Pit Fighter: A Programming Odyssey - Page 2

CraigSca · 08-20-2004, 11:31 PM

GB,

Don't fret, as there are ways around this one (i.e. read in all the fighter data from the db at the beginning of the fight and write it out at the end of the fight). Just don't constantly read/write to the database throughout each fight, that's where you'll run into significant slowdowns.

Godzilla Blitz · 08-21-2004, 11:58 PM

21 August 2004

Sleep is a weapon. Feel much better after getting eight hours of sleep last night.

Have selected the game’s name: Libertas Morte (Freedom in Death). Just in case something ever becomes of this, I registered both domain names: libertasmorte.com & freedomindeath.com.

I’m happy with the progress I’ve made through the Step by Step book so far, but I was starting to feel like everything was starting to get mixed together. Instead of working forward today, I decided to try and tackle my first mini-goal of writing the code to give random names to randomly created fighters. Basically, I wanted to read a first name and last name text file, randomly select a name for each from the files, concatenate them, and save them in a names location in an array. Then repeat this 499 more times to get a 500-fighter world. Well, it took 3 hours and much trouble-shooting, but I was able to get the job done! The game now can now successfully assign random names to fighters. We have some code! Yahoo! All in all, it was three hours well spent. It forced me to apply a lot of the concepts covered in the latest five lessons. I feel like I have a much better grasp of the content now.

Short-term goals:
1. Do Lesson 12 in the book (on databases).
2. For the 500-fighter world, generate and assign to fighters the attributes for Stage 1 combat. I think I know how to do this already, so I’m hoping this won’t be so difficult.
3. Get a clue about how to display on screen the information in an array.

Total time: 3 hours hours.

Grand total: 22 hours and 45 minutes.

Godzilla Blitz · 08-22-2004, 12:02 AM

CraigSca: Thanks. I don't think I know enough to be worried about anything yet, so no fretting yet on this end. The more I learn, though, the more I realize how much I don't know.

skrath · 08-22-2004, 01:50 AM

Best of luck, GB. I feel your pain

I even know what it's like to make a fighting game - I hacked up a text-based fighting sim back in 2000 for someone (the engine was a fighting only, but they wanted it based on Star Wars - so there were lightsabres and all that jazz), but they never paid me

Great idea for a dynasty too. I'll definitely be following along.

Marc Vaughan · 08-22-2004, 05:02 AM

With the actual fight itself I'd suggest looking into as many RPG's as posssible and seeing how they do their fight sequences (Runequest in particular might interest you - its rather bloody with limbs being hacked off and might suit this sort of game, it also incorporates blocking etc. which makes it more strategic .... allowing Ducks as combatants is optional (you'll understand when you read the rule book).

Vince · 08-22-2004, 05:43 AM

Congrats on the name generator...bet it felt good to get that done

I remember my CS days, getting the code to actually do what you wanted it to do was a great feeling

Godzilla Blitz · 08-22-2004, 11:38 PM

22 August 2004

Spent some time trying to figure out what to use to display the data for fighters on the program’s various forms. Should I put it in a listbox, a database, a Flexgrid, or just manually print to a specific spot on the form? Spent some time reading about FlexGrids, which to my untrained eye, seem pretty helpful.

Worked to generate attributes for the fighters in the game world. Made up an attribute set for the simple combat model. That went quickly, so I added ID numbers (for computing purposes) and ratings. Made a FlexGrid to display all this information, and got it to print correctly. It doesn’t look good yet, but our 500 fighters now have a scouting rating, health, energy, strength, and hand-to-eye coordination.

Next up: Work to align text and columns in the flexgrid better. Work to bring the flexgrid to life by allowing someone to click on a cell in the grid and have it select the whole line. Work on getting the data to sort if you click on the column headers.

At some point this week I’ll get back into the textbook.

Total time: 2 hours.

Grand total: 24 hours and 45 minutes.

JonInMiddleGA · 08-22-2004, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Godzilla Blitz

freedomindeath.com.

Umm ... if the Dept. of Homeland Security gives you a call, just send 'em here for references

Godzilla Blitz · 08-23-2004, 12:03 AM

skrath: Actually, as silly as it sounds, I enjoyed it. I didn't really get stuck anywhere and always felt like I was making progress.

Marc: That is an excellent idea. Thank you. I've played a fair amount of RPG's on the computer, and have a basic understanding of D&D rules, but am not familiar with RuneQuest. Is this the one:

hxxp://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5916070937&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT

I will try to find a copy somewhere. I found a site about the game, and it sounds like it's had a long and tumultous history.

One of the things that I think will be challenging to do well in this game is the combat. With only one-against-one (for the near future anyway), it will be tough to make the combat into more than just a number-crunching.

Vince: Yeah, it did feel good to get the code to do what I wanted it to. I must have spent 10 minutes after I was done just generating lists of fighter names to see what kind of names showed up. Now that I've got attributes to go with them, and star-ratings, etc., it's even more fun.

Godzilla Blitz · 08-23-2004, 12:08 AM

Dola...

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Umm ... if the Dept. of Homeland Security gives you a call, just send 'em here for references

You know, that actually occured to me, then I figured, naw, that would be silly.

Now that it's occured to someone else, I'm wondering if I maybe I should expect FBI agents at my door anytime soon.

Eilim · 08-23-2004, 03:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

With the actual fight itself I'd suggest looking into as many RPG's as posssible and seeing how they do their fight sequences (Runequest in particular might interest you - its rather bloody with limbs being hacked off and might suit this sort of game, it also incorporates blocking etc. which makes it more strategic .... allowing Ducks as combatants is optional (you'll understand when you read the rule book).

I have to agree with Marc on this one. I've depended heavily on RPG resources on the few little games I've made. My favorite source for material is www.rpgnow.com . Besides having alot of products dirt cheap and downloadable, they also have numerous free game rulesets and supplements available. Occasionally even the commercial products will be available for free download for short promotions.

I've picked up a bunch of "generic" game rulesets from the site that have really helped when planning/designing my own custom systems.

sachmo71 · 08-23-2004, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marc Vaughan

With the actual fight itself I'd suggest looking into as many RPG's as posssible and seeing how they do their fight sequences (Runequest in particular might interest you - its rather bloody with limbs being hacked off and might suit this sort of game, it also incorporates blocking etc. which makes it more strategic .... allowing Ducks as combatants is optional (you'll understand when you read the rule book).

