Bionicle Fighter: Broken Virtues

[Katuko]

Perhaps then backwards(the arrow key in the opposite direction of what you're facing) and attack(if timed right, or perhaps you could use some other mechanic to differentiate between that and moving, probably the former though,) could be an overhead vertical chop then? And, while midair, down and attack could be a downward slam or stab?

Would too much ghosting occur if you pressed up and down at the same time then attack? If that doesn't become a problem, I think that could be a spin attack or something.

I don't have sprites for everything, so I won't make too many moves either. Ghosting may or may not occur upon pressing up and down at the same time, but it entirely depends on the keyboard. Pressing up and down simultaneously is a bit awkward,however, since they both use the same finger.EDIT: Just a quick question. How many of you have a gamepad, joystick or similar game controller available for PC? Edited July 8, 2013 by Katuko

[Hexann]

 

Perhaps then backwards(the arrow key in the opposite direction of what you're facing) and attack(if timed right, or perhaps you could use some other mechanic to differentiate between that and moving, probably the former though,) could be an overhead vertical chop then? And, while midair, down and attack could be a downward slam or stab?

Would too much ghosting occur if you pressed up and down at the same time then attack? If that doesn't become a problem, I think that could be a spin attack or something.

I don't have sprites for everything, so I won't make too many moves either. Ghosting may or may not occur upon pressing up and down at the same time, but it entirely depends on the keyboard. Pressing up and down simultaneously is a bit awkward,however, since they both use the same finger.EDIT: Just a quick question. How many of you have a gamepad, joystick or similar game controller available for PC?

 

I have one. Personally I'd think those are being better for 3D games.

[~Shockwave~]

 

Perhaps then backwards(the arrow key in the opposite direction of what you're facing) and attack(if timed right, or perhaps you could use some other mechanic to differentiate between that and moving, probably the former though,) could be an overhead vertical chop then? And, while midair, down and attack could be a downward slam or stab?

Would too much ghosting occur if you pressed up and down at the same time then attack? If that doesn't become a problem, I think that could be a spin attack or something.

I don't have sprites for everything, so I won't make too many moves either. Ghosting may or may not occur upon pressing up and down at the same time, but it entirely depends on the keyboard. Pressing up and down simultaneously is a bit awkward,however, since they both use the same finger.EDIT: Just a quick question. How many of you have a gamepad, joystick or similar game controller available for PC?

 

I've got one... somewhere. I don't know if it can support all the actions, as I think it has something like 10 buttons and a directional pad.

[The Legendary TNT]

I don't have one of those. Not really a big gamer.

[Makuta of Time]

Well, I think I still have this fighter pilot joystick. Other than that, I have a USB game controller which seems to still work, except the number 3 button sticks a bit when pressed.

[Katuko]

I have one. Personally I'd think those are being better for 3D games.

I've got one... somewhere. I don't know if it can support all the actions, as I think it has something like 10 buttons and a directional pad.

