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Underworld Hockey Club reaches 1.0, open Beta

DigitalGhostDigitalGhost
edited July 2009 in Video Games
Hey all,

After many months of performance optimizations, OS/X drama, and bug squashing, I'm proud to announce Underworld Hockey Club version 1.0! At this point, the game is in public beta, meaning anyone can download it for free with no obligation. I am fairly confident that it will work on most high-end computers. You don't need a brand new video card for this game, but a dual core CPU is a must. There is a high fidelity physics simulation used for goalies, slapshots, etc.

Here's the trailer for UHC 1.0

MesFmgu-40M

Here's a list of some of the features that have been added since 0.8:

OSX SUPPORT:
UHC now works on OSX, making the total support list:
Windows, OSX, Linux 32-bit, Linux 64-bit

BOSSES:
Now if you make it to the final bracket of a tournament, you will face off against a boss. Defeat the boss to gain access to more advanced tournaments

PERFORMANCE:
The graphics & physics performance have increased dramatically and the ragdoll effects are much improved.

CHECK THROUGH GLASS:
You can check someone through the glass. The glass will shatter and the person will be knocked out for a short period of time.

STATISTICS:
If enabled in the settings, anonymous statistics will be collected and they can be used on the website to see who has scored the most goals, made the most checks, etc.

HELP SYSTEM:
There's now an interactive help system to guide newbies through the major parts of the game.

INSTANT REPLAY:
In between plays, instant replays will be shown highlighting exciting moments during the play. During an instant replay, you can hit F11 to capture the instant replay to an avi file on your PC.


*NOTE* VIDEOS NEEDED

I'm making a submission video for IGF that will include in-game footage. If you capture some exciting UHC moments in the replay tool to file, send them to jgmath2000_at_gmail.com . You might see your video in the IGF submission =)

If you would like to get UHC, check out the download page:
http://www.underworldhockeyclub.com/cms/index.php/download.html

Please post any bugs/feedback, thanks!

Regards,
Digitalghost, lead developer & designer
Underworld Hockey Club
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Comments

  • chaosof99chaosof99
    edited July 2009
    I'm sorry, I tried to pay attention to the video but I couldn't get over the fact that your stick figures do not know how to hold a hockey stick and that the goalie in this game is a regular hockey player with extra pads.
    image

    I am a hockey fan. I do not mind when some games go overboard with physics or are simply arcady, but this is something I simply can't see to have come out of anyone who has a basic understanding of the game.
    Post edited by chaosof99 on
  • AndrewAndrew
    I'm sorry, I tried to pay attention to the video but I couldn't get over the fact that your stick figures do not know how to hold a hockey stick and that the goalie in this game is a regular hockey player with extra pads.
    Wow. Get over yourself, it's not a finished game and it's being made by one person.

    I think it's coming along quite nicely. Hopefully you will find a good fanbase to help support your game in the future.
  • chaosof99chaosof99
    edited July 2009
    I know it isn't a finished game, but this is such an aesthetic faux pas that it hurts my eyes and my brain. I can't even fathom how to shoot the puck, let alone perform a slapshot, with the way the characters in the game hold the stick. I'm sorry if I'm harsh, but I think this is something that deserves harsh. I really do not get how it happened either. On his website there's a video of a previous version in which the characters hold the stick correctly.

    I wish him the best of luck in his development though. I may check out his game this weekend.
    Post edited by chaosof99 on
  • gomidoggomidog
    edited July 2009
    Yeah, well, when you make games these sorts of things are valid criticisms. He's making that statement precisely because the game is not finished and there's still time for aesthetic adjustments. If someone wants to tell me what is wrong with my animation, it's helping my game, not hurting it. If you want hockey fans to play your game, reference real life matches and costumes, and take artistic license with them.

