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Yet another WIP, but here is what I have been up to since getting my hands on the sprite tools...

Gladiator Quest : Road to Rome

The first mobile installment to the Gladiator Quest brand. Gladiator Quest is the journey of a few brave souls that long to achieve success in the ultimate arena, the Colosseum in Rome. Offering fame and fortune to some, the Colosseum also offers an end to the lives of many who venture there.

In this first installment, our heroes begin the journey to their fate, which is a road to Rome, in an ancient time when legends and myths collide. Choose one of 3 default characters to embark on your journey, and unlock other characters along the way as you defy those who stand in the way of fulfilling your destiny. Through the sands of ancient Egypt, to the uncharted caverns of Earth's oldest mountains, through the dark forests, open valleys, and finally to Rome, our adventurers find danger in every corner of their world.

Anyway, the thought is a single/multiplayer co-op for 1 to 3 players with the game ending at the arrival to the Colosseum.

The second installment to Gladiator Quest will be multiplayer up to 128 people which will allow you to battle it out for fame and glory in the Colosseum as any one of the characters that you unlocked in the first installment.

I have more elaborate plans for a full fledged RPG with slave/master classes and deeds for house placement and storage containers for stacked items and all that, but opted to start with a simple slasher first and see where it goes.

This will be a side scrolling beat 'em up, like retro 'Street Fighter' style games, only it's a slasher and may have some vertical scrolling too for the caverns.

So far, I have been hashing out map details and working on the sprite sheets for the characters...

Default Characters (from FPSC MP42)

Assassin - Female

Barbarian - Male

Guard - Male


Locked Characters (from FPSC MPs 17, 18, 21, 42)

Anubis

Giza Guard

Isus Warrior (renamed Evil Warrior)

Necromancer (Renamed Wizard)

Pharaoh (renamed Pharoh) to the world

... with the others still to come.
I am attaching the videos of the sprite sheets separately instead of in a zip in case you just want to see one and not all of them...

Here is the Pharaoh...

Assassin... (see attached)

Barbarian...

Anubis...

Guard...

Evil Warrior...

Wizard...

Giza Guard...

Great looking sprite sheets and animations. Will the backdrops/levels be rendered in the same style? What platforms are you going to target? Looks great so far

Thanks, but the guys who made those model packs (Mark Blosser, and Jon Fletcher) should get all the credit for the animations.


Yeah, but right now I am using cartoon style (my art) for place holders while I get the code worked out.
I am going to use FPSC Reloaded to create some backdrops for this to take advantage of all the lighting and other features it offers for eye candy.
I will be using more models from FPSC for props and vegetation too, but they will mostly be static instead of animated to save memory.


Android for the first installment.
If that does well, then I may go ahead and deal with the devil and release it for iCrap too. (but I know they will reject it!)

Installment 2 may see Ouya via Kickstarter, but I have not ventured into any realms other than Android so far, so that is a big if-then.


Thanks

Interesting concept, and looking forward to seeing how the art style works with the background.

I'm curious though as to why Apple would reject your app. I have so far only used AppGameKit for Android, and have no idea how the IOS market works.

Looking really good though

Here is a peek of the side scrolling mechanics so far...
The first look is cartoon style because I had that scroll level set up already for another game.
The second look is just the ground scrolling as the sky, clouds, and other elements have not been added yet.
The question of "your favorite song" hit me the other day, and while I love music too much to have a favorite song, here is one that I am quite fond of...

Hey CE this looks like a great WIP.
Love the 3d gfx style, works well. Would work good as a Double Dragon style beat em up, I used to love that game

You want to start putting some WIP pics and clips up on twitter regarding this as it has lots of potential, I will retweet for you.

Great work!

Gone but not forgotten.

Thought is to get the game mechanics working for the combats, and then add the fancier stuff later on...


Recent HTML5 builds being friendly with PHP scripts on the free hosting server got me thinking about this project again.

Considering Card Combat, with each player creating a Gladiator Combat Card to represent their RPG character.

Players would start out in control of their stats, but also as a slave, with no control over armor and little control over training.

Free citizens can run a caravan of up to three fighters, a Ludus of up to six slaves, or the Elite who can control up to 9 gladiators.

Owners of slaves control the armor and battle tactics for battles in the coliseum for each gladiator in their school/caravan.

The Empire owns new players until a free citizen buys the slave at auction, which takes place prior to battles for the slaves who are entered.

Battles are periodic based on server maintained list of entries (by Ludus owner or by The Empire for noobs) .

Game passes stats and player id, and server gets Ludus info for player and saves all gladiators data to battle list as numerically encrypted.

Player nor Ludus Owner have to be both logged on to compete in the coliseum battles, as either can enter the character into battles.