BIONICLE Fighter currently uses 4 keys for directions and 8 for actions: Melee, power 1, power 2, jump, mask power, weapon ability, "use", absorb. If I add devoted crouch and shield keys, that's 10 that's needed. Your average gamepad nowadays has at least 4 regular buttons, plus shoulder buttons. However, this means I should probably simplify the control system somehow, at least for those who may wish to use a controller.Good thing about melee is that several attacks can be condensed into one button by varying the combination of directional keys. Gun-type weapons also only need that one button, since they would be click to fire and directional keys to aim.Blocking will need its own key, since I intend for it to be held down while blocking. Or, even if I made it a toggle on/off for "shield mode", it would still need a dedicated key. Innate special powers (elements etc) go on a B-equivalent. I will have to put primary and secondary powers on different keys, at least the ones that are very different from each other. I could combine others into charge attacks etc., but some powers simply need two keys to be viable. So 2 keys/buttons for powers. Another for jump, since aiming upwards should not ever force jumping. Shame on you, Smash Bros., for making that default. Kudos to Brawl for making it optional and allowing a separate jump key.In any case, on your average gamepad we have now spent the D-Pad on movement, the 4 standard SNES/PlayStation buttons on jump/attack/power attacks, and a shoulder button on blocking. Let's use then other shoulder button for Mask Power and/or other special powers like Rahkshi flight and Piraka vision powers, since they will definitely need a dedicated button too.Now we get a bit creative. Obviously, a keyboard and any gamepad with more buttons (such as dual shoulder buttons) will allow the player to use separate buttons for the remaining actions. I might have to include alternative control setups for those who don't however, and thus I should plan them out now. I'll just think out loud, here.Absorb does not do much that requires its own key. Since absorbing is intended to stop your movement and make your character focus, and since mostly Toa use the ability, and since it is a function of the element; Absorb could be placed on Block + Pow1, with emanate mapped to Block + Pow2. This would not be a blocking action per se, but it would slow your movement and make your character pose as if "powering up".Activating weapon powers is even more tricky. Every power could conceivably become a toggle on/off (so that turning on a Rahkshi staff power would make every attack afterwards fire a beam instead of being a regular stab) but it would be kinda awkward to toggle still. Hold Melee + Pow1, perhaps? I dunno. No idea.Finally, the "use" key. Could be mapped to your basic attack key like in Smash Bros. and many other games, but it might become annoying very quickly if you are trying to fight someone and the floor is littered with items.On my own gamepad, I have the D-Pad, two sticks (disregarding them for now, though), four buttons and dual shoulder buttons on each side. Plus, what would be "Start" and "Select" equivalents on a PlayStation. On this gamepad, I could map the two missing actions to the extra shoulder buttons, and "use" to the Select key. Then I'd still have one left to perform pause game/open menu (which will be a thing instead of insta-quit, I promise).What do you guys think?--------PS: I spent some time on making a gamepad setup in GM:Studio, but I ran into some trouble with my gamepad not being detected despite being available in every game I have. Likely a driver issue, which I'll try to fix and then test some more. It worked fine for use in GM 8.0 and 8.1, but I want to use Studio for my new engine so I can optimize things a lot more.Instead of gamepads, I went to take a look at shaders, which are being included in the current beta build of Studio. Shaders make fancy graphical effects at little cost due to handing processing over to the GPU, freeing up CPU for actually running the game. When it lags, you have a CPU that is struggling to keep up. Things like my lightning effects and AI code are CPU-heavy.Once I learn to use shaders properly, though, I can include more fancy color, glow and distortion effects without worrying so much about performance hits. Shock waves ahoy. :3If I'm lucky I'll also get someone to write a palette swap shader, thus removing the need for me to split sprites into separate parts in order to give you custom color options. I would be able to use a single sprite with color shading and save myself heaps of trouble. Edited July 8, 2013 by Katuko

[Arzaki]

 

Perhaps then backwards(the arrow key in the opposite direction of what you're facing) and attack(if timed right, or perhaps you could use some other mechanic to differentiate between that and moving, probably the former though,) could be an overhead vertical chop then? And, while midair, down and attack could be a downward slam or stab?

Would too much ghosting occur if you pressed up and down at the same time then attack? If that doesn't become a problem, I think that could be a spin attack or something.

I don't have sprites for everything, so I won't make too many moves either. Ghosting may or may not occur upon pressing up and down at the same time, but it entirely depends on the keyboard. Pressing up and down simultaneously is a bit awkward,however, since they both use the same finger.EDIT: Just a quick question. How many of you have a gamepad, joystick or similar game controller available for PC?

 

I think I do somewhere in a cupboard, but I'm not sure.

[~Shockwave~]

Hm... If you want to get really creative, my laptop supports bluetooth and I have a wii... No... That's probably too much... Though it gives me some interesting Ideas...

Edited July 8, 2013 by ~Shockwave~

[Katuko]

I believe I can use a DLL to add motion control capability, but I won't. Too much hassle for a novelty that maybe one or two will use for giggles.

[~Shockwave~]

Yeah. Makes me wish I had some form of programming knowledge... As using a Wiimote as my mouse would be pretty epic... I may have to try it anyway. just because I can.

 

I found my controller. it indeed has 10 buttons. 4 normal buttons, 4 shoulder buttons and the start select type buttons.

[Hexann]

Yeah. Makes me wish I had some form of programming knowledge... As using a Wiimote as my mouse would be pretty epic... I may have to try it anyway. just because I can.

