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Author Topic: Horn of Balance  (Read 463817 times)

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Re: [Demo] Tech demo - Horn of Balance (working ...
« Reply #220 on: June 13, 2010, 08:25:30 pm »
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Weekly update:
- Redid walking on stairs. Both with and without a container either running or walking.
- Added the rod of medu (= yellow rod) to the item menu, shuffling the existing item order somewhat to do so and implemented it's swing animation.
- I'm about 70% into redoing the walking animations (both with and without a container).
- Worked a little on the area outside of dungeon 1 (= did some concept work). Currently I'm waiting on a mountain tileset to use

Work is progressing nicely. About half of the character's actions are now redone.
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Re: [Demo] Tech demo - Horn of Balance (working ...
« Reply #221 on: June 17, 2010, 09:47:39 pm »
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I won't be working on the game this coming weekend. So, instead, I thought I'd try to explain a little why it is that I am taking all this time to work on the engine rather then add all kinds of new things. I also felt like writing my mind for a change XD

There are three mayor changes I'm trying to realise.

1. Implement a new damage system.

Previously all enemies did a fixed amount of damage to Link (which would diminish based on Link's tunic), a hp value and variables per possible hit against it (like a damage multiplier for fire or to turn arrows ineffective etc). This was the earlier situation.

Now the enemies are build of three prime components: Creator, Control, Sprite (with death sprite and shadow as support). These main objects are uniform for all enemies. When the enemy sprite and hero sprite connect the hero gets hurt, but no longer by a set amount of damage. Damage from the enemy to the hero is set in classes. A class holds a value of damage per tunic and a distance the hero gets pushed back. The enemy only stores the index to the damageclass for this. Special damage features (like fire/ice/stone/lightning/stun) will be dealt with through an additional variable. All of this has been been programmed a while back, except for the special damage. There are now enemies/sources to deal special damage yet, so there is no need to build already.

The character structure also needed to be redone. I'm in the middle of that right now. There is a control tile and there is the sprite. Sprites work with a parent tree. There is an object for sprites "attached" to the control tile and sprites with unattached locations. Under these is an object for the body and shield because they have unique features. The way the character hurts an enemy is if a character sprite collides with an enemy's. If the character has character sprites has it's variable turn on to interact with enemy sprites then that takes precedence over the enemy hurting the hero.

All of Link's attack types are also grouped into classes. The icerod is a class with only one weapon, because an iceattack is unique. Using the first sword in a default swing and throwing a bush share a class because there damage has the same nature and the damage value is comparable. Each enemy possesses a damage variable per class. So if you hit an enemy with a boomerang then that would be damage class 1. The enemy's damage value in that class is 1 so he takes 1 damage (and is thrown back a distance also in relation to the class). And if I want the enemy stunned then, instead of a damage value like 1, I could have the enemy variable hold a value like 101. 101 could be stunning, 102 getting frozen etc.

The damage mechanic is finished. There are 20 classes in total. 9 classes are being worked on or (almost) finished. The character structure is about halfway done, but it's still a lot of work. Special status attacks are not yet in effect, but will be added sometime after the character structure is finished. All enemy stats are default, meaning all weapons deal equal damage and all enemies have equal health. Tweaking the stats will be done at a later date, but if anybody is interested in stuff like that feel free to send me a message.


2. Restructure the enemy / hero build up

As stated in point 1 and especially 3, the enemy and character structures needed to be changed. The enemies needed to become more uniform to make it more manageable to add new enemies with more ease. Enemies can now share AI segments slightly easier (like movement scripts), and can be part of an class (projectile / non-projectile). All enemies now use one single sprite which is immensely valuable because you can now manipulate those with one piece of coding. I'm talking about the flickering colorschemes you see when an enemy gets hurt. That is now for all enemies the same. Finally (almost) all enemy sprites are broken down into layers (one per color in there original sprite). In other words, I've implemented the use of colorpallets for the enemy sprites. This makes the just mentioned  possible, but also frozen or stone enemies. The before mentioned has all be finished. Who knows. I might one day even use all of this to implement my crazy idea of making the tint of the enemy dependant on the shading he is standing in etc.