Isn't this the game that King of Dragon Pass is based on?

EDIT: I checked it, and it is. Man was this a fun game! http://www.a-sharp.com/kodp/

Marc Vaughan · 08-23-2004, 09:03 AM

Oh another RPG with a bloody combat system was 'Swords and Sorcery' - great combat system for that one ... rather involved when playing with dice, but would work fine on a computer imho ...

Marc Vaughan · 08-23-2004, 09:03 AM

PS. Yes I know I had a wasted childhood

sachmo71 · 08-23-2004, 10:47 AM

Rolemaster has a very detailed combat system. Hours are usually lost on a single encounter.

Godzilla Blitz · 08-23-2004, 01:56 PM

Thanks for all the suggestions on RPG's, especially those with detailed combat. I'll try to make it a point to take a look at as many of them as I can.

I can see it now...

I'll sit around in my office hacking away at RPG's, deducting the cost of the games as tax expenses, and telling my wife, "I'm hard at work, honey!" whenever she walks in and sees me playing. She is going to just love this one.

JonInMiddleGA · 08-23-2004, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Godzilla Blitz

I'll sit around in my office hacking away at RPG's, deducting the cost of the games as tax expenses, and telling my wife, "I'm hard at work, honey!" whenever she walks in and sees me playing. She is going to just love this one.

FWIW, it actually worked a lot better with my wife than it did with my CPA

Godzilla Blitz · 08-23-2004, 09:51 PM

23 August 2004

Sigh. First day off. Too busy at work. Hoping for a big day tomorrow.

Total time: None

Grand total: 24 hours and 45 minutes.

Godzilla Blitz · 08-23-2004, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

FWIW, it actually worked a lot better with my wife than it did with my CPA

sabotai · 08-23-2004, 09:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Godzilla Blitz

23 August 2004

Sigh. First day off. Too busy at work. Hoping for a big day tomorrow.

Slacker.

(j/k. I know how you feel. You need to take an occasional day off or you'll eventually go crazy.)

Godzilla Blitz · 08-23-2004, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sabotai

Slacker.

(j/k. I know how you feel. You need to take an occasional day off or you'll eventually go crazy.)

Speaking of slackers, how's that alternate reality FOF dynasty coming along?

I'm just kidding too. I know how hard dynasties can be to keep going.

sabotai · 08-23-2004, 11:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Godzilla Blitz

Speaking of slackers, how's that alternate reality FOF dynasty coming along?

Not mention my boxing recreation, baseball recreation and best all-time boxer tournament...All dynasties (plus many ideas I have) I want to do, just not enough time. Considering I want to spend much time programming my tennis sim.

Oh, and BTW, I never denied being a slacker. In fact, it describes me quite well.

Godzilla Blitz · 08-24-2004, 09:30 PM

24 August 2004

Worked through Lesson 13 in Step by Step. Learned the basics of database management. Straightforward stuff, but I think I’ll need to practice using it to feel more confident in how to use it.

Spent some time researching how best to display the fighter information (stats, attributes, etc.) on the various forms of the program. Basically, I’ve narrowed it down to either listboxes (listviews?) or FlexGrids. No idea which one is better/faster. Any input would be appreciated if anyone out has experience with these things.

Looks like this week is going to be busy work-wise. Not going to be able to make the progress I did last week, but will try to do a bit a day.

Total time: 1 hour

Grand total: 25 hours and 45 minutes.

Godzilla Blitz · 08-24-2004, 09:31 PM

Sabotai: Oh, you were the one doing the tennis sim. I meant to download the program you had up a few weeks ago. How is it coming?

CraigSca · 08-24-2004, 10:07 PM

Really, it depends on what you're trying to show, GB. However...flexgrids allow you to click on a column to perform a sort, and I think allow you to insert images into cells. So, they give pretty good flexibility. You might even look into some of the vendors out there that offer customer controls. Some of them are pretty cheap (while others are outrageously expensive) and can add a little "wow"-factor to your controls.

Alf · 08-25-2004, 07:33 AM

CraigSca, GB, some flexgrid are free, wait a minute, I have it posted over at hattrick by one of the CHPP developpers (for those ignorant about hattrick, check the hattrick forum or www.hattrick.org, this is an online soccer management game with 400k+ users worldwide)

one that does not appear gratis : http://www.glacialcomponents.com/Pro...id=GlacialList

a free one : http://www.vbaccelerator.com/home/VB...rols/index.asp (The S-Grid 2.0 Control )

My 0.02$ contribution to your project

sabotai · 08-25-2004, 03:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Godzilla Blitz

Sabotai: Oh, you were the one doing the tennis sim. I meant to download the program you had up a few weeks ago. How is it coming?

Progressing kind of slow right now. Doing a bunch of tedius inputting of data...boring.

hoosierdude · 08-25-2004, 06:18 PM

I know that feeling. Following this with interest. I thought I was the only one that struggled with some of these things. Inputting of data... ah...the bane of my existence.

Godzilla Blitz · 08-25-2004, 11:15 PM

Craig: I think I'm going to stick with the FlexGrids for the moment, but keep looking at other possibilities. Thanks.

Alf: Thanks. I took a quick look today, but will take a closer look soon. I didn't realize there were so many custom controls out there.

Sabotai: Tennis player data?

hoosierdude: It seems as if there are a lot of programmers here! Glad you're finding the thread of interest.

Godzilla Blitz · 08-25-2004, 11:18 PM

25 August 2004

Damn it. Another shutout today. Too many meetings. Too much work. Too little sleep.

Things are looking to be tough over the next month.

Got to make a committment to spending at least 30 minutes a day on this, at least 6 days a week. Can't lose the ground I've earned so far.

It's clear I need some...

TOTAL CONCENTWATION.

sabotai · 08-27-2004, 12:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Godzilla Blitz

Sabotai: Tennis player data?

Tournament structures and the like. Lots of different types, money payouts, point breakdowns, qualifying round size, doubles bracket size, etc. etc. etc.

Godzilla Blitz · 08-29-2004, 09:16 PM

29 August 2004

Life is crazy busy now, but I am trying not to lose my momentum here.

Spent 30 minutes working through half of Lesson 15 in Step by Step. Learned about OLE objects and started on Automation using Office programs. None of this is immediately relevant to the game, but perhaps can be useful later.

Total time: 30 minutes.

