JMan, if your player weapon handling routines are as robust as the FFC routines, most of this slowdown can be eliminated. Not completely - some of the weapons using area effects like the Leo Lazer need to stay as FFCs - but many other weapons can be modified to just use link weapons.
Zodiac, the Side-Quest
Some interesting stuff: I redid the fight in 718 after realizing that the renderer + playing in big mode would probably cause some problems as far as slowdown went. In 718 at 320x240 res windowed, the Taurus boss averaged out at about 55-60 FPS, but dropped down to as low as 45-50 once he started shooting fire. It was obviously about as bad at the end of the fight.
With some changes to the renderer + a big speed change in the scripting engine, at 320x240 the entire boss goes at full speed, not counting a few hiccups because of my computer. Hopefully this will improve scripted quests across the board.
Some how I beat the new Taurus boss,it is so strong!!:sick:
But the program often ends when useing a repair kit.
My CPU is PentiumⅢ 644Mhz...
I would like to fight the new Libra boss,but I don't know cheat code.
So I've revamped the weapon system to take advantage of Jman's new lweapon manipulation. Here's what I'm thinking now. The arsenal is a series of overlapping weapons that are good for different situations. My goal is to simplify (that is, fewer weapons) and make each weapon stand out for different things.
1. Primary
Primary weapons don't cost anything to use. They include the short range Pulse Hammer and Disentigrator, and the Zodiac weapons.
2. Sidearm
The sidearm fires energy bullets that cost energy. The sidearm has three attributes (handled by global variable): Power, Speed, and Energy. Throughout the game, you'll find choose-only-one rooms where you can elect to upgrade one of the three. The effect of upgrading Power and Speed is obvious. As these two upgrade, however, the energy cost for the sidearm increases. Upgrading Energy reduces the cost. There will also be Rapid Fire, and 8-Direction upgrades.
3. Missiles
Missiles run on ammunition. They are single-shot weapons that deal great damage. There are three levels of missiles. The first level is just a powerful arrow-type projectile. The second level explodes on contact. The third level explodes as well, but in a massive explosion.
4. Bombs
Bombs drop and explode. Just two levels of bomb, regular and remote, handled using ZScript's normal commands. However, I'd eventually like bombs to act like they do in Metroid, bumping the player up a little bit if they're caught in the explosion. Unlimited ammunition.
5. Discharge
Discharge attack uses up energy AND missile ammunition. Amount used increases with level. Explosive discharges of lots of energy at once. The labyrinth equivilant to the ship's bomb attacks. First level: Black Hole Bomb, deals damage in a wide area around the player. Second level: Super Nova, deals more damage to a wider area. Third level: Quasar Attack, deals continious damage to all on-screen enemies over a few seconds of time.
The rest of the usable items will be relegated to the Tools section. (Torch, Plasma Key, Grappling Beam, Scanner, Life Tank, Energy Tank).
Once they fix the item script random crashing bug, I'll release a version that lets you check out the new weapon system.
Cool, the upgrades to the standard gun sound really interesting! I can't wait for that bug to be fixed. I wonder what Rapid Fire combined with really high speed will do to most bosses, (prepares for Pheagon with Rapid Fire.)
Din wrote:Cool, the upgrades to the standard gun sound really interesting! I can't wait for that bug to be fixed. I wonder what Rapid Fire combined with really high speed will do to most bosses, (prepares for Pheagon with Rapid Fire.)
Not really. With custom ffc weapons, the enemy gets damaged as long as it touches the ffc, regardless of the engine's invulnerability period. But the Sidearm weapon fires arrow-type projectiles. That means even enemies that normally have no invulnerability period (Libra and Pieces bosses, for instance) will be breifly invulnerable to Sidearm attacks. So you can't spam them to death like you're thinking.
You can, of course, spam them with certain Zodiac weapons. Hence your primary is going to usually be better for bosses.