Less-Active Ludus accounts will be forced to release slaves to the Emperor as a tax and they will be re-auctioned to the citizens.

When a slave has been granted their freedom by the Emperor, then they too can own and train others to compete in the games.

Thinking using the key validation like the high scores for the data being passed after it has been encrypted in a numeric string.

The strings can be broken down for stats and for a list of moves for the battle tactics, which are used for the combat mechanics.

Only the numeric strings are passed from the Gladiator UI for stats and basic tactics, or the Ludus UI for armor and advanced tactics.

The server comprised list of Gladiators for an given battle is downloaded and then processed as the battle, so all the clients are doing the play by play.

So, the cards can go comic book story line to basic animations to 3d animations all on the client sides for those GUIs and the server list stays the same.

Starting out though, I think the cards can be done in a way so that a string of numbers can represent layer selections to construct unique character heads.

The bodies would be generic and offer various armor overlays to equip gladiators with tool of the trade to boost player stats.

Placeholder artwork for the cards is just for the design layout and not constructed in game yet... (most of the work is in the assets for character creation)


EDIT

Been playing around with dynamic 2d cards, and overlays for character customization... (player chosen elemental factions for mystic power (rock,paper,scissors,Spock))

Once I get the basic design for the cards, then I can start to work on the stats and battle tactics assignments...










...


As players progress and stats change and they change their basic battle tactics , and when a slave's Ludus changes his armor and advanced battle tactics, the server data for card creation is updated.

You (and your Ludus) control your Gladiator's card, and NPC cards held by The Empire will be made available for a Ludus to use should not enough players be available for purchase for a battle.

All slaves owned by The Empire will have a price reflecting the current bid (or offer price) for that slave, and bids will be accepted prior to the next battle, at which time the highest bid purchases the slave for their Ludus.

Free play as a slave, then advance (or upgrade) to a free citizen to handle coins and start equipping the slaves you purchase for battles. ($5 upgrade gets your freedom and 100 in game gold to start your new life)

Citizens start out as a caravan with a maximum of 3 slaves, and can earn their way to a Ludus for a maximum of 6 slaves, and maybe even become elite with a total of 9 gladiators under their command.

Game currency consists of Gold coin and Silver coin, where 100 Silver Coin is equal in value to 1 Gold Coin.

Slaves need no coin as their Ludus provides their basic needs, but a slave can train to increase their stats and become more desirable to another Ludus who may equip them better.

Citizens can wager on battles, buy and sell slaves for profit, and even have a chance to win prizes awarded by the Emperor such as rare and super rare armor, which can also be sold.

As slaves increase their stats, other players might want them, and any Ludus can place their slave(s) for auction to other citizens or as a straight sale to The Empire at a discount for game wealth liquidity.

This concludes the basic idea for a card combat HTML5 build using PHP on the server for periodic coliseum battles... (now I need to start building it... character creator first...)


Edit - 2020_04_08

Still wasting time on card design, which I say is a waste because my art skills are limited so it takes forever and a day to make the simple things... (think I am going with these though)









Edit (added weapons to design layout)...










EDIT - 2020_04_11

Just another edit update (that will probably not be seen by many people)

I will make a new post when I get something going for the character creation, but I have a tone of graphics to make before I can get that going.

Here are four (4) basic heads shapes and skin tones, with the ears, eyes, eyebrows, noses, and mouths interchangeable as you can see by the head bottom right.

There will be more than four (4) hairstyles as that it what changes the looks the most and will give the best variation of characters with the least work.

I can always add more character parts later, but for now I want to keep it simple so I can get to work on the combat formulas and the data transfers.

Probably going to go with a HTML5 build for free play, but have a PC version for all the bells and whistles for anyone running a Ludus and managing a team of Gladiators.

My own media will probably not be good enough to worry about encryption, but I may try to protect the media at some point when it is better quality or more of it...

Bumping this just so I do not end up with all the images in one post...

Still have only ...
4 Skin tones...
4 Head shapes...
4 Ears...
4 Eyes...
4 Eyebrows...
4 Mouths...
4 noses...

...but now I have ...
4 Facial hair options...
12 hair styles... (black only so far)

... which is enough for a little mix and match fun...



Also working on the layout for some of the GUI...

"The Block!" ... (planned as an auction, but straight sales to start)

Top row of heads on the lower half of screen are your Ludus' Gladiators, and the lower row are slaves up for sale by the Empire.

Buy and sell your Gladiators here...




Also need a market to buy wares for our inventory...



...almost ready for the character creator, but still need to do more work on the graphics.

Bought an asset pack to help out for that, but may use them as placeholders and replace with custom content.

