Rayek's Forum Posts

  • Cheers, I didn't know that Adobe had removed it - haven't checked Flash out for a while - seems like a step backwards, but it's true that the skeletal animation system in Flash did leave a lot to be desired and it was difficult to get a nice workflow going with it.

    Have you ever tried Anime Studio? A very good 2d character IK system - a shame we cannot export the bone animations to fbx, and/or keep the parts. But great for animated bitmap-based character sprites.

  • Even though Flash has a skeletal animation system you won't be able to use it in construct, instead you will need to export each frame as a separate image...[ ]

    Small correction: Flash CC and CC2014 no longer have any bones - the skeletal animation system was removed due to the shoddy implementation. And only the latest version of Flash has a good graph editor.

    You also do not have to use Flash to draw your character parts for later use in Spriter - any app that you can draw in can provide those, including InkScape, Illustrator, Krita, Photoline, etc. As long as those parts can be converted to bitmap cut-outs for import in Spriter.

  • Hey, I actually got some responses! Thanks for the kind words - it really is just a big fake. The clouds at the top and bottom, and the shadow hide the flat texture pretty well, and it creates a good illusion of a sphere. I think the illusion would shatter without those clouds, though.

    Ideally we would be able to wrap the textures around a sphere with a shader. I found this one online:

    http://z0b.kapsi.fi/webgl-sphere.html

    That effect does NOT rely on a 3d sphere, and would be perfect to apply the wrap-around for the textures in my example. I have been looking into the shaders, and it should not take too much of an effort to convert it to a Construct version.

    If only I had the time... Perhaps later.

  • I have been using Altervista for a while now. No issues, FTP support, full php, quick Wordpress setup. Also no banners or advertisements (altervista bar can be turned off).

    https://en.altervista.org/

    Italian based, and started by an Italian student in 2000 - so they've been around for a while now.

    I have had no issues so far - actually prefer this over my previous payed for host.

  • Rayek , thank you for your time and effort! In some cases this is even worse than the thing I experience and complain about!!! I tried some of the games at codeincomplete and the stuttering exists for me also. This indeed has to be browser related and it looks like we can't do anything about it. I hadn't had the chance to play Shank2 or Rogue Legacy, are those two HTML5/JavasSript games that run on a browser? Is this the reason that you do a performance comparison with them?

    No, I wanted to compare the performance of two desktop non-browser 2d games, because I did not know if that larger interval jerk is browser related, or not. Both Shank2 and Rogue Legacy display a slight jerk every 7~8 seconds when playing.

    So that one is not browser or Construct related. Something in either my hardware or software is causing that one. If/when I find out more related to that issue, I will let you know.

    I also have a feeling it might be video card vendor related up to a point. What kind of video card do you have installed?

  • eli0s: I tested your example in Chrome, IE, FF, Opera, and the nodekit preview.

    • Nodekit preview: it runs completely smooth EXCEPT for a jerk that occurs every 7 seconds or so at a regular interval.
    • Chrome 37: it runs completely smooth EXCEPT for a jerk that occurs every 7 seconds or so at a regular interval.
    • Chrome 38.0.2125.104 (I updated after testing in v37): much jerkier than v37. There is still the regular interval jerk every 7 seconds, but also smaller erratic jerks were introduced after updating to the latest version. Quite worrying.
    • Firefox 33: initially quite jerky with bouts of smoothness, then after some time it becomes quite smooth BUT jerks that are similar to Chrome occur, and these are quite erratic and ugly looking. Worse, at times the player completely disappears for a while, only to re-appear later (can last a second or two). When the jerks occur at the same moment the collision is supposed to occur between the player sprite and the wall, the sprite overshoots the wall, and disappears!

    This is not only a visual issue, but potentially can break your game completely. This happened one time in Opera as well.

    • Opera: jerky when it loads up initially, then settles down in a regular smooth and jerky movement cycle that takes ~.3 sec smooth, jerk, ~.3 sec smooth, jerk. Every 15 or so jerks there is a larger jerk at a regular interval, just like Chrome.
    • IE 11: runs completely smooth EXCEPT for that jerk again that occurs every 7 seconds or so at a regular interval.

    To see if the browsers needed more 'power', I assigned the highest priority to the execution of each browser in Windows. No difference (except that almost 10% of cpu power was utilized, compared to at most 2~3% at the default priority. (Done with Process Explorer.)

    Now, to test if this regular larger interval jerk is caused by something specific to Construct, I also tested this javascript Gauntlet found here: http://codeincomplete.com/games/

    I get similar jerks in all the browsers.

    Then I decided to test Shank2 (2d scrolling beat'm up). Smooth, BUT again that larger interval jerk DID occur even in Shank2 (which plays at full screen).

