211 replies to this topic

[CID Farwin]

Ah, good to see you've finally figured it out. *victory music*

And don't think that I'm limited to just software help(I'm curious as to what you mean my 'general assistance.')...but I'm not sure what I can help with.

[Steel Samurai]

I volunteer to advise in a general capacity. Which means that I don't have time to actually create anything, but I'm happy to look over stuff and give comments.

[D~N]

I offer my services as both artist and designer. As an RPG, the game will need good ideas and solutions for dungeons, puzzles and the all the other whatnots.

Fantastic, and you're absolutely right. We'll need as many idea makers as possible. If I were the only one making puzzles, then the puzzles would all end up looking the same. Glad to have you on board.

Hey yeah I can help with those just remember that I don't know much about the engine yet. Also my access to the internet is intermitted at best so I may be unable to get on here for large amounts of time. You'll need mappers for RPG maker so let me know if you need anything.

No, problem. Help is help, regardless of what form its in. Many of us intend to learn from this process, so don't worry if you're not familiar with something yet. I'm still tinkering around with the program to learn the ins and outs of it, so no worries. Also - "mappers"? Ya lost me there with your new-fangled lingo!

Ah, good to see you've finally figured it out. *victory music*

And don't think that I'm limited to just software help(I'm curious as to what you mean my 'general assistance.')...but I'm not sure what I can help with.

Oh! Please, don't feel like I'm limiting you to what I wrote. I wrote that because you seemed familiar with the software, considering you helped me get it running. Also, general assistance is just what you said yourself: "don't think that I'm limited to just software help...but I'm not sure what I can help with" As in, you'll be helping with many different things, we just don't know yet! mkay?

I volunteer to advise in a general capacity. Which means that I don't have time to actually create anything, but I'm happy to look over stuff and give comments.

Excelent! We'll need people to test the game that aren't familiar with it, to test difficulty and such. Also, someone's gotta say what's "cool" and what isn't! Glad to hear that we can run our game by you, and glad to see all the participation!

quick question: how do I expand this pallet? I pointed to it, and I'm looking for that thing that you would normally find in the corner to expand it, like in MS Paint for example. I looked through all my tools and options along the top bar with no luck. I'm sure there's some trick I'm missing.

Edited by D~N, 03 July 2008 - 10:41 AM.

[CID Farwin]

Oh! Please, don't feel like I'm limiting you to what I wrote. happy.gif I wrote that because you seemed familiar with the software, considering you helped me get it running. Also, general assistance is just what you said yourself: "don't think that I'm limited to just software help...but I'm not sure what I can help with" As in, you'll be helping with many different things, we just don't know yet! mkay?

Fair enough.

quick question: how do I expand this pallet? I pointed to it, and I'm looking for that thing that you would normally find in the corner to expand it, like in MS Paint for example. I looked through all my tools and options along the top bar with no luck. I'm sure there's some trick I'm missing.

Alright, you want to make the map bigger, yes? In the white box at the bottom left corner of the screen, right click on the map you're working on, and select map properties.

There's many good things there you should look at while you have it open, too.

[D~N]

Ah yes, I see it now. So, 500 by 500 should be enough for now, ja? I know there will be some way, but I'm just asking now anyway - when I run out of space on one map, I just move on to another and connect them somehow right? Like
@> if touch bottom edge of map001 then enter map002
How's that for psuedo-code? =P

[Hana-Nezumi]

If I could, I'd like help with things like towns, the insides of houses, and minor characters. I'm thinking... lots of colorful, hospitable characters; people and places that you'll actually *want* to save.

[CID Farwin]

Ah yes, I see it now. So, 500 by 500 should be enough for now, ja? I know there will be some way, but I'm just asking now anyway - when I run out of space on one map, I just move on to another and connect them somehow right? Like
@> if touch bottom edge of map001 then enter map002
How's that for psuedo-code? =P

That's the gist of it, yes.

[Tseb]

@> if touch bottom edge of map001 then enter map002
How's that for psuedo-code? =P

You'll have to use an event (which it looks like your doing already with the @>) but either you'll have to make it obvious were a character goes to the next map (like fencing the maps outside edge except were the character exits from) or you'll have to write the same event over all the edges of the map (which may lead to sever decrease in processing) Either one will work but with a 500x500 map you may want to just make it obvious were they exit from. Generaly it's a good idea to keep the events at or under 100. You might be able to make a global event and stick it in a house somewere that would let you do a conditional loop were if a character enters a new map but I don't know if you would be able to do that.

