2006 PGD Annual: PGD Question

**jdarling** · 22-02-2006, 01:09 AM

I just realized that my current design idea may be in violation of or not completely fulfill the rules for the contest. I have a basic RPG setup where the player is dropped into a "World" that they can roam about. The different "Levels" are basically dungeions that the player reaches by exploring the map. Does this actually fit? Reading the rules state "Design a minimum of 2 levels to be played by optional selection or in sequence". I hadn't actually thought about if the player was able to move between the "Levels" via the main map if thats optional selection, to me it seems it would be, but I want to make sure before I go much further. It wouldn't take much to change the game play at this point to fit selection through a standard menu or sequential movement.

Thanks,

**FNX** · 22-02-2006, 01:41 AM

Hello,
I think you can easily adapt your game for example by giving access to
the next dungeon only after you beated all enemies in the current
dungeon plus or not a mini boss. Done that you can have a full map but
the "levels" are accessible only after some goals just like properly
different levels.

Hope this helps

[EDIT: I think you should change the title in COMPO Question or something

]

**Legolas** · 22-02-2006, 01:46 AM

IIUC you should have at least an end-level boss to defeat in order to go to new level. Maybe you could put a guardian to kill near the new level "door" :toothy:

**AthenaOfDelphi** · 22-02-2006, 02:29 AM

Hi jdarling,

If you are in violation, then we are too as we're going down the same line.

Legolas's suggestion is the approach we're taking. Complete quests on the level and finally defeat a boss to progress to the next stage.

Like your project, its not too late in the day to change this, so if Savage or WILL could clarify before the next deadline, that would be grand.

**jdarling** · 22-02-2006, 03:47 AM

For the most part I am using the big boss theme. In order to get to the final "Level" you have to first complete the other "Levels" (actually I call them missions or dungeons) to attain keys that let you into new parts of the final level. So on the Big Boss side I'm pretty sure I'm ok, its just the mini-levels that I'm afraid of

.

AOD too bad that before the compo started we didn't know we were headed down the same path, it might have been in both our benifits to team up! I'll have to admit that I'm not much on the actual graphics side (as my other posts have said) but I think I'm doing good in story line and game play. Hopefully I'll be able to get everything in before each deadline. I'm running quite tight on this next deadline

.

- Jeremy

**AthenaOfDelphi** · 22-02-2006, 09:27 AM

Hi Jeremy,

We didn't look for other team members because we're trying to expand our product line with new stuff and the competition provides an easy excuse to try and develop one or two. Our graphics aren't great at the mo, we're just using them to get a feel for the maps and stuff... nearer the final deadline I'll be hounding my brother to make them look sweet. I'm not worrying about story line thankfully, Spirit is working all that over.

This deadline is a struggle I have to admit. I only just managed to get proper sprite movement and animation in at the weekend... was hoping to have at least half of it on the object manager, but I spent a disproportionate amount of time making the tile sprite editor. Once that was done, took me less than half a day to get sprites into the engine and all the little bugs ironed out. Its like the first deadline, I spent 2 weeks writing tools and 1 day putting the actual play engine together.

Now I have my enemy path finding code worked out (today is going to be a long day in the office on only 3 hours sleep :-( ), I've got to make more changes to the tools to accomodate the data I now need for that. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm spending more time on them than I am on the engine itself, which is a bit annoying given the tiny proportion of the final score that they represent. Still... I've learned a hell of a lot already, including how to break my own rules about how to write nice code in order to squeeze out excess clock cycles.

**Traveler** · 22-02-2006, 11:39 AM

Originally Posted by AthenaOfDelphi

Its like the first deadline, I spent 2 weeks writing tools and 1 day putting the actual play engine together.

LOL, I can so relate to this

**cairnswm** · 22-02-2006, 12:19 PM

Thats why my Editor uses the VCL

Actually I rekon I'm using about 1:1 development time between Editor and Engine.

**jdarling** · 22-02-2006, 02:17 PM

Originally Posted by AthenaOfDelphi

Now I have my enemy path finding code worked out (today is going to be a long day in the office on only 3 hours sleep :-( ), I've got to make more changes to the tools to accomodate the data I now need for that. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm spending more time on them than I am on the engine itself, which is a bit annoying given the tiny proportion of the final score that they represent. Still... I've learned a hell of a lot already, including how to break my own rules about how to write nice code in order to squeeze out excess clock cycles.

Well I have had all of my path-finding worked out for quite some time. I even have a sample on my website with source if you want something for reference (hey I don't mind helping anyone if I can). Sprites, Map and all of that wern't too bad either. Whats got me is the objects and paperdoll type stuff. I had planned on using my sprite class for objects, but in the end its just too much overhead for such a small thing, so I'm back to writing an extension for my level editor. The other thing is I forgot to allow for global sprites in my editor, so now I'll be spending quite a bit of time working out the details and the objects for global lists that don't get creamed every time a new level is loaded

.

**AthenaOfDelphi** · 22-02-2006, 03:13 PM

This is my first forray into the world of 'real' games, so I don't have any library code or anything else useful like that, but I do have my trusty companion Google :-)

I'm actually enjoying putting this path finder together, even if its a nightmare to debug because of all the pointer crunching it uses. As for objects... don't swear at me ;-) I'm still trying to figure out how to manage them. We have an added hassle that at certain key stages of the game, you'll switch from being human to something else, so I have to worry about different inventory gumps, different weapon slot layouts and such like... life would be so simple if it wasn't for other people and their ideas :-D