    Finally, I tested Rogue Legacy, and yes, there is that larger interval jerk again. In the course of all the action in both games you do not notice it, but once you are aware of it, it does irritate a bit.

    Anyway, on my system the major jerk is not caused by html5/js or Construct, it seems. In certain browsers jerky movement is introduced, though, and that seems to be browser dependent.

    Lastly, I would be interested in seeing more formal testing done related to this issue. For example, I wonder whether my system's video card may be the culprit as far as that larger interval jerk is concerned. I have not noticed it happening in 3d games, though.

  • Well, it would be a relatively marginal effort to implement a basic visual guide system in Construct - and potentially simplify our lives tremendously for all sorts of work.

    I have had real issues aligning objects in levels and for GUI work in Construct. It took unnecessarily lost minutes of effort to get ground object to align exactly, GUI elements to be aligned, and so on.

    Expanding on this, Construct is also missing basic object alignment commands, and object snapping (snapping an object to other objects).

    There is definitely room for improvement in the general workflow in the editor which would benefit every Construct user.

  • We can activate and align to a grid in Construct, which is great.

    However, one limitation I keep hitting while working on screens, GUIs, and level designs, is a very simple visual method to assist in aligning objects: guides.

    Every design application I am aware of, both for traditional print as well as for (mobile) screen design, offers some simple method to add visual guides to the layout view. Guides are almost essential for GUI work, and Construct does not offer these. This has been quite frustrating so far in my work done with Construct, and I cannot believe no-one would have thought of adding visual guides to Construct before.

    So, opinions, thoughts? Ashley, have guides ever made it to the to-do list, or even entered your thoughts while developing a visual tool for game development? It seems like such a basic fundamental requirement.

  • Don't change your workflow if you are happy with it - and Adobe software is great. Especially the interoperability like you say.

    It's merely a personal decision on my part to avoid Adobe software. If Adobe had kept full licenses along with subscriptions I would probably still have been in Adobe's court.

    And every application has its advantages and disadvantages. Work with the software that works best for you!

  • That is very true - especially about the time one has to spend on learning new applications. And the situation is not helped by the fact that 99% of tutorials and books are written for Adobe's software, because whether we like it or not, PH, AI, and InD are the industry standards.

    Photoline is great, but there is almost no mention of it on the web. No tutorials either. And it is a complicated image editor comparable to Photoshop (minus the video and 3d stuff) - not something for beginners. Nor is Photoshop, which is also very complex - but at least for PH a multitude of books and tutorials are available to help. I was able to make the switch quickly, but only because I used Photoshop at an advanced level, so the concepts and skills were easily transferred.

    Having said that, the workflow is a bit different. Not worse, not better, just different.

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  • Someone in the forum asked for an animated 2d planet technique in Construct, which might be of interest to others as well, so I am posting it here as an example.

    Here is the live version:

    http://estructor.altervista.org/animated_2d_planet_concept/

    The trick is very simple: mask out the cloud and planet textures with a circle using the blend effects. Please check the capx file how I achieved it. It's pretty much one big fake.

    I created all the effect maps in Photoline.

    The planet resides on its own layer which I rotate and zoom out - but you could also use the pin behaviour to control the planet's position, for example.

    You also need the Lite Tween behaviour installed for this example to work (although I could have applied the bullet behaviour as well).

    behavior-litetween_t70700

    Capx:

    http://estructor.altervista.org/animated_2d_planet_concept/planet.capx

    The current version does not seamlessly repeat either the clouds or the planet texture, so after a while the illusion is shattered <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_wink.gif" alt=";-)" title="Wink"> It should take relatively small effort to have those repeat. This effect is imperfect: it would be nice if we had access to a filter that would bulge the planet as a sphere.

    If others here know additional tricks and techniques to improve upon my simple version, feel free to add your own approach to this thread. Maybe we can create the "perfect planet" in Construct <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy">

    To create and render your own custom planet maps, check out the following links:

    Planet creator that outputs all the maps you need:

    http://www.blitzbasic.com/Community/pos ... opic=97336

    Good solar system planet maps:

    http://planetpixelemporium.com/planets.html

  • For the new adobe cc you don't need a consistent connection through the net. Being online once a month is enough.

    It's not about CC requiring an online connection or not - it's about renting your software. And a number other things related to CC subscriptions.

    Ohh and i would never ever use something else than Illustrator & photoshop anymore. Can't imagine a workflow without smart objects anymore. That saves hundreds of hours.

    Photoline supports similar workflows: for one, PL offers virtual clones of existing layers, layer groups, layer masks, vector/text objects, and so on. They function very much like smart objects, with the ADDED two advantages that they update in real-time when changes are made to the original one, and that the original object can be edited in context. Both are impossible with SOs in Photoshop. A smart object in Photoshop does not update in real time (must be saved, which is awkward) and cannot be edited in situ (requiring a separate document window, which is even more inconvenient). And Photoshop does not support multiple page documents, which Photoline does - making the virtual layer concept even more powerful.

