View Full Version : Curse of The Mystics [PROGRESS THREAD]
okies, i thought i'd create a new thread for updating y'all about CoTM.
two screenshots of the first level (The Chapel) are below. Bear in mind that i haven't yet coloured in the wording, and the character tile will change too. I may also colour the scroll edges. Detail too, is rather sparse atm...
<img src="http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp106/eqixx/cotm1.png">
<img src="http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp106/eqixx/cotm2.png">
thoughts?
quiggie
23-05-09, 07:06 PM
As usual Jamie no technical input whatsoever but it looks good - nice colouring and scroll text really looking forward to its completion - maybe one technical thing but have you put a hud on it yet [he he he] :v2_dizzy_clapping:
this is the story:
Lost Legends
==========
A long time ago, countless years in the past, evil and oppression were the watchwords of the land. Common people were suppressed, beaten and tortured. The land itself had a dark dank air of fear and terror, and an oppressive, twisted, and paranoid leader ruled with an iron fist...
Chapter 2: Curse of the Mystics
========================
13 years have passed since the rise of The Lord of Darkness, and the Lord has long since receded into himself, growing ever more bitter and twisted with every passing year. The Castle of Illumination has long since lost its shine and sparkle, instead becoming a monstrous forboding presence, towering over the land and keeping the common subjects constantly fearful of their lives.
The Lord himself is bordering on the edge of madness, now almost obsessive in his belief that someone will plot against him as he did against the king before him. Rumours have reached him that the son of the long dead king is planning a coup, and in his madness, the Lord has turned to mystics and sorcerers to guide him and help remove the threat to his rule...
:O
Epic
I see a film adaption in the future.
Phantom
24-05-09, 12:21 PM
Ooh! Exciting!
It looks and sounds great- I know it might be a while, but I'm looking forward to playing this one. :v2_dizzy_smile: :v2_dizzy_thumbsup:
xelanoimis
24-05-09, 06:07 PM
Aha!!! I'm rally glad you decided to continue the Dizzy Legends series. I think everyone is expecting it like the second part of "Lord of the ring" :)
The screens look great. Nice colors. Perhaps more contrast is needed (color or style) between the bricks in the scene and those of the hud. Especially in the first shot.
Good luck with it and keep us informed!
Alex
Thank you!
i'm not re-drawing the HUD, it took ages! :) I think there's a good enough contrast in the colours anyway. Plus the second (and possibly third) levels will look completely different too.
oh and i have *no idea* what the second part of 'Lord of the Rings' is like...
xelanoimis
25-05-09, 12:43 PM
oh and i have *no idea* what the second part of 'Lord of the Rings' is like...
Haven't you seen the whole trilogy? It's really good. The best I dare to say :)
I also read the book (in fact I listened to the audiobook) and both the book and the movie are very good. I strongly recommend them.
tbh i've never seen any of the Lord of the Rings trilogy!
Eggshellent :v2_dizzy_tongue2: The detail on the graphics is rather good :)
Looks good,
Might want a thicker black line between map and the hud.
p.s. LOTR was pants.. to the point i can't be bothered to see the 3d part.. and have absolutely no memory about what happened in the others. other than a fight with a dodgy looking CG monster in a cave... they sucked the magic and mystic right out of the book for Hollywood gloss.
however. i would have loved it is i was 10.. pity it came out so later in life.
Ooh I like it!:v2_dizzy_clapping:
particularly how the ivy slightly creeps into the game area. does it cause any flickering during scrolling?
you can also count me as another one, that has never seen any LOTR films!
Ooh I like it!:v2_dizzy_clapping:
particularly how the ivy slightly creeps into the game area. does it cause any flickering during scrolling?
nope, the game screen is drawn behind the HUD, meaning that the ivy is a consistant part of the HUD, rather than drawn seperately on top. :)
i did it in this game because it doesn't really matter that some parts of the screen may be obscured, as the whole game is scrolling, and the character never moves from the middle.
Scrolling? Curses (ha!), it will be harder to draw the map while playing it :!)
ok, one of the (many!) issues with scrolling games, is that you never 'switch' rooms in the conventional sense of the word. you never 'exit' one room and 'enter' another. This means that whereas you may sometimes 'switch' dizzy to another position in the map when you exit a room, for example in the museum in SBD,you just can't do this in scrolling games.
this is a bit of a pain, as i was wanting to give CoTM a small 'underground' section, under the main part of the first level. this wouldn't have been a problem in TLoD, but is a problem in CoTM because it always scrolls.
so i did the following video to show you what i've done. If you count the number of tiles he moves up and to the right, then count the number of tiles he moves down and left, you'll see that *in theory*, he should end up back at the same place. But... he doesn't...
