Bionicle Fighter: Broken Virtues

[Makuta of Time]

It would be nice to see a one month update. Since the last one was in December, and the latest was in February.

[Katuko]

For the record, I have also added that Keystone indicator to players and bots now, as well as an option in settings to make killed beings drop a few health refill orbs. You can call them Amana Volo or something if you feel like it.

[ShadowVezon]

For the record, I have also added that Keystone indicator to players and bots now, as well as an option in settings to make killed beings drop a few health refill orbs. You can call them Amana Volo or something if you feel like it.

 

Great, the indicator'll be very useful for trying to make the exo-pyro appear! The health refill orbs will also help when fighting the bots.

[Katuko]

Now I just need to toss out this update, so I can enjoy the indie game sale on Steam. :PEDIT: And here we go, update time!Download (47.63 MB ZIP)Screenshots: Changes (12.5):- Added basic katana under "Energy Siphon Sword". No power for this weapon yet.- Added Lightstone Rifle available as an old-styled Midak blaster. Fires a beam of light.- Kanohi Olmak now functional. Places an invisible portal that gets connected to the next one created. Once connected, the portals open and are fully visible. Any player or NPC who touches one portal gets teleported to the other. After this, the portals stay open for a few seconds before closing. A closing portal can kill or severly injure those caught in it. Portal placement is slower than standard teleporting, but has extreme range.- Made Disk Launcher functional. Fires a projectile similar to the Cordak, except non-explosive.- Added glowing orbs which refill health that are dropped when a being is killed. This feature can be toggled on and off in the settings menu.Bug fixes and engine tweaks:- Updated game control to only show respawn timer if needed, and to set the respawn time to 5 seconds if aspecific time is not set upon player death. This should fix the issue where players get stuck in respawn forever.- Buffed teleport aim speed and range.- Fixed Teleport lag if the button is repeatedly pressed while still in cooldown or out of EP.- Added hovering Keystone indicator to players that carry it.- Added female Toa sprites.- Fixed the boss spawn sound playing even if sound effects have been turned off by the user.

Edited March 23, 2013 by Katuko

[LockmanCapulet]

Sweet! I've been looking forward to the Olmak! Can't wait to try this new update!

[Makuta of Time]

Just downloaded the update. I going to unzip it and try it out.

[BULiK]

Wow. the screenshots for the new update look great! Right now, my life has been busy, so I haven't been able to sprite or anything, and doubt I can for a few weeks.

[Katuko]

Wow. the screenshots for the new update look great! Right now, my life has been busy, so I haven't been able to sprite or anything, and doubt I can for a few weeks.

No problem, Bulik. You were working on a roll animation, correct? I'll just do other sprites in the meantime, and I'm also not going to work much during this next week anyways. Big game sale. Edited March 23, 2013 by Katuko

[Makuta of Time]

Okay, the Katana(Siphon Weapon) is great, if your not getting pounded by a group of AI's. The Light Rifle is great, only from a distance. The Olmak, for me, is only good in Karda Nui. In the Ice base is good, but you have to watch your HP. The glowing orb HP is good and clever way to gain health from your kill, but if others are around, it's going to suck. I noticed the disks from the disk laucher, launch facing sideways, then face flat after two to three feet of travel.

 

Overall, the new updates are good.

[BULiK]

 

Wow. the screenshots for the new update look great! Right now, my life has been busy, so I haven't been able to sprite or anything, and doubt I can for a few weeks.

No problem, Bulik. You were working on a roll animation, correct? I'll just do other sprites in the meantime, and I'm also not going to work much during this next week anyways. Big game sale.

Yes, yes I was. Good luck.