Grand total: 26 hours and 15 minutes.

Alf · 09-02-2004, 03:48 AM

GB, you might want to check this thread (or contact gstelmack), there are some nice VB "free" controls that he uses : http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/f...6&page=3&pp=50

Cap Ologist · 09-08-2004, 08:36 PM

How's this coming? I know you've been busy, but are you still making any progress? I've enjoyed reading this and it helped me get started with Visual Basic.

Godzilla Blitz · 09-08-2004, 08:50 PM

Alf: Thank you for the info. I've just taken a quick look at the thread, and will find some time to read through it and take a look at the programs/controls.

Cap: I'm glad to hear that this helped you get started with VB. Every day for the past week or so I've written "Work on game programming: 30 minutes" into my day planner, and every day I've failed. Sigh. I've come to the realization that I've just been too busy these past few weeks. (I teach in the mornings and getting the school year running is always busy, plus the work I do out of home has been busy as well) By next Monday I hope to have my life back in order to the point where I can devote some steady time to this. That might be a bit optimistic, but September 24 should be the latest when my life will settle back down. So, I guess the short answer is "It's not coming well at all, but I hope to get back in gear soon."

Cap Ologist · 09-28-2004, 09:03 PM

Has life settled down any? I hope you keep plugging away at this.

Fouts · 10-08-2004, 02:18 AM

I'm looking to learn some programming and see you referenced this book - Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Professional Step by Step, Second Edition.

Can anyone give me an opinion on purchasing this book? Also, do I need to buy anything else to start creating forms, etc.?

What I'm trying to do is write a program that tracks baseball statistics. Whether its importing from a .csv or just hand entering the data into a database, I want the program to be able to output the data into html pages (similar to catobase, but not for ootp).

Thanks for any help. I gotta start somewhere.

Godzilla Blitz · 12-18-2004, 08:18 PM

18 December 2004

*Sheepishly returns*

CapOlogist has motivated me to try and get back to this. Spent 30 minutes today reading this journal to refresh my mind where I left off. Goal for the next week is to get back to the level of understanding I left off at in late August.

Wow, has it really been three and half months since I touched this? Yikes.

If anyone is still around, does it make sense to upgrade to VB Net?

Fouts: Sorry that I missed your earlier question regarding the book. The book you refer to is the book that I've been mainly using to learn VB 6.0. Overall, I've been very happy with it. It's a good starting point. You can always add more books later.

Total time: 30 minutes.

Grand total: 26 hours and 45 minutes.

hoosierdude · 12-18-2004, 10:01 PM

If you are fluent with VB 6 , I would stay with that. The next version of .Net is good, but most of the PC's out there arent on the .Net framework yet, and some of what you do with version 6 you cannot do as simply or easily with .Net, stay with six for now.

Cap Ologist · 12-18-2004, 11:34 PM

Woohoo! Welcome back. I'm sticking with 6.0 mainly because I got it for free and want to save the money right now.

sterlingice · 12-19-2004, 10:47 AM

I dunno. I think after 30 minutes, you've barely gotten into the programming and your time is up. Perhaps set aside 2 nights a week (Tues/Thurs or something) and work for 2 hours those nights so you don't have that overhead every day and you spend basically the same time. That said, it's harder to set aside larger chunks of time, too, so maybe this is the best idea.

SI

Godzilla Blitz · 12-19-2004, 10:49 AM

hoosierdude: Thanks. Sticking with 6 for now.

Cap: Thanks. Reading through this thread actually helped me remember a lot of what I was working on at the time I left off, so I'm hoping I can get back to where I was pretty quickly.

Trying to set aside 30 minutes a day to work on it, and hoping to put together a string of consecutive days. If I can make this a habit, I've got a chance. Have set aside time tonight for this.

Godzilla Blitz · 12-19-2004, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by sterlingice

I dunno. I think after 30 minutes, you've barely gotten into the programming and your time is up. Perhaps set aside 2 nights a week (Tues/Thurs or something) and work for 2 hours those nights so you don't have that overhead every day and you spend basically the same time. That said, it's harder to set aside larger chunks of time, too, so maybe this is the best idea.

SI

SI, Thanks for the feedback. With kids and stuff, it's hard to set aside two hours on a regular basis, but I'm not planning on setting up a rule to stop after 30 minutes, either. If I keep going and work for a couple of hours, that would be fine as well. If this plan doesn't work, though, I might try longer chunks of time every other day or like you mention, a "two hours twice a week" plan a shot.

Godzilla Blitz · 12-28-2004, 05:02 PM

28 December 2004

Started relearning the stuff I forgot since August. Spent 30 minutes working with Chapter 10 in Visual Basic Step by Step. Relearned material on standard modules and public variables.

Ordered Ready to Run Visual Basic Algorithms by Rod Stephens, based on the recommendations of a number of people that have posted here. Picked up a new copy from an Amazon book dealer for about $20 shipped.

Spent 15 minutes looking at the code that I wrote in August that generates gladiators, with names and basic characteristics. Wondered about how to best generate a fighter world with a good balance of elite fighters, good fighters, average fighters, and crappy fighters. Remembered reading a post (on FOFC, I thought) from Jim regarding how he generates such a balance in FOF, but couldn’t find it anywhere.

Total time: 50 minutes.

Grand total: 27 hours and 35 minutes.

Cap Ologist · 12-28-2004, 11:11 PM

One way to generate gladiators is the use of random numbers. For example, you could generate a random number between 1 and 1000. If it's greater than 950, it's a really great one, greater than 800 but less than 950, it's good and so on.

Glad to see you are back at this. I've been out of town for the last week with family stuff and won't be back at my machine for another 2 days or so.

Godzilla Blitz · 12-28-2004, 11:27 PM

Thanks. I'm hopeful I can get off a good run of consecutive days. If I get some momentum, I think I can get back into the swing of things.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cap Ologist

One way to generate gladiators is the use of random numbers. For example, you could generate a random number between 1 and 1000. If it's greater than 950, it's a really great one, greater than 800 but less than 950, it's good and so on.

I think that was the gist of the post I read about levels of players. Up until I read that post, I was thinking that I would simply generate random stats within certain ranges and let the statistical odds produce exceptionally good and exceptionally bad fighters, but I'm thinking it would be better to run the fighter creation through a set of stages.

