C
- Status
P
Paul1Up
Guest
Okay, here’s the newest version:
speedy.sh/CRFBb/test4.gmk
Download link should be the plain text at the top of the page.
So, I’ve added the father (using some placeholder art) as a proof of concept of an NPC that can display text and change variables when certain conditions are met. I’ve also added a door that let’s you move back and forth between 2 rooms when you press the ‘down’ key in front of it, and this can be used as the basis for making doors that lead to any other rooms made in the future. I’ve also implemented (some) of your sprites! I made the bedroom map, and two scrolling maps for where the village and desert would be. I think you’re going to have to import the rest of your spritesheet because I wasn’t sure what tiles go where. But, as you can see by the ‘father’ and ‘home_door’ objects, just give background objects that you won’t collide with a depth of 1, objects behind that 2, etc and make sure they are set to solid. Objects you want to be able to collide with need a depth of 0, set to solid, and if it’s rectangular then turn off precision checking for the collision mask. I also added a check for the max number of rooms, so you don’t walk off the map and cause an error. This is set up in the player’s create event and must be changed as more maps are added. I also cleaned up some of my code here and there. Anyway, you can examine any object to see how I did what I did. That’s all for now!
speedy.sh/CRFBb/test4.gmk
Download link should be the plain text at the top of the page.
So, I’ve added the father (using some placeholder art) as a proof of concept of an NPC that can display text and change variables when certain conditions are met. I’ve also added a door that let’s you move back and forth between 2 rooms when you press the ‘down’ key in front of it, and this can be used as the basis for making doors that lead to any other rooms made in the future. I’ve also implemented (some) of your sprites! I made the bedroom map, and two scrolling maps for where the village and desert would be. I think you’re going to have to import the rest of your spritesheet because I wasn’t sure what tiles go where. But, as you can see by the ‘father’ and ‘home_door’ objects, just give background objects that you won’t collide with a depth of 1, objects behind that 2, etc and make sure they are set to solid. Objects you want to be able to collide with need a depth of 0, set to solid, and if it’s rectangular then turn off precision checking for the collision mask. I also added a check for the max number of rooms, so you don’t walk off the map and cause an error. This is set up in the player’s create event and must be changed as more maps are added. I also cleaned up some of my code here and there. Anyway, you can examine any object to see how I did what I did. That’s all for now!
C
Chris_Morgan
Guest
Hi **Paul1up **Love it! Its really starting to feel like a game. I was going to say, can we start using version numbers (v1, v1.1, v1.2, v2 etc)? Each time one of us makes changes we can update the version number. Then I thought, do we need to do this? The reason I ask is because I would like to impliment some graphical changes, and it would make it easier if I was able to do them and then post the results, which you could then download to work on to programming and we could keep batting it back and forth (like a game of Tennis) - do you get what I mean?
Also using tiles to create levels, rather than objects, will make the game faster & smaller. So there would be just one basic collision object (I think you have called it ‘tile’) which would be invisible, and the level would be decorated with tiles. Tilesets are entered by loading a background and designaiting it a tileset. You probably know all this anyway! Otherwise its something I can take care of.
What do you think?
I am currently having some major problems with my laptop. I need to reformat it, so I might not be on for a short while.
God bless
Chris.
Also using tiles to create levels, rather than objects, will make the game faster & smaller. So there would be just one basic collision object (I think you have called it ‘tile’) which would be invisible, and the level would be decorated with tiles. Tilesets are entered by loading a background and designaiting it a tileset. You probably know all this anyway! Otherwise its something I can take care of.
What do you think?
I am currently having some major problems with my laptop. I need to reformat it, so I might not be on for a short while.
God bless
Chris.
P
Paul1Up
Guest
Hi Chris,
Sure, we can start using version numbers. I guess this version would be about 0.4? I’m not sure what the standards are, but I know the completed Generation 1 of this game would be 1.0. And it would be best to consolidate the game into a single file and just pass it back and forth. As for tilesets, I wasn’t aware that Game Maker could do that! So yes, it would be best to do it that way. I’ll leave the level design up to you. But we’ll still make some tweaks here and there, because right now the character jumps way too high, the text message system could use some polish, etc. Sorry to hear about your computer, I’ve almost had to reformat my computer once or twice, but ended up finding solutions at the last second.
