Bob Thulfram's Forum Posts

  • Studio One Free

    http://studioone.presonus.com/free/

    'Nuff said. <img src="smileys/smiley36.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

    Free, maybe, but you can't use VST plugins. If you want totally free, go for LMMS! Or bite the bullet and check out FL Studio. The cheapest edition is $49 but really worth it. I've been making professional music on computers for more than 15 years and I own practically every major music making software, and FL Studio is the best value for the price.

  • Databases, SQL and PHP are a bit out of the scope of this forum. I'd recommend browsing the web where there are lots of other better sites for help (e.g. StackOverflow), many existing tutorials, etc.

    Why not add a little Web Storage? Every browser seems to support it. Maybe not a full database, but could be useful for RPG stats.

    Also consider IndexedDB; it seems to be catching on fast.

    HTML5 will solve all your problems!

  • > Not that there is anything wrong with the French. They make ... Arturia Storm.

    Wow, that's a blast from the past...Arturia Storm! I bought 1 and 2 from them and was keen on getting 3, but found their support sadly lacking and the DRM they imposed, absolutely dreadful. I had so many problems getting it to authenticate and subsequently run, with little or no help from the devs, I finally gave up and wrote off the money I'd paid. Sad really. It was an amazing product when it worked though. I still have the boxes somewhere in the loft too.<img src="smileys/smiley19.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

    Sorry for the ot comments

    I'm using Storm 3 and it works just fine. However, I had to do a lot of fiddling and dialog with the Arturia people to get it to work. The trick is that you have to put it in a Windows 7 compatibility box and set it for Windows 2000. I think these days Arturia has a lot of support but they didn't back then.

    What I like about it the most is that it has a bunch of long in-app tutorials that walk you through various dance music styles. Very innovative. They also wrote it in Java which was also a problem because you had to install Java! Their samples were also quite contemporary. Lucky for them, they've done very well with their tactic of emulating old synths. Definitely cool. But funky. And there won't be a Storm 4.

    Not necessarily OT since any good RPG has to have lots of music.

    <img src="smileys/smiley2.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

  • Bob Thulfram : I have designed the SVGCanvas plugin to make it possible for you to use SVG string directly for things that I haven't added yet for the moment. So, if you want something that isn't available in the menu now, you can simply "paste" the string. And if you have JS embedded properly in that string (declared properly with [CDATA[ and all), I don't see why you can't use it . > There's one catch, though : your script can only manipulate the index.html page, and the SVG DOM. Everything else (apart from some other plugins) in C2 is rasterized on the , so you won't be able to script that. Still sounds very cool. Do have any samples to share so I can see it in action? I'm most interested in using the SVG DOM, especially in a programmatic way that is supported by HTML5.

  • They are actually developing RPG Creator with HTML5 link

    Who are "they?" French? It looks like a no-brainer if they are selling it for $58, I'll buy it right now.

    Construct 2 is absolutely fabulous for a lot of kinds of games, but something like RPG Maker for HTML5 would be great. I want it.

    But I'm curious who these strange people are with a vague web site and a French flag at the top. Not that there is anything wrong with the French. They make Little Big Adventure and Arturia Storm.

  • I haven't had a chance to look at the SVGCanvas plugin (yours?). I've been studying SVG for quite a while and may see what I can do with special effects.

    Do you know how much of the (huge) SVG spec the plugin supports?

    Does it allow for DOM scripting?

    By the way, that Evac game looks great and ironically, the idea of pushing blocks to destroy enemies is an idea I've had in my mind for quite some time now. Though my thought is to destroy the enemies by surrounding them with blocks. Cool game though, that Evac.

    Pushing block to kill things is actually one of my all-time favorites: Pengo!

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  • Your "glow effect" is nothing more than a colored sprite which borders are blurry (a gradient from the main color to transparent) and displayed with an opacity between 25 and 50 I'd say.

    You can also add an additive effect eventualy.

    Look in the c2\examples folder for the "Sprite effects.capx"

    This makes the glow effect clear. Look out, Denki, here I come!

    Your explanation of what blurry is (a gradient) helped me even more. I know those from my days studying SVG.

    And your reference to Sprite effects.capx was absolutely the perfect way to understand what additive really is. I'm so new to Construct I didn't even know about the examples folder.

    I am in awe about helpful people here are. Wow, wow, wow!

  • <img src="http://dl.dropbox.com/u/666516/glow.png" border="0" />

    You can fake it blurring an image, and setting it to position with another sprite, along with the additive effect.

    This helps a lot. I can figure out how to blur things in Photoshop or some other art program.

    Wow, what a quick and helpful answer.

