Topic: Since so many people here seem to use game maker.....

[X]

On the good side of things: so far I have coded richter to be EXACTLY like SOTN, walking, running, jumping, and dashing wise. Down to the very image_speeds it is an exact duplicate.

Does that also include his drawing of the whip just before he attacks? I've noted in SotN that Richter has a set of three destinct whip draws bfore his main attack ensues. And if Richter turns to face the apposite direction while drawing the whip, he will execute a fourth animation that isn't shown in the basic attack stance. It looks something like a half-circle.

[TheouAegis]

You can use globalvar bPause when you declare it, then you don't need to prefix it ever again. The globalvar function turns the variable into a universal, like how scores and lives are.

[Aridale]

yes unless you use another var in the local scope with the same name... Its still good practice to prefix global variables with global. if for no other reason than to help you remember theyre global

[Esco]

I'll have to try that out for pausing guys, thanks for the advice. 

And I re-uploaded the file again today with a LOT more changes; I got room transitions working properly, as well as collisions working about 85%. I also figured out how SOTN lays out it's rooms and used a similar technique (since the player's vpos must be < 0, or > room_height to change rooms up or down; the same for the hpos, which is x).

Here is the file: http://www.mediafire.com/?3vftau5noh387ae

I wanted to make sure before I put this file up that I could give great details on my problems, so here are some issues that I am having problems with:

*If you dash close to a solid block, he slowly edges forward a little each time
*I cannot figure out how to get the moon to work like it does in SOTN (like a background layer that only moves a certain amount)
*I put in a 16x8 block at the entrance to dracula's room; yet it still behaves likes a 16x16 tile.
*Going up slopes is messed up; I believe that hitting my head against them is a bit off too
*I cannot figure out how to duplicate SOTN's camera; I.E. how it will stop falling the player's y when it reaches a certain value, at a certain spot, and then alters the X, unless the player backtracks through that spot. I know in SOTN a seperate object can disable & re-enable y scrolling and x scrolling. My views as of now are still messed up, though I got the camera size pixel perfect.

If you guys can help or have any advice, I'm all up for it. Right now I am working on putting in the gfx for things like common candle drops, as well as the candle types that are still left.

[Aridale]

well I dont have much time to look at it  right now Ill have to check it out more tomorrow but at a fast glance

1) Your collision object and your player object are two totally separate objects... they really shouldnt be theres no reason. You only need to mask the players object with a shape like the collision one and handle collisions that way no need for 2 different objects
2) your problem with the 16x8 block looked like it was cause the mask for it was set to 16x16
3) the view will follow whatever object you tell it to follow that doesnt really mean it has to be the player object

[Esco]

Thanks for such a quick response; it is appreciated. I messaged Metroidquest too, and I am hoping that he can show me a bit about the basics of his engine so that I can learn from it.

well I dont have much time to look at it  right now Ill have to check it out more tomorrow but at a fast glance

1) Your collision object and your player object are two totally separate objects... they really shouldnt be theres no reason. You only need to mask the players object with a shape like the collision one and handle collisions that way no need for 2 different objects
2) your problem with the 16x8 block looked like it was cause the mask for it was set to 16x16
3) the view will follow whatever object you tell it to follow that doesnt really mean it has to be the player object

No worries, check it out when you can. I will probably be busy with my girl most of tomorrow anyway.

The reason I used 2 sprites is because one is for the player when he comes into contact with solid tiles (the red outline), while the other (the player itself) is for when he comes into contact with enemies. If you have another way to do this I am all ears because I basically need 2 separate masks for the player's object. The reason is when jumping for example, he has once frame where he uses a crouching sprite, and if they shared one mask, either the hitbox would be too big when facing enemies, or when it came to collisions with tiles, it would not act correctly (basically here the mask for enemy collisions should be about 14, while the one for tile collisions should be about 28 so he lands on the block correctly).  

My issue with the view is that in SOTN if you play it you qill quickly notice that the view is NOT of the entire room, but once the player gets past a certain X&Y values, it will not scroll anymore EVEN though there is more of the room left to see. After you play with my file, you will quickly see my issue.

Oh and I double checked the 16x8 tile; it's mask is only 16x8. So I don't know what is up with it.

Does that also include his drawing of the whip just before he attacks? I've noted in SotN that Richter has a set of three destinct whip draws bfore his main attack ensues. And if Richter turns to face the apposite direction while drawing the whip, he will execute a fourth animation that isn't shown in the basic attack stance. It looks something like a half-circle.

The whip code in SOTN is absolute trash! It will not be the same. For example when first attacking the whip will be maybe 3 images so it only has 3 hitxboxes. Once extended it will be 2 (one for the body, one for the head; in sotn it is 16!). Now if you are referring to richter's animation, then yes it probably will be.