I guess that’s all for now, take care!
Sure, we can start using version numbers. I guess this version would be about 0.4? I’m not sure what the standards are, but I know the completed Generation 1 of this game would be 1.0. And it would be best to consolidate the game into a single file and just pass it back and forth. As for tilesets, I wasn’t aware that Game Maker could do that! So yes, it would be best to do it that way. I’ll leave the level design up to you. But we’ll still make some tweaks here and there, because right now the character jumps way too high, the text message system could use some polish, etc. Sorry to hear about your computer, I’ve almost had to reformat my computer once or twice, but ended up finding solutions at the last second.
I guess that’s all for now, take care!
C
Chris_Morgan
Guest
Hi Paul1up
I have called this current version 0.4.2 accordingly. Then changes you make can be 0.4.3 etc. I have made some graphical changes, basically putting the tiles in, but also adding a wall at the far end of each room. I will get on with the level design, specifically the first few rooms, and post my results.
I agree the jump is too high. Message system is okay, but if you want to polish it - that’s cool!
Its my letter “n”. The key does not seem to work anymore.
Below is the current version:
sites.google.com/site/chrismorganstuff/Home/eremias%200.4.2.gb1?attredirects=0&d=1
God bless,
Chris.
I have called this current version 0.4.2 accordingly. Then changes you make can be 0.4.3 etc. I have made some graphical changes, basically putting the tiles in, but also adding a wall at the far end of each room. I will get on with the level design, specifically the first few rooms, and post my results.
I agree the jump is too high. Message system is okay, but if you want to polish it - that’s cool!
Its my letter “n”. The key does not seem to work anymore.
Below is the current version:
sites.google.com/site/chrismorganstuff/Home/eremias%200.4.2.gb1?attredirects=0&d=1
God bless,
Chris.
P
Paul1Up
Guest
Wow, I’m impressed, the maps really looks amazing! Nice job! 
Here’s 0.4.3:
2shared.com/file/8c29Oj0z/eremias_043.html
Okay, so I think a jump value between -6 and -8 will be okay. I set it to -7 for now which is just over three tiles height. You can change the numbers in the event in the player object and see what you prefer. I added comments to most of my code, and wrote some instructions for when the player presses F1, just as a primer. Also, any thoughts on what some of the next features you’d like to include are?
Here’s 0.4.3:
2shared.com/file/8c29Oj0z/eremias_043.html
Okay, so I think a jump value between -6 and -8 will be okay. I set it to -7 for now which is just over three tiles height. You can change the numbers in the event in the player object and see what you prefer. I added comments to most of my code, and wrote some instructions for when the player presses F1, just as a primer. Also, any thoughts on what some of the next features you’d like to include are?
There could be quite a few reasons for this. In the Control Panel, under Keyboard and in the Hardware tab, does it say if the device is working properly? Have you tried plugging in an external keyboard? You could rule out a software issue if it works that way, and wouldn’t need to reformat. Otherwise, you may just need to clean or adjust the keyboard, you could look online for your specific model and troubleshooting.
C
Chris_Morgan
Guest
Hi Paul1up
Glad you like the maps
To be honest though, what I have done so far was just to give you an example of using tiles. What I plan to do is spend some time (not too long!) re-designing the first few rooms. Changing the graphics slightly and the layout. Plan is to have 3 rooms to start with. The village, and a room to each side. I do not know if you have played Castlevania 2 on the NES (it was a long time ago) but if I remember correctly, you could go left *OR *right from the first screen, which seemed a bit revolutionary to me at the time. I realise its not revolutionary now… Anyway it seems like a nice idea, and I was thinking it could introduce a bit of non-linear play into the play - in that the player can go left or right and maybe get a bit of a different game?
Anyway that’s the upcoming graphics features. In terms of program features I was thinking of the following:
Jump through platforms
Collectables or events in the game increasing abilities e.g. a collectable/event increasing jump height
I was also just about to say Finite State Machine flora and fauna, but I have just read an article that says that FSM’s are going out of fashion. Either way, some plants and animals that get on with their own lives and that are not just there to hamper the player would be good.
Because we are batting the program back and forth, do you want to make your changes first, or can you wait for me to make mine?
