SoldjahBoy

thanks a million for your reply. i've used dictionaries and arrays a lot before; it never occurred to me that i can do as you suggested. thanks a million for your advice.

my only question is this: suppose i create the level editor and save 30 levels in a dictionary. now, how do i save that from the level editor as a stand alone file that can be "imported" from the actual game. also, does that mean that an extra file must be distributed/installed by the user to play the entire game?

can you please explain how to get the data "out of" the level editor and "into" the game during run time and how to address the file distribution?

mekonbekon, thanks a million for your feedback. I'll do as you suggested and create the pre-made layouts and test along the way. btw, there are no new no additional art nor assets....just the existing ones being used in different combinations...so I'm hoping that, in and of itself, should not impact the game download size.

thanks a lot for your help.

so i'm pretty much done with my 2D platformer (8 levels so far) and i want to use the existing assets in new variations/combinations and create over 30 levels.

what is the best way of doing that?

shall i continue creating a new layout for each level? Is that how you guys do it? I've seen 2D platformers games that have over 100 levels, do they really have 100 pre-made layouts in the game? does that increase the download size, or loading size?

is there a more efficient way of creating 30 levels without creating 30 separate layouts? i don't have the skill set to create 2D levels via procedural generated algorithm, but was wondering if there was something short of that technique that allowed you to reuse existing layouts.

I'm stuck, the only thing I've come up with is this:

---use random generation technique to change platform size, platform angle, platform type (jump thru or not, conveyor belt or traditional platform) and also use randomly generation to place other assets (swinging vines, spring boards, etc) ...

but leaving all that to a random generator ends up creating some retarded levels...so something better is needed.

i have no problem hand crafting the 30+ layouts, one for each level....but my only concern is this: increase the download size, or forcing the player to wait forever while the giant game is loading.

any advice, and past experience you can share is GREATLY appreciated.

Thank you in advance for all of your help.

first let me thank everyone for their wonderful and honest opinions. that means a lot to me and helps guide me in the direction of selecting the final artwork for the game.

second, i'd like to share on this thread sources for free game art to help you in your games...if you are a experienced game developer you may know of these sites below (and probably a lot more), but this is what i've come across and would like to share with you:

free pixel art: http://www.openpixelproject.com/

free art, sound, music: http://opengameart.org/

free vector art: http://www.zipup.me/

thank you everyone for your advice, recommendations, and help...hope the above links are of some value to you.

i am finishing up my game (2D action platformer), and wanted to know what to update the placeholder sprites with: pixel art characters/environment or contemporary/polished art?

I know different folks have different preferences, likes, and dislikes...but assuming the same game, the same mechanics, which graphic type do you prefer, which graphic type attracts you and peeks your interest in wanting to give it a shot and play?

if you have already made, sold/distributed games what is your first-hand experience on what the mainstream, casual gamers prefer based on your experience?

any suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Gerardb91

can we explore your idea a little bit more? when the monster's were coming from all direction, in your opinion what was done correctly so that you ended up feeling scared and paranoid...as opposed to feeling annoyed because that was "random"? what did they do correctly to add to your fear as opposed to make you feel irratated that every now and then bunch of stuff attack you from all directions?

do you feel that would also work in a 2d game?

it's just an idea, but how about "air assault" ?

hello everyone:

how do you add different degree of blur to the screen so that everything on the screen appears slightly blurry or super-blurry depending of game variables you can control at run time?

i played around with webgl effects with no luck. i dont want a glassy-glossy overlay look, i also dont want a "water" effect (waving back and forth as if an object is under the water) but a plain simply blur.

any ideas how i can do that?

thanks for all your help gumshoe2029, i'll get started on that path for the next game, making sure it's built in a client-server model from the ground up. that was very valuable feedback, thanks a million.

then i want to do what you are doing also, but how?

how can you export your game via C2 so that there is a server-side (with all the data, logic, code) and a dumb client-side (with the art and audio)? how were you able to do this? also, is it scaleable? in another words, if your game is hosted on amazon and 10,000 people want to pay and purchase it, does it require any manual involvement on your part for selling/distributing the authentic client to the verified buyer or can they click and download the client on their device without any additional involvement by you.

as you have pointed out, this is important but unfortunately very difficult (at least it appears to be so, to me). thanks for your continued help on this.

Gumshoe2029, thank you for your comment.

while your statement may be true, i dont think it is possible with C2 to create such a game.

in my original post, i indicated that it is not possible to prevent pirating 100% of the time, i only wanted to ensure i was taking the necessary precautions to ensure it was minimized and i was not making a newbie mistake of putting it all out on the internet to easily pirate, nor was i posting on questionable web sites.

1- Ashley recommended using "minify script", and also confirmed that developer comments within the game, which are very critical during development, are never in the final build (making reverse engineering a bit more complicated and time consuming)

2- Sumyjkl suggested to test for the right host

If you know of a practical way splitting the game into server-side and client-side components, please share it. I agree with your observation, but do not think it's feasible (at least not given my limited knowledge of C2).

Thank you everyone for sharing your knowledge and experiences on this tread, i hope my game will be successful and as secure as possible, given reasonable precautions and best-practices.

coolness, thanks a million Ashley