Stage 1: Determines the potential level of the fighter
Stage 2: Determines the total potential attribute points for that fighter based on his level
Stage 3: Assigns the points to various attributes.

I think this will give me greater control over the process and allow for easier tweaking to get the fighter world right. I think the only thing I'm not sure how to do would be to randomly assign the points from a total number of points to various attributes, but I don't think it will be too difficult.
______

I think the next thing I want to do is write down all the forms I'll need, and how the gameplay will flow. Everything is confused now, and I have no idea what forms I will need to get this to work.

hoosierdude · 12-28-2004, 11:40 PM

Keep up the good work. I am also watching with keen interest. Good Luck!

sterlingice · 12-29-2004, 08:54 AM

I'm curious if you've tried to find any other VB books. I've got a book on the basics and a little more but I've had the hardest time trying to find a decent book for "the next level" programming. I just get this impression that no programmer worth his salt wants to touch it so there's no O'Reilly (Programming not Learning) or Deitel/Deitel type book.

EDIT: I stand corrected- there is a learning/programming O'Reilly set but I've never run across them.

SI

Godzilla Blitz · 12-29-2004, 10:01 AM

hoosierdude: Thanks!

SI: I haven't looked too hard for the type of book you're describing, but I haven't run into one either. I must have five or six books on VB now. Four are beginner-level books. One is Stephen's "Code Library". The other is the yet-to-arrive Stephen's "Algorithms" book. I have noticed that each of the beginner books that I have emphasizes different areas, and I'm thinking that I'll work through another beginning book once I finish this first one. I'll skip the stuff that is overly redundant and work on the stuff that this first book I'm using didn't cover in detail.

In have looked over the "What to do from Here" sections at the end of the few of the beginner level books, and I get a sense that once you've gotten the basics down, a common next step is to develop skills in certain areas (e.g., database management, application management), and there seem to be a number of books written on each area. One of the things I'm hoping to understand better as I finish this first book is what is the common skill set an intermediate programmer in VB should have; from there I might try to pick up a book or two for each skill that I think I'm interested in learning. Also, it seems that a lot of books say to get a good reference book, and almost seem to imply that once you know the basics, you can teach yourself a lot of the next level through the use of reference materials. Personally, I look at some of those reference books and get lost, but I'm still only halfway through the beginning book, so I'm hoping things get easier.

The Step by Step book that I'm currently using recommends Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic 6 (Microsoft Corporation, 1998) as a next step, but I can't seem to find it on Amazon.

Godzilla Blitz · 12-29-2004, 11:35 AM

29 December 2004

Worked for an hour on a draft of the overall design of the game. I think this will likely change a lot as I move forward, but I think I now have a much better idea of how the game will look, what gameplay will consist of, and what forms are needed. The design follows, but it is a rough draft and hasn't been proofed or touched up to look perty. I hope to edit, refine, and fill in missing pieces tomorrow. I ran out of time to do more right now.

________

Libertas Morte Design Notes

Forms

Opening Form
Select New/Load/Quit/Save/Options
RESULTANT NEEDS: NEW GAME FORM/OPTIONS FORM

Main Form
What will the gamer do here?
1. He should be able to either view his stable here (if the info will fit on this screen) or have access to his stable from here. RESULTANT NEEDS: STABLE OVERVIEW FORM
2. He should be able to get to the tournament calendar from here. RESULTANT NEEDS: CALENDAR FORM
3. He should either be able to see his messages or be able to get to a message screen from here. RESULTANT NEEDS: MESSAGES OVERVIEW SCREEN or MESSAGES
4. He should be able to access the slave market from here. NEED: SLAVE MARKET SCREEN
5. He should be able to access the current game records page from here. NEED: GAME RECORDS SCREEN.
6. He should be able to contact the various other organizations in the game world (other stables, political bodies, trainers, etc). RESULTANT NEEDS: STABLE OVERVIEW FORM
6. He should be able to see an overview of his current game state from here. Financial information, game score, date, etc.
7. He should be able to click an “Advance Game World” button to move time forward. RESULTANT NEEDS: GAME PROGRESS INFO FORM?? (Question: How an I going to give the gamer the subsequent information that results when the game moves forward? Think about this.)

New Game Form (with options?)
What will the gamer do here?
1. He should be able to select the various characteristics of his new game. For example, game difficulty, unique rules options. RESULTANT NEEDS: None?

Stable Overview Form
What will the gamer do here?
1. He should be able to get an overview of the various fighters in his stable and other stables.
2. He should be able to click on a fighter and pull up the fighter’s info form. RESULTANT NEEDS: FIGHTER FORM
3. He should be able to get back to the main form.

Calendar Form
What will the gamer do here?
1. He should be able to get an overview of the various upcoming events in the game world.
2. He should be able to click on an event and pull up the event’s info form. RESULTANT NEEDS: EVENT INFO FORM
3. He should be able to get back to the main form.
4. He should be enter his fighters in events. (Question: How to allow access to fighter info without making this a jumble of two screens? Idea: Take a look at how Gallop Racer does this; this will be similar.)

Messages Overview Form
What will the gamer do here?
1. He should be to see a list of his incoming/outgoing messangers, and a title as to what their message is. (Idea: Make this like an email program so I don’t need a subsequent messages form. Top window has a list of messages. Bottom window contains the messages themselves. Idea: Take a look at FM2005’s system. This will be similar.)
2. He should be able to get back to the main form.

Slave Market Form
What will the gamer do here?
1. He should be able to see a list of available fighters in the slave market.
2. He should be able to click on the fighter to pull up the fighter’s individual form.
3. He should be able to buy slaves here.
4. He should be able to get back to the main form.

Fighter Form
What will the gamer do here?
1. He should be able to see a detailed report on his fighter. It should include:
A. All his current stats.
B. His fighting record and history.
C. His upcoming fights.
D. His current status (hurt, healthy, dead, free, slave)
E. His financial status (money earned, costs. Idea: Look at Gallop Racer for an idea what to include.) RESULTANT NEEDS: INDIVIDUAL FORMS FOR EACH AREA? Maybe one tabbed form like FOF for this? Think about this.
2. He should be able to interact with the fighter if it is one of his own: sell, release, free, kill, schedule in an event, etc.
3. He should be able to get back to the main form

Game Records Form
What will the gamer do here?
1. He should be to access the game world all-time, yearly, and tournament records.
2. He should be able to see a list of the Hall of Fame (rename this to something cooler) fighters. RESULTANT NEEDS: FIGHTER FORM.
3. He should be able to see a list of retired fighters.
4. He should be able to see his stable records.

