At some point we want to try option 1, some kind of optional autoaim. I haven't tried implementing something like this before so I don't know how hard it would be.
If we can't get that working predictably/smoothly, we may try option 2.
I doubt we'll be able to address this in time for the next release (0.18 due out sometime in December).
But it may be a focus for 0.19. We are already planning to improve several interface options. E.g. menus that don't require a mouse pointer at all.
These models are using blender procedural textures which don't really export. You could bake them to textures inside Blender or just apply new textures in Unity. It's probably simple to just put new textures on.
If I get time I'll look for replacement textures for exporting.
I'm getting better with textures and details. Some of my older stuff wouldn't look good at a larger scale. So as I'm improving I'll try to provide larger renders and more detailed models.
That may be the issue. I see now the flare-engine repo only has old tags. If you downloaded v0.16.zip from github/flare-engine you'll be using an out of date version.
Try downloading the very latest engine code from github with this link:
But that's if you plan on making a completely new game or total conversion. If you want to start with the existing flare game and mod it, you should do that entirely from the "flare-game" repo.
Note that flare-game download will contain the latest source, plus plenty of art sources (large Blender files and unpacked sprite sheets).
If you don't plan on making code changes, you can easily start with the Windows build of Flare instead of compiling it yourself. Then you can mess around with the mods folders to see what's possible.
I've tested on my end with just the "default" mod.
It says "Unable to open engine/classes.txt!" in my stderr (it's a new feature we're working on) but the game should continue to run without it (we'll actually remove that warning message, it's not necessary).
When I run this I get the default title screen, not an early exit.
Can you tell if the engine is actually crashing or just quitting early? (usually if it's a crash Windows will give a pop-up message that it's looking for a solution, at least on Win7). If it's a crash there may be something not properly initialized in new code that we're working on.
If you're playing with the latest source instead of the latest release tag (0.17.1), make sure your source is up to date. I think the current master is relatively stable (but that isn't always the case, depending on what we're reworking).
makrohn's correct, you at least need the mod/default folder to run the engine. For Windows purposes you should have your flare.exe and your mods folder in the same parent folder.
When you run Flare with just the default mod it will look plain grey, something like this:
Those warnings aren't a big deal, those are warning about possible loss of precision when converting values. We fix those up as we find them.
Check to see if your executable is creating a stderr.txt file -- this will contain various error messages that will often let you know why the engine decided to quit (usually a file not found). If you're not getting a stderr.txt file, you may want to run flare.exe from command-line. Just during dev where it's easy to break things.
For most people, modding flare is changing the game data or making new game data. E.g. Polymorphable is a game made with 99% just changing the data files. We're lacking in these kinds of tutorials because we're still in Alpha and making major changes -- once we hit Beta we will "freeze" (e.g. "nail down") these features so that we can make tutorials etc. For now feel free to post questions here on the forum, hop onto irc freenode #flare-rpg, post an Issue to GitHub, or contact one of us directly.
If you get ambitious there might be features you want to add by actually changing the source code. If your changes are good enough and general enough, we may like to merge them back into the main engine.
@Amstrad: I have the tile sets covered for now. I'll put out a call if I need a specific asset created.
It's not so much that we have an art backlog. I'm just listing out the things I want to get done between now and Beta.
I'm enforcing strict quality and theme requirements for art, so if you really want to contribute get in touch with me via email. We can talk about specific pieces you can work on.
I also have a newish Windows desktop machine that I do some Flare development on. Okay I use it mostly for gaming; I bought it when my laptop couldn't run Diablo 3 very well. It's a cheap NewEgg PC http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229285
At some point we want to try option 1, some kind of optional autoaim. I haven't tried implementing something like this before so I don't know how hard it would be.
If we can't get that working predictably/smoothly, we may try option 2.
I doubt we'll be able to address this in time for the next release (0.18 due out sometime in December).