:p
<object width="640" height="505"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/KKEMv2RmnNE&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/KKEMv2RmnNE&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="640" height="505"></embed></object>
it's completely seamless. :D i'm well chuffed! :v2_dizzy_happy:
quiggie
30-05-09, 09:41 PM
WOW - you deserve to be well chuffed :v2_dizzy_clapping::v2_dizzy_clapping::v2_dizzy_cl apping:
That looks great.
If your using scrolling can't you disable for for certain parts of the game? or is it a case of having it or not having it?
It must be possible for maps to have a 'scrolling section'
oh yes it's entirely possible to just have a scrolling 'section', but i want this game to be fully scrolling.
It looks really cool, I like the graphics style :)
are you redoing the character to match?
xelanoimis
31-05-09, 03:51 PM
One suggestion: you can make the character darker in the dark areas, as he is in shadow (if that is the case in those dark tunnels).
As for "teleporting" the player in a full scrolling game, you can make the destination look the same as the place you teleport from and match player's position. It should be possible.
For example if it's a horizontal tunnel, and you leave from rooms AB into CD, with the departure point at the exit of room A and the arrive point at the entering of room D, then rooms A and B must be the same as rooms C and D.
If you consider the player can walk up and down too, and you can see the rooms above AB or below, you must duplicate these at the destination too.
Thanks Alex, that's a good idea about changing the character shading.
yes the only issue with your method is if someone drops an item on the floor *just before* the teleport point. the player would then teleport and the item would disappear from view.
The way i'm doing it avoids that happening. :)
what i thought was just having a non-scrolling room were you can access the 'hidden tunnel' if you come to the end of the map/castle do you know what i mean? it wouldn't need to scroll then because dizzy would have come to a dead end.
xelanoimis
01-06-09, 08:43 AM
the only issue with your method is if someone drops an item on the floor *just before* the teleport point. the player would then teleport and the item would disappear from view.
You can teleport all the items in range too :)
And sincronize (or move?) any other dynamic objects, especially if movable.
It is pretty painful, but if it's not used often...
bah, i'm finding it rather difficult to draw a realistic looking top down 'roaring fire' (24 high x 26 wide, 4 or more frames)
:(
EDIT:: it's ok, i found a .gif file on the internet and adapted it. it has 89 frames! haha! It took a while to change it into a .tga file!
You can teleport all the items in range too :)
And sincronize (or move?) any other dynamic objects, especially if movable.
It is pretty painful, but if it's not used often...
yeah, i'll probably just find any 'items' in that room and move them.
oh and EVERYTHING in cotm is dynamic (therefore movable). There's no static brushes at all. ;)
right, i've almost finished drawing all the tiles for the first level. I just have most of the items to draw now.
Next job after that is working out the positioning of the objects so that the puzzles work properly in the map
then i'll code the puzzles, which shouldn't take too long.
then i'll be wanting some beta testers to test the first level as i work on the second. :) i hope the beta testers that tested TLoD will agree to test CoTM too, but another tester would be nice as well :)
cba doing a screenshot. there's not really much happened to the map since the last shot.
Well I sure enjoyed TLoD, I don't mind looking at CoTM too :)
screenshots:
<img src="http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp106/eqixx/cotm5.png">
<img src="http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp106/eqixx/cotm6.png">
<img src="http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp106/eqixx/cotm7.png">
<img src="http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp106/eqixx/cotm8.png">
quiggie
28-06-09, 03:26 PM
looking really good jamie can't wait to get started - nice teasers!!! :v2_dizzy_walkman:
all items are now placed in the first level, and most of the puzzles coded too for the first level - it only took about 2 hours to code about 50 puzzles, they're *really* easy to code in the Legends series :) ;)
i really like the feel of the game too. the scrolling really does work well with this game. :D
The only problem i have with it is that the game 'reads' the current room to see what's in front of the character. if the character is on the edge of that room looking out, it won't find anything (try it in TLoD - for two directions, he'll say 'i can't see what it is' ;) ). That isn't a problem with TLoD, but is very much a problem with CoTM, as you may be stood on the 'edge' of a room, and not be able to pick up/examine an item that's in the next room, even though you can clearly see it next to you. I should be able to fix that though, by expanding the area it looks in. T'was a rather unexpected consequence tho!
Other than that, everything is going pretty well. I also today fixed the inventory text display to also show the scroll, that was a bit head-scratchy for a while, but i got there! :)
oh and the music i've got for the first level is excellent! in-keeping, a touch creepy, yet catchy at the same time, without ever really getting boring or repetitive :)
yay i fixed the above problem with other room 'edges' not being recognised when examining/actioning things in them.
i simply added a 24 pixel 'border' to the existing room dimensions in function PlayerTouchObjectInRoom(idx) :)
in other progress, i now just have two puzzles to code in the first level, one of which may be quite complex.
quiggie
25-07-09, 08:35 PM
good - still looking forward to this one :v2_dizzy_walkman:
I think this will be an awesome game! Thanks for all your hard work, Delta!
