Stick Online V3 Official Sneak Peak!

[Infection]

Wow, this is great, Meiun. Great job. I am impressed, as always. You answered a lot of my questions so I can't think of any to ask, unfortunately, but keep up the great work.


Oh and does anyone notice a similarity, or is it just me?

Rocks - Gaia Crown


CONSPIRACY! \(ﾟдﾟ)/


Edit: According to FreeForAll it looks like the Blade Crown more:
Hm...yeah I can see that.

[Freeforall]

Wow, this is great, Meiun. Great job. I am impressed, as always. You answered a lot of my questions so I can't think of any to ask, unfortunately, but keep up the great work.


Oh and does anyone notice a similarity, or is it just me?

Rocks - Gaia Crown

I thought it looked more like Dipz rock crown thing. Lol

[Meiun]

I looked into my laptop and it says it's 2.10 GHz. Is that any good? I want to be able to play with full graphics :s

That should be more than enough in terms of processor requirements. The only real limiting factor I foresee preventing anyone from (potentially) being able to play, would be set forth mostly by the basic system requirements for the XNA Framework. More specifically, "a graphics card that supports, at minimum, Shader Model 1.1 and DirectX 9.0c". For the few people who don't meet that requirement, a graphics card that does meet those requirements (greatly greatly exceeds that requirement in fact) can be easily purchased for less than $20 (I checked). Also, it is important to note that just because your computer may not have been able to launch another game utilizing XNA, does not necessarily mean it won't work with the new SO. There are multiple graphics API's that XNA projects can be compiled under, each of which have their own basic requirements to run. Stick Online uses the most widely compatible of these.

Also how many monsters are going to be around at the start up do you think, or just a general idea? and is it staying with the same type of stat system, albeit tweeked or with added stats?

Can't say for certain how many monsters there will be at the start, as I'm still not positive when that start will be, and because we may be looking for another spriter to handle all the new monster graphics at some point in the not too distant future (and it would depend heavily on that person as to how many/fast they were cranked out). As of now, we have a few, but there should certainly be at least a decent variety once it's made public.

Stats themselves will be similar to now, but not exactly the same. Most notably, INT will be replaced with a different stat, with a different and more significant purpose. Also, stats will not be the only thing that effects your strengths and weaknesses this time around (far from it), but more news on that later :)

[sly 3 4 me]

Wow, this is great, Meiun. Great job. I am impressed, as always. You answered a lot of my questions so I can't think of any to ask, unfortunately, but keep up the great work.


Oh and does anyone notice a similarity, or is it just me?

Rocks - Gaia Crown

I thought it looked more like Dipz rock crown thing. Lol

I think those might be a set of flowers/tulips..? If not, then that's moss under the area of the greyish/blue. I don't think it has much similarity to either aside from the fact they have a pointed edge.

[sayers6]

Also how many monsters are going to be around at the start up do you think, or just a general idea? and is it staying with the same type of stat system, albeit tweeked or with added stats?

Can't say for certain how many monsters there will be at the start, as I'm still not positive when that start will be, and because we may be looking for another spriter to handle all the new monster graphics at some point in the not too distant future (and it would depend heavily on that person as to how many/fast they were cranked out). As of now, we have a few, but there should certainly be at least a decent variety once it's made public.

Stats themselves will be similar to now, but not exactly the same. Most notably, INT will be replaced with a different stat, with a different and more significant purpose. Also, stats will not be the only thing that effects your strengths and weaknesses this time around (far from it), but more news on that later :)

Thank you for answering questions now btw. It's nice to hear about the game finally and have some solid info, people (me included) were getting grouchy. I was also wondering, about how big the file size will be? And will the additions of the backgrounds raise it greatly or? (I'm not at all a programmer so I have no idea about this stuff I was just wondering). Also will the game be able to work with slow internet connections or will some people have to bite the lag bullet? Thanks again for answering questions <3 :)

[Jmac]

I was wondering if the drop system would be changed. As in, will it still be entirely randomized, or will the drop rates increase over time of fighting specific monsters or have some other kind of system? (asking because I've seen this system used before)

[Meiun]

Very nice to see some screenshots alongside some nice server and game play aspects of the game. Which part will utilize XNA Framework if you don't mind me asking?

XNA is being used mostly just as a means to bridge DirectX powered graphics into C#, I'm not relying on it for much else really. Even some of the more fundamental offerings of it have been replaced by my own code when I saw room for improvement.

Also how many monsters are going to be around at the start up do you think, or just a general idea? and is it staying with the same type of stat system, albeit tweeked or with added stats?

