BYOND Anime's site

So you want to make an Anime game?

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 02:03:16 +0000

Index

Introduction
Getting Started
Gathering Staff
Making Your Game
Closing Comments

Introduction

So you want to make a game based off of your favorite anime/manga? Well that's just fine, even if your dream game happens to be running around as Ichigo (see: Bleach) or Naruto (see: Naruto). Regardless of what anime you wish to make a fan game out of, it's still a game and needs to be planned out. Of course, there are several things to keep in mind, which will be discussed during this blog post. I'll be discussing some do's and don'ts, as well as give advice to help you succeed in releasing your project. Keep in mind that some people (jealous or troll) might try to push you down, but stay strong. Your devotion to your dream is all you need for it to become a reality.

Getting_Started

You've selected the anime/manga you wish to create a game out of and now you're probably wondering what to do next. Simple, plan things out. What kind of game will it be (Stragety, RPG, Action, etc), will it be a small project or a large project, how will the game play, and the list goes on. However, you don't want to flood yourself with too many questions or features at the beginning. Start off simple and build onto it.

Project: Bleach Game
Type: Action
Size: Small
Gameplay: Player will kill as incoming hollows until the time runs out.

You've come up with the basics of your project. That's good, however you'll eventually have to go into detail when creating your project. Such as, what features to add, how certain systems will work, etc. Creating a design document is very important because it'll hold the information you need to complete the project, as well as help you avoid the "What do I add now?" question. Several people I've met on BYOND tend to ignore a design document and it usually leads to their projects down fall (myself being a victim of this madness). A small example has been provided:

Design Document

Mob Information

Vars: Score (Increases per kill); Health (once it reaches 0, they die); Spirit (decreases each time a skill is used); Strength (how much damage the player can deal); Defense (reduces damage received)

Combat: Swordsmanship (Player uses the sword to slash hollows); Kidō (Player uses kidō to attack hollows from afar)

Server Information

Single Player only

Timer (the player has 2 minutes until the round ends)

Scoreboard (upload the players key and score after each round

Granted, the document is rather vague and short, but the general idea is still there. If you're not the programmer, it's usually a good idea to give as much detail as possible as to what you want.

Gathering Staff

With your design document finished, you feel like you're ready to start this game. Well, how does one find potential staff members to help your dream become a reality? You make a classified ad in hopes someone will take interest in your project. If you're placing a classified ad on BYOND, you should post it in either BYOND Anime's forum or BYOND Developer's forum. Of course you'd have to have some sort of template, and BYOND gives you one to start with. A reason a lot of classified ads don't go too well is because either the ad is horrible, or compensation is a must. Here's an example of what not to do.

Project Name
Bleach Game

Description
Number 1 gam liek noone see b4 on byond

Project Goal
2 b da best on byond

Skills Needed
coder
iconner
hoster
gfxer

Compensation
gm n edit verb

Contact Information
pager

Looking at several of these ads is ridiculous, especially considering I use to look for small jobs that were posted on the forums. For one, there is very little information provided which makes me, the potential staff member, think you're not serious about your project. Two, typos aren't professional at all; nobody wants to work for someone who can hardly spell their own name. Three, the compensation is horrible; nobody wants to moderate a game as payment. If you cannot provide compensation, that's fine, although a lot of people require money for their time spent on your dream. So let's fix up our classified ad and see how it looks. Granted if you can program or use pixel art, then focus on getting someone with the talent you lack skill in. In my case, I'm a programmer so I would only look for someone who can pixel:

Project Name
Bleach Game

Description
A single player game based on the popular anime, Bleach. The player takes the role of Rukia Kuchiki who has to use amazing swordsmanship and kidō abilities to take down the hostile and dangerous hollows.

Project Goal
To make a fun Bleach game for fellow Bleach fans.

Skills Needed
Pixel Artist: I need a pixel artist to help me put together a few sprites. Specifically a sprite of Rukia, two or three hollows, buildings and some techniques that represent kidō. More artwork will be needed, but those listed are my main priority.

Compensation
(if I cannot give money)
I cannot give money as compensation, but I'm willing to offer my services in return.

(if I can offer money)
Payment will be $100.

Contact Information
bleach_game@hotmail.com

The Ad looks a lot better, although it's still a bit vague. Sharing your ideas can be beneficial, and will most likely help gather more skilled artists/programmers. Again, money can really help you out, but if you don't have any to spare then don't worry about it. Also if you're looking for a pixel artist, try posting your ad in Art Society's forum or even go as far as posting outside of BYOND (see: Pixelation). If you need artwork for your title screen or artwork for your games hub, I suggest making a request or two at the Graphics Guild. Your effort and devotion to your game can take you far.

