Game :: Dangerous demo (a tribute to ZZT)

Thanks for trying this early access demo release of Game :: Dangerous, which is based on an open source project that can be found here: https://github.com/Mushy-pea/Game-Dangerous.  Game :: Dangerous is a home brew game engine that is intended to form the basis for a 3D tribute to the classic ZZT from 1991.  The map shipped with this release is for testing and demo purposes, although it is playable and completable (see below).  When the finished game is eventually released it will feature a separate campaign map set with more effort focussed on model and texture quality,
as well as complex puzzles to solve.

I hope this release is of interest to a few people and that some are kind enough to provide constructive feedback on their game play experience.  The map development editor (also still in development) is included in this release but is still what I'd describe as hacker territory.

How to run the game

The game engine has been integrated with the itch.io app and if you install it this way it should work out of the box.  The alternative method is to download and unpack the project folder and run "Game-Dangerous-exe.exe".

How to play the game

The goal of the test map is to find the red key.  The controls are initially mapped as follows.

MENUS

Move up menu options: W

Move down menu options: S

Select menu option: X

IN GAME

Forward: W

Back: S

Strafe left: A

Strafe right: D

Turn left: K

Turn right: L

Jump: U

Light torch: T

Toggle first / third person view: C

Rotate camera in third person view: V

Fire: SPACE

Pause game: X

There is no action key; just run into an object if you want to try interacting with it.

If you open the "config.txt" file in the project folder you'll find a number of settings such as cb_STRAFE_LEFT and cb_FORWARD.  This shows how the controls are mapped and you can change these settings as desired, although currently only keys for ASCII characters can be used.  You can try changing other settings if you like but it's probably worth making a copy of config.txt first as some changes could crash the engine or make the game unplayable.  For example, on_screen_metrics can
be set to "none", "low", "medium" or "high".

How to run the map development editor

The map development editor is in an earlier stage of development than the engine although I have used it to patch the demo map in a few places.  Yes, the map was mostly made by hand coding block geometry into a text file and using a command line based compiler for the custom scripting language.  If you want to try it you'll need Node.js (recommended version 18.x or higher) installed on your system.  Run "Server config.txt GPLC-scripts-and-maps\ Maps\map1_rc1.dan" in a command prompt.  The server will start and present a network interface using a Node.js instance (only intended to be accessed from your local machine).  Go to "http://localhost/index.html" in your browser and you should now be looking at the map development editor view of the test map.

Use CTRL + ARROW KEYS to navigate the view on each vertical level and Shift + (+) and - to change the vertical level in view.  This is the current extent of the documentation although this video may give you a better idea as to what's going on:

What platforms does it work on?

Windows and Linux are currently supported.  I've published a Windows build to itch.io first but intend to add a Linux build shortly.

Licensing information

The license for this software is as follows: Game :: Dangerous code by Steven Tinsley.  You are free to use this software and view its source code.  If you wish to redistribute it or use it as part of your own work, this is permitted as long as you acknowledge the work is by the abovementioned author.

The in game music bundled with this release has kindly been made available for free by Kevin MacLeod under the following license:

Lightless Dawn Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The sound effects have been captured from the original ZZT and it's believed these are in the public domain.

This application uses OpenAL and the library "OpenAL32.dll" has been packaged with the Windows release, which I understand is allowed under the license offered by Creative Labs.  This application also uses freeGLUT (Graphics Library Utility Toolkit) and the library "freeglut.dll" has been packaged with the Windows release.  Please see below for the origin and licensing of this library.

Project homepage: https://freeglut.sourceforge.net/

  Freeglut code without an explicit copyright is covered by the following
  copyright:

 
  Copyright (c) 1999-2000 Pawel W. Olszta. All Rights Reserved.

  Permission is hereby granted, free of charge,  to any person obtaining a copy
  of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal

  in the Software without restriction,  including without limitation the rights
  to use, copy,  modify, merge,  publish, distribute,  sublicense,  and/or sell
  copies or substantial portions of the Software.

 
  The above  copyright notice  and this permission notice  shall be included in
  all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

 
  THE SOFTWARE  IS PROVIDED "AS IS",  WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND,  EXPRESS OR
  IMPLIED,  INCLUDING  BUT  NOT LIMITED  TO THE WARRANTIES  OF MERCHANTABILITY,
  FITNESS  FOR  A PARTICULAR PURPOSE  AND NONINFRINGEMENT.  IN  NO EVENT  SHALL
  PAWEL W. OLSZTA BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM,  DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER
  IN  AN ACTION  OF CONTRACT,  TORT OR OTHERWISE,  ARISING FROM,  OUT OF  OR IN
  CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.

 
  Except as contained in this notice,  the name of Pawel W. Olszta shall not be
  used  in advertising  or otherwise to promote the sale, use or other dealings
  in this Software without prior written authorization from Pawel W. Olszta.