This is just an announcement to say that Hexoshi has been orphaned. I no longer have any intention of developing this game because it's uninspired garbage and adds very little to the gaming landscape, if anything at all.
Of course, since it's libre software, you're free to pick up and maintain it if you like. Please be aware, however, that Hexoshi's dependencies (SGE, xSGE, and python-tmx) are also being orphaned, so you'll have to take up maintaining those too, or replace them. Considered from that angle Hexoshi's codebase is rather large and convoluted, and it would probably be easier to just start over from scratch in something like Godot Engine.
Thank you for your understanding.
It's late, but it's finally here! Version 0.2 of Hexoshi, a.k.a. Milestone 1, has been released. You can download it here:
http://hexoshi.nongnu.org/download.html
There currently isn't a 32-bit GNU/Linux build yet, since I wasn't able to set up a 32-bit virtual machine. I will correct this as soon as possible; in the meantime, 32-bit GNU/Linux users please run the source code.
This marks the end of the Milestone 1 phase of development, and the beginning of the Milestone 2 phase, which I will (for now) simply be doing as a part of what I do on Patreon and Liberapay:
https://www.patreon.com/onpon4
https://liberapay.com/onpon4
If you like what has happened with Hexoshi so far, please consider supporting me on one of these two pages.
In the last update, I noted that I was working on a system to make the Mantanoids (that's the main recurring enemy of the game) appear smarter.
Today, I did a round of work on Hexoshi, and I decided to scrap the system I had in mind because it just had too many problems and "what ifs". Instead, I've added adaptive machine learning to the Mantanoids' AI.
It's nothing too crazy. The way it works is really simple: a new segment has been added to the config file to record "A.I. data". This is a list of entries that note an action a Mantanoid has attempted to get from one point or another, and whether or not the action "passed" (i.e. got closer to the destination than it was prior to the action) or "failed". The A.I. then reads that list to decide in the future if those same actions in those same positions are worthwhile.
Still, it seems to be having the desired effect. While the Mantanoid A.I. is by no means intelligent with this, it is at the very least basically competent with a little training. That's all I ever needed it to be, and I am quite happy with the result.
So now, all I have to do is add some missing sound effects, train the Mantanoid A.I. some more (the plan is to release Milestone 1 with the Mantanoids pre-trained), and make sure none of the level design causes the new Mantanoids to be unreasonable. Tentatively, I would say that Milestone 1 will be out next week.
I must apologize in advance for how slow updates are coming. I honestly didn't realize it had been over two months since the previous update; time has just been going by so quickly what with the holidays and other things. In any case, I have some great news, which you may already know if you closely follow the Hexoshi Milestone 1 funds log bug, but it's noteworthy anyway:
The artwork for Milestone 1 is all finished. My work is all that is left to be done.
Luke Bunday, who has done a fantastic job completing most of Hexoshi's artwork, was consistently finding himself unable to continue with his work due to personal circumstances, so at my suggestion, he gave me his blessing to pass on the remainder of the work he was going to do for Milestone 1 to someone else. That someone else ended up being Trevor McAleese, who expertly duplicated the style used by Hexoshi and worked with me to complete the slope tiles, hedgehog enemy, scorpion enemy, and two new enemies: a jellyfish enemy (used in Milestone 1) and a fungus that sprays poison (to be used in Milestone 2). This was all finished just prior to the end of 2017.
This means that Milestone 1 is right around the corner; all that's left is my work, which is almost done. In particular, I have the following tasks to complete:
1. Coding the scorpion enemy. This is about a quarter of the way done, by my rough estimation. The scorpion's behavior is pretty simple: it just walks back and forth and shoots at any players in front of it.
2. Improving the Mantanoids to behave more intelligently. This is a lower-priority task, so it may be postponed until Milestone 2 if necessary. However, I have come up with a system and at the very least started to lay the groundwork for this system.
Suffice to say, Milestone 1 will be coming very soon. I should only need 1-3 more free days to finish everything else that still needs to be done. As always, I would like to thank everyone for your support and patience. You are the ones who make this project possible! :)
Take note, this is not, I repeat, NOT Milestone 1. Rather, this is a pre-Milestone 1 release of Hexoshi. Consider it like a sort of Milestone 0.9, if you will.
