Pixel Tennis Progress
Posted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 7:14 pm
Although I cannot give you a release date, I want to provide "some" transparency regarding the development of Pixel Tennis.
Below, you can see a very basic progress chart. The blue bars indicate, how far (in %) I am to complete the game. The grey bars indicate the remaining effort required for releasing Milestone 1.
That's right, there will be milestone releases for you to test. Consider them as early alpha versions or technical demos. The reason for that is very simple. Before finalizing the game, a lot of work needs to be done - a lot of work that I am planning to invest in my free time. With Milestone 1 (or even before), I am able to see how many people like and/or support my work. Depending on this, Pixel Tennis's future will be decided.
I hope you understand that there is no motivation if there is nobody that is interested in this project
Btw, the category order of the chart has nothing to do with priority. My LibreOffice just wanted to mix them randomly at a certain time.
Website / Forum
As you can see, there is a website / forum. pixeltennis.de is located on a German paid hoster with SSL support and more than enough capacity.
Database
The game uses an SQL database hosted at pixeltennis.de
Networking P2P Gameplay
Unity's networking system works out of the box for local connections. If you want to connect via internet, they only offer a paid method which costs per connected user which is too expensive for me.
As an alternative, Pixel Tennis currently uses a one-time-fee third party library that tries to establish a peer to peer connection. It greatly reduces server load, but can also fail in 5-10% of certain system configurations. P2P also means, that the whole multiplayer logic is handled by the clients alone.
As announced on 03/2019, it is planned to switch from peer to peer connections to a semi authoritive server instead.
Since 03/2019 all match related connection logic goes through the dedicated server using a custom network implementation.
Network Gameserver
The main gameserver is hosted on a dedicated Linux machine at a paid hoster. It keeps track of accounts and ingame progress. The user account login is handled by an external interface that verifies against your forum login.
The current version already can provide character data, chats and control creating and joining rooms.
As announced on 03/2019, the game server will also handle multiplayer logic in the future.
Animation
Beside basic animations like rotating a smash circle or giving the ball a nice trailing effect, nothing is done. Things like character animation or certain camera scenes will be done much later.
Shop
Nothing to see here. Btw, there will be no pay to win gatcha coins - never :)
Item System
I know, collecting items is a very motivating part of the game, but Milestone 1 will not have anything like this at first.
Bots
Not even started. I only have basic ideas on how to achieve this.
3D Modeling
3D Modeling is a very big topic which will require much time and effort. Luckily, a prototype can also be made of basic shapes.
Character Design
Same as for 3D Modeling. The current player model of Pixel Tennis just looks like Pikachu (without face, ears, arms, legs and tail...)
As posted in Your opinion on Pixel Tennis future art style, Pixel Tennis will most likely get a pixel art style to greatly reduce 3D modeling and animation work. I am still looking for a 3D artist in Searching someone for 3D modeling and animation.
Leveling System
Important as well., but not on my priority list. Will not be in Milestone 1.
See Your opinion on Pixel Tennis exp rates discussion.
UI
A very basic user interface is can be seen in [devblog] Pixel Tennis – menu & online gameplay.
Gameplay
Running, Charging and hitting a ball (Stroke, Lob) works in network mode, even special shots are available. The camera follows the player.
Btw, the court position logic (which player stays where in 1on1 or 2on2 at which state) was awful to implement...
//Note: You cannot reply to this topic, because it is only intended to work as a kind of changelog :)
Below, you can see a very basic progress chart. The blue bars indicate, how far (in %) I am to complete the game. The grey bars indicate the remaining effort required for releasing Milestone 1.
That's right, there will be milestone releases for you to test. Consider them as early alpha versions or technical demos. The reason for that is very simple. Before finalizing the game, a lot of work needs to be done - a lot of work that I am planning to invest in my free time. With Milestone 1 (or even before), I am able to see how many people like and/or support my work. Depending on this, Pixel Tennis's future will be decided.
I hope you understand that there is no motivation if there is nobody that is interested in this project
Btw, the category order of the chart has nothing to do with priority. My LibreOffice just wanted to mix them randomly at a certain time.
Website / Forum
As you can see, there is a website / forum. pixeltennis.de is located on a German paid hoster with SSL support and more than enough capacity.
Database
The game uses an SQL database hosted at pixeltennis.de
Networking P2P Gameplay
Unity's networking system works out of the box for local connections. If you want to connect via internet, they only offer a paid method which costs per connected user which is too expensive for me.
As an alternative, Pixel Tennis currently uses a one-time-fee third party library that tries to establish a peer to peer connection. It greatly reduces server load, but can also fail in 5-10% of certain system configurations. P2P also means, that the whole multiplayer logic is handled by the clients alone.
As announced on 03/2019, it is planned to switch from peer to peer connections to a semi authoritive server instead.
Since 03/2019 all match related connection logic goes through the dedicated server using a custom network implementation.
Network Gameserver
The main gameserver is hosted on a dedicated Linux machine at a paid hoster. It keeps track of accounts and ingame progress. The user account login is handled by an external interface that verifies against your forum login.
The current version already can provide character data, chats and control creating and joining rooms.
As announced on 03/2019, the game server will also handle multiplayer logic in the future.
Animation
Beside basic animations like rotating a smash circle or giving the ball a nice trailing effect, nothing is done. Things like character animation or certain camera scenes will be done much later.
Shop
Nothing to see here. Btw, there will be no pay to win gatcha coins - never :)
Item System
I know, collecting items is a very motivating part of the game, but Milestone 1 will not have anything like this at first.
Bots
Not even started. I only have basic ideas on how to achieve this.
3D Modeling
3D Modeling is a very big topic which will require much time and effort. Luckily, a prototype can also be made of basic shapes.
Character Design
Same as for 3D Modeling. The current player model of Pixel Tennis just looks like Pikachu (without face, ears, arms, legs and tail...)
As posted in Your opinion on Pixel Tennis future art style, Pixel Tennis will most likely get a pixel art style to greatly reduce 3D modeling and animation work. I am still looking for a 3D artist in Searching someone for 3D modeling and animation.
Leveling System
Important as well., but not on my priority list. Will not be in Milestone 1.
See Your opinion on Pixel Tennis exp rates discussion.
UI
A very basic user interface is can be seen in [devblog] Pixel Tennis – menu & online gameplay.
Gameplay
Running, Charging and hitting a ball (Stroke, Lob) works in network mode, even special shots are available. The camera follows the player.
Btw, the court position logic (which player stays where in 1on1 or 2on2 at which state) was awful to implement...
//Note: You cannot reply to this topic, because it is only intended to work as a kind of changelog :)