What kind of art? What kind of future? What kind of engine?

[SwordPlay]

UPDATED. Now it can progress automatically. Next is to add some functions for jumping around different slice collections. And a way to make stat checks.

I wrote a script, the main purpose of which is to display children of a select slice sequentially.

This mimics textboxes, but being slice based can be adapted to any resolution and display any kind of slices (obviously)

It (progressively) navigates the children of a select slice with the lookup code "select"

If the current index has a child called "skip" it will automatically progress after waiting a number of ticks equal to extra data 0 of skip

Each child in the index, when navigated to, can call a textbox (which advances automatically) and jump to e.g. another select slice in another slice collection.

The next step is to figure out conditional branching.
edit: extra data 1 is used for tag to check. Negative value means if the tag is off (I think. untested)

Code: Select all

plotscript, slice chainer, arg, begin
variable(
select, 
selindx, cuindx
selindxdat0, selindxdat1, selindxdat2, 
skip, check, jump, control
skip0, skip1, skip2,
check1, check2, check0,
jump0, jump1, jump2,
control0, control1, control2,
press)

suspend player
suspend NPCs
variable(hold)
hold:=load slice collection (arg)

WHILE(true)DO(


	select:=lookup slice (sli:select, hold)
	selindx:=get select slice index(select)
	cuindx:=slice child (select, selindx)
## this is the textbox to use. it advances automatically
	selindxdat0:=get slice extra (cuindx,0)
IF(selindxdat0>0)THEN(show textbox(selindxdat0), advance textbox)

## this is a tag check
	selindxdat1:=get slice extra (cuindx,1)
## this allows to end the chain, and can use the tag check

	selindxdat2:=get slice extra (cuindx,2)
	IF(skip:=lookupslice(sli:skip,hold))THEN(
	skip0:=get slice extra (skip,0)
	## how many ticks to wait.
	skip1:=get slice extra (skip,1)
	skip2:=get slice extra (skip,2)
	)
	IF(check:=lookupslice(sli:check,hold))THEN(
	check0:=get slice extra (check,0)
	check1:=get slice extra (check,1)
	check2:=get slice extra (check,2)
	)
	IF(jump:=lookupslice(sli:jump,hold))THEN(
	jump0:=get slice extra (jump,0)
	jump1:=get slice extra (jump,1)
	jump2:=get slice extra (jump,2)
	)
	IF(control:=lookupslice(sli:control,hold))THEN(
	control0:=get slice extra (control,0)
	control1:=get slice extra (control,1)
	control2:=get slice extra (control,2)
	)
IF(skip)THEN(wait(skip0),free slice(cuindx),continue)
ELSE(wait(18))



## compare the children of the current index of select against types/codes
## skip
## full check


## wait for key. control.
IF&#40;skip<>first child&#40;cuindx&#41;&#41;THEN&#40;&#41;
ELSE&#40;
press&#58;=wait for key&#40;anykey&#41;

IF&#40;control<>first child&#40;cuindx&#41;&#41;THEN&#40;&#41;
ELSE&#40;
	IF&#40;press&#58;=left key&&cuindx<>first child&#40;select&#41;&#41;THEN&#40;set select slice index &#40;select, selindx--1&#41;,continue&#41;
	IF&#40;press&#58;=right key&&cuindx<>last child&#40;select&#41;&#41;THEN&#40;set select slice index &#40;select, selindx+1&#41;,continue&#41;
&#41;
&#41;

##THEN&#40;wait for key&#40;anykey&#41;, exit script&#41;

## 0 shows a textbox. 1... 2 starts a new conversation

## show textbox based on extra data of the current slice in the select's index


## change NPC ID based on the extra data 1
## IF&#40;selindxdat1>0&#41;THEN&#40;change NPC ID&#40;NPC, selindxdat1&#41;&#41;




IF&#40;
sign &#40;selindxdat1&#41;<0
&#41;
THEN&#40;
	IF&#40;check tag&#40;selindxdat1&#41;==false&#41;
	THEN&#40;
		IF&#40;selindxdat2>0&#41;
		THEN&#40;free slice &#40;hold&#41;, slice chainer&#40;selindxdat2&#41;, break, break&#41;
		ELSEIF&#40;selindxdat2<0&#41;
		THEN&#40;free slice &#40;hold&#41;, resume player, resume NPCs , break, break&#41;
	&#41;
&#41;
ELSEIF&#40;sign &#40;selindxdat1&#41;>0&#41;
	THEN&#40;
		IF&#40;check tag&#40;selindxdat1&#41;==true&#41;THEN&#40;
		IF&#40;selindxdat2>0&#41;THEN&#40;free slice &#40;hold&#41;, slice chainer&#40;selindxdat2&#41;, break, break&#41;
		ELSEIF&#40;selindxdat2<0&#41;
		THEN&#40;free slice &#40;hold&#41;, resume player, resume NPCs, break, break&#41;
	&#41; ## THEN
&#41;

	IF&#40;
		&#40;selindx&#41;== &#40;child count&#40;select&#41; -- 1&#41;&#41;
	THEN&#40;		
		free slice &#40;hold&#41;, 
		resume player, 
		resume NPCs, 
		break, break&#41;

	ELSE&#40;
IF&#40;cuindx<>control&#41;THEN&#40;
##set select slice index &#40;select, selindx+1&#41;
free slice&#40;cuindx&#41;
&#41;&#41;

wait
&#41; ## do

end

[SwordPlay]

here you can see a targetting menu.
it ranks targets by distance, and uses wallchecking.
still working on it.

