Last time what I showed you was a picture of what I wanted to have happen. It does draw lines but those lines are meaningless since nothing is being written to map data. Now writing actually works and you can make new maps and all that. I just need to add two fairly simple things and it's all good.
I could have finished last night but I was busy celebrating my third anniversary and going over details of houses that we are looking at buying. Many women, when pregnant, get cravings for different foods. My wife seems to get cravings to play board games with me. So if I get enough time I can finish the Map Maker tonight. If not I'll finish it later.
After that I need to get back to my book for a little bit. I still need to rewrite chapter 2 so that I can have people read through it again.
-Califer
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Map Maker!
Here it is! The Map Maker works for the most part, and I've even got a picture to prove it! When making a map you choose an image to use then draw all over it. In the picture here I'm drawing a boundary along the edge of the sea, so that in-game you couldn't just walk on water. It's like 1000 times faster than how I was making it in Darkened Dreams 1!
You can also make different regions and locations. Regions are larger areas and hold different information for your reputation, how NPCs in the region react, as well as weather patterns. Locations can hold information about what kind of plants grow, what kind of creatures are randomly generated, and where NPCs go during the day. For example, an NPC with a farmer job would go to the farm that is just to the right of what you can see on the map there during the day, and return to his home at night.
Lastly, about the interesting thing that I ran into in Daggerfall that I mentioned last week. I had just found the NPC contact that I was looking for and finished my minor little quest. I thought I'd see if the innkeeper had any food that I wanted, but as soon as I talked to him, he accused me of stealing his amber. He then disappeared and a warrior came through the door to get me. I had been framed! It was difficult, since I was only a level 1 character, but I managed to beat the warrior and snagged his stuff. I was pretty hurt, but I thought it would be safe to try and track the guy that accused me down. Everyone seemed to think he was still in the inn that I had come from.
Eventually I went to the other inn in town to rent a room. That innkeeper called the guards on me but slipped me a note. I was too hurt to try and fight, but I managed to slip through and went to the house that was in the note. It was locked. I had no lock picking skills. I bashed the door down, getting the guards attention again, and talked to the guy who let me know that I had been framed by the leader of this town. He let me know where her stash was and where her house was.
I went to the house first. Unfortunately no one was there (I was in the mood for a fight . . . if I could survive it) but I did find a note that proved I was framed and also explicitly mentioned who I should take the note to. Found him easy enough and then I just had to go into a dungeon to find the amber and clear my name. It was all unexpected, and I had a blast doing it. Coyote at rampant games had a similar experience.
So what do you think? What if there were random quests that just jumped at you like that every once in a while? Would you feel it was interesting, or would you just groan and reload your last save?
-Califer
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Being taught a lesson
The lesson that I'm learning is to not let the readers of this blog know when I've got a grand plan for finishing something by a certain date. Last time I said I would have the map-maker finished by now, but because I said that I ran into all sorts of trouble. On Friday I worked a double shift. That left me tired for Saturday, and we also went house shopping. Then I realized that in order to do a really good job on my book the rewrite would take a lot longer than I thought. Then when I was just getting ready to get going again, Monday reared it's ugly head and I ended up working until 4:30 in the morning. I got Tuesday off but I was so tired I just managed to finish cleaning up chapter 1.
That's not to say that I didn't still get some work done on it! I managed to figure out all the drawing methods, though they're all going to change code-side once I get actual map data behind it all. Peter's working on a few buttons to help with making it all look nice, and I think that once I have the map data behind it all and am able to change the size of the area depending on the picture used for the map it should all be downhill from there.
On another note I started playing Shadow of the Colossus (Which was in Peter's top ten game list) and I've got to say, I'm really enjoying it. I've only killed two of them so far though. I've also started playing Daggerfall again. I get about 45 minutes a week with it. I need more free time!
Next time I want to talk about some stuff I found in Daggerfall that I think would make things more interesting in Darkened Dreams 2. Stay tuned!
-Califer
That's not to say that I didn't still get some work done on it! I managed to figure out all the drawing methods, though they're all going to change code-side once I get actual map data behind it all. Peter's working on a few buttons to help with making it all look nice, and I think that once I have the map data behind it all and am able to change the size of the area depending on the picture used for the map it should all be downhill from there.
On another note I started playing Shadow of the Colossus (Which was in Peter's top ten game list) and I've got to say, I'm really enjoying it. I've only killed two of them so far though. I've also started playing Daggerfall again. I get about 45 minutes a week with it. I need more free time!
Next time I want to talk about some stuff I found in Daggerfall that I think would make things more interesting in Darkened Dreams 2. Stay tuned!
-Califer
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Back on Track
Well, we're back at work. The flooding got cleared up and the building is safe to be in so we only lost two days. Every once in a while cleaning people come by to make it a nicer place to be in, but otherwise it's business as usual.
I've been slow about getting the map-maker going because I'm busy rewriting chapter 1 of my book into chapters 1, 2 and appendix A. Appendix A is almost finished, and chapters 1 and 2 shouldn't take too much longer. Then I'll have 3 chapters and an appendix finished! Yay!
As for the Map Maker, it is still being worked on! I've got it so the form is split up, it loads a map image by default, and you can draw on the image. Hopefully I can have it working by the next post. If I get it working I'll take a screenshot and show you guys.
