DizzyAGE News

[xelanoimis]

There's no particluar limit in the size of DizzyAGE games.
Of course, I hope you're not trying to overflow the computer numeric limits

You can have as many tiles as you like, really a lot of rooms,
with a lot of objects. Optimizations are made so the frame rate of one room
will not depend on the total number of objects in the map.
Of course, if you throw thousands of objects in the same room, it will
be a matter of computer performance.

The default template comming with the engine offers basic scripts with
functionality very close to the original games. This means you will not have
to write code to pick or drop an item, but you will have to write a few lines
to tell what to do with it.

It will all be explained in the documentation. Just wait a few more days...

[delta]

Quick Question, what's the size limit (if any) on the games, with regards to objects (and the individual uses thereof), scripts, number of screens and Mb size?

no limit on the number of screens, altho i'd love to see someone beat Dreamworld's total and still retain their sanity....

basically, the bigger the game you make, the more stuff you have to put in to fill it, and therefore the more things there are to go wrong, that'll need fixing, etc. with a really big game, you'll get code clashing with other code that you never even considered, you'll still find little bugs for weeks after you thought you'd finished it, etc etc.

i don't want to put you off, cause it's a great feeling when you've coded a working game, and other people are playing it and getting stuck on it, but all i would say is to start small, with maybe 20-30 screens for your first game, so that it doesn't overwhelm you.

then with your next game, you can then expand on stuff you learnt in the first one, and add slightly more complicated bits, as you'll have a much better idea of what you're doing.

i hope that helps, and i'm actually making sense...

[Mataeus]

i hope that helps, and i'm actually making sense...

Yes it does, and yes you are.

Well, yeah I was intending to start small to get to grips with the engine and scripting mechanics 'n' all, maybe release a couple of demos to you guys to see if I've got the right end of the stick...

Of course, I will also be playing the fan games (which I'm loving very much) and see if there's any neat little tricks I can pick up from there too.

guys!

[delta]

(in his finest blackadder voice

yes... and no.

/blackadder voice

it's fairly easy to start using, as you can just copy the code from the tutorials and other people's games, so you learn from that how to do different things. having said that, it isn't immediately clear how some of the things work, and it can get very frustrating.

there are however, quite a number of posts to do with dizzyAGE dotted around the different threads on here, and i think i'm right in saying that any misunderstandings that can arise are dealt with in them.

plus alex is doing complete documentation for v2!

[Mataeus]

(in his finest blackadder voice
...plus alex is doing complete documentation for v2!

Yup, that's what I'm waiting for then I'll be off like a rocket (or some other cliched saying) on DizzyAGE.

[Peter]

Alex,

Will there be any changes in the Beta2 currently available and the release version on DizzyAge2?

If not i want to get started on my next game

[xelanoimis]

I have a few updates on the default template, that include some comments on each function. Very useful for these who unpack a game. A few minor bug fixes on the engine. Not much different.

I try to release it tomorow... though my wife says I have to cut the grass too

But she is working on two small tools for DizzyAGE, one to work with TGA and one to work with YM files. They'll be in the kit too

[Peter]

No hurry

i'll start work on the map in the beta version

[xelanoimis]

I guess you all have seen the release of DizzyAGE v2.0 by now.

Today, I've added some Google AdSense advertisers to the website, to see how they work out.
Don't worry about site navigation, because they are placed on sides, out of the Dizzy borders.
So, I hope they don't get in the way.

I don't know yet how usefull are the provided links. I tried to guide them to games related ads,
by placing a few game websites links at the bottom of the page,
for Google to get that it's about games, not some dizzy disease .

I would advice you not to be shy with them,
but since Google saids I'm not allowed to force people to click them,
I'll just say nothing about it. Ops, I guess I did said something!


In another order of ideas:

I'm kinda taking a break, unless there would be some unexpected problems with the engine.
However, I am always available for anyone who needs help with it.

After that I hope to start working and finish my game, "The Other Side",
though I can't promise any deadlines.

Have fun!
Alex

[xelanoimis]

-TF- found a bug in DizzyAGE v2.0 editor.
If you want to enter an undefined value (like 9 or higher) in the class property of a dynamic object, the editor will crash. This will affect advanced users, who want to use their own object classes for their games.

Here is the fix for these who need it sooner than the next DizzyAGE version update:

1. unpack the editor.pak file with the pak tool (like you do with the game's pak)
2. rename the original editor.pak file into like editor.old_pak, so the editor will load its data from the extracted folder
3. edit the editor/scripts/gamemod.gs file as follows:

at line 86 replace the "less or equal" operator with the "less" operator.

   so instead of 
   if(class>0 && class<=sizeof(*classname))
   you must have
   if(class>0 && class < sizeof(*classname))

And since you are here,
why not add the new classes of your game in the editor:

at line 273 add a new string name in the list of classes:
like ......"life","waypoint","myclass"} },

The editor will display your class ("myclass") in the menus and will allow you to select it like the other classes.

You can also pack it back (the editor folder) into a new editor.pak file, like you do with the game.