[Meta-Mind]

The Olmak is at its best on either Karda Nui or Ta-Koro, where you can find a safe place and spam portals whenever you want, wherever you want. Those CPs don't know what hit them, muahahahah. It'll only get better when you can shoot projectiles through those things.Miscellaneous uses:-Put one portal in the middle of any battle with Toa involved, then place another one as high up as possible. Or possibly in lava/off a cliff.-Portal cut, enough said there-Use the portal view to watch a player-character battle going on, then once it's over drop the (usually near-dead) survivor into your safe zone and finish them off. This'll get better later, when you can snag the health pickups too.-If you sustain too much damage, just teleport to an unoccupied healing Suva nearby before warping straight back.-Use a knockback attack (like Fire's fireball or Stone's rock attack, or even the Earth dirt attack) to knock an enemy into a portal to somewhere deadly, or stun-lock them as the portal closes on top of them.-Drop enemies like Exo-Toa or a Rama swarm onto nearby CPUs just for fun.-Drop one lone CPU onto another - bonus points for saying "Let's You And Him Fight" as you do so. -Wait until a random CPU kills the Exo-Pyro, then teleport in right on top of the power-up.-When out traveling, always have a way to get out of danger, and either to your safe zone or a healing Suva.-Kill Exo-Toa in one hit with falling damage.-Abuse the CPUs' "target EVERYONE" policy to make a CPU fight anyone you want, anywhere you want.And there are more, of course. Including, once we get multiplayer, teleporting your Huna-wearing, Quake Breaker-using teammates right into the middle of the enemy-held Ice Base and killing everyone. :PSuggestion: since in-story the Lightstone Rifle is more of a "flashbang grenade"-type weapon, why not swap its function with the Midak Skyblaster? In the comics, the Skyblaster fired beams anyhow.

[Katuko]

Suggestion: since in-story the Lightstone Rifle is more of a "flashbang grenade"-type weapon, why not swap its function with the Midak Skyblaster? In the comics, the Skyblaster fired beams anyhow.

Because when I first made the thing it had beams, and I was told it was supposed to shoot spheres of light as per the Midak's set function and that the comics only added a trail for effect. Doesn't matter to me either way, I can just add it as a weapon setting later. The Lightstone Rifle is at least supposed to fire crystals, but I used the beam for now to make it a bit different from the Midak. Expect to see several versions of these weapons later on.

[Van Hohenheim]

okay, I've been playing around with it for about 2 hours and I can say you did a good job with the update. two bug reports are that (A) the Olmak is still listed as unavailable. the second is that when I cut myself off in my own portal, it counts as both a kill and a death. other than that, it works awesomeley. (cave Johnson voice) Strackkorotus, we're done here.

[The Legendary TNT]

Something interesting I noticed. If you play as the .Char that I posted a while back, except with an Olmak, the target for the portal goes all the way to the side of the map when you hit an arrow key. It's probably because of my stats, so it's no big deal; this is just a quirk I noticed. Oh yeah, it's really fun to transport the Exo Toa in the Codrex to the outside and have the two accidentally shoot each other when an NPC spawns.

[Katuko]

okay, I've been playing around with it for about 2 hours and I can say you did a good job with the update. two bug reports are that (A) the Olmak is still listed as unavailable. the second is that when I cut myself off in my own portal, it counts as both a kill and a death. other than that, it works awesomeley. (cave Johnson voice) Strackkorotus, we're done here.

Some oversights on my part. I'll fix them for the next release.

Something interesting I noticed. If you play as the .Char that I posted a while back, except with an Olmak, the target for the portal goes all the way to the side of the map when you hit an arrow key. It's probably because of my stats, so it's no big deal; this is just a quirk I noticed. Oh yeah, it's really fun to transport the Exo Toa in the Codrex to the outside and have the two accidentally shoot each other when an NPC spawns.