Making Your Game

Now that you have your staff, or even if nobody replied to your ad yet, start working on your game. Look at your document that you typed up and do the parts you can do (pixel art or programming). When your staff is working on their tasks, try not to constantly nag them about their job. Creating a game takes time, meaning patience is necessary. Although it's not recommended, try blogging about your game with detailed information to keep the community interested. This can help you direct your attention to your project, not to mention if you still need help, it can attract potential artists/programmers. Another thing to keep in mind is to release often. Don't try to add in everything at once. A good example of this is if I were to create a Bleach game, I would most likely release it once I have the first arc finished, then update it in bulks. Upon release it would have the basic classes (Shinigami, Quincy and Hollow), the upcoming update would feature shikai and kidō. If you cannot program, BYOND has tutorials to help you out, not to mention a guide. Granted the tutorials and guides are outdated, I'd still recommend you look over the DM Guide, and/or Getting Started which contains more links to help you learn the basics. Let's not forget that Forum_Account has been making blogs that contain tips to help out programmers. For those of you who want to learn how to pixel, browse online for tutorials, or you can look at these.

Closing Comments

Your devotion to your dream is all you need for it to become a reality.
Figuring out and writing down the basics of your game can be beneficial, especially when furthering it into a design document.
A design document is highly recommended, especially if you're hiring a programmer.
Grammar and detailed information are important when making a classified ad.
If you have people working on your project, don't constantly nag and harass them. This only pushes them away and result in them quitting.
Advertise your game outside of BYOND, even if it's a fan game.
Stealing/ripping artwork/programming is a no-no and frowned upon.
Try to release often.

Hidden Wind Clan - Revived

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:29:55 +0000

Index

BYOND Anime
Introduction
Getting Started
Playing The Game
Closing Comments

BYOND Anime

Due to recent events, such as employment and internet issues, BYOND Anime has been inactive for quite some time. We've decided that we'll be able to get the show on the road starting November. Although anime games aren't being created and submitted to the guild as fast as they use to, we plan on keeping the guild alive - whether it be blog posts about upcoming games, reviews on recent ones, or just overall sharing anime/manga with the community. Also, it's worth mentioning that we'll be having a contest sometime in November, so keep your eyes peeled. To get things started, this blog post is dedicated to a role-playing game that deserves some light, Hidden Wind Clan.

Introduction

Hidden Wind Clan was created by Nightmare3 back in 2006, and is based in the world of Naruto (specifically Kawagakure). Unlike most Naruto games I've come across, Hidden Wind Clan (HWC) is a role-playing game that does not feature PvP elements. This basically means if you're wanting to train your character, fight another player, do a mission, etc - you simply emote it. HWC does not feature player wipes (dubbed "pwipes"), which is great because within the past five years, a lot of history has been added to the game. The game is player-run, making decisions have consequences; choices characters make can change parts of the game for better or for worse. What a lot of role-playing games lack is the emotional ties between you and its virtual world, and that's exactly what this game provides.

Getting Started

To get started, simply post in the proper section in the forum. Of course, the forum has a layout as to what information you need to provide for your upcoming character. To avoid a lot of issues, it's always recommended to read two specific guides: General Information Guide and What Not To Do. The ability to join an existing clan is an option (see: clans), however you cannot join a clan that is from the manga/anime nor can you create your own. Also keep in mind that your character is what you make of it. For example, if you want to a villager who's dream is to become a merchant, then work your way up to it. Or, if you feel like being a badass ninja, well that's another thing you have to work towards. Given, shinobi start out as children (academy students), although it's not hard to advance to genin. As time goes by, you'll notice your character change, which is something interesting to experience. Finally, after adding in some general background information about your character, submit it and let a moderator know you've submited your character.

Forum: I know a lot of people dislike having to sign up to a forum to play the game, however, the forum and the game are intertwined. Whereas the game you actually play, the forum is where you can find some helpful information, not to mention in-character (IC) stuff tends to be posted there. A perfect example would be the usage of training logs. Whenever your character is finished training, you copy/paste your emotes to your training log on the forums as proof that your character is as strong as you claim. Due to lack of stats, there tends to be a lot of debate on who is stronger, and that's where the training logs come in.

Playing The Game

Your desired character is finished, now what? Well once your character is reviewed and accepted, you're given an Entrance Exam (EE). Basically this EE allows the moderators to determine how well you roleplay, and if you need help with grammar. The majority of the time this final step goes well, unless it's something such as:

*Player_A hitz da bad man cuz he b all up n my grill*
After the EE (assuming it's successful), the rest is up to you. If you want to learn more about the village or nearby villages, ask around (in-character). There are a lot of things your character can do, your only limit is your imagination. Now that I've said that, I might as well add that if you want something such as a weapon, or to have some sort of talent, it takes time to do so. Sometimes events take place, the screenshot (left) was taken during a village festival, specifically a cooking festival. Other times, you just find yourself surrounded by villagers. Whether the villagers are discussing recent events or having a disagreement, it comes down to having the initiative to join in on the current RP at hand; otherwise you won't experience much. Another thing to note, is that when playing your character, you should play as him/her, not for him/her. Basically don't do something using OOC (Out Of Character) knowledge to benefit your character. Rasengan is a well-known technique when it comes to Naruto, but using OOC information isn't allowed, especially when used to benefit yourself. Granted, you can train and develop your own abilities over time (duration depends on various factors). Whether you're playing with friends or new faces, this game has a ton of potential waiting to be taken advantage of.