    BTW, there's a teaser render of my game's main character, an airship pilot, with his normal map in the 3D thread! Can't show more than that, because we are pre-release, but they said you guys could see this. Keep it on the down-low for now, K?

    edit: I have a few comments, based on the trailer:

    1. Better textures. I don't know how many newbie 2D and 3D artists I have seen doing this, but 100% Saturation blue, green, and red are not the way to go. Grunge it up a bit! I can give you a bunch of free rusty, dirty, gritty, metal textures more befitting to the Lords of the Underworld, to make them not look like Playdough.
    2. Are all the characters animated procedurally (I know you are using ragdoll physics for the collisions and such). If not, you really need to work on your skate cycle. The knees are bent all the time and they look like they are kind of floating across the ice, or skating in place with no real relation between forward propulsion and their leg movements. If you watch vids of hockey players, you can see them pushing off and that push off having an effect. Make the cycle a little bit zippier if you know what I mean?
    3. Particle effects - for your smoke, fire, or blood, make animated spites or change the size and opacity of the sprites over time, so it doesn't look like one picture repeated over again instead of smoke. It's really obvious.
    4. How are your characters rigged? How many polygons are there? I want to know if it would be possible to swap out these models for ones that are better articulated and don't have sausage link arms.
    5. What engine do you use, and what programming language?
    Post edited by gomidog on
  • DigitalGhostDigitalGhost
    Yeah, well, when you make games these sorts of things are valid criticisms. He's making that statement precisely because the game is not finished and there's still time for aesthetic adjustments. If someone wants to tell me what is wrong with my animation, it's helping my game, not hurting it. If you want hockey fans to play your game, reference real life matches and costumes, and take artistic license with them.

    BTW, there's a teaser render of my game's main character, an airship pilot, with his normal map in the 3D thread! Can't show more than that, because we are pre-release, but they said you guys could see this. Keep it on the down-low for now, K?

    edit: I have a few comments, based on the trailer:

    1. Better textures. I don't know how many newbie 2D and 3D artists I have seen doing this, but 100% Saturation blue, green, and red are not the way to go. Grunge it up a bit! I can give you a bunch of free rusty, dirty, gritty, metal textures more befitting to the Lords of the Underworld, to make them not look like Playdough.
    2. Are all the characters animated procedurally (I know you are using ragdoll physics for the collisions and such). If not, you really need to work on your skate cycle. The knees are bent all the time and they look like they are kind of floating across the ice, or skating in place with no real relation between forward propulsion and their leg movements. If you watch vids of hockey players, you can see them pushing off and that push off having an effect. Make the cycle a little bit zippier if you know what I mean?
    3. Particle effects - for your smoke, fire, or blood, make animated spites or change the size and opacity of the sprites over time, so it doesn't look like one picture repeated over again instead of smoke. It's really obvious.
    4. How are your characters rigged? How many polygons are there? I want to know if it would be possible to swap out these models for ones that are better articulated and don't have sausage link arms.
    5. What engine do you use, and what programming language?
    I appreciate the comments. As I'm sure you can tell, I have no formal art training, so I think this area is where I stand to make the most progress.

    1. I agree that better textures are in order. The color of the uniforms has to be based on the player's team colors, but that doesn't mean that I can't add a multiply texture to add some grain to the textures.
    2. The skate cycle is pretty bad. I will try to redo and make it more realistic.
    3. I do change both of those, but the problem is that the rate of the smoke does not depend on the velocity of the puck. As a result, the smoke looks bad when the puck is not flying towards the goal. I can change the rate of the smoke based on the puck velocity and I think it will look more appealing.
    4. It would be easy to swap the models out, but I don't know of anyone who wants to make models for the game. I think the skeleton models are pretty good, but the demon models need a lot of work.
    5. It's a homebrew engine, c++.
  • DigitalGhostDigitalGhost
    I know it isn't a finished game, but this is such an aesthetic faux pas that it hurts my eyes and my brain. I can't even fathom how to shoot the puck, let alone perform a slapshot, with the way the characters in the game hold the stick. I'm sorry if I'm harsh, but I think this is something that deserves harsh. I really do not get how it happened either. On his website there's a video of a previous version in which the characters hold the stick correctly.

    I wish him the best of luck in his development though. I may check out his game this weekend.
    As you mentioned, in the previous version the characters held the stick correctly. This is a bug in the new version and it can be fixed relatively simply.

