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[HarrisonJK]

Awesome! I'm glad you like it!

[DugIt]

This is excellent so far. I can see the use of this engine reaching far beyond what were seeing right now.

Will water be worked on?

[PhantomTollbooth]

I was wondering what it would take to get me to register for the forums, and I guess I've found it.

Played around last night during insomnia and my interest was piqued, dipped my toes into the level editor and at risk of repeating everything everyone has already said I'm pretty darn excited!

*****Rehash compliments*****
-Amazing Controls (hats off BMcC) 
-Awesome retro graphics/animations (Hats off Arne, and all those animators that BMcC credited but aren't available for me to take off my hat to) 
-Tight Gameplay
-Huge amount of customizability that make my body react in embarrassing ways
*****End Rehash Compliments*****

So what am I going to do about it? Well if I have anything to say about it help!

Here's my public to-do list (not that anyone cares, but if I state it publicly than I have slightly more responsibility to follow through.

1- Read through these massive forum posts (I'm through the 9 page build 2 thread, but haven't scratched this thread)
2- Get "friendly" with the level editor
3- Get a puzzle level that's been floating around my desk impemented by monday (a deadline that will not change... one must be strict with-himself)

And thats all the promises I'm making publicly, one level, even I can follow through on that.

Today one level
tomarrow... maybe a couple more levels?
the day after tomarrow? THE WORLD!

[Lord Tim]

Here's all my Cortex Command stuffs.



Includes:
Dropship (script/animation/sprites)
Dreadnaut (script/animation/sprites)
CC Tileset
"CortexLand" map
"Last Man" music (Not made by me)

This should extract straight into the BQ folder, but there should be a way to add mods easily. Like a "Mods" folder, where you could put folders that have the same structure as the main one. The game would read each of them just like it does for the main stuff, only it'd be a lot easier to organize. That way, you could quickly take out or add groups of tilesets or animations or whatever.

Download:
http://www.box.net/shared/hh0hk5yhu8

[BMcC]

Any chance of a tutorial for tileset design?  I'd love to make a tileset but I need a little help.

That's more of a graphic design thing...  To make a tileset you simply have to put the 8x8 tiles in a row and save the bitmap to the Tilesets folder.

I can't help you much with drawing them, though.  (I just started doing graphics again myself a week or two ago.)  But there are some great artists on this forum that could give you some tips.

I just made a Balding's Quest map the other night and after having much difficulty with the attachment uploader, I made a google site and posted it there. It's called Ghost Story, so I may tweak it to be more spooky in the future with a few tileset changes if I can figeure out how, but for now, here it is in all it's glory!

Excellent!  Unfortunately, I can't play this until tonight.  But well done!  :D

That's a good idea, re: the ghosts.  As the tileset themes start getting filled out, I'd like to work on making each area unique.  Ghosts and the undead would be a very nice addition to the Dungeon...  (Quick, someone do some sprites!)

... So i snoke around the net for alot of freaking time... and i found NOTHING! But then omg omg omg (said as a puberty girl) balding is so GOD DAMN well programmed, the animations makes the old animator in me smile. the quality is just up there. Above doukutsu in many ways. ...

Whoa, did you just say BQ is better than Cave Story in many ways?

That's, like, the highest praise a game can receive for some people!

... A: a little teeny weeny faster running speed, or a dash button. You mention the ground slide, or just slide feature in your post. And normally that makes you go faster, like mista rockman. but just so you know. It is well annoying to walk when you should be running, if you catch my brief.  :D ...

Yeah, Guy will become more agile with additional abilities and items (and objects).  Of course I'll be constantly tweaking his movement, but I dunno about increasing his speed at the moment.  I already don't like that you can clear the 3 tile gap without having to grab its ledge.  (But maybe I'll work on the curve of his acceleration... it would make the big jumps easier with a running start.)

B: in the editing part. It would be awesome if you could see +5 and -5 tiles from the one you have selected. But only when "scrolling" through them. It makes us creative minded alot more confortable when we can see where we are going.

C: when choosing files to load, whether its maps, anims etc etc, a folder and point and click system would benefit the creators. since writing filenames forces you to either be God, or have a folder open behind the program.

Hey, I'm a creative-minded person!

If you look back in this thread a bit, you'll see Snakey is making a super cool external editor.  Check it out.

As for the in-game stuff, yeah, by the 1.1 update I'd like to have a tile (and perhaps file) browser.  And quick-loading of objects that have already been included.

D: i know i know. It's against the convention, or the philosophy of this game. but scrolling maps would lure more people to the table. I have no clue if it's something thats programmable for contributors (not me anyway, cus I just draw and animate stuff), so i dont know. I dont know. LUA? hmm.

No, sorry, scrolling ain't gonna be part of BQ!  Gotta maintain the scope and philosophy of this thing.  It'll be a better game for it.

BUT, once the engine is filled out I'll likely release it as an all-purpose retro game making tool.  And scrolling will be extra simple to add. 

