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Openc2e

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Revision as of 02:17, 11 January 2008 by ElasticMuffin (talk) (→‎Tools)
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The title given to this article is incorrect due to technical limitations. The correct title is openc2e.
Editnorn.png This article is about a project that is in development.
Information may change significantly as the project progresses.
Openc2e logo.png

openc2e is an in-development open-source 'clone' of the Creatures engines, in development since May 2004. The primary developers are Fuzzie and Bdonlan, with Nornagon, ElasticMuffin, and Dylan having coded various bits. ElasticMuffin is also responsible for the website and the Windows builds, and Pez for the logo. Many other members of the community participate in testing.

The intention is to have an engine capable of running all the games in the Creatures series, allowing people to run them on unsupported operating systems and to extend the engine in ways impossible without access to the source code. Note, however, that openc2e is not a game by itself; it needs game content from elsewhere (either official Creatures games or community-created ones) to be playable.

Old screenshot of Creatures 2 on Mac OS X.

It is a project of the Creatures Community Development Network and you can visit their IRC channel if you would like to ask questions or participate in development. At present builds are not publically available, but can be made available on request. However, the source code is publically available for people to make their own builds.

Status

openc2e does not currently perfectly simulate physics, nor does it completely simulate Creatures themselves. However, it manages to run most of the Creatures 1, Creatures Village, Creatures 3 and Docking Station agents well apart from physics issues, and accurately simulates the creature biochemistry in those games. It also runs Creatures 2 to a limited extent (including partial physics support). The main aims of development at present (as of January 2008) include completing the Creature brain system and improving Creatures 2 support.

Other missing elements at present include network abilities (ie, the warp), the majority of serialisation (world saving/loading and creature exporting/importing) and music support beyond a preliminary implementation (thanks to work done by GreenReaper while developing MNGPlayer).

The eventual aim is being able to 'emulate' near-perfectly any of the Creatures engines, and hence run all games in the Creatures series. It seems likely to eventually be the basis for Freetures and Lifandi.

Old screenshot of the Norn Meso

Technical Bits

openc2e is an implementation similar to the Creatures Evolution Engine (generally referred to as 'c2e', hence the name), built using C++, SDL, Boost, and the STL.

It currently consists of a CAOS parser and runtime (supporting multiple versions of CAOS, to allow support for all of the Creatures series), an implementation of the majority of the CAOS functions, code for simple agents, compound agents and vehicles, a basic physics engine, genome/creature code, and sprite, PRAY, and MNG file support.

It is known to run on Mac OS X, Windows and Linux.

Tools

The project also includes some useful tools, such as a PRAY dumping utility similar to REVELATION, a basic Injector Kit, a Brain in a Vat clone, and the start of a genetic editor.

External Links