Topic: New Game (Early Look)

[Claimh Solais]

I say, that is one well-built house, I tell you hwhat.

This seems really nice.

As for Richter, I'd like if someone could go for the RoB accurate styled Richter (like X described) or DXC Richter for once. It'd be cool to see some nice edits of those outfits once in a while. Or even a whole new outfit.

[Corpsecrank]

I say, that is one well-built house, I tell you hwhat.

This seems really nice.

As for Richter, I'd like if someone could go for the RoB accurate styled Richter (like X described) or DXC Richter for once. It'd be cool to see some nice edits of those outfits once in a while. Or even a whole new outfit.

lol yeah damned house. I just yanked the house from ooe and patched it up in spots. I tossed some trees from the background of one of the other games sotn I think and used the same hedge sides ooe used and viola simon's crib was born! It will actually be a lot cooler once there are some rooms behind the doors. The one on the bottom left is going to be the main house interior which is going to have a storage function warp and save as well as a way to listen to the music in the game. The right side door is going to go to the cellar and the top door is a surprise! Gotta wait till the demo is out to see that one.

I actually didn't realize richter had different outfits between rondo and sotn guess I suck as a cv fan But I will have to check that out. I always thought it would be bitchin to make a full sheet using the frame from sotn that only gets used one time for a brief dialogue I will attach that one. I like the one and only frame that exists of it anyhow.

Hey, Corpsecrank. Just an idea, but you have my full permission to add Sophia Belmont as an unlockabkle character if you so wish.

After all, why not share characters when the sheets are complete and technically public use, no?

I might actually do that. I was trying to come up with useable female characters as possibilities but cv is a sausage fest LOL.

[darkmanx_429]

Yeah I am making solid progress no doubt. I mean sure it took this long just to make a single screen with music and a button that advances to another screen with music but it sure does do that much well lol.

I had to fight with transparency issues today or I would have probably made it to adding in character frames or something. For some reason no matter how you add transparency to a bitmap button in MMF2 it just doesn't work properly. You always get at least some boxing behind the button no matter what. And I also noticed no matter what layer you add a button to it always stays on top of everything else. I tried cheating and adding a solid black object as an active over top of everything else on it's own layer and then adding a fade out and destroy to it with a timer which would cause the black to fade out after the game launched but the button showed right through it! I was like seriously WTF MAN! lol.

So I ended up using a bouton CS or whatever its called which is just another button someone tweaked. It did handle transparency better but not perfect. I had issues while fading the frame in and out and resolved that by simply destroying the buttons on the menu if any are pushed so they appear after the frame fade in and are destroyed then the frame fades out immediately. It resulted in what I was wanting anyhow. So my menu is in and working and my second screen which is also my test bed is in an working. I need to add a couple of animations one for each screen to be exact. Then after that I can finally add some character frames! Been waiting this whole time just for that LOL.

Anyhow I am almost ready to post another video soon so you will get to see what I have done so far. I also got the new mic in so it won't be so harsh on your ears

That's weird about the transparency issues. I don't get that problem. Are you using the color picker in MMF2 to hide your transparency when you import your sprites as a active object? I usually use Pink as my background for when adding sprites and then use the picker to make that color transparent. I think MMF2 usually goes for black automatically and you wouldn't want that.
The fade deal you figured out is one way of doing the fade to black deal, it's actually part of the way you can make day to night effects in game. Did you try using the effects button and using Fade from the Transitions menu? You still have to use the destroy command but you can make your active object fade in and out at will.
Another way to do that is just be simply adding an invisible frame of animation to your animations, like such as for explosions. (So basically a ending frame with nothing in it..) Yet, even another way for invisibility is to use the event editor and under the object you want to make invisible select "visibility."

