-Silver-'s Forum Posts

  • I'm trying to optimize my game, and I have one section with several waterfalls - all created using plasma effects. Each waterfall also has a spray effect at the bottom, which is also created with plasma. I'd like to know if plasma is a fairly intensive effect?

    If it is, I have a different system which I think looks better - A small tiled background (blue, with 50% transparency) stretched to the size of a waterfall. A canvas object is placed underneath it at the same size, grabs the cliff texture beneath it, and applies a bounded warp effect. It gives the illusion of the tiled background waterfall warping the cliff behind it. I'll then place some small simple textures on top of the waterfall to imply movement, inspired by this image.

    So the main question is pretty much: Is the Plasma object more or less intensive than the Bounded Warp effect? I'm afraid I'm completely hopeless at discovering these answers myself <img src="smileys/smiley5.gif" border="0" align="middle">

    Many thanks for your time <img src="smileys/smiley12.gif" border="0" align="middle">

  • I thought this was a deliberate design for Halloween at first. The colour choice is a sickly green, as though the website looks ill. Great for Halloween! But can we get back to the version that didn't look grotesque once November rolls around? I don't think my eyes can take much more than a fortnight of this.

  • -Silver-

    I wouldn't recommend using the "y"-key. Different languages use other key layouts. For example, the "z" and "y" key are swapped between english (qwerty-layout) and german (qwertz-layout) keyboards. There are also azerty- and qzerty-layouts. As long as CC doesn't report key-codes but characters, it might be best to let the user decide which keys to use?

    Ahhh, thanks, didn't know that. I didn't plan on using the Y key for keyboards, but for 360 controllers. As in the Y, B, A, X face buttons, colour coded to match the elements. I transfered their positioning to the arrow keys for the keyboard. If players want to use arrow keys for movement though, I think you're right and I'll have to let them set their own preferences for ability keys <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

    And yeah, whoever thought this green colour scheme was a good idea needs a clip behind the ear. Ugliest layout I've seen in years <img src="smileys/smiley17.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

  • Back at my desk! Thanks for all the feedback you sent my way. I'm going to optimize as much as possible <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

    Looking back through the thread I noticed a couple of questions I missed:

    MrMiller: I'm curious to know how you got the music to run without a music folder? I've always had to have a sound/music folder included with my .exe. Maybe this is a fix that now works for CC 2.0?

    I used the resource folder, in the same list as the music folder is in. I think you just right click it to add files to the folder. Then you use the "play music from resource" command in the events. Though there seems to be some limitations, since I can't alter its volume (for fading in and out) nor where in the track the music starts playing from. Hopefully I can figure that out.

    Gelidaer: Does the movement use a custom plugin and is it easy to do the angle detection for the slopes of branches?

    It's not a custom plugin, it's Tulamide's genius mind at work. The wolf has two small invisible sprites on either side of him, set to constantly move down the Y axis until they hit a solid or platform object. Witchraft ensues, where the sprites somehow set the wolf's angle based on the difference between their Y values. There's a limit to how far down they can move, and if one of them moves all the way down to its limit without hitting anything, then the wolf's angle is set to 0, and an animation is played where the wolf is balancing on an edge.

    Thanks again for all the feedback, and hopefully you'll get to see an updated version before too long <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

  • I love the music and the art style in this game, but like a few people said, the arrow keys would be better since people are used to using WASD when using a mouse as well.

    This is what I would recommend:

    Arrow keys for movement and space for jump

    Down and space for dropping

    If your elemental attacks can't be changed later on, this might work:

    Double tap left or right for dash

    Down arrow for shield

    Z for flaming jaws

    X for rooting

    I also got a few quick questions, does the movement use a custom plugin and is it easy to do the angle detection for the slopes of branches? Thanks for the demo and keep up the good work <img src="smileys/smiley2.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

    Thanks Gelidaer!

