Falacy's site

Monster Kingdom

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 16:44:29 +0000

The random cave generator has been updated, and can now generate caves of various material types, through the change of a single text variable. This is an example of the new Mine type caves that can be created. Compared to the standard caves that were in the early public alpha test.

I'm still trying to decide how I want to handle these caves. Currently, it generates a new cave for every player when they enter the cave. However, I'd like to have a more multiplayer feel to it, so you can wander the caves and see other players around. At the same time, I want to put the generator to good use, and get a lot of random caves going. There is also the issue of those items scattered around the caves being loot that you can sell later for gold (and maybe use for crafting, if I implement that), and caves would quickly get looted empty if everyone was sharing the same one.

Perhaps I'll just add an option for both...

Server Crashing

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 23:38:23 +0000

Restarted the server again, after another BYOND crash. Filed a bug report, so maybe they'll be able to fix something.

Tom

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 20:03:58 +0000

The fun times conversation I had with Tom last night (or technically early this morning):

On 4/21/2011 8:42 PM, Strai wrote (in an e-mail to Tom):

Was this you?
http://www.byond.com/members/ Falacy?command=view_post&post=112292
http://www.byond.com/members/ Falacy?command=view_post&post=112295

Date: Thu, 21 Apr 2011 21:01:22 -0700

No it was not, but I agree with the decision. You've made your distaste for all things BYOND quite clear, and I don't see any reason (besides the apparently minor income) for you to continue to be a part of this community. I had some misguided faith that you would change (since in our chats you were cordial enough), and tried to encourage you by promoting your game posts and tutorials. That was a waste of time. Continue to insult me or the other volunteers here and the first thing to go will be your blog, and after that, all of your games (the DBZ fiasco has made me realize that even pulling popular games has little effect). I suggest you just move on at this point.

Tom

On 4/22/2011 1:14 AM, Strai wrote:

> and tried to encourage you by promoting your game posts and tutorials.

Orly? When I was attempting to get my game re-listed, you threw some vague threats at me, like you always do, then insultingly lumped the game in with all of the other suppressed material. Now its generally relisted, but not featured, or in any other way specially "promoted" as far as I can tell. Same goes for my tutorials, they were moved to the developer section, but anything even vaguely related to development seems to end up there. Or do you just mean you supported them, by posting friendly comments?

> I don't see any reason (besides the apparently minor income) for you to continue to be a part of this community

Its been that way for quite a while, but I seem to be stuck. After the NEStalgia/copyright fiasco, and seeing what is considered acceptable around BYOND, I really see no reason for Anyone to stay around.
I'm not a people person (in case you couldn't tell =P), and I'm not going to give you special treatment just because you started the engine. Honestly, I'd rather never even have to deal with you, but the situation around BYOND is so bad that its almost required, and you seem to go out of your way to contact me. I'd like to think I'm an asset to BYOND, and am probably the most well known person on the site, even if it is for a somewhat infamous reputation. I've been practically the only developer to maintain a steady/increasing player base, one of the few to release halfway playable games, one of, if not the only one who steadily releases new projects and updates existing ones, not to mention, the general "contributions" that I make to all other aspects of the site. If you're just going to treat me like any random user, then I have no interest in supporting something that's fated against me. If you want to develop a working relationship, or even just a personal one, with consistent contact, and/or officially accepted contributions from both sides, then that's another story.

>I had some misguided faith that you would change (since in our chats you were cordial enough)

I'd say I have, just in the opposite direction you were hoping for. If anything, you and your moderators have gone out of your way to hinder me at every turn, in every way, and then you expect me to give you blind support in return?