Finally, about your issues with putting your objects on a specific layer. Don't worry about doing it in the frame editor in real-time. That is also done in the "Event Editor." Select your object and choose order:

It will even let you decide what specific frame you want the object to appear at through here! I hope I've been helpful. I posted a new vid for my game as well that you could check out:
Vamprotector Stage: 0 Mini Demo Testing

[TheouAegis]

Just a suggestion for that stage of Vamprotector, alternate the foreground objects with the background. You have two tombstone/statue types there. Both are in the foreground. Since one of them is breakable, set its depth so it's behind the player so it looks more like he's running through the yard. It will give you a better sense of depth, I think.

ok OP can have his thread back now.

[darkmanx_429]

Just a suggestion for that stage of Vamprotector, alternate the foreground objects with the background. You have two tombstone/statue types there. Both are in the foreground. Since one of them is breakable, set its depth so it's behind the player so it looks more like he's running through the yard. It will give you a better sense of depth, I think.

ok OP can have his thread back now.

Thanks, I'll look at that, you can post on my thread... don't want to hijack someone else's thread.

[Corpsecrank]

haha it's fine this thread isn't exactly a complete deal about my game just a peek at what I have started. I will make a new one once I have a name for my project anyhow. And he makes a great point really. I watched that video last night and it looked alright to me but I think that the idea of moving the stones to different depth might really help set that off better.

I tried all the stuff you mentioned and I chose to use the layer editor for one major reason. It allows me to lock certain layers so I can click on things without grabbing the wrong object. Setting the front to back order had no effect either. It did have transparency the problem is that the transparency was causing weird behavior with objects behind it since they also had transparency. I think it is basically just a bug in MMF2 because changing the button to bouton CS which was built on the original button actually had better results but there were still problems with it. So yeah pretty much just a weird issues in the program and how it handles things.

I had some minor issues with one of the transitions and the text for simon's house also.  If I wanted it to start small and zoom to it's normal size which looks wonderful by the way. It would have some white pixels around the edges where the semi-transparent pixels on the text are. I have a smooth edge on that so 1 or 2 pixels deep around the edges are not solid pixels and the transition has issues handling that. So I opted for fade which has no problems and also looks great.

I managed to pop the bad animation in the title last night before going to bed. I am just getting ready to animate the clouds at simon's house and add the doors. I won't add rooms behind them yet. I want to get the doors ready then add richter and see if I can make him move around before I go adding in the other rooms since they will take some time.

Hey speaking of naming this project. I am having a hell of a time coming up with something for that. I keep wanting to do something with a theme involving the passing of time or something. Like something to do with eternal night time. I just can't come up with anything catchy lol. The idea comes from dracula casting darkness over the land and that darkness lasting until he is defeated. So I thought something that played on that could be a great title.

[darkmanx_429]

Some of the my name ideas: "Veil of Shadows"; "Chorus of Shadows"; "Eclipse of Discordance" (The last one is a play off Symphony of the Night)

[Corpsecrank]

Some of the my name ideas: "Veil of Shadows"; "Chorus of Shadows"; "Eclipse of Discordance" (The last one is a play off Symphony of the Night)

Not bad I like the first one a lot actually.

I have to rethink my plans at this point though. I have had enough of MMF2 already. I am done fighting with things that are trivial like making a button and having it actually work the way I want or simply using transparency without problems. Look at the MMF2 boards and hear the cries of a thousand people with transparency issues. Seriously I had my doubts to begin with and I had a feeling that there was no easy way to build a game I was really hoping that MMF2 would be useable but after my experience tonight I am washing my hands of it and finding a reliable way to do this.

The last thing I want to do is get into this project and have hundreds or more hours invested only to hit a "snag" in the software and not be able to make things happen the way I want them to. So far nothing is working the way I want using MMF2 it wants to do whatever it feels like doing at run time. I designate objects to layers and they simply pop around from layer to layer randomly when the application is run and I have to wonder how they market this software watching it happen.

I am already familiar with flash. I could just as easily spend the time I would have learning MMF2 and learn action script instead. I would be worlds ahead since I already am comfortable in the flash environment and I know I wouldn't hit some hangup later on in development. It would also benefit me to learn action script as I could use that while animating also.

I don't really want a flash based game though. That was part of the appeal MMF2 had with me originally and why I gave that a try first. I want a standalone game with more flexibility in areas flash does not handle well. Saving a game using flash is not great for example though it does work.