    I might try uploading a beta when the level is complete with multiple different control options for arrow keys, and see what people prefer. The arrow keys for abilities were based on the setup I want for the 360 controller:

    Y for wind

    B for fire

    A for earth

    X for water

    Colour coded, and so I just kept the same layout for the arrow keys. But I can certainly see how people would prefer moving with the arrow keys. I wonder if using the number keys 1-4 would be useful for abilities too? I plan on using a modifier to access the second tier of abilities, holding down shift while pressing them to use a different skill.

    I'll create and upload and some different variations <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

  • 1.Performance is ok but can be optimised

    2.Gfx is good , but the forest needs more variety ie more plants different trees.

    3.I also vote for the arrow keys instead off wasd keys

    4.Music is on par for this game.

    5.More effects ,when running the wolf should kick up some dust or leaves.

    I dont know if anyone else has this problem ,but sound fx does not seem to work on my laptop when playing classic construct games.

    1) Definitely. I'm pretty sure it's GPU heavy rather than CPU heavy, but if anyone could confirm this that would be ace.

    2) Yes, that's another thing I should have mentioned in the OP. I'm leaving the little details to the end. If people tell me the level is too short; too long; some parts are too simple or difficult; there's not enough of... whatever, then as it stands I can easily re-arrange the layout, add more, fill out certain areas etc. Once I'm happy with the layout and have all the mechanics working as intended I'll be adding ferns, plants for colour, shrubs and small trees, hanging plants and ivy for the cliffs (which look really plain and repetitive atm). So that's definitely coming!

    3) Noted <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

    4) Not sure if that's good or bad <img src="smileys/smiley17.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

    5) I've been thinking about this too. It's related to number 2 in that I want to get the mechanics and layout nailed before adding the little cosmetic touches. I would love grass and water kick-up effects at least, but I'll have to see how far I can push these effects based on how intensive the game is when it's complete.

    Thanks for your feedback! Oh, and sound effects aren't in the game yet, which is why you aren't hearing anything <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

  • I bolded and capitalised it too <img src="smileys/smiley17.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

  • Yeah, it's also trying to ensure that it isn't resource intensive, which the wobbling water is. I used to have all three layers of the water wobble, with waterfalls creating ripples when they hit it. But that was really expensive. The wobbling water is made of 4 pixel wide blocks lined up next to each other, which led to thousands of objects on-screen at once in the waterfall section. Had to change it so that the back two layers are just static tiled backgrounds.

    I'll play around with GIMP for a while when I get back home and see what I can come up with. If only it was as simple as painting a damn waterfall <img src="smileys/smiley17.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

  • Another vote for arrow key movement! I'll definitely include the option from now on <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

    I don't like the waterfalls much either. I don't think Plasma is going to work for them, since they don't start flowing until they are on screen. I have no idea how to paint and hand-animate water though, so this will take a while to find an attractive solution. I enjoy artistic challenges though! It's the programming challenges that give me headaches <img src="smileys/smiley17.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

    Interesting point about the fire effect. It might be because I'm using a kind of pastel colour scheme, whereas the fire is a really bold colour with high contrast by comparison. I'll look into that one.

    You're right about the speed too. I was mainly playing in 1280x720 when developing, and the smaller screen size made him feel faster. In full screen it does feel a bit too slow. I don't want to speed him up too much, since a higher level wind effect doubles his movement speed for as long as you channel the ability. But it certainly needs tweaking.

    I think that's a good suggestion about the branches too. If it comes across as a mild annoyance, then it shouldn't be there at all. And I can see how many players will try running straight across from one branch to the next, only to fall down.

    Thanks for the feedback! <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

  • Yeah that's the plan, and ensuring my particles all use the same texture. I'll see if I can find out if plasma effects are intensive too. I could always manually create and animate a foam texture for my waterfalls instead of relying on plasma.

  • Okay, thanks for getting back to me on that. I've just read a thorough article on optimization techniques for Construct, and I'm pretty sure my game is GPU limited. I use a LOT of particle and shader effects (especially blur effects), so I have plenty of ideas for improving frame rate there.

