Re: [Plib-devel] OT: new linux game

[steve <sjb...@ai...>]

Bram Stolk wrote:
> Not entirely on-topic, but:
> I want to announce the first release of my linux game,
> 
> "Sturmbahnfahrer - A simulated obstacle course for automobiles"
> 
> It's based on ODE and PLIB, and is available under GPL from
> http://www.sturmbahnfahrer.com

Wow!  That's a really neat idea...fun to play too.

I presume other game levels are planned - may I suggest a couple of
things:

1) The RPM didn't work for me because it demanded a version of glibc
    that's not in SuSE 9.3 - so I built from source code.  In the
    Makefile it demands /usr/lib/libode.a - but the default installation
    of ODE if you just download it and do a 'make install' is
    /usr/local/lib/libode.a - why don't you just link like this:

    ...  -L /usr/local/lib  -lode  ....

    Then it would find ODE automatically no matter whether it's in
    /usr/lib, /lib or /usr/local/lib without me having to edit the
    Makefile.  Ideally, you should use the autotools to auto-detect
    which libraries are present.  It would be nice if the website
    told you where to get ODE from.

2) The level you have working now is way too hard for a first level
    (even assuming you do the training level).

3) The problem with this level is that it has three hard problems
    and if you fail the second or third one, you have to 'die' and
    then go all the way back to the beginning.   That makes it a lot
    harder - but not in a good way - it's just really frustrating.

    One thing that would help would be if there was a 'floor' under the
    basic level that allowed you to drive back around to the start so
    you didn't feel like you were 'dying and restarting' - it's a
    psychological thing in a game like that.

    By dividing the 'floor' up with big vertical walls, you could arrange
    it so that passing the first problem level would get you past the
    first wall - thereby giving you access to a ramp that would let you
    retry the second problem without repeatedly having to retry the first
    one.   (This is hard to explain in words!)

4) It's annoying that you can get fatally 'stuck' and that the only way
    to proceed is to commit suicide.  That's a HUGE 'no-no' in game
    design.  There must ALWAYS be a way to finish the game if you are
    still alive.   In a game with real physics, this is a bit of a
    challenge since there are ways for the player to get stuck that the
    game designer couldn't possibly anticipate.

5) On startup, the game opened a large window that was mostly off the
    top-left corner of the screen?!?  I had to drag the window so that
    more of it was on-screen - then resize it and drag is some more
    before I could see all of it.  I've never seen another program with
    this problem?!?

6) Use 'pw' instead of GLUT - it'll make life easier on your end-users
    because that's one less dependancy to worry about.

My son says he's interested in making some more levels for you if
you are interested.  He has to finish an animation he's trying to get
into the 'blender' SigGraph show reel - and then he owes me some
work on my current game project (The Lemur of Lima) - but if you'd
like some help, he would be able to help out in a couple of weeks.

Is there any level design information out there?