I managed to code up a running prototype for a project in a single day.

...without using gamemaker!

Wow, there's not much to say except that Notch is probably swimming in a vault full of money like Scrooge McDuck right now.

I need some ideas for how to model player attacks against other objects.
The best I've come up with is using an invisible object that causes damage when collided with, or having the attackee scan for an object in the way and directly modify its health.

I'm curious as to what other ITGer's have come up with 

I'd really like to be able to fight the mobs, they seem to be one of the most interesting aspects of the game [balancing defense / mining / building], it's just they alway seem way to hard for me, and when I'm in a mine with 1 heart left there's almost no hope for me getting out alive.

If you have lights and pickaxes handy, try digging into the nearest wall then dig up to the surface.

Ya I usually do, I just specifically remembering doing that one time, and emerging into a cave with more mobs, then i put it on peaceful mode so I could at least get enough iron to make armor and stuff and build a giant lavaslide from the top of my tower to the bottom of the world.

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I also kinda question the workbench item. I tend to always have one on me, and a stack of logs when I'm spelunking just so I can build more tools if I need to, to the point where it almost seems unnecessary. Furnaces are different since there's the time factor involved there, you can't just whip out a furnace underground to smelt some more iron [well you can, but it's easier to just go back to your base and drop off your ore there]. I just think always giving you a 3x3 crafting area really wouldn't change the game THAT much. Maybe have the workbench do something else? Perhaps if it wasn't used to make such NECESSARY items like tools, I'd be less tempted to haul one around with me at all times and more encouraged to go back to my base at times.

In terms of the crafting UI, I don't have a problem with it like some other people did [their problems would just be fixed with a simple tutorial]. It'd just be nice if say, I layout the shape of a ladder and build till one stack of sticks run out, if the stacks with extra would transfer over to the empty slot in the grid, so I don't have to keep redistributing the materials if I want to make 800 ladders or tracks or whatever.

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Also a feature that automatically shuts down the game at 3 AM would be nice too :/

I noticed that, I often wind up carrying a 'portable' crafting table, or just putting them everywhere.  What was the point of limiting the size of your crafting box again? 


Maybe crafting tables can be used for something else? Like crafting aesthetically pleasing blocks? 

A talented guy on our forum made a new texture pack - he made it more windwaker-esque

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/88157/forums/15.png

I should give it a shot! >:3

aw really? thats not very impressive   I should have read the video description first.

But he still has to fill out all the decks

GOOD GODDDD

Visual Assist X

YES!  I am hopeless in Visual Studio without this.  It has really spoiled me.

I'm a fan of Tiled for creating tile maps.  It's open source C++ (with Qt), runs on Windows and Mac OS, and is easily extended (via plug-ins) to export whatever format your game wants.

You know thats a problem I find with these third party editors, is no support for placing placeholder objects.    I mean, how do you make maps with nothing but tiles in them?  

But Tiled is good, at least for pure tile editing awesome

Tiled allows to add object layer where you can create objects (displayed as rectangles). Each has following data:
Name:string,
Type:string,
X,Y,Width,Height:int
and a set of custom properties - (key:string, value:string) pairs.

Objects can be snapped to grid by holding down Ctrl.

You can also add a separate tilemap layer and a special tileset which contains "object spawn" tiles which are later used to create objects in game.

But, yeah, it's main forte is it's tile editing capabilities and is probably not suitable for games having complex entities.

For the life of me I couldn't even figure out how to place objects in that.
I should give it a second look.

it's currently 9.95 euros. When beta hits it will be roughly 15, and final price will be 20.

I like the crafting system as it is, where you have to basically draw the item. Just clicking on a recipe and it make it would not be as much fun, at least for me. That said it definitely needs a way to teach you the recipes and i do like his idea of a tech tree kind of deal.

See, you can have it both ways.

You could make it so you make items individually like you do now, but when you do, it unlocks a recipe so you can make multiples at a time.

