heyguy's Forum Posts

  • Hey all. I'm creating a small scale Metroidvania type game. So each small layout is a piece of the overall map and when the player reaches the end of the layout, the game fades out and in to another layout. I'm doing this because I couldn't get camera clamping/scrolling to work on large layouts. I'm having problems placing the player in a specific part of the newly loaded layout depending on where he or she "exited" the last layout.

    Hope I'm being clear. I'm trying to figure out the logic or code for this but I can't find any events that might achieve what I'm trying to do. For example, I need to position the player on the far right side of Level 2 if the player enters Level 2 from Level 3. I need to position the player on the far left side of Level 2 if they enter Level 2 by Level 1. Is there some sort of event that would give me control over the position of the player in one layout while in another layout.

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  • SoI got the UI to show up across multiple Layouts. I'm going through all the layouts and all I'm doing it adding a "UI" layer. The game automatically creates the Touch UI on each layout that has a layer in it name "UI".

    Thanks for looking at my post folk! Regarding my other question, right now I have a individual tilemap for each level layout and I have all the tilemaps in one family. That way bullets, the player, enemies and whatever else reacts the tilemaps on each layout. This works fine but I feel there might have been a smoother/smarter way.

  • You're a hero! Thank you for sharing this. As a beginner, this could really be a great resource for me. Really liked Platforms of the Dead!

  • Not sure if you've seen this but you might want to check this tutorial out.

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    It's not what your looking for but it could help.

  • I don' think I can use AnimationFrame because I'm not using any "animation frames" as the game items, I'm using the actual "animations. I think I fixed it using the logic your suggesting though. obj_gameItem has an instance variable called itemName so I set system to compare

    obj_gameItem.itemName = "powerGloves" and it works. Would that be acceptable? I also tried obj_gameItem.AnimationName = "powerGloves" but that was glitchy. I could only push for a few seconds, then had to back off before I could push again. Thanks for pointing that out oosyrag!

  • Hello all! I'm making a small scale metroidvania platformer on mobile and I've run into some tedious busy work. So the way I'm creating the game, every layout is a small piece of the overall map(original metroid sized layouts). Each layout fades in and out into other layouts. I did this because I was having trouble clamping and smoothly scrolling cameras to very large layouts. Is this a good way to go about creating a platformer/metroidvania type game? Anyway, that's not my question. I am doing it this way and right now, it's tedious having to create the same foreground, background and UI/HUD layers for almost every layout. Is there a faster why to do this?

    I saw that that global layer option exist but it's not working for me. Maybe I'm not using it right. The manual says "If a layer's Global property is set to Yes, then every layer in the project with the same name". Right now I have every layout named differently (e.g., level 1, level 2, level 3). I can't even change the names of layouts to have the same name, it won't let me.

    Another similar question regarding working with multiple layouts...do I need create and import new tilemap for every layout I add?

  • oosyrag Hey! Thanks for the comment. The UID was correct but it wasn't working. Maybe that specific set of events don't work somehow. Thanks for the tip on checking for the animation though. I actually wanted to do it that way. The reason why I'm picking the UID is because I couldn't figure out the logic to specify individual animation frames. I took another look and found the condition "Is playing". So, I changed the "pick instance UID" and now it's working! Thank you!

  • Hey all. This seems simple but I can't get it to work. How do I give the player access to a ability when they collide with a specific item. So I created a simple pause and inventory. You pause, black overlay comes up and it shows you the items/abilities collected, if any. I'm using a single sprite object with multiple animations as the ability sprites I place on the layouts. The sprite has an instance variable called itemName. Each animation is a single frame with art of individual items and item names (power gloves for example).

    I can't seem to "link" the player obtaining a specific item and then "giving" player the access and the ability to perform the specific new ability. In this case, the ability is a passive power glove upgrade. The player can move heavy objects once the player "obtains" the power glove item. Once you collide with an important item, shows up in your inventory. Seems straightforward enough to me. I'm not linking the inventory/pause menu with the abilites in any way really. Once the player collides with an item, the instance variable that says whether a ability is on or off switches to 1, turning the ability on. So in this case, the powerGloves instance variable on the player sets to 1 activating the "Power Glove Push System" group. The pushable box has platform and solid behaviors. For some reason, when I collect the power gloves item, the powerGlove instance variable doesn't switch to 1.

    I'm looking at previous my events and the "syntax" for this stuff looks correct. Here's the code. If I disable the 4 lines above the "power glove push system", the push ability works. Since all the game upgrades/items are animations on a single sprite, I used "pick Unique ID" so the game knows what specific object sprite is the power glove animation sprite. I couldn't figure out any other way to do it. I hope I've given enough context and information about my problem. Let know know if you want to look at a capx. Thanks! Second pic is inventory events just in case.

    Inventory/Pause events just in case.

