see below]
Winrar archive, so you'll need something to open .rar files.

Hope that helps anyone having problems.
[/edit]
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Steve Fash
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Posted: 29th Jan 2006 20:17
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Aww man, still can't run Helios



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Moggie100
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Posted: 29th Jan 2006 21:25 Edited at: 30th Jan 2006 19:54
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Hmm... *looks at line 2177*

[edit] Hmm... Think I know what the problem is, I'll re-upload and we'll see if it fixes it [/edit]

[edit]
Try this: [link removed, see later postings]
Also, speed boosted to 80%+ normal speed
[/edit]
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Steve Fash
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Posted: 30th Jan 2006 06:41
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Works great thanx mate (finally a version that'll play on my pc!!)

What was the problem in the end ?

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Moggie100
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Posted: 30th Jan 2006 16:52 Edited at: 30th Jan 2006 16:57
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Codecs, apparantly some people's machines dont like running the in-game music on certain combinations of codecs. I just removed the music, and compensated for 5.9's slow-downedness.
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Steve Fash
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Posted: 30th Jan 2006 16:57
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Ahhh....do you know what the original codecs need to be ?
I have all sorts of crazy filters and codecs installed...
If I install the ones used on the development pc I might be able to play the full version ?
Cheers,
Steve

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Moggie100
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Posted: 30th Jan 2006 16:58 Edited at: 30th Jan 2006 20:25
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Well, I've spoken to Geecee, and it turns out that the ingame music are mp3 encoded wav's, which is probably confusing your machine, I'm going to re-encode them once I have the origionals from Geecee, and I'll post the update on here.
Mog.

[edit]

Added several things, including the music (again).
Also, the game needs to be launched from the 'RunMeFirst.exe' app, which allows the player to set the display resolution and fullscreen settings.

Grab it at http://www.lanejump.com/download.php?file=Helios.rar

[/edit]

[edit - again]

If anyone else has tried it, can you post the speed percentage you acheive here please, so I can get a general idea of whats going on on other boxes - Thanks.
Mog.

[/edit-again]
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geecee3
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Posted: 30th Jan 2006 18:23
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Thanks for helping pin down the source of the problems moggie

Now all we need to do is resolve the speed issues, and were set.
It looks like i need to find a new codec for my in-game music then. Thats a bummer . heh. i been using that combo since i was coding in DBC too.


thanks, grant.

Ohd Chinese Ploverb say : Wise Eskimo, not eat yerrow snow.
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Steve Fash
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Posted: 30th Jan 2006 18:44 Edited at: 30th Jan 2006 18:44
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Thanks mog....
Doesn't dbp play .oggs as long as a suitable codec is installed ?
Might be an idea......

Grant..Helios ROX !!!
Great work mate....


Steve

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Moggie100
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Posted: 30th Jan 2006 21:49 Edited at: 30th Jan 2006 21:52
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No prob Grant.

Steve, have you tried running the new version (Complete with sound) ?

I didnt realise the post had spilled over to 3 pages, so you might've not seen the new 5.9 version: http://www.lanejump.com/download.php?file=Helios.rar
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BatVink
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Posted: 1st Feb 2006 09:56
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Quote: "Doesn't dbp play .oggs as long as a suitable codec is installed ?"


You need the expansion pack

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Essence
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Posted: 7th Feb 2006 08:56
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OMG!
This is really awesome! _O_

Downloading it now...


First DifNiX -> now EvaX.
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IBOL
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Posted: 9th Feb 2006 11:25
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it runs uber-slow on my machine.
256mb ram, 2.7 ghz processor, BUT
integrated intel extreme graphics card.
often just reducing the size of textures
to maybe no bigger than 128x128
really seems to help...

awesome looking game though.
bob

Starlord Omega: SCI-FI 4X TBS
http://forum.thegamecreators.com/?m=forum_view&t=61670&b=8
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Hamish McHaggis
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Posted: 10th Feb 2006 18:29
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Nice one. 370000 level 7.

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Steve Fash
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Posted: 11th Feb 2006 18:45 Edited at: 11th Feb 2006 18:48
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Quote: "You need the expansion pack"

No mate, I don't have the expansion pack and can play em....
eg


Thanx btw, this newer version (with launcher) works great !!


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David iz cool
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Posted: 16th Feb 2006 03:44
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cool game!u really put alot of effort into your games.

i like the mother ship above,and how the ship turns around.nice touch.

look forward to your next game!
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Moggie100
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Posted: 24th Feb 2006 03:29
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Good to hear that my recoded version is letting some people play it that otherwise couldnt ^.^

How's the speed on it? (says a percentage in the titlebar)
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FoxBlitzz
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Posted: 4th Mar 2006 04:34 Edited at: 4th Mar 2006 04:37
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I'm getting a full 60 FPS most of the time. When I do a lot of blasting it drops just a bit, but other than that, it's perfect.

Oh yeah, and the word "Intel Extreme Graphics" is an oxymoron. It is truly saddening to see person after person being tricked into buying the same crappy "Extreme" or "Intel 850354.957349" cards.

Today's lesson? You should never, ever get a desktop computer for home unless it has graphics by ATI or nVidia. All others suck. That's just the way things are.

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Moggie100
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Posted: 4th Mar 2006 21:33
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Indeed

<<notes it down for future reference>>
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Steve Fash
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Posted: 5th Mar 2006 13:14
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Moggie, are you going to recompile under v6 when it's out of beta ?

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geecee3
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Posted: 9th Mar 2006 15:42
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i'm sure moggie wil recompile with v6.0 when it's out of beta, however we seem to have solved the problem with the game audio, so it'll prolly be recompiled with new music in place and be the 1.3 release, it'll also be FSEX (fullscreen exclusive), once the new version has been compiled, i'll release the complete project files to the community, it's a bit messy and some of the comments are just plain wrong, but it works.

cheers, grant.

Ohd Chinese Ploverb say : Wise Eskimo, not eat yerrow snow.
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Moggie100
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Posted: 10th Mar 2006 00:25
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Decided to have a go compiling under U6b2, and it works REALLY well!

So I'd like some feedback from you lot on its performance.

The launcher has changed slightly, as instead of the sync rates, which were locked at 60 anyway, I've replaced it with a Windowed mode toggle, and a VSync toggle (Thanks to U6! w00t!)

I suggest, from local tests here, that you should put vsync on when in fullscreen mode, but be carefull with it in windowed, it seems less effective.

But anyway, that'll change depending on individual systems, so please post how well this runs on your rigs.

http://www.lanejump.com/download.php?file=HeliosU6b2.rar

-Mog
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Drew the G
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Posted: 13th Apr 2006 00:31
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Nice game, thanks for all teh input.

"Bug? That's a feature."
"Retreat? We're advancing in a different direction."
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DB newbie
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Posted: 23rd Apr 2006 07:00
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just by looking at the screens this might be sellable if you want a few extra bucks. but the asome TGC forum members liek me and evryoen else shoul get it for free.JK

visit my site (unfinished)
www.freewebs.com/dbnewbie
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flock
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Posted: 10th Jul 2006 14:38
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Wicked. Great graphics too!

a.k.a. "flockhound"
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