Hey, thanks for the comment 99Instances2Go So I'm creating two games from all this prototyping I'm doing. One mobile game and one PC game. Both Metroidvania style platformers. Hopefully for the PC release, I can include gamepad support and that's one of the reasons why I want a weapon wheel.

The cross hair/cursor won't be visible when you bring up the weapon wheel in the final version of the game. Right now I just have it visible in the mean time as I experiment. Maybe that is what is messing up the events from working correctly?

I'm not sure how GTA handles it's weapon switch behind the scenes but I do know it uses the mouse to scroll around the weapon wheel to select a weapon (when playing with mouse and keyboard). I do agree that the cross hair/mouse hopping around the screen for weapon select seems weird, wonky and complex. I'm not sure how GTA gets around that problem...proprietary engine?

I really want to replicate something like GTA. And the Witcher 3. Basically every game has a weapon wheel selection system like this. Mouse scroll is actually a really good idea that I forgot to think of. Naturally mouse scroll for weapons will be included on the PC version with using mouse and keyboard.

[quote:2dzjv6dg]I think (just an opinion as so many) if you see the aiming cross as 'the direction it will shoot to', things will get easyer to archive. Then the aiming cross can move on a fixed circle arround the player. Effectively show direction the player is shooting towards. Now it is easy to snap that aiming cross back to that place after un-showing the wheel.

[quote:2dzjv6dg]And use a controlled aiming cross to represent the direction that one shoots to.

Hey sorry, I don't think I understand. Do you think you can elaborate a bit?

NetOne Hey, thanks a bunch! You definitely fixed the problem in the capx. I tried to implement the simple changes into my prototype level but rotation is still broken . Sorry this topic has been going on for so long folks! No matter what I do, I just can't get the cursor to point to the mouse.

Still the same problem, posted a gif. It rotates nicely but not correctly. I'd post a pic of the event sheet but it's laid out exactly like in the updated capx! I just can't believe nothing I try works. I can't think what the problem might be seeing as the capx example works fine. I have 13 layers. Could that be it? What in my layout could be causing the mouse and weapon wheel cursor not to work correctly?

edit: changed my topic name since I've created a mini map system I'm probably sticking with. I need some help polishing it and making it work more professional. it's not a traditionally array based mini map like Super Metroid or examples found on this forum.

Hey all. I posted something about mini maps in the game design sub forum but maybe that's not best place to ask for help like this. I know this is a pretty in-depth topic and it has been discussed previously but I need some help on this subject. I'd appreciate any and all help. Basically, I'm creating my own Metroidvania and I'm trying to wrap my head around how to create a functional, moving mini map.

So I've actually already created a mini map <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy"> I was too scared to create a proper array-based mini-map and I created a picture-in-picture system. I think it's pretty decent. I'd like some help with how to polish this current mini map or advice on how to create another system. If I were to stick with this probably inferior mini map system, how can I make it look and work more polished and professional? Any art/code/ game design advice appreciated.

After some research, I think an array based map system similar to Super Metroid (one that slowly ticks visibility as explored) might be tedious to deal with. I like my current mini map system because well...it's easy and simple for an artist like me. Obviously this system has drawbacks. The player indicator jumping looks weird. It looks a little sloppy currently. The entire map will always be displayed on the mini map (no blacked out rooms being discovered). Unless there's a workaround for this? I think there should be, I have each room locked to a metroid-style scrolling camera zone and I could probably use those camera zones for something. That why I ask for tips on possibly polishing this current mini map system. I'd be perfectly happy with a map and mini map system that just highlights the room the player is in like this.

http://images.pocketgamer.co.uk/images/ ... er-01a.jpg

I'm not married to creating something exactly like Super Metroid (but I'd still love one). In the end though, I really just want a functional, updating/moving mini map that looks professional. If there are other ways to create a mini map, please point me in the right direction.

I'm still trying to create a Super Metroid style map if I can. I found a Super Metroid style mini map tutorial online but I can't get it to work. Can someone take a look at my events please?

http://madameberry.com/post/14486564952 ... rt-1-setup

In the tutorial, Madame Berry says you can skip the array step if you want to an "found/unfound" map system. I want to try that for now but it looks like in her final code, she uses an array to get the map to work. I'm not sure if I missed a step or if I was just suppose to intuit the what to do in place of an array but I don't know how to get the map to work. Can anyone help me get this Metroid style mini map working? And/or can anyone give me some helpful suggestions for my current map or advice on how to go about creating another moving mini map system? Thanks so much for reading my long post!

Hey, I'm also following this! I like all the updates you've been making on your blog. This looks great!

holy crap guys, I think I got a mini map working <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy">

The player is at the edges of the level layout so the map looks jumpy and is actually displaying empty margins I think. I guess I need to build my maps not so close to the edge of the layout.