Terms:

Global event=an event that takes place over the whole map rather than just part of it. I don't know exactly why it's different from a regular event but they are some how

Mappers= people that design maps i.e. towns, churches, mazes. Toast and i can help with that stuff or anyone else that has the program.

Events= just in case you haven't found them (not to insult your intelligence) events do just about everything in the RPG from NPCs to scripting a conversation. you can add a graphic to them (like for an NPC) or leave them invisible (like finding something in a bookself)

Edited by Tseb, 03 July 2008 - 02:30 PM.

[Nameless_Joe]

Need someone to assist with monster/enemy design? I'm also interested in that.

[Showsni]

I don't want to promise help, in case I'm unable to commit later... But if you need a proofreader/editor, I can probably read your script over and point out all the spelling mistakes. I'll keep an eye on the thread, anyway.

[D~N]

If I could, I'd like help with things like towns, the insides of houses, and minor characters. I'm thinking... lots of colorful, hospitable characters; people and places that you'll actually *want* to save.

Excelent! Do you have the program? If you do not, download it! I'm working on a town right now, but obviously there will be many towns. If I give you a certain project now, would you like to tackle it right away? How does making just a generic town sound to you? Just have fun and go crazy for now, and I'll see howit turns out and if it fits what I needed it for. Obviously I have an overworld sketched out on paper, and as expected there are many generic "towns" with no specific features as of yet. So you can seriously just have fun and make a town as bright and colorful as you'd like! Also, a big thumbs-up to making memorable characters that you want to save! I approve *stamps with the D~N stamp of approval*

You'll have to use an event (which it looks like your doing already with the @>) but either you'll have to make it obvious were a character goes to the next map (like fencing the maps outside edge except were the character exits from) or you'll have to write the same event over all the edges of the map (which may lead to sever decrease in processing) Either one will work but with a 500x500 map you may want to just make it obvious were they exit from. Generaly it's a good idea to keep the events at or under 100. You might be able to make a global event and stick it in a house somewere that would let you do a conditional loop were if a character enters a new map but I don't know if you would be able to do that.

Terms: [...snip...]

Ah, I see. So, I've got a small map going, and I have a house. I'll need to use an event to allow the character to enter the house right? This particular house faces east. Since you cant really see the door, I put a patch of dirt in front of where the door would normally go. So to enter the house, how should I code the event? Not pseudo-code this time, I mean for real. If I gave you this fake-code:
@>If walk left on this location, enter house001; else nothing.
Could you guide me in the right direction to creating real code? Also, I don't have the house made yet, but I can still write it in the code, yes? As long as I name it whatever I put in the code (in this case house001) or whatever, right?

Need someone to assist with monster/enemy design? I'm also interested in that.

Sprites or sketches? But whatever you choose, of course you're absolutely welcome to! In fact, I am grateful that you did! And you're not limited to one or the other, you can do both and more if you'd like!

I don't want to promise help, in case I'm unable to commit later... But if you need a proofreader/editor, I can probably read your script over and point out all the spelling mistakes. I'll keep an eye on the thread, anyway.

Ah, why thank you for you offer! I'd be delighted to have you on the team, whenever you are avaliable. It's much appreciated.

A question to the admins: If this project picks up enough speed, could we have it stickied, perhaps in the Showcase section if that is prefered over the Commons? That'd be pretty cool! Of course, I'd understand if this wasn't sticky-worthy. Just thought I'd ask.

Edited by D~N, 04 July 2008 - 10:16 PM.

[Hana-Nezumi]

If I could, I'd like help with things like towns, the insides of houses, and minor characters. I'm thinking... lots of colorful, hospitable characters; people and places that you'll actually *want* to save.

Excelent! Do you have the program? If you do not, download it! I'm working on a town right now, but obviously there will be many towns. If I give you a certain project now, would you like to tackle it right away? How does making just a generic town sound to you? Just have fun and go crazy for now, and I'll see howit turns out and if it fits what I needed it for. Obviously I have an overworld sketched out on paper, and as expected there are many generic "towns" with now specific features as of yet. So you can seriously just have fun and make a town as bright and colorful as you'd like! Also, a big thumbs-up to making memorable characters that you want to save! I apporve *stamps with the D~N stamp of approval*

Yeah, I have it, and I'm ready to start. I can go ahead and do a generic town, but can you give me an idea of the natural boundaries I have to work with? For example: whether the town is at base of a mountain, by a body of water, or at the edge of a forest makes a big difference on its layout.