 

I found my controller. it indeed has 10 buttons. 4 normal buttons, 4 shoulder buttons and the start select type buttons.

I think mine looks something like this...

[Katuko]

Yeah. Makes me wish I had some form of programming knowledge... As using a Wiimote as my mouse would be pretty epic... I may have to try it anyway. just because I can.

I believe you can do that with a small program that is available, one that works similarly to the "joy-to-key" adapter programs which allows you to map keyboard keys to gamepad buttons so you can use it even with games that don't officially supports gamepads.

I found my controller. it indeed has 10 buttons. 4 normal buttons, 4 shoulder buttons and the start select type buttons.

You have pretty much the go-to standard of PC controller, then. I think it's the most common type (to have 10 buttons apart from joysticks and d-pad), but it'd be good to know if it suddenly turned out to be false. Y'know, if everyone except me and you turned out to have 2-button NES gamepads. :PI'll be re-installing my gamepad drivers tonight, and then I'll see if I can get it to work with GM:Studio like it used to work with earlier versions. They have some new gamepad functions that taps into the native OS connectivity, so it should be more reliable but naturally less capable of detecting pads with missing drivers.In the meantime, I'll also try mapping my gamepad to keyboard keys and see how my game works in half-baked joystick mode.

[Arzaki]

Well, I found a jotstick. I'm not sure if it works though, and I'm not sure how to test if it does or not.

[~Shockwave~]

 

Yeah. Makes me wish I had some form of programming knowledge... As using a Wiimote as my mouse would be pretty epic... I may have to try it anyway. just because I can.

I believe you can do that with a small program that is available, one that works similarly to the "joy-to-key" adapter programs which allows you to map keyboard keys to gamepad buttons so you can use it even with games that don't officially supports gamepads.

I found my controller. it indeed has 10 buttons. 4 normal buttons, 4 shoulder buttons and the start select type buttons.

You have pretty much the go-to standard of PC controller, then. I think it's the most common type (to have 10 buttons apart from joysticks and d-pad), but it'd be good to know if it suddenly turned out to be false. Y'know, if everyone except me and you turned out to have 2-button NES gamepads. :PI'll be re-installing my gamepad drivers tonight, and then I'll see if I can get it to work with GM:Studio like it used to work with earlier versions. They have some new gamepad functions that taps into the native OS connectivity, so it should be more reliable but naturally less capable of detecting pads with missing drivers.In the meantime, I'll also try mapping my gamepad to keyboard keys and see how my game works in half-baked joystick mode.

 

Wait, so you mean to say that I'm not supposed to use that on most games? Maybe that's why I suck at flight sim.

As cool as using a wiimote would be, It would take quite a lot of improvisation on my part, even if I could find a program to make it do something other then connect to my laptop. Probably not worth it.

And I don't know what to do about the game force closing on me...

[Makuta Luroka]

 

Perhaps then backwards(the arrow key in the opposite direction of what you're facing) and attack(if timed right, or perhaps you could use some other mechanic to differentiate between that and moving, probably the former though,) could be an overhead vertical chop then? And, while midair, down and attack could be a downward slam or stab?

Would too much ghosting occur if you pressed up and down at the same time then attack? If that doesn't become a problem, I think that could be a spin attack or something.

I don't have sprites for everything, so I won't make too many moves either. Ghosting may or may not occur upon pressing up and down at the same time, but it entirely depends on the keyboard. Pressing up and down simultaneously is a bit awkward,however, since they both use the same finger.EDIT: Just a quick question. How many of you have a gamepad, joystick or similar game controller available for PC?

 

I do NOT have any external controller. I have a $7.00 Lenovo keyboard. Well, I do have a Dualshock 2 controller, however, I do not have an adapter for it, and the only alternative gamepad option for now would be for me to borrow an xbox controller.