The character structure needed to be changes for roughly the same reasons as the enemies. It elimated a whole lot of objects, adds more uniform coding and makes damage and sprite manipulation a whole lot easier. Not to mention adding new items/actions. The hero sprite will also be using a colorpallet. The advantage of this is obviously an easier way of changing Link's tunic, but also to let Link be frozen or turned to stone. And I can do small details like color the gloves based on the gloves you've actually collected. Finally I separated the head sprites from the body sprites to help clear overlap. Most of what is mentioned here is still being implemented. To give you an idea of the work: I've just added my 40th head and 155th body sprite, and still counting. That comes done to about 300-400 subimages of previous sprites replaced by this new method not mentioning swords and shield.


3. Restructure depth system

And finally the change I won't be finishing before the next demo, but which I'm preparing for all the same. Namely a new visual depth system. I encourage programmers to read this bit as advise, because it'll save you time in the long run if you haven't come to a similar conclusion already.

In my game currently all enemies have depth x1 or x2 (based on lower floor or upper floor). This is the simple version. So if you create two bats then one will always be drawn in front of another. I could have handled that pretty easily, but there is another problem. In my game there are statues. They have a base of 16x16 pixels and you can walk either in front or around back. Naturally you expect to stand behind it when behind and in front when you are standing in front right. Doing so in normal circumstances is also easy. However, when you give the character the ability to pick stuff up his height increases. Now comes the question of depth for the container above his head. Simple trickery won't cut it anymore. When you are standing in front you really to do need to give the container/character a depth that is lower then that of the statue. Otherwise you will get ugly depth issues. (BTW: the original also has these problems. If you hold a container below and next to some specific pillars the top of the container will be draw under the top of the pillar).

So what I plan on doing is have the depth be variable based on the y coordinate of an object's sprite's lowest border. It's simple really. Just took me a long to realise it XD There are some small issues left, like what if you objects (enemy/character/statue/etc) share an y value. In that case you first need to add priority like Character > Statue. Secondly you can use creation order.

This last point has not been programmed yet, nor will it be before the next demo. It's too much work and I really do want to show some result for a while now. I'm also afraid that means you'll see some depth issues in the next demo :-\  What I am doing however is a bridging. Each character and enemy can have sprite components that already have a depth relation to one another. Like a sword being in front of a shield. Previously these depths where constant, now I'm basing all depths on the control object's depth. So each control tile gets a personal range of +5 and -5 to manipulate it's personal sprites in. When I want to implement this new depth system I can manipulate all the character sprites as well as every single enemy with just a single piece of code.

-------------------

Sorry for the spelling and possible ranting. It's really late right now. I hope someone amongst you has found it interesting enough to read it till to the end. XD Even better would be if someone found it usefull.
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Mirby

Drifter
Re: [Demo] Tech demo - Horn of Balance (working ...
« Reply #222 on: June 17, 2010, 11:55:27 pm »
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This sounds great! Glad to see all the progress made on it. Look forward to more!

Now to check the first post.. :D
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Re: [Demo] Tech demo - Horn of Balance (working ...
« Reply #223 on: June 28, 2010, 09:20:48 pm »
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Weekly update:
Wasn't really planning on posting anything this week cause of an exam in two days. After plenty of studying I'm unfortunately have come to the conclusion that I'm lacking the willpower to study for hours on end and I must confess I should have spend more time on it here and there in the last couple of months :-\ So I've decided to stop studying, not go to the exam and try again on the next occasion.