If you want me to support the engine, then you need to be willing to give it the overhaul that it needs, and to take my advice in various situations, especially since half the time you're asking for it.
- You've invested more time into less worthwhile features than pixel movement, something that is ridiculously basic, and yet not included in any way. Working ass backwards to get it implemented into our games shouldn't even come into consideration, but it apparently does, and yet one of the few features still required to make pixel movement feasible for us, you seem to be unwilling to implement, because it would require a single new variable? All games, automatically 32 times better, seems worth it to me. And unlike isometrics, I'd be willing to bet that every new game created after pixel movement's implementation, would opt to use it. Though it would be somewhat difficult, if even possible at all, pixel movement as a backwards compatible toggle would be an amazing advancement for BYOND games as a whole.
- Easy to use, flexible, visually appealing, efficient HUD systems need to be built in. HUDs are another feature that no game should be able to get away without having, but majority of BYOND games don't have them. Directly, or indirectly, these HUD systems should phase out the need/want to use interfaces, and BYOND games should basically just become interactive map controls. Another change that should be a general improvement for BYOND games as a whole.
- The engine needs a major performance boost. Both on the server side, and on the client's. Things like alpha transparency cause ridiculous amounts of lag for players, as can vast fields of animated turfs.
- Profilers need to be beefed up, and there needs to be network (and possibly other) information profiled - perhaps all on a single profiler. For some reason, no built in functions are profiled by default, even ones that can be overridden to cause such an effect? Myself and others have made various profiler related requests on the tracker, but I figure they go unnoticed since so few users of BYOND are developers.
- The installation needs to go away, be more worthwhile, or be seamlessly implemented into the process of connecting to a game. The pager needs to be more integral, instead of some stand-alone icon at the bottom of the task bar that does almost nothing. If the pager was more equivalent to Steam, then installation would be much less of an issue. A change from what the pager is now, to something more Steam-like, doesn't even seem like that big of a project. You are, at least, working on the Flash client, seemingly to resolve this, but that doesn't seem to be the best way to address the issue, if that even was your intention.
- Stop using anonymous volunteers. This has got to be the most failtastic moderation concept I've ever come across. Its like officially supported, god-mode trolling. Admins should be clearly marked at all times. Any time they take an administrative action, it should say "[admin.name] did whatever", not just some generic message. They should also follow very strict, publicly visible guidelines, and you (or one of them) should review and have supreme authority over all situations.
- You also need to hire at least one team of official developers to make a game, or multiple games, to show what the engine is capable of. As it stands now, BYOND is unacceptably represented by NEStalgia, as far as I'm concerned. As I said in one of those posts you liked so much (zing!), how many people are going to be interested in making and/or playing an NES wannabe? There needs to be something of much higher quality to draw people in, and there should be a dedicated team, that works in close relation with the developers of the software (or even a team comprised of the software developers themselves), to create what are basically tech demos, showing off the best of everything that the engine is capable of. Reporting back bugs, and requesting features that should take priority. These results should then be the officially supported games, used to promote and represent BYOND. If I'm not mistaken, Unity makes use of this promotional concept, as does the Unreal engine.

Though it isn't as relevant, the website's support form needs to be overhauled as well. That thing is just ineffective and condescending.

> the DBZ fiasco has made me realize that even pulling popular games has little effect

Almost all of those games are still up, some being advertised elsewhere, some just floating around in online limbo, all you did was pull them from a hub that apparently nobody uses (which you're trying to threaten me with, and point out as irrelevant at the same time?). Some of those games are probably even re-listed on the BYOND hub, and just staying halfway hidden.
I think NEStalgia has more than proven outside advertising as the way to go. If a game that bad can get so many players (by BYOND's standards at least, pathetic otherwise), just think how many players a well designed, visually appealing, addicting game, with competent servers could maintain...

Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 01:38:27 -0700

Here is your basic problem, Strai/Falacy: you are narcissistic and paranoid. Neither I nor the mods have gone out of our way to persecute you. Your post was suppressed for the same reason many posts are suppressed, which is that it was insulting, not only to BYOND but to other users. I really don't know what you are crying about. Maybe it was the comment about it being "bullcrap" but let's call a spade a space-- you aren't some innocent bystander here. If you had left it at the first few paragraphs where you were discussing your updates, not only would it have been accepted but it would have been put on the games page with your other update announcements. Maybe that doesn't mean a thing but it is the best we can do for internal advertising at the moment.

I have never had anything against you except when you decide to call us incompetent or noobs or whatever your word of the day is. It is actually quite comical considering the source. Understand this: you aren't half as intelligent as you think you are and pretty much everyone involved in this project can code circles around you. Fortunately for you, writing DM code is a lot easier than writing the BYOND code. Of course you don't understand this and that's why you seem to think that implementing such things as built-in pixel movement (to a tile based engine) or efficient HUDs in a server-based platform is trivial. You are free to make suggestions but just because we don't implement them doesn't mean we don't want to-- it's just that is not always easy. FYI, we actually do use the feature tracker and happen to be working on a better profiling tool at the moment, but I'm sure you'll find some way to pick that apart.

Anyway, at this point I am fed up with you and am asking you to move on. The system isn't going to improve at the pace you want and I am sick of your insults. Maybe that's not your fault because you don't know how to talk to people, but that's really not my problem. I suggest that you stop developing for BYOND because you aren't going to get any more support from us (and to think I was considering working with you to port one of your games to Flash, like we're doing with NEStalgia, how f'n delusional was I?)

Just move onto Unity already. You keep talking about it, but I know you won't do anything about it, because here you fancy yourself as a big fish in a small pond, and there you will be nobody. You bash us endlessly but no other community will let your games get the exposure they have here. If you don't believe me, go ahead and prove me wrong. Make yourself a success.

