Legacy roadmap

Huh? I would figure that if you can read from a sprite, you can read from the screen. You just find out what sprite is on top at the pixel you want to read, get its x/y, and check the corresponding pixel in the sprite. Set a flag to 'ignore transparent' (probably by default) and then it loops back to the next highest sprite over that pixel.

And writing pixels to sprites is pretty much definitely not going to happen, right? I seem to remember something from a long time ago where it was discussed.

Brilliant! im still relativly new to this and may have never thought of that on my own. Thx

i vote for that, even if we only get it from sprites.

What is the usecase for reading pixels from the screen anyway? The only one I can think of is to script your own screen transitions, to replace fades. Which is something I'd love to support. I think it will probably be best to add a command which takes a screenshot and turns it into a sprite slice which you can read pixels from in the normal (to-be-implemented) way.



But how do you handle text, ellipses, map layers, rectangles, box border sprites? Not to mention anything that isn't currently drawn using slices (menus), slice clipping, or rotation, scaling and alpha transparency when those are added.

On the other hand, if you just want to handle sprite slices, you could just script exactly the procedure you described using the sliceatpixel command, once you can read pixels from sprites. A lot of the time it isn't practical to build things into the engine when they can be scripted instead: it requires documentation, testing, and worrying about edge cases.



It definitely is going to happen*.

* Err... I mean, no promises

Mapping Update

No, Legacy is not dead. I've been focusing on building maps for now. Basically creating the entire world for everything to take place. Also planning out all the NPCs that will populate the world, so I know just how big each map/village needs to be, how many buildings I need, how many maps I need, etc... This is a crypt I've been working on. The library needs a lot of work, and a lot of dirt/bones/crap needs to be added so that everything doesn't look so blatantly bland.




Click for full view.

---

Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

Using Editor version wip 20170527 gfx_sdl+fb music_sdl

Your world graphics remind me a LOT of Secret of Evermore, specifically the medieval section. Very dirty-pretty.

Mapping Update

The first map (plot-wise) is pretty much almost done. For those who played the HotOHR version of Legacy, this is the first map that the player wakes up in. It's been completely redesigned to be larger, more organized, and a bit more interesting.

It's pretty much finished for now, just have to finish up the details, shadows, and clutter. As I'm only working on maps for now (finishing all the maps that will ever be used in the game) there won't be any updates any time soon showing the guards patrolling through the rooms.



After this map, I'm going to be doing some ship-mapping. I might use my old ship graphics, but I'm thinking of redrawing them to conform with the newer graphics I've got. Ah well, we'll see.

---

Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

Using Editor version wip 20170527 gfx_sdl+fb music_sdl

Neat, looks pretty good. You know, being a map, showing where the doors link.

---

dOn'T MiNd mE! i'M jUsT CoNtAgIoUs!!!
Play Orbs CCG: http://orbsccg.com/r/4r6x

Wow, pretty big map. I could easily get lost without a map. And the whole image pieced together by hand :O

Well, all my previous map updates have been pieced together by hand =p

Oh, if only there were some sort of easy way to select a menu item, "export entire map to bmp" or something, ho-hum. But alas.


Hehe, but nah, in all seriousness, it's not that difficult to piece it together. Doesn't take more than ten minutes for a map of this size. And it's nor really that big, some of the other dungeons I'm working on are easily twice the size of this map, particularly the ones in caves or in sewers.

I'm thinking of implementing a "go this way" script or something, like a flashing arrow perhaps if the the player seems lost. But then again, that kinda seems a bit cheap. Perhaps easy/hard difficulty levels where one could help you navigate? Or I could just make it more immersive by having your companions telling you where to go.

---

Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

Using Editor version wip 20170527 gfx_sdl+fb music_sdl

Yes I've been planning to add a bmp export function for a while; several people have requested it.

Flashing arrows on-screen sounds pretty unappealing to me.

Yeah, I was a bit on the fence with the arrows thing. But I'm still trying to figure out a way to prevent players from getting lost without giving them access to the entire map.

Or perhaps I should just go old school and say, "You're lost in the dungeon? Well, tough luck for you then."

---

Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

Using Editor version wip 20170527 gfx_sdl+fb music_sdl

I have a suggestion for the problem of getting lost.

Have an old woman in some room near the entrance/exit of the castle who knows all about the castle If you talk to her she will tell you where the important things are located. She also has a small dog, (or a cat, or a pet rat)

When you are in the room with her, the dog just sits stupidly at her feet and yaps, but when you are wandering around the castle, the dog appears near whatever doorway leads back to the old woman.

When you get close to the dog, it runs a way, through the door.

That would be quite a lot of scripting, because you need to script the dog for one door in almost every room, but I think the effect would be pretty cool, and much less obtrusive than a flashing arrow.

In fact, I like that idea so much, I might even do something similar in Ixnekolan in Wandering Hamster. Seems like a good way to deal with how annoyingly huge that place is :)

That's actually a pretty good idea, I think I'll do something like that.


Hmm... Didn't Seiken Densetsu 3 have something like that but with wisps? Or am I thinking of a different game?

---

Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

Using Editor version wip 20170527 gfx_sdl+fb music_sdl

Mapping Update

The crypts of the Temple of the Divines. While this area is technically late-game, I felt like making a nice crypt type map. Unlike previous maps, which were rather symmetrical in design, I tried to go in a different direction with this one. I wanted to make it feel as if areas were just added on as they were needed rather than carefully planned out. Lore-wise, this area is one of the oldest on the continent. I've tried to reflect that by adding dirt and grime everywhere. I'm eventually going to add spiderwebs (once I learn how to draw good spiderwebs). Also, some areas aren't properly grimed up, so those are going to be revisited.



Another thing I plan to improve is the diversity of the map. Right now, everything seems a bit bland. I'm going to add more detail, like rubbish, discarded papers/scrolls/books, perhaps a dead body (skeleton perhaps?) or two, a few old weapons, etc... As the temple was overrun, it would make a sort of sense that the defenders would retreat to the crypts to make a last stand of sorts. I'm going to add more detail to reflect that. Hopefully, it'll make for a more interesting map.


EDIT: I'm wondering if the map is a bit too small for a temple which was supposed to have lasted for a few hundred years or so. But making it any larger might be a bit much for the player. Hmm, decisions, decisions...

---

Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

Using Editor version wip 20170527 gfx_sdl+fb music_sdl

So, I'm working on ships again. Here's an early WIP sans rigging, cannon, decorations, etc...



I redid my old ship (while using some of the old parts as placeholders, i.e. the long pokey thingy at the front. So sue me, I don't know nautical terms) primarily because I found that I needed bigger ships with more space for the characters to move around. I'm really ticked about the prow. I'd like to figure out how to get it to tile properly (not the rounded blob that's being used now) so that I can create ships of any size without being constrained to the existing prow graphics. More experimentation needed...

I'm going to be using the dithered transparency for the sails from before as the code already works fine.

Any suggestions for improvement are most welcome.

---

Being from the third world, I reserve the right to speak in the third person.

Using Editor version wip 20170527 gfx_sdl+fb music_sdl