[Katuko]

Yeah, I'm just counting up how many potential gamepad users there are. Keyboard will be the assumed controller type, with gamepads being an option but obviously requiring a few compromises depending on button count. I've now used mine via Joy2Key, and that worked nicely. I'll still code native gamepad support, though, to avoid forcing the use of extra programs. ----- Today I've been fiddling with some new scripts for handling character files, so that the "load character" menu can be replaced with something more fitting than the standard Windows file browser. I'm thinking of letting you choose to view available characters in different modes: As a bog-standard name list, as a list with character heads displayed, as a grid with full characters shown in each cell, etc.Concept art: The only trouble I've run into so far is that I have to loop through all available character files in order to do this, and Game Maker doesn't support reading INI files from any folder except the one the EXE is in. This is naturally a bit annoying. My current DLL, which fixes this issue for the files themselves, doesn't have the required file_find_first() and file_find_next() functions I need to list them all, however, and so I'm left a bit stranded. Option 1: Stick all character files in the EXE folder. Would make a terrible mess and I'll just skip this option.Option 2: Search around for a new DLL with better file handling functions, or make a new way of saving characters. I'll see where it goes. Worst case scenario is just that you have to stick with the file browser look for a while longer.

Edited July 10, 2013 by Katuko

[Hexann]

Guys, it's official! This game had a big enough effect on my life to be in one of my dreams. I think I was battling in a Po-Koro map that had quicksand traps......

[Meta-Mind]

Could we still set the game to import the older, external character files?

Edited July 10, 2013 by Meta-Mind

[Hexann]

So, I was kind of wondering....what are you going to do with Zamor Launchers since they have multiple Zamors Spheres with different powers?

[Arzaki]

So, I was kind of wondering....what are you going to do with Zamor Launchers since they have multiple Zamors Spheres with different powers?

Maybe there will be several different launchers. Like Anidermis Zamor Launcher, or Protodermis Zamor Launcher, etc..

Or it'll just be Zamor Launcher and just do blunt damage with no effects.

[Hexann]

 

So, I was kind of wondering....what are you going to do with Zamor Launchers since they have multiple Zamors Spheres with different powers?

Maybe there will be several different launchers. Like Anidermis Zamor Launcher, or Protodermis Zamor Launcher, etc..

Or it'll just be Zamor Launcher and just do blunt damage with no effects.

Maybe....

[Katuko]

Could we still set the game to import the older, external character files?

If not, I'll whip up some tool to auto-translate the old versions into the new format for you.

So, I was kind of wondering....what are you going to do with Zamor Launchers since they have multiple Zamors Spheres with different powers?

I was going to make them like other weapons with no specific power: Allowing the user to spend a portion of their EP to gain an effect in tie with their own power. So a Toa of Fire would get a Zamor that burns, while a Rahkshi of Hunger would get one that steals health.

[Hexann]

 

Could we still set the game to import the older, external character files?

If not, I'll whip up some tool to auto-translate the old versions into the new format for you.

So, I was kind of wondering....what are you going to do with Zamor Launchers since they have multiple Zamors Spheres with different powers?

I was going to make them like other weapons with no specific power: Allowing the user to spend a portion of their EP to gain an effect in tie with their own power. So a Toa of Fire would get a Zamor that burns, while a Rahkshi of Hunger would get one that steals health.

 

Oh, ok.

 

Or it could be a perk to use different kind of Zamors for Vortixx.

[Katuko]

Or it could be a perk to use different kind of Zamors for Vortixx.

Potentially.

[Hexann]

 

Or it could be a perk to use different kind of Zamors for Vortixx.

Potentially.

 

That's what I'd do.

[lewafan21]

you shoud also have different kanoka for the disk launcher!

[The Legendary TNT]

you shoud also have different kanoka for the disk launcher!

Yeah, I should think a freeze disk wouldn't be too hard for you to do since you have so many ice based weapons.

[Arzaki]

 

you shoud also have different kanoka for the disk launcher!

Yeah, I should think a freeze disk wouldn't be too hard for you to do since you have so many ice based weapons.

 

It would be interesting to see a reconstitutes at random disk.

[Hexann]

 

 

you shoud also have different kanoka for the disk launcher!

Yeah, I should think a freeze disk wouldn't be too hard for you to do since you have so many ice based weapons.

 

It would be interesting to see a reconstitutes at random disk.

 

Or he could just have them lying on the ground waiting for you to pick them up.