Yes, I have put a cap on the maximum range for both the Kualsi and the Olmak (the Olmak uses the same range regardless of stats, though), but the cursor movement has no speed limit. If your stats go high enough, it reaches max range instantly.Small status update: I have been working on sprites which I'll be needing for my new engine. Having everything on hand from the get-go will allow me to avoid the mistakes I made when I started, namely using placeholders and rigid code when I should have made everything more easily changeable.Here are some animations that will be used for shields. The only shields I have proper sprites of are Kopaka's, though, the others only have a front view and no frames for rotation. Therefore, I have also started making that. Nuparu's Protosteel Shield, coming up:The original front view was not made by me. It's a nice sprite, and I only modified it ever so slightly. The rotation angles were made by me.If you need these sprites for anything, use them as you wish. Credit is always nice, but not required. Edited March 25, 2013 by Katuko

[The Legendary TNT]

An idea that you'll probably shoot down: Could there be a way to make the Olmak travel in between maps? And if so, would you implement it?

[Katuko]

Map travel? Haha, an interesting thought, but no chance of that getting implemented. XDEach map is its own "room" in the program. Now, only one room can be loaded at a time. Therefore, running what amounts to two rooms at the same time - even though I wouldn't need to show graphics or play sounds from any room that each player is not in themselves - would be a technical nightmare, especially when it comes to relaying that info via an eventual network connection. Jumping into a portal to a different map might necessitate a load screen to retrieve all the instance positions etc., compared to dropping everyone in the same room with not much synchronization at first. Online RPGs do this just fine, of course, but not every player needs to know everything that goes on outside their "zone".In this game, however, imagine fighting a deathmatch with a score limit. One player grabs an Olmak from an item spawn and portals to a different map. Player two follows him. Player three is left alone in the first map and can do nothing but twiddle their thumbs. And what if they die in that second map? Where should they respawn?If I made this a single-player campaign or something, the Olmak might be used as a fast-travel system, perhaps, but as it is I will indeed have to shoot this idea down in flames.

[The Legendary TNT]

I kinda figured you would say something like that. It was something I was wishing in the middle of playing once. Nice sprites BTW. Saved the rotation of the Protosteel shield to my flash drive, could come in handy in the...far future.

[Van Hohenheim]

 

okay, I've been playing around with it for about 2 hours and I can say you did a good job with the update. two bug reports are that (A) the Olmak is still listed as unavailable. the second is that when I cut myself off in my own portal, it counts as both a kill and a death. other than that, it works awesomeley. (cave Johnson voice) Strackkorotus, we're done here.

Some oversights on my part. I'll fix them for the next release.

>Something interesting I noticed. If you play as the .Char that I posted a while back, except with an Olmak, the target for the portal goes all the way to the side of the map when you hit an arrow key. It's probably because of my stats, so it's no big deal; this is just a quirk I noticed. Oh yeah, it's really fun to transport the Exo Toa in the Codrex to the outside and have the two accidentally shoot each other when an NPC spawns.

Yes, I have put a cap on the maximum range for both the Kualsi and the Olmak (the Olmak uses the same range regardless of stats, though), but the cursor movement has no speed limit. If your stats go high enough, it reaches max range instantly.Small status update: I have been working on sprites which I'll be needing for my new engine. Having everything on hand from the get-go will allow me to avoid the mistakes I made when I started, namely using placeholders and rigid code when I should have made everything more easily changeable.Here are some animations that will be used for shields. The only shields I have proper sprites of are Kopaka's, though, the others only have a front view and no frames for rotation. Therefore, I have also started making that. Nuparu's Protosteel Shield, coming up:The original front view was not made by me. It's a nice sprite, and I only modified it ever so slightly. The rotation angles were made by me.If you need these sprites for anything, use them as you wish. Credit is always nice, but not required.

 

I like the new sprites and animations! the shield won't have the current bug where it always faces away from you, right? speaking of that, how do you intend to choose the arm to put it on?

[Katuko]

I like the new sprites and animations! the shield won't have the current bug where it always faces away from you, right? speaking of that, how do you intend to choose the arm to put it on?

Correct, as you can see in the image, I have poses for both arms. I'll be making position arrays for hand #2 as well (as I have kind of done with the shield hand already), and make sure to avoid the mirror issue that happens when you turn around. I hadn't thought of people maybe wanting to give their characters a left-hand preference, but it wouldn't be much harder than having a toggle for it: [Left-handed: Y/N]

[~Shockwave~]

I've played the new version, and am loving the new stuff you have added.

