Katuko

like in terraria?That would be a good a good comparison, yes. In feel it will be more like Castlevania, though (Symphony of the Night and Aria of Sorrow., specifically). Sounds good.

This is mostly due to a lack of powers at this time, but yeah, projectile weapons are meant to offset short-range powers such as Poison. An issue with my kill counter system: Unlike other shooters, it only checks for the killing factor. In TF2, if you shoot an enemy and he then falls of a cliff (or you just push him in directly via knockback) you get credit for the kill. In my game, there is no "assist" counter; the last damage applied will count as the thing to get credit. So you could find a Quick Healing Rahkshi in full armor, then spend a lot of time on whittling down its effective 1000 HP, and then a random Nui-Rama touches him, leaving you with no points. Once I implement the damage display system (with floating numbers 'n' stuff for those who want it) I'l most likely be able to fix this issue. The Lightning thing is another little code string I forgot to include. Many attacks share code, such as the movement and collisions of projectiles. When making a new projectile, I usually just copy-paste a previous one and then modify it. Lightning, however, has unique code, so I made it from scratch. I then forgot to include the kill counter code. Air's primary power will most likely be effective against flyers as well, since it doesn't rely on fall damage to do the job. Both are WIP, so expect to see them improved as well. The only reason non-working powers are not gray or red on the character screen is that making them be that way would require a lot more coding than not. I think I'll add a tag next to their names, though: [uNAVAILABLE] Always glad to hear that. *Takes a bow* Really? I run, jump and shoot all the time. At the moment only melee attacks are meant to stop you in your tracks. It might be a keyboard issue on your part, since many keyboards can't handle more than two or three key presses at once. I've tried to map powers to the usual "gaming keys", but depending on your setup certain key combos might be canceling each other out. This, too, sounds strange. There's an issue with going too fast (a combination of stun+"moonwalk" will make you shoot off to the left), but never too slow. I agree. That's what I'm doing right now. Shadow's power is a glitch; it's not meant to stun like that. Notice that just a touch is enough to immobilize bots, while you as a player simply gets a weak screen tint effect unless you get hit continuously. The reason for this is that Shadow is meant to gradually blind the bots by lowering their "perception value", but for some reason any value below 100% makes them stop unlike the 10% treshold I've set them to. Melee was first intended to be an emergency solution for a player who ran out of EP. I realized that many people enjoy melee fighting, however, so I buffed the damage. I had to remove the knockdown effect from a lot of things due to how annoying they were (melee, Nui-Rama, etc) so that made melee weaker as well. You're right: melee fights only really work when the other guy isn't blasting your face off with elemental powers. Kanohi like the Hau, Pakari, Kiril, Kualsi and Huna makes melee more viable, along with armor and abilities like self-healing. Certain weapon also lends themselves better to direct combat. The Earth Claws swing fast and does good damage. The Fire Staff, on the other hand, is better for use of its ignition ability. The Power Sword is in the middle, but it's meant for an elemental attacker the same way the Air Saber is designed for flyers. Me too, I just haven't coded it yet. I know, but it's a pretty long list at this point, so I just grab random things off it and go fixin'. It bothered me for a while too (still does), but I eventually came round to realizing that's the best way to do it. Also, if you play the game way too much, you get used to it.I might make it a server rule once I get that far, as well as an option for when you are playing single-player. I agree that it doesn't really matter all that much what you see and know when your enemies are just bots. They don't feel like you are cheating even if you modify your character file to have 100 in all stats. I agree. Maybe being able to move while melee attacking would solve the problem.You could, originally, but moving with melee opens up all sort of issues with "sliding" across the floor, timing hits being wonky, etc. I think functional shields will work a lot better to keep you alive, once I figure out how to handle them properly. By the way: my totally super-secret design document has a section regarding melee attacks. The melee system currently in the game is a bare-bones version. You see how the characters use axes and claws for stabbing? They are supposed to have their own animation with a wider swing range. Regular melee attacks as well: standing still when using a sword would give you the regular swing, while running would make you lunge forwards and pressing up/down would let you attack in that direction. Unlike elemental powers, I'd let you aim melee attacks because honestly, they are still just melee. Yeah, currently the only indication is sound. Little floating damage text would be a good way IMO.Indeed.

That's... strange. When you save, do you get a message saying "FILENAME was saved successfully"?

