FreeLords is a turn-based game modeled after Warlords, offering players a classic strategy experience.
FreeLords is a turn-based strategy game that follows in the footsteps of the classical Warlords game. The objective is simple enough; you must produce armies in cities and use them to conquer more cities and ultimately defeat the other players. However, the game design has been extended in various ways. For example, hitpoints have been introduced for the armies.
The latest release includes a complete network handling system, with a player chat added and a lot of optimizations done over the first version of the network code. The network should now be very fast, but there is still room for improvement. The cross-network code interfaces have also been significantly simplified, which means that the network stays out of the programmer's way.
The old Freelords code had a significant drawback in map generation, as tilesets were tough to draw due to the many transitional tiles that needed to be created. Thankfully, the new release includes an isometric map engine, making it significantly easier. The tileset is now only six tiles, and a few water transitions, resulting in a much smoother experience.
The User interface has also been updated, with significant eye-candy added to enhance the overall experience. The interface style is being worked on, defined by XML templates, without putting code in XML.
Work has also been done on the server engine. An Items Back-end was added, but it requires an interface. The quest back-end is being worked on, with 50% completion. The first simple AI was implemented, and a right-click menu to pick what unit to build from a castle was added. Finally, many bugfixes and optimizations were done.
The documentation for the codebase has also been improved, with more JavaDoc added for many classes, helping to ensure that everything is easy to understand. All told, the latest release of FreeLords is significant, with numerous improvements and updates to make it an even better strategy game.
The latest release includes a complete network handling system, with a player chat added and a lot of optimizations done over the first version of the network code. The network should now be very fast, but there is still room for improvement. The cross-network code interfaces have also been significantly simplified, which means that the network stays out of the programmer's way.
The old Freelords code had a significant drawback in map generation, as tilesets were tough to draw due to the many transitional tiles that needed to be created. Thankfully, the new release includes an isometric map engine, making it significantly easier. The tileset is now only six tiles, and a few water transitions, resulting in a much smoother experience.
The User interface has also been updated, with significant eye-candy added to enhance the overall experience. The interface style is being worked on, defined by XML templates, without putting code in XML.
Work has also been done on the server engine. An Items Back-end was added, but it requires an interface. The quest back-end is being worked on, with 50% completion. The first simple AI was implemented, and a right-click menu to pick what unit to build from a castle was added. Finally, many bugfixes and optimizations were done.
The documentation for the codebase has also been improved, with more JavaDoc added for many classes, helping to ensure that everything is easy to understand. All told, the latest release of FreeLords is significant, with numerous improvements and updates to make it an even better strategy game.
What's New
Version 0.04: N/A