I think the jump height is cool.
God bless,
Chris.
Glad you like the maps
To be honest though, what I have done so far was just to give you an example of using tiles. What I plan to do is spend some time (not too long!) re-designing the first few rooms. Changing the graphics slightly and the layout. Plan is to have 3 rooms to start with. The village, and a room to each side. I do not know if you have played Castlevania 2 on the NES (it was a long time ago) but if I remember correctly, you could go left *OR *right from the first screen, which seemed a bit revolutionary to me at the time. I realise its not revolutionary now… Anyway it seems like a nice idea, and I was thinking it could introduce a bit of non-linear play into the play - in that the player can go left or right and maybe get a bit of a different game?
Anyway that’s the upcoming graphics features. In terms of program features I was thinking of the following:
Jump through platforms
Collectables or events in the game increasing abilities e.g. a collectable/event increasing jump height
I was also just about to say Finite State Machine flora and fauna, but I have just read an article that says that FSM’s are going out of fashion. Either way, some plants and animals that get on with their own lives and that are not just there to hamper the player would be good.
Because we are batting the program back and forth, do you want to make your changes first, or can you wait for me to make mine?
I think the jump height is cool.
God bless,
Chris.
P
Paul1Up
Guest
Hi Chris,
It will be easy to implement where you want the player start. Here is a visual representation of how the rooms are to be implemented, using their room names:
room0_0, room1_0, room2_0, … roomM_0
room0_1, room1_1, room2_1, … roomM_1
room0_2, room1_2, room2_2, … roomM_2
…
room0_N, room1_N, room2_N, … roomM_N
So all we would need to do is give the village room a particular name like room10_5, change some of the code for the home_door object, and that’s all.
I’ll wait for you to make the changes you want, in the mean time I will experiment with how jump through platforms will be implemented and A.I. for fauna. A collectable object that affects something like jump height ought to be easy enough to implement.
That’s all for now, take care!
It will be easy to implement where you want the player start. Here is a visual representation of how the rooms are to be implemented, using their room names:
room0_0, room1_0, room2_0, … roomM_0
room0_1, room1_1, room2_1, … roomM_1
room0_2, room1_2, room2_2, … roomM_2
…
room0_N, room1_N, room2_N, … roomM_N
So all we would need to do is give the village room a particular name like room10_5, change some of the code for the home_door object, and that’s all.
I’ll wait for you to make the changes you want, in the mean time I will experiment with how jump through platforms will be implemented and A.I. for fauna. A collectable object that affects something like jump height ought to be easy enough to implement.
That’s all for now, take care!
C
Chris_Morgan
Guest
Hi Paul1up,
I have uploaded a basic map design: sites.google.com/site/chrismorganstuff/Home/Eremias%20-%20Map%20%28Generation%201%29.doc?attredirects=0&d=1
Would you be able to set up the number of rooms, with the connections, identified? Let me know if you have any problems.
Its basic, but for generation 1, I think it will be okay. We can always complicate things later. Also its still a bit loose, in terms of what the the player actually needs to do, but we can work on that.
The current copy of the game I have is: sites.google.com/site/chrismorganstuff/Home/eremias%200.4.3.gb1?attredirects=0&d=1
Let me know how you get on,
God bless,
Chris.
I have uploaded a basic map design: sites.google.com/site/chrismorganstuff/Home/Eremias%20-%20Map%20%28Generation%201%29.doc?attredirects=0&d=1
Would you be able to set up the number of rooms, with the connections, identified? Let me know if you have any problems.
Its basic, but for generation 1, I think it will be okay. We can always complicate things later. Also its still a bit loose, in terms of what the the player actually needs to do, but we can work on that.
The current copy of the game I have is: sites.google.com/site/chrismorganstuff/Home/eremias%200.4.3.gb1?attredirects=0&d=1
Let me know how you get on,
God bless,
Chris.
P
Paul1Up
Guest
Hello Chris,
I really like how the village turned out! It’s really nice!