I was playing TLoD again today and the music really got me. I have a hard time finding background music for my games. Does anyone have some good links to sites that have epic music tracks FREE? :dizzy_confused:
Really would appreciate music that was more old English, Celtic, folk, or just plain Z-80 style.
Thanks for your help!
all the music on TLoD and CoTM is from incompetech.com: http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/
it's all free, and you can even sell games you use it in, as long as you give credit to the guy! (i do in the 'credits' part of the game menu)
he doesn't have any speccy-style stuff, which is why i only use the music for my TLoD-style games.
I think this will be an awesome game!
i hope it will be too. i've only done one level of it so far, but i consider that level to be absolutely miles ahead of TLoD in almost every respect. I've said it before, but this game really does suit the scrolling in it. I also think i've found a graphical style that i love, and which suits the game well too.
ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!!!!:dizzy_mad:
My college is blocking the link you just posted!
Thanks anyway! I'll find some way to get past the security... :dizzy_wink:
all the music on TLoD and CoTM is from incompetech.com: http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/
it's all free, and you can even sell games you use it in, as long as you give credit to the guy! (i do in the 'credits' part of the game menu)
he doesn't have any speccy-style stuff, which is why i only use the music for my TLoD-style games.
You'll need a proper license to sell however, also different license depending on the purpose.. (sale, tv, radio) you can't just give a credit and do what you like. I've been using Kevin's music for the past 3/4 years.
it may be different for games but i know for tv a license is required.
I think i owe him some cash come to think of it..lol
from his <a href="http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/faq.html">FAQ</a>:
<b>Can I use this music in a Student Film? Commercial Film? Stage Production? Flash Animation? Instructional DVD? Relaxation CD? Slideshow?</b>
Yes. Anything and everything - as long as I get a credit. The <b>only</b> thing you cannot do is sublicense or relicense. (That means you cannot sell or redistribute these as a royalty-free collection.)
<b>Can I make an audio CD of music from this site - mass produce it and sell it?</b>
Yes. Just make sure I'm credited.
i read this as being allowed to sell anything containing his music, as long as i credit him and don't try to sublicense any of it.
Meph, i think you're refering to this part of the FAQ:
<b>What if I cannot credit you?</b>
If you are interested in using a piece in a television broadcast or radio commercial, or some other format where credits are impossible, obtain a <i>Sans Attribution License.</i>
as i can quite easily credit him, i therefore don't need that license.
You will need a form of license.. best thing is to ask him first.
Theres a free one but that might not be suitable for selling your product.
http://incompetech.com/m/c/royalty-free/licenses/
EDIT: Ah ok that makes sense.. i knew o saw something about license in his site.
sounds like the track is covered by default providing the credit is giving.. Good.. but it was woth checking ;)
theses things can get complicated.. lol
just looked at that, it seems that the Creative Commons license would be the one i'd need to use, and all it basically requires is that i attribute the music to him, which i do anyway! :)
i will email him closer to the time anyway, just to clarify. I'll probably give him a free copy of the game too :)
:v2_dizzy_thumbsup:
Cool.
FINALLY! i've finished the last puzzle in the first level, so in theory the first level can now be completed! :v2_dizzy_walkman:
i still have a few things to add, like the bushes movement, a few 'examine' messages, speech samples, and a few other bits, but other than that, i can move onto level 2!
:v2_dizzy_happy:
oh guys, what do you think to the new colouring on the HUD words, and on the scroll?
<img src="http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp106/eqixx/cotm9.png">
HUD colour i don't like.. but the scroll is fantastic.
trouble with the HUD word colour i can't make out what it says.
screenshot of level 2, 'Mystics Valley':
<img src="http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp106/eqixx/cotm10.png">
i've not had time to change the HUD wording colour yet.
Lex_Hedley
08-08-09, 07:17 PM
Everything looks amazing, the water is great :v2_dizzy_clapping:
xelanoimis
09-08-09, 05:45 PM
It might be the uploaded image but I think I see some jpeg compression noise in the water and grass. Not sure though, but they look similar - some vertical and horizontal small line patterns.
Is the water animated? Would be cool :)
there isn't a problem with the uploaded image. i use .png files now, as they keep the quality the same when uploaded. not sure what you mean by jpeg compression noise, but they are repeating images.
oh and yes the water is animated. it's pretty good. I'm not 100% happy with it, but it's a lot better than the water in the Dungeons level of TLoD!
xelanoimis
09-08-09, 07:01 PM
I was talking about couple of pixels here and there, that form a visible (darker or lighter) horizontal or vertical line. In jpegs these are visible at the edges of the small compression squares (like 4x4 or 8x8 pixels). Here they aren't arranged in this pattern.
Anyway probably they're not visible when animated.
A water image should be more "fluid":
I googled for these:
http://tilesettutorial.wordpress.com/2008/01/22/7/
http://www.toolkitzone.com/library.php?doc=438
----------
I had a quick look at the first level. Looks great!