Closing Comments

Although it takes time, creating your character via forum is necessary and beneficial.
While the game lacks PvP elements (such as the common "attack" verb), it's great for those who enjoy role-playing.
Each character is different, which can lead to embracing them or resenting them.
With five years of player-driven history behind it, Hidden Wind Clan continues to grow.
Friendly staff members ready to help both veterans and newbies alike.
Whether you range from being new to role-playing to being an experienced role-player, everyone is welcome to join Hidden Wind Clans' community.

Welcome!

Wed, 03 Aug 2011 08:41:01 +0000

Hello BYONDers, welcome to the "new" BYOND Anime. As some of you may have already noticed, I have finally finished the CSS for the guild. All that is left to fix are the borders for the forum comments and to get in contact with Tom so he may replace the current avatar with a new one I've created to match the guild's CSS. I've also taken the time to update the game submission guidelines which can be found on the guild's front page. As Teka posted a few weeks ago, the guild has officially been revived now that the finishing touches are complete. Considering we're reviving the guild, we also feel new rules are to be made as well as enforced. The rules are as follows:

Game Submissions: - Comments are limited to the topic starter, BYOND Anime staff member, and game owner.
Classified Ads: - Although some people are appreciative that you want to help "fix" the topic starter's ad, only comment if you're interested in their ad. If you're not interested or if you dislike their idea, ignore it.

For future reference, we're going to be holding a contest very soon. Details aren't available at the given moment, but I feel like keeping you guys in the loop with what happens here. Also, sometime this week I plan on reviewing the game of the month. For those of you who do not know, every month we select a game in the guild to become the game of the month. Upon becoming the game of the month, we type up a review and post it for all of you to see. Every game of the month is posted on the front page of BYOND Anime. This month's game of the month is Duel Monsters Genesis by EternalDuelistSoul. I've played this game for a very long time now and I enjoy it as much as everyone else who plays it. If you're a fan of the actual trading card game, then you will like this game.

Last but not least I want to ask a favor of all anime game developers here. As you can see in the new CSS, the guild's banner currently has some sprites around the logo. If anyone would like to contribute any sprites(they must be original and have decent quality) from their anime games to put up along with the current ones submitted by Pokemon Z staff and NNG staff, you may contact me at Shattered_Mikeh_1990[AT]hotmail[DOT]com.

Byond Anime Revival.

Fri, 15 Jul 2011 23:47:36 +0000

BYOND Anime has been sitting idle for months since the new site change came out and Guilds became pretty much irrelevant, but I've decide that i want to breath a bit of life into the old boy yet.

First Thing i did was change the CCS though it's very basic, Hopefully MDC will create better GFX soon, I don't think this CSS came out as good as i'de hope so i don't know if it's for better or worse, but i wasn't keen on the previous Japanese building image, but anyway it Can and Will be improved.

I have then decided to re arrange the Staff in the guild with inactive staff members being given a rank of former staff, and i have been constructing a new team.
Currently Stephen001 is the co runner of the guild as he was leading it before, and i have taken in MDC to help me administrate the site, and Cyberlord to help moderate.

What i wish to do with the guild.

I plan to make it useful for people interested in anime.
There will be monthly competitions with the reward of a Byond membership (needs discussing).
Original Anime games of Good standard will be added to the guild.
The Guild will have a featured section that will display 4 games, which will stay there for a week and will then change to a different set of games the next week and so on, to give equal publicity to the games in this guild.
More Regular Anime Reviews & Anime Game reviews.
Update Blog post's about up coming and new anime games.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Since AcWraith does not mention anime games, and there is no strict policy about anime game discussion set in stone, i may start doing mini reviews or news updates on up and coming anime games on Byond similar to his posts.

Also there is going to be a bigger Crack down on ripped Pokemon games due to me not being so familiar with programming of such games i have let too many games slip by. Yusuke13 is a new Byond volunteer and will be more vigilant with the Pokemon games and his programming knowledge to spot the games that have not been modified enough.

Now.. i think i'm going to go sort out the Key tags. and MDc's gonna play with the CSS.