  • It looks like Classic Construct had some special effects, but I don't see the same in Construct 2. I'm looking for a way to make objects glow. Here's a YouTube example from an Android game called Evac by Hexage:

    Evac by Hexage

    The effect I'm looking for starts at about 18 seconds with the red glowing monsters, the glow around the pills, etc.

    Another game I want to figure out how to make similar graphics to is Juggle by Denki:

    Juggle by Denki

    Any clues on how to do this?

    PS: I saw the Gleam plugin but it isn't quite what I'm looking for. I'm not really sure how to make the effect visually, let alone the code to do so. Any help appreciated!

  • I don't think the Chrome store requires exclusivity. Put something there if you want to sell it there.

    If you're Kickstarting, you might want to give your supporters a separate copy in some way, like putting it on a web site and having a secret password to play it.

    Stand-alone Construct 2 games are on a list of things that will be happening soon, but I don't know how soon. Someone will correct me if I am wrong!

  • This video isn't a bad introduction, but it is from 2009 which is long time ago in the history of HTML5. A few points:

    1. SVG is extremely cool but very few people are using it. The video spends time on it but SVG is still lagging behind for various historical and political reasons.

    2. Canvas has become the default graphics even though it has interesting problems.

    3. Audio and video are a mess in some respects and Ashley has written about this eloquently, at least the audio part. I think we'll be stuck with H.264 video with open source trailing behind.

    4. App Cache isn't catching on very much, and sometimes I think that is a good thing. If everyone started to use it, you'd see a lot of computers running out of room. <img src="smileys/smiley17.gif" border="0" align="middle">

    5. Databases in HTML5 are very wobbly. There are several competing formats that sound cool but haven't gotten far. "localStorage" seems to work, sort of like big cookies. Web Storage I've been meaning to ask: what does C2 use for offline storage?

    6. Web Workers is very cool but is just getting some attention.

    7. They didn't mention Web Sockets which is starting to catch on.

    I don't know that I can recommend any particular video or web site for an unbiased overall coverage of HTML5. But at the same time, HTML5 is really starting to do fabulous things and certain things seem to be here to stay:

    A. Canvas

    B. Audio if you follow Ashley's rules.

    C. Video maybe.

    Firefox has a fabulous demo of HTML5 called BrowserQuest. It uses Web Sockets, Web Workers, Canvas, localStorage, and HTML5 audio. And some CSS3, which isn't technically HTML5, but seems joined to HTML5 at the hip.

    As you probably can guess, I spend too much time every week reading and coding HTML5.

  • These are all good and interesting ideas. I'm looking at app stores at the moment:

    1. Chrome app store -- ready now.

    2. Firefox app store -- open soon.

    3. Windows 8 app store -- open someday.

    These are the easiest. Porting over to iOS and Android seem a bit more work.

    Ads seem a bit annoying to me.

    The rest I don't know much about.

  • Woohoo! over 1k in first 12 hours. If we can continue this momentum, we have a great shot of getting there!

    >

    > I recently purchased Spriter Pro. How does this Kickstarter Project relate to what I purchased? Should I pledge more money? Spriter really sounds cool.

    Please do if you can afford to, and more importantly please spread the word. All that was promised at purchase will be delivered regardless of the success of this Kickstarter Project. The Kickstarter will fund the continued full-time development of Spriter, which would get all of the unfinished features, including the C2 plugin itself, into your hands much more quickly.

    I'm always ready to join in a wild party. I'll go pledge some money right now!

  • Re: "no programming" - I think this is the best way to describe what Construct 2 does. I do think technically events count as programming, but not remotely in the traditional sense. We need a snappy and memorable way to describe how it works, and I think "no programming" covers that, in sense of "no [traditional typed-in with complex tools and high barrier to entry] programming".

    I think it is fine to say "no programming". From a computer languages perspective, Construct 2 is an extremely high-level language. It hides a lot of the details and you get on with the creation. "Coding" seems to be a term used by coders, that is, low- and mid-level language users who have to fill in every detail. Assembly language is extreme low-level, JavaScript is mid-level, and Construct 2 is high-level. For example, I don't need to understand a lot of trig to move 37 degrees in Construct 2. But for JavaScript, I'd need to understand math and the Math functions. For assembly language, I'd need to take a few months off and get back to you.

    Construct 2 reminds me of the original Visual Basic before it was gobbled up by .NET. Even down to the goofy way that text boxes are handled (sometimes I think I made an error and then I realize that I didn't make the box big enough and the type can't display).

    As a very-long-time programmer, I really appreciate I can ignore the details and just create!

  • Here's more information about Ashley and Scirra, from the magazine. If you have any interest in Web Design or Web Programming, .NET Magazine is the best!

    Here's a snap:

    <img src="http://thulfram.coffeecup.com/HBGames/Random/Ashley.PNG" border="0">