hypercube game

I started to make a hypercube game.
Like in the movie CUBE² you have to find the exit passing the cubic roomes of a hypercube.



It will be more a logic game than a killing game.
There will be a sign or some kind of hint in each room to solve the way out.

here's the bare hypercube (without any hint).
Don't try to find the exit. You will not reach it.

download hypercube game (zip)

mercuryus

I always wondered if someone is ever going to make a hypercube game (loved the movie, actually all 3).

I didn't test the game (im on a mac right now) but it would be cool if the cube itself could look a bit better, like in the movie itself. Bright, shiny walls with hard contrast between the black/white parts.

Also are there time/teleportation rooms like in the movie too? And nasty flying cutting things that increase their number of edges?

The walls will be more detailed and the rooms will become bigger.
Maybe I can manage a shiny (or better mirror) effect to the walls.

Teleporting is cool and will be part. Time changing is also a good idea. In fact it will not be a killing game (flying cutting things) but can be a nice effect to stop the player walk to this room .

i really think you should include some deadly traps. otherwise there's no other motivation for the player to be careful, if you know what i mean.

Yes Deathtraps should be a must, it's the hypercube
Maybe you have shoes to throw into rooms too to test if there is a trap (like in the movie).

I think the flying cutting thing was another hypercube (tesseract) that increased it dimensions? I forgot what it actually was. But it was scary.

I know many of you like bloody splatter games but I don't like them very much.
Also the movies are IMHO a little boring (especially CUBE²).
The interesting part is to proceed to the exit (alive) and the way to choose.

I'm thinking of an logic game style game where the player has to look for advices/hints in the rooms and/or to combine them to select the right door.
This could be realized with graffiti, signs, colors, patterns, sounds, directions, ...

Maybe I should implement a
- "stay alive" mode (where you die in some wrong rooms and respawn at the last savepoint) and a
- pure logic game where you just end in loops if you choose the wrong way.

My current task is the leveldesign.
Manually leveldesign is very complex and time consuming (in fact of the three(four?) dimensions and the estimated size (playing time) of each level.

Hopefull to find a way to generate level automatically or by a "simple" script laguage... (anyone an idea?)

It doesn't have to be bloody, just a bit or non at all. But its way more tensing with traps.

Are the rooms static right now? It would be really cool if you could manage to find a cool algorithm to let the rooms move to a specific location (in a specific order) when the player switched a room.

It even would be really cool if you could manage to make a loop when someone is going straight ahead, like in a tesseract. You would end up at the beginning again when you just move to the next room infront of you all the time.

so the player would have to find out the system behind the moving cubes in order to get out.

Actually it's only one (while moving two) room/s at all.
The design of each in-time created room must come from a database/list or a script.

teh rooms are a bit undetailed.. but i think that is your future work..
the technic looks ok. And if you will add traps.. it´ll be fun ^^

BUT.. the music ist.. baaaaaah... change it..please..!


Are you going to make the rooms in different colors ( like in Cube )?

OK thats the GO!
Now i have a reason to proceed my old CUBE(original one) project^^.
Yours i looking good and is still diferrent .
I am focused on real player movement. Means the player is able to climb and walk thorugh the rooms.
My cube has the real size of the original one(26^3 = 17576), you can even reach the outwall. Traps(currently only dummies) and Cube colors are placed in different places on each map restart(multiplayer is working but has some little problems atm with map transfer).
I will use MATH to give the player a chance for leaving without hitting atrap.

This means both of our projects have a similar setting, but they are still different in gameplay. I thinks thats going to be very interesting to see your project grow aswell.

Greets
Rackscha

Not colors but different lighting.

In fact each room needs to be unique recognizable and should hold a hint to the proper exit(s).
That's very important if there are moving rooms otherwise it's very confusing for the player.

I've found a way how to define levels very easy.
And there will be a simple algorithm possible also i'm shure.

I use a projection of the rooms to 2D and number them serially.
Then they get a connection for each exit. These exits have to be joined. The result is the hypercube system.

Each room is described unique recognizable and the "good" exit possibly marked (by a hint) or maybe the order of the rooms it self is a hint.
The traps are dead ends anyway.

here's a draft (without trap rooms):

WOW!! O.o looks like a very hard game, but its a really smart system

Nice Plan..

Is the algorithm Self-correcting? Means.. Moving rooms. If Room 6 Moves, the connections to 7, 2, 5 and itself are Not working anymore ^^

we have some kind of cube contest
http://www.opserver.de/ubb7/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=316473
may be you can work together...

i´ve many Cube models ( including a 1:1 Model of the Hypercube Rooms )..

Perhaps i can use it for my ANet tries XD ( 3-user-War)

@Esper: Lol XD.
Well we could work together, but we are integrating 2 different gameplaystyles.
Thats why our projects are still different.

But general discussing of techiques, constructions etc is no problem


Greets
Rackscha

New demo (still bare hypercubes) but a new detailed cube model (first post link).
Can you please post your framerate (F11)?

FPS -> 61 to 65

Intel P4 2.4GHz,
ATI HD 5770,
Windows XP SP3

cheers,

when i was watching all three movies i was thinking this would make an interesting game. keep at it its looking good ill have to try what you have so far

[update] this weekend I add the new motion system (now the player can take a look before he enteres a room).
And the cube model is modeled and textured.
Some effects as sounds where added also. (see picture and new download)

Being able to tilt more than 90 degrees would descrease the player's sense of orinetation.
It looks like you add the door models in a room not when opening a door, but when you enter it only. that looks weird. Or are they lit weirdly?

Sometimes looking at a door not ahead, but to one side, lets you move straight from the door you're in to the door you're looking at, sometimes the camera will move to the middle of the room first. I didn't get that O.o

Other than that, cool, quick controls, nice Sound effects work as well, and I like the cubes.

I don't know if tilt more than 90° will be a enrichment (in the final gameplay) but I implemented it for test purposes.
The doors are created with the cubes but you're right the emissiv light was too low - changed.

The current movement is from the middle of the room to the doors.
The selected door opens but you stay in the actual room (to have a look if it's a trap):
You can now move into the new opened room or change to an other door.
Entering a room means always moving to the center - that's because of the gameplay (you will see later).

I changed the door-distance and switch the light on only if the new room is entered. I think this will make the players positions more comprehensible.

The next task will be to fill the rooms with objects, hints and traps...

"Entering a room means always moving to the center"
I unerstood the above procedure you mentioned, but while testing I'm pretty sure that at one point, instead of moving from the entrance door to the center first, I managed to move straight to another door, diagonally. I can't test it again here at work, but I might find the time tonight to see if I can reproduce this.
Maybe I was wrong and just quickly moved to the center and then to the door, I'll see.

1. you are in the center of the room (starting position)
2. you can move in the actual room to a door
3. you can move in the actual room directly from door to door (-> 3.)
or
you can move to the center of the next room (-> 1.)

ok, then I guess the diagonal walking was intended.

Thats really good. The sound and flickering of light adds a cool atmosphere to it.
I like it. But as mentioned above, rmeove the 360 view around thing o.o. Lost orientation of top/left/right etc in a few seconds XD


GReets
Rackscha

perhaps you need to add a horizont-panel (like in airplanes) XD