    Second, Photoline can also, like the newest PS CC, place external content with the link remaining live. So I can edit an object in an external application (for example a pdf, an svg, or a psd file), and the placed external layer with that content automatically updates when I save the changes. Or manage my Photoline elements as separate individual elements with all the functionality of Photoline.

    All in all, Photoline's workflow "outsmarts" Photoshop smart objects in several ways. Another boon is that layer masks in Photoline are treated like regular layers, so one layer mask can serve as a master for all the other masks applied in a Photoline layer stack - update the one mask, and all the others update as well. Photoshop cannot do this with layer masks, because they are limited to the one layer. (To be fair, this could be solved with clipping layers in Photoshop, although clipping layers are somewhat inflexible.)

    Of course, SOs in Photoshop do have certain advantages not available in Photoline: only Adobe software can open AI and PSD files with the full complement of supported features.

    Anyway, Photoshop is not the only application that offers such a workflow. Honestly, I feel Photoline's workflow in this regard is arguably superior to Photoshop.

    Btw, two more advantage of PL over Photoshop SO model: 1) there is no need to convert layers to SO for non-destructive tranformation of a layer - that's a given in PL. so it saves time. No need for silly SOs to retain bitmap layers quality.

    and 2) there is also no need to convert layers to SOs to add non-destructive filters/effects in Photoline. Again saves time.

    Combined with the other caveats related to smart objects in Photoshop that I already mentioned above, I can work much quicker in Photoline than in Photoshop.

  • I may have been a bit harsh sounding (it was late). Flash is a good tool, although I never got along with its bone tools, and the severely handicapped motion graph editor: I like having full motion graph control as an animator. The motion graph and bone implementation in Flash was rather half-hearted at best, unworkable at worst.

    And Adobe's ridiculous treatment of Flash has caused it to become a shadow of what it could have been in the animation market. Really, such a shame. They pretty much left the animation market open for Toonboom and other competitors.

    I can't remember having seen the jerky effect in AS - although I only really begun to animate with it two years ago.

    But the great thing is that we do not have to limit ourselves to only one or two applications! Use whatever works best in your situation and for your project. I use C4D, Blender, Lightwave, InkScape, Photoline, Anime Studio, Sketchup, Xara Designer Pro, a bit of GIMP (as a plugin to Photoline), and so on.

    For more complex vector work I use Xara, while for most other vector work a combination of Photoline and InkScape works just fine (Photoline has a nice app link that allows me to do round-trip editing between the two).

    I have used all Adobe software professionally since Photoshop 3.5(!). I still own a license of CS6, but I removed Adobe software for the most part out of my workflow in the last two years. Good riddance, I say. It's a personal choice: I just do not like Adobe as a company anymore. Subscription only is a no-go for me.

    Yes, Illustrator is nice and all (although it has a lot of idiosyncrasies as well), but I just do not wish to deal with that company anymore.

  • The current version of Flash is a disaster: no motion graph, no IK bones, the object level undo removed, And the drawing tools have not been touched in ages by the devs - instead we LOST drawing tools like the deco tool.

    For game asset creation and animation a bone tool and a proper motion graph are crucial. Without these I would not even touch Flash.

    Spriter and Anime Studio are the way to go.

  • I've made a quick 2d animated planet proof of concept. Here is the live version:

    http://estructor.altervista.org/animated_2d_planet_concept/

    The current version does not seamlessly repeat either the cloud or the planet texture, so after a while the illusion is shattered <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_wink.gif" alt=";-)" title="Wink"> It should take relatively small effort to have those repeat.

    The trick is very simple: mask out the cloud and planet textures with a circle using the blend effects. Please check the capx file how I achieved it. This effect is imperfect: it would be nice if we had access to a filter that would bulge the planet as a sphere. Perhaps someone here knows another trick to improve my simple version. It's pretty much one big fake.

    I created all the effect maps in Photoline.

    The planet resides on its own layer which I rotate and zoom out - but you could also use the pin behaviour to control the planet's position, for example.

    You also need the Lite Tween behaviour installed for this example to work (although I could have applied the bullet behaviour as well).

    behavior-litetween_t70700

    Capx:

    http://estructor.altervista.org/animated_2d_planet_concept/planet.capx

    PS To create and render your own custom planet maps, check out the following links:

    Planet creator that outputs all the maps you need:

    http://www.blitzbasic.com/Community/pos ... opic=97336

    Good solar system planet maps:

    http://planetpixelemporium.com/planets.html

    Interesting webgl experiment:

    http://planetmaker.wthr.us/

    http://wwwtyro.github.io/procedural.js/planet1/