How do I create a rad intro cut scene for a tile-based game?

So I am nearing completion of my game (2 years in the making!) and I think it's time to add an introductory cut scene at the start, which would lay out the basic story line. I have never done anything cinematic like this before (with construct) and I was looking for some basic advice before I venture out into the unknown.

My game is tile based with retro type graphics. In my head, it'll start with a pan down the 'final boss level' (separate layout) stopping with the big baddie boss man center stage surrounded by his minions. He then says a line or two of dialogue (already have a crappy dialogue system in place) before his little minions move off screen. The next scene or two would probably repeat a similar format.

This leads me to have some questions:

- Would all of this be best done with timed events or the timeline?

- Does the fact that its tile based change anything?

- How do I pan the screen down across a layout? (usually I have the screen follow the player)

And

- Any useful links or tuts would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks all

Congratulations on your progress! The feeling must be great when you release it into the world :)

1) Timeline is the best pick. After its introduction there are not so many reasons now to create your own custom event-based trigger scenes.

2) In terms of coding not much difference, but surely tile-based games have their own approach to cutscenes. I suggest to look into other games of similar genre to see what looks good and what doesn't.

3) You should have invisible "camera" sprite to which game would switch on trigger scene & follow that instead of player. You could use then timeline on your camera object to move it.

Thank you so much for this detailed response! I will do as you have said. I may report back if I run into any issues.