I’ve already built the map and am currently cleaning up code here and there and adding the things we talked about before. But there is one thing, the file that you uploaded ends with .gb1, which is a back-up copy of the Game Maker file. I am not sure how the backup system works in Game Maker, so could you check if the .gb1 file is the same as your latest .gmk or .gm81 file? Because some systems make backups before major changes have been done, and I hope the file you’ve uploaded isn’t missing the latest changes you’ve made. Another thing I want to ask is if you’re okay with the way the player character jumps if you hold the jump button down, or would you rather the character not ‘bounce’ like that? And let me know if you have anything specific in mind that you want to add, or how you want certain things to be done (like the keys/quest items).
Edit: For the map, to clarify, bold lines means that there is no way to pass from one room to the next on that side of the room, thin lines means that there is, and you want the rooms to wrap around left-to-right, did I get that right? Because that’s how I’ve implemented the map so far. And the map connections and layout are clever! Nice work!
I really like how the village turned out! It’s really nice!
I’ve already built the map and am currently cleaning up code here and there and adding the things we talked about before. But there is one thing, the file that you uploaded ends with .gb1, which is a back-up copy of the Game Maker file. I am not sure how the backup system works in Game Maker, so could you check if the .gb1 file is the same as your latest .gmk or .gm81 file? Because some systems make backups before major changes have been done, and I hope the file you’ve uploaded isn’t missing the latest changes you’ve made. Another thing I want to ask is if you’re okay with the way the player character jumps if you hold the jump button down, or would you rather the character not ‘bounce’ like that? And let me know if you have anything specific in mind that you want to add, or how you want certain things to be done (like the keys/quest items).
Edit: For the map, to clarify, bold lines means that there is no way to pass from one room to the next on that side of the room, thin lines means that there is, and you want the rooms to wrap around left-to-right, did I get that right? Because that’s how I’ve implemented the map so far. And the map connections and layout are clever! Nice work!
C
Chris_Morgan
Guest
Hi Paul1up
I’m glad you like the map. I think it works well for G1 (generation 1). Like I said, we can always complicate things later!
I have uploaded the .gm81 file: sites.google.com/site/chrismorganstuff/Home/eremias%200.4.3.gm81?attredirects=0&d=1
I only uploaded the gb1 file as there was a comment before how the .gm81 did not work on Mac. The .gm81 should have all the changes. To be honest I have not made many yet
I’m okay with the way the character bounces at this stage. I think it is something we can change, if we want to, once we have got some other things out of the way. However would it be possible to have a different sprite for when the character is coming down from a jump (or falling) though? I have drawn a sprite for this.
Re: the map - you are right, the thick lines mean solid walls (or at least no passing through) the thin lines mean passing through (I suppose the thin line corresponds to the edge of the room. The blue arrow/s means two-way wrap-around.
In terms of keys/quest items, I’m not sure if we should go for items that increase ability (e.g. jump height) which means some areas are inaccessible to begin with, or to have certain import collectibles i.e. keys, that all need to be collected in order to open a door or end the game in some way.
Currently I am tending towards the second option - where the ‘keys’ are actually passages from the saying of the Desert Fathers, things important for the brother to hear, in order to make up his mind about whether he should come home to see his father or not.
What do you think?
God bless,
Chris.
I’m glad you like the map. I think it works well for G1 (generation 1). Like I said, we can always complicate things later!
I have uploaded the .gm81 file: sites.google.com/site/chrismorganstuff/Home/eremias%200.4.3.gm81?attredirects=0&d=1
I only uploaded the gb1 file as there was a comment before how the .gm81 did not work on Mac. The .gm81 should have all the changes. To be honest I have not made many yet
I’m okay with the way the character bounces at this stage. I think it is something we can change, if we want to, once we have got some other things out of the way. However would it be possible to have a different sprite for when the character is coming down from a jump (or falling) though? I have drawn a sprite for this.
Re: the map - you are right, the thick lines mean solid walls (or at least no passing through) the thin lines mean passing through (I suppose the thin line corresponds to the edge of the room. The blue arrow/s means two-way wrap-around.
In terms of keys/quest items, I’m not sure if we should go for items that increase ability (e.g. jump height) which means some areas are inaccessible to begin with, or to have certain import collectibles i.e. keys, that all need to be collected in order to open a door or end the game in some way.
Currently I am tending towards the second option - where the ‘keys’ are actually passages from the saying of the Desert Fathers, things important for the brother to hear, in order to make up his mind about whether he should come home to see his father or not.