Game Listings Clean-up

Wed, 12 Jan 2011 02:25:07 +0000

Below is a list of games I have removed for apparent inactivity:

Pokémon Trainers Challenge
Pokemon Challenger
Digimon Sagas
Naruto - New Dawn
Dungeon Dice Monsters Online
Pokemon RP Reborn

This brings our listings down to 34 games. In particular we are very keen to explore BYOND games of an Anime / Eastern theme that are a little more niche, say super robot, Japanese Meiji period games (end of Samurai etc), magical girl etc. Basically whatever you like! Similarly, non-action and non-RPG games will be viewed very favourably, with us looking to assist in your development and hosting if you require. Submissions can be made here, and requests for assistance here.

I've also severely reduced the pool of contributors, due to inactivity. We're keen to bring on board a more active role in development of Anime games, so artists, programmers, self-motvated organised and diligent testers etc. Please just pop and introduction of yourself and your work (important) on the forums under Guild Discussion.

As a new BYOND Anime project, we're also looking for web developers to assist in a few early ideas to help promote your Anime games to the wider world more! Again, please just drop us a message on the Guild Discussion forum, thanks!

RAW 13: Casshern Sins

Sun, 02 Jan 2011 04:12:30 +0000

Casshern Sins

Enter the world of Casshern Sins. A world where humans and robots once coexisted, now a wasteland where only the luckiest of humans have managed survived and even the immortal robots are degrading into rust. The cause of all of this - the apparent death of all materials, living or not - being attributed to something called "the ruin."

Casshern, our main character, has no memories of his past, except for telling someone called "Luna" he is going to kill her. Constantly assaulted by hordes of robots, claiming that if they take his head, they will "end the ruin." One thing he does know is that he is not affected by the ruin. His body is perfect, and any time he is wounded, it regenerates almost instantly. He also goes into a trance whenever his life is threatened, killing anyone and everything in his way.

It's hard to go into detail about this series without spoiling, but basically, Casshern goes on a quest to find his memories, figure out who he is, to find out why he's immortal, to try and stop his "killing trances," and to find out what he has to do with this "ruin" that is destroying the world.

Any fan of action, mystery, drama, and psychological stuff will probably enjoy this series, as there is quite a bit of it. I think it also has emphasis on respecting life, as Casshern travels around the decaying world and meeting people trying to survive, or trying to cope with the fact that their loved ones and even they are dying.

Personally, I consider this one of my top 10 favorite series.

Dragonball RTS

Sun, 31 Oct 2010 23:50:22 +0000

So, roughly a couple months ago I had made an article relating to the ideal of an RTS Dragonball-themed game that would potentially benefit y'all in one way or another. The ideal of this article, is not to have you think I'm going to be developing such a game, but to get anyone of you that wants something to do, a head-start or a push in the right direction. Not all of this article is to be taken 100% to the T. You may, obviously, change some things around to better suite your needs.

So, onward to the juice of the fruit. When thinking about Dragonball based games on BYOND, we stereotypically think of the wanna-be MMO's and the RPGs, and there are a few new styles coming out that are Team-Based/Round-Based. These games are nice and all, but only if it's done correctly. Some of you may have known Dragonball Zeta in it's glory years. The game today has no beneficial value due to it's shoddy work and highly out-dated mechanics of a video game. But back in it's origins, Dragonball Zeta broke into the Anime scene, and in my opinion started the Anime-Based BYOND Games, with a hard-hitting fact that this was an Anime game which you could play.

I'm not much of an RPG/MMO kind of gamer, hell I'm not really much of a gamer to begin with. But when I think of these games, I think there's no real content other than the ability to simulate a single character to fulfill your desires and dreams of being an Anime character in the series/franchise. Well, simulators are nice, but do we really want to grind down to hitting P-Bags and Saibamen all day? Yeah, not so much fun when you get past a certain playing point.

A good game genre, ironically I don't favor too much, is RTS or Real-Time-Strategy. This sort of game-play offers a potentially unlimited amount of fun if you don't limit the players to playing linear quests and objectives.

Now, we can sit here and debate about this more, or we can get something done:

-- A list of facts to take into consideration --

(A) - Playable Characters Pt.1.

There is a variety of characters in the Anime that range in various differences such as race, appearance, abilities and so on. But one that sticks out is Alignment. Good and Evil. When categorizing your playable characters, start with the sub-category of Good and Evil. The ideal is to have a Good Side and an Evil Side in the game.

(B) - Two Factions / Two Forces.

Since we have organized the playable characters into two sides, we can now place the characters where they belong and maybe, if you really wanted to get in-depth, add more sub-categories for their Race/Origin Planet.
Frieza would obviously be placed in Evil while Goku is in Good. This way, only Evil Players can buy Frieza and only Good Players can buy Goku. Some characters are difficult such as Vegeta since he switches teams from Evil to Good. So maybe offer a time-line so to speak. Saiyan-Saga Vegeta is evil while Cell-Saga Vegeta is good.
You can do this either from an In-Game Time-Line or just let players use the past, present and future to their disposal.

