Rhindon's Forum Posts

  • Ashley - Also, anything else to do with Christianity in this thread - or any thread - would be simply related to any game project. I wouldn't try to start up a sermon. :) For example, I might QUICKLY relate, "I'm working on a game about the various battles ancient Israel had with other nations during the Old Testament times." And then I'd leave it at that and discuss the game elements, itself.

  • Ashley - I totally understand. I was definitely NOT intending to get into any kind of debate or specific discussion about Christianity, itself. I would have directed that to another communication forum entirely (to private messaging at the VERY least). If this thread started getting into a discussion/debate about the tenants and credibility of my faith, I would have called a halt to it.

    Thank you, too, for being understanding of my perspective, too. I'm sorry if this caused you any unnecessary grief via the complaints.

  • — - It's all good. Even teaching well requires some learning. Was actually one of my favorite classes in Bible college...just learning how people learn in different ways and relating to each type.

  • RandomExile - I would argue that Christianity is not man-made, just man-recorded (in terms of the Bible as a physical book), but yeah...the human factor obviously gets in the way since mankind is so flawed. LOL So yes, it goes to heck in a sense.

    And I don't know that I could have said it better regarding Jesus' core principles. I plan to go even DEEPER, which is gonna take some very SKILLFUL use of story telling and logic and...lots of stuff. But those core principles will certainly serve as a welcome mat for my games. Very well said, sir!

  • RandomExile - Yeah, that's precisely why I will go for more subtle presentations. I don't want to water down the message at all, lest I distort the truth. (Even IF the Biblical message turned out to be false, I'd lose even more credibility by distorting the message! LOL So silly...) Anyway, you're very correct.

    CS Lewis did that very thing - though much less allegory, as he dubbed the Narnia stories as "supposals" - and especially through "Prince Caspian". (See a book called "The Soul of Prince Caspian" in which the author cracks open a MASSIVE Easter Egg hidden in the very pages of a children's book.)

    Because Christianity often carries with it such a bad stigma, I want to present the topics and themes with gentleness and care, rather than seeming like all I want to do is get on the pulpit. I think gaming can do that nicely, eh? ;)

  • nickkname - My apologies. I didn't mean to imply that you did say that. I guess bad wording on my part. Sorry about that. I just meant to state what my plans were. I even remember games from back in the 80s/90s for the NES that were based on Moses and Joshua, Noah, and different stages in Jesus' life, as well. There was even a really decent Zelda-esque game called "Spiritual Warfare" that, while not being as highly polished, had some fairly solid gameplay. It had a high level of challenge, too. I want to bring games like that to the next level in terms of development...probably about TEN levels up. LOL

  • nickkname - Actually, that's my plan for my games: to make the Christian aspects subtle. I can't say I won't make any overtly Christian material, I aim to be creative in my presentation of such themes and messages.

    I haven't played Fable - I love the concept, though! - but it's disappointing that such an OPEN-ended game that allows you to take different paths in "life" apparently doesn't offer a balanced opinion about the Bible.

  • On specific keyboard input, I want to change the height or width of a sprite. The action with expression I use is:

    Object | Set width to Object.Width+10

    But even when I've increased the numerical value (I started with 1, then changed it to 10), I don't see any changes in the dimensions of the object. I tried including parentheses around Object.Width but with no success.

    Can someone tell me what I'm missing, please?

    UPDATE: Nevermind....*facepalm* I discovered that I had forgotten I had created variables to control the height and width, and they were being set into motion after my keyboard Events/Actions...overriding any input I gave.

  • ramones - Sir, your awesomeness never ceases to prevail. Thank you! In addition to some rearranging of other Events/Actions (I had some things nested that shouldn't have been), I got it all to work thanks to your suggestion.

    Know what the sad thing is? I actually wondered if that wasn't part of my issue (along with something else...I can't recall what). Go figure, eh?

    Thank you, again!

    (Here's the "finished" work: https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D6025908_4317202_6767676.)

  • .CAPX: https://www.sugarsync.com/pf/D6025908_4317202_6765580

    Yet another scenario that hopefully I won't lose anyone on while I explain the details in order to better clarify my dilemma...please hang tight; I'll try to make this concise.

    Wrangler provided a tutorial which I have amended previous Event instructions that I had to now follow after. C-7 has also provided help earlier so I'm calling him for some insight, too, if he wouldn't mind. ramones is always a great help. Anyone else who can identify my problem is welcome to chime in, of course. :)

    The gameplay is modeled after your traditional stealth-action, particularly with some "Metal Gear Solid" elements: Normal, Chase, Post-Chase/Caution statuses.