 

But one problem is that it is really easy to kill someone with the disk launcher. when the disk hits, the NPC doesn't have time to recover before the next disk hits, and they are doomed unless I have something else to worry about.

 

And I was thinking, purely as a suggestion, of a way to make dual wielding possible. Is it possible to just make a "Secondary accessory" category, rather than the shield category we have currently? I'm not sure how easy it would be, but maybe just have some of the weapons that would be realistic to dual wield under something like that, while still having the shields available under the same drop down box.

 

That is all.

[Katuko]

But one problem is that it is really easy to kill someone with the disk launcher. when the disk hits, the NPC doesn't have time to recover before the next disk hits, and they are doomed unless I have something else to worry about.

The Cordak Blaster has the same trouble, along with every other attack with a knock-down effect. The Fireball is a prime example, and that one has been in-game since release. I'll take steps to prevent excessive stun-locks in the new engine.One simple fix would be to let a downed player only rise to their feet once they press a movement key, that way any follow-up shots would go over their head and they could then jump back up before the next one comes. I'm also thinking that getting back up would allow a roll to the side, similar to many fighting games. The change in position would allow you to dodge more easily. Finally, a character staying down until they choose to rise (and also adding a long overdue animation for getting to their feet) would let me shorten the stun time to basically nothing; the knockdown itself would be enough of a bother, and the stun time is mostly to disallow a player from controlling their character too much while flying.

And I was thinking, purely as a suggestion, of a way to make dual wielding possible. Is it possible to just make a "Secondary accessory" category, rather than the shield category we have currently? I'm not sure how easy it would be, but maybe just have some of the weapons that would be realistic to dual wield under something like that, while still having the shields available under the same drop down box.

A good idea - having the off-hand box simply list both shields and weapons. I have been thinking about how to implement dual-wielding, though, since some mechanics can be a bit complicated. If I start out with dual-wielding, for example, what happens if I pick up another weapon? Which one gets dropped? Should I have to drop both in order to get the new one (i.e. only identical weapons can be dual-wielded)? Should the off-hand weapon always be dropped for a shield? Should I add a button simply for switching hands on the weapons before pickup, or perhaps make "tap" become "replace shield/off-hand" and "hold" become "replace primary"?I'm not too keen on allowing everyone to just dual-wield anything at any time, since dual-wielding could potentially open up way overpowered combos. I'd have dual-wielding as a "perk" you select. By choosing it, you sacrifice the ability to use shields at all (though blocking with two compatible weapons would be a bit more effective than blocking with bare hands, at least). You gain the ability to press the shield button for using the off-hand weapon specifically. Should pressing the standard attack button multiple times make you alternate weapon strikes? Much to think about here, but I'll test a few different things and probably post a demo for you to test when I get that far.Also, I know many would want to dual-wield a sword in one hand and a projectile in the other. Sword-n-gun is a classic combo, and one that many BIONICLE characters have used. Then we have characters like Nuparu, who is just annoying to think about in terms of game mechanics. Claws + Laser Drill + Zamor Launcher? Should I let claws be automatically dual-wielded but also capable of carrying a shield? That would obviously limit the claw attacks, but should it be possible?Should it also be possible to carry a backup weapon? Some games (like Kingdoms of Amalur, to mention one relatively recent example; perhaps Halo would also be a good choice) lets you equip two weapons/weapon sets. For example, you could have a sword-n-shield setup, and a dual dagger setup. Pressing Q (or another button) could then make you swap the sword-n-shield for the daggers after a short animation.Potentially, if you have two single weapons (no weapon set requires both hands on its own) then the shield would stay between. So if you had Fire Sword, Ice Sword and a shield, swapping would make you keep the shield but change between Fire and Ice. Or maybe you'd suddenly want to dual-wield the two swords? This is where things get way complicated way fast, for while it would be awesome to have such freedom in equipment choice, it would potentially also make gameplay change a lot.I'm thinking that if I implement any of what I just mentioned, then the following will be part of the perks you have to spend points on:- Dual-wielding (carrying two weapons at once, no matter what they are)- Carrying backup weaponsFor the record: The new engine will do away with the current stat system. Toa and Rahkshi will each be averaged to a basic power level. Then, perks will be made available, and each character will have X amount of perks to take. I will write up a guide on what I'm thinking specifically in a while.

