Too bad I can't test this! That looks really cool! You could add some variety to the trees, but overall, this is really nice!
Well, outer does need people to test it on different OSs and versions. I'm the Win7 tester. If you have something different, ask him.
jcgter777 wrote:
Too bad I can't test this! That looks really cool! You could add some variety to the trees, but overall, this is really nice!

Thanks! I will most likely be adding another tree sprite for the next update.

mets11rap wrote:
Well, outer does need people to test it on different OSs and versions. I'm the Win7 tester. If you have something different, ask him.

Right, I do need a few testers. I have a few for Linux, although I would be happy with more. I have Windows 10, so that base is covered, and if someone had a Mac and tested, I'd appreciate it a lot!
I have taken a long break and got pretty sidetracked. I recently fully implemented dialogue boxes, and now there are two types: infinitely available, and one-time-read boxes. One-time-read boxes reset when you save & quit out of the map-pack, but I probably won't leave it like that. All you have to do to see the dialogue is stand inside the script's bounding box and press Interact (default Space) and you get a nice text box!

However, I have been working on something a little better. I'm making a webpage for my game! So far it's extremely basic and a little bit void of interesting things. I'm adding screenshots, information, my personally-authored map-packs, and more. If you want to see what it looks like so far, I've got it right here: https://123outerme.github.io/Gateway-to-Legend/
Gateway to Legend gains an important feature today: Programmable bosses! Bosses have now been implemented, which exist as script objects. They can be virtually any size (although largest I recommend is 4x4 or maybe 5x5), use any tiles from your tileset, and move in any pattern!
Boss movement is programmable, so you can define any way that the boss moves! An easy one would be back and forth, which is: [(6,0) for 20 frames / (-6,0) for 20 frames]. Although in the script it would look like this: (6|0|20|-6|0|20)
For this video I defined a 2x2 boss that moves in a square. Bosses don't have to be square too, they can be any rectangular shape.



In the video, I also show off the new menu "click" sound, the dialogue script, the hurt/healing field script (which was where I got damaged randomly in the ice world), and older features as well.

Here's what my progress list looks like now:

* Script editor; "scripts" are lines of data that dictate where and when certain things like warping, etc. happen, so a easy-to-use editor for myself and other map-pack creators is coming! (just needs one more feature to be fully functional)
* More sound effects
* Music
* Currency and the currency store, as well as potentially Exp
* Local saves holding more data so that some sort of permanent state is kept between rooms
* More engine work
* Probably redoing some of my 48x48 tiles


Here's my goals for the long term:

* Release a beta version with a complete toolchain to give everyone a head-start on making maps
* Finish the main map-pack
* Release the finished version alongside a few more map-packs (secret projects!)
Keep up the good work on knocking out the bugs and features! I continue to like the aesthetic of this game, since it's so calculator-like (and to save you having to re-answer the question, I went back and refreshed my memory of the discussion of whether you'd back-port this to the TI-84 Plus CE later). I'm also impressed that you're keeping extensibility in mind as you create the game, as long as it doesn't back you into any corners, as I've seen with certain Iambians who shall remain nameless. Are sound effects extensible as well?
KermMartian wrote:
Keep up the good work on knocking out the bugs and features! I continue to like the aesthetic of this game, since it's so calculator-like (and to save you having to re-answer the question, I went back and refreshed my memory of the discussion of whether you'd back-port this to the TI-84 Plus CE later). I'm also impressed that you're keeping extensibility in mind as you create the game, as long as it doesn't back you into any corners, as I've seen with certain Iambians who shall remain nameless. Are sound effects extensible as well?

Thanks! You can really see the roots of my learning that much, huh? I'm glad you like the aesthetic and I'll continue to improve it! Sound effects are not extensible, unfortunately. You can always mod the game and change the sounds, but there are so many sound files that have to be referenced, someone making a map pack would have to input a lot of data, if it were to be another feature of the map-pack system.
I've been working on this still, even though I've been rather silent. What's here isn't even a big update, but I've been preparing the engine for several more big things. After those, almost all work on the engine is finished, and then off to map-pack making, which should hopefully be easy after all the work I did on the toolchain program.