I may have to find better software or learn to create a game from absolute scratch. I think that is the only way I am going to get the kind of crisp results I am looking for.

Let me just post a video of the layer issues I am having so you can fully understand  why I am throwing in the towel with MMF2 and looking elsewhere.

Why I won't Use MMF2

I don't want to but a game out that is half-assed. There are enough of those already. I want a game that looks and plays solid so to do that i have no choice but to move on and figure out a better way to do this.

I wish I knew what that one guy was using to make Vampire Hunter X that game was actually half decent and could have eventually turned into something solid had it not been given up on.

This is by the way one of the biggest reasons I gave no promise at the start. Until I find a way to do this and not end up with some awful end result anyhow. As soon as I can find a reliable way to build this game I will be able to say I can finish it for sure.

[Mega Man Model T 101]

I'm kinda in the same boat. I mean I'll be trying, but I'm afraid despite the graphics most of it will barely even resemble Nes gameplay I'm afraid.

I mean unless I can get a better program, and one that I can figure out and test fairly easily, I'm afraid to admit I maybe making a bit of a lack luster Castlevania game. Maybe I'll be wrong but I know it won't be as good as any of the past or current CV games.

[Corpsecrank]

I'm kinda in the same boat. I mean I'll be trying, but I'm afraid despite the graphics most of it will barely even resemble Nes gameplay I'm afraid.

I mean unless I can get a better program, and one that I can figure out and test fairly easily, I'm afraid to admit I maybe making a bit of a lack luster Castlevania game. Maybe I'll be wrong but I know it won't be as good as any of the past or current CV games.

That is exactly why I am being more picky about how I build this. It may seem like I barely gave MMF2 a chance before moving on but you have to realize I have a LOT of experience in applications far more complex than MMF2 is. I can use just about every product in the adobe line well and those are not easy to learn. MMF2 is a baby application next to those but I have also learned and used many many other applications just as complex. So it doesn't take me very long to see that MMF2 is just not going to work for me.

I should just continue learning C# and build with that but I know if I code from scratch it will be a long long wait before I have anything solid. I would have to learn enough C# to start building an engine and then build the engine. I would rather save some time in that respect and just use an existing engine capable of doing what I need. I am afraid there might not be anything capable at the moment though. We will see I have to keep looking before I decide what the best option is.

[Corpsecrank]

Double post FTW!

But seriously I did some more homework on 2D engines. I am going to play around with Construct Classic for a bit before getting more serious. I think I am going to use the ORX engine to build my game. No more object based conditional editors. This is an all data driven engine that also allows me to code in things that aren't there I may need. I can fully expand on this engine and use it freely. With access to the source I can do pretty much anything necessary. This engine is efficient and clean and you can make a lot happen with only a couple lines of code. From what I have seen this is going to be the best route. No more limitations or hassles trying to get basic functions to work. I should also be able to get the tight responsive control I am looking for so I will be able to put out a really polished game with it.

Once I get going with this it will be a while before I have much to show. This is going to be a lot of learning and effort but the end result is so going to be worth it.

But if you want simple and there isn't time to learn or you want something I think is superior to MMF2 or Game Maker check out the screen attached. I found that first so I grabbed a copy. There is a better version than this one called Construct 2 but that costs money. The one in the screen I attached is free and pretty capable on it's own.

[darkmanx_429]

Double post FTW!

But seriously I did some more homework on 2D engines. I am going to play around with Construct Classic for a bit before getting more serious. I think I am going to use the ORX engine to build my game. No more object based conditional editors. This is an all data driven engine that also allows me to code in things that aren't there I may need. I can fully expand on this engine and use it freely. With access to the source I can do pretty much anything necessary. This engine is efficient and clean and you can make a lot happen with only a couple lines of code. From what I have seen this is going to be the best route. No more limitations or hassles trying to get basic functions to work. I should also be able to get the tight responsive control I am looking for so I will be able to put out a really polished game with it.