Here are a few thoughts/impressions.
- when inventory is open, the item you selected last time can be selected. This way you can try using an item more easily (like a key you test on doors).
- when open the drop/use/... menu, you can show the item (x2 the size) in the middle of the page, under the text commands, since you have some empty space there.
- the item slots below are too tight on the items - might look better to allow some space around, so the item be more visible. In fact it might look better if their edges are not aligned with the bricks in the wall. Should test it.
- there is a lot of "wasted" space with the hud. The map view is only half of the 640x480 resolution and it's closing to one third of the screen in my "full-screen" whide resolution. Maybe would be better to show more of the map and reduce the hud.
- I like the item's name scroll - I wonder if the Action item menu would look cool with a scroll like this instead of the black bkgr - which is more suitable for the game/main menu.
- footsteps are too loud, at least for... footsteps.
It's funny how this become a "standard" in games. One day I heard a tense (rather sparky) discussion at the office, between our sound guy and one project manager who wanted the footsteps louder and with more difference between left and right foot. The sound guy explained that the footsteps sound pattern happens only if you are crippled (or if you're carrying some keys in a side pocket I must add). Not to mention that walking on the grass makes not much noise, if any. The discussion was quite funny, since no one wanted to let it go.
[EDIT]
Oh, and the church image in the intro looks really compressed.
I was talking about couple of pixels here and there, that form a visible (darker or lighter) horizontal or vertical line. In jpegs these are visible at the edges of the small compression squares (like 4x4 or 8x8 pixels). Here they aren't arranged in this pattern.
Anyway probably they're not visible when animated.
A water image should be more "fluid":
I googled for these:
http://tilesettutorial.wordpress.com/2008/01/22/7/
http://www.toolkitzone.com/library.php?doc=438i haven't got the skills to actually draw a moving water image!
- when inventory is open, the item you selected last time can be selected. This way you can try using an item more easily (like a key you test on doors).
- when open the drop/use/... menu, you can show the item (x2 the size) in the middle of the page, under the text commands, since you have some empty space there.i don't want to significantly change the inventory from TLoD. having said that, i do like the idea of displaying the item underneath the commands. I'll look into it.
- the item slots below are too tight on the items - might look better to allow some space around, so the item be more visible. In fact it might look better if their edges are not aligned with the bricks in the wall. Should test it.This is a problem. the main issue is that the items are 16x16 pixels. therefore you need a 18x18 box (including black borders) to get a 1 pixel gap around the item. The current size of the box is 15(H)x14(W). The real problem is that the 'bricks' are 7 pixels high, not including the black borders. so 7+7+1(the middle black line) = 15 pixels high. this means that either the top or bottom line is going to overlap the item.
Expand it by 3 pixels, and you not only have to take it out of the bricks 'line', you also have to make either the top or bottom bit higher or lower. it can't be symetrical. I will look at what i can do to fix this problem, but at the moment i'm not sure.
the other issue is that if i make each box wider by 2 pixels, then the boxes at either end go wider than the black 'lines' extending down each side. hmmmm.
- there is a lot of "wasted" space with the hud. The map view is only half of the 640x480 resolution and it's closing to one third of the screen in my "full-screen" whide resolution. Maybe would be better to show more of the map and reduce the hud.hmm i can't really do this. the problem here is that the character needs to be in the centre of the map. each 'square' is 24 pixels x 24 pixels, so 7x5 squares makes the best use of the space, as 8x6 would put the character off-centre, and 9x7 would simply be too big, with everything else to fit in too (there is only 88x72 pixels space for the at the moment). Also, TLoD is 7x5, and i kinda want to keep it the same.
- I like the item's name scroll - I wonder if the Action item menu would look cool with a scroll like this instead of the black bkgr - which is more suitable for the game/main menu.hmm this is a nice idea too. i may give it a try sometime. It may not work out (it's not suitable for use alongside the 'show item' idea above), but i'll give it a try.
- footsteps are too loud, at least for... footsteps.eh? it's the same footsteps sound that was in TLoD!! i may quieten it a bit tho. certainly i need to balance the gap between the steps a bit more. Also it'll be used very little in the second level, as there isn't much hard floor at all in that level.
It's funny how this become a "standard" in games. One day I heard a tense (rather sparky) discussion at the office, between our sound guy and one project manager who wanted the footsteps louder and with more difference between left and right foot. The sound guy explained that the footsteps sound pattern happens only if you are crippled (or if you're carrying some keys in a side pocket I must add). Not to mention that walking on the grass makes not much noise, if any. The discussion was quite funny, since no one wanted to let it go.the problem is the difference between the sound that footsteps actually make, and the sound that people EXPECT them to make. people have to perceive it to be the right sound, even if it actually isn't.