(C) - The Grunt Life.

Obviously you don't want a bunch of Gokus and Vegetas running around. Have each side as a set-team. By this I mean if Player A from Good Side purchased Goku and Goku is already on the Field, Player B from Good cannot purchase Goku until the current Goku is dead and re-unlocked from Revival. After-Life Goku would be a separate pawn from regular Goku.
You'll also want some normal builder pawns. These can be Saibaman for Planet Vegeta, Humans for Planet Earth, Spirits for After-Life and so forth. They have the ability to build structures, re-plant the world and so on. They are easily killed by most main characters.

(D) - The World Pt.1.

Each planet, for the most part, as the ability to grow plants, maintain water, and so on. These wouldn't serve much use to the common newbie but they will serve a lot of use because resources turns into build-able items like Food, Structures and so on. Food will be able to regenerate a character's health. Structures can be built for Characters to Train, Travel, Build Technology and etc.

(E) - The World Pt.2.

Technology would be a focal point. Scouters can be made, space pods, dragon radars, advanced clothing/weights, training machines. You get the ideal. Weights would slow down a character, but offer more experience. Experience should be gained only from fighting. Fighting will improve experience and certain statistics significantly. Training is only for means of improving certain statistics when there is no fighting going on.
There are some key structures that shouldn't be build-able to keep in mind. The Hyperbolic Time Chamber, a.k.a. the HTC -- Do NOT spell it HBTC. It's HTC -- for example can only be opened if a Guardian is on the field and alive/active. The HTC would offer a sort of time-travel so that characters can go forward to unlock other characters ahead of time like Majin Vegeta or SS2 Gohan this way players can't directly ruin the gameplay of others by taking their sweet time.

(F) - Playable Characters Pt.2.
Now, to unlock a certain character, events must either unfold or a player needs to gain enough Points. I would recommend a Points system but do not over-power characters in exchange for little to no Points. The strong are strong, so you must be strong to get them unlocked... so to speak.
I would offer a huge variety of characters at players' disposal. From Saibamen to Demons to Frieza to Lord Slug. We all have our favorite characters and many games don't take into consideration that we aren't all golden-hair, monkey-obsessed freaks.
Characters should also have at the minimum 4 Attacks.
<> The standard Melee -- I would recommend basing your attack system to loop the Melee attack when you select a Character and then target an Enemy.

<> Basic Ki/Energy Attack (Maybe Fly or Ki-Blast or Power-Control)

<> Special 1. (Saiyan-Saga Goku's primary might be Kaioken).

<> Special 2. (Saiyan-Saga Goku's secondary might be Kamehameha).

(G) - Conclusion.

Just when a story gets good, you are interrupted, no? Well, I'm going to leave this as a cliff-hanger. Let your imaginations soar wild and have a good time developing.

Also, on a side note, although I don't like to participate in holidays... Have a safe and wonderful Halloween.

-- Maximus_Alex
(Editor Note: My apologies to the author, I mis-clicked)

A small discourse in engineering philosophy

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 14:24:34 +0000

In response to a request from Divine Traveller, I have recently reviewed a library provided by Flick, called F_Damage. Some of you may be using it in your games currently. It is essentially a very small library, that provides you with a means of showing a number above some player / enemies head temporarily, a kind of hit marker for damage taken or healing.

It's a nice little library in itself, providing a good little battle effect that's quite tried and trusted among more professional development circles for RPGs and some strategies. The issue Divine Traveller seemed to note is that as part of it's processing, it creates a new icon, coloured according to your requirement. This he believed was a computationally expensive process, and not being cached, contributed to making F_Damage computationally expensive in kind. While I can't say for sure, it appears he isn't alone in this view.

Taking their experience in these matters at face value, I set about lessening the computational strain of this otherwise pleasant effect, that I would encourage others to consider as a possible means of visual feedback to players. At Divine Traveller and Lummox JR's recommendation, some caching of this created icon was in order. At this point I would like you to spend a few minutes having a little think about this issue. How would you cache this custom coloured icon, so it can be re-used in subsequent calls when appropriate.

My starting point was to assess the user, and their likely requirements, from a common sense stand-point. The users of F_Damage are likely to be RPG / Action type developers. F_Damage does provide the option to customise the colour of the damage icons shown with any old colour you like.

However, these developers are probably only going to display a few different colours, to represent a limited set of concepts. Too many different colours, and their users will get confused (magenta numbers ... what does that signify again??). Now I don't know what the colours will be, but I know there will probably only be a few different ones.

The other main observation is that F_Damage will probably be called with fair frequency. It won't be insane like hundreds of calls per second, but damage in those sorts of games is a core mechanic.