And, since you can only carry one type of Zodiac weapon at a time, the idea is you can balance your arsenal. Going to be relying on Dash attack, which takes energy? Better carry a general purpose Zoidac weapon so you don't use up your energy. Don't need to dash? Maybe get one of the short-range powerhouse Zodiac weapons and rely on the Sidearm for distance attacks.
Ooh, looks good. I was curious to see how you were going to slightly balance the Zodiac weapons out. Well, you know me; More weapons = more better, hehe you can't argue with that logic! I'm waiting for it.
Oh, also what about a dash upgrade? So you can refill your energy from dashing faster. Or a lv2 dash that uses up less energy so you can dash for a bit longer? That would be my two cents. I noticed in the side area's that apart from destroying everything in your path as fast as possible, the dash is a good conservative tactic to employ, especially in some of your 'trap' screens.
There is a level 2 dash that moves faster and takes MORE energy than the level 1 dash. It also lets you punch right through walls that are exactly one tile thick.
And there is an Energy Dynamo (magic ring) that significantly boosts your energy refill. Might put a lower level Dynamo somewhere, too. But the idea is that Energy should be your endurance. Not a real limit on your capabilities, but just enough to stop you from spamming something constantly.
Good news! The bug has just been fixed. Now all we need to do is wait for a new version to test out that this bug is fixed. Hope it comes soon.
Okay. They fixed the bugs, so here's the newest quest file.
New things to check out:
- New Taurus boss in the corridors, but you have to cheat to get there.
- Pieces boss (Tentaplus, remember him?) now complete. Bottom right corner of Pieces.
- Revamped weapons (still working on the missiles)
Uses Beta 798
Your jump script seems kind of messy and makes it much more difficult to move around than before. Are you still tweaking it?
I'll probably have to. I noticed the change in behavior, too. Somewhere between beta 158 and the current one, something in the engine changed. Now jumping is sort of wonky, and the height isn't static. And the jump force needed to be greater to get the same height.
I'll be tinkering with that off and on as I go. Probably work on slowing the jump down a little bit at the same height to give the player more control.
Another version. Starts you in Taurus. See if you can explore all of this place using the three now basically working items: Freeze Ray, Missile Launcher, and Grapple Beam.
Freeze Ray works as you expect. A few bugs remain - the ice blocks don't go away between screens, and some enemies inexplicably die when they're frozen.
Missile Launcher works great. There are some problems in how the launcher interacts with the player's bombs I have to address, but that's minor.
Grapple Beam grabs onto the metal rings you'll find here and there.
Still uses Beta 798.
Another day, another update.
Finished the passive subscreen, complete with relative health and energy meters. Why relative? Because they stay the same size and display your proportion of health or energy rather than getting bigger each time you increase your maximum health or energy. Also added little encouraging messages when you pick up energy, missile, or health containers.
Uses Beta 798.
Update ahoy.
The portrait system is working now. Right now the character only reacts to damage and health level, but she'll be more expressive as updates continue. Portraits are animated, but they'll likely get more detailed as I go.
Before taking damage, the Guardian is happy.
She reacts to damage with a variety of expressions. I think some or all of these need to be redrawn, though. Don't like how they came out.
She gets progressively less happy as she loses health.
Still uses 798.
Wow, this is pretty darn amazing. This is the first time we've had a portrait of someone who reacts to damage. I'll try it now.
Added a list of implented items and descriptions to the opening post.
EDIT - I'm thinking of adding other "consumable" items so there is a reason to visit shops in the game on a regular basis. Consumables so far implemented include: Heart Tanks and Overdrive Adapater.
Some other consumables I'm mulling over include:
Escape Portal - Takes you back to the last zone transition.
Return Portal - Works like Faroye's Wind, but returns the player to any very specific location. I'm thinking this might be nice to deal with tricky jumps where, if you fail, you end up having to backtrack around the whole map.
Deflector Adapter - For a limited period of time after use, nudges enemies away from the player.