    I'm also going to half some of my textures again. Tulamide already convinced me to half ALL of them once. I genuinely had some 4096x4096 background textures at first... I hate the Stag as well. I'm convinced it's bland and ugly. It was my first attempt though, whereas my wolf took five attempts to get to where he is now. The stag textures are quite large (up to 512) and there are far too many frames in his animations. I should be able to improve on him a lot when I redo him. I'm looking forward to optimising now <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

  • Thanks guys <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

    MrMiller - which resolution are you playing at? I'm not sure why you are falling through the screen... there are plenty of visual errors but that shouldn't be one of them. You weren't playing a resolution higher than your screen's native resolution were you?

    The death is instant, but that will be changed with both an animation and a fade to black <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle" /> There are also 7 checkpoints through the level which should be working correctly, but they were added very recently so I wouldn't be surprised if something about them is broken.

    Regarding WASD movement - I have been planning to add 360 controller support, but I'll also add the option for arrow key movement too. I want to get space bar working as an alternate jump button in both keyboard modes too.

    Zyblade - Thanks! Tulamide created the music for this game. He wouldn't believe me when I told him it was a good piece, so I'm glad you mentioned it <img src="smileys/smiley17.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

    I'm probably going to have to spend a lot of time optimising the game, cutting down texture sizes, reducing animation lengths, slimming down event sheets etc. Glad to hear it runs okay for you though.

    Getting hit does empty the whole energy bar, and I've considered altering that to 50%. But using an ability only consumes 20% energy, and I've tried making motes plentiful (except on the high path) to encourage players to spend it often. The Water ability (left arrow) acts as a shield, taking damage in place of your energy. The danger in reducing damage to only 50% energy is that it depreciates the value of the Water ability. But I will definitely take this into account so thanks for the feedback!

  • Thanks Crowtongue! Glad to hear the first impressions are good <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle" />

    Something I should mention: fire probably feels underpowered right now. It deals two points of damage instead of a standard jump attack which deals one. Spiders have one health point and stags have three, so there's no immediate feel of fire being all that powerful or useful. I'm planning on adding a third enemy (likely a boar) with two health points so that fire can one-shot an enemy that a regular attack can't. I'm also thinking of placing some more large thorn obstacles that fire will be able to destroy (different to regular thorns you can jump over). Fire will be upgradable in the final game, allowing the attack to deal three points of damage.

  • <img src="http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc212/darkstorne/Mountains1280.png" border="0">

    Hello everyone!

    I'm about to go on holiday for a week, and it's distressing me that I won't be able to continue working on my game during that time. So I figured I would do the next best thing - upload it in its current state for fellow Construct creators to play, so that I'm at least getting feedback while I'm away from my desktop. I'll still be able to access the internet and post here, so I should be very active in discussing the game with you <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle">

    Now, ideally I would like to wait a bit longer before uploading it, because there are still a lot of visual bugs and glitches I'm trying to iron out, and I've literally only just begun work on the UI. But time is an issue, and it's still very playable, so we'll see how it goes!

    The Game

    This is a platformer, where you play as a wolf who has inherited elemental powers. The world around him is falling apart. Animals are driven to madness. Humans have mysteriously vanished. When darkness falls, unnatural creatures descend with it. Only the oracle may be able to help. With these new-found powers, you are the only one who might succeed in reaching her up on her mountain-top.

    You have the powers of Fire, Water, Wind, and Earth. Each has a different effect on the world and creatures around you, and they are yours to play with as you wish. Collecting Motes (the equivalent of Mario's coins, or Sonic's rings) powers you with energy which can in turn be spent on these powers. So instead of finding power-ups scattered around the level, your elements are the power-ups, and you may use them whenever and however you like. Motes are plentiful to encourage usage and experimentation of the elements.

    There are essentially three different routes to take through a level. A low path, mid path, and high path. Each has its benefits, and you will likely find yourself switching between all three. But my hope is that players will each develop their own preference based on their playstyle, with a preferred element as well.

    I want the game to be easy to play - with an appealing art style and fun gameplay. I also want it to be challenging to master, with a point based score system. So instead of rushing through a level as fast as you can, it's about how high a score you can achieve. Faster runs will provide a larger time bonus, but you will also receive bonus points for not dying; taking no damage; for each enemy killed; for each mote collected; a small bonus for only using three of the four elements; a medium bonus for only using two elements; a large bonus for only using one element; etc. The score system isn't in place yet, but this is the direction I'm heading in for the game.