Can't say for certain how many monsters there will be at the start, as I'm still not positive when that start will be, and because we may be looking for another spriter to handle all the new monster graphics at some point in the not too distant future (and it would depend heavily on that person as to how many/fast they were cranked out). As of now, we have a few, but there should certainly be at least a decent variety once it's made public.

Stats themselves will be similar to now, but not exactly the same. Most notably, INT will be replaced with a different stat, with a different and more significant purpose. Also, stats will not be the only thing that effects your strengths and weaknesses this time around (far from it), but more news on that later :)

Thank you for answering questions now btw. It's nice to hear about the game finally and have some solid info, people (me included) were getting grouchy. I was also wondering, about how big the file size will be? And will the additions of the backgrounds raise it greatly or? (I'm not at all a programmer so I have no idea about this stuff I was just wondering). Also will the game be able to work with slow internet connections or will some people have to bite the lag bullet? Thanks again for answering questions <3 :)

The total file size should is currently significantly smaller than the current one (the executable alone is currently, and will most likely remain, well under megabyte). The addition of new background graphics shouldn't impact it too much, as it is using tilesets this time around which are a highly efficient way to do them. It will end up using parallax backgrounds for the far distance as well, but those alone shouldn't add all that much more to the file size really.
   The only thing that is of any real notable size file wise right now is the XNA Framework Redistributable package that you will be required to install prior to running the game (if you don't already have it). This is a one time install, and should never have to be re-downloaded or messed with after it is installed, even as the game is updated. This component is a little under 7MB. Additionally, the game will be broken down into many more individual files than the current game (which runs for the most part as a standalone executable). This will help lower the update sizes, as only the files that have been changed will need to be redownloaded for any given update.
   The game should still work nicely on slow internet connections, although there will be a little bit more going on this time around which may add a tad more to the bandwidth toll. But it is still one of my primary concerns to deliver efficient networking for the game, so I wouldn't worry too much. All of the test sessions thus far have been very smooth networking wise.

I was wondering if the drop system would be changed. As in, will it still be entirely randomized, or will the drop rates increase over time of fighting specific monsters or have some other kind of system? (asking because I've seen this system used before)

I can't say that the exact rates will be the same, but the general system should be similar in terms of randomization. But who knows, I might come up with some new and improved way between now and release, ha :D.

[RainbowDash]

That should be more than enough in terms of processor requirements. The only real limiting factor I foresee preventing anyone from (potentially) being able to play, would be set forth mostly by the basic system requirements for the XNA Framework. More specifically, "a graphics card that supports, at minimum, Shader Model 1.1 and DirectX 9.0c". For the few people who don't meet that requirement, a graphics card that does meet those requirements (greatly greatly exceeds that requirement in fact) can be easily purchased for less than $20 (I checked). Also, it is important to note that just because your computer may not have been able to launch another game utilizing XNA, does not necessarily mean it won't work with the new SO. There are multiple graphics API's that XNA projects can be compiled under, each of which have their own basic requirements to run. Stick Online uses the most widely compatible of these.

Would it be wise to say that Stick Online 3 will probably run better than Stick Online 2, if not in terms of graphics but maybe CPU and ram usage? Or just about the same? I just have the feeling that moving away from Game Maker will give you a better hold on PC resources.

Highly multi-threaded server design, written entirely in C# (no XNA for this part of course).

Not saying multi-threaded is the same thing as multi-core but this is some what related, what about multi-core systems on the client side? Will the game use that some how? Thought it looks like the game may not need all that power.

[Supercowy]

Thank you so much for this update dustin! I am sure the stick-online community will be more exited than ever after seeing what's in store for us. The new game looks really good, props to the graphic artists. And ofcourse props to dustin for everything he's doing.

[Freeforall]

54 replies to a topic in a few hours. Pretty cool :)

[Lingus]

Great work. We always believed in you buddy!

[sayers6]

The most important question of all, will the game server be able to handle the 1000 people that will log on the second the server goes up?

[Mr Pwnage]

-Advanced game physics, including player acceleration and inertia (skidding to a stop when moving fast, etc.), variable speed animations based on players speed, and more.

I am very much looking forward to this, among all other things listed. Very nice to see your game plan and expectations already mapped out. I could very well see this particular game as it evolves becoming not only popular, but maybe even commercially successful. Brainstorming all very popular games currently, I can't think of one which is a side-scrolling RPG. Hopefully your game will catch onto the same sort of revolutionary token something like Notch did with Minecraft and this is the next big hit in the making. But regardless, very much looking forward to overseeing this project for it's lifetime, great work so far.

[sayers6]

I can't wait to play it :D also do you ever look back on your self years ago and think....wow I would be impressed with myself now?

[Zario777]

All I need is the Shady Hat to be my 1st drop again B)
Also, vanity items and pets would be cool for a future content update in my opinion