Have you checked the folder outside of the game and seen if there are any files there at all?

I can export just about anything if I also run the images through a Photoshop batch conversion. So I export to BMP/JPG/GIF/PNG from After Effects, then I just mark the whole folder and go auto-shoppin'. Voila! A bunch of TIFF files. Or ICO, PDF, whatever there's a plugin for.

In this case, "lightning" is just another name for "electricity", just like "the green" is another name for "plant life". Laser- and heat vision are different, though, in the sense that the former is based on focused rays of light/photons/equivalent while the latter is based on heat/fire/combustion.But as said: In BIONICLE, there is a distinction between Elemental Light and natural Light; at least the "laser" kind of light. For all we know what they call "lasers" are just very thin streams of plasma or the generic "energy" category.

It can export to all standard video formats (like AVI, MPG, etc), but more importantly: It can also export GIFs and individual JPG or PNG frames. I honestly haven't heard of MNG before. Is it some sort of silly mac format?Ah, good, individual PNG frames, that'll work. MNG is an animated PNG format, developed by the same people that developed PNG. It never really caught on, but somehow this odd little game engine good at everything and well suited for nothing ended up using it.Ah, I see. I've seen APNG before. Did it replace MNG, or was it the other way around? Bah, I'll just Wiki it later.

Twice as interesting and twice the work. No, there will be no elemental rock-paper-scissors in this game. No element will automatically do more damage against certain others, and no element will get special boosts unless that is explicitly their special ability. This is how it must be for a fair and balanced multiplayer experience. Otherwise we will see someone playing a Toa of Shadow and then all his opponents picking Light just for the damage boost. And heck, you want one Toa element to always have +10% damage against half the playable cast? Didn't think that one through a lot, did you? (No offense, hope.) "We", possibly. "I" can not at this point in time. We've gone over ideas for the species several times in the previous topics (and some discussion in this one), but the fact of the matter remains that no amount of planning will make me program new species when I've already got my hands full with making the ones I have work. I do not want to fall into Scope Creep, so I'm just going to cut the species discussion short here. Thanks, I'll look into it. No problem, that's my stance as well. Looking at my earliest game file, it's dated July 2010. That's over a year in progress and I'm still not 100% done with any of the elementals. Fire still has placeholder graphics and no "fire throw" animation, and it was the first I programmed. So yeah. The Cordak Blaster doesn't shoot simply because I haven't programmed its rockets yet. :)The Miru can be used just fine when falling. Just hold jump at any point in mid-air and it should slow you down. If you hold "down" while doing this it will cancel the slowdown, however, making you continue to fall at whatever speed you were at before floating. (Though you can slow yourself somewhat and then just keep that speed, if you want to float just a bit faster downwards.) I'm glad to hear you say that. Bottom of the character screen, there are buttons for saving and loading characters. That was my goal, sort of."I wanna bethe very bestlike no-one ever was" 39DLL, a Game Maker extention that allows proper networking functions. Then it's a matter of "simple" back-and-forth programming.

It can export to all standard video formats (like AVI, MPG, etc), but more importantly: It can also export GIFs and individual JPG or PNG frames. I honestly haven't heard of MNG before. Is it some sort of silly mac format?

You're right, there is a lack of hand- and computer-drawn comics around here. It's probably because sprites are a lot easier to work with for most people. A bit of copy-pasting and some color shifts plus the text tool and you have a basic sprite comic. Add some backgrounds and brush effects if you feel like it. I'm not saying sprite comics are bad (heck, I loved 8-bit Theater, to name one) but hand-drawn usually shows a lot more effort and the drawings always have their own unique style.

You're welcome, pardner.Regarding Demopan: I can tolerate a lot of silly things in TF2, but that guy, (next to pink Dapper Toppers and other eyesores) has to be the epitome of "kill it with fire". Luckily, TF2 lets me do just that. :DI'd be glad to help out some new players, by the way, if anyone wants me to act as a teacher or something. I got 500 hours under my belt, so I think I can tell you some tips and tricks.

Here you go: A simple sketch compilation. I cut away a lot of drawings that were just plain bad, plus a few I'm not done with yet.If I end up doing a comic it will most likely be a humorous one. We'll see.