But it may be a focus for 0.19. We are already planning to improve several interface options. E.g. menus that don't require a mouse pointer at all.
Dome,
These models are using blender procedural textures which don't really export. You could bake them to textures inside Blender or just apply new textures in Unity. It's probably simple to just put new textures on.
If I get time I'll look for replacement textures for exporting.
@asmecher superb!
@BlackScorp
I'm getting better with textures and details. Some of my older stuff wouldn't look good at a larger scale. So as I'm improving I'll try to provide larger renders and more detailed models.
@Scrittl
I'll see what I can do :)
"using 0.16-1212 for the engine"
That may be the issue. I see now the flare-engine repo only has old tags. If you downloaded v0.16.zip from github/flare-engine you'll be using an out of date version.
Try downloading the very latest engine code from github with this link:
https://github.com/clintbellanger/flare-engine/zipball/master
But that's if you plan on making a completely new game or total conversion. If you want to start with the existing flare game and mod it, you should do that entirely from the "flare-game" repo.
https://github.com/clintbellanger/flare-game/zipball/master
Note that flare-game download will contain the latest source, plus plenty of art sources (large Blender files and unpacked sprite sheets).
If you don't plan on making code changes, you can easily start with the Windows build of Flare instead of compiling it yourself. Then you can mess around with the mods folders to see what's possible.
I've tested on my end with just the "default" mod.
It says "Unable to open engine/classes.txt!" in my stderr (it's a new feature we're working on) but the game should continue to run without it (we'll actually remove that warning message, it's not necessary).
When I run this I get the default title screen, not an early exit.
Can you tell if the engine is actually crashing or just quitting early? (usually if it's a crash Windows will give a pop-up message that it's looking for a solution, at least on Win7). If it's a crash there may be something not properly initialized in new code that we're working on.
If you're playing with the latest source instead of the latest release tag (0.17.1), make sure your source is up to date. I think the current master is relatively stable (but that isn't always the case, depending on what we're reworking).
makrohn's correct, you at least need the mod/default folder to run the engine. For Windows purposes you should have your flare.exe and your mods folder in the same parent folder.
When you run Flare with just the default mod it will look plain grey, something like this:
http://flarerpg.org/images/screenshots/0041.jpg
Those warnings aren't a big deal, those are warning about possible loss of precision when converting values. We fix those up as we find them.
Check to see if your executable is creating a stderr.txt file -- this will contain various error messages that will often let you know why the engine decided to quit (usually a file not found). If you're not getting a stderr.txt file, you may want to run flare.exe from command-line. Just during dev where it's easy to break things.
For most people, modding flare is changing the game data or making new game data. E.g. Polymorphable is a game made with 99% just changing the data files. We're lacking in these kinds of tutorials because we're still in Alpha and making major changes -- once we hit Beta we will "freeze" (e.g. "nail down") these features so that we can make tutorials etc. For now feel free to post questions here on the forum, hop onto irc freenode #flare-rpg, post an Issue to GitHub, or contact one of us directly.
If you get ambitious there might be features you want to add by actually changing the source code. If your changes are good enough and general enough, we may like to merge them back into the main engine.
On the GitHub project page for flare click the Downloads link, then look for the button that says "Download as zip"
@Amstrad: I have the tile sets covered for now. I'll put out a call if I need a specific asset created.
It's not so much that we have an art backlog. I'm just listing out the things I want to get done between now and Beta.
I'm enforcing strict quality and theme requirements for art, so if you really want to contribute get in touch with me via email. We can talk about specific pieces you can work on.
Most of Flare was developed on a 2008 unibody 13" MacBook (the run before they started calling them MacBook Pro). http://www.laptopmag.com/review/laptops/apple-macbook-2008.aspx
I also have a newish Windows desktop machine that I do some Flare development on. Okay I use it mostly for gaming; I bought it when my laptop couldn't run Diablo 3 very well. It's a cheap NewEgg PC http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229285
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