I did a lot of "grease" work, aka lots of engine work for things you won't directly see. I've been working to ensure the Linux/GNU version actually runs, reorganizing some code I made before this project, and more stuff. Here, I actually get to show it off. I've added text input, so instead of having to input various data in the command line, you no longer need that. Another thing I did was revamp the Gateway transition slightly and added a boss into transition.
I have released the Pre-Release 1 build publicly! This includes the base game, what I have completed of the toolchain, and one map-pack! See it for yourself:



Download here:
https://github.com/123outerme/Gateway-to-Legend/releases/tag/v4.1.18
That looks really cool! I wonder if it's possible to port it to a website. Like a github.io website. That would make it accessible to many more people. I would want to play it, but I use mac, and there isn't a download for mac. I really want to play it! Smile
jcgter777 wrote:
That looks really cool! I wonder if it's possible to port it to a website. Like a github.io website. That would make it accessible to many more people. I would want to play it, but I use mac, and there isn't a download for mac. i really want to play it! Smile


That's a lot of extra work. This is written in an entirely different language, and there is a way to manually build it on Mac, IIRC.
jcgter777 wrote:
That looks really cool! I wonder if it's possible to port it to a website. Like a github.io website. That would make it accessible to many more people. I would want to play it, but I use mac, and there isn't a download for mac. i really want to play it! Smile

I haven't had the chance to try yet, but as long as you can get `gcc` and the SDL libraries onto Mac, you should be able to build your own version with the GatewayToLegendbin.zip download. I would love to hear if you can get it working!

Otherwise, an online version is technically possible, but I have no experience in Flash, little in Javascript, and generally no idea how the map-pack feature would be ported over. If someone is willing to work with me on that, I would love to make that happen!

Edit: The demo link above sends you to the April Fools' Day demo, which is a fully-functioning demo, but only had an April Fools' teaser map-pack. To get the real demo, download here: https://github.com/123outerme/Gateway-to-Legend/releases/tag/v4.3.18a
Thanks to my friend, I have released a new update video for Gateway to Legend! I've added music! The main theme plays upon launching the game. There will be 3 overworld pieces, at least some provided by _iPhoenix_ . The boss theme plays upon triggering a boss. We also have plans for more tracks than just those!
As well, I added some new graphics, including particle effects, a splash screen, and more. Finally, I merged the former toolchain program into the main executable.

Watch here:



As it turns out, I'm getting scarily close to releasing, without realizing! I've completed most of the main engine work. Music is chugging along nicely, sound effects are nearly complete, the toolchain is almost done, and game design work is almost finished! I have to finish creating some map-packs, and then I should be extremely close to being finished!
I've added smooth scrolling, after much request for it. After two RPGs that handle only screen-sized maps, I have finally added a much-requested feature!



As well, I have added _iPhoenix_ 's overworld music, fully integrated the map-pack toolchain, and more!

Music is almost done. I need one more track. The engine is almost done. I need to implement one more type of script, fix any bugs, and a few more things. The toolchain is almost done. I need to implement a few more features and allow two more script types to be fully edited. The only facet of the game I have any substantial amount of work left for is map-packs. Again, I have lagged behind making maps. Not because it's hard, but just because every time I go to make maps, I remember a feature that I wanted to implement before making the map Razz
Cool game, 123outerme. Keep up the good work! Very Happy
TI84pceBasicPro wrote:
Cool game, 123outerme. Keep up the good work! Very Happy

Thanks! I will, for sure.

While I'm doing background work on the engine (mainly adding features to the Toolchain and adding the last script into the game), I have been working on my related side-project, the GtL webpage. Meant to be a source of information, documentation, and a collection of links, I had a bright idea: why not host map-packs online? So, I set out to working with Firebase to implement this. As I didn't post anything about this along the way, I'll instead recap and explain some Discord announcements and posts I sent to my GtL Discord. Click the link to join if you're interested!