Event Info Form
What will the gamer do here?
1. He should be to access the game world all-time, yearly, and tournament records.
2. He should be able to see a list of the Hall of Fame (rename this to something cooler) fighters. RESULTANT NEEDS: FIGHTER FORM.
3. He should be

Game Progress Info Form?
What will the gamer do here?
This will result when the gamer advances the game world. If I could fit this on the Main Form it would be great, but I want to see how things play out with this.
1. He should be to see that he has new messages and access the message screen.
2. He should be able to see a list of tournaments that occurred/are occurring that week. He should be able to click on the tournament name to watch/sim any tournaments or to actively manage any fighters in tournaments he has registered for. RESULTANT NEEDS: TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW FORM; INDIVIDUAL CHALLENGE FORM
3. He should be to click “Done” to get back to the main form.

Tournament Overview Form?
What will the gamer do here?
1. The gamer should be able to see an overview of the current tournament and its status.
2. He should be able to click on individual fights to see them or manage them. RESULTANT NEEDS: INDIVIDUAL CHALLENGE FORM
3. He should be able to sim an entire tournament.

Individual Challenge Form
What will the gamer do here?
This is the form the gamer will see just before a fight begins.
1. The gamer should be able to see an overview of the upcoming fight.
2. He should be able to click on a “Fight” button to be able to see/manage the fight, or click on a “Sim” button to automatically sim the fight. RESULTANT NEEDS: FIGHT FORM.
3. He should be able to go back to his previous screen.

Fight Form
What will the gamer do here?
1. The gamer should be able to manage/watch two fighters battle.

____

Wow. Lots to do.

Total time: 1 hour.

Grand total: 28 hours and 35 minutes.

08-21-2004, 11:58 PM	#52
Godzilla Blitz College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	21 August 2004 Sleep is a weapon. Feel much better after getting eight hours of sleep last night. Have selected the game’s name: Libertas Morte (Freedom in Death). Just in case something ever becomes of this, I registered both domain names: libertasmorte.com & freedomindeath.com. I’m happy with the progress I’ve made through the Step by Step book so far, but I was starting to feel like everything was starting to get mixed together. Instead of working forward today, I decided to try and tackle my first mini-goal of writing the code to give random names to randomly created fighters. Basically, I wanted to read a first name and last name text file, randomly select a name for each from the files, concatenate them, and save them in a names location in an array. Then repeat this 499 more times to get a 500-fighter world. Well, it took 3 hours and much trouble-shooting, but I was able to get the job done! The game now can now successfully assign random names to fighters. We have some code! Yahoo! All in all, it was three hours well spent. It forced me to apply a lot of the concepts covered in the latest five lessons. I feel like I have a much better grasp of the content now. Short-term goals: 1. Do Lesson 12 in the book (on databases). 2. For the 500-fighter world, generate and assign to fighters the attributes for Stage 1 combat. I think I know how to do this already, so I’m hoping this won’t be so difficult. 3. Get a clue about how to display on screen the information in an array. Total time: 3 hours hours. Grand total: 22 hours and 45 minutes. Last edited by Godzilla Blitz : 08-21-2004 at 11:59 PM.

08-22-2004, 01:50 AM	#54
skrath Mascot Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Melbourne, Australia	Best of luck, GB. I feel your pain I even know what it's like to make a fighting game - I hacked up a text-based fighting sim back in 2000 for someone (the engine was a fighting only, but they wanted it based on Star Wars - so there were lightsabres and all that jazz), but they never paid me Great idea for a dynasty too. I'll definitely be following along. __________________ JBL, CollegeJBL and EuroJBL Fantasy Basketball Universe: http://jblfl.com

08-22-2004, 05:43 AM	#56
Vince Pro Starter Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Willow Glen, CA	Congrats on the name generator...bet it felt good to get that done I remember my CS days, getting the code to actually do what you wanted it to do was a great feeling __________________ Every time a Dodger scores a run, an angel has its wings ripped off by a demon, and is forced to tearfully beg the demon to cauterize the wounds.The demon will refuse, and the sobbing angel will lie in a puddle of angel blood and feathers for eternity, wondering why the Dodgers are allowed to score runs.That’s not me talking: that’s science. McCoveyChronicles.com.

08-22-2004, 11:38 PM	#57
Godzilla Blitz College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	22 August 2004 Spent some time trying to figure out what to use to display the data for fighters on the program’s various forms. Should I put it in a listbox, a database, a Flexgrid, or just manually print to a specific spot on the form? Spent some time reading about FlexGrids, which to my untrained eye, seem pretty helpful. Worked to generate attributes for the fighters in the game world. Made up an attribute set for the simple combat model. That went quickly, so I added ID numbers (for computing purposes) and ratings. Made a FlexGrid to display all this information, and got it to print correctly. It doesn’t look good yet, but our 500 fighters now have a scouting rating, health, energy, strength, and hand-to-eye coordination. Next up: Work to align text and columns in the flexgrid better. Work to bring the flexgrid to life by allowing someone to click on a cell in the grid and have it select the whole line. Work on getting the data to sort if you click on the column headers. At some point this week I’ll get back into the textbook. Total time: 2 hours. Grand total: 24 hours and 45 minutes. Last edited by Godzilla Blitz : 08-23-2004 at 12:08 AM.

08-23-2004, 12:03 AM	#59
Godzilla Blitz College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	skrath: Actually, as silly as it sounds, I enjoyed it. I didn't really get stuck anywhere and always felt like I was making progress. Marc: That is an excellent idea. Thank you. I've played a fair amount of RPG's on the computer, and have a basic understanding of D&D rules, but am not familiar with RuneQuest. Is this the one: hxxp://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=5916070937&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT I will try to find a copy somewhere. I found a site about the game, and it sounds like it's had a long and tumultous history. One of the things that I think will be challenging to do well in this game is the combat. With only one-against-one (for the near future anyway), it will be tough to make the combat into more than just a number-crunching. Vince: Yeah, it did feel good to get the code to do what I wanted it to. I must have spent 10 minutes after I was done just generating lists of fighter names to see what kind of names showed up. Now that I've got attributes to go with them, and star-ratings, etc., it's even more fun. Last edited by Godzilla Blitz : 08-23-2004 at 12:09 AM.