YeNo, I was actually wondering where you'd gone off to. It was going to just shoot a version of the Light secondary, but that was too boring. In the comics it looked like solid laser beams (though they curved) so I went with that. It's just the tip of the projectile that actually damages people, so technically it's still a ball with a trail. I'll probably end up changing it and use the laser trail effect for the Energy Harpoon instead, though. I'm not all that happy with how the Midak works right now.Some good sound effects and a bit of muzzle flash would likely make the "ball of light" a lot more interesting... Good, good. (I only wish I had made the script easier to plug multi-step effects into. The Staff of Teleportation got botched something horrible on my first try due to the teleport requiring two inputs (press and release) while the Staff only has code for the press right now. That was kind of the idea for Bohrok, yeah. Weak elements, but strong headbutt and roll attacks. Krana mechanics are iffy, just like Bohrok and Skakdi are at all. I ended up excluding them due to sheer amount of work needed, after all. If we count only count primary and secondary attacks, that's still two powers to program per Toa and Rahkshi, plus Kanohi and certain weapon powers.(17 x 2) + (22 x 2) + about 30 or 40 = more than 100 different powers!Add to that a complex movement and attack engine, the maps, Artificial Intelligence for the bots, all the graphics and then finally multiplayer; and you have enough work for five people. Which I'm doing solo. Because I'm such a cool dude. Me too.

Jedi Knight Crazy mentions some important game design elements. I still can't play the game myself even after changing my system locale, so I cna't say much for the gameplay myself, but judging from the older version it didn't consist of much more than moving and mashing Spacebar. Heck, your opponent needs to be kind of retarded (no offense!) to get hit, because the shots are so slow you can actually run past your own. Have you ever seen a projectile weapon that was slower than the person using it? Because if it is you might as well be using melee, just saying. Ramp up the speed of the projectiles something fierce, then work on adding a few special effects. They don't need to be complex, just something so that all the shots don't feel boring. Shooting should be fun. I can help you make some graphics, by the way. I need to see what kanohi_master has made first so I don't make the same things, but if you send me a link to the sprite sheet you use I can try to make some stuff. Just specify what you need (Attack poses? Other stuff?) and I'll try. I can also do projectiles and special effect, but since I do those in After Effects they might look out-of-place here. By the way: I'm flattered. http://www.bzpower.com/board/public/style_emoticons/default/blush.png

Avak's Perfect Prison power should not be underestimated, I think. In a one-on-one battle, concentration is not really an issue, so he should be able to keep it up for as long as he wants. Since the power specifically creates cages that counter an individual's power, that means even Zaktan's protodites won't be able to escape. Hakann could possibly break out via a mental blast, but the others are screwed. If so, it then comes down to whether or not Hakann can beat Avak into submission with mental blasts/lava launcher before Avak hits him with his own weapon. Seeing as Avak is stated to be physically weak in combat, Hakann has the advantage in a straight melee fight. Vezok has "impact vision", which presumably works similar to a mental blast except it feels like being hit with a sledgehammer instead of your brain suddenly aching. I have a feeling this physical force would be blocked by a Perfect Prison, but in that case Mental Blast should be too. They are likely to be instant, invisible energy waves, but energy can be blocked. Vezok is also very agile, and he can perfectly copy the powers of anyone nearby for a limited time. If we go with his pre-split intellect, he is also a brilliant tactician. Most likely he could come up with a plan to dodge Avak (say, by hiding out of sight) then ambush him and copy his prison power. Then Vezok wins, because Avak now cannot escape or retaliate.

1. Have you changed since BZP came back?Not really, no. Why would I? 2. How have you changed?I believe I haven't changed at all. 3. Have you noticed anyone else change?Not really, no. 4. *insert pointless question here*Pointless indeed.

The laser weapons depend on the user's skills, but the disk launcher is supposed to a be a physical projectile with set damage. Since bashing someone with the weapon itself doesn't do anything, I set the array value to -1 (my go-to value fo "not applicable") in the meantime. Actually, I don't think you will be able to emulate powers. The official description of Shapeshifting only mentions size and shape, not powers. Besides that, it would require one heck of a long script (even worse than the Rahkshi Staff). Shapeshift primary is random form/disguise (you would have a targeting reticule, and if you target someone you gain their specific form, but if not it is random). Secondary could be some sort of shape distortion, almost like Elasticity could have been. Perhaps you could hold W, and then pressing down would squish you very flat to duck under attacks, while up stretches you upwards and left/right sideways. I have no idea how useful this power would be at all, however. Apart from confusion... no idea. Possibly you could have the ability to actually transform the properties of you or your weapon as well, as you've said with the powers, but I'm not sure what I could do to stop people from just rolling Shapeshifting all the time then.Disguise in a team match would work like the TF2 Spy: The enemy team sees you as theirs, while your own team still sees you for who you are. No, that's another oversight on my part. I was testing the system and chose the wrong folder to put the file in.