Anyway, since I had free time again I worked on this project again. Here are the results:
- walking animations has been done both with and without the containers above your head. Just needs some little tweaks based on container weight some other time.
- jumping of a ledge now has the character facing the direction he is about to jump in. I know this is unlike the original or my previous demo but with the new character setup this is easier.And I feel it makes more sense.
- I decided to skip working on trees, enemies, chests and swords to pick up and throw for the reason of progress. (I really want to bring a demo out, but it's just seems to take longer and longer so I'm looking for things to scratch of my list). I'll work on these things at a later date.
« Last Edit: June 28, 2010, 09:35:44 pm by Martijn dh »
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Re: [Demo] Tech demo - Horn of Balance (working ...
« Reply #224 on: July 04, 2010, 05:28:16 pm »
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Weekly update:
+ You can now jump off a ledge while facing a direction other then your jumping direction. (I know, nostalgia beat logic)
+ Walking on stairs now has a slightly different animation speed then walking normally.
+ Ledge jumping has now been fully recoded for the new character set-up
+ Landing in water after a ledge jump now results in splashing water.
+ Ledgejumping is now possible over extended distances.
+ Getting rupees / arrows / bombs from chests no longer generates a pop-up text.
+ When getting something from a small chest the player no longer raises his hands. And the item's location is based on the chest instead of the player. This should make things more like the original and should make the action more streamlined.
+ Getting an item from a chest has now been fully redone / moved too the character control object.
+ Grouped together the chest objects into a single new object.
+ The text you see when you enter a new area has been improved (I had been working on it
before for glitches on specific computers but the complexity is no longer needed anymore).
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Re: [Demo] Tech demo - Horn of Balance (working ...
« Reply #225 on: July 18, 2010, 09:11:25 pm »
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(Bi?)weekly update:
+ The character will sweat if he tries to run around with a heavy container above his head.
+ Grouped most earlier container related objects into one creation object and one container.
+ Both walking and running with a heavy container above your head results in a (slight) decrease in speed.
+ Replaced the character’s shadow object.
+ Redid getting hurt while carrying a container
+ Fixed glitch while stabbing walls
+ Fixed glitch for grabbing a round container while moving
+ The pick up sequence has been fully redone.
+ If shadows (character / item / container / enemy) are in contact with water and on the same depth_scale then the shadow turns from black to blue

Sorry about missing out last weekend. I've been really busy. The same goes for this week aswell actually, but at least I got some more work done.
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Re: [Demo] Tech demo - Horn of Balance (working ...
« Reply #226 on: July 25, 2010, 07:54:32 pm »
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+ Fixed the glitch where you could grab items while looking in another direction.
+ You can now also ledgejump diagonally.
+ Added variable sized container shadow (during pick-up/carrying/etc)
+ Redid the throwing of containers
+ Redid drawing the digging/terrain surface (more flexible then the old system)
+ Added Pols Voice enemy (just cause I can 8) - still not finished though)

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Re: [Demo] Tech demo - Horn of Balance (working ...
« Reply #227 on: August 01, 2010, 08:14:41 pm »
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Almost forgot the weekly update.
Not much progress this week. I just finished the new digging mechanic. The interaction with tall grass, pots/rock/etc and movable objects still needed to be added after last week. And I've started work on seriously simplifying the respawn mechanics. It's mostly glitch hunting with these things. Rhe further you get the more things are interconnected. Which is fun.
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Re: [Demo] Tech demo - Horn of Balance (working ...
« Reply #228 on: August 12, 2010, 08:17:17 pm »
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Well, it's no weekend yet but I was in the mood to post something. I finally bought a decent desktop after some issues recently with the last computer. So I tried running gamemaker and what do you know? I can finally play the game like you all can. At the full 30 fps! Joy!!! Hahaha. I'm not completely happy with how the game plays at 30 fps but maybe it just needs to grow on me.

Anyway. Here's a new gameplay video to show off some of the progress I've been mentioning over the last couple of weeks/months even. I needed to find and install a new screen recorder anyway. It's no editing masterpiece or anything, but at least there's no noticable lag like in my last video. XD

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6Jv9ZkdzD4" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6Jv9ZkdzD4</a>
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Re: [Demo] Tech demo - Horn of Balance (working ...
« Reply #229 on: August 12, 2010, 09:27:01 pm »
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Wow, Link has one hell of a throwing arm if I look at the first thing being thrown.
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Xiphirx

wat
Re: [Demo] Tech demo - Horn of Balance (working ...
« Reply #230 on: August 12, 2010, 09:37:07 pm »
  • Xiphirx
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This has to be the most complete and legitimate looking engine ever made D:
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Re: [Demo] Tech demo - Horn of Balance (working ...
« Reply #231 on: August 13, 2010, 05:36:34 am »
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Wow, Link has one hell of a throwing arm if I look at the first thing being thrown.