This translates into some potentially useful properties for our caching. We will have a fairly limited range of values to cache which will be hit fairly frequently.

Our aims for the cache are thus:

Optimal or sub-optimal performance, which is brought about by high cache hit success rates. - Cache misses cost time to build the icon again.
No changes to the F_Damage interface, minimal intrusion on other people's environment. - It's a library, already currently in use. Fiddling with the interface or intruding on their environment means people are less likely to move over to using the new version.

Now onto the solution.

The cache itself is fairly simple. I suspect a number of you will have chosen something like ... an associative list? Makes sense, mapping a colour string to the appropriately coloured icon. This scales very well to large numbers of cached entries, as it happens. I didn't do this.

Some of the more observant of you will have noticed this list needs pruning. If you just keep adding entries, you have an effective memory leak in the case where outliers exist. Outliers would be the odd call with a quirky colour, possibly randomly generated, that isn't used often.

Perhaps to solve this you kept a record of when the entry was last used, maybe in a datum with the entry itself, and spawn()ed a persistent loop that sleep()s for a long while, and checks the cache periodically for unused entries? I didn't do this.

Here's why:

The associative list just wasn't needed. It's not a bad idea, but it's not essential either. We know that the number of entries we probably need to store is small, so we don't have to use the associative list's "rapid lookup" properties to be quick. It's preferable to use them, but if we have some other more pressing design issue, we don't need to.
The persistent loop cleanup is well suited to large caches that need infrequent pruning, but incurs a bit of a penalty by virtue of being up to the soft scheduler to decide when it runs, along with everything else the soft scheduler has to do with a game. We have a small cache, and frequent (but not too frequent) pruning would keep it small.

And here's the solution I chose:

Cache
    var/list/entries = new()

    get(var/key)
        var/result = null
        for(var/CacheEntry/C in entries)
            if (C.key == key)
                result = C.hit()
            else
                C.miss()
        return result

    put(var/key, var/value)
        var/CacheEntry/C = new(key, value, 10)
        entries.Add(C)

CacheEntry
    var
        key
        value
        timer

    New(var/key, var/value, var/timer = 10)
        src.key   = key
        src.value = value
        src.timer = timer

    proc
        hit()
            timer = 10
            return value

        miss()
            timer--
            if (timer == 0)
                del(src)

The pruning is done by virtue of F_Damage being called frequently, as cache misses decrease the entry's timer until it hits 0, then the entry deletes itself and the cache icon is cleaned up.

The "rapid lookup" property of an associative list wasn't used, to allow the entry to clean itself up without having to know of the existence of the parent Cache object. The performance difference on a small cache is negligable, but allows good encapsulation of the CacheEntry, and Cache simply takes care of insertion and cache lookup.

The value of 10 for the timer is examplary, but happens to work quite well for F_Damage. It acts as an informal limit on the cache size, you can't really store more items than that number, as entries will expire. If a hit is not met in 10 calls, then it's not used frequently enough, and evicted. In discussion with Divine Traveller, we decided ~5 entries are likely to be commonly used, and they would probably survive this timer process okay. If eviction proved too aggressive, you'd simply increase this number.

Some will note "performance issues" with this design, such as the need to inspect all entries to find a match and maintain the timer mechanism, every call. To which I'd fully agree, but note they don't matter because the expected use scenario mitigates them and by design this issue cannot grow out of hand. The goals dictate the alternative (a persistent loop) was not desirable.

It is goals that should drive your design at all times. Not just a matter of "what am I doing", but "why am I doing it" and "what is important". A design that doesn't obey a small and clear set of goals at all times is prone to failure.

People usually don't like restricting their goals to a small number. We all want our code to be flexible as hell, super efficient in both performance and memory use and elegant. However in trying all of these, people suffer "frameworkism", where-by their code fails to meet it's original objective, because by design it was meant to meet not just a few goals, but all goals, and by consequence in implementation meets none of the goals.

The ability to discern key goals before starting a design is the programmer's greatest aid to clarity and effective software, in my opinion. Just thought I'd share why.

Helpful Tips for Programmers: "Library Sources"

Thu, 30 Sep 2010 03:49:44 +0000

Well guys, sorry for my little "hiatus". I'm back now though! Still looking for ideas for future HTP posts! I will be scouring the forums, but feel free to page me, email me(cka12895@gmail.com), or post in the suggestion topic, informing me of any common problems you see that need explained!

Now, on to the entry.

Ever started programming a game, stop, then come back to it? How many times has it happened, and you have to start over, because you just cannot sort out your unorganized code? I know it happened a lot to me when I was just starting out. There is an easy fix to this, though. Make all of your functions like you are making a library.

In this post, I will show you a simple example of using a series of procedure to achieve one(1) result; all controlled by initiating one(1) procedure.