Rotary Shield Adapter - For a limited period of time after use, two shields rotate around the character damaging enemies they touch.
Any other ideas?
Hahaha, that's sick. Really got to be the best subscreen I've seen yet. Did you draw all that!? That's crazy. ENERGY UP: You're not going to believe this, but I was about a coin flip from doing the same thing with; CHAIN++. But ugh, who wants to keep track of x,y coords for dead enemies...
Anyways, Weapon ideas?
Best I can offer you are the ones I had in that quest that got killed, which if I remember were;
Mana Shield
Teleport
Wall of Force- The rotary adapter you mentioned, same thing. I loved that thing, be careful though It's pretty overpowered if you make the damage too high.
Tornado-Sucks in and drags enemies.
Statue-Your Ice beam is a damn sight better already though.
Shield-gives the player the blue ring for a short time.
Flame tower-fired three ffcs at once that traveled through enemies.
Explosion-2x2 ffc short range that uhh...explodes.
Rainbow Rays- Used drawlines to damage enemies within radius of the ffc.
Homing missles! 😃
...Well that's all I got at the moment..
All your ideas sound great, I say make em. 😊 ..But you already knew I'd say that.
BTW: What goes in the right part of the subscreen?
Gleeok wrote:Hahaha, that's sick. Really got to be the best subscreen I've seen yet. Did you draw all that!?
There is exactly one ripped tile in the game (the little ice cube enemies in Libra flying level. They just wouldn't look right). Everything else is mouse-drawn. If I had a tablet, the artwork would look alot better than it does.
Gleeok wrote:
Anyways, Weapon ideas?
Well, no, not weapons. If I make a bunch of consumable weapons, they'll all be interchangable. There are already tons of different weapons. I'm thinking more along the lines of consumables that take a particular hassle in the game and make it easier. Like a Warp Gate to make missing a long jump less of a problem. Basically, whatever is incredibly frustrating for a player, I'd like there to be a consumable item that the player can collect, if they want, to make it easier.
Gleeok wrote:BTW: What goes in the right part of the subscreen?
You mean the other box on the right side of the passive subscreen? Whoever the Guardian is talking to / fighting / interacting with. Boss portraits, for example.
C-Dawg wrote:
Well, no, not weapons. If I make a bunch of consumable weapons, they'll all be interchangable. There are already tons of different weapons. I'm thinking more along the lines of consumables that take a particular hassle in the game and make it easier. Like a Warp Gate to make missing a long jump less of a problem. Basically, whatever is incredibly frustrating for a player, I'd like there to be a consumable item that the player can collect, if they want, to make it easier.
Ah, I see. Well I remember some spots where climbing was very unpleasant, and falling down while knowing you're supposed to be going upwards is a mega bummer. Though I never played it in a linear manner as it might appear in the finished version, constantly backtracking and climbing up tricky areas could get redundant. This might get easier if you're still fine tuning the jump script though. I don't know, perhaps some checkpoints, or warp points become available after certain conditions are met, or these in consumable form like you mentioned.
Again though, jeez, awesome subscreen... I can't even figure out where to put the life bar on mine. :laughing:
Gleeok wrote:
Again though, jeez, awesome subscreen... I can't even figure out where to put the life bar on mine. :laughing:
I've seen prettier subscreens. But making the life and energy bars relative instead of absolute really freed up alot of wasted space.
Hey, tired of me yet?
Anyway, I've been playing the game through, and I've found a bug which makes the player stuck. In the room in upper Aquarius with the guy who tells you to shoot the walls and ceilings, if you shoot the floor and get the Energy Max Up, you can't go back up. The alien talks, which freezes your movements, and because you just jumped out of the floor, you get sent back down instantly.
Also, a question out of the blue, is the "Snake Zone" going to be used? I noticed it was in there for awhile...
Din wrote:Hey, tired of me yet?Anyway, I've been playing the game through, and I've found a bug which makes the player stuck. In the room in upper Aquarius with the guy who tells you to shoot the walls and ceilings, if you shoot the floor and get the Energy Max Up, you can't go back up. The alien talks, which freezes your movements, and because you just jumped out of the floor, you get sent back down instantly.