Just do it somewhere else.

On 4/22/2011 2:11 AM, Strai wrote:

> and to think I was considering working with you to port one of your games to Flash

Flash is going to require your personal support?

> writing DM code is a lot easier than writing the BYOND code. Of course you don't understand this

I understand that perfectly. That has little to do with you "coding circles around me", however. If I had spent every day for the last 5+ years working with C++, or whatever other language, I'm sure I would be just as proficient in it as I am with DM.

> and that's why you seem to think that implementing such things as built-in pixel movement (to a tile based engine) or efficient HUDs in a server-based platform is trivial.

I don't think either of them would be trivial. I do, however, think they are necessary, and would be much more worthwhile ventures than isometrics.

> Neither I nor the mods have gone out of our way to persecute you.

You have personally taken my games down, for offenses less than what others get away with. The anime guild was formed, and then had rules established specifically to keep my games out.

> Your post was suppressed for the same reason many posts are suppressed, which is that it was insulting, not only to BYOND but to other users.

To BYOND, I suppose. There was, however, a point behind that truthful bashing. To other users? Saying that some scammer isn't going to complete a project that they aren't going to complete is insulting? SilkWizard posts crap more offensive than that in literally every blog post he ever makes, and most of them end up featured.

> If you had left it at the first few paragraphs where you were discussing your updates...

I suppose, and even attempted re-posting it as just that, but apparently I am banned from blogs now, so why bother?

> Maybe that doesn't mean a thing but it is the best we can do for internal advertising at the moment.

It means something, its just not some special treatment that you seem to think you're giving me? While on the other hand, NEStalgia is (acceptably) featured, and personally mentioned by you in the official news that goes out to all BYOND users? http://www.byond.com/members/ BYOND?command=view_post&post=110595

> ...I am sick of your insults. Maybe that's not your fault because you don't know how to talk to people, but that's really not my problem

Are you reading the same conversation that I am?

> I suggest that you stop developing for BYOND because you aren't going to get any more support from us

The only way I could get any less support from you is if you actually did ban all of my hubs. In which case, you would be pretty hard pressed to explain it as my paranoid delusional narcissism, and not your own personal vendettas.

> You keep talking about it, but I know you won't do anything about it, because here you fancy yourself as a big fish in a small pond, and there you will be nobody

They don't even have an established community as far as I've seen, so that doesn't really filter in to things at all.

> You bash us endlessly but no other community will let your games get the exposure they have here

There are Unity games listed on Steam. I'm sure I could make something that was At Least this good: http://store.steampowered.com/app/36000/

Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 02:24:53 -0700

1) Yes, initially Flash will work on specific games so we can get the internals working without having to port BYOND 4.0. We are working with NEStalgia and some other games for the first run. I was willing to include your games but that's def. not going to happen now.

2) C++ is far harder than DM, which is half the reason we created DM. I don't know how competent you are but from your assumptions about how easy things are for us to do, you are obviously pretty inexperienced with lower-level languages. That's fine; if I were in your shoes I wouldn't touch them either.

3) Again with the paranoia. We have only ever personally taken your games down for violating things like pornography or blatantly selling subscriptions to outside IP (and heck, we let DBZHU be listed on our site forever even knowing this). The Anime guild was not formed to exclude you; it was formed to keep that Anime outside of the main stuff (and failed miserably). Your game was excluded for the sub. thing, and that had nothing to do with me (I don't think I even knew who you were then). Also, you should consider that when a bunch of people are acting consistently against you, perhaps it speaks more about you than about them.

4) The reason we are working with NEStalgia is that it has shown mainstream appeal. Yeah, you can LOL at how "pathetic" and miniscule the appeal is compared to WOW or Minecraft or something, but it is still meaningful to us and him (and that $10K was an underestimation BTW). Obv. we couldn't do that with your popular games because of the IP issues, and, again, I have no interest in working with you now.

5) You really don't know how to talk to people. Usually when someone works hard (as we have) to make a product you use for your own personal enjoyment and/or profitability (as you have), you expect some gratitude. Instead, all we get is insults and advertising the competition (yet shockingly no movement to actually just use the competition).

6) It seems like we are on the same page. I don't want you in the community, and you don't want to be here. So just stop being involved. If you want to keep your games around, fine. If not, also fine.

On 4/22/2011 2:34 AM, Strai wrote:

As usual, you take criticism less than gracefully. You've degraded into a worse troll than the ones I have to deal with on a daily basis from the rest of the BYOND community. When you wake up tomorrow (or later today?), and realize that everything I've said here was in the right, and how ridiculously out of line you're acting, drop me another email, and maybe we can get something constructive accomplished.
Anyway, I'm off to sleep now.

