openc2e / openc2e

openc2e is an open-source game engine for the games in the Creatures series.

openc2e

openc2e is an open-source game engine intended to run all the games in the Creatures series.

Games

openc2e is intended to support:

• Creatures (1996)
• Creatures 2 (1998)
• Creatures 3 (1999)
• Docking Station (2001)
• Creatures Playground (1999)
• Creatures Adventures (2000)

Status

Working

• Agents (COBs) work
• Imperfect physics
• Creatures biochemistry
• Sound effects

Todo

• Actual creatures (C3+ creatures work somewhat, C1 and C2 ones don't work at all)
• Physics improvements (Especially C3+)
• Network ability (the Docking Station warp)
• Serialization (world saving, creature exporting, ...)

There are lots of open issues that still need solving.

Building

Dependencies

openc2e depends on:

• SDL2
  • SDL2_mixer
• Python
• CMake
• Boost.Serialization (optional)

Linux

Ubuntu

On Ubuntu 18.10 and up, you'll need these packages:

sudo apt-get install \
  build-essential \
  libsdl2-dev \
  libsdl2-mixer-dev \
  cmake

macOS

Install dependencies using Homebrew:

brew install cmake

Windows

Install Python, and Visual Studio's C++ CMake Tools for Windows.

Open the folder in Visual Studio and it will automatically run CMake and set up the build system.

Compiling

Create a new build directory and compile:

cmake -B build .
make -C build openc2e -j4

Running

You should provide a path to a game's data files with the -d or --data-path flag:

./build/openc2e -d /path/to/Creatures2

The engine will try to guess the game based on files in the directory. If it can't decide, it will default to C3/DS.

Advanced Usage

To see an overview of all available options, use -h / --help:

./build/openc2e --help

openc2e's Issues

World switcher

(Originally reported on Aug 12, 2007 by Swift Dog at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/49 )

Once serialization is in, we're going to need to implement some kind of
world switcher capabilities. C3/DS already have an interface for that, but
stuff may need to be hacked for C1/C2; perhaps a "world switcher kit" or
similar.

line drawing unimplemented

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/10 )

We don't support agents being able to draw lines.

TINT values not stored

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/19 )

We should store the values of TINT when an agent is tinted, for
serialization purposes if nothing else (probably helpful for optimisation,
also).

Graphs aren't supported/rendered.

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/5 )

We should support c2e graph parts, both storing the data and rendering it
as appropriate. Someone needs to look into how c2e handles this, in
particular how it handles new data sources being added when there are
already rendered sources.

window resize event needs sending with metaroom resize

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/16 )

When a metaroom changes to or from being smaller than the window, we should
send a window resize event so the GUI can place itself appropriately.

C1 double world sign broken

(Originally reported on Aug 12, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/45 )

The C1 Double World Sign COB, from slink, doesn't render properly in
openc2e, and clicks seem to be somewhat out.

openc2e reports "No agent under cursor" for middle button scrolling

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/23 )

We should probably make the agent reporting behaviour use a keystroke, or
perhaps disable it for release builds.

MNG playback

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/3 )

At present, the engine doen't support the playback of MNG music files,
although code is present to parse the files. The engine needs an MNG
playback engine.

Objects don't wrap properly over the world boundary.

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/1 )

In Creatures 1 and Creatures 2, agents don't actually wrap around when they
move over the world boundary, they simply leave the edges of the room (but
often stay rendered, confusingly).

single-line textboxes can wrap onto another page when edited

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/15 )

Users shouldn't be able to type so much into a single-line textbox that the
content wraps to another page, but they currently can. We should stop them
being able to do that.

Creature graphics aren't tinted

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/7 )

Creatures sprites should be tinted according to the relevant genetics. They
aren't, at present.

ZOOM is unimplemented

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/18 )

Cameras often look rather silly, since ZOOM is unimplemented.

remove pointer hardcoding

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/17 )

We should be reading all the information about pointer hotspots and the
identifier from the pointer information catalogue tag.

MVFT is unimplemented

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/13 )

MVFT is stubbed, so norns don't actually get moved around by agents. We
should implement it!

no image caching on little-endian platforms

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/27 )

We should perhaps cache images on little-endian, or write a native c16
blitter, or something like that.

1m ops check is failed legitimately by agents

(Originally reported on Aug 12, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/42 )

The 1m ops safety check is no good, it seems. Perhaps make it per-agent-tick?

hand deals badly with held agents being destroyed

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/28 )

The hand goes all weird if the agent it's holding is destroyed, such as if
you're holding a stinger and it's eaten by a trapper, at least in c2e.

improve camera tracking

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/20 )

Cameras track agents rather wonkily at present. We should improve this.