[~Shockwave~]

I hadn't considered blocking with no shield... That does make it harder... and could add a lot of new buttons....

 

well, it was worth a shot. Though, just as a note, I typically like to switch weapons often, (In any game, not just this one.) so it would be slightly annoying to be confined to either dual wielding or using a shield for the entire game.

[Katuko]

I like to switch too, but at some point too many buttons will need to be deployed. I can make the weapon switch happen with a combination of Up/Down and E, to ensure that you switch the weapon you want to switch, potentially. There would still have to be some limit, with shields being off-hand only. I could at least just make the shield button use the off-hand weapon, so that's one problem down.I'll have to take a close look at controls and find out how to make every key intuitively available while sitll allowing for maximum (and instant!) control concerning powers, weapons and other things.

[Van Hohenheim]

so we can hope for dual wielding in the far future?

[Katuko]

Amongst other things, yes. Ideally it will be in along with the rest of the features of the new engine, to avoid problems.EDIT: Lifting a power idea here, for Chameleon. Since it already has full invisibility as its promary power and most other powers would fall under Illusion or Shapeshifting, what do ya think of a melee-range grab ability? A chokehold of sorts?In many games, the invisible characters have "sneak attack" skills that deal tremendous damage to an unaware target. Since the Chameleon Rahkshi can stay invisible for a long time, however, and since backstabs can thus be either too powerful or be thwarted by a simple tap of the movement key, I was thinking something like this:Ability use would be melee-ranged. You grab the target and hold them tight. This causes them to lose air gradually, with health in bursts as you smack on them. They make no sound while grappled. You can move, but only very slowly. The victim can not use most abilities, but some can work. We are talking Emanate heat, Teleport, Hunger drain, etc. Trying to use an invalid attack will instead struggle. Higher strength allows you to break free more quickly.The Rahkshi can choose to end the hold prematurely by pressing the ability key again. This will toss the victim down and give them a stab for regular melee damage. They can not be grabbed again immediately. If they die from this special stab, you get some bonus health dropped (or similar).Grabs can be performed while cloaked, but causes you to fade in while grappling.Sounds decent?

Edited March 26, 2013 by Katuko

[Makuta of Time]

Just out of curiosity, will we see more maps soon.

[Katuko]

Ah, yes. Maps. I really gotta make some new ones, yes? Also, finishing that Ta-Koro fortress, and fleshing out Mangaia, etc.

[Van Hohenheim]

I really like the choke-hold idea. maybe a little animation where the choke-holdee is lifted off the ground slightly, shown struggling, then dropped and counted as a kill.

[~Shockwave~]

so, giving the chameleons a ssb style grapple attack? I can live with that.

[Katuko]

I also made some more sprites today:One of the Rayg kit expansions had a Rhotuka Shield, but it wasn't quite as large as I think it should be, the proportions were a bit off, and it was only an angled view. So I made a front view from scratch, trying to keep it as close to the original as possible. The center piece has me a bit stumped, though. Should it be empty? Should it have the vague circles that is on the set? Should it have a Rhotuka symbol instead, as if one was loaded?A feature of the shield in gameplay could very well be to charge and launch a Rhotuka if you press the attack button while blocking; for a weak defensive move and/or a debuff. Still, I'd like the base shield sprite to have that "final" look before I start making rotated versions. Personally I like number 3 and 7 the best, followed by 4 and 6. What do you guys think?