All right. In this example, we will cause a simple player-NPC conversation to happen. We will be using three(3) procedures, not counting the pre-defined Login procedure.

Let's start off by defining our name as "You" and make a NPC mob thats name is "NPC". Simple, right?

mob
    name = "You"
    NPC
        name="NPC"

Right.

Now, lets start defining our procedures. I will start by making a Start_Talking procedure.

mob
    name = "You"
    NPC
        name="NPC"
mob
    proc
        Start_Talking(mob/user,mob/_user, list/user_text, interval)

Simple enough. We have it made, and have some arguments. Now, what do these arguments do?
user: This is the client.
_user: This is the NPC.
user_text: This is a list that will have text associated with numbers. This will be explained more later.
interval: This is the time, in ticks, it will take before the next message is displayed.

Now, lets do some checking to avoid critical errors. Checking for simple things like this is highly recommended, for a small mistake could cause a whole game to crash, yet not give an error in the compiler.

mob
    name = "You"
    NPC
        name="NPC"
mob
    proc
        Start_Talking(mob/user,mob/_user, list/user_text, interval)
            ASSERT(user_text.len >= 1)
            ASSERT(isnum(interval))

The ASSERT procedure does this job well. These to ASSERTs will check to make sure that there is something in the user_text list, and that the interval argument is a number. We cant use sleep with text, now can we?

Alright. Now, lets make another procedure to handle displaying the text. Let's call it Talk().

mob
    name = "You"
    NPC
        name="NPC"
mob
    proc
        Start_Talking(mob/user,mob/_user, list/user_text, interval)
            ASSERT(user_text.len >= 1)
            ASSERT(isnum(interval))

        Talk(mob/user,txt)
            ASSERT(istext(txt))
            world << "[user]: [txt]"

Alright. Two(2) arguments in this one. Pretty simple.
user: This is the person talking.
txt: This is what the user says.

Alright. This procedure just makes sure that txt is a text value, and then displays it, with the user's name.

Now, back to the Start_Talking procedure. To make the speech automated, we will use a for loop procedure.

mob
    name = "You"
    NPC
        name="NPC"
mob
    proc
        Start_Talking(mob/user,mob/_user, list/user_text, interval)
            ASSERT(user_text.len >= 1)
            ASSERT(isnum(interval))
            for(var/speech=1,speech<= user_text.len, speech++)

        Talk(mob/user,txt)
            ASSERT(istext(txt))
            world << "[user]: [txt]"

The for loop can be a confusing concept at first, but once you get the order down, it is easy to understand.

It tests things in a set order; It uses the first argument, and checks if the second one is true. If it is true, then it executes everything indented under the loop. After it finishes that, it executes the last argument, then starts over until the second argument is not true.

In this case, it uses the variable, speech, which is set to 1. It checks to see if speech is less than or equal to the length of the user_text list. We will define things that go under this next.

Ok, I added a new procedure and a few lines under the for loop in this next piece.

mob
    name = "You"
    NPC
        name="NPC"
mob
    proc
        Start_Talking(mob/user,mob/_user, list/user_text, interval)
            ASSERT(user_text.len >= 1)
            ASSERT(isnum(interval))
            for(var/speech=1,speech<= user_text.len, speech++)
                if(!Is_Even(speech))
                    Talk(user,user_text["[speech]"])
                else Talk(_user,user_text["[speech]"])
                sleep(interval)
            del(user)

        Talk(mob/user,txt)
            ASSERT(istext(txt))
            world << "[user]: [txt]"

        Is_Even(number as num)
            var/_number = number/2
            _number = num2text(_number)
            if(findtext(_number,"."))
                return 0
            else return 1

Alright, now to explain it all.

I added a Is_Even procedure. This just checks to see if a number is an even number, by dividing it by 2. It then converts the number to a text format, and looks for a decimal. If there is one, it returns 0, saying that the number was not even. If there isn't, it returns 1, saying that it is even.

Now, under the for loop, I used this procedure. It uses Is_Even to check speech. If it is not even, it calls Talk in the way that shows that You said it. If it is even, it calls Talk as if it was the NPC that said it.

Then, it waits for the interval(In this case, 10), then the for loop executes again. Once it finishes, it deletes the user(client).

Alright, now that we have this all set up, it is time to use it.

mob
    Login()
        . = ..()
        var/mob/NPC=new /mob/NPC
        var/list/user_text=list("1"="Hey there, how are you?",\
        "2"="Fine, how about you?","3"="I'm fine.  Weather's nice, huh?",\
        "4"="Yup.","5"="Well, I am going to get out of here.  Bye!","6"="Alright, bye!")
        Start_Talking(src,NPC,user_text,10)

When the player logs in, it creates a new NPC. Then, it defines a list, using numbers associated with messages. Then, it calls Start_Talking, using the appropriate mob arguments, the list defined before, and an interval of 10(1 second). After that, Start Talking handles everything.