[EDIT]
Oh, and the church image in the intro looks really compressed.yeah. tbh i made it blockier than it could have been. It was before i'd really done any of the real design of the level, and was still trying to draw the walls/floors etc by hand. it may not be the final image anyway.
one thing i'm quite surprised that you haven't picked up on is the slight pause in character animation while the game fades the scroll onto the HUD. I guess it's not too noticeable if you haven't played TLoD recently, but for me, playing it while putting that effect in, it stood out like a sore thumb. I notice it less now, but i am going to try and do it a different way at some point, to try and remove the pause.
Basically the way it's done now is that the Speech script calls the scroll fade script (which is the ugly offspring of the DialogDraw and FadeObj code), and because this script has a few 'WaitFrame' commands in it, the whole game pauses for about a third of a second to draw the scroll, then carries on. The way i'm thinking of doing it is to get the HUD script to fade the scroll by advancing a game variable (and therefore the fade progression) each time it updates. Again, it's something to try out later. It may work, it may not. we'll see.
Thanks for the feedback! :D
xelanoimis
09-08-09, 09:17 PM
About the anim pause, is it when you examine an object and the character looks up to tell about it? There's a very short pause - it looks that the animation is like that. Not annoying, but if you can fix it it will make you sleep better ;)
yes that's it. if you compare it to TLoD, you'll see that there is no pause. Like i say, i'm getting used to it, but it's still something that bugs me slightly!
- when inventory is open, the item you selected last time can be selected. This way you can try using an item more easily (like a key you test on doors).
i just made this an option in the game menu. quite easy to code really :)
thought i'd update y'all on this:
the first level (The Chapel) has had a few bugs fixed on it, including a workaround for an engine problem introduced with DizzyAGE v2.3
all tiles for the second level (Mystics Valley) have been drawn, and the basic layout for the level is done. The music has been chosen, cropped so that it loops, and implemented. Tomorrow i'll be finalising the order of the puzzles, and placing them in the map. Once i've done that, i'll post a couple of screenshots in here. Then i'll code all the puzzles for the second level, which hopefully will be done by the end of the bank holiday weekend.
Once that's done, i'll play through it to fix any obvious bugs, then move onto the third level (The Servants Quarters). All the speech will be recorded at the end.
currently it's looking like it'll be roughly about twice the size of TLoD, in terms of both puzzles, and map size.
Level 2 is simply massive. indeed it may actually be <i>too</i> big. I'll see how i get on with it, but i'm worried that there may simply be too much space in it. However i can quite easily remove some space from it if i want to.
oh and for those people who whizzed through TLoD, you may be pleased to know that CoTM is a lot harder! :p
Anyway, i'll post some screenshots tomorrow.
it's getting late, but although the screens aren't quite as detailed as i'd like, here are some screenshots, as promised!
(note the new inventory boxes)
<img src="http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp106/eqixx/cotm11.png">
<img src="http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp106/eqixx/cotm12.png">
:)
more screenshots of level 2:
thoughts?
<img src="http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp106/eqixx/cotm13.png">
<img src="http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp106/eqixx/cotm14.png">
Looks really colourful m8 :) I like the detail on the trees and bushes
quiggie
30-08-09, 12:02 AM
loving the colourfullness jamie, just downloaded build23, can't wait to get into level 2 :v2_dizzy_clapping:
xelanoimis
30-08-09, 01:43 PM
The items in the inventory slots are now looking better :)
quiggie
30-08-09, 02:39 PM
had a lovely walk round level2, looking good - don't know how i'll fair without my square grid though!!!!!! :v2_dizzy_confused2:
hehe you've got access to about a fifth of the level there! :v2_dizzy_tongue2:
it's a big ol' level!
incidently, i only have 8 puzzles left to code in level 2 now.
quiggie
31-08-09, 07:24 PM
goodie - so anytime in the next day or so then? :v2_dizzy_confused2:
pah! :p
i may only have about 8 or 10 puzzles left to code, but they're the difficult ones. plus i've been in a 'can't be arsed to code' mood today and yesterday. they may be done by the end of next weekend! :p
quiggie
31-08-09, 07:34 PM
well nice to see you taking the bank holiday off jamie! i'll clear my calendar for next weekend then get on with enjoying all your hard work :v2_dizzy_tongue2:
just 3 puzzles left to code now, i've coded a rather complex one tonight! :)
i also have a load of 'examine' functions to do, and a bit of movement to code too ;)
ARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH!!! :hitwall::hitwall:
I've just finished coding one of the most difficult parts of this game so far. it's taken me at LEAST 2 hours to get it to work correctly, and I've used so many 'println' functions trying to de-bug it that the log file is 252854 lines long, and 1.7mb in size! :O
but.... it now works perfectly, the way i want it to :)
what is it?
you'll have to wait and see... ;)
Lex_Hedley
05-09-09, 08:18 PM
Glad to hear you got it working
Not even gonna give us a hint at what it is :v2_dizzy_smile:
Thank god for the println :)
hmmm i was going to give a broad clue, but i can't really explain it without giving it away, or making it sound a whole lot better than it actually is.
everyone's in for a treat with this game. oh and it's definately harder than tlod!
quick update on this:
Level 1 now has all the tiles drawn for it (a few hadn't been drawn)
Level 2 has everything drawn, placed, coded, and working (i think!) and is therefore now complete.
