Hello.
I'm currently developing a game called Action Gamemaster. It's basically a cross-over between Metroid's exploration and upgrades system, Megaman X's action and controls with enough space to fit in my own design.Here's a link where you can download it:
http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=42098.15
Play it for a couple of seconds, and you'll say the same things every playtester does. "I'm lost." "How does this make any sense?" "Was I here a moment ago or is it a new area?" "Wait, is this the end of the game? Where's the cutscenes" NO IT'S NOT THE END OF THE GAME, YOU JUST GOT LOST.
So, basically, people get lost. That's why they need a map. Buut the problem is, I have multiple layout for every level. And that means I have to somehow program a map that would include all the areas the player has traversed. One way to do it is to make one giant layout for everything and then it will be easier, but there's 4 main problems for that:
1. It's gonna be slow. The game's slow enough in browser or in node webkit's full screen, and having a giant 1 layout is not going to be healthy.
2. Too much work putting the layouts together.
3. I have to place camera markers that would stop the camera at every door in the giant layout so that the player can't see what's beyond the door before they can enter it, so that the player would remember some places in a "the place where the camera stopped, probably a new area" way. Also I might screw up with the camera markers, I'm not that good with C2, that's the main thing
4. In Metroid, enemies respawned when you go out of an area and then go back, and that's good, because you don't go through an empty landscape the whole time, AND if you are low on missiles or health and you have a boss battle soon, you can grind a little bit to get back to full power.
So, how do I make Metroid square maps for multiple layouts? How do I do it at all?
Also, another question about layouts.
Soon, when I figure stuff out, I'll make a Multiplayer local mode, because exploring a 2D world with my friends is something I always wanted to do. This would be super easy with 1 layout, but, well, we have all the "1 layout system" problems laid out. The system would be is that all players will share the same upgrades, missiles and MAXIMUM hp (so basically they use almost the same variables), so I don't really need to program a lot more events: Just make a second Hero sprite and give it a multiplayer. But with multiple layouts, 2 players have to be in the same layout, which is not fun. "I wanna go to the weird rocks that are probably destroyed by the bombs we picked up earlier, while you can go to that space you can crouch under that we missed before." is a conversations you can't really have when every Hero has to be in the same layout the whole time. So, is there any way for 2 players to be in different layouts?