08-22-2004, 12:02 AM	#53
Godzilla Blitz College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	CraigSca: Thanks. I don't think I know enough to be worried about anything yet, so no fretting yet on this end. The more I learn, though, the more I realize how much I don't know.

08-22-2004, 05:02 AM	#55
Marc Vaughan SI Games Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Melbourne, FL	With the actual fight itself I'd suggest looking into as many RPG's as posssible and seeing how they do their fight sequences (Runequest in particular might interest you - its rather bloody with limbs being hacked off and might suit this sort of game, it also incorporates blocking etc. which makes it more strategic .... allowing Ducks as combatants is optional (you'll understand when you read the rule book).

08-23-2004, 09:03 AM	#63
Marc Vaughan SI Games Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Melbourne, FL	Oh another RPG with a bloody combat system was 'Swords and Sorcery' - great combat system for that one ... rather involved when playing with dice, but would work fine on a computer imho ...

08-23-2004, 10:47 AM	#65
sachmo71 The boy who cried Trout Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: TX	Rolemaster has a very detailed combat system. Hours are usually lost on a single encounter.

08-23-2004, 01:56 PM	#66
Godzilla Blitz College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	Thanks for all the suggestions on RPG's, especially those with detailed combat. I'll try to make it a point to take a look at as many of them as I can. I can see it now... I'll sit around in my office hacking away at RPG's, deducting the cost of the games as tax expenses, and telling my wife, "I'm hard at work, honey!" whenever she walks in and sees me playing. She is going to just love this one.

08-23-2004, 09:51 PM	#68
Godzilla Blitz College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	23 August 2004 Sigh. First day off. Too busy at work. Hoping for a big day tomorrow. Total time: None Grand total: 24 hours and 45 minutes.

08-24-2004, 09:30 PM	#73
Godzilla Blitz College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	24 August 2004 Worked through Lesson 13 in Step by Step. Learned the basics of database management. Straightforward stuff, but I think I’ll need to practice using it to feel more confident in how to use it. Spent some time researching how best to display the fighter information (stats, attributes, etc.) on the various forms of the program. Basically, I’ve narrowed it down to either listboxes (listviews?) or FlexGrids. No idea which one is better/faster. Any input would be appreciated if anyone out has experience with these things. Looks like this week is going to be busy work-wise. Not going to be able to make the progress I did last week, but will try to do a bit a day. Total time: 1 hour Grand total: 25 hours and 45 minutes.

08-24-2004, 09:31 PM	#74
Godzilla Blitz College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	Sabotai: Oh, you were the one doing the tennis sim. I meant to download the program you had up a few weeks ago. How is it coming?

08-24-2004, 10:07 PM	#75
CraigSca Pro Starter Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Not Delaware - hurray!	Really, it depends on what you're trying to show, GB. However...flexgrids allow you to click on a column to perform a sort, and I think allow you to insert images into cells. So, they give pretty good flexibility. You might even look into some of the vendors out there that offer customer controls. Some of them are pretty cheap (while others are outrageously expensive) and can add a little "wow"-factor to your controls. __________________ She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah! She loves you, yeah! how do you know? how do you know?

08-25-2004, 07:33 AM	#76
Alf Pro Starter Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Rennes, France	CraigSca, GB, some flexgrid are free, wait a minute, I have it posted over at hattrick by one of the CHPP developpers (for those ignorant about hattrick, check the hattrick forum or www.hattrick.org, this is an online soccer management game with 400k+ users worldwide) one that does not appear gratis : http://www.glacialcomponents.com/Pro...id=GlacialList a free one : http://www.vbaccelerator.com/home/VB...rols/index.asp (The S-Grid 2.0 Control ) My 0.02$ contribution to your project __________________ FOFL - GML - IHOF - FranceStats

08-25-2004, 06:18 PM	#78
hoosierdude High School Varsity Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Indiana	I know that feeling. Following this with interest. I thought I was the only one that struggled with some of these things. Inputting of data... ah...the bane of my existence. __________________ TC Dale "Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud - Sophocles"

08-25-2004, 11:15 PM	#79
Godzilla Blitz College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	Craig: I think I'm going to stick with the FlexGrids for the moment, but keep looking at other possibilities. Thanks. Alf: Thanks. I took a quick look today, but will take a closer look soon. I didn't realize there were so many custom controls out there. Sabotai: Tennis player data? hoosierdude: It seems as if there are a lot of programmers here! Glad you're finding the thread of interest.

08-25-2004, 11:18 PM	#80
Godzilla Blitz College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	25 August 2004 Damn it. Another shutout today. Too many meetings. Too much work. Too little sleep. Things are looking to be tough over the next month. Got to make a committment to spending at least 30 minutes a day on this, at least 6 days a week. Can't lose the ground I've earned so far. It's clear I need some... TOTAL CONCENTWATION.

08-29-2004, 09:16 PM	#82
Godzilla Blitz College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	29 August 2004 Life is crazy busy now, but I am trying not to lose my momentum here. Spent 30 minutes working through half of Lesson 15 in Step by Step. Learned about OLE objects and started on Automation using Office programs. None of this is immediately relevant to the game, but perhaps can be useful later. Total time: 30 minutes. Grand total: 26 hours and 15 minutes. Last edited by Godzilla Blitz : 08-29-2004 at 09:16 PM.

09-02-2004, 03:48 AM	#83
Alf Pro Starter Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Rennes, France	GB, you might want to check this thread (or contact gstelmack), there are some nice VB "free" controls that he uses : http://dynamic2.gamespy.com/%7Efof/f...6&page=3&pp=50 __________________ FOFL - GML - IHOF - FranceStats

09-08-2004, 08:36 PM	#84
Cap Ologist College Prospect Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Flower Mound, TX	How's this coming? I know you've been busy, but are you still making any progress? I've enjoyed reading this and it helped me get started with Visual Basic.

09-08-2004, 08:50 PM	#85
Godzilla Blitz College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	Alf: Thank you for the info. I've just taken a quick look at the thread, and will find some time to read through it and take a look at the programs/controls. Cap: I'm glad to hear that this helped you get started with VB. Every day for the past week or so I've written "Work on game programming: 30 minutes" into my day planner, and every day I've failed. Sigh. I've come to the realization that I've just been too busy these past few weeks. (I teach in the mornings and getting the school year running is always busy, plus the work I do out of home has been busy as well) By next Monday I hope to have my life back in order to the point where I can devote some steady time to this. That might be a bit optimistic, but September 24 should be the latest when my life will settle back down. So, I guess the short answer is "It's not coming well at all, but I hope to get back in gear soon." Last edited by Godzilla Blitz : 09-08-2004 at 08:53 PM.