    Thanks for finding the bug.
  • FunfetusFunfetus
    As I'm sure you can tell, I have no formal art training,
    Have you tried, or thought about trying, to find some artists to work with you on this? Though personally, I really like the look of the game. It definitely has its charm.
  • gomidoggomidog
    edited July 2009

    A music video of some guy doing skate drills.

    a few things that will make your animation cycles better:

    1. When you push off with one foot, you body leans in the opposite direction. Your feet do not just go back and forth to provide forward motion, but out to in. The body stays low, and does not bob up and down, but the knees do extend.
    2. The lean on the turn: The body leans in the direction that the skater is turning.
    3. The cross-over - when a player goes sideways, the opposite foot from the direction you are going will cross over. (Go left, right foot crosses)
    Post edited by gomidog on
  • BobblunBobblun
    I think the game is coming along great, with the changes suggested earlier I think the game will turn out awesome. The only suggestion I have is that the goalie should stand out more, maybe make him/her larger than life, with giant pads, or something of the sort. Or you can make the goalie a different kind of demon, like the dragon looking dude. Aside from that, keep up the good work, I'm looking forward to seeing how this game turns out.
  • gomidoggomidog
    I can draw a concept! I want to draw a demonic goalie!!
  • DigitalGhostDigitalGhost
    As I'm sure you can tell, I have no formal art training,
    Have you tried, or thought about trying, to find some artists to work with you on this? Though personally, I really like the look of the game. It definitely has its charm.
    I posted on some forums looking for artists for UHC, but no one responded.
  • DigitalGhostDigitalGhost
    I can draw a concept! I want to draw a demonic goalie!!
    If you draw a demonic goalie concept, and I use it to make a 3d model, I can put you in the credits =)
  • gomidoggomidog
    edited August 2009
    Really? Nobody? Aww mans. Maybe I'll make you an actual model after Icarus finishes up this month. Give me the specs for your characters (number of tris, etc.)
    What program do you use to model? What format does the engine use(.FBX or .OBJ etc.)?

    What I recommend is putting your post on a 3D art forum, as opposed to your own game. Places like 3dmd get thousands of really talented users, and usually there is a thread for collaboration.

    some sites I hang out at, where you will find happening forums with cool artists:

    1.Renderosity
    2. Conceptart.org
    3. CG society
    4. 3Dmd.net
    Post edited by gomidog on
  • chaosof99chaosof99
    edited August 2009
    I can draw a concept! I want to draw a demonic goalie!!
    Well, you could take Ron Hextall as a model. He may not be a demon, but he was definitely possessed :)

    I also always thought that Brodeur looks like the fucking devil himself.
    image
    Post edited by chaosof99 on
  • DigitalGhostDigitalGhost
    Really? Nobody? Aww mans. Maybe I'll make you an actual model after Icarus finishes up this month. Give me the specs for your characters (number of tris, etc.)
    What program do you use to model? What format does the engine use(.FBX or .OBJ etc.)?

    What I recommend is putting your post on a 3D art forum, as opposed to your own game. Places like 3dmd get thousands of really talented users, and usually there is a thread for collaboration.

    some sites I hang out at, where you will find happening forums with cool artists:

    1.Renderosity
    2.Conceptart.org
    3.CG society
    4.3Dmd.net
    I use blender for my models, but blender can import just about any format. The graphics part of the engine uses OGRE, which comes with a blender exporter.
    The current characters have a few thousand tris, but anything that isn't obscene would work fine. The game is relatively light on graphics. The only requirement is that the model must fit the rig that I've created, because it took a lot of work to sync the skeleton animation to the physics and I wouldn't want to go through that again :-P

    Here's a link to the skeleton model .blend file so you can see what the rig looks like: http://www.underworldhockeyclub.com/UHC/Humanoid_LowPoly.blend

    I'll def. take your advice and post on those forums asking for help.

    By the way, I just released UHC 1.1 which has ambient occlusion and a new skating animation cycle, check it out or let me know and I'll post a video. I think it still needs some work, but it looks like an improvement.
  • DigitalGhostDigitalGhost
    I can draw a concept! I want to draw a demonic goalie!!
    Well, you could take Ron Hextall as a model. He may not be a demon, but he was definitely possessed :)

    I also always thought that Brodeur looks like the fucking devil himself.
    image
    Ron Hextall was awesome. I love goalies that stand up for their players like Hextall and Belfour.
  • DigitalGhostDigitalGhost
    I'm sorry, I tried to pay attention to the video but I couldn't get over the fact that your stick figures do not know how to hold a hockey stick and that the goalie in this game is a regular hockey player with extra pads.
    image