Guys, what would be a good way to visually recreate this kind of mini-map using an 8-bit NES restricted look? Obviously I can't use this actual image as the mini-map. I should probably paint over the map with Super Metroid looking black and white grid/tiles right? Like this.

http://s38.photobucket.com/user/Plasmfi ... 8.png.html

<img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy"> I've got something working in-game. After extensive searching on the forums, I started thinking my picture in picture idea wasn't so crazy after all. I downloaded the canvas and paster plugins by R0j0hound and implemented a small screen in the corner as the mini-map.

Right now, I need to figure out the math for displaying the mini-map player indicator correctly in relation to the mini map sprite and the actual players location and centering the second camera/screen/mini-map pip on the indicator. The indicator seems to be at my 0,0 position of the mini-map screen. In my gif, I'm basically at the top-left section of my game level layout (near origin). My little map indicator isn't tracking the player correctly on the scene. I placed my mini-map image and indicator sprite near my spawn so I could see what it was doing. Here's a event sheet. Maybe someone can seem a simple math mistake. I got so excited I got this working, I came to post here and haven't really troubleshooted this yet <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_e_biggrin.gif" alt=":D" title="Very Happy">

I think this is a pretty decent and lazy way to make a mini map. I'm open to other ways of creating a mini map system though if any one's got some though.

I also found two links with info on how to make a Super Metroid style map system. The forum post even has a capx! I really like how professional and elegant that style looks but I'm afraid it would be too difficult for me to implement. I will experiment and make my own map of this kind but I think I'd rather make a mini map another way if possible.

http://madameberry.com/post/14486564952 ... rt-1-setup

viewtopic.php?f=147&t=75959&p=630013&hilit=super+metroid+map#p630013

The capx example looks like it could be very tedious! Imagine having to create a big array and manually placing all those tiles on a very large map. If I were to try and attempt to make a map like this, I should probably wait until the very end of game development right? I still haven't finalized my entire world layout so I don't want to do any work on a map system I'll have to change later. Either way, looks like I'll have some serious work ahead of me if I choose to make a map and mini-map this way.

That's why I said before, I'm not married to the idea of creating a mini-map system exactly like Super Metroid! I'm willing to contrive a reason to fill the entire map in at the start (through story purposes or whatever) if it means I don't have to do the tedious work of having the map slowly "tick" into view. Or instead of the map ticking in visibility every 8*8 increments, my map system can just "highlight" the entire room the player is in and slowly fill in the map room by room. A system like this sounds functional and wouldn't turn my hair gray creating it. It might look something like this.

http://images.pocketgamer.co.uk/images/ ... er-01a.jpg

Anyway, I'd really like to talk about maps in action-adventure platformer games and Metroidvania-type games.

Does anyone know of any good examples of good, simple, functional maps and mini-maps in Metroidvania games? Or any game really. Preferably stuff that isn't like Super Metroid?

How would you guys go about making a map system if you were making a game like this on Construct 2?

What does everyone think would be a good mini-map system in a Metroidvania game made in Construct 2 by a single artist not great at math and programming.

Maps, maps, maps!?!

Hope my post makes sense. Thanks for reading!

edit: fixed the issue with the indicator displaying correctly. All I had to do was set the origin point to the the top left <img src="{SMILIES_PATH}/icon_lol.gif" alt=":lol:" title="Laughing">

Hey all! I'm slowly learning Construct 2 and I'm trying to create two action-adventure platformer games. A small scale Metroidvania on mobile and a large scale Metroidvania on PC. I'm sharing a lot of code, characters, events, assets, ect throughout . Both games are more Metroid than Castlevania.

So I'm trying to wrap my head around how to create a moving or updating mini-map similar to Super Metroid. I've downloaded like 6 different map/minimap capx examples (let me know if you want me to share them). Seems easy to recreate but I need to create a mini-map for an entire "Metroid"-type world (or section of world), not just a small level. And I'm not sure how to go about that. I'm not sure how I'd go about restricting the mini-map "view "the specific player area. How would I move or scroll the "camera view" of the mini-map. This concept seems really beyond me. I haven't got a clue on how to even begin to think about this problem. Can anyone help me with this problem?

All the mini map capx examples have small images of the entire layouts as the maps. I guess what I need is like an active picture-in-picture view of my mini-map on-screen? I actually looked up PIP on the forums and I'm sure that's not what I need. I'm not dead set on creating something exactly like Super Metroid. I do need something functional that moves or updates as the player moves through the environment. I'd take any advice on how to create a decent, functional map in whatever ways you guys might imagine. Thanks for reading folks!

TL/DR; let's talk about maps and mini-maps, how do go about creating an scrolling mini-map like Super Metroid. Or how can I create a decent approximation using Construct 2. Has any else made maps similar to what I'm describing?

One more thing, I'm adding a pic of prototype Metriodvania level so people can see with what I'm working with (in terms of progress of my game). My window size is 320x224 (good? aiming for NES wide-screen) As you can see, I have black and green zones throughout the layout. The layout is filled with "camera zones". Each zone clamps the camera scrolling in that zone. I imagine I can use the zones as a way to find the position of the player on the map or even help in creating the map, right?