[sheamkennedy]

@VapourSword:
That looks amazing. This would be perfect for a tactics style game.

[woahpotato]

pew pew pew

[SwordPlay]

I think I've got the system down now.
I attach slices to NPCs to track their targeting data.

edit: maybe I can wrangle this into a line-of-sight kind of thing

some explanation. it compares screen position of npc slices. you could use it with e.g. pixel movement. I think. I need to separate the scripts

[SwordPlay]

I'm working on a game for the Meta Game Jam @ Itch.Io
It is a highly abstract game with 4 regions, and hopefully lots of scripting and art. I might dig up some free music assets.

[SwordPlay]

i'm working on this game. there's about 10 days left in the contest.
Here's what it's about:

- the game is set in a heaven on the precipice of a void.
- the big white bird is Wahe and she is an almighty being.
- she escapes, and you have to go after her. silly bird.
- you have to go explore the void I guess.

- there are moons and a sun. don't make them angry. they are main characters
- particle clouds are floating around. they'll probably be useful somehow.

- the map is quite big. about 1500 tiles. i want to have randomly generated stuff

- i plan to have landscapes created through slices
- there's going to be fancy slice stuff generated on the fly as player walks through areas or near NPCs. animation effects, and that kinda stuff

- it's a meta game. it's supposed to be bad. kinda.
- the art is meant to be an homage to "programmer art"
- there's no music or sounds yet
- the dialogue is awful. but hopefully in an ironic way.
- it's all still up in the air... i might change it drastically

[TMC]

The titlescreen that you showed off was really intriguing!
I don't really get how this game fits the 'meta' theme, but you didn't really explain that bit, if you have much idea at all.
A map which is dynamic ("fancy slice stuff generated on the fly") could be a really nice aesthetic. But if you also want random map generation (if I understood you correctly), I advise giving that very low priority, it just doesn't make any sense for games that aren't replayable.
Good luck!

[SwordPlay]

Yeah, I guess there's no sense in generating everything for 1 playthrough.
Maybe if I come back to this project later on and finish it off?

There's quite a lot of categories in the contest

Code: Select all

Breaks the Fourth Wall
About Games Development
About Gaming Culture
Genre Deconstruction
Game Mechanic Deconstruction (e.g. abusive games, game mechanic minimalism, game mechanic exaggeration)
Specific Game Parody
External Interaction (e.g. gamification, ARGs, use of external websites / files / locations / resources)

So hopefully I will try to hit as many of them dead on the head as possible

[SwordPlay]

i'm worried that there will be slow down if there are too many slices on-screen.
but it seems to work fine so far (3500~ slices.... it couldn't handle 80000 slices though. I think.)

[TMC]

Yes, I would be concerned too. Total number of slices, number of slices onscreen, and number of slices you're manipulating with scripting each tick, are all important (they contribute in different ways to CPU time). And different amounts would be reasonable for each of those. Guessing here: approximately 100,000, 1000, 500.

[Bob the Hamster]

I love the duck Sprite :)

The fast walking speed looks good too. That is important for exploring a large space

[TMC]

OK, I know the game is really unfinished, but I won't comment on planned features; I don't know how it's going to work out or what you should do.

Some of the graphics (those which are actually finished) are quite nice. But I find that those ones which look most like normal trees are really grainy; when you have several together they blend together in a single mess (like a forest, so maybe that's the effect you wanted), but the style sort of clashes with the other graphics.

How many of these keys described in the the game page are debug keys? I guess that the teleport key is actually a debug key? If so, you should start the game at that place, where the help information is.

Better set that menu with the "How do I play?", etc, options to close the textbox when closing; it's really annoying to close it.

How come there's just a stationary monster standing near the teleport-destination area? A test?
Right now, the monsters aren't really any kind of challenge; they're so slow.

You refer to the middle of the map in the help text, but I had no idea where that was until I used the Q key to measure it. It would be a lot simpler to say "where you are now" instead.

Hmm, setting the window size to 100% seems quite bad on linux. The window is larger than the available screenspace, because the engine doesn't take into account the size the taskbar takes up. Probably better to stick to 90% window size. (That, and sadly another engine bug: on dual monitors it's larger than a single monitor...)

[SwordPlay]

I adjusted the game based on various peoples feedback.
Hopefully it looks and plays better!

[SwordPlay]

So I'm working on a game (or 2) for the HOTOHR. I have no idea what to expect since I've never worked this seriously on a project.
I want to post updates and things, but it's only in the design phase.