    I am a hockey fan. I do not mind when some games go overboard with physics or are simply arcady, but this is something I simply can't see to have come out of anyone who has a basic understanding of the game.
    I fixed this issue in 1.1, let me know what you think.
  • gomidoggomidog
    OMG I accidentally all over your UV layout.

    image

    I'm going to map this skeleton for you. Game developers take note: make a nice UV layout, or your texture artist will murder you in your sleep!
  • ChurbaChurba
    OMG I accidentally all over your UV layout.
    Actually, that looks kinda cool. With a little bit of colour, that would make an awesome poster.
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    How do you even start working with a template like that?
  • gomidoggomidog
    How do you even start working with a template like that?
    You don't. That's why I am going to make a map before I get into texturing.
  • DigitalGhostDigitalGhost
    edited August 2009
    How do you even start working with a template like that?
    You don't. That's why I am going to make a map before I get into texturing.
    Hey,

    Yeah, I was lazy with the UV map for the textures that I haven't done yet (which is most of them).

    The skates are textured and so their UV map actually makes sense, but all of the other UV maps are autogenerated.

    I didn't think you were actually going to use any of my assets besides the rig. Sorry, I'm embarrased =(
    Post edited by DigitalGhost on
  • gomidoggomidog
    edited August 2009
    I just took a gander at everything in the blend file, to get my bearings before I started to do anything.

    Leaving out the skeleton player (which is done, I think, besides not being mapped?) you need what?

    • Demonic Goalie (I'm getting a Hellboy as goalie kind of vibe here. Post Pics Later.)
    • Demon Referee (Is that that thing that looks like a dragon?)
    • Demon Player (I know you've already done him, but I think he needs a bulking up and a good paint job.)

    Also, I think if you do that opening with Satan, you should get someone to draw illustrations, rather than those renders with the speech bubbles.
    Some stylistic inspiration.
    image
    If you can't tell, I'm obsessed with a certain big red guy lately.
    Post edited by gomidog on
  • AprecheApreche
    Demon Referee (Is that that thing that looks like a dragon?)
    Blood Bowl has a goblin referee. It's a perfect choice, but you want to avoid ripping them off.

    I suggest a ghost referee. It's white, which is the right color. It's also intangible, so the puck and players can go right through it. It requires less animation, because it floats. And you won't have to do any smart code to make it move out of the way of players. It can just hover around always keeping it's eye on the puck. The hard part I imagine is to prevent it from blending in with the white ice.
  • AndrewAndrew
    edited August 2009
    Demon Referee (Is that that thing that looks like a dragon?)
    Blood Bowl has a goblin referee. It's a perfect choice, but you want to avoid ripping them off.
    Grim Reaper. You can even add an orange armband on their robes.
    Post edited by Andrew on
  • FunfetusFunfetus
    If you can't tell, I'm obsessed with a certain big red guy lately.
    Because Mignola is godlike?
  • gomidoggomidog
    edited August 2009
    Yes. Scott's been getting the library editions, and I have been geeking out over Mignola's artwork every time I pick them up. These editions have sketchbook pages of his concept art in the back, which is really neat, because it shows the progress of some characters' designs. The dialogue is also so funny!
    Post edited by gomidog on
  • FunfetusFunfetus
    Yeah, for a guy who never did any writing before Hellboy, it's a very solid read, and there's some good humor in there, though they're far from humor books. His style is awesome -- I've heard it described as "Jack Kirby meets German Expressionism", but aside from that, he's easily one of the best visual storytellers in comics, and his compositions are amazing. Every time I pick up one of his books, I think "How the hell does he do that?" I've thumbnailed out a bunch of his pages to try to steal his secrets.
  • AprecheApreche
    Yeah, for a guy who never did any writing before Hellboy, it's a very solid read, and there's some good humor in there, though they're far from humor books. His style is awesome -- I've heard it described as "Jack Kirby meets German Expressionism", but aside from that, he's easily one of the best visual storytellers in comics, and his compositions are amazing. Every time I pick up one of his books, I think "How the hell does he do that?" I've thumbnailed out a bunch of his pages to try to steal his secrets.
    I can sum up the secrets of of Mignola in one sentence.

    Steal from the forgotten masters.
  • FunfetusFunfetus
    Steal from the forgotten masters.
    Care to be a little more explicit?
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