Use this code to make your own similar example, and watch what happens!

In case you don't get the point of this post, I will elaborate. Don't underestimate the power of multiple, strung together procedures! A few procedures, created by your and/or pre-defined, can produce amazing results when strung together, sometimes able to be handled with one call of a procedure!

"Also, strictly speaking on Code... Try to develop your systems to be independent. What I mean by this is try to create your systems as if they were Plug'N'Play or Libraries. This will serve good use if you ever make another project or if you want to add/remove a system in your current project with ease."
- Maximus_Alex2003

Manga: Scanning and Cleaning

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 22:25:23 +0000

Well, a lot of stuff lead to this, but over the past few weeks, I really got the urge to experiment with this. It has been on my mind for a long time, and when I finally realized I had the resources to make it happen, I did it.

2 days ago, I took my first volume of Blade of the Immortal and cut it up. My first priority was to remove the cover from the pages, so I did what most people would probably think of. I took a small, sharp, thin knife, and I cut through the binding (the glue holding the cover and pages together). This actually worked amazingly well, and I ended up only accidently damaging the cover when I was being careless with the knife. The first thing I did was run and scan the cover, using my fabulous scanner.

Blade of the Immortal, Volume 1 (cover)

The first thing I thought was it looked pretty fantastic. I had forgotten how awesome this scanner was, considering how expensive it was. Unfortunately, I also noticed that the creases caused by the binding were awful. Which is still a huge issue I have yet to find an answer to. Also, as you can see, some of it was cut off. The book is pretty wide when laid out (and tall), which would require I scan both sides separately. But I only did this as a test, so it was good enough.

Now I had a big stack of pages, glued together at the base. The pages pulled out rather cleanly, so I scanned the first couple pages to see the quality.

Scan 1
Scan 2

This excited me, because the pages were AWESOME. I hardly had to do any editing at all. Change the black levels, resize, tilt, and everything will be great.

Scan 2 (edit)

The error I found with this is, the light seems to show through to the back of the page. This is especially noticable on the man's face on the bottom (the lighter and darker parts are caused by black lines between panels), though that is easily fixable.

One thing I noticed about the pages was that there was small, but significant tearing on the sides where the glue was. Normally, this doesn't present any troubles because the edges of the pages are generally blank anyway, but on double page spreads, this would destroy a lot of detail. I've seen this a lot in scanned pages, and I didn't want this to happen to my scans...

So I found the first double spread I could find. Unfortunately, the tearing was present, and one of the pages was pretty badly damaged. I scanned both pages at once so it would be easier to estimate. It was hard to tell where the damage began, especially on the upper page...

Spread (scan)

So I basically just cut out the middle part completely, as I have no idea how I would even begin trying to figure out how I would possibly consider fixing it.

Spead (edit)

To me, this is unacceptable. I think it's okay, and I think compared to a lot of double spread scans I've seen, it's pretty good. But if possible, I want for every single detail to be perfect... though I've found that is basically impossible.

Later on, I refined my method of separating the pages and cover from the binding. All it requires is a bit of hot air to soften the glue, and everything comes off very nicely. Hair drier, irons, heck, a microwave. All of these are acceptable ways of loosening the glue to remove the pages. I have also used all 3 of these methods, and they are significantly easier than cutting the binding with a knife. Honest.

One thing I was really focusing on was getting the pages out with absolutely no damage. Using some of the more extreme methods, I have managed to completely remove the glue from the pages and take out the process of pulling the pages from the glue all together. Through this, I have come to the conclusion that the majority of these pages are just damaged, period. There is no way to salvage them. There is tattering along the edges of almost every page, regardless. Some are picture perfect, some are terrible.

Unfortunately, it seems this varies from comic to comic and from page to page, and I assume is a result of the process used to bind them, depending on who/where/what is doing it. It's hard to say, since I don't know much about it. I just know... pages are borked. Another thing to note is, paper from different distributors can and will be different from others. My BOTI pages are bleach-white, smooth as eggs, and require little-to-no editing. Some of my other ones have a yellow tint, the paper is noticably rough, etc... and requires a bit more editing.

Compare HxH to BoTI.

[edit: I felt the need to edit the HxH scan, to show off my skills, and show that it's possible. Just gotta clean the corner from there, and fix some spots manually.]

As of right now, this is the best cover I have managed to scan and edit...

Scan - Edit

I'm still trying to find ways to remove the crease... I'm convinced it's impossible, but I'll keep trying.

PS: My scanner actually scans in a RIDICULOUSLY high resolution. That volume 4 cover actually was scanned and saved as a 6300x9800 image. I can see every impurity in the paper. I'd link it, but I don't think there are any sites that would host a 40mb image.

It's pretty great.