I've thought of about half the objects/puzzles/items for Level 3, and have now found music for level 3, and for the intro.
I've changed the text colour on the HUD (it's a light grey now), and have also done an image for the intro screen.
there's no new screenshots, sorry! I'll post a few when i've drawn level 3, however that isn't likely to be for about another 3 weeks yet.
in fact tbh, you'll be lucky to see this game released before Christmas...
wow it's been over a month since I really did anything much at all to this. Unfortunately other more pressing things have been on my mind for a few weeks.
I thought however that I'd better start putting my spare time to some use, so I've started drawing the final level today, and I also have a pretty good idea of the puzzles that will be in it too, although I would like to think of about 6 or 8 more. :)
the final level is now completely laid out, and all puzzles thought of. I've also started to draw the objects, and have coded an interactive puzzle! ;)
anyway, here's a fairly bare screenshot of the last level:
<img src="http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp106/eqixx/cotm15.png">
Mataeus
08-11-09, 05:50 PM
Oooo, I'm looking forward to this very much :v2_dizzy_clapping:
DizzyFanUK
08-11-09, 07:30 PM
Looks cool, Im looking forward to this very very much. Just like to say take your time on this one - theres no rush - it certainly looks like it has the potential to your best game yet
Just a thought,
As the HUD is a significant part of the screen (and Im sure I read earlier theres a good reason for this) does the detail remain static?
I mean, maybe theres the potential for loads of stuff to happen in it, from colour changes to the leaves or seasonal effects to maybe even the occasional character peeping out when u least expect it from the bushes - or even jumping from the HUD into Dizzys path in the main game.
Perhaps incorporating a colour change or graphic depending on an in-game trigger like gaining a power up, or losing energy or a life
Just a thought...Im sure it could be fun for a technical wizard like yourself Jamie, to experiment and sandpit some ideas on the HUD - I dont think Ive ever seen a DizzyAge game where the HUD is animated let alone even slightly intuitive to gameplay
A big Thumbs Up so far
:v2_dizzy_thumbsup:
Thank you!
The reason that you don't see any games where the HUD is animated is that it would actually be very hard to do! The whole HUD is one tile, and you can't animate it as you can tiles in the game, as it doesn't update them
I did consider animating the HUD stars in MSD when i did that game, but i figured it'd be too much of a distraction anyway.
In theory it could be done, but it would be rather cumbersome.
I actually did change the HUD in IID, when playing the Arcade games, but it's done so that you don't notice ;)
EDIT:: the one thing that does happen is regarding the health bar. You may notice that it is all green. when it gets low enough, it changes colour to yellow, then orange if it gets lower still, and if it gets too low, it changes to red. A small detail i think, but a nice one.
Regarding the HUD size: because the game scrolls, the character needs to be in the centre of the map. each 'square' is 24 pixels x 24 pixels, so 7x5 squares makes the best use of the space, as 8x6 would put the character off-centre, and 9x7 would simply be too big; with everything to fit on the HUD too. Also, TLoD is 7x5, and i kinda want to keep it the same.
Thank you!
The reason that you don't see any games where the HUD is animated is that it would actually be very hard to do!
It's actually easy because the hud does not have to be one whole tile. I split mine into 4, top bottom, left & right.
Also the HUD is drawn with HudDrawTile() where the last parameter is frame number for animated tiles.
ohh i just can't be arsed. it would be too distracting anyway. i know i can put different tiles on the HUD, i've done it quite a few times, but it still requires a bit of coding to actually change the frames of the tile, which i can't really be bothered to do.
I just thought of a really useful option, so I've spent the last 45 mins or so coding it :D
I think a lot of people will find it very useful! :p
DizzyFanUK
13-11-09, 11:14 PM
I just thought of a really useful option
Sounds intriguing...
Maybe another idea, could be to lose the HUD entirely and have the whole screen as the gaming view. Then the energy bar and object displays etc could just be floating on top of the gaming view - a bit like the score bar you get on a televised sports match?
I dont understand the significance of pixel ratios and other technical stuff - Im just looking at it from the point of view of maximising the gaming area, where DizzyAge runs best on my PC from a window rather than full screen.
Sounds intriguing...
Maybe another idea, could be to lose the HUD entirely and have the whole screen as the gaming view.
I don't believe it. I really don't!
Your idea is exactly what I am working on at the moment. I will be be releasing a test demo in a few days.