What do you think?
God bless,
Chris.
P
Paul1Up
Guest
Hello Chris,
I don’t have a new release ready yet, and likely won’t till tomorrow evening, but so as not to keep you in the dark, I’ll tell you what I’ve done so far and what I’m working on:
I don’t have a new release ready yet, and likely won’t till tomorrow evening, but so as not to keep you in the dark, I’ll tell you what I’ve done so far and what I’m working on:
- I’ve improved the message dialogue system, and am currently working on implementing back-and-forth dialogue between the heroine and other characters.
- I’ve worked out on paper how the flora and fauna will work, but I still need to implement them.
- I’ve completed the map so far and verified all the room connections, so everything works the way you designed it to.
- I’ve added a collectable item (sandals) that allows the player to jump higher. I want to add an inventory screen to allow the player to equip/un-equip this item and to examine other collected objects like the keys. The sandals are required to be able to reach the room where the brother is.
- I’ve changed the way the sprites work so you can have a different sprite for when the player is falling.
- I’m working on adding the keys at the proper locations on the map. For now, I will implement this as a desert father and desert mother each with their own quotation. Once the player speaks to them they will receive the appropriate ‘key’ variable that will allow the player to convince the brother to come home.
- I’ve done some work on the brother character.
- I want to add a way to complete the game properly. After speaking with the brother there would be a brief ending cutscene back at the house, then the game needs to be properly reset and return the players to the title screen.
So that’s all for now, let me know what you think and what you want me to focus on first. I’ll work on getting the next version done as quickly as possible. Take care!
P
Paul1Up
Guest
Okay, here is what I have so far:
2shared.com/file/Et1xhZPX/eremias_044.html
I implemented everything that I said that I was working on except fauna. I also added jump-through platforms (had much trouble with that one, had to copy-paste the code from another place
). You can now advance through dialog with the X key, and you can open and close your inventory with the C key. In the inventory, once you have the sandals which allow you to jump higher you can wear/remove them with the X key. Highlighting other objects in the inventory displays a brief message about the item. I added the desert father and desert mother who give the player ‘keys’ to help the player convince the brother to come home. I just picked random quotes, so the dialog is completely non-sensical so far. But you can now actually complete the game (if you have the patience, I mostly copy-pasted the levels so the design is repetitive and unchallenging). But now that most of the game structure is in place and (as far as I can tell) intact, we can polish off the maps and graphics. I’ll keep working on the fauna, and if you find any bugs or have any more feature requests, let me know!
2shared.com/file/Et1xhZPX/eremias_044.html
I implemented everything that I said that I was working on except fauna. I also added jump-through platforms (had much trouble with that one, had to copy-paste the code from another place
). You can now advance through dialog with the X key, and you can open and close your inventory with the C key. In the inventory, once you have the sandals which allow you to jump higher you can wear/remove them with the X key. Highlighting other objects in the inventory displays a brief message about the item. I added the desert father and desert mother who give the player ‘keys’ to help the player convince the brother to come home. I just picked random quotes, so the dialog is completely non-sensical so far. But you can now actually complete the game (if you have the patience, I mostly copy-pasted the levels so the design is repetitive and unchallenging). But now that most of the game structure is in place and (as far as I can tell) intact, we can polish off the maps and graphics. I’ll keep working on the fauna, and if you find any bugs or have any more feature requests, let me know!
V
VeritasLuxMea
Guest
I have a knack for writing riddles. I’m not sure if this would be helpful to you or not, but if so, I volunteer my service.
Anyone drop me the link for the program that I need to open the .gmk files?
P
Paul1Up
Guest
Sure! Click on the button here that says Game Maker 8.1 Lite. Here are links for each OS:
yoyogames.com/gamemaker/windows
yoyogames.com/gamemaker/mac
V
VeritasLuxMea
Guest
Sure to the links or sure to the links and the riddles?
Basically if there’s a specific item (or a place or a person or a concept, etc.) that you would like a riddle for, let me know. Or, if you would like a particular type of puzzle - let me know as well. I can’t necessarily promise anything, but I’ll give it a good shot.
I’ll def. check out the game.
