deadeye's Forum Posts

  • Do what now?

  • Urgh, Mipey posted before I finished writing, but I'm posting anyway even though he mentions feature creep, which I also mention bleah whatever:

    I guess I just don's see it as a "workaround." If there were a Layout Variables feature, and it didn't work properly, then you'd be forced to do a "workaround" such as making your own variable holder object.

    Since there are no Layout Variables, then making your own variable holder object isn't a workaround. It's not a hack, it's a technique. It's not a bandage for a broken feature, it's a method to a means. Where you see a workaround, I see a clever solution to a problem.

    I'm sorry, but I feel pretty strongly about this sort of thing. If you can do a task easily with a couple of clicks or few events, then a full-blown feature that does that exact same thing is largely unnecessary, isn't it? I'm not against adding new features at all, but if a feature is to be added then let it contribute to productivity in some significant manner.

    And quite frankly adding little, single-task features like this, over time, will just lead to feature creep, or software bloat, or however you want to term it. Slippery slope? Maybe. But a sprite or a text object is a multi-tasker. You can do the same task without adding a new feature. And keeping out unnecessary features keeps Construct lean.

    So if you have to perform some task in Construct, ask yourself... is it hard to do? Is it laborious? Does it involve complex math? Will an alternate method markedly increase development speed or productivity? Will an alternate method markedly increase runtime performance? Does a means to do it simply not exist? If so, then request away. Otherwise, ask yourself if it's really necessary. And I simply fail to see how Layout Variables are necessary.

    No offense, Aeal

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  • It's not that Layout Variables are necessary to avoid workarounds, it's that the same exact thing can be achieved with very little effort and very little overhead, as compared to the effort needed by the developers to implement a feature such as this.

    In other words, if you can easily do the task another way (and in this case, you can), then the feature being requested is pretty much useless, so why bother debating a whole new method of doing things? (Especially when the developers themselves have said "not bloody likely?")

    Using a sprite, or even a text object, to store variables isn't hacky, it isn't cumbersome, it's not some outrageous or radical idea, and it would have just about zero impact on your game performance, so... what's the problem again?

    It's all rather beside the point anyway since Aeal has already made a plugin that does this very thing, and actually has more functionality than Layout Variables because you can have more than one object per layout to store your variables in if you wanted to.

    On the other hand, Aeal's plugin is a third party creation that not everyone is going to have, so it's just going to cause problems down the line if your .cap uses it and you need assistance in Help/Tech or something, because people will just be confused about why they can't run your .cap and then they'll have to go download the thing and install it and blah blah blah... or they just won't bother.

    Long story short... there's not a single thing wrong with making a separate sprite or text object that stores certain variables for you, I do it all the time in my projects. It makes the whole concept of Layout Variables rather pointless if you think about it.

  • Agreed, Achievements are by and large retarded. They're just there to artificially extend the life of a game. Then again, I would make up such silly goals on my own when playing games to artificially extend their life, so... yeah :/

    As for high scores, the only kind of game I've ever played for points is pinball. There's a certain sense of satisfaction when the knocker slams into the bottom of the machine and scares the **** out of you for earning a free game.

    If you've never heard that ear-splitting, soul-jarring WHACK then you're missing out

  • Tried putting a skin on the blob, but physics isn't working properly with non-centered hotspots. Is this a known issue, or should I post a bug report?

  • Okay, new version:

    http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/529356/Semi% ... arkIII.cap

    A larger blob with more nodes and a more structurally sound skin. You can see the spring force connections here, they're indicated by the green spokes.

    <img src="http://i42.tinypic.com/2zfmis4.jpg">

    You can push itaround with the big red circle, just be gentle with it . It's quite easy to break (and sometimes it even starts off broken, with the 1 node below the 17 node, but you can nudge it back out if you're careful).

    I think it needs a more solid skin, so the next step is to make the nodes themselves have no collision, and instead hinge some slender, solid spoke objects around the outside of the blob. That might do the trick. Still, this is the closest I've come to making a decent blob, if anyone else wants to mess around with it, feel free.

  • Oh? Did you forget the link or something?

  • Well I'm getting closer:

    http://dl.getdropbox.com/u/529356/Semi% ... markII.cap

    David informed me the trick is to set the spring dampening to 0, for whatever reason. As it is the blob can still fold over on itself though, so I need to get this structure working:

    http://cowboyprogramming.com/images/blob/Fig-3.gif

    But at least it's not spazzing out everywhere now.

  • That's a little too ******** for me

  • > Portal was incredibly short, but it was still worth it BECAUSE it was sooooo replayable.

    >

    um... i played it once, and then i waited for half a year before i played it again, so that i would forget some of the puzzles

    I agree, this is the only way in which Portal is replayable. It was a good game and all... just not one I would need to play again any time soon. There's not a lot of opportunity to change up your gameplay style in that game, unless you're a speed-runner trying to shave half a second off your best time or something. Which I'm not.

  • By me, with a[n] Deadly Fart, in Hell.

    Sorry Ash :/

    (I loled at the inclusion of Clickteam Spy )

  • Amazing.

  • Hehe, oddly enough I don't talk about (or read) those either... but if we were to compare then I'd say your average muscle guy in costume is a little less cheesy than Gooey Gooey Demon Pricess or ******** Awkward Cyborg Schoolgirl.

    (But if you're talking about the likes of Dan Clowes or Jim Woodring then fegettabattit.)

  • Soldjah looks pretty much exactly like I imagined him. Creepy guys with half-naked chicks in their sigs usually look like that

  • Referencing my last post, this is somewhat out of place, but I always thought it's hilarious:

    http://www.gametrailers.com/player/user ... 88112.html

    Classic.

    Holy lol...

    This is exactly the sort of reason why I can't stand jrpg's. Or manga. Or anime. Christ, talk about cheesy....