I'm not worried about that stuff. Eventually all of the talking will be scripted and replaced with hacking into computer terminals, so there won't be a pause when you enter the screen.
But there are undoubtedly many little bugs. Like I said before, I plan on getting the quest essentially done, then going into a closed testing period while I add the plot to the game. Those who want can help test. The goal here is that the finished product will not be as buggy as others I could mention. *cough* DOY *cough*
Din wrote:
Also, a question out of the blue, is the "Snake Zone" going to be used? I noticed it was in there for awhile...
Something like it will be. Later in the game Leo will become inaccessible via the normal door from Aries and you'll have to get to it through a shaft from another Zone. That shaft is what the Snake Zone will probably be used for. For now, it was just fun to make Snake Man tiles.
But there are undoubtedly many little bugs. Like I said before, I plan on getting the quest essentially done, then going into a closed testing period while I add the plot to the game. Those who want can help test. The goal here is that the finished product will not be as buggy as others I could mention. *cough* DOY *cough*
I'm still trying to figure out how you missed half the bugs in DOY. That was one of my more annoying projects in recent memory...
What is DOY?
Joe123 wrote:What is DOY?
How can I best describe it...
Ground-breaking and sloppy? I think that sums it up pretty well.
I think that doesn't explain it at all =P
Update.
Added a bunch of bug fixes you won't notice, some item re-arrangement you will, and a big'ol boss, the Virgo master. Go left from the start to fight him.
Uses Beta 798.
Joe123 wrote:I think that doesn't explain it at all =P
History lesson:
Somewhere around 2004 (?) C-Dawg released his first completed quest, Dreams of Yesterday, a seemingly typical Zelda romp. It was notable in that, being built in one of the later 1.92 betas (152), it took advantage of new ZC features to create a "different" type of Zelda quest. Custom bosses, puzzle dungeons, a quest progression that more mimicked recent Zelda games rather than Z1, and a huge overarching story. It was a bit ahead of its time.
Unfortunately, due to either rushed beta testing or something else I'm not aware of, it was also some of the buggiest stuff I've ever seen in hindsight. Due to a bug involving layered secret flags when loading 152 quests in 163, the current public beta of the time, people needed the 152 player to even play the quest, and from there, lots of design issues and bugs made some areas difficult to get through or just plain inaccessible, requiring you to F6->Continue. Even worse, this is about where the dreaded continue bug started to plague all sorts of quests, which would then require users to Save and quit. For DOY, this meant that you had to start all the way at the first village and travel to where you need to be all over again. Depending on your current task at hand, this can range from just annoying to incredibly frustrating.
Speaking of frustration, DOY was also known for its difficulty. No. nothing unfair like having 10 Death Knights running around with only your sword to fight them :P (although there is one portion in a certain crystallized cavern that might as well have been that...), but a great deal of incredibly difficult puzzles and combat areas, with the penalty usually being warped back to some arbitrary area near the beginning of the dungeon. And trust me, later on the dungeons get hard and looooooong. The fact that I finished it is a wonder, as the last level alone *should* be enough to make any sane man start eating upholstery.
After a while of the quest sitting there and others trying to play it and getting frustrated by the bugs, especially when said people didn't realize that the game wasn't completable with any beta but 152, I asked C-Dawg if I could edit the quest myself to make it compatible with the latest beta (182 at the time IIRC) and fix all the major bugs. It turned out to be much much more difficult than I expected, and to this day I'm pretty sure I missed a few major bugs. It can be found here if you're interested. Should be playable in the latest betas, at least last time I checked.
What's funny is that this still stands as his only completed quest. Now if only Sabotage Dragoon can be finished somehow 😞
C-Dawg wrote:Ground-breaking and sloppy?
My favourite kind of earth-element attack spell?