C
Chris_Morgan
Guest
**Paul1up **- Excellent work on the programming - again!
I just sat down to write a detailed post, congratulating you on all your hard work, and giving my comments, but I realised that some of things I was going to say have been acted on, and also I have not properly played the game all the way through yet!
Regarding the map/graphics though - now the game is mostly in place, I would like a few days to draw some more tiles (to give the game a more varied, but also cohesive look) and fiddle with the level design, before any more changes happen. Is that okay with you?
Then we can go forward with next set of features. One other thing, I changed the falling sprite, and was going to change the graphics for the desert Father/Mother, and the jump through tiles, if that’s okay with you?
**VeritasLuxMea **- I’m with Paul1up, welcome aboard! Puzzles…hmmm, need to think about those.
God bless all,
Chris.
I just sat down to write a detailed post, congratulating you on all your hard work, and giving my comments, but I realised that some of things I was going to say have been acted on, and also I have not properly played the game all the way through yet!
Regarding the map/graphics though - now the game is mostly in place, I would like a few days to draw some more tiles (to give the game a more varied, but also cohesive look) and fiddle with the level design, before any more changes happen. Is that okay with you?
Then we can go forward with next set of features. One other thing, I changed the falling sprite, and was going to change the graphics for the desert Father/Mother, and the jump through tiles, if that’s okay with you?
**VeritasLuxMea **- I’m with Paul1up, welcome aboard! Puzzles…hmmm, need to think about those.
God bless all,
Chris.
P
Paul1Up
Guest
Hello Chris,
That’s all fine by me, and you are free to change the graphics, I was just using placeholder art for debugging purposes. I think there is a bug with the plants not animating so (I think) the flora_01 object just needs to be set to ‘persistent’ (If you go through the code and shorten the alarm times you can see the way that they are supposed to animate). Whenever possible I’ve been trying to stick to drag-and-drop to make things easier. There is one issue that I didn’t know about beforehand though. If you try to build a stand alone executable for the game using Game Maker Lite, there is a large glaring watermark in a corner of the screen and a ‘register this software to make this go away’ ad when the game closes. So at some point, I’ll probably register Game Maker. Anyway, I think that’s all for now, take care!
C
Chris_Morgan
Guest
Hi Paul1up,
Quick post this. I have added some tiles to the tileset, have a look at the game and let me know what you think.
sites.google.com/site/chrismorganstuff/Home/eremias%200.4.5.gm81?attredirects=0&d=1
I have not done everything (graphically) yet, but I thought you might like to have the game back in case there is anything you were itching to add!
I will post again tonight with comments regarding your previous two posts, and what features we should add/work on.
God bless,
Chris.
Quick post this. I have added some tiles to the tileset, have a look at the game and let me know what you think.
sites.google.com/site/chrismorganstuff/Home/eremias%200.4.5.gm81?attredirects=0&d=1
I have not done everything (graphically) yet, but I thought you might like to have the game back in case there is anything you were itching to add!
I will post again tonight with comments regarding your previous two posts, and what features we should add/work on.
God bless,
Chris.
P
Paul1Up
Guest
Hi Chris,
The tilesets look nice! The details are really good! Good job!
2shared.com/file/hki6KXXy/eremias_046.html
Here’s a new build. Making the flora and fauna work right was tricky, there are some parts of GM that weren’t too flexible and I’m not smart enough to work around them. So essentially, I’ve got a finite-state machine of sorts for the plants, so they all animate properly now. I’ve finally added the ‘fauna’, but I used the player sprite. For now the ‘fauna’ will randomly decide to go left, right, or stand still, and will hop over obstacles in the terrain. I’ve removed some redundant code as well. Let me know what other features you would like me to work on, or if we should focus on adding other content.
The tilesets look nice! The details are really good! Good job!
2shared.com/file/hki6KXXy/eremias_046.html
Here’s a new build. Making the flora and fauna work right was tricky, there are some parts of GM that weren’t too flexible and I’m not smart enough to work around them. So essentially, I’ve got a finite-state machine of sorts for the plants, so they all animate properly now. I’ve finally added the ‘fauna’, but I used the player sprite. For now the ‘fauna’ will randomly decide to go left, right, or stand still, and will hop over obstacles in the terrain. I’ve removed some redundant code as well. Let me know what other features you would like me to work on, or if we should focus on adding other content.
- Status