09-28-2004, 09:03 PM	#86
Cap Ologist College Prospect Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Flower Mound, TX	Has life settled down any? I hope you keep plugging away at this.

10-08-2004, 02:18 AM	#87
Fouts College Starter Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: California	I'm looking to learn some programming and see you referenced this book - Microsoft Visual Basic 6.0 Professional Step by Step, Second Edition. Can anyone give me an opinion on purchasing this book? Also, do I need to buy anything else to start creating forms, etc.? What I'm trying to do is write a program that tracks baseball statistics. Whether its importing from a .csv or just hand entering the data into a database, I want the program to be able to output the data into html pages (similar to catobase, but not for ootp). Thanks for any help. I gotta start somewhere.

12-18-2004, 08:18 PM	#88
Godzilla Blitz College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	18 December 2004 Sheepishly returns CapOlogist has motivated me to try and get back to this. Spent 30 minutes today reading this journal to refresh my mind where I left off. Goal for the next week is to get back to the level of understanding I left off at in late August. Wow, has it really been three and half months since I touched this? Yikes. If anyone is still around, does it make sense to upgrade to VB Net? Fouts: Sorry that I missed your earlier question regarding the book. The book you refer to is the book that I've been mainly using to learn VB 6.0. Overall, I've been very happy with it. It's a good starting point. You can always add more books later. Total time: 30 minutes. Grand total: 26 hours and 45 minutes. Last edited by Godzilla Blitz : 12-28-2004 at 05:03 PM.

12-18-2004, 10:01 PM	#89
hoosierdude High School Varsity Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Indiana	If you are fluent with VB 6 , I would stay with that. The next version of .Net is good, but most of the PC's out there arent on the .Net framework yet, and some of what you do with version 6 you cannot do as simply or easily with .Net, stay with six for now. __________________ TC Dale "Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud - Sophocles"

12-18-2004, 11:34 PM	#90
Cap Ologist College Prospect Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Flower Mound, TX	Woohoo! Welcome back. I'm sticking with 6.0 mainly because I got it for free and want to save the money right now.

12-19-2004, 10:47 AM	#91
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	I dunno. I think after 30 minutes, you've barely gotten into the programming and your time is up. Perhaps set aside 2 nights a week (Tues/Thurs or something) and work for 2 hours those nights so you don't have that overhead every day and you spend basically the same time. That said, it's harder to set aside larger chunks of time, too, so maybe this is the best idea. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!"

12-19-2004, 10:49 AM	#92
Godzilla Blitz College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	hoosierdude: Thanks. Sticking with 6 for now. Cap: Thanks. Reading through this thread actually helped me remember a lot of what I was working on at the time I left off, so I'm hoping I can get back to where I was pretty quickly. Trying to set aside 30 minutes a day to work on it, and hoping to put together a string of consecutive days. If I can make this a habit, I've got a chance. Have set aside time tonight for this.

12-28-2004, 05:02 PM	#94
Godzilla Blitz College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	28 December 2004 Started relearning the stuff I forgot since August. Spent 30 minutes working with Chapter 10 in Visual Basic Step by Step. Relearned material on standard modules and public variables. Ordered Ready to Run Visual Basic Algorithms by Rod Stephens, based on the recommendations of a number of people that have posted here. Picked up a new copy from an Amazon book dealer for about $20 shipped. Spent 15 minutes looking at the code that I wrote in August that generates gladiators, with names and basic characteristics. Wondered about how to best generate a fighter world with a good balance of elite fighters, good fighters, average fighters, and crappy fighters. Remembered reading a post (on FOFC, I thought) from Jim regarding how he generates such a balance in FOF, but couldn’t find it anywhere. Total time: 50 minutes. Grand total: 27 hours and 35 minutes. Last edited by Godzilla Blitz : 12-28-2004 at 05:07 PM.

12-28-2004, 11:11 PM	#95
Cap Ologist College Prospect Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Flower Mound, TX	One way to generate gladiators is the use of random numbers. For example, you could generate a random number between 1 and 1000. If it's greater than 950, it's a really great one, greater than 800 but less than 950, it's good and so on. Glad to see you are back at this. I've been out of town for the last week with family stuff and won't be back at my machine for another 2 days or so.

12-28-2004, 11:40 PM	#97
hoosierdude High School Varsity Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Indiana	Keep up the good work. I am also watching with keen interest. Good Luck! __________________ TC Dale "Rather fail with honor than succeed by fraud - Sophocles"

12-29-2004, 08:54 AM	#98
sterlingice Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Back in Houston!	I'm curious if you've tried to find any other VB books. I've got a book on the basics and a little more but I've had the hardest time trying to find a decent book for "the next level" programming. I just get this impression that no programmer worth his salt wants to touch it so there's no O'Reilly (Programming not Learning) or Deitel/Deitel type book. EDIT: I stand corrected- there is a learning/programming O'Reilly set but I've never run across them. SI __________________ Houston Hippopotami, III.3: 20th Anniversary Thread - All former HT players are encouraged to check it out! Janos: "Only America could produce an imbecile of your caliber!" Freakazoid: "That's because we make lots of things better than other people!" Last edited by sterlingice : 12-29-2004 at 08:55 AM.

12-29-2004, 10:01 AM	#99
Godzilla Blitz College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	hoosierdude: Thanks! SI: I haven't looked too hard for the type of book you're describing, but I haven't run into one either. I must have five or six books on VB now. Four are beginner-level books. One is Stephen's "Code Library". The other is the yet-to-arrive Stephen's "Algorithms" book. I have noticed that each of the beginner books that I have emphasizes different areas, and I'm thinking that I'll work through another beginning book once I finish this first one. I'll skip the stuff that is overly redundant and work on the stuff that this first book I'm using didn't cover in detail. In have looked over the "What to do from Here" sections at the end of the few of the beginner level books, and I get a sense that once you've gotten the basics down, a common next step is to develop skills in certain areas (e.g., database management, application management), and there seem to be a number of books written on each area. One of the things I'm hoping to understand better as I finish this first book is what is the common skill set an intermediate programmer in VB should have; from there I might try to pick up a book or two for each skill that I think I'm interested in learning. Also, it seems that a lot of books say to get a good reference book, and almost seem to imply that once you know the basics, you can teach yourself a lot of the next level through the use of reference materials. Personally, I look at some of those reference books and get lost, but I'm still only halfway through the beginning book, so I'm hoping things get easier. The Step by Step book that I'm currently using recommends Mastering Microsoft Visual Basic 6 (Microsoft Corporation, 1998) as a next step, but I can't seem to find it on Amazon.