Because of how long the wait has been, I have decided that I should make an "early" release, sort of a pre-release before the actual Milestone 1 release is ready. It can be found on the Download page of the Hexoshi website:
http://hexoshi.nongnu.org/download.html
So, what is missing from version 0.1, which precludes it from being the Milestone 1 release? Not all that much, actually; I'm just waiting on Luke's graphics for the most part. The following are missing:
1. The scorpion enemy, which is supposed to be found in a couple of the Iridia rooms.
2. The hedgehog enemy, which is supposed to be a recurring Iridia enemy, scattered around the area.
3. Rock-like slope tiles; currently, "corner" pieces have to be used, which are ugly and make it unclear that they are slopes.
And really, that's it! Everything else is there, including the lowest ranked Mantanoids, which will be the primary antagonists of Hexoshi as development goes ahead. So while this release is not quite up to par when it comes to the goals of Milestone 1, I hope those of you who backed this project and have been patiently waiting for a release enjoy this "early" one while you wait for Milestone 1... and what lies beyond!
I'm still waiting for Luke's work at the moment, though he's getting close to finishing the Mantanoid sprites, which is exciting. So for now, in lieu of an actual update, I have decided to record a new gameplay video of Hexoshi. The new video can be found here:
https://goblinrefuge.com/mediagoblin/u/onpon4/m/hexoshi-2017-07-19/
It probably looks on the outside like Hexoshi is dormant, and I must apologize for that. Regardless of appearances, I am actually busier than I have been in a long time, since I have recently started re-learning Japanese (successfully!) and also started an interesting new side-project called Tangomon. I haven't been working on Hexoshi much, but that's because most of the work that's left is graphical improvements, which not only has Luke been working diligently on, he's even done extra improvements for free! Those extras consist of a new warp pad, as well as a WIP full make-over of Iridia to give it a more defined identity.
As for actual tasks of Milestone one, the following new images have been finished:
Other changes since the last update include:
By the way, as far as tasks go, I have opened tasks for the next two enemies that will be added to Hexoshi: the primary antagonists, the Mantanoids, and a dog-sized scorpion-like alien which is the mantanoids' equivalent to a dog. Both of these enemies will be recurring enemies, seen throughout the entire planet Anneroy is exploring at various strength levels. Luke is currently working on the scorpion enemy.
As always, thank you for your support and patience. Milestone 1 will be arriving a little later than I hoped, but it is on the horizon. If you want to continue to support my game development efforts after Milestone 1, or if you want to support my other libre game development efforts, please consider contributing to either my Patreon page or my Liberapay page:
https://www.patreon.com/onpon4
https://liberapay.com/onpon4
I must apologize for the late announcement of the voting results. I just so happened to launch a Patreon page at the same time as the voting ended, so I forgot to do so.
On that note, please consider contributing to that Patreon page, which can be found here:
https://www.patreon.com/onpon4
It will not have anything to do with Milestone 1 of Hexoshi, but it supports my other game development efforts, and if I get enough funding through it, I may be able to make the Milestone 2 crowdfunding campaign entirely focused on raising money to commission art. That would make the campaign smaller (and therefore more likely to succeed), and it would also make the way Milestone 2 is developed much more flexible.
In any case, the voting results. I assigned a number of points to each choice based on where people placed them among their preferences: first choice got five points, second choice got four points, and so on, up until the fifth choice, which got one point. The top three choices by this metric were:
The voter turnout was low (again), but that's OK. Iridia was one of my favorite options too, so Iridia it is.
But that's not all; there have also been a ton of new developments since the last progress report last month. These are the most notable developments:
Milestone 1 is on the horizon, but much more work needs to be done. Stay tuned!
I have exciting news about a brand-new effort which is almost ready to be revealed.
It is well-known that Python is a difficult to read programming language, and it is clearly woefully out-of-date. A more modern language is needed. Therefore, I am happy to announce that Hexoshi has been ported to BASIC, and the repository will reflect this port very soon.
This decision required substantive rewrites of the Hexoshi source code, which involved hours of behind-the-scenes work and many sleepless nights. However, it is my firm belief that the adoption of BASIC will save vast amounts of time and money in the long-run.
Even better, Hexoshi will be able to run on a wider selection of computers, including the Commodore 64, the ZX Spectrum and the Apple II. Support for these systems has been widely demanded by backers, and can now be made into a reality.
Of course, Hexoshi releases for Windows and GNU/Linux will be based on FreeBasic.
