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[Doktor_Q]

The console type messages don't seem to reflect what was actually chosen. If I go down to "options," it still says menu/sword/equip. Or something to the effect.

[st33d]

The print out is putting the latest event fired at the top. It was the fastest way to get a readout of the events fired with out getting in depth about writing a console I'm not going to use later. (I've just uploaded a version with a line number next to the event fired to make this a little clearer.)

The print out text is selectable, you can copy and paste it here if you feel it's behaving oddly and then I can debug it.

I'm getting the expected behaviour on my end, so it's likely I've not explained something clearly enough.

[Loren Schmidt]

In terms of layout and general idea, this seems pretty nice. I noticed a handful of small things you might want to consider adding.

The first is animation- it's a bit jarring when we travel into or out of a submenu. Smoothly scrolling the menus sideways would really help with this, as would a menu open animation. Some kind of tactile feedback for highlighting and confirming options might be nice too (sound and / or animation).

I feel it would be nice to have the parent option be marked somehow (outlined, highlighted, etc.) when a sub-menu opens up.

Another thing I noticed is that the behavior when selecting an action (for instance, taking off a hat) is a bit confusing. It'll probably be clearer in the actual game, because seeing the character take off her hat, etc. will make it perfectly clear. But out of context, in this menu demo, I think it could be clearer that an action has been carried out. Some people might mistakenly think that the menu system is navigating back up the tree instead of carrying out the selected action. I think attaching some kind of confirmation effect (blinking, a state change in the menu text, etc.) is all you'd need here.

[st33d]

Needs more



you mean?

I kinda agree. Just trying to shoe horn the current menu build into the game at the moment so I can get a build with equipment up. There's the issue of the menu altering itself depending on the state of the inventory to deal with right now.

But your suggestions are all pretty good. I'll work them in when I get the opportunity.

[st33d]

I like the viking hat I've got in, but the modern hats look out of place in a dungeon. An Indiana Jones hat is okay, but the top hat, trilby and sombrero just look a bit naff.

I'm thinking I could go with more esoteric armour instead of all just hats. Seeing as armour just makes you harder to hit I'm thinking that an animated cloud of flies or a shroud of darkness (tentacle like clouds) would work.

[mokesmoe]

One of the hats needs to be a duck that sits on your head. Perhaps some sort of secret easter egg.

[HannesP]

I'll provide you with some inspiration for mokesmoe's suggestion. Here's a photo of me, wearing a bird. http://korta.nu/25f3

[mokesmoe]

There is a card in the 'Munchkin' card game that is a duck on your head. It's actually a trap giving you a -2 penalty, but thats not the point.

[st33d]

Just managed to figure out a way to get items to stack on a tile.

It required a major overhaul of the scrolling engine to be able to see an array of items stacked up on one square and render them, but still be backwards compatible with the system of only one-object-per-tile-per-layer so that the scroller can still run fast.

You know when a player just wants to dump their entire inventory on one tile? That issue.

Solved.

Just need to get items on to monsters so you can see what loot you get to fight for before you get it. Then demo.

[st33d]

Items playable demo is up

Very buggy this one. Got a few issues with the Scroller class because I had to do major work on it. Hopefully will get it resolved soon.

Till then, kill things and get their loot. Armour will be replaced with better armour. Weapons too. The menu I also tend to Apple up a bit. So hopefully I'll get time to sort that out and then it's on to levelling, runes and minions.

[Nate Kling]

wow awesome progress.  I thought the menu was pretty easy to understand once I figured it out.  I kinda liked it actually.  This is looking really promising its already pretty fun to just go around collect stuff and destroy guys!

[mokesmoe]

Awesome! Managed to fill up the xp bar, even though it does nothing.

Few bugs: You can't turn sound off. You can see enemy swords sticking though walls.

[Rumrusher]

getting the top hat and staff adds class to the rogue and a kick to her step. still wish there was a way to heal up.

[JMickle]

hey this is great , if a little slow

[st33d]

Demo 3 updated.

Added the ability to turn sound off. Wasn't a bug, I just hadn't bothered to write the menu routine or set the sound option to disabled.

Lessened the glow on items and added a twinkle effect to make all collectables stand out. Items also drop to the floor if dropped in mid air (they will hover above the floor a little though to make them easier to see).

Sorted the layering out by adding a new blitting layer and moved the items in front of the ladders. Characters will now render on top of the edge lighting instead of under it. Monsters weapons may be seen on the cusp of a darkness area, but there's no fix for this bar using a mask, and that's more pressure on the lighting engine which is already working overtime illustrating the edges.

No framerate issues my end and my computer is pretty crap, so I assume the slow comment refers to the character's speed. The character gets faster as you level up.

Healing and levelling up will come in demo 4. Levelling up will work like a smart bomb and look like the quickening in the Highlander movie.

[mokesmoe]

I'm pretty sure seeing the enemy's weapons through walls wont be a problem once you implement AI that doesn't try to charge you through the wall.

[st33d]

I have dropped the baseball cap for flies. Demo 3 is updated.

That's right, you can don a bunch of flies to ward off blows.

I'm going to put in invisibility as an armour using the Final Ninja stealth method of late capturing the background and blitting it to the fx layer (it creates a Predator style ripple when you move). Invisible armour will of course be the best armour, but you won't be able to see yourself, or see it's name in your inventory. Um, or see the monster you need to get it from.

I'm aiming for a whirlpool of blood (think meat boy) and a shroud of weaving darkness next as the next armour replacements.

I'm gonna change some weapons too so that they gain bonuses with certain hats (a hammer for the viking helm, a parasite for the blood whirl).

[st33d]

Invisibility now in demo 3.

I couldn't get a perfect mask around the character and keep the speed of the effect, so I went with an egg shaped invisibility field.

If you see a ripple, a monster may be lurking under invisibility there. Kill it, pick up the invisible item then wear it.

It's the best armour now. With one obvious draw back.

Session speed I've realised may vary a bit. It's an object management issue that I'll address soon.

[Alomard]

this is looking really good so far. the limited use of colour is a very nice touch.

[st33d]

After moaning about not getting the cloak perfect on the character in the Grumpy Programmer's room, Draknek suggested a cheap solution.

Red Rogue, the mostly invisible version

I'm getting a bit peeved at the way the monsters keep adding up without being downgraded back to mapdata when offscreen. I kept putting it off because them carrying items makes it annoying to code. I'm tackling that next.