Starting work on cutscenes. Here is one of the more basic ones. Text will scroll along the bottom. These are definitely going to push my art skills. Time to get good!

bclikesyou That's actually the proper way to do it. The DIALOGUE_POSITIONX and DIALOGUE_POSITIONY are local variables used when creating a new dialogue. Setting them as static is only half the solution, you still have to move the current window/spritefont/portrait. Take note that the variables won't revert to their original values, so you might want to add new variables to store default values and a function to revert to them.

Ah perfect! Yeah it's working great for me so far.

Running in to an issue: I'd like to move the dialogue box to a different position for cutscenes. I tried setting up a text command that set the DIALOGUE_POSITIONX and DIALOGUE_POSITIONY when called via dialogue. I couldn't get it to move the dialogue box and I even tried setting the local variables as static.

I found a temporary fix by doing this:

Is there a better way to do this? Thanks!

zzulian Thanks!

Boss fight!

It's been a few weeks but I've been hard at work!

Last weekend I showed off my demo at the Buffalo Game Space Showcase. Got great feedback and hung out with a bunch of other great WNY game devs. Here was my setup:

Looks like another week or two and I should wrap up Level 2. Currently I'm scripting all dialogue events and working on cutscenes. I made the decision to try and do still-frame cutscenes especially since the game is quickly getting story heavy.

Made some huge progress this weekend. As I have mentioned, I've been using Magistross 's dialogue asset. Over the weekend I realized and learned how to use the text commands which lets me script events from within the dialogue. So basically I can type the dialogue and then type something like {BossActivate} which calls a function or any other event. This is incredibly handy. I cannot recommend this asset enough. It's a steal for the price.

Here is the Level 2 Boss reveal. Don't worry; it'll be more difficult than pictured in the gif

Up next is drawing up the cutscenes, finishing the dialogue script, and setting up all keycard / door functions in the layouts for Level 2. Then on to Greenlight!

Funny enough I got to the same point this weekend. Working on cutscenes with dialogue and was trying to figure out how to control my characters during and after dialogue. Came here and smallrobot had pretty much asked my exact question Text commands work great! Controlling the cutscenes via the dialogue is really handy. You really thought this asset out well Magistross!

I make my own art using Photoshop and Pyxel Edit. According to my tastes, I consider my art "good enough" but want it to be better. Figured the best way to get better was to do it all myself. I'm already seeing improvements since ~6 months ago.

Level 2-3 (backgrounds and decorations hidden)

This uses the cave tileset as seen in the gifs above. One more map and I'm set for Level 2. Then I just need to set up dialogue triggers and the boss room.

Level design for the 2nd level. 3 layouts to go!

Level 2-1 tilemap! Such a satisfying and rewarding point to be at.

The backgrounds on the bottom have parallax scrolling and following the player through the level (that's why they don't cover the whole background). I'll be doing 4 screens total for level 2. I'll post them as they're completed.

YoHoho You could use something like Illustrator/Inkspace and turn on the grid. Then just place points using the pen tool. Maybe there are some other programs aimed at sketching but I'm not aware of them. A quick google search revealed this: http://tommaitland.net/graphpaper/

I'm a 50% digital / 50% analog person. I was taught as a graphic designer to always start with thumbnail sketches and I find paper and pencil to be very relaxing and much, much quicker. I've learned that I need a way to immediately write down ideas and visit them later so I have a planner that I carry everywhere (that's where the grid paper comes from!). You can find composition books of grid paper pretty cheap. Throw it in your back pack, write down everything in it, and go from there.