Quote:
So my project has started to take shape, and I've made this website: https://gtlmappacks.firebaseapp.com/index.html
It adds rudimentary map-pack upload and download support. It will support a download counter as well as a like button. Once I actually release Gateway, I imagine this will be used a lot more, but for now we have this
My first announcement of the site. It had just launched with bare-bones upload/download support. It had a dummy download and like counter. No way to post map-packs with a certain type, description, or even see the profile picture of the person who uploaded it.

Quote:
I've added the second-to-last script type editor, the one for the BossActions script! Now you can fully script bosses. Related to that, I changed the format of the BossActions script so now, it uses coordinates instead of X/Y velocities. I also revamped text input (and more noticeably, the Change FPS setting) to add just numerical input!

Today, I got back to working on the actual game and added editing to BossActions. BossActions has been functional for months, but I've been putting off creating the editor, since there were so many parts to it. I had to have the player choose what tiles the boss is, how much HP, and then figure out a way to have them define a variable amount of points for the boss to move to. However, I finally put that task to bed. Just one more script to create, and then that should be totally done! Also, I added an input method just for numbers, so you can't try to break the system by inputting text in a number-only input.

Quote:
Since I'm feeling productive today, I also updated the map-pack webpage. Now, the Download (now View) button for each listing on the Download Map-Packs page redirects to the View page for each map-pack, where you can read about it, vote on it, and download it. I think I will add more such as an actual forum, as well
===============================================================================
Ok last update (hopefully not for a while like it seems to be). I finally added the ability to like map-packs! The server keeps track of if you have liked or not, and will add or subtract a like depending on which you have done, when you press like. I'm gonna go ahead and style buttons tomorrow, as well as adding more information on the View page, such as likes and downloads. Perhaps I'll make a Comments field as well

I just updated the map-pack webpage to add a lot more to the Download and View pages, as well as making some things auto-load. I still haven't decided what I want on the Index of the page. Most likely a search function and featured map-packs. As you see, I am also debating adding a comments field to map-pack uploads, and adding a full forum! I think it's within my scope, although hopefully it won't become super popular, or my Firebase plan won't be able to handle the traffic!


I've added all script types! The one showed off most prominently (and probably a little too much for the final version of that map-pack) is the Animation script! Once the user walks into the trigger area, a sprite will move around onscreen in a pre-determined fashion. According to the map-pack creator, the sprite can initiate a text box after it's done moving, stay onscreen until another is activated, and more.

As well, this marks the first public beta release. I have gone ahead and added it to my Github releases here:
https://github.com/123outerme/Gateway-to-Legend/releases/tag/0.9.0b

This script type also has its editor implemented, meaning all map-pack features planned are now implemented! Some other things are not finished yet, though. As to be expected from a beta release. However, I have more done than I actually have realized up until now, so I'm looking forward to releasing, hopefully within the next couple of months. It could be sooner, or possibly later, though.
Nice work, 123outerme! You've definitely dedicated a lot of time to this project, and I'm excited to try it!
As for the animated sprites, I assume you can't have too many or it will make the game slower? However this is a computer game, so perhaps not.
Michael2_3B wrote:
Nice work, 123outerme! You've definitely dedicated a lot of time to this project, and I'm excited to try it!
As for the animated sprites, I assume you can't have too many or it will make the game slower? However this is a computer game, so perhaps not.

Thanks! I have put a lot of work into getting here, so I'm glad it's looking better with every update!
As for the animations, only one sprite runs at a time as of now, although I'll work more to make it so any reasonable number of animations can occur. I still get quite the large FPS when the limiter is removed, so I think there's enough room for a lot of moving sprites.
The music changes are incredibly abrupt. Maybe you could display some form of portal animation with a sound effect between or fade out one track while fading in another.

It's coming along incredibly well, congratulations!

Edit; Heh, just noticed that you cut the video *right* before my favorite part in the music. Razz
  
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