As this is Jamie's thread it is not fair to hijack it so I will start my own thread in the morning.
I have to say, that is a very good idea! Obviously it's the scrolling that makes it possible, and it would be fairly easy to have the inventory boxes, lifebar, title, and 'other things' ( ;) ) floating on top of it.
Regarding the pixel ratios, that is very slightly harder, as the whole game window of TLoD and CoTM are both 264x192 pixels (and yes, that is 8px wider than a normal dizzy game), which would be 11x8 'squares' for a full-screen view (TLoD and CoTM are both 7x5 'squares'), which would mean that the vertical positioning of the character would be off-center, however that wouldn't matter too much, as the inventory box positioning would make it seem centered.
I'm not going to do it for CoTM, as there are certain things in it that wouldn't work quite as well if you could see a bigger view, but i'll definitely look into doing it for RoTR - after all, it saves me having to draw a HUD! :p
two new screenshots of the last level:
<img src="http://dizzystories.110mb.com/images/cotm2.png">
<img src="http://dizzystories.110mb.com/images/cotm3.png">
:)
All I see is the red X's :( Unless they are the last level :p
try hard-reloading the page (to reset the cache). Failing that, clear your cache, or go to http://dizzystories.110mb.com/upcomingdetail.php?game=11 where the screenshots are also displayed.
wow little red X i love it.
I SEE THE PICTURES!!!!!
but as others obviously don't, i've hosted them on photobucket instead:
<img src="http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp106/eqixx/cotm2-1.png">
<img src="http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp106/eqixx/cotm3.png">
I think that I may be seeing the other pics because they're in my cache.
Not as good as the little red X,
But still okay.
:D
The images within the thread didn't show for me but they do now.
I had this problem some years ago. The reason being was because the free hosting site I used didn't allow external linking to files or images only page content. So, I visited your images on your site and as a result they now show in this message board. That's because they are now in my cache as you correctly said.
This might not be the reason. It's just a thought.
Yes that's what I thought too. They're showing as Xs on my blackberry, as they're not cached.
I've just re-drawn the Dexter tiles. :D
i'm actually coding the last level now! finally, after what seems like an age since I finished coding the second level.
I probably have about half of the objects coded. Unfortunately it's the easy half :p ah well, as least i'm getting somewhere with it...
Mataeus
13-12-09, 09:48 PM
I've just re-drawn the Dexter tiles. :D
Hmmm... An aesthetic re-design due to an improved vision of what you want, or one due to plot elements I wonder? :v2_dizzy_walkman:
Hmmm... An aesthetic re-design due to an improved vision of what you want, or one due to plot elements I wonder? :v2_dizzy_walkman:
mainly due to the fact that in TLoD, he was merely Dexter, but in CoTM, he is Dexter, The Lord of Darkness.
i'll throw a screenshot or two up at some point.
<img src="http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp106/eqixx/cotm16.png">
<img src="http://i402.photobucket.com/albums/pp106/eqixx/cotm17.png">
Nice one m8 :) He sure does looks like his soul his dark now. :say_yes:
There's a Polish Dizzy Fangame titled "Dizzy - The secret land (http://www.yolkfolk.com/site/games.php?game_id=149)" (released in 2006) and a character on the game's intro has Dexter's current appearence.
http://www.yolkfolk.com/community/DexterCouldItBe!.png
Could that be Dexter?! :shocked:
Mataeus
19-12-09, 04:41 PM
Haha, loving the new sprites!
I've just finished coding the last puzzle in the last level! :D
sooo.... all(!) that is left to do now is:
- draw a few tiles
- change a lot of the generic speech in the game
- record all the speech samples (approx 650 of them so far!)
- code the intro
- code the ending
- code the 'how to play'
- draw the .exe file icons
- modify the setup file
- and of course, fix any bugs.
I think that's it...! :)
still hopefully on course for a late Jan / early Feb release. :)
I've just finished coding the last puzzle in the last level! :D
sooo.... all(!) that is left to do now is:
- draw a few tiles
- change a lot of the generic speech in the game
- record all the speech samples (approx 650 of them so far!)
- code the intro
- code the ending
- code the 'how to play'
- draw the .exe file icons
- modify the setup file
- and of course, fix any bugs.
I think that's it...! :)
still hopefully on course for a late Jan / early Feb release. :)
I've done loads to this game since posting this, yet looking at the list, it seems I haven't done that much at all! The only things I've done from the list are the 'how to play' section, fixing rather a few bugs, and made a start on changing all the generic speech in the game (There will only be about a dozen speech samples carried over from TLoD. EDIT:: actually, there's 45 carried over, even though I've junked a lot of the TLoD generic speech)
ah well, onwards and upwards, etc.
ARRRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!