  • bclikesyou Great stuff on your page! Thanks for the links. LSDJ seems like another great choice. Lots of good software out there apparently.

    — Sunvox sounds perfect! I actually heard about sunvox and looked at it a little bit but never tried it. Thanks for downloading 8tones too.

    Thanks for all the suggestions folks! I wonder, does anyone happen to use a midi keyboard for their music creation? I feel like having an actual physical keyboard would help me in a bunch of different ways. I should still learn the music/software basics and create tracks before getting one but I think I would really like one. There are so many different music creation software it's sort of hard which to choose. Right now I'm in the beginner stages of using famitracker, going through tutorials on youtube and trying to deconstruct some songs.

  • [quote:26e71bq6]t does enter fullscreenshooting but you spawn anim_LaserBlast and then immediately destroy it.

    Thanks so much blackhornet! That was a simple fix! I added a wait before the destroy. Can't believe I let that slip. Finite state machines seem so awesome! Now I just have to work on all the timings of this attacks so it doesn't look so quick and sloppy and seem like the states are overlapping with each other.

    [quote:26e71bq6]Trigger once is one option.

    A second would be to call a function with the behavior desired as an action when you change states.

    Trigger one would be good if you wanted it to happen again if the boss ever left that state and return.

    A function would be good if you wanted to call it in other situations/triggers on demand as well.

    Got it! Thanks for the explanation. I think in this situation with the code I've already created, a trigger once would work best. Maybe I make an invisible collider the player has no way avoiding that calls that triggers the AI behavior. I need to go over functions again to understand how I could incorporate this boss as a function to be called.

    I have another problem on this capx I forgot to mention before. For some reason, the Boss Eye rotates counter clockwise when its shot and it enters the "multishooting" state . Not sure what that is about. Here's the code. Nothing says rotate counter clockwise 90 degrees and then start attacking. Does anyone know why this might be?

  • Just lost all my post info so I'll make this quick. I'm experimenting with a finite state machine for a side scroller game. Seems to work right expect one part. The boss won't switch from "shooting" to "fullscreenshooting". The basic AI boss pattern would be the boss switching back and forth from "shooting" to "fullscreenshooting" until it had 30 or less health, then it would enter "multishooting" until death. I'd like to throw one more state into the shuffle but I have to figure out what's preventing "fullscreenshooting" from playing. "fullscreenshooting" is a energy semi-circular blast animation that goes down to up .The boss "eye" freezes after the 5 seconds of "shooting" state and does't play the semi-circle animation. I can lower the health enough to play "multshooting" though.

    Can anyone take a look at my capx and spot what's creating this issue. I imagine it's a syntax error. Also, notice when the boss enters "multishooting", the boss sprite rotates. Not sure what that is about. Any advice one what to do about that weird bug? Thanks for looking at my post!

    edit:edit: Oh, one more thing, how do I get boss behavior to run only once, when the player reaches the boss. Trigger once event?

    https://www.dropbox.com/s/sf5exqoab238l ... .capx?dl=0

  • Thank you. That's a good point. A lot of what I'll learn from this mobile game will be directly applicable to a larger platformer game. Check out the WIP screenshots forum! I've already begun working on it on "MiniVania"!

  • I'm trying to create and completely finish my very first game!

    So the game is a simple side scrolling platformer (with perhaps some Metroidvania elements) on mobile. I'm calling it "MiniVania" for now. I'm inspired by games like Sword of Xalon and Goblin Swords. I'm basically trying to create a clone as my first game and put my own spin on it. One day I'd like to create a legit Metroidvania but I'm still a beginner.

    So this "MiniVania" is kinda practice for the big game I'll create. I actually stripped a lot of the elements from Metroidvania prototype I was experimenting with to create this simple mobile version. Even though I really like the "Metroidvania" aspect of the weapon select (creates for interesting game and level design possibilities) I feel the lack of a melee swing like in "Sword of Xalon" and "Golbin Swords" is a big problem. Maybe I can add one more weapon, a melee weapon, to the weapon switch rotation? Four taps feels to cumbersome though. Gotta experiment and find out what seems best. What does everyone this? Anyway, here's a gif and pic of the blocked out level!

  • Sorry for the massive post. Basically I just want to know what are "easy" types of mobile games a beginner could make and publish. So I think I've had my sights set way too high for my very first game. Instead of some Metroidvania or cRPG, I'm going to create a simple, fun mobile game. I'll come back to Metroid when I'm more experienced. I've decided that maybe I should attempt to clone something interesting and put my own spin on it. Good idea?

    I spent all last night surfing Google play for inspiration and I've come up with four game ideas I think are feasible to complete at my beginner skill level. I'd appreciate any thoughts regarding the level of difficultly creating these games, what I might have to think about when creating them, etc. So yeah, I hate to say it but basically I'm going to try and create a clone of a fun and simple mobile game.