If you're throwing something while walking/running then the throwing distance increases. During that first throw I moved Link slightly before throwing. I'm open for alternative suggestions but this seems to work alright/intuitive once you're actually playing it for a bit.


This has to be the most complete and legitimate looking engine ever made D:

I can't ask for nicer feedback. XD
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Re: [Demo] Tech demo - Horn of Balance (working ...
« Reply #232 on: August 13, 2010, 06:30:03 am »
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Wow, Link has one hell of a throwing arm if I look at the first thing being thrown.

If you're throwing something while walking/running then the throwing distance increases. During that first throw I moved Link slightly before throwing. I'm open for alternative suggestions but this seems to work alright/intuitive once you're actually playing it for a bit.

Oh yeah let me play  XD Please  :P Like Xiphirx said, this is easy one of the best looking engines yet.  But about the throwing distance I know that the distance increases when throwing while walking, I just don't seem to remember that the speed increased as well. Then again it has been a while since I played ALttP, thus I could be wrong.
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Re: [Demo] Tech demo - Horn of Balance (working ...
« Reply #233 on: August 13, 2010, 08:00:32 am »
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Zelda alttp lifting and falling:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xo2DOgg35ZA

Imitate them.
« Last Edit: August 14, 2010, 06:28:58 pm by Gedosemo »
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Re: [Demo] Tech demo - Horn of Balance (working ...
« Reply #234 on: August 13, 2010, 01:01:10 pm »
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Neither jumping or throwing are exactly the same as in the original as they are pretty hard to get just right (as the video from gedosemo illustrates). I'm just aiming to improve them in there own right. Edits can also always be made later. The throwing distance however might be something I'll pick up right now. I'll take a look if it's easy to edit.

Sorry Niek, but there are some horrible looking parts to Link right now. It's not finished enough to release it for people. Maybe I can polished some thing up a little in the coming weeks so it's somewhat presentable again for testers (for those interested).
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Re: [Demo] Tech demo - Horn of Balance (working ...
« Reply #235 on: August 13, 2010, 03:08:15 pm »
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I needed to find and install a new screen recorder anyway.

BB FlashBack:
http://www.bbsoftware.co.uk/bbflashback/home.aspx

A good screen recorder.
« Last Edit: August 14, 2010, 06:29:33 pm by Gedosemo »
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Re: [Demo] Tech demo - Horn of Balance (working ...
« Reply #236 on: August 13, 2010, 03:41:21 pm »
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I'm good thanks. The program I used to make that youtube video worked well enough.

EDIT: Please ignore what was written here before. I mixed up the months :-\
« Last Edit: August 13, 2010, 04:03:59 pm by Martijn dh »
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Re: [Demo] Tech demo - Horn of Balance (working ...
« Reply #237 on: August 14, 2010, 09:02:15 am »
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Your:



Original background only:
« Last Edit: August 14, 2010, 09:37:14 pm by Gedosemo »
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Re: [Demo] Tech demo - Horn of Balance (working ...
« Reply #238 on: August 14, 2010, 09:51:19 am »
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I don't get it. Both are my creations with the exception of the background in the second image. I've made several distinct differences when compared to the original alttp so it's very easy to spot.
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Re: [Demo] Tech demo - Horn of Balance (working ...
« Reply #239 on: August 14, 2010, 04:59:11 pm »
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Train and switch in overworld:

<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Su1Zb6qFy0" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Su1Zb6qFy0</a>

Just watch it.
« Last Edit: August 14, 2010, 06:30:03 pm by Gedosemo »
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