... And if i wasn't so damn busy all the time, i would be the first to animate awesome stuff for you. ...

No busy, yes animations!

[BMcC]

This is excellent so far. I can see the use of this engine reaching far beyond what were seeing right now.

Will water be worked on?

Thank you!  And... yes?  Yeah. 

I was wondering what it would take to get me to register for the forums, and I guess I've found it.

Righteous!

Welcome! 

Here's my public to-do list (not that anyone cares, but if I state it publicly than I have slightly more responsibility to follow through.

1- Read through these massive forum posts (I'm through the 9 page build 2 thread, but haven't scratched this thread)
2- Get "friendly" with the level editor
3- Get a puzzle level that's been floating around my desk impemented by monday (a deadline that will not change... one must be strict with-himself)

And thats all the promises I'm making publicly, one level, even I can follow through on that.

QUOTE'D!  You have to do this now.

Good luck!

Here's all my Cortex Command stuffs.
...
This should extract straight into the BQ folder, but there should be a way to add mods easily. Like a "Mods" folder, where you could put folders that have the same structure as the main one. The game would read each of them just like it does for the main stuff, only it'd be a lot easier to organize. That way, you could quickly take out or add groups of tilesets or animations or whatever. ...

Awesomeness!  The Arne-apocalypse shall come... tonight, when I can actually try this out!

P.S.  BQ already has Mod support like you described. 

Whenever it loads files, it searches for them in a certain order.  I think it goes: Current folder of map, Current folder + /Maps/, root Maps folder, and root.  Something like that.

The Animation Editor is a good example of a mod.  It's entirely separate from the game and manipulates files in ways the game wouldn't.  You can find it in the Maps/AnimationEditor/ folder.  It's got its own set of folders and everything.

HOWEVER, I need to remember to fix this in the next update:  The map base directory can't be set outside of the code!  The system works, but there's no way to tell it what the Mod's base folder should be.  (Or maybe I did made a script for that... anyway, you can't do it from the Map List!)

Remind me to add that.

[andreasng]

BQ > doukutsu = yes honestly. An I love cavestory! And I don't love alot of things.

running speed = played bq for the last couple of days - and nope i dont want faster running speed at all. sorry 

editor = ah ok

scrolling = no thats what i thought, and i think its a great design choice - future scrolling activated is a must for the game making tool. 

and then i fiddled around with your warehouse01 - sorry my contribution (at this moment) is a bit cheap.
but i made a pretty challenging warehouse01 hard mode. check it out if ya got da time 

http://www.sota.dk/bq/WarehouseHard.bqMAP (go fetch all disks, then exit - i did it once, now i'm tired)

cheers!

[BMcC]

Ah, right on.  I'm glad you got used to the movement.

I will check out your new map ASAP!

[DugIt]

You sir deserve a pile of cookies, or whatever goodies you are most fond of eating. I'm extremely excited I found this engine.

Also. Sorry if you misunderstood my last post. I was a little tired.

I've been picking over the code and trying to understand it. I'm not the best programmer, if at all! I'd like to add some transparancy to the water and enable Balding to dive below. I'm not sure yet if I can do that...   

The only two minor blocks that I can see in the future for this is:

1: Scrolling. I know a few people have mentioned this before. If the engine has scrolling enabled you'll bring a ton more developers to the table. That's it for that subject on my end.

2: Terrain/Hit-boxes. I think coding a more "fluid" terrain in the the game would be productive as well. I mean fluid as in having angles to run up and down. Not that edges to cling on or ladders to climb isn't fun but having to jump to reach the next highest point gets frustrating at times when a slight slope would do just fine.

These are just my personal opinions and pointers though. I still really love your game!

One more little kernel of wisdom for you BMcC before I hit the sack. Take your time! The community may be jumping at you like pirannas on a cow in a river but, some of the best games take just a bit more time then expected. I do expect good things from this; VERY VERY good things.

As for everything else; I have no complaints. Keep up the excellent work! You're doing an awesome job!

[BMcC]

1: Scrolling. I know a few people have mentioned this before. If the engine has scrolling enabled you'll bring a ton more developers to the table. That's it for that subject on my end.

Really?  I sure hope not.

Scrolling just isn't what this game is.  I think it's another one of those things that will make more sense with more objects and stuff in place.  Especially the puzzle elements.

2: Terrain/Hit-boxes. I think coding a more "fluid" terrain in the the game would be productive as well. I mean fluid as in having angles to run up and down. Not that edges to cling on or ladders to climb isn't fun but having to jump to reach the next highest point gets frustrating at times when a slight slope would do just fine.

Hrm, this is another thing we decided against early on.  I'll have to think about it more, though.  (My main beef is that it wouldn't add much to the game, it doesn't fit the original "style" of the game, and it could potentially complicate making objects a good bit.)  I wonder what Arne thinks...