THEY'VE CHANGED THE FEATURES OF THE SOUND EDITOR I USE! :dizzy_mad:
I can't get dexter to sound the same as in TLoD :(
EDIT:: by changing the tone of my voice while recording, i've managed to get him sounding almost the same, if a little bit more subdued.
right, i've got him sounding ok, but it's still quite a bit different to TLoD (clearer mostly), so i may end up re-recording all the old speech samples that i was going to use. There's only about 40 or so that'll need re-recording.
right, If i spend my next 5 or 6 days off working on this blinkin' thing (i.e. recording speech), It should get released by the end of Feb. so expect it about mid to late march....
ok, just over half the speech recorded now. zip file currently 18.5mb, likely to be about 23mb when finished.
release date? well i'm still hoping to release it by the end of feb. hoping.
right, I've finished recording all of the speech ( :v2_dizzy_yahoo: ), so hopefully most of the other things that need doing will be finished on Friday.
so *hopefully* I'll be able to send the Release Candidate to the beta testers by the end of this week, and see if they find any bugs in it.
it's looking more likely that the release date will be the 26th Feb. The zip file size will be about 24 - 25mb.
oh, and it takes a while to load too... at least twice as long as TLoD. :v2_dizzy_eek:
The zip file size will be about 24 - 25mb.
As long as no one finds any more bugs after the game's uploaded then I'm OK with that :p
ok, so... Curse of The Mystics is finished! :O
I've emailed the Release Candidate to the Beta Testers, and will also play through it myself within the next few days.
So the release date will almost certainly be Friday 26th February. :)
Huckleberry
15-02-10, 10:15 PM
The amount of work put into this game looks huge! I don't know how you do it. I'd have broken down into tears long ago if I had to do all that :laugh:
The amount of work put into this game looks huge! I don't know how you do it. I'd have broken down into tears long ago if I had to do all that :laugh:
hahaha you haven't even played it yet! :p true, I started it nearly 10 months ago now, but I did take a month's break about sept/oct time due to other issues. I haven't been working on it non-stop either, i've had weeks where I haven't touched it.
I tell you one thing though, the absolute very last thing i want to do at the moment is the last game in the series! Think that'll get left until memories of the length of time taken to code this one subside a bit :p haha!
Huckleberry
15-02-10, 10:29 PM
I tell you one thing though, the absolute very last thing i want to do at the moment is the last game in the series! Think that'll get left until memories of the length of time taken to code this one subside a bit :p haha!
Yeah right! You'll soon get itchy fingers after it's finished, you know it happens to the best of us. Bryan Ferry was wrong; love ain't the drug, Dizzy is!
Yeah right! You'll soon get itchy fingers after it's finished, you know it happens to the best of us. Bryan Ferry was wrong; love ain't the drug, Dizzy is!
no seriously, I don't want to touch another DL game for a long long time! Luckily, I have ETD to code now, which i'm raring to go at! :D Then after that I have GBD to work on for next year's comp... haha!
It's actually rather nice to have a change, because by the time i've finished a game in one style, i'm usually fed up with it, so i switch to the other style and do a game, then get fed up of that style of game, so switch back! :)
frogandhat
17-02-10, 08:00 PM
Cant Wait!! :drool:
the second release candidate ( :embarassed: ) has just been sent to the beta-testers...
This is gonna be a struggle to get CoTM released on Friday. I have tonight and part of Friday to play through the last two levels, make sure i'm happy with everything, and then fix issues that I find. Don't think it's gonna happen unfortunately. It's more likely to be Monday or Thursday next week. Sorry. :(
Completed a beta run through :v2_dizzy_yahoo: Everyone is in for a real treat with this game:tup:
It's also a lot harder than ToTD
I'm going to try and get it released tomorrow, but I have a ton of bugs to fix, other non-game stuff to do as well, and problems have arisen at work, so I won't have as much time to spend on it as I would have liked. :(
I don't think a couple of days delay would be a problem. that will give some more time for fixes.
or do you really want that 1st march release date
well tbh I want it released asafp, cause it's then one less thing to think about, and atm I have a LOT of things to think about...
whatever, I can't see it taking longer than this week to release.
See that river in the third level? That's not water, that's the fluidity of the release date! haha!
See that river in the third level? That's not water, that's the fluidity of the release date! haha!
adding another big bug!
river missing in third level:v2_dizzy_biggrin:
adding another big bug!
river missing in third level:v2_dizzy_biggrin:
you are joking aren't you...?
I thought i'd fixed that bug. :( that's a big one to fix even further...
could you see the fire in the first level?
There was a fire?
I do remember seeing lots of steam on level 2
never mind, i'll send you the tiles, put them into a test game and see if you can see them.
this may get released tomorrow.... I have a few things left to fix, then just have to check stuff.
don't hold your breath, but you never know...!
right, I have about 20 things to check, and i've sent something to alex for him to have a look at, as I can't seem to fix it.
Once that's fixed, and those things checked, I'll be releasing it. Unfortunately I now have no more time to work on it until Monday. :(
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