There are of course some caveats for Windows users. Due to the limitations of this system's ability to handle the advanced and elegant nature of BASIC, builds for it will unfortunately be limited to 16 colors. Additionally, Windows will not be able to display the Insane-HD™ graphics provided by FreeBasic, again due to the limitations of the system. However, as Windows is a secondary platform, it is my belief that this will be a worthwhile trade-off. It has been estimated that Windows will be fully capable of delivering the full experience of the new Hexoshi by Windows 22, based on projections of past development, and that this version will be available in 2030.
All CrowdSupply backers have been secretly contacted. While some expressed some disdain at the extra work, when I explained that I would be doing this work at no charge, everyone quickly agreed that the move was a phenomenal idea. Here are some quotes from some of the backers:
"I was excited for Hexoshi before, but now I am even more excited! I cannot wait to try Hexoshi with the advanced graphics BASIC will give."
"Thank you so much! It is going to be fantastic to finally be able to play this game on my Commodore 64."
"Yes, it's about time we stopped bending over to the will of Microsoft and use such an outdated language as Python just for them. Good on you! Hopefully this will encourage Microsoft to finally get up-to-date with proper BASIC support, which is what everyone obviously wants."
"I am really excited for this move because I found Hexoshi's Python source code to be esoteric. With the new BASIC rewrite, I will finally be able to contribute to this great game. Thank you!"
"What? BASIC? Are you ******* kidding me?"
"This is wonderful news. I was worried that Hexoshi might succumb to the imminent end-of-life for Python. The switch to BASIC means that Hexoshi will be supported on all major operating systems for years to come."
"I am a packager for a GNU/Linux distro based on FreeBASIC. At first I was worried that I would have to exclude your wonderful game, Hexoshi, from the package system, but knowing that you have started porting the game to BASIC, I am hopeful again. Thank you!"
"I personally prefer Brain****, but this is a step in the right direction. I applaud you for the decision to purge Python, clearly the worst language ever invented by a human."
Happy April 1, everyone!
A new nomination phase has started for determining the name of Hexoshi's first area (the one which all current rooms are located in). The corresponding task is here:
https://savannah.nongnu.org/task/index.php?14405
Anyone is permitted to nominate as many possible names as desired. Please also feel free to discuss the topic in the task's comments.
I was in the midst of a massive, widespread power outage here in Michigan, so I took this opportunity to write another update explaining what has been going on, since it’s long overdue.
At the beginning of last month, I caught a nasty, long-lasting cold and was pretty much out of commission for a whole week. Then, like clockwork, Luke also got sick some time last month, and also got it bad. So productivity from both of us suffered as a result. However, we are both back in commission, and (with the exception of the loss of productivity this power outage is causing me) are back on track.
Partly because of his illness, Luke ended up taking longer to do the ball animation than expected, and because of this, he volunteered to finish both the ball and the wall jump at no additional cost, which made the total cost for both the ball and wall jump only $40 (for the 2 hours he sank into the ball animation before he decided to do this). He didn’t have to do this and I didn’t ask him to, so I am hugely grateful. :)
In other news, these are the most notable changes since the last update:
The voting phase for enemies is over, with the turnout having been rather low (3 voters). That's OK, though. After compounding everyone's votes together, the following was the order of preference for the suggested enemies:
1. A scorpion-like creature that shoots projectiles (probably spikes) out of its tail.
2. A hedgehog-like creature that curls into a ball and charges at the player.
3. A caterpillar-like creature that crawls on floors, walls, and ceilings.
4. A mole-like creature which pokes its head out of a visible hole and throws projectiles (probably rocks) at the player.
5. A plant which a tentacle or vine grows out of when approached, hurting the player if touched.
6. An "air urchin" which follows the player and explodes on contact.
7. A small flea-like creature which hops around and latches onto the player on contact, causing negative status effects temporarily.
Given these results, the flea and "air urchin" ideas will probably not be used, while the scorpion and hedgehog ideas will probably be used. Since the turnout was so low, however, I will use this as a guideline, not a hard rule. Please feel free to continue saying what kinds of enemies you would like to see in the game. :)
The second question did not have any clear winner (everyone voted for something different): the lizard people, insect people, scorpion robots, and praying mantis aliens all had one vote each. Given how inconclusive this is, it will be mostly ignored. Again, please feel free to continue commenting on this.
I have come down with a pretty bad cold, so that's been slowing me down for the last couple of days. However, three new rooms have been added since the move to Savannah, bringing the total number of rooms to 33. Slow but steady progress on the ball animations has also been made.