I tested out my theory using the Fancy Browser sample, and just modifying it to load an embedded html, which include all the code for the game.

So far it works great. I need to do some more tests, such as finding out what dependencies the executable requires, and also what kind of performance I get (QT5 will include V8). This is still pretty cool in my opinion, just another way to monetize HTML5 games …. or even… HTML5 screen savers!

Here is a link to the github repo and the first of many demo’s Ill be posting.

Here is the workhorse function

function floodFill(mapData, x, y, oldVal, newVal){
    var mapWidth = mapData.length,
        mapHeight = mapData[0].length;

        if(oldVal == null){
            oldVal=mapData[x][y];
        }

        if(mapData[x][y] !== oldVal){
            return true;
        }

    mapData[x][y] = newVal;

    if (x > 0){
        floodFill(mapData, x-1, y, oldVal, newVal);
    }

    if(y > 0){
        floodFill(mapData, x, y-1, oldVal, newVal);
    }

    if(x < mapWidth-1){
        floodFill(mapData, x+1, y, oldVal, newVal);
    }

    if(y < mapHeight-1){
        floodFill(mapData, x, y+1, oldVal, newVal);
    }
}

Which is called by doing this

floodFill(map, 3,3,null,2);

map refers to a 2 dimensional array which contains the data, in my case, 0 or 1. The second 2 parameters are the x and y of where to start on the map, null is the initial value to start with, and 2 is the change value parameter, which tells the function to change any tile with the value 0, to 2.

The function is pretty straightforward it recursively checks each points north/south/east/west neighbor until it encounters a neighbors whos value is not 0. Try the code for yourself. I have portions commented out that generate a larger random map to fill for testing purposes. Anything beyond 256×256 has issues within chrome due to stack size restrictions.

Below is the result of the function.

And here is a link to some great information on recursive floodfilling

Just a basic particle engine using canvas (of course). Its tied in directly with my home grown game framework, so implementing it into my projects should be a breeze. Going to attempt to make an editor for it over the weekend.. heh mostly for me to just mess around, but of course it has the other benefit of allowing me to make effects visually, which is easier. Check it out

Its crazy how much of a difference music and sounds make. Been working on my shmup when not busy and got a boss in today. So much work still left to be done though, I want upgrades for the player ship still, and possibly a more consistent look for the enemies depending on the seed (like a shared color scheme).

You can check out my progress here

Original Post

Download

What I think is pretty cool about it so far is all the graphics (except the bg) are procedural and generated based off of whatever seed you give it. Not only are the graphics based on a seed but so is the level. For example if you play game?testing, you will have the same level/graphics as someone else who plays using that seed. This could provide some interesting challenges. Anyway heres the work in progress using the seed shmupity.

Also of course this is being done using js/canvas so you need a modern browser to test it.. but I don’t think there’s many who’d come here without one of those .

Was pretty stressful trying to make this in a day (especially since I did a full workday at my day job as well!). This ended up being my entry. I borrowed some game concepts (ok all of them) from the awesome game World Infectonator. Basically what you do is you get one chance to convert a 1%’er or “the unaware” in hopes they will spread their new found awareness enough to beat the level. Game was done using JS and Canvas of course, and using my homegrown game engine thats been evolving over the last year or so. You can check out the game in all its glory from the direct link.

Step 1 – Make a directory somewhere on your machine, but not in program files, or program files(x86). Otherwise in order to save you will have to run the game as an administrator. What I did was create a directory structure on the root of my drive “DRIVE:\Firaxis\Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri\”.

Step 2 - Copy the contents of the “programs” directory from Disc 1 to the directory we created above. Now copy the Directories FX, MOVIES, and VOICES into the directory. Now your structure should look something like the following,

Now do the same with CD2, copy the contents of programs to the root of the same directory and then copy FX/MOVIES/VOICES, and just acknowledge the file overwrites. At this point you now have a “working” copy of the game, you just run Terran.exe, or Terranx.exe in order to play, but you will probably have a few odd issues with windows not appearing, and low resolution. So I recommend you follow the rest of the directions posted at this forum (2nd post).

In case the above forum post is deleted or something I wanted to have the info here as well, but I encourage trying the link above first.

I run Alpha Centauri and it’s expansion Alien Crossfire on Windows 7 64-bit with no problems. However the following are a few of the things I’ve had to do to make them work the best they can:

Once you apply the Windows XP Compatibility patch then you are almost good to go for Windows 7 64-bit. If you are getting an error message then try to re-download that patch or run the patch itself in a compatibility mode perhaps with the “run as administrator” option.

You are almost ready to go. Before you even install any patches first make sure the installation folder is not within either the “Program Files” or “Program Files (x86)” folders. This is because Alpha Centauri (and Alien Crossfire) put their save games within their folders. Starting with Vista and newer this will not work because of User Access Control. So, choose an installation folder outside of “Program Files..”

Alpha Centauri’s native resolution is 800×600. You can change this however: in the installation folder, find a file named “Alpha Centauri.ini” and open it with NotePad. In that file, Under “[Alpha Centauri]” add two lines:

Video Mode=1024
DirectDraw=0

The first line will tell the game to run at 1024×768 which is the maximum resolution using DirectDraw that the game can run with. The second line tells the game to not use DirectDraw and it will instead run at your desktop resolution.

Not done yet!  Alpha Centauri itself (not Alien Crossfire) has a bug when running at your desktop resolution. In the main menu the menu’s are not visible. This makes getting into a game practically blind luck. There is a fix however:

If you have Alien Crossfire, get this patch: Here. Also get this patch: Here. Rename terran.exe and terranx.exe (if you have Alien Crossfire) so you have backup’s of them. Then unarchive the first patch into your SMAC folder then unarchive the second into it as well overwriting any files (but keep backups of any overwritten files). You can skip the first archive if you don’t have Alien Crossfire. Either of these patches will fix the menu not being visible when using the DirectDraw=0 option. So, you’ll be at your desktop resolution and everything will work with these unofficial patches. Both unofficial patches also come with something extra: AI improvements! That is just bonus on top of getting them to work at desktop-resolution!

Almost done! Go back to the “Alpha Centauri.ini” file. Under that put in:

ForceOldVoxelAlgorithm=0

This line if it doesn’t already exist. With the unofficial patches you can use “=0″ but if you don’t use those patches then you will need to set it to “=1″ or they will crash.

All of these instructions assume you can get Alpha Centauri to it’s last patch: the Windows XP/2000 patch. If you can do that then these instructions just “fix it up” to be the best it can be on a modern system.

If anything is unclear or I can help further just post back. Post back regardless whether you get it working or not!

Also, Alpha Centauri itself is now available on Good Old Games.com here: Link. I don’t know how well the unofficial patches will work with that version but that version is “turn-key”: it’s super simple to install and get going!

And enjoy

I might mess with this some more, got a few ideas for a small game or two, but who knows if Ill actually get around to it before finding something else that’s shiny. Feel free to do whatever with the code. Theres a lot of room for optimization.

Figured I might as well post this thing I was messing around with. Same concept but much slower .