Once I get going with this it will be a while before I have much to show. This is going to be a lot of learning and effort but the end result is so going to be worth it.

But if you want simple and there isn't time to learn or you want something I think is superior to MMF2 or Game Maker check out the screen attached. I found that first so I grabbed a copy. There is a better version than this one called Construct 2 but that costs money. The one in the screen I attached is free and pretty capable on it's own.

Well, that's unfortunate to hear about MMF2. I was just about to suggest you try Construct instead, but you beat me to it. I haven't played with it, but I heard it's basically a free version of MMF2. What build of MMF2 were you using? Were you using a demo or "free" version? I purchased a full version with my student discount and haven't had any issues like that... I can't tell what is causing your issues just be looking at your frame editor and not seeing what is in your event editor. MMF2 is a pretty powerful program. You can look at some examples of games that people have created from the software. But as I mentioned before it has a steep learning curve. If you didn't properly go through that Intro to MMF2 pdf. it's even more of a hassle trying to piece together how to do things from vids and such. I kinda feel that way right now about certain 3D programs. Anyways, it's all about getting the right program you need to accomplish what you want. Before I switched to MMF2 I was using the Beats of Rage engine. Just remember if you are looking for some program that is going to instantly make you a game from scratch, it's NON EXISTENT. Even the supposed "easy ones" require some form of dexterity. Just play around with the many free game design software on the net and find the one that does it for you! I'll look forward from hearing on your progress. Good luck in your future endeavors!

[Corpsecrank]

I had the payed version of multimedia fusion 2 developer. That program is totally bogus if you ask me. I say that only after giving it a fair shot and after seeing competing software like construct. I am actually enjoying what construct can do so much I am thinking about tossing a basic stage based game together in between learning to use ORX. I know exactl what you mean about learning but I don't think the issue for me is learning as much as it is finding ways to deal with general issues in that software. ORX is not the "easy" way out this time. It is all code so I am actually stepping up my game and going the more complicated route since that is probably the only way I can actually get the results I want.

I have to tell you though construct is so much better than MMF2. It has a lot more features and saves you a lot more time as well. The layout is pretty damned sharp also. It actually follows a ribbon layout similar to office which works really well for this type of software.

Since I had construct and I got to see just what it can do I ended up not being able to just toss it aside without actually playing with it lol. So I am going to go with "Veil of Shadows" as my title for a construct built game. I have a feeling I may be able to actually get something accomplished in this application based on what I have seen so far. But hey I won't know till I actually get into it. I just know this application happens to handle graphics a lot better anyhow so there goes several of my issues right there. As long as I don't get any layer jumping and other crazy stuff I might have a simple but decent game when I am done. I won't get to complicated with this I just want to get a good solid handle on how construct works and if it is solid enough to build anything serious with. Construct 2 looks awfully tempting but I still have issues with building HTML5 games. I stayed out of flash so far for the same reasons I want a game that does not rely on other software to function like a browser or the flash player. I want a game that functions on it's own which I am sure many of you can understand.

Anyways I have a solid direction to go in again so on with the project once more! ORX is going to be a real challenge to use but I have dealt with far worse lol. I used to run a game server written mostly in C# I was able to modify the client any which way I wanted and add, remove, change anything I wanted about the server. It took me a while to really get a handle on how all that worked but when I was done I was able to do anything I wanted with that game. This will probably be the same type of experience.

[Corpsecrank]

Just to recap what has happened for anyone new to the subject. This project was started but MMF2 wasn't doing the job. So I decided to change engines before I got to far along. The change has put a hold on this one since I have to learn a lot before continuing. While searching for the engine I settled on for this project which is ORX. I came across a MMF2 style program called Construct Classic. Because that happens to be so good I am working on the short Veil of Shadows project using that before I continue with the project from this thread. The link below takes you to the discussion for VoS and once that comes to a close I will create a new discussion for this project and link it to the end of the VoS discussion. That should make it easier to follow all the progress from one topic to the next.

http://castlevaniadungeon.net/forums/index.php/topic,4621.0.html