Dynaman
Main
Welcome to Dynaman!
Dynaman is a clone of "Bomberman" or "Dynablaster". It's about killing people! And it's a lot of fun. To see how Dynaman looks like, check the Screenshots page! The latest Version is available at Download.
News
Juifeng (07/26/2006 15:19:39):
Okay, time for some great news. I was unhappy with the codebase once again, and because I liked C# after I looked at it for a few hours, I decided to use C# for the server software (instead of java). Of course, I don't want to force anyone to use Microsoft tools, and I don't want to lock Linux users (like me) out. So I used the Mono framwork, which is an Open Source alternative to .NET.
After some days of server coding, I loved C#, and never wanted to use C++ again. So I had to rewrite the client! It actually took me only a week (or less) to make the game work again, this time in C# - but that's only for offline games. After some more weeks, online games pretty much worked, only "kickit", "kill players" and "display scores" features were missing. That means, you could place bombs, pick up goodies, walk around, and so on, in a network game.
When I was almost done, Tim Krämer had a nice idea for a new project that's based on Dynaman. It's a secret, but it means that a lot of new features have to be added to the server. So that's what I have been doing the last week! Yesterday we found out that the user interface of Dynaman wasn't good enough for the new secret project, so I started rewriting the menu today. It looks nice so far, you can use your mouse to navigate through the menus, and it has cleaner looks.
The new project also has a few more consequences: There will be two Dynaman clients in the future. One client has some extra features for the new project, and of course, the old client stays the same (with new features, like the new menu). Both will probably be released under GPL (it's a complete rewrite in C#, so I don't *have* to release the source. But I will! And I like Sourceforge, so if I want to stay here..).
Also, There are two different server "editions". One of them, the "standard edition", is used to host simple network games for the "standard" Dynaman client. The "extended" server has features needed for the new "secret" project, and we can't release the sourcecode (or even executables) of that extended server, it will only be used for our project. I don't know if it's okay to release the "standard" server edition as Open Source, but keep the extra-features to ourselves? Currently, the core server features compile as a .dll file, and the standard server and extended server both make use of that .dll file. If I am allowed to release the standard server GPLed, but keep the extended server unreleased, a release of the "standard" server will be made available. If that's not allowed, we can still release an executable-only release of the standard server on an external page, I guess, to satisfy your online/lan game needs.
Juifeng (05/25/2006 19:41:52):
The two main features planned for version 0.7.0 are map files and network support.
Map file loading is pretty much done at the time of this writing, I also created some kind of map editor with the help of wxWidgets. I will put it on CVS when I feel like it. Dynaman 0.7.0 itself loads and uses map files just fine.
Network is at something like 1%, because it was important to add maps first (so I don't have do redo the network code once maps are done). I decided that it would be good to know some java, and therefore I will code the DynaServer in java. The only thing I've done so far is thinking about the way I'm going to design the protocol to have the least traffic possible, but at the same time don't kill the fun because everything is desynced. That's going to be difficult since I have no experience with stuff like that. ;)
0.7.0 code is on CVS ("trunk_0_7_0" branch, which is funny, because it's a trunk and branch at the same time!) and will need a lot of coding to be done. On a side note, I'm on vacation for one week in a few days.
Feel it - Dynaman!
Juifeng (05/23/2006 18:45:34):
Dynaman 0.6.0 was released. It has undergone a complete code rewrite, hopefully improving stability (or at least readability of the code). New features short: 4 players, custom key settings and a score screen after each match.
The Status, Screens and Download sections were updated to reflect the new release. Have fun, and report any problems you encounter!
juifeng (05/18/2006 20:18:30):
I actually recoded the whole thing because my old code was too ugly. The new code is probably not really better, but at least different! Maybe I killed some hidden bugs, and I definitely killed some features (they were secrectly & hidden implemented at funny places!).
I'm currently working on a nice "results" screen and support for up to four players (on the same computer.. I need a second keyboard! ;) ). Network support will have to wait until everything else works fine.
A changelog and the new codebase is available on CVS, but the changelog is not 100% complete. There will be a new release when all features of 0.5.0 work nicely again, as well as the results screen and some minor improvements. The next major release after that should include network support!
Juifeng (05/16/2006 15:28:56):
After two years: revival of Dynaman! The database is alive again, so I thought I could post this to test it. I will focus on getting network support working now. Stay tuned. :)