Best of both worlds!

Work keeps me from finishing,
because I'm too tired to wrap my head around the coding after. 

"why isn't this Half Life, ...

What

If it was, we'd have to worry about headcrabs spawning on our roofs.
DON'T GIVE THE MAN IDEAS

i don't know why you want to limit yourself so much; i think the number of details you lose in 16x16 is really bad. Your 32x32s seem fine;

also: NES sprites aren't limited to 3 colors + transp. that rule applies to 8x8 or 8x16 pixels of a sprite, so you can have more than 3 colors in a sprite if you do some smart pixelating.

this is a really nice example by thernz; notice how some characters have more than 3 colors, but they are properly divided in 8x8 or 8x16 grids.


not that you are going to code a real nes game, right?

(on an unrelated note: those mockups from months ago using that kitty sprite seemed to have a really cool style, and i believe it wasn't 16x16? why not stick with those?)

Nonono, I'm doing any crazy NES limitations!

It's just for this specific project I was hoping to go for an aesthetic similar to this:

Where everything (excluding large monsters) fits in a single tile.

You seem rather adept in your 32x32s. Why not just roll with those?

I do agree, however. Making something distinctive in NES-style spriting is a LOT lot harder than it first appears to be. But yes, outlines must go, and the sprite should focus on a few small, distinctive details.

If at first you think 16x16 sprites with 3 colors are easy
try and fail miserably. 

I would like to see an option to choose world generation perimeters, like hillyness and water level (lots of islands),

Apparently thats supposed to be in when the games done
I thought you could already do that in InDev mode? o__o

Hey guys,
anyone have any tips for making small sprites?

I'd love to have stuff like this fit inside single 16x16 tiles, but every time I try it ends up looking like poo.


edit:

Here's a better attempt. B)   crits anyone?

[full versions]

Visual Assist X

YES!  I am hopeless in Visual Studio without this.  It has really spoiled me.

I'm a fan of Tiled for creating tile maps.  It's open source C++ (with Qt), runs on Windows and Mac OS, and is easily extended (via plug-ins) to export whatever format your game wants.

You know thats a problem I find with these third party editors, is no support for placing placeholder objects.    I mean, how do you make maps with nothing but tiles in them?  

But Tiled is good, at least for pure tile editing awesome


edit:
My mistake, they let you place objects in the full versions 

Ceiling Creeper watches you mine


And I heard Rumor of Notch putting in a magic system?  Apparently that's what gold will be used for.

[somewhat more conventional level progression]

The only major difference is the somewhat more conventional level progression, inherited from Fusion which isn't that big of a deal anyway.

The action is solid but I'm not a huge fan of the auto-dodge and insta-kill moves because they dumb the combat down.

That's the discussion SOLID game but trending to generic.

wind waker was absolutely amazing btw.

I concur, graphism was literally amazing, still not match to this days for me. The animation had some flaws but goddam it was lively! The game mostly fails in structure, pacing and navigation, also fail to bring something really new to the gameplay. BEST GANON EVER with the best line! Best zelda scenario, best character. I want the best part mixed with majora and zelda 1 overworld and twilight horse fighting bur refine (fanboyism inside) !

I like how Windwaker's Ganon actually had a personality, and uh, other motivations for destroying Hyrule besides for da evulz.

Also pointing out that the Hyrulian gods are assholes was nice.

Oh god the news is everywhere now

But will it pan out?

really?  I see the spaceship

So do I. o__o

Oh! That reminds me: Dungeon Keeper. Brilliant game, spectacularly fun, absolutely hilarious, and you can possess creatures and use them to explore the underground in FPS style. You can also smack creatures that aren't moving fast enough for you, and they'll speed up for a little while (though your creatures will start to resent you if you do it too often).

I loved that game too, it's excellent.  It's a shame in later stages of a level that you essentially become a monster baby sitter though, silly whining monsters.