One more little kernel of wisdom for you BMcC before I hit the sack. Take your time! The community may be jumping at you like pirannas on a cow in a river but, some of the best games take just a bit more time then expected. I do expect good things from this; VERY VERY good things.

Hehe, thank you very much!  This game's been on the back burner for a long while, though.  Hopefully, with it opened up to the community, once it's rolling it'll take care of itself more.  But I've still got a lot to do, it looks like.

[andreasng]

I think the scrolling note is for the game maker thingy you talk about. Baldings Quest should be like you want it to be, plus good ideas from the crowd of course. But side will change BQ to something that it isn't and shouldn't be in my opinion.
But i'll agree that for the game maker thingy, scrolling is a absolute must. I mean i know i wouldnt use it if it didnt have scrolling.  I'm the kind of guy who wants to jump to the moon without having to change screens. 

HEHE i've been thinking about slopes, and more organic terrain, so i totally get what DugIt says. However nice it would be to be able to make ground where balding could run up and down, it is something that again overcomplicates matters.
Again, i would say - for the game maker - it's a definit must-have!

[OverwatchTM]

Scrolling could be made optional, and that will fulfill our dream for creating bigger and meaner levels.
I'd say scrolling would be an excellent and a must feature to include.

In the meantime, I'm going to create some levels based on the Warehouse levels, so stay tuned!

[Rostiger]

Scrolling could be made optional, and that will fulfill our dream for creating bigger and meaner levels.

Really?  I sure hope not.

Scrolling just isn't what this game is.  I think it's another one of those things that will make more sense with more objects and stuff in place.  Especially the puzzle elements.

[Mailman]

Ah!

The first time I saw this, my feelings were "ho hum... "

But, now I see the potential! And now it's time to try out this beauty.

I'll come back when I've got an awesome level.


 

[OverwatchTM]

Scrolling could be made optional, and that will fulfill our dream for creating bigger and meaner levels.

Really?  I sure hope not.

Scrolling just isn't what this game is.  I think it's another one of those things that will make more sense with more objects and stuff in place.  Especially the puzzle elements.

Well, of course, it would be a neat little addition, but I can live without it.
The game itself is pretty much excellent in every way possible.

Also, would it be possible to make levels interconnected to each other?

[Lord Tim]

That's a pretty amazing idea. And since you can do "loadMap()", that would be totally possible.

[Snakey]

It's been a while since I last had time to really have a chance to work on this. I got a few hours done tonight. I decided to change some of the usability for the tool, and the way to create levels is now a little different. Instead of just painting the level, you now select the tiles you wish to edit (along with the range of selection tools such as using Control to add subsequent tiles, using Alt to remove selected tiles, Select All/Reselect/Select similar/Inverse) and then click the tile you wish to use from the palette tool. This was required because there are some options in which the painting system wouldn't work well for such as rotating tiles around and setting them as BG layers. I haven't quite implemented a selection box thing yet, but it is on my to do list.

It's starting to get a lot more functional now, so that's always a good thing.

[BMcC]

Partied a bit to hard over the weekend.

Okay, back to work today!  Just gotta clean and shower.

[HarrisonJK]

Hi guys, I got a bit more BQ stuff for you!



The new map is right here: http://sites.google.com/site/justicejonesbiz/
Make sure you download the background also and put it into the background folder, or it will just be blackness.

Snakey: That editor looks awesome! Can't wait to use it!

Lord Tim: Really cool stuff you made, especially the dreadnought. I was wondering if it could either lose its attack or gain a laser attack to differentiate it from the current robot.

BMcC: Excellent game! 

[Jotaf]

Been a lurker for a long time, but decided to register *just for this*!

It's awesome. The game, the engine, the puzzles, no words can describe it. You've got another fan.

I've been thinking of writing some scripts but time has been against me, unfortunately. Anyways I'll describe what I had in mind so maybe someone else may pick them up before I do: (ok after typing for a while I decided to just describe one script, I don't wanna annoy everyone )

* Rolling barrels.
Like in pirate movies and all, this would fit well with all of the dungeon/medieval settings! They'd move forward at constant speed. They can fall off ledges. When a wall is hit, they move the other way.

A good obstacle would be a set of barrels rolling down a path, and the player must jump over them. Another great mechanic would be if the player could stand on a rolling barrel and use it as a moving platform, except it imparts the player with an opposite velocity -- so he has to constantly run in the opposite direction (ya know, a barrel moves left, you're on top of it, so you have to run to the right). Even best if the velocity is not the same as the player's walking speed, so it's hard to maintain equilibrium. Imagine that coupled with other obstacles!

A simple way of having them pile up in pits (instead of rolling back and forth between the 2 walls) is to make them count the number of wall hits, resetting the counter when falling off a ledge. The 2nd wall hit stops a barrel.

---

Ok that's it! If I had the time I'd code it right now; I invite anyone to code that but after a while (no promises) I'll code it myself. Cheers

[EDIT] Manbaby??!!