    I'm using three condition statuses to determine how the Enemies (object "CharEnemy") behave depending on their awareness of the Player (object "CharPlayer").

    PreChase

    (When I later get the Events set up,) the Enemies will follow preset patrols, which the Player will have to navigate around or distract with items (a feature not yet added). If the Player does not fall within the Enemy's line of sight (object "VisionCone") and no obstacles (the various wall objects) are in the way (determined by the "LOSobject" object which stretches between the Player and the Enemy instances), then the situation remains normal, or "PreChase". I do not have a group for these conditions as I want them to be readily available to test as conditions change.

    ChasePhase

    This group is activated when both the LineOfSight and IsPlayerInRange variables test True. To try to prevent Event/Action contradictions, I make sure that the LostChase group remains deactivated (or is otherwise turned off) to prevent the Enemy from randomly wandering around or that it doesn't get confused on how to compute the Pathfinding behavior.

    If during the chase, the Enemy loses sight of the Player somehow, the AlertState variable is set to 9, the LostChase group is activated, and the ChasePhase group is deactivated.

    LostChase

    The Enemy is now set to wander around randomly for about 18 seconds. During this time, it is my goal to allow the ChasePhase to be reactivated if the LineOfSight and IsPlayerInRange conditions become true again. If not, the Enemy (again, when I implement this feature later) will go back to its patrols like normal.

    Basically, the process should look something like this:

    PreChase -->> ChasePhase <<--->> LostChase

    ^-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

    As you can see in my comments throughout the Event sheet, I will also have it set to where the Pathfinding behavior for each instance will be on or off to save on the wear-n-tear on the CPU...at least, that's my intent. I'm wondering, too, if doing so actually affects ALL instances or just the one (as in, while using Pick or the For Each loop)...so if someone could clue me in if I'm mistaken about that.

    But, when you run the "Layout Level 1" layout, you'll see that the Enemies are awfully lethargic. I did have this working at one point...but apparently I "fixed" it too much. The Enemies don't respond to the test conditions; at best the LOSobject changes color as it should so I at least know that that much is working.

    Can anyone see what I'm missing?

    Thank you!

  • Ashley - I see what you mean, and I think you're right. It is harder, and I guess some of my trouble just stems from the fact that I have SO MUCH about C2 to learn. I guess what I'd really like to see is something along the lines of what jayderyu just described. A "highlight" of all associated objects/instances and command prompts. Maybe a kind of pop-up window on a "mouse over" deal... A QUICK LIST of sorts. Again, though, I imagine that would be much harder to implement, let alone describe clearly in concept. We'll make due. :)

  • Any suggestion to add SOME kind of visually related flow chart within C2 while using in-project images, etc, to "see" prior to any active preview how things are connected would be difficult, I'm sure (I can't even begin to describe how it MIGHT be described, let alone wonder if it COULD)...

    So, dreaming aside, could anyone recommend a flow chart program to aid in the C2 game development? The Event/Action visual instruction nodes is great, but it's not always easy to SEE how one thing is connected and affects another. Especially when you have option 1 / option 2 / option [#] that will take you all over the event sheet and layouts depending on the actual events that take place.

    (This may be in the wrong category, I realize, but it seemed related in a loose way...)

  • Jase00 - :) Thanks for the vote!

    Ashley - I suppose I can see that (barely, as I don't have the programming expertise like you do...but I understand).

    The work-around, though, I think will fit what I have in mind perfectly. I know of the !=...er, whatever you call that instruction (I can't remember), but I'm not used to using it. Thank you. :)

  • I'm sure there a work-around for what I have in mind, but is it possible to add a trigger that checks for the moment the value of a variable changes?

    For instance, in my stealth game, I may have my enemy chasing me. I have a variable that states "Is enemy chasing player?" - True.

    But there are times before and after where both are False. I want to test the moment the pursuit is lost.

    The reason in my example is because before pursuit, the chase condition is false, but I don't want the follow-up actions to take place BEFORE the chase has even started. I need a test that says THE MOMENT WHEN the value changes and pursuit has been lost.

    Does this seem like a viable option to add? Thanks. :)

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  • Whoooaaaa! :D Just the concept alone grabbed my attention!