FIFE 2007.1 released

T

Tannhauser

Venerable Relic of the Wastes
Orderite
mvBarracuda has informed us of the 2007.1 version release of FIFE (Flexible Isometric Fallout-like Engine), which includes a demo map.<blockquote>It's done :-) After over three months of hard work, we've fixed the last issues today and released the 2007.1 milestone of FIFE. The most important improvement is the new custom map format that can be considered as stable. We created a demo map for this release for a number of reasons:
*Show the modders how the FIFE map format and specific concepts like the tilesets, archetypes and prototypes work.
*Set up a starting point for modders so they can get into the world of FIFE more easily.
*Create something that looks totally unFallouty to get away from the "FIFE-is-just-a-Fallout-emulator"-image. Welcome to the Isle of FIFE :-)

Here is a screenshot of our new demo map, using graphics from Reiner's Tilesets:
<center></center>

New features since the 2007.0 release:
*Stable custom XML map format for FIFE including our demo map to show the new features and syntax of it :-)
*FPS limiter (can be set in fife.config) to save important CPU time for future tasks (AI, pathfinding, etc.)
*Tile and object coordinates can be displayed (press "c")
*Color key overriding for Fallout transparency effects (see content/gfx/fallout_overrides.xml)
*Fixed DAT1 decoding code (bug was introduced with the DAT1 rewrite)
*Major map model classes have been exported to Lua and are now accessable via the console
*Map size dependant, configurable geometries
*Colorkeying for the SDL renderer
*Add custom VFS sources via vfs.addSource (see content/etc/vfs_sources.txt)
*Increased startup speed with FO2 DAT files
*Enhanced camera with support for multiple viewports (see content/scripts/demos/map_control.lua)
*Built against SDL_image 1.2.5 and guichan 0.61 now (Win32 binaries)

Get the win32 package here:
http://downloads.sourceforge.net/fife/FIFE_2007.1_win32.exe

Get the src package for linux, mac and kind of other POSIX systems here:
http://downloads.sourceforge.net/fife/FIFE_2007.1_src.tar.bz2

Install guide:
1. Unpack
2. Read README.txt</blockquote>A great job from the FIFE team, who have put a large amount of work into this project.

Link: The FIFE project website.
 
Ahh nice :-) thanks for immediately posting the news, the work of the NMA staff is really appreciated Tannhauser. (this applies to all active NMA admins / mods who invest a lot of their time for free)

Anyway, I forgot to mention (the readme says so, but the news I've send in does not) that the graphics for the map have NOT been created by us. They were taken from Reiner's tilesets. Reiner offers a great site with free 2D ISO art, check it out:
http://reinerstileset.4players.de/
 
First thing that strikes me is that the tiles in the screenshot are isometric(tactics angle) but dimetric (fallout1/2) in older ones. Does the engine support both angles?

EDIT: Ok, checked your forums. I think I does :) Cool
 
monsharen said:
First thing that strikes me is that the tiles in the screenshot are isometric(tactics angle) but dimetric (fallout1/2) in older ones. Does the engine support both angles?

EDIT: Ok, checked your forums. I think I does :) Cool
Click to expand...
The engine supports ALL kind of angles :-) You'll just need art that fits the angle you want to use.

Basically every FIFE map got something that is called a "geometry" section. There you define the geometry of the different map layers. The example map got two layers: one for the tiles and one for the objects. However you can also have 5 tile layers and 20 object layers without any problems :-) This way real "stacked" buildings are possible with FIFE. You can also have real square tiles, here is an example how that would look like in FIFE:
Square_tiles.jpg


Square tiles are prolly a good option if you want to create a jRPG with FIFE.

Here is some example markup for the geometry of the example map:
Code: 
	<geometries>
		(COMMENT: TILE GEOMETRY)
		<geometry>
			<id>2</id>
			<type>RECTANGULAR</type>
			<size><x>126</x><y>96</y></size>
			<We>
			<transform><x>63</x><y>48</y></transform>
		</geometry>

		(COMMENT: OBJECT GEOMETRY)
		<geometry>
			<id>3</id>
			<type>RECTANGULAR</type>
			<size><x>32</x><y>24</y></size>
			<transform><x>16</x><y>12</y></transform>
			<!-- Does anyone have a clue what this flag causes?
			<flags>1</flags>
			-->
		</geometry>
	</geometries>

(TILE GEOMETRY AND OBJECT GEOMETRY are just comments in the markup, however their correct form is (phpbb ignores these forms, that's the reason for posting it differently):
Ahh damn it, phpbb also screws this if I use it in the normal text or in a quote tag. Simply have a look into content/maps/official_map.xml if you want to see how XML comments look like :-)

Dagon said:
This engine looks better and better.
When do you plan to create map editor?
Click to expand...
Hehe, we plan to create a map editor since over a year. However every time someone works on it, he suddenly disappears for months; we're already joking about a developer assasination squad on the team because there is not really much we can do about it besides gallows humour.

On the other side the engine made some good steps forward in the last months since 2007.0 so maybe one of our few engine coders gets totally sick of the situation and starts trying to write some prototype code for the editor. However this would prolly lead to stagnancy in the engine department. That's why we'll continue to look for new developers in the next months, not only but of course also for the editor tool :-)
 
Question time again:

Are the shadows generated/"generated" or tiles (or just inside the sprite)?

If generated/"generated",

is it possible to move the light source/"light source"?

EDIT: After a peek at the fire extinguishers I sense they're a part of the sprites. But I could be wrong
 
@monsharen

ATM they are part of the mapobjects (sprites). There was a lighting-system planned, but due to a lack of programmers... well - it is all about people who write features like this for FIFE...
 
mvbarracuda said:
Hehe, we plan to create a map editor since over a year. However every time someone works on it, he suddenly disappears for months; we're already joking about a developer assasination squad on the team because there is not really much we can do about it besides gallows humour.
Click to expand...

Thanks for your fast reply.
Does (or will) the engine support multiplayer over the intrenet or local network?
 
Dagon said:
Thanks for your fast reply.
Does (or will) the engine support multiplayer over the intrenet or local network?
Click to expand...
Nope, no network support planned.

This would complicate development in quite some areas and as we're already lacking devs ATM, there are no plans to start working on multiplayer support. However FIFE is open source so if anybody thinks that this is a must have feature, he / she is encouraged to send in patches or fork our code for this purpose :-)
 
Once again thx for reply
I just wonder how cool it would be to play some Fallout mods designed for 3 or 4 people. :)
Anyway right now it's very good work.
I just saw at your website that there are allready games in development based on Fife, that is good sign I think! ;)

It's really good to see people making something cool for free!
Good luck FIFE team!
 
I'm a programmer who might be interested in working on a map-editor for you during the summer months. I'm currently completing BSc programming course at university so I won't be available until after that is done. I'll give you a bell when I'm free and see if you're interested. I have quite a lot of experience working with tile-based engines, I've even used Reiners Tile-Sets in one of my engines (since I suck to high-heaven at art) for games I've written.
 
mortiz said:
I'm a programmer who might be interested in working on a map-editor for you during the summer months. I'm currently completing BSc programming course at university so I won't be available until after that is done. I'll give you a bell when I'm free and see if you're interested. I have quite a lot of experience working with tile-based engines, I've even used Reiners Tile-Sets in one of my engines (since I suck to high-heaven at art) for games I've written.
Click to expand...
Sounds great :-)

Let us know when you've got time (and in case you're still interested then) and we'll see if we can work something out together.
 
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