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

[Esco]

I was just wondering since so many people here seem to use game maker, why no one here has actually tried to recreate castlevania: symphony of the night on it? After seeing what so many people here have made with the greatest of ease, I decide to download version 8 and give it a try. I was amazed at the fact that I was able to recreate stage 0 (the intro stage) in about 30 minutes with no problem.

Sadly I know NOTHING about gamemaker, so I just basically created the rooms with tiles and a few sprites. I have no idea if the collisions work (though I used the trick in the help document of using tiles for the background, and a 16x16 invisible solid object for each tile that I wanted to be solid) at all. But I am definitely willing to learn if it would make the hack a better game to just use this engine instead. And if it is this simple to make a stage, I can tell you now that I would definitely be able to accomplish it VERY quickly compared to the hack.

My question is this for those of you who have experience with this program: would it be able to fully recreate castlevania, symphony of the night? If not, what CAN'T it do and why? How would it do with the music, the sounds, the transparency and the particle effects? And with those questions being asked, who here could actually take a little bit of time to show me the basic of this program, for things like the player sprite, putting in an enemy or two, and controlling the player?

I know how all of the AI works in SOTN, the speeds and framerates for animations, and basically EVERYTHING that I would need to recreate it, so if you guys want to show me how to use this thing, I am willing to give it a real try, and see if it can do what I need it to do.

[Claimh Solais]

I actually wanted to try and do this. Like, recreate a lot of the things in the game, too. Your hack actually inspired the idea, but I know NOTHING about how to code in Game Maker, so I just gave the idea up until the day I learn how to.

But I really want to try this some day, and someone SHOULD take up the job. Like, improve graphics, music, and all that.

[X]

I have tried to use game maker but there are some visual elements that I just cannot grasp. It sucks serious @$$ knowing you can't make your own game even though you have the tools to do so.

-X

[Inccubus]

I've messed around with GM since version 5.

Coding in game maker is quite easy actually. Since the built in language is based on pascal/C it should be a snap if you've learned any C language. My best suggestion is to do the tutorials and read the section of the help file that explains all the language conventions and built in functions. (That's like 1/2 the file, long read.) Of course the engine has bugs of it's own to deal with, not to mention it has a reputation for being a bit of a cow system resource wise. The good thing is, that if you don't like the way a function works you can just make your own script or extension package to replace it. I don't even use the drag'n'drop system except to call my scripts and code most of the time.

Investing in the standard edition is recommended if you really like the lite version. You can get tons of help at the GM forums too. Tons of extension packages to download too. The best part of GM though has to be the fact that if you get into making your own games you can publish through Yo-yo games to iPhone for profit. They kick you in the balls profit wise, but you get some profit, exposure, and most importantly full rights to you IP.

It can recreate pretty much anything that was in SotN provided you can program it in. Plus you wouldn't have to be slave to the original game's limitations like having to load specific enemies into each stage. Everything is object based so you can put any instance of any object anywhere you like at any time you like. It handles most kinds of digital music including midi, wav, and mp3. Videos too. I can answer some questions for you, but you can always just read the help file or go to the forums too.

[Esco]

I've messed around with GM since version 5.

Coding in game maker is quite easy actually. Since the built in language is based on pascal/C it should be a snap if you've learned any C language. My best suggestion is to do the tutorials and read the section of the help file that explains all the language conventions and built in functions. (That's like 1/2 the file, long read.) Of course the engine has bugs of it's own to deal with, not to mention it has a reputation for being a bit of a cow system resource wise. The good thing is, that if you don't like the way a function works you can just make your own script or extension package to replace it. I don't even use the drag'n'drop system except to call my scripts and code most of the time.

If you don't use the drag n drop system, how do you create rooms and place objects then, and in a way that uses less resources than the drag n drop system? O_o

Investing in the standard edition is recommended if you really like the lite version. You can get tons of help at the GM forums too. Tons of extension packages to download too. The best part of GM though has to be the fact that if you get into making your own games you can publish through Yo-yo games to iPhone for profit. They kick you in the balls profit wise, but you get some profit, exposure, and most importantly full rights to you IP.

I have the pro edition.... nuff said

It can recreate pretty much anything that was in SotN provided you can program it in. Plus you wouldn't have to be slave to the original game's limitations like having to load specific enemies into each stage. Everything is object based so you can put any instance of any object anywhere you like at any time you like. It handles most kinds of digital music including midi, wav, and mp3. Videos too. I can answer some questions for you, but you can always just read the help file or go to the forums too.

The help me file is shit (I read thru it, lol), and I have considered asking for help on the forums but I figured that I would start here since I know people have already made 2d platforming Castlevania games with this. What I need is one of the people who have done this, and don't mind sitting on aim/msn/yahoo messenger to tutor me thru the basics for a few. I have watched a few videos and read quite a bit already and I still feel lost. So with that being said, would you mind helping me out a little bit? I assure you that I am not lazy and once I know how to do things I can start practicing and learning.