Hey all! Thank you for all the help! Been working on other parts of the game but I'm back at this specifically. I'm not sure what I'm doing wrong but I just can't get the cursor to point to the correct mouse position, no matter what I try.

calebbennetts I tried you workaround but it still won't read the mouse position correctly. Even if it did, the jitter-ing is difficult to ignore and I think I've implemented the LayerToCanvas and CanvasToLayer expressions correctly into my events. If I can't get it to work that way though, I can pause the game while selecting a weapon. No more jitter-ing.

SoldjahBoy Thanks for your help. I took a look at the example and I think I got it to work in my project. Still, though, the cursor doesn't correctly point at the mouse. Before LayerToCanvas and CanvasToLayer, the cursor wouldn't rotate fully. Now it does but it's not pointing to where the mouse is.

Am I doing something wrong with the sprite? I want to describe the way the cursor is acting like there's actually a 2nd invisible cursor and the 2nd cursor is the one actually pointed towards the mouse.

I recreated the problem in a small capx. I made a small, thin sprite like — and I have 3 different ways of controlling the cursor on that capx. None of them have the cursor pointing at the mouse correctly. Can anyone take a look at the file and troubleshoot it please? Shift brings up the "weapon wheel". Also including the pic of the events on my level. Am I using the LayerToCanvas and CanvasToLayer expression correctly? Is the mouse even on a "Layer"?

edit: Presumably the mouse is on the "Game" Layer with the player collision, enemy collisions and other things like that right? The layout size of this capx is the same size of my prototype level, 2048x1024. Adding a gif of LayerToCanvas/CanvasToLayer working in my level. It works fully rotates unlike mouse.x,mouse.y and the wheel/cursor/icons are on the "UI" layer but I can't get the cursor to spin correctly regardless.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/s0qo4kl1s8e1k ... .capx?dl=0

I've never used game salad but I did look at it when I was trying to decide what game maker engine to use. From all the research I've done, the only game maker engines really worth using seem to be Game Maker Studio, Multimedia Fusion 2.5 and Construct 2. And it seems to be in that order too. MM2.5 and Construct 2 are distant second and third after the popular Game Maker Studio

I'm not sure what's easier to use between GS and Construct. I imagine, any program you pick, your still going to spend weeks, months to years learning the ups and downs and in and outs of the program and basic logic.

You should probably ask this question on Reddit or tig source for more in depth responses

Did you see my post on your other topic?

Look at my last post. That's how I moved my player from one layout to another and back and forth. Eventually though that system broke on me. For some reason, switching from layout 3 to layout 4 never worked correctly. I couldn't place the character in the position I wanted.

99Instances2Go Thanks for the help and info! This is definitely a good way to get around the problem of re positioning the mouse after selecting a weapon. I'm wondering if maybe I'll keep this in mind but I still really have my heart set on something GTA V-like.

calebbennetts Awesome! Thanks! I think this is what I'm looking for! It's not working the way it looks like it should though. The cursor seems almost locked into place on its side. The cursor is placed upright in the editor before hand though. I used absoluteX and absoluteY and that actually rotates around the circle but it works wonky. I added short gifs of both. Other cursor there for testing.

mouse.x,mouse.y

mouse.absolutex,mouse.absolutey

Anyway, I'd appreciate some more help if you can calebbennetts. I think I've also come up with a way to replicate this behavior now. So the whole screen will have these invisible zones that correspond with specific weapons. The mouse is always hovering over a weapon unless the mouse is in the center. Player won't necessarily move the mouse around like a wheel but that's ok. It might work better that way. I think this can get very close to the effect I'm looking for. I can check whether the mouse is in the "zone" of any particular weapon and have the weapon highlighted or flashing. What does everyone think of this method? Seems like a pretty good workaround for an artist like me. I'd really like to get what calebbennetts suggested working though. That way seems like it's all ready to go once I can get the angle of the cursor to point to the mouse correctly. Here's a pic of what I'm thinking of.

Here's something similar to what I'm trying to replicate. Instead of the missile circling the ship non-stop though, I need a "free" mouse that is temporarily restricted to this sort of circle movement so that the player can circle around the weapon wheel and quickly select a weapon. I'm gonna spend some time looking at that capx and experimenting but any guidance would be appreciated! Thanks!

edit: the way i imagine the weapon wheel working is when the player holds tab or shift, time pauses/slows down the the wheel pops up. The crosshair would disappear, the mouse would essentially "teleport" over to the weapon wheel, lock itself into a circular movement so that mouse movement highlights the weapons on the wheel and the player can select them. On shift/tab release/weapon select, the new weapon is selected and your cross hair should be where it last was on the game layout. Highlighting, changing the visibility of the cross hair and actually selecting the weapons are the easy parts.

Just typing out how I want the system to work makes me realize its not as simple as just locking the mouse movement. If that even is simple The "teleportation" of the mouse seems tricky unless I'm over thinking it. I guess I would have to store the location of the cross hair/mouse as I bring up the weapon wheel and place the mouse back there when the weapon wheel is closed.