Decided to have a standard 5 Gladiator inventory for each Ludus, but only 2 slots are unlocked when gaining your freedom.

The other 3 slots can be unlocked by referring a friend to join and create their own Gladiator. (word of mouth advertising incentive)

If your friend then attains their freedom, then your unlocked slot will allow you to create another custom character of your own.

May increase the number of slots for Gladiators at a Ludus as they could scroll in inventory like the ones for the Empire purchases.

The MENU will have more options, like the screen for equipping characters with their armor and weapons from inventory, which will be similar to the ones above.


Thanks man.

Not sure how I overlooked your offer years ago, but thanks for the offer for what it is worth now.

Not big into Twitter, but thanks, and I will just post the WIP images here until I launch.

I still may use the 3d to 2d style for the animated actions sequences when I get to that point, but for now the battle cards will have to do.

Want to spend more time on the combat mechanics and formulas until I am happy with that, and then when the stats gains from battles are done, I will ramp up the graphics.

Training will consist of mini games designed to test speed, reflexes, endurance, and strategy logistics, which will directly affect the amount of gains achieved for a specific stat relating to that skill. (gauntlet)

i've thought of similar "training affecting stats" or gameplay and suggest being careful not to give too much of an advantage/disadvantage. the young'ns' reflexes shouldn't overshadow the wisdom of the ancients (like me)!

meanwhile, i don't see provisions for the cadre of amazon assassins that i plan to assemble?

otherwise, it's looking (and sounding) great, so far, CE. keep it up!

Not tying to have any wenches for the combat, but I may have a few npc slaves for entertainment and rewards. (trying to keep it somewhat historically realistic)


Na,man, no biases.

If you can't cut it, then you have to suck it up.

I was about 50 years old when I ranked 3rd fastest in the world for key tapping, so don't be intimidated by the youngsters.

I wasn't even trying to break any records or anything, just doing my personal best, but got informed by the validators that i was almost the best in the world.


Thanks man.

It is hard for me to not get distracted to other things, but I am trying really hard to make this mmorpg dream a reality in 2d.

If all goes to plan, I will have a system that can handle 10,000 players or more per battle.

The whole idea is to tier the combat matches in a way that the weakest gladiators would be paired first (like the real games), and go from there.

It is not going to be where all of the battle is being processed at once, but rather a tiered level set of matches where a spectator can select which part of the battle they want to focus on and see unfold.

That way, the client is only processing each small fraction of the battle as needed (desired) by the spectator.

Lots of ideas, but I hope to keep the basic execution to a minimum since you only would be looking at, and focusing on., a particular part of the battle if you were there in the real live action.

This looks awesome. You have generated heaps of content for it. Really great work

Thanks

It is slow going, but it is going.

Now that I have figured out the HTTP stuff for the HTML5, and have a system in mind for handling the variables, and have tested it in the low res jam, I am back to work.

I will be using a 251 digit string to handle all the data I need for each gladiator, which will contain the character features, stats & skills, weapons & armor, combat preferences, unique ID, ludas ID (default slaves owned by empire), name, and title.

All of that data is converted to numeric values, except the IDs & key which are alpha numeric sha256 values 64 digits each.

Here is another image I have made to map the towns for the various roads to Rome... (rough draft... the names blurred a little in a resize, so I need to clean it up)

Each road has 4 stops to battle and shop (shopping for lanistas, plebeians, patricians, senators, or titans, not slaves), and each starting point is a port that allows travel to other roads' starting points.



You will have to take the road to Capua if you want to fight Spartacus who is owned by the house of Batiatus. (his card above will be updated with the proper ludas name)

I hope there will be decapitation mechanics, with bloods splatters, like in Fairytale Fight, an old PS3 game. Decapitated/amputated limbs would have physics, rolling on the floor.

I was going to fake the 3d with 2d sprites made from 3d models like the scrolling video above, but I later decided to go 2d all the way with the combat cards.

It will be more old school with simple text based playback of attacks and defenses and animated stats decreases to start with.

Not sure if I will take it back to a 3d idea later on, but I definitely want to start with less gore (none actually) to make it more PG.

The amount of violence in the nature of the genre will prevent a G/E type rating I think, but if I go with an adult version with gore, then it will probably have some X features too with the addition of female slaves. (rewards for Gladiators and for breeding stock for more owner assets)

The first version will not even have death (as many gladiatorial games did not) so "missio" will be given prior to ultimate defeat so players will not have to restart with new characters every loss.

Many RPGs have resurrection aspects to the game, but I want to keep it a bit more realistic, even though it is obviously fantasy. ( a ludas' medicus will heal according to their skill/cost)

The whole idea is character development and not many people would want to lose all their hard work over a single battle. (although for realism the missio should be optional)