So with the countrysides shaping up, we've been putting some real focus towards getting the procedural town generation happening, and a big part of that is procedurally generating the individual buildings...
So, after having a bit of a play around with town layout generators, we thought to ourselves "where's the first place you go when you reach a new town?" and right away we came to the conclusion of "the tavern, of course! For a hearty ale and a game of goblin dice!" (you'll learn more about goblin dice later)
So we decided to make our coding focus on taverns for the moment. So, to introduce the first tavern created by the game engine... May I present "The Slinky Buttercup"
This building was actually constructed by the game engine after we taught it how to build houses and threw it a few assets, and it looks pretty great for something that is relatively low poly:
So as you might notice, it's quite a small establishment, but the game has since made a couple of much larger (and more oddly shaped) taverns with names such as "The Swordsman's Doorway" and "The Curious Pumpernickel" (all of the names are also generated by the game)
You'll get to see the building interiors as soon as there's something to really show for it, but we CAN show you a VERY rough demo of the shop interaction planned for the game.
When you interact with shopkeepers of any kind in Malevolence, we've set up a system that is a direct nod to the RPGs of old such as Might & Magic. You can enter the shop, wander around, examine things, steal things (if you're so inclined) but when you talk to the proprietor, this interface will come up:
As a means of homage to the games Malevolence is re-imagining, no matter what town you go to, each interface for each shop type remains the same, so you will get familiar with them quickly. They also each have their own sound. The voice of the Tavern Keeper is none other than Australia's own David 'Aussieroth' Doyle!
So that's it for now. Soon we'll have videos of entire towns generating in the wilderness, and then we'll focus on showing you inside the buildings, and hopefully more shops, too! And working ones!
Until then, stay tuned on the social networks!
Ok I'm afraid I must criticize one minor detail that was left out; surely an oversight, for if it had occurred to you you would have definitely put it in already.
*clinking glasses and clattering plates*
It was my favorite sound in Neverwinter Nights & Icewind Dale, I would stand around in the Taverns extra long just to absorb the atmosphere! It was perfect! You MUST add them!
But seriously great job, I understand you guys are working hard and have alot of things you would like to add. So I say keep up the fantastic work! I eagerly look forward to the demo!
PS:
... ... ... you MUST!
Makes the place feel alive instead of a typical RPG-game with the retarded innkeeper talking to you and some medieval-crap music playing in the background xD
Aww, do you think OUR innkeeper sounds bad?
I think the innkeeper sounds great. The voice fits the face and the grizzled atmosphere of a medieval tavern :)
Glad to hear!
You know what? Done. It's going in! :-)
Wow. Player-demanded, developer-implemented in-game Medieval-ish trolling. That has GOT to be a first for an RPG! :D
You can't say we're not a little lenient! haha We've got a fairly solid view of what we want this game to be, but if a good idea is presented, we're definitely not going to turn it down!
Very, very nice! It's pretty cool how the engine is able to procedurally generate entire buildings using a few geometry assets. Is the engine also able to procedurally generate building interiors as well, or are they treated like dungeons?
Also, I don't know why, but the adventurer in the blue cloak and the waitress look oddly similar to Edward Elric and Lust from the Japanese manga/anime series Fullmetal Alchemist. I'm sure you've never even heard of or seen it, so I'm sure this is purely coincidental. (Here's some links so you know what I'm rambling on about:
Tvtropes.org (for Edward)
Tvtropes.org (for Lust))
I know of FMA, but don't actually watch it. Our artist for the store interfaces, Rachel, is a big anime fan, so it could be possible!
The interiors are procedurally generated based on the building shape :) you can enter and walk around to your heart's content, but when you talk to the shopkeeper, the above interface will come up.
Interiors are a little too basic to show for now, but they should be up soon!
Did not notice that until you pointed it out but yes now that you mention it I agree
I asked her and she said it wasn't intentional. Just a coincidence I guess!
It looks like you guys are really putting some work into procedural generation. I'm very interested to see how it turns out, because as I'm sure you know, procedural generation can turn out badly sometimes.
Ohohoho yes. But we're doing it in a new way to what has been done before, so we have high hopes! We will, at the very least, do our best :)
"So, after having a bit of a play around with town layout generators, we thought to ourselves "where's the first place you go when you reach a new town?""
Actually the first place that I go to when I reach a new town is the first building that I see.
Procedurally generating buildings is an interesting concept. Would you mind showing us a few of the basic geometry pieces that can make up a building?
Also what about the texture? Is there a texture that goes with each basic geometry piece? Multiple textures that the game engine randomly chooses between?
Currently the only assets we have are what you see here, and we're using those to get the concept working properly. Once that's done, we'll be adding HEAPS more and we'll definitely post a showcase for you all to see :) Textures will also play a big part in this. We want our towns to be vibrant, alive looking places, so different buildings will be made of different things and painted in different ways, and there will also be cultivated plants and fountains and whatnot to give a bit more depth :) only early stages for now to get it working, but now that it is, you'll start seeing more and more :)
The Shop/Temple/ ect. interfaces made a good portion of any old school-rpg's charm!
We definitely agree with you on that one!
Probably already have this planned, but procedural villains and heroes ala Dwarf Fortress?
All of the above ;)
I'm not sure if you (CumQuat) remember me saying my next project would be a ProcGen one, anyway I've started on designing a simple 2D/topdown procedurally generated city project and it's turning out a little more difficult than I thought.. which also makes it a lot more interesting though! Just trying to say here that now that I'm trying to work with this technique myself I can't help but being even more enthusiastic about this game ;)
Then you and I are in the same boat! As the lead developer on this project, I'm stuck doing all the coding. We actually only just finished the town generator for the game. First we focused on buildings on their own (as you see above) then we got to arranging those buildings in a sensible fashion around different sized/shaped towns. Hoping to have a walkthrough vid up soon-ish.
I'm a massive fan of procedural code and - hopefully with Malevolence - one of the innovators of the field in gaming (as infinite games of this level of detail are few and far between) so if there is any advice I can give for your project, feel free to P.M me and I'll help out however I can!