Edited by enchantedtoast, 04 July 2008 - 10:52 PM.

[D~N]

Aha, this is quite true. At the moment I myself am working on a town at the edge of a forest. There are many towns to choose from, each next to a different location. I'm generally working from west to east, so to start I've got one at the base of a mountain, and another at the edge of a large lake. You may take your pick. The moutains are to the north (also slightly westward) of the city, and the lake is southwest of the town. One thing I'd like to note is that there is a well in the town next to the lake, so that's really my only specific detail at the moment. Any other questions, feel free to ask! And, with that, you can start whenever you feel you are ready.

I've got many other towns in the ol' noodle here. Some that stand out are; an entirely underground city, a city near a swampish river delta, and a town hidden within a forest. Others include a generic castle town, two more generic towns whose locations aren't really that exciting, and an abandoned town. There will be, of course, more to come. And these are just the human civilzations. Like Zelda, I hope to have other races each with their own respective territories. Likewise, there will be plenty of towns and locations to develop. I look forward to them all!

[Tseb]

Hey, I'll up load some screenshots of the coding you'll need. Do you want me to work on some towns, dungeons, anything else? If you need help with scripting events let me know I've been playing around with them [img]http://forums.legendsalliance.com/public/ALOT.png[/img].

Here are 2 ways to do the doors. the first one makes the character enter whenever they touch the event. The second one makes the character enter only if they walk into the space facing the exit/entrance. The second one cleans up characters randomly entering a building by accident, but if the character enters the space not facing the door they have to walk out and face the door then enter again. You can also make the event a "action button event" which would fix the above problems but the character would have to hit the action button (Space,Enter) to get in.


Lemme know if you need anything else.

Attached Files

•  Door_Script.bmp   1.74MB   5 downloads
•  Door_Script2.bmp   1.69MB   4 downloads

[D~N]

Okay, I can certainly benefit from that! Thanks!

So, if I have this, could you tell me what's wrong? I think I started making stuff up halfway through. I would like to give the player a choice (they might accidentally face left on that space) so I tried to get fancy (at least by my standards, considering I know nothing). I playtested and as of now the space does absolutely nothing, and no event occurs. What must I change?

Also, as a side question, can you invert tiles, like swap their right with their left. I ask this because, well, I'll show you why for now and you can see for yourself.

[Hana-Nezumi]

Alright, I've started on the town by the lake!

Okay, I can certainly benefit from that! Thanks!

So, if I have this, could you tell me what's wrong? I think I started making stuff up halfway through. I would like to give the player a choice (they might accidentally face left on that space) so I tried to get fancy (at least by my standards, considering I know nothing). I playtested and as of now the space does absolutely nothing, and no event occurs. What must I change?

Also, as a side question, can you invert tiles, like swap their right with their left. I ask this because, well, I'll show you why for now and you can see for yourself.

What I would do is make the door itself an action button event. That way the player has to be in front of the door AND facing it AND press the button. There isn't really a need for extra message boxes with choices because someone wasn't facing the right way. o.o;

Edited by enchantedtoast, 05 July 2008 - 02:38 PM.

[Tseb]

Toast has some good points (I' redoing my doors to use action buttons i think).

As to D~N. That event is an action button event of you want them to go off when they touch it use the player touch trigger (I'll upload stuff to show you what i mean) other wise try hittting the space or enter keys when your character is facing the right way.

If you export the tyles to say GIMP adobe or some other image processor you can invert it and then reimport it to your resource section. But I don't know what else you could do unless you put your window at such an angle that they would only need to go one way (like next to yourleft most wall)

That help?

Attached Files

•  screengrab1sc5.png   376.92K   7 downloads

[Showsni]

Well, make sure you all do the same thing! It would be really confusing for a player if the doors in one town open when you walk into them, and all the doors in another town need you to press spacebar. Though if different people work on different towns, they should end up with different feels to each other, which will be nice.
Is there some kind of rough worldmap?

