Tasks:Road Map

The Road Map tries to give an overview of the direction Adonthell development is heading. If you are planning to help with development, you should get an idea what task might be the most pressing.

Over the coming year, the engine should reach a state, where the Dun Barethsol demo game can be implemented. From then on, the main focus will shift to cosmetic and usability improvements.

State of Adonthell

A series of alpha releases demonstrate the engine's current state with a number of Python scripts and small programs in the test/ folder. The last version, v0.4 alpha 2, was released on 10. March 2008. The next milestone release is scheduled for September 2008.

The Task List is a pretty good indicator for the state of completion of the individual tasks below.

Current Objective

The goal for the next milestone will be the completion of the Map and Map View, so that the world map can be loaded from (and saved to) a data file and any portion of it can be rendered.

With a file format for the map in place, work on a GTK+ based Map Editor needs to start, so that we can begin to create the world for the Dun Barethsol demo game.

To accomplish those objectives, the following tasks need to be worked on:

1. Implement Map View
   A map view represents a certain section of a map to be rendered. Multiple views can exist at a time, showing different parts of the map. For each view, a Python script will determine which part of the map is rendered.
2. GTK+ Backend
   The glue to use render our surface objects (images/sprites) on GDK/GTK+ components, so that they can be used by GTK+ based editors.
3. Sprite Editor
   The tool used to create a sprite from a set of PNG files. Everything displayed by the engine, whether animated or not, is a sprite.
4. Object Editor
   The tool to create the 3D model for a given sprite. This is currently a manual process that should be by aided by a graphical tool for convenience.
5. Map Editor
   The tool that allows to place all those objects on the map. Will later be expanded to allow scripting of map events, to place items and do all the other things required by a RPG.

Future Objectives

These objectives are planned for further milestone releases, but that doesn't mean it is forbidden to work on those now. Usually, objectives further down the list depend on steps higher up.

1. Implement Basic GUI Functionality
   The GUI should at least be able to display a full screen view of the world map.
2. Implement Path Finding
   At present, there is no path finding. Implement at least basic path finding for NPCs and expand later to allow them to jump/climb to traverse terrain that isn't all flat.
3. Integrate Schedule System
   With path finding in place, add an NPC to the demo that follows a simple schedule.
4. Implement simple GUI Widgets and Containers
   Add a text widget (UTF-8 capable), animation/image widget and list container.
5. Integrate Dialogue Engine
   With simple widgets in place, create interface for dialogue and allow speaking with NPC in demo.
6. Implement complex GUI Widgets and Containers
   Implement table or matrix container, better layouts and controls.
7. Integrate Item System
   At present, only item models are implemented. Add graphical representation to items and integrate with map engine.
8. Integrate Inventory
   With complex widgets in place, create interface for inventory management. Allow picking up and dropping of items to demo. Improve NPC schedules to handle items.
9. Implement Role Playing System
   At present, the Game Rules only exist in documentation.
10. Implement Melee Combat
    With the game rules and items in place, add melee combat with NPCs to the demo.
11. Integrate Audio System
    Integrate existing audio code to add background music and sound effects to demo.
12. Implement Ranged Combat
    With the game rules and items in place, add ranged combat with NPCs to the demo.
13. Implement Spells
    With the game rules and items in place, add casting spells on self and others to the demo.

Dun Barethsol

With all the above in place, we should be able to create and release Dun Barethsol, which is a whole set of tasks in itself.

And Then?

Once Dun Barethsol is released, it might be in order to go over the engine for cosmetic and usability improvements, like:

1. Improve Game Controls
   Provide better configuration and default settings for the Input System.
2. Implement annotations on in-game Maps
   Allow players to add their own notes to in-game maps.
3. Implement Lighting System
   Allow for day/night cycle, darker dungeons, etc ...
4. Improve Modding Ability of Engine
   Allow for official/user contributed mods.
5. Implement Sky Layer
   Have clouds or birds floating above the landscape.