-Califer
I've been slow about getting the map-maker going because I'm busy rewriting chapter 1 of my book into chapters 1, 2 and appendix A. Appendix A is almost finished, and chapters 1 and 2 shouldn't take too much longer. Then I'll have 3 chapters and an appendix finished! Yay!
As for the Map Maker, it is still being worked on! I've got it so the form is split up, it loads a map image by default, and you can draw on the image. Hopefully I can have it working by the next post. If I get it working I'll take a screenshot and show you guys.
-Califer
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Free time because of a flood
Well, I get today and tomorrow off of work because of flooding at the place I work at. I was one of the few people that was inside the building when it started (I get there early to exercise) so I got to check out the walls cracking right before my eyes and watch the water slowly try to take over the building.
This is only half a blessing, because odds are that when things get cleared up at work we'll need to work weekends to make up for the days that we weren't there. We still have milestones that we need to keep with the publishers!
But back on the Darkened Dreams side of things, I finished the item maker and have started on the map-maker. I got some code off of the internet showing me how to use the mouse to draw, so it should be easy to put in different boundaries on the map. This will be nice because when I put in a boundary that cannot be crossed it will be that way no matter which direction you are going. Players of the original Darkened Dreams may remember bugs where they could walk into the ocean but not walk back. That will be a non-issue now.
But before I really get cracking on the map-maker
Right after the map maker is finished, well, I'll probably work on chapter 3 and cleaning chapter 2. But right after THAT I'm going to get the game-maker save files working, get actual programming in the game, and get me walking around on the map that Fox got me.
-Califer
Crap, I left my DS charger at work. Guess my game time is limited this weekend!
This is only half a blessing, because odds are that when things get cleared up at work we'll need to work weekends to make up for the days that we weren't there. We still have milestones that we need to keep with the publishers!
But back on the Darkened Dreams side of things, I finished the item maker and have started on the map-maker. I got some code off of the internet showing me how to use the mouse to draw, so it should be easy to put in different boundaries on the map. This will be nice because when I put in a boundary that cannot be crossed it will be that way no matter which direction you are going. Players of the original Darkened Dreams may remember bugs where they could walk into the ocean but not walk back. That will be a non-issue now.
But before I really get cracking on the map-maker
Right after the map maker is finished, well, I'll probably work on chapter 3 and cleaning chapter 2. But right after THAT I'm going to get the game-maker save files working, get actual programming in the game, and get me walking around on the map that Fox got me.
-Califer
Crap, I left my DS charger at work. Guess my game time is limited this weekend!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Munchies and Bling
Almost done with the item maker! I'm currently working on the food, which will be followed up by armor and clothing.
The big question is . . . can armor and clothing co-exist?
The bonus of having clothing instead of armor is that it can hold more powerful enchantments than armor can. Common sense dictates that you can put on a chain mail shirt on top of a cloth shirt, but common sense also dictates that wearing an iron helm and a baseball cap is rather silly.
The two easiest scenarios are as follows . . .
1. Each armor and clothing use a location guide and each location can only have either a piece of armor or some clothing in it.
2. Each armor and clothing use a location guide and each location can have both a piece of armor and some clothing in it.
Either one spits in the face of common sense. This results in a Califer that fuddles around trying to find the best solution.
Darn me and my commitment to excellence!
-Califer
The big question is . . . can armor and clothing co-exist?
The bonus of having clothing instead of armor is that it can hold more powerful enchantments than armor can. Common sense dictates that you can put on a chain mail shirt on top of a cloth shirt, but common sense also dictates that wearing an iron helm and a baseball cap is rather silly.
The two easiest scenarios are as follows . . .
1. Each armor and clothing use a location guide and each location can only have either a piece of armor or some clothing in it.
2. Each armor and clothing use a location guide and each location can have both a piece of armor and some clothing in it.
Either one spits in the face of common sense. This results in a Califer that fuddles around trying to find the best solution.
Darn me and my commitment to excellence!
-Califer
Thursday, April 3, 2008
Ace of Base
Now I'm starting to actually program in details for things that can be crafted. For some games I imagine it doesn't take a lot. No matter how high your skill gets you can never make the item better. But not in Darkened Dreams 2! You'll be able to put points into what you are going to make the focus on then luck and skill helps determine the final product.
In order to make sure that we don't end up with beginning equipment being super-powerful and to make sure that high level equipment has some real benefits from a skilled crafter I need to make a 'base' for all things that can be created. The base is going to hold the max and min values, as well as hold onto the recipe.
So, the last tricky thing I need to do before programming in making recipes is loading that base information in for making regular items. Bases are not going to be actual items, but just guidelines for making items. Thus if you want to make an iron sword to put in a treasure chest in the game you should load up the iron sword base to make sure you're not making it stronger or weaker than it should be.
Meh, this post is a little programmer-oriented.
On a non-programming side (kind of) I'm going to shoot for finishing the item maker this week.
-Califer
In order to make sure that we don't end up with beginning equipment being super-powerful and to make sure that high level equipment has some real benefits from a skilled crafter I need to make a 'base' for all things that can be created. The base is going to hold the max and min values, as well as hold onto the recipe.
So, the last tricky thing I need to do before programming in making recipes is loading that base information in for making regular items. Bases are not going to be actual items, but just guidelines for making items. Thus if you want to make an iron sword to put in a treasure chest in the game you should load up the iron sword base to make sure you're not making it stronger or weaker than it should be.
Meh, this post is a little programmer-oriented.
On a non-programming side (kind of) I'm going to shoot for finishing the item maker this week.
-Califer
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