Download test game here

Quick game I made to test several things:

• fps, aiming for 60
• pathfinding, for dungeon movement
• delta, what online games use so game time always runs consistently regardless of the fps

You’re welcome to give it a try. Thought it’d be cool to post.

*** nerd alert talk below ***

In theory, to get MAX FPS, fullscreen + turn off grid + press 5 to max out desired framerate. This is the ideal starting point. My computer hits 174 fps, am sure you can beat me. From here, you can stress test: press up or right to create sprites until the FPS drops below 60. My computer takes 129 (complex multi-part + animating) sprites or 2,100 small (single-image) sprite objects.

Delta is the time, shown in seconds here, between screen refreshes. In theory, this means if you move the character or look at an animation, it will take the same amount of time as it would if the fps were any other number. I think this is the ultimate solution regarding slower computers. I had wanted to code two separate ‘behind the scenes’ handles for 60fps and 30fps, and add a toggle in the options, but with this way, the game will simply appear the same regardless the fps.

Full screen is 1080 resolution, windowed is 720. The current HoT release is 720 only. If you’re like me, you’re not a fan of the blurry text when in fullscreen due to the stretching. This way, everything will be crisp… until we all get super 4k HD mega-monitors :/

Also of note, curious if anyone has a monitor refresh rate of something other than 60 hertz. I have read this can cause tearing if the fps is out of sync, but I’m sure newer drivers and monitors sync this to where it’s a non-issue. You may notice screen tearing anyway (horizontal line where the screen updates are not sync-ing) as making sure this never happens costs too much processor framerate, so it’ll be our little secret ‘feature’ between us.

Pathfinding is simple grid based, as I don’t have time to code in something more complex. I think this works well enough. The idea is when your character stops, if you’re near an object, a pop up will appear and click that to interact. Try to break it, like seeing if the character will walk through walls or get stuck… seems bulletproof to my attempts.

*** end nerd talk, begin informal barks ***

still hyped about this game. don’t want to build up expectations, but i think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. we’re getting a full-experience furporn rpg adventure, the likes of which we usually only see in text or pixel graphic games. they told me never to make rpgs as it takes forever but damn, just want to play more furry ones, so here we are.

Finished responding to all the emails. If I missed yours, please accept my apologizes. I am prepared to take my licks. Is that how the saying goes? I may want to retype that but there’s NO TIME GOTTA KEEP MOVING

So far as the most common question I’m seeing:

House of Tail is still in development. *NOT* canceled! Never ever. It’s been a super long time, complete agreement from me / no excuses. Life has been crazy, very understated. very. I’m making this my life.

So! I think this can go faster. It’s really a lot to juggle, getting back into it.

• Story: The text and scenes are all there, but due to multiple revisions and editing, I think they need another pass. Most side characters need some development, but that’s fun/easy given context–it’s only a lot of work due to the volume. I’m not happy with the ending… I think I’ll have to feel it out in-game, so no more editing scene.doc, get it in the game and adjust as I go.
• Code: The game’s mostly there but I’m regretting the choice for 720 resolution, thinking I could do 1080 given everything but the maps are drawn for it (text in fullscreen looks a bit too blurry). Redoing this will require redoing the base ‘engine’ as it’s been hard-coded to 720 for sprite placements (look at me, I’m a dummy). I’m paranoid about framerate issues, noticing weird lag here and there, could just be my computer (graphics card doesn’t seem to be working which is fine for a min-requirements testbed.) I have code for dungeons that need to be integrated into the main build, and I need to code in a BATTLE SYSTEM, 3 variations cause this is how much I trust the base game to not be tedious spread across hours and hours. I wanted to avoid putting in battles as a dumb designer challenge, but have since accepted battles are cruise control for fun in high fantasy, that and story requires it.
• Music: I have 3 ‘ok’ tracks written, and a few more from a friend that I might acquire permission to use. Feeling good here, it’s going to be much better than Common Grounds.
• Art: Character designs are finished, even color palettes. Have drawn a few to completion, but I still have maybe around 100(?) left to make into fully animated sprites. This sounds like a mountain but I have my tricks (putting in long hours who needs sleep). If finances allow, I will definitely be looking to commission some help for the ‘porn’ scenes (please don’t tell anyone, am not ready, let’s keep it a secret between us for now.)
• Extras: Voice acting, extra this-and-that ideas are all on hold until I finish a solid version 1, but still in the back of my mind. (Without voice, are cut-scenes boring in this day and age??? do i add in soundfx blips instead?) Design is all there and written, it’s ‘ass in chair’ time as I’ve heard the furry writers’ circles say.

In order of importance: Art first, finish the code around it, side character design whenever fun and interesting ideas strike, story + music + soundfx worked in through many passes and play testing to check or add to code/art. Easy.

wew. what’s a good journal update schedule? this is too much. look at this wall of text, we need more pics here. next time