[D~N]

Good call showsni. This code will be used for entering all houses, except on the bottom, as Tseb pointed out, the action button trigger should be switched to the player touch trigger. It seems to work well, and eliminates the possibility that the door can not be seen, such as when a house's door faces north or any direction other than south. This way, the question box comes up, notifying that a) there's a door here, and b) gives them the opportunity to chose not to go in. Hitting an action button might become a guessing game for houses that have doors facing north, east, or west.

However, Showsni's theory that different towns could have different 'feels' is interesting. If you feel that your method of door opening is ideal, by all means use it, and when it is incorporated into the project we'll have an outside player test and see which is preferred.

Another question, Tseb: could you guide me through this exporting proccess please? I feel so foolish, asking for help on what might be the simplest of tasks, but I have few other options. Pfft, as if I'd go out of my way to learn on my own! *sarcasm, I'm actually reading up on the program a little bit each day*

As a side note, I'm taking a poll on how people spell Pizazz. I thought it was Pizaz for the longest time, but google suggested Isearch for pizazz instead. And I've even seen Pizzazz or Pizzaz. Is there really a set rule for how to spell this darn word?

Edited by D~N, 05 July 2008 - 10:11 PM.

[Ken the Wandering Soul]

I have started work on a dungeon, one which involves the rival being there reciently or at the moment. Hopefully it will turn out well.

[D~N]

Ooooho! Awesome! That was the one I was most excited for. Now, I hope you're not too far, because for that dungeon I had planned on being the "desert dungeon" like very sand-themed and whatnot. However, that "theme" hadn't been set in stone, so don't fret if you started with a different tileset. Also, because I was most enthusiastic about this recently-or-at-the-moment dungeon, I'd like to be a little involved with this particular one, at least. Just keep me up to date. Don't feel limited on your creativity, but I just want to see how the thing unfolds and offer insight on how I guessed it would work, because I'm so excited for this particular dungeon!

[Tseb]

Can I suggest either the fire cave tileset or the water cave tileset for the dungeon they have a great feel graphicaly, but hey your doing it use what ever.

D~N. Exporting and importing (takes awhile to get used to). To do what you want to do you'll have to do several things.

1. export the tileset in question. Do this by going to "tools" on your top bar, then to material base, then go down to graphics/tilesets. Start previewing then till you find the one you want then hit export. It should be available to any graphics program you use but if it isn't just change the extension to match your graphics program.

2. you'll need to make a copy.

3. take the first copy and cut everything out of it except the tile you need, then flip/invert it however you need

4. cut that image (the inverted tile)

5. open your second copy of the tileset, find an extra white tile, and paste your inverted tile into the white space then save it.

then you'll have to import that as a new tileset basicly doing the same steps as you used to export except you hit the import button (I don't mean to insult your intelligence I just make my tuts as specific and informative as I can)

Your imported tileset will have a red button next to it when you go to use it. Don't worry about it that's just how it shows imported files.

I think that is what you'll need to do to get what you want. I haven't tried this. Let me know if you need screen shots to help you find stuff or if it doesn't work.

are you gonna let us know if you want us to work on something or do you want us to just work on wahtever and post it when we finish, cause I can definately do some towns.

Also if you guys do jumping puzzles I have a script for that.

Lemme know if you need anything else.

are you gonna post anything else about the storyline or is that gonna be worked out as you go?

[SL the Pyro]

Damn, I wish I had seen this before.

I'm not much good a coding, but I'm an awesome spriter if I do say so myself. All I need is a reference to work with (and if possible a drawing you can show me, can be a quickie done in MSPaint if you want) and if possible an estimated size, and I can do some sprites for you.

Edited by Shadow_Link, 06 July 2008 - 10:19 AM.

[Tseb]

Chars all use a 4x4 template for movement(they have the character repeated in different stances 16 times)wich is 127x191 pixels. Icons are like 24x24 pixels Usualy, but you can use bigger if you want. I think the tiles are 24x24. so if you make say a book for a table it would have to fit into a 24x24 .bmp or .Png

Templates are like so.

Attached Files

•  001_Fighter01.Bmp   8.04K   6 downloads

Edited by Tseb, 06 July 2008 - 10:59 AM.

[D~N]

By today or tomorrow I'll try and upload as many sketches I had of the overworld. Also, I'm starting dungeon sketches and even town sketches today, so expect them soon. My overwolrd sketches are very rough and by no means complete (I have many blank areas just waiting for ideas) so I'll need help filling in some places. Also, I'll ask this question to everybody - should I really do a cloud/heavenly city? It was suggested by a friend, but I think it's too clichéd. What do you guys think?