    I'm a pretty good artist so just imagine these games look pleasant enough. I'm linking more info to games that I wish to replicate with the features they include (copy and pasted straight from google play). I'll probably simplify some stuff like the amount of levels, achievements, etc.

    Static Zombie FPS - "Zombie Frontier 3" - https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... zf3d&hl=en)

    (This game seems like it would take the longest and would be the most difficult to create as my first game. Maybe I can simplify things in some ways. Any suggestions?)

    -Amazing 3D Graphics

    -Awesome Sound & Music

    -Arsenal of Weapons

    -Weapon Upgrade System

    -Numerous different undead enemies

    -Multiple Gameplay Modes

    -Special Events

    Endless Wave Survival Zombie Tapper with some Tower Defense - "100 Day - Zombie Survival" - https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... ombi&hl=en

    ( I actually think this one would be really fun to replicate and alter)

    -Simply tap to fire your gun.

    -Your tapping speed determines the firing speed.

    -Hire teammates to increase chance of survival in this world of despair.

    -Experience this simple, yet strategic game!

    Single touch platformer - "Darkland" - https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... land&hl=en

    (This game seems the easiest to recreate. Unique though! )

    • Simple gameplay with one touch controller.
    • Minimalist art style with beautiful color
    • More than 50 challenging levels to play: move forward, fall down, go up or play in a unstable gravity environment, find the way to go or just challenge your timing.
    • Enemies: light blocks and spikes
    • Safe objects: teleporter, gravity switcher

    Simple platformer with virtual controls- "Sword of Xolan" - https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... olan&hl=en

    (I really hate on screen controls but this game looks kind of fun. Some people tolerate on-screen controls. If I where to create this game, I'd just take my Metroidvania prototype and just remove all the advanced movement, story, and rpg elements.)

    • 30 handcrafted adventure levels
    • 9 time-based challenge levels
    • 3 "End Of Act" bosses
    • Over 30 different enemies like: zombies, giants and flying creatures
    • 10 unique game-cards to improve Xolan's skill
    • Customizable touch controls
    • Controller support
    • 19 Game Center achievements
    • Original soundtrack by Burak KarakaÅŸ

    These are the four games types I think I'm able to create with all the knowledge I've gained and will continue to learn in the next few months. Are there any other types of games that would be good for beginners to design and publish? I like the last three game ideas. I'm thinking it's possible to create something in 2-7 months, depending on the game.

    tldr; what are some "easy" and interesting game types a beginner could feasibly create and publish on the app store? can you share examples? thank you!

    edit: i really like the zombie fps idea the most but it seems the hardest. i keep imagining house of the dead or the resident evil wii shooters in pixel art though <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy">

  • Hey all! I'm just brainstorming ideas here. I'd like to create a Metroidvania game (eventually) that gives players peaceful solutions to different problems. I'm having a bit of trouble creating interesting enemies, scenarios, items, etc that might facilitate this sort of gameplay though.

    In this game, the option for violence would still exist. I understand that a lot of the joy that comes from Metroidvania's are the exploration, character progression and using the items you've gathered against challenging opponents. I'd basically like to create the option for a pacifist run (like in Metal Gear Solid). I don't want every enemy to be "peacefully" taken down with fists or tranq darts though. I'm trying to add context to some specific situations. Maybe create narrative reasons to be non-violent, create narrative reasons why non-violent creatures are behaving violently, create weapons that stun or affect enemies without killing them, things along that nature.

    The setting would be a space station on an small desert planet (or an asteroid) inhabited by giant desert worms. An evil A.I. has taken control of the bases systems and robots. Here are some of the ideas I came up.

    -controls system that allows for quick movement and avoidance of enemies

    -items or weapons that only affect enemies in passive ways (electric gun incapacitates robot enemies safely, push, etc)

    -make some enemies only aggressive in certain contexts (maintenance robots have a virus that make them attack while politely and glitchy-ly asking the player not to kill them, other robots might relish the loss of control and attack violently)

    -some enemies are considered and called out as being "mindless" (turrets, lesser robots, automated vehicles, etc) so it won't add to your kill count or you shouldn't feel bad about destroying

    -emphasis on platforming -lots of obstacles - water, electric floors, electric walls, any others? please mention

    -emphasis on puzzles

    -emphasis on death animations - make them look and sound painful,sad, ugly as a way to discourage violence

    -some fauna might hide or run at the sight of the player to avoid death

    -some animals only become aggressive to protect their children

    -companion that comments on your slaughter of some of the planets dumb but aggressive wildlife

    -minigame "hacking" system that disables robots

    -pitch black sections with just a flashlight for variety from regular metroidvania-ing

    Anyway, I'd appreciate some help in brainstorming some ideas! I understand this is weird topic, almost at odds with each other really. That's why I'm having trouble coming up with more ideas. I don't want to make a game where you jump and dash over every single enemy. Thank you!