As for brandishing the whip, that will also be different. Since I will have whips that don't have straight round or square bits (like the leather one)/

[X]

It was the whip animation that I was referring to. I just loved they way they did it 

[Esco]

It was the whip animation that I was referring to. I just loved they way they did it 

Ok.... I promise not to F it up then. lol

[TheouAegis]

I forgot what Richter looks like when jumping, but the sprite hit box issue isn't as big of a deal as you think. Don't make the jumping sprite one whole sprite if the hitbox has to change. If they do jumps like in old CV games, the jump sprite is the ducking sprite until the Belmont attacks, then it becomes a standing whip attack followed by a normal standing stance. It wouldn't surprise me if they're using different sprites for jumps nowadays, but the method is the same: don't give the jump sprite multiple frames if each frame is going to have different hitboxes, use multiple sprites instead.

For the view, place a conditional in either a controller object or Richter that checks if view_xview and view_xview+view_wview are within a certain bounds of the room's dimensions.

[Esco]

I forgot what Richter looks like when jumping, but the sprite hit box issue isn't as big of a deal as you think. Don't make the jumping sprite one whole sprite if the hitbox has to change. If they do jumps like in old CV games, the jump sprite is the ducking sprite until the Belmont attacks, then it becomes a standing whip attack followed by a normal standing stance. It wouldn't surprise me if they're using different sprites for jumps nowadays, but the method is the same: don't give the jump sprite multiple frames if each frame is going to have different hitboxes, use multiple sprites instead.

I am just preparing in advance for what I know will be needed later. I have an outstanding view of what I need to do, and how to do it in general, but my biggest issue is not knowing HOW to do it in this program itself. I am used to memhack and using an emulator, so stuff that I can do in 3 seconds there, I have to relearn how to do in GM.

For the view, place a conditional in either a controller object or Richter that checks if view_xview and view_xview+view_wview are within a certain bounds of the room's dimensions.

This sounds like what I want to do, but I have no idea what the syntax would be. I spent hours yesterday experimenting and I still could not get it right. But an example would easily help me to do so. Can you give me a code snippet for it or point me towards one? Something that gives me a quick example of:

if (players.xpos < NUM) {change view to be only a box that is 256x206, and will only move HORIZONTALLY with the player and is locked vertically in place}
else {the view should be a 256x206 box that moves both vertically AND horizontally}

I could also use an example of if (player.xpos <num)  {view will no longer move at all and is now locked in place}

From that I could figure out how to do it in relation to the vpos (Y value) easily and modify it as needed.

[Dengo vlad tepes]

haha i made the first 3 stages in one day XDDD

well the only problem is idk how can change the value of the money/hearts or HP

[Aridale]

view_xview and view_yview are the location of the current view. view_wview and view_hview are the width and height of the current view. x+view_xview is the x position relative to the view in the room. view_object is the object the view follows same as setting it in the room properties. You can change any of these during the game

Its a bit trickier to control the view and make it smoothly stop and start moving. What Id suggest to do is instead of tryin to work in absolute values to stop the view make objects that when touched lock the view to their location. Either stop the view all together or make the object the view_object when touched.

A more elegant solution is a camera object that the view follows that in turn follows the player but can be stopped by collision with special blocks to control the actual viewable area. Thats what I did in my old CV2 Remake demo so I could stop the view at screen transitions even tho the actual room was much bigger

[Esco]

view_xview and view_yview are the location of the current view. view_wview and view_hview are the width and height of the current view. x+view_xview is the x position relative to the view in the room. view_object is the object the view follows same as setting it in the room properties. You can change any of these during the game

Its a bit trickier to control the view and make it smoothly stop and start moving. What Id suggest to do is instead of tryin to work in absolute values to stop the view make objects that when touched lock the view to their location. Either stop the view all together or make the object the view_object when touched.

A more elegant solution is a camera object that the view follows that in turn follows the player but can be stopped by collision with special blocks to control the actual viewable area. Thats what I did in my old CV2 Remake demo so I could stop the view at screen transitions even tho the actual room was much bigger

Cool, I will mess around with that a bit tomorrow (my computer has been f-ed for the last day and a half, so I didn't get almost anything done). Have you gotten to look at my file yet and examine the slopes on the ground? I cannot seem to get them to work right.

[Aridale]

nope havent had time I might get a chance later tonight sometime

[Esco]

nope havent had time I might get a chance later tonight sometime

No problem, I appreciate any help I can get.

BTW I found the issue with the 16x8 tile: the mask was right in the sprite, but in the OBJECT itself it was wrong. Which I remember you mentioning the mask before, so thanks for that.

ALSO the file has been updated; now my only issue is with walking up and down tiles on the floor. I fixed the rest. Here is the newest file:

http://www.mediafire.com/?k5pt0yldmce3u9o