Edited March 26, 2013 by Katuko

[sonyaxe]

Ah, yes. Maps. I really gotta make some new ones, yes? Also, finishing that Ta-Koro fortress, and fleshing out Mangaia, etc.

And *cough* my maps *cough*

[The Legendary TNT]

 

Ah, yes. Maps. I really gotta make some new ones, yes? Also, finishing that Ta-Koro fortress, and fleshing out Mangaia, etc.

And *cough* my maps *cough*

Katuko, if you want, I might be able to make a MNOLG style map for you, but it would be like a bonus map since it doesn't follow the scenery style.

 

I like the 6th shield from the left, it looks more like the set IMO.

[Katuko]

Two more versions at the end. Might be getting to a healthy combination, I think?

[Van Hohenheim]

I like the last one when not in use, I like the fourth

[LockmanCapulet]

I like the Rhotuka shields and the choke-hold idea. Also, dual-wielding sounds AWESOME. Maybe you can be allowed three items (one for each hand and one stored), and a single key makes them "cycle"? Like, if you're holding weapons A and B, and C is stored, pressing the key will store A and have you hold B and C, then pressing it again stores B and brings out A and C, then the cycle repeats?

[The Nold]

I like the Rhotuka shields and the choke-hold idea. Also, dual-wielding sounds AWESOME. Maybe you can be allowed three items (one for each hand and one stored), and a single key makes them "cycle"? Like, if you're holding weapons A and B, and C is stored, pressing the key will store A and have you hold B and C, then pressing it again stores B and brings out A and C, then the cycle repeats?

I like that idea.

[Makuta Luroka]

I personally like the grapple attack idea very much. For some reason though, the exo-toa now seem to see me as a rahkshi of chameleon.

[Katuko]

For some reason though, the exo-toa now seem to see me as a rahkshi of chameleon.

As in, they target you even when invisible?

[Meta-Mind]

Oh hey, perk discussion again?Here's what we've got so far, if I remember correctly.-Flight (either hovering Miru-style, flying Kadin-style, or both. Rahkshi get this by default, Toa/other species have to spend a point on it. Possibly include optional Phantoka/Mistika graphics for it, such as jetpacks or wings?)-Bare-handed (bare-handed attacks deal regular melee weapon damage. Have some sort of penalty, such as slower or weaker attacks, while using an actual weapon. Possibly include Earth Claws as a reskin?)-Dual wielding (either identical weapons or mismatched. Possibly merge with shield system? Some weapons unable to be dual-wielded?)-Backup weapon (can switch to another weapon with a button press. Allows an extra set of two weapons if combined with dual-wielding? Disables dual-wielding instead?)How about a quick suggestion: why not sort perks into "active" and "passive?" Active perks have a dedicated button, but the player can only pick one. Passive perks don't have a button, but are often weaker and/or come with a built-in weakness - the player can probably have either one or two of these. There are two ways you could go with it:-Automatically make some perks active and some passive. Active perks, in this case, would include things like dual-wielding different weapons, having a backup weapon, or any kind of perk that needs a button press. Passive perks would be things like flight (if assigning it to the jump button, like the Miru, and having a separate lateral flight animation when in motion - the user is clumsier/slower on the ground and in the water), dual-wielding the same weapon (just assign the ambidextrous combo to the basic attack key, and possibly disable shields and the like), or the bare-handed perk.-Allow players to choose which perk is active and which are passive. Here, active perks come with special bonuses the passives don't - for example, while "passive" dual-wielding would require the player to use the same weapon twice, "active" dual-wielding would allow you to use any weapon for either slot. Flight might have a Miru-like hover by default, and be able to shift into fast, hard-to-control lateral movement with a button press. Active bare-handed users might get a special attack type/combo, and/or have their normal weapon hinderances removed. Passive secondary weapons might only allow small weapons, like Hooks, claws, or daggers, and have the player switch to them automatically once their main weapon is destroyed.Using this, you could have a single "perk" button for the player's one active perk, rather than having to have buttons for every perk combo.

Edited March 26, 2013 by Meta-Mind