Topic: NES-Style Castlevania Belmont Engine for GameMaker! (Version 0.3 UPDATE!)

[Inccubus]

Great work, dude! 

[TheouAegis]

I swear, 40% of my bugs I spend hours trying to fix are stupid typos, such as image_index instead of image_xscale, or timeline_index instead of timeline_position. Gotta say, they make for some interesting bugs when I make them, though.

Hang in there, the next alpha release will be soon.

[Inccubus]

That happens. Logic error are always a bitch. Can't wait!

[TheouAegis]

*cries* 

One reason I haven't released my current version yet is because I'm trying to clean up my variables. I discovered today that I use too many variables. There are so many things I need to check in order to prevent certain bugs that I can think of, but then I forget which variable actually does what. Spent all day today (literally) trying to debug my Sword Skeleton, only to just now realize the following:

1) I used "hspd" to specify how fast the enemy moves horizontally
2) I used "dir" to specify what direction the enemy is actually moving (simplified my timelines this way)
3) I used "image_xscale" to change directions on enemies that don't need "dir"
4) I made a series of conditionals to check if a wall or pit is in front of an enemy
5) I based said conditionals on the enemy's hspd
6) ...

If that didn't set off any alarms, I guess I'm not alone. In other words, said conditionals worked as intended only when "dir" wasn't involved. In other words, the "if hspd<0" conditional was never met in the Sword Skeleton, which uses "dir", so all day long I've been trying to debug a script that wasn't bugged at all. It was doing exactly what I had told it to do. ... I just told it to do the wrong thing.

*tries to remember all the other right things he thought were wrong today and put them back how they were this morning*

[Inccubus]

Dude, what a pain in the ass. I've done things like that myself from time to time. Nothing worse than thinking something was wrong, changing it, and then realizing it was perfectly fine to begin with. Then you get that dreaded feeling that you're gonna spend the next hour putting it back, hopefully, the right way. And then at the end end of all that work you still have to figure out what was really causing the bug. But, at least by the end of it all you've learned about what not to do, which is just as useful and important as doing correctly the first time.

[TheouAegis]

At Inccubus' insistence, I've uploaded alpha version 0.3 earlier than I wanted. It still has a lot of bugs because some things were hastily left unfinished or untested. With that said, it should go without further saying that you should use this at your own discretion. Hell, it even says that in the info file. Speaking of the info file, be sure to read the game info (in GM, it's the button with an "i" in a circle). It doesn't cover everything, though (as I said, Inccubus pushed me to upload what I have done so far and the info file isn't one of the things that's done).  Enemies are especially buggy and are my current WIP. Feel free to play around witht he ones I have done, though. Axe Knight has not been tested at all and zombies have no script to speak of. In later releases, they will have working scripts.

As always, if you are using this for a game that is already in production, BACK YOUR GAMES UP IN CASE ANY OF MY RELEASES MESSES UP YOUR CURRENT GAME!! I will not be held responsible for your ineptitude and inability to follow orders and experienced advice.

Version 0.3 alpha  Download from here

[Inccubus]

Groovy. 
I'm gonna bite into this as soon as I'm back in front of my pc.

[Inccubus]

Skimmed over your code for Trevor an I have to say it is infinitely better organized.
When I get a chance I'll look into the room transition stuff. Probably not until Saturday, though.

[TheouAegis]

edit

Is there a delete post option? Or do I have to waste space like this?

[Inccubus]

You gotta get Jorge to delete it. And while you're at it get him to delete this waste of space too. =P

[Jorge D. Fuentes]

Delete what, now?

[TheouAegis]

I was posting a fix, then I realized it wasn't fixed, so I wanted to delete the post. But all I could do was delete the text in the post and leave something stupid like "edit" to hide my old false post.

[TheouAegis]

In case you haven't noticed my forum signature yet, I've started a developer's blog. This way I can just blog rather than working on my program. ... Wait, that's not how it works, is it?

Anyway, I'll just post a couple quick updates on the status and also make a request. To date, the only person kept in the loop has been Inccubus. It's only fair I let others in on it as well.

• As of right now, I am halfway finished with breakable walls that are compatible with my Tile engine. I still need to add the rubble and item dropping, as well as fix a bug that causes Trevor to get stuck in the wall above the broken part.
• I'm going back to my original handling of horizontal stages and doors whereby each stage will be in the same room. So a level with a horizontal stage 3 screens long with a door at the end and then the next stage is 2 screens long would all go in a room that is 5 screens long. This is to prevent an annoying screen redraw flicker you can see in the current downloadable version.
• Numerous variables have been removed and certain objects have been recoded to make use of the CTRL+Right-Click functionality in Game Maker. Bone Pillars, candles, and coin bags, for example, will no longer require a library or knowledge of their assigned coordinates. I'm glad I learned about this function before I got too far along.
• The Vampire Killer has been restructured to allow varied degrees of whip upgrades. So now the leather/thorn whip and flail are in separate sprites. Rather than "hi" and "lo" versions of the same sprites, there is only one. Whip states are checked by string_pos("_fr",string(obj_Whip.sprite_index)), which seems a lot simpler to me. Other objects in the game may be recoded soon for similar execution.

So yes, I do have a request. Enemies are a pain in the F'ing ass to script. Some things I'm having issues with that will need to be resolved eventually that I would like assistance with are:

• Enemies need to start deactivated or invisible (with functions only being carried out while visible, as I've done in previous versions).
• Enemies are reactivated or become visible when they are inside the view (activation is slow, I think, so that may be the worse method).
• Enemies are destroyed or made invisible when they go beyond a certain distance outside of the view (needs to be calculated, though I'm guessing 64 pixels).
• Enemies need to respawn when their starting point is 96 pixels or more outside the view. Even if the enemy is still alive and not devisibled or destroyed it still respawns, but only beyond that distance.
• I need accurate (meaning all random possibilities) scripting of all enemies in CV1 and CV3, including any applicable variable fall speeds.

[Inccubus]

I did a simple deactivation code for the enemies in my mod already. It should be like one line to make all enemies deactivate when outside a certain range of the view. I'll post it in the morning. I'm tired from volunteering at a ren faire today. Been on my feet for almost 12 hours.

[Belmont Stakes]

So, there's been some issue, it would seem, about simulating stairs and other features in NES style Castlevania games in GameMaker and other frontends. You always see games where the heroes are able to jump onto and off of stairs, but pretty much never games where once you're on the stair you're stuck there. People complain that these kinds of Castlevania games are annoying and suck, but face it folks: they're realistic. If you try to jump on stairs like Castlevania's heroes have been able to do these days, you'd have to be a freaking gymnast to be able to handle the footwork and balance involved. And if you misjudge your leaps, you'll fall backward and become a paraplegic or fall forward and shatter your shins.

Current Version: 0.31 Alpha

    Download it here

     Gymnast indeed. But when you think about it doesn't Romania produce great gymnasts?

I am more of a fan of Simon's animation in the original Castlevania than I am of him in the second game or Trevor in the third one. I don't like the way Trevor moves his feet or the sound that is made when whip is swung. All the same I want to see the finished product when this is done. And as always, thank you for your contributationington.
UPDATE LINK!