Hello everyone. New around here (obviously). Actually, I've been lurking for about a year as I contrasted and compared different engines I wanted to use for my.... 'game'. It's not really a game, more like a linear interactive book/comic. No choices, no branching paths. Very simple really. By simple, I mean this is a long post and I hope I am articulating well.
It's laid out like so
['Static' flat background with natural movements (such as wind blowing), repeating background characters when applicable, with the focus being on the actual characters and sometimes text bubbles]
[A more active foreground presented like comic book/manga panels that move, shake, spin, whatever fits the conversation and mood]
[Text bubbles being the top most layer unless I have particles or something]
Anyway, like most normal stories, it's something that will be divided into chapters. I really just need help wrapping my mind around what I'm trying to do here and if it's possible. I'm sure it is somehow, but I'd love the advice of someone more knowledgeable in the ins and outs of Construct compared to me right now. (and I'm not in the position to purchase Construct just yet, I am still researching the free version/tutorials/videos before I gladly hand over the dough)
I've just finished setting up a prototype of my Title Menu. It goes as follows
[Start Reading] (will start from chapter 1)
[Read latest] (will start from latest chapter I've added)
[Chapter Select] (a scrollable menu in descending chapter order)
[Options]
[Credits]
Right now, I have it set up to direct each page to a new layout when it is clicked by a mouse. I'm not sure if that's the best way to do a menu, but we all gotta start somewhere. (I plan to have the chapter select, options, and credits only be pop up menus maybe)
Within my 'game' there are various different environments, locations, and perspectives. Let's say there's one called 'Apartment' and one called 'School'. Right now, I've given them both their own layout and I planned to do this for all the different locations.
In each location, different things will be happening at different times in different chapters with different characters. These layouts aren't as simple as a static map or level because the panels I mentioned before will do different things or have different sizes and shapes for each chapter. (I am working out how I can reuse panels too, or create templates for them, but that's for another day)
I soon realized setting up my Title Screen to forward to specific layouts would mean repeating certain layouts over and over again with new characters/dialog/panels for each chapter. This wouldn't work... or rather, it would be wasting a lot of resources and creating unnecessary headaches if there was something I wanted to change in the 'Apartment' location across the board.
SO, am I correct in thinking that... I can set up my chapters as separate event sheets? Can each chapter be an event sheet? Would I then be able to reuse the layouts and use the event sheets to 'act out' the events of each chapter? If that's the case, I'm not sure how I would tell it to move from "Event Chapter 1" to "Event Chapter 2", for example.
To summarize:
- I want to have set locations that can be reused for each chapter instead of repeating certain layouts repeatedly - I do not want to repeat the layouts because they change heavily from chapter to chapter
- I need to know if chapters can be divided with the use of event sheets, and how to move from one sheet to another
- If it's not possible to use event sheets as chapters, what else can I do?