Color system works like this: Each sprite is split into parts, which are colored white. A few variables hold the relevant color values, and the full sprite is then drawn in a "stack", the parts blended with color. Changing the color is a simple as changing the variable, though here is the problem: The function for getting a color from the screen easily causes lag.I was, however, planning on making a proper "cloak" effect, where the sprite is only visible as a distorted silhouette of the background. The problem with this is that the sprite is split into parts, so either I must apply the cloak effect several times (lag!) or I must compile the sprite into a silhouette before making the distortion, like I do with the death effects (lag!). So that's why there's no proper cloaking yet.EDIT: Wouldn't disguising as a random Rahkshi essentially be just the color shift? People are gonna kill you just as hard regardless of who you look like. Chameleon is meant to avoid being seen at all. I was thinking that Shapeshifting already has the "disguise" ability incorporated anyways.

My phone's music folder is about 50-70% game music. No regrets. Do yourself a favor and play Castlevania IV (SNES) and Symphony of the Night (PSX). Both good games, and both had superb soundtracks. If you can't play them, just look up their music. First time I heard Bloody Tears was the CV4 version, and if the gameplay hadn't done it already that sold me on Castlevania. :DAnd Symphony... yes. Just yes.Come to think of it: Google the following, all ye who be interested and hasn't heard one or more of the following.- Harmony of a Hunter (Metroid album)- Castlevania: Symphony of the Night OST- Dissidia: Final Fantasy OST- Chrono Symphonic (Chrono Trigger)- Super Mario Galaxy OST- The Megas- The Protomen (they make original songs, but are heavily Mega Man inspired lyrically. Act II is a fantastic album)- Touhou: Scarlet Weather Rhapsody OST (or any Touhou soundtrack, really, but this one is fully orchestrated)Then come back here and share some more names with me, 'cause I would love to hear of some delicious new music! Already searched for the stuff you guys have mentioned (though I knew of most of it already).Sometimes I listen to music and I kind of want to hug my ears afterwards. Just saying.

IC:"I'm Madrihk."The Toa of Ice closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead."I'd love to tell you my purpose here, Laki, but I don't really have any. I've left Ko-Koro behind, so I'm looking for work, I guess. Or preferably just the money," he said with a smirk, "...but I guess work is one of those things that can't be avoided. Right now, however, I'm too tired to do much else than rest. You had a medic, you say? I think my leg is a bit damaged. I can feel it ache now and then after a swamp Tarakava punched me into a tree. I think I landed on it."

I was planning on making a comic, actually, but I didn't get very far (got no funny ideas ) and thus ended up with just these sketches. I got a bunch more of sketches, though, so if you want to see them I can upload those as well.

Thanks, Taka. I was thinking of going over this one with vector lines like I did Lehvak; I will probably update this topic with the alt version as well if I do that.

You bring up some interesting points. The color shift was meant to be a seocndary form of camouflage, but I can see how it would not be very useful at all. The primary power of a Chameleon Rahkshi is cloaking. You may not see it all that well when you're playing due to the outline added to your own character, but enemy Chameleon Rahkshi will stay 100% invisible until their EP run out. At that point they become around 90% transparent instead, depending on level. Since Shapeshifting will have the ability to change form entirely (into Toa and Rahkshi with "wrong" colors) and also disguise their weapon and other items; that means Chameleon needs something else. I was thinking the ability to blend in as a background object (think Prophunt), but that might be too close to Shapeshifting again. So if you got any good ideas for a Chameleon secondary: by all means, post it.

The Huntsman is an achievement item, so you can get it by just playing Sniper for a while. 5 achievements and it's yours. You can also trade for it, I guess, got nearly as good as every weapon myself, but I'd be happy to give you a spare Huntsman in exchange for... well, anything, really. If I turn out to have more than one spare you might even get it for free. I'll go check.

Try Half-Life 2 as well, and possibly Fallout and Mass Effect (I'd call it an FPS despite really being 3PS). Each of them are very different forms of shooters.