So far all I have done is recreate the stage 0 map perfectly (my map editor for SOTN helped with this), and put in a few non animating sprites. I made an animation for richter, but I have a LOT of questions about this.

I figure that the first thing I need to make is a basic player sprite to test with (one that walks, jumps, ducks, runs, and slides), then make a room with various collisions to test in, then lastly once I know collisions work properly, finish making richter, then start on other various sprites like enemies, candles, breakables, etc. This should all be within my ability to do, but I need some help getting started here.  

[Kale]

Don't think pirate talks are allowed here.

That said.... what would we really do with it? Someone said improve the graphics... but tah would require someone to redraw or edit it themselves. That's ALOT of work. And SOTN, while not new, isn't in a state where it just looks completely aged and keeling over like the NES Games... SotN would be fun to do, but the other games are much more.... attractive in terms of improvement.

[Esco]

Don't think pirate talks are allowed here.

That said.... what would we really do with it? Someone said improve the graphics... but tah would require someone to redraw or edit it themselves. That's ALOT of work. And SOTN, while not new, isn't in a state where it just looks completely aged and keeling over like the NES Games... SotN would be fun to do, but the other games are much more.... attractive in terms of improvement.

What pirate talks? O_o Are you high man? If so, can I have some?  

The reason I am trying out game maker is (to be blunt), that the ways things are going with the hack right now while I am making a LOT of progress, I don't see this thing being totally done for a few more YEARS!!!   And I really don't want to make everyone wait that long.

Not to mention when I go back to work (I am currently unemployed) I will have at most about 16 hours a week to mess with it IF I AM LUCKY! And it can take days sometimes to get one thing working right; mostly because IGA's code is absolute shit and jumps EVERYWHERE! It also does a lot of redundant and pointless things that make no sense. Making my life a living, breathing, fiery hell.

3 people that are WAAAAAAAY better than me have tried following and documenting his code... all 3 gave up and said the same thing that i just did. That is really not good.

As for what I would do with it? How about putting Maria in the game with her own inventory, relics, etc.? Or putting in more music tracks to replace some of the ones used OVER AND OVER in the 2nd castle? Or giving the particle and flame effects and upgrade? Or putting in more enemies from other stages which I cannot do in my hack?

There are a lot of extra things that can be done with this thing once I finished it. And I am sure that it would also be MUCH EASIER for people to change things in my hack with something like that, than it would be to look thru countless lines of commented c code in memhack.  

[Inccubus]

If you don't use the drag n drop system, how do you create rooms and place objects then, and in a way that uses less resources than the drag n drop system? O_o

I was referring to the drag'n'drop in the object editor. Although, if you wanted to you could have a blank room and make a script in it's creation code that populates the tiles, BG, and objects on it's own. Hell, I'm pretty sure there are functions for creating rooms too. That could cut down on resources, but then again we're talking about a PC game here. I wouldn't worry too much about resources. Just don't like load the whole game at once in one room. That might kill the RAM.

The help me file is shit (I read thru it, lol), and I have considered asking for help on the forums but I figured that I would start here since I know people have already made 2d platforming Castlevania games with this. What I need is one of the people who have done this, and don't mind sitting on aim/msn/yahoo messenger to tutor me thru the basics for a few. I have watched a few videos and read quite a bit already and I still feel lost. So with that being said, would you mind helping me out a little bit? I assure you that I am not lazy and once I know how to do things I can start practicing and learning.

I use that help file as my GM bible, but sure I can help you out some. You're on the East coast, right? Just give me a time and date and I'll make a messenger account.

So far all I have done is recreate the stage 0 map perfectly (my map editor for SOTN helped with this), and put in a few non animating sprites. I made an animation for richter, but I have a LOT of questions about this.

The easy way to do animations in GM is to make a different sprite for each action and call these sprites at the appropriate times with the correct variables.

I figure that the first thing I need to make is a basic player sprite to test with (one that walks, jumps, ducks, runs, and slides), then make a room with various collisions to test in, then lastly once I know collisions work properly, finish making richter, then start on other various sprites like enemies, candles, breakables, etc. This should all be within my ability to do, but I need some help getting started here. 

That's a good plan and I'll help however I can. Making the game from scratch is a bit more work than a hack, but then again if you're gonna use a script utility to hack that makes it require play on PC, then it's a fair trade off for not having to deal with the limitations of the emulator.

