Spent the last week or so on this, it’s pretty much the whole engine for the game. I ran into a few problems that took a bit to fix, but for the most part it’s about 80% done with nothing but stuff I thought was easy left to do.
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb372/dan21189/1.png
Movement acts much like final fantasy tactics. You can move up or down to any space that isn't out of your jump range. You can go down from high places if it is out of your jump range, and take damage.
Each spell has its own range (4 spaces in cardinal directions in pic) and radius (2 space radius in pic). Also you can make the targeting squares obey line of sight (or not), so that the targeting squares won't travel to places that you wouldn’t be able to target( or places you wouldn’t be able to move to) , thus making you have to drop, say an AOE spell, somewhere in range to hit someone there. But I could also make the targeting squares not have to obey line of sight or whatever. Easy to make new spells, and make their ranges to whatever you want. They don’t have to be circles; they can be whatever pattern you like. (Maybe one that spells out TWIN and hits everyone standing in it o.0)
Im kinda on the edge about keeping it a classic turn base type rpg. Maybe a mix between real time strategy and MMORPG might be more fun?? I remember how some turn base online multiplayer games got not fun.
Of course I’m still learning much about byond programming and isometric in general. (Pixel art in iso sux, so hard) Any feedback is appreciated.
ID:278375
 Oct 7 2010, 8:05 pm (Edited on Dec 31 2010, 5:35 pm)
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Looks good man, I tried working on a SRPG engine last year, and got stuck with AI and control issues, and that wasn't even including height.
If I may ask, is there a specific algorithm you're using for pathfinding? | |
Well, you could always have a list of coordinates if characters will basically only have 5 different sized spaces for movement. Then you could add overlay images to the surrounding tiles, and move to the overlay's location.
My guess is that he is using get_step(), I don't think he would use much else. | |
I haven't been able to spend a whole lot of time on this project due to college and other activities but here is an update on what I have done.
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb372/dan21189/4.png Let's see, so far, I have the base character done with all animations including, movement, jumping, falling, attack, spell, getting hit. I had a problem with the turf. When laying down some turf I noticed it was impossible to tell, in some cases, where a change in height occured(picture that hill without the black outlines; you wouldn't be able to tell when the hill starts to go down). So I looked at some other tactical games and found they solved the problem by having multiple turfs for every height with every possible outline(basically 9 times more turfs). I didn't want to make that many turfs and it would be such a pain when actually mapping, so I instead made a proc that checks every turf with height and its surrounding turf when they are created, and figures out if an outline is needed and gives that turf one accordingly. I know that this may cause lag when the server is started but I think it's a small price to pay. Also made the base grass turf and had them randomized when they are created. Oh, I made the stat bars. I also made it when the bar updates, instead of the bar jumping to the correct picture to show your current stat, it instead has a little animation where it quickly shows your hp dropping than slows down as it gets closer to how much it's supposed to currently have(so it looks like your hp is actually being drained from the bar). And a bunch of other less intersting stuff. What you guys think? | |
Looks really nice man. I'm happy to see someone else working in an isometric world. This place really needs a breath of fresh air.
That outline trick you used for the turfs is a pretty sneaky way to do it. Nice job. The start-up lag should be insignificant. Besides, only the host is gonna notice it anyway. Keep up the good work! | |
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb372/dan21189/5.png
I made a proc similar to the one I have that outlines the turf, but this one adds shadows to turf. It runs on all turf that has height when they are created and it checks and adds shadow to turf appropriately. It is also recursively calls itself in some cases so it can add the correct size of shadow regardless of the turf's height. (I can throw in a turf with height 100 and it will have a 50 tile length shadow as a result.) Yes I know the angles might be off, light source, and all that other proper artistic stuff, which I should have accounted for. I haven't really seen a game on byond that did it 100% correct anyway, but what do you guys think? I think it adds a little bit more depth when trying to blur the line of its 2d boundaries. Oh and if you guys haven't tried mapping in isometric with varied heights, it is extremely hard to place things where they should go (like placing a shadow tile in the correct spot); your eyes play tricks on you. | |
http://i1202.photobucket.com/albums/bb372/dan21189/6.png
I'm still plugging away on the project. This update, I added a working action bar that will pop up when its' your turn. Also I added some changes so that numbers will be displayed on top of your stat bars. How does it look? (This might seem like a small update but I encountered many problems with the stat numbers so it took me longer than expected.) Man there is so much to do and it's getting harder for me to pick which to work on. | |
That looks great man. I remember when I first saw this topic and I was just dying to see what everything like the player and landscape would look like. Very professional.
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Thanks guys. I was afraid if you didn't like the font I used.
Right now I'm working out some graphical problems with big icons in an isometric map format. Then my next updates will probably be some classes/abilities preview. Stay tuned. | |
 I overhauled my entire UI. After doing some more research on other tactical based games, I found that there are some features that must be shown so that players can effectively plan their actions throughout the battle. Then, after I added those features, I felt that there was too much clutter on the screen (like final fantasy tactics and the hand held versions). So I remade the interface and took the style in a different direction so that it takes up less space. The most "clutter" that would be on the screen would be when your ability list is up, but that would only be there until you choose an ability or close the menu. You like? | |
Wow twin its looking awesome
simple question will it be PvP,if it is how will players talk to each other while in battle | |
I plan on having an arena type system in place where you could team and fight against other players. Although it won't be much trouble to implement, it will be one of the last things I make because it isn't a priority.
Player chat will be done with the typical output panel under the main window. There will also be another output panel to act as a combat log. It will be under the main window as well. They don't show up in the picture because I cropped it out to save some space in the post. | |
http://oi52.tinypic.com/2woiut0.jpg
http://oi54.tinypic.com/2i8fwc5.jpg
Otherwise, it looks good. I'd say stay with turn based battles.