WOLF is unimplemented

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/12 )

We don't implement wolfing control, nor the WOLF command. We should.

mouse cursor doesn't wrap over the world boundary

(Originally reported on Aug 14, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/50 )

The C1/C2 mouse cursors don't wrap around the world, leading to odd bugs. Oops!

click transparency issues in C1

(Originally reported on Aug 12, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/41 )

You should be able to click transparent parts of agents in C1, and also be
able to click through scenery.

timing issues

(Originally reported on Aug 12, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/44 )

C1 agents seem to run at different speeds in openc2e and the real game. Why?

text rendering

(Originally reported on Aug 12, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/47 )

Blackboards, among other things, need text rendering. On Windows they do it
using normal text rendering, we probably need to do SDL_ttf. But where do
we find a .ttf file? Is there a Free font which works well? Do we just ship
one with the engine?

can't edit creature limit/breeding items in options drawer

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/33 )

You can't edit the creature limit/breeding edit boxes in the options drawer
in DS, and perhaps C3 (unchecked). This is probably a compound part
ordering issue (another bug covers that) or something, but not sure.

close button on the grendel upgrade dialog doesn't work

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/34 )

The close button on the upgrade dialog when installing a new grendel set (I
think the paid-for CL one) doesn't work, probably some silly UI event model
issue.

physics is fairly fundamentally broken

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/35 )

The physics engine, such as it is, probably needs to be rewritten.

caos command line rendered off-screen

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/32 )

The C3/DS CAOS command line is rendered partially off-screen. Probably
related to issue 26.

Norns don't get devil/angel icons over them

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/6 )

When you hover your pointer over a norn or other creature, you don't get an
angel/devil icon telling you whether clicking would tickle or smack the
creature. You should.
We're not sending the correct event to the monitoring agent to tell it that
it needs to update the icon.

options drawer breaks in docked DS

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/30 )

The options drawer doesn't work in docked DS, for some mysterious reason.
It should!

compound part ordering issues

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/29 )

You can't close the hoverdoc drawer, and you can perhaps sometimes click on
other things behind other things, because our compound part ordering isn't
quite correct for the case where the zorders of parts are identical.
We should fix the ordering.

click animations happen when they shouldn't

(Originally reported on Aug 12, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/40 )

At least in C1, click animations occur when they shouldn't - eg, outside
hotspots on compound agents.

text rendering inaccuracies

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/26 )

We don't render text quite the same as c2e, meaning some things look really
odd, such as the C3/DS about boxes.

editing for multi-line text boxes doesn't work properly

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/14 )

There's no explicit support of editing the contents of multi-line text
boxes, we need to add this.

c1 projector has activation issues

(Originally reported on Aug 12, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/36 )

The projector in Creatures 1 seems to depend on us handling ACTV properly
for hotspots. This results in you being able to close/open the projector at
inappropriate times (such as when it's already closed/open).

Agent ports aren't supported

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/4 )

We need to add support for c2e agent ports.

camera transitions unimplemented

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/21 )

We should implement camera transitions.

hand picks agents up in the wrong place

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/24 )

There's something seriously wrong with the code which works out where
agents are held, etc, and fuzzie can't work out what the problem is.
Someone should look into it and fix it.

call buttons aren't visited in correct order

(Originally reported on Aug 12, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/37 )

C1/C2 call buttons don't prioritise themselves correctly, so lifts can end
up selecting a target level despite that journey taking them past an active
call button.
Don't work on this bug unless you're sure you know how they work in C1/C2!

drops into black holes aren't denied

(Originally reported on Aug 12, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/39 )

Drops into black holes (C1) aren't denied but also don't work, leaving the
mouse cursor in a rather broken state.

c1 incubator is mouse-activatable!

(Originally reported on Aug 12, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/38 )

You can activate the C1 incubator by clicking somewhere in the top-left.
Oops. ACTV issues?

TARG should be NORN for install/DDE scripts

(Originally reported on Aug 12, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/43 )

as summary says, TARG should be NORN for install/DDE scripts :) maybe also
for other scripts, who knows.. also might effect c2e.

C1: drops should be handled after initial script run

(Originally reported on Aug 12, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/46 )

Agents shouldn't be dropped until their drop script has actually been run,
if necessary. This requires some other engine tweaks, so let fuzzie do it.

EDIT command shouldn't do *real* pickup

(Originally reported on Aug 12, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/48 )

Someone needs to implement EDIT, but how does it work in C1/C2? Especially
work out how it works with multiple calls.

world seasons unimplemented

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/9 )

The world needs to increase the time of day, season etc as necessary.

Audio playback panning/distance is broken

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/8 )

You can hear very distant audio, on-screen audio is sometimes inaudible,
etc. The panning/etc code is clearly broken and needs fixing.

Vehicle support missing

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/2 )

openc2e doesn't support vehicles at all. This needs to be implemented.

creature drawer can be clicked off screen

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/31 )

Repeated clicking on the Creature drawer in DS while it is sliding out, and
perhaps C3, will eventually make it wander all the way off the screen.

decouple hand movement/scrolling from world tick/rendering rates

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/22 )

Creatures 1 and 2 run at 10fps, which is too slow for an acceptable speed
for mouse movement and scrolling. Therefore, we need to decouple these from
the world tick rate.

genes all turn on at birth

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/25 )

Genes all turn on at birth, which is incorrect behaviour, obviously. The
code should be changed so as to pay attention to lifestage, and to enable
genes at later lifestages.

SCOL is unimplemented

(Originally reported on Jan 25, 2007 by Helpful Hippo at https://code.google.com/archive/p/openc2e/issues/11 )

We should implement SCOL, which provides control over scrolling settings.