There are a lot of extra things that can be done with this thing once I finished it. And I am sure that it would also be MUCH EASIER for people to change things in my hack with something like that, than it would be to look thru countless lines of commented c code in memhack.  Cool

If you want people to be able to change things around in your version of the game I suggest that you program it with a map editor in mind. Or if you want to release it later as a GM project file I'd be extra careful fully documenting your own code and making simple to edit template enemies people can easily work with.

[Esco]

I was referring to the drag'n'drop in the object editor. Although, if you wanted to you could have a blank room and make a script in it's creation code that populates the tiles, BG, and objects on it's own. Hell, I'm pretty sure there are functions for creating rooms too. That could cut down on resources, but then again we're talking about a PC game here. I wouldn't worry too much about resources. Just don't like load the whole game at once in one room. That might kill the RAM.


I use that help file as my GM bible, but sure I can help you out some. You're on the East coast, right? Just give me a time and date and I'll make a messenger account.

Ok... I'll be U2U'ing you in a moment.

The easy way to do animations in GM is to make a different sprite for each action and call these sprites at the appropriate times with the correct variables.

I don't know how to call sprites (yet) for each action, but I figured the same thing. Heck I couldn't even figure out how to make frame 1 last for 180 ticks, frame 2 last for 120 ticks, and frame 3 last 240 ticks, which I figured would be VERY easy. Luckily, I have a very good concept of game design, and once I know how to do things, doing them will be very quick and easy in most cases for me.

That's a good plan and I'll help however I can. Making the game from scratch is a bit more work than a hack, but then again if you're gonna use a script utility to hack that makes it require play on PC, then it's a fair trade off for not having to deal with the limitations of the emulator.

Trust me.... NOTHING can be more work than the hack.  And thanks, I would greatly appreciate the help.

If you want people to be able to change things around in your version of the game I suggest that you program it with a map editor in mind. Or if you want to release it later as a GM project file I'd be extra careful fully documenting your own code and making simple to edit template enemies people can easily work with.

That was my intention.... but believe it or not, most enemies in SOTN already follow a basic template, so I know most of them inside out. Heck I could easily tell you stuff like the exact vspeed a bat increments by when first flying down, how many frames he fidgets for before attacking, AND how long each frame lasts. And if I didn't know, a few minutes with memhack would tell me. 

[Inccubus]

Well, I'd certainly find that info on enemy movement helpful.

[BMC_War Machine]

Another great program to try out is Multimedia Fusion 2.  That's what i am using for Vamprotector.  I bought Game Maker 7 and although i dug how it worked, i found MMF2 to be much more straight forward.  It takes A LOT of the coding out and uses more logic based style events.  For example, say you're going to set up a collision to end the current frame and start the next, you run an event like this:

Collision between "Player" and "End of Frame Sensor" = End Frame

Only downside is that the full version runs about 120 USD, whereas Game Maker runs around 20 USD (or at least it used to).  I would say give the MMF2 demo a shot though, its pretty gnarly!

[Inccubus]

It's 25 now but I think it's going up soon. I've never tried MMF2, but it is the other *big* game making engine out there.

[Aridale]

yeah you can do pretty much whatever you want in GM as long as its win or mac (with GMMac) based. I use it daily to make programs for work. Ive been usin it since 5 came out and Ive been usin scripting for just about as long... I dont even remember how to mess with the drag and drop. The only DnD action I know is Execute Code lol.

My suggestion for starting out is do the platform tutorials. Then start to change lil things in your tutorial files to see the changes ingame and learn how and what does what it does and expand from there. Tweak things just like workin on your hack and youll start to pick up how it all works pretty quickly. Then you start to move away from a "template" like the platform tutorial and make your own basic engine from scratch.

Dont be confused tho... Its not easy. Platform games like SoTN arent a walk in the park. Im sure you know that from workin on your hack but until you try to recreate perfectly all the ways Richter or Alucard can move and the things they can do... youll realize just how much work it is

[Inccubus]

LOL you use GM for ork? Nice!

[Esco]

yeah you can do pretty much whatever you want in GM as long as its win or mac (with GMMac) based. I use it daily to make programs for work. Ive been usin it since 5 came out and Ive been usin scripting for just about as long... I dont even remember how to mess with the drag and drop. The only DnD action I know is Execute Code lol.

My suggestion for starting out is do the platform tutorials. Then start to change lil things in your tutorial files to see the changes ingame and learn how and what does what it does and expand from there. Tweak things just like workin on your hack and youll start to pick up how it all works pretty quickly. Then you start to move away from a "template" like the platform tutorial and make your own basic engine from scratch.

Dont be confused tho... Its not easy. Platform games like SoTN arent a walk in the park. Im sure you know that from workin on your hack but until you try to recreate perfectly all the ways Richter or Alucard can move and the things they can do... youll realize just how much work it is

Good suggestion... but you never actually told me WHERE I could find the tutorials.