I'll finish this reply after I get a chance to test out exporting and whatnot. Sounds straighforward enough, I should be able to handle it. Thanks for the walkthrough. Also, glad to have you on the team ShadowLink! I'll get you some sketches soon, but for now you can fiddle around with random civillians if you'd like. But being as talented as you are, I want to see if you can handle the main character and villian! I'll edit this post later with more details.

[Tseb]

Heaven and cloud cities area bit cliched. But if it fits into your story do it. For instance the game I'm working on mostly takes place in dreams so I'll likely end up using it a couple of time depending on the person dreaming. were if your doing say a modern day game it wouldn't fit very well. Since your doing it about an ancient civilization with good tech then it would fit if they had a flying city around somewhere.

[CID Farwin]

Hm now that I've thought about it, I could probably help you with some custom Tilesets(I've done a pretty nice Temple of Time, if I do say so myself, for one of my own RPGs) like your problem with the light from the window, and maybe some spriting, too, I'd just also need some concept art.

And yes, the floating city is terribly cliched, but like Tseb said, it could work with your ancient civilization.

[D~N]

Well, exporting did precisely what I needed to be done and more! My first house looks splendid now, at least I think so.

It's too late to run my noisy scanner today, so tomorrow I will scan pictures for sprite people. As for the question about more storyline, well, I haven't gotten that far exactly. Perhaps we can work on that right now? Keeping the story centered around what I've got so far, what should I do as far as sub-plots or what ever I might need to keep the game moving?

That jumping script will be immensely useful. One item that is found in this game will be similar to Zelda's Roc's feather, as in, from the moment you find this item and on, you have the ability to jump. Not sure what item it will be yet, but all I know is that jumping puzzles will come into play eventually. Thanks for bringing that point up.

I might not do a cloud city, but i thought about it, and I think I'll do a city that's incredibly high up. Here's one part of the game that, while it will be tricky to accomplish, will be very very cool. It will probably involve all sorts of cut scenes. Here's what I have so far. After the 6th dungeon (a graveyard themed dungeon, or so I think) you will meet up with your rival right as you exit. He intended to enter for himself, but you did the dirty work for him. He ambushes you and steals the gear fragment you just claimed. You persue him as he flees the scene. He heads for a town that he feels safe in; the underground town. He jumps in an elevetor powered by, you guessed it, gears. You persue him and take the next elevator down. When the doors open, you realize you're among the scum of the world. Too bad for you, your rival holds a high position in this slum of a city. When the elevator doors open, you are greeted by a mass of guards. "Seize him!" Your rival shouts. The orders are swift, and you are taken to jail. You obviously must escape the cell and the city using stealth for this portion of the game. I haven't decided if you'll reclaim what was stolen or not, but that will be decided later. Once you escape, you take the elevator, but you see there are three settings - undergrond, ground, and sky. You in your curiosity press sky, and wind up in a city that is made of metal high above the ground below. This way, I still get to have a cool city in the sky, but I avoid the clichéd 'cloud/heavenly' city. I mean, there will be clouds at such high altitudes, but it's not gunna be one big fluffy city. I think t's a neat idea. How it supports itself in the air, I'm not sure. I'm actually contemplating really long pillars that you see as you traverse the overworld. Until that point in the game you'd obviously have no idea what they did, but once you're there you'd realize that they supported an entire city right above you. Does it sound good, or might this be too strange for some people?

Edit: forgot to mention, it'd be pillars OR my other idea was giant propellors that in real life would never support such weight, but who cares.

Edited by D~N, 06 July 2008 - 09:58 PM.

[Nameless_Joe]

I'm having a spot of trouble with the RPG Maker. Whenever I place a tile onto the map, be it a tree, bush, etc., the white background behind the tile also shows up on the map. Here is a picture to help show what I'm describing:



What am I doing wrong? Does this have something to do layering? I assume layer one is how the game will appear when being played???

[Ken the Wandering Soul]

Actually, the problem you are facing is the reason the game has layers. All three layers appear in the game, but the layers overlap each other. The white areas are the the area of transparency for the layers. The solution is simple--just take those tiles with all the ugly white and put it on the second layer. It will look wierd as you are designing the map, but if you go into the play-test mode you will see that it looks normal.