    Player choice is important. One player might be able to achieve a high score by sticking to the top route and focusing on Wind abilities for fast movement. But another might achieve a higher score by taking the low route and using Fire to kill enemies along his path.

    The level playable is a daytime forest level.

    The Controls

    WASD movement. With W being jump, and S and W together allowing you to drop through platforms to lower levels.

    Arrow Keys for elemental abilities.

    Up Arrow - Wind - Dash forward

    Right Arrow - Fire - Flaming Jaws deal heavy damage to enemies

    Down Arrow - Earth - Root smaller enemies to the spot, and rip environmental obstacles asunder

    Left Arrow - Water - Shield yourself with spikes of ice, preventing damage

    In the final game, there will be two abilities for each element. Above (and in this playable demo) are the basic instant-cast abilities. Secondary abilities will be sustained, so holding down the Wind key for example will double your movement speed, draining energy for as long as you hold the key down. All of these abilities can be improved and leveled up.

    Red Motes are hidden throughout each level, and each Red Mote grants you one point to spend on leveling up an elemental skill at the end of a level. There are three Red Motes to find in each level, and one earned for reaching a high enough score at the end of a run - so four total in each level. The score system isn't in place yet, but the three hidden Red Motes are in place for you to find.

    TL;DR / Summary

    Play the game and let me know what you think! I'd love to hear any and all feedback, comments and criticism. There are three different resolutions, and a different download for each (I suck at programming, but I'm getting there <img src="smileys/smiley17.gif" border="0" align="middle">). Choose from the options below.

    I would also love to know what framerates you guys are seeing. I see 60fps constantly at 1920x1080, but then I have a powerful computer. I'm worried some areas of the game are too intensive. So please let me know in as much as detail as you can how it runs, and what your basic PC specs are if you know them, ie:

    Min: 60fps

    Average: 60fps

    Max: 60fps

    CPU: i7 —

    GPU: 2GB GTX560 Ti

    RAM: 16GB DDR3 1600mhz

    There are plenty of issues with the game, many of which I know about, but please don't hold back! The spiral energy bar has very recently been added and is based on Newt's example in this thread which he kindly gave me permission to use: http://www.scirra.com/forum/custom-health-bar_topic47438.html I'm really struggling to get it to work as well as his does, which is a shame because it fits so well thematically. I might have to switch to a basic straight line energy bar. There are plenty of other little bugs and glitches, but please let me know what you think, and I'll put the feedback into motion when I return <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle">

    Many thanks for your time, and bravo if you read the entire essay! Thanks to anyone kind enough to spare the time to test this out <img src="smileys/smiley12.gif" border="0" align="middle">

    1280x720 windowed

    1680x1050 fullscreen

    1920x1080 fullscreen

    IMPORTANT: You will need the Python26.dll file included in your Construct installation directory to play this game. If you can't locate it, you can also download a copy of mine here. Make sure it is in the same location as the .exe, for example: both on your desktop, or both in the same folder.

    If anyone wants to go above and beyond the call with helping me test my game and wants to check out the events, PM me and I'll send you the .CAP. be warned though, I'm an artist, not a programmer. The events may be nicely arranged in their own little groups, but there are a lot of them and they are probably horrendously optimized. Full disclaimer: I take no responsibility if your eyes bleed.

    HUGE thanks to Tulamide! He has been incredibly supportive, and helped me with a lot of the programming. The angle detection is pretty much entirely his work. Without him I would still be painting ridiculously large 2048x2048 textures, slapping hundreds of them into the game, and wondering why Construct crashes whenever I click "Run Layout". Thanks man <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle">

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  • I love you guys. Rojo nailed it: "you can easily fix it by removing the elses and putting the inverted conditions of events 221 and 222 into event 223."

    Thanks for all the replies, and thanks for the explanation behind the Else command Tulamide <img src="smileys/smiley1.gif" border="0" align="middle" />