12-29-2004, 11:35 AM	#100
Godzilla Blitz College Starter Join Date: Oct 2000	29 December 2004 Worked for an hour on a draft of the overall design of the game. I think this will likely change a lot as I move forward, but I think I now have a much better idea of how the game will look, what gameplay will consist of, and what forms are needed. The design follows, but it is a rough draft and hasn't been proofed or touched up to look perty. I hope to edit, refine, and fill in missing pieces tomorrow. I ran out of time to do more right now. ________ Libertas Morte Design Notes Forms Opening Form Select New/Load/Quit/Save/Options RESULTANT NEEDS: NEW GAME FORM/OPTIONS FORM Main Form What will the gamer do here? 1. He should be able to either view his stable here (if the info will fit on this screen) or have access to his stable from here. RESULTANT NEEDS: STABLE OVERVIEW FORM 2. He should be able to get to the tournament calendar from here. RESULTANT NEEDS: CALENDAR FORM 3. He should either be able to see his messages or be able to get to a message screen from here. RESULTANT NEEDS: MESSAGES OVERVIEW SCREEN or MESSAGES 4. He should be able to access the slave market from here. NEED: SLAVE MARKET SCREEN 5. He should be able to access the current game records page from here. NEED: GAME RECORDS SCREEN. 6. He should be able to contact the various other organizations in the game world (other stables, political bodies, trainers, etc). RESULTANT NEEDS: STABLE OVERVIEW FORM 6. He should be able to see an overview of his current game state from here. Financial information, game score, date, etc. 7. He should be able to click an “Advance Game World” button to move time forward. RESULTANT NEEDS: GAME PROGRESS INFO FORM?? (Question: How an I going to give the gamer the subsequent information that results when the game moves forward? Think about this.) New Game Form (with options?) What will the gamer do here? 1. He should be able to select the various characteristics of his new game. For example, game difficulty, unique rules options. RESULTANT NEEDS: None? Stable Overview Form What will the gamer do here? 1. He should be able to get an overview of the various fighters in his stable and other stables. 2. He should be able to click on a fighter and pull up the fighter’s info form. RESULTANT NEEDS: FIGHTER FORM 3. He should be able to get back to the main form. Calendar Form What will the gamer do here? 1. He should be able to get an overview of the various upcoming events in the game world. 2. He should be able to click on an event and pull up the event’s info form. RESULTANT NEEDS: EVENT INFO FORM 3. He should be able to get back to the main form. 4. He should be enter his fighters in events. (Question: How to allow access to fighter info without making this a jumble of two screens? Idea: Take a look at how Gallop Racer does this; this will be similar.) Messages Overview Form What will the gamer do here? 1. He should be to see a list of his incoming/outgoing messangers, and a title as to what their message is. (Idea: Make this like an email program so I don’t need a subsequent messages form. Top window has a list of messages. Bottom window contains the messages themselves. Idea: Take a look at FM2005’s system. This will be similar.) 2. He should be able to get back to the main form. Slave Market Form What will the gamer do here? 1. He should be able to see a list of available fighters in the slave market. 2. He should be able to click on the fighter to pull up the fighter’s individual form. 3. He should be able to buy slaves here. 4. He should be able to get back to the main form. Fighter Form What will the gamer do here? 1. He should be able to see a detailed report on his fighter. It should include: A. All his current stats. B. His fighting record and history. C. His upcoming fights. D. His current status (hurt, healthy, dead, free, slave) E. His financial status (money earned, costs. Idea: Look at Gallop Racer for an idea what to include.) RESULTANT NEEDS: INDIVIDUAL FORMS FOR EACH AREA? Maybe one tabbed form like FOF for this? Think about this. 2. He should be able to interact with the fighter if it is one of his own: sell, release, free, kill, schedule in an event, etc. 3. He should be able to get back to the main form Game Records Form What will the gamer do here? 1. He should be to access the game world all-time, yearly, and tournament records. 2. He should be able to see a list of the Hall of Fame (rename this to something cooler) fighters. RESULTANT NEEDS: FIGHTER FORM. 3. He should be able to see a list of retired fighters. 4. He should be able to see his stable records. Event Info Form What will the gamer do here? 1. He should be to access the game world all-time, yearly, and tournament records. 2. He should be able to see a list of the Hall of Fame (rename this to something cooler) fighters. RESULTANT NEEDS: FIGHTER FORM. 3. He should be Game Progress Info Form? What will the gamer do here? This will result when the gamer advances the game world. If I could fit this on the Main Form it would be great, but I want to see how things play out with this. 1. He should be to see that he has new messages and access the message screen. 2. He should be able to see a list of tournaments that occurred/are occurring that week. He should be able to click on the tournament name to watch/sim any tournaments or to actively manage any fighters in tournaments he has registered for. RESULTANT NEEDS: TOURNAMENT OVERVIEW FORM; INDIVIDUAL CHALLENGE FORM 3. He should be to click “Done” to get back to the main form. Tournament Overview Form? What will the gamer do here? 1. The gamer should be able to see an overview of the current tournament and its status. 2. He should be able to click on individual fights to see them or manage them. RESULTANT NEEDS: INDIVIDUAL CHALLENGE FORM 3. He should be able to sim an entire tournament. Individual Challenge Form What will the gamer do here? This is the form the gamer will see just before a fight begins. 1. The gamer should be able to see an overview of the upcoming fight. 2. He should be able to click on a “Fight” button to be able to see/manage the fight, or click on a “Sim” button to automatically sim the fight. RESULTANT NEEDS: FIGHT FORM. 3. He should be able to go back to his previous screen. Fight Form What will the gamer do here? 1. The gamer should be able to manage/watch two fighters battle. ____ Wow. Lots to do. Total time: 1 hour. Grand total: 28 hours and 35 minutes.