[Katuko]

Kanoka disks have been discussed before; and depending on game balance they will either have the user set a specific power for their launcher on the character creation menu, or they will allow "ammo change" mid-game by pressing the weapon power key. In the latter case it will take a few seconds to swap to the desired type, possibly forcing you to stand still while browsing a small disk menu. Like, F to open menu, arrow keys to select disk type, press F again to swap to that disk.In my new projectile system I will try to use a proper parent system in my code, in order to make them easier to add. I'll have a setting for direct damage (and its type), a list of status effects that the projectile will apply, a setting for "explosive yes/no", as well as status effects for the explosion. This should allow me to create a variety of common projectiles without having to copy/paste a million different objects with specific settings. I can still customize some of them, like chain lightning, and then I just use the "direct damage" setting while the bolt uses custom targeting code.

[Hexann]

Kanoka disks have been discussed before; and depending on game balance they will either have the user set a specific power for their launcher on the character creation menu, or they will allow "ammo change" mid-game by pressing the weapon power key. In the latter case it will take a few seconds to swap to the desired type, possibly forcing you to stand still while browsing a small disk menu. Like, F to open menu, arrow keys to select disk type, press F again to swap to that disk.In my new projectile system I will try to use a proper parent system in my code, in order to make them easier to add. I'll have a setting for direct damage (and its type), a list of status effects that the projectile will apply, a setting for "explosive yes/no", as well as status effects for the explosion. This should allow me to create a variety of common projectiles without having to copy/paste a million different objects with specific settings. I can still customize some of them, like chain lightning, and then I just use the "direct damage" setting while the bolt uses custom targeting code.

A switch, huh? Sounds like Bionicle Morbahzak game.

[Makuta Luroka]

 

Kanoka disks have been discussed before; and depending on game balance they will either have the user set a specific power for their launcher on the character creation menu, or they will allow "ammo change" mid-game by pressing the weapon power key. In the latter case it will take a few seconds to swap to the desired type, possibly forcing you to stand still while browsing a small disk menu. Like, F to open menu, arrow keys to select disk type, press F again to swap to that disk.In my new projectile system I will try to use a proper parent system in my code, in order to make them easier to add. I'll have a setting for direct damage (and its type), a list of status effects that the projectile will apply, a setting for "explosive yes/no", as well as status effects for the explosion. This should allow me to create a variety of common projectiles without having to copy/paste a million different objects with specific settings. I can still customize some of them, like chain lightning, and then I just use the "direct damage" setting while the bolt uses custom targeting code.

A switch, huh? Sounds like Bionicle Morbahzak game.

 

More like that Maze of Shadows game.

[Katuko]

Haven't played either of them, so I dunno. Switching ammo is not exactly a new concept, I'm just going with what might work on one key.

[Arzaki]

Would it be possible to have two weapons on you at the same time, and switch between them with Q/E or something?

[Hexann]

Haven't played either of them, so I dunno. Switching ammo is not exactly a new concept, I'm just going with what might work on one key.

It was the first thing I thought of with the disk and all.

 

Scopeless Great Akaku (Credit Rayg for making the Akaku. Me for making it scopeless.)

 

You might use it.

[Katuko]

Would it be possible to have two weapons on you at the same time, and switch between them with Q/E or something?

A mechanic like that was mentioned the last time I discussed dual-wielding, but nothing is set in stone at this point. It might make weapon switching too complicated, or it might overpower people by allowing them to carry too many weapons at once. Still, I'lk just have to see how it works out when I program it.

Scopeless Great Akaku (Credit Rayg for making the Akaku. Me for making it scopeless.)

Hm, that looks pretty good. I'll probably include that as a style choice, yeah.

[Hexann]

Scopeless Great Akaku (Credit Rayg for making the Great Matatu. Me for making it scopeless.)

 

​Might help if you plan on completing the 360 for it.

[Katuko]

The scoped version is missing its last frame, that's true. I was going to fix it, but I haven't gotten that far yet.

Edited July 24, 2013 by Katuko

[Hexann]

The scoped version is missing its last frame, that's true. I was going to fix it, but I haven't gotten that far yet.

So, I just wondering is the Scopeless Great Matatu *Serious Face* worthy?

[The Legendary TNT]

Click the stars above the Coliseum to see an update on the Protodermis Reclamation Yard Map!