Date: Fri, 22 Apr 2011 02:35:17 -0700

No thanks. We're done, buddy.

Worst. Moderators. Ever

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 02:53:01 +0000

This post is hidden from the front page: Enough anti-BYOND bullcrap.

Seriously? You're going to block my post from the main page for telling people that your fail software is fail? It was highly informative, and covered a lot more than just the failure that is BYOND, that wasn't even the main focus of the post.
I don't think I have ever come across a community with more incompetent moderation. You need to get over yourselves.
I know I'm not directly paying you guys off, like SilkWizard is, but I've brought in thousands more players, set a better standard for those players coming in, and kept them around a hell of a lot longer. I wouldn't mind the same superior treatment that all of these other douche bags receive.

Not only is BYOND horrible in every aspect, but now that NEStalgia has introduced it to the world, everyone's going to KNOW what a failure it is. Wooptydoo, it can make NES games, doesn't everyone just want to make and/or play those!? I can't even imagine the long-term losses NEStalgia has cost you morons.

Now, get over your personal "bullcrap", and put my informative dev post back where it belongs.
http://www.byond.com/members/ Falacy?command=view_post&post=112292

Thank you, and have a nice day, you power abusing moderators who will probably ban me for telling you how incompetent you are =)

SG Dev News #3

Fri, 22 Apr 2011 01:42:41 +0000

Celestial Chaos: Adventures has been updated several times since the last SG Dev News (about a week ago). It now has equipment systems, and options to customize your hair style and color. All of the audio has been swapped out with free effects available under a creative commons use license. A system has also been added so that players can join other players parties while already in missions. This should improve how accessible and fun this main gameplay concept is. Countless other things have also been fixed, added, changed, removed, etc. As always, a full list of updates can be viewed in the game.

The next version of Adventures will feature a redesign of the interface (unfinished in that screen-shot), equipment systems for your companions, possibly improved trees, and a few changes to Territory Wars. The redesign of the interface will also be forcing the implementation of a few more HUD based systems, in place of interface based pop-ups, which should probably happen for all systems sooner or later (interfaces suck).

Box Art, I need some. Some sort of design that will be synonymous with the Celestial Chaos series, and that could function as the cover of the box if this was a retail game. I'm open to suggestions, maybe even submissions. I was thinking something with a white dragon overlooking an epic battle. And/or maybe something specific with the title text's appearance, like Final Fantasy does. This "box art" will be adapted for hub images, banners, title screens, and most other general representations of the game.

Subscriptions in yo face! Mostly due to the recent take-down of my games, subscriptions will be undergoing some design philosophy changes.
I've been keeping the bonuses provided for subscribers fairly balanced, mostly cosmetic, and somewhat limited. This obviously isn't a working formula, and has barely kept an income large enough to support the games (the servers alone cost almost $400 a month). In the beginning of this copyright mayhem, I changed the pricing plan for subscriptions, but due to popular demand, the old pricing and time periods are back.
If SilkWizard truly is making $10,000 a month of off a failed NES game wannabe (which either he and/or Tom has lied about), then I should surely be able to make that much off of a collection of the best games on BYOND. I'll be adopting some of his cheap marketing tactics. A screen, as soon as you log in, that hints: "Subscribe now, or you might as well not even bother playing", for example.
I've also been keeping the advertising of such features somewhat hidden, since BYOND has shut down my games for openly displaying such things in the past (have I mentioned how awesome the administration around here is?). Now that all of my games are "original", this is going to change. Subscriber buttons will be everywhere, features will be prominently advertised, and aspects of gameplay will be centered around them.

Graphics, graphics, and more graphics! Graphics are important, I'm not just talking about in-game character animations here, but more-so about "interface" graphics. Having a plain box with some text written across it is just lame. A small graphical icon, or even a graphical button with text is superior, and a standard that I plan to bring most aspects under my control into.

For any developers new to BYOND, I spread this message of hope to you: Get out while you can! It becomes more apparent by the day how worthless BYOND is, and how undeserving it is of being related to gaming. Unity is an amazing alternative, so far beyond BYOND (ha hah!) that I don't know if it can even be considered an alternative. Its offered for free, can do everything BYOND can 10,000 times over, and is just as easy, if not easier to use. Unity is even capable of making console and mobile games. If you haven't already devoted years of your life to mastering DM, or becoming a mind blowing artist of pixels locked into a 32x32 box, then you should move yourself over to Unity ASAP. BYOND is an underwhelming game engine, capable of almost anything, but at a cost that doesn't make those goals rewarding or worthwhile. If you plan on making anything other than a MUD, get out while you can. Even if you do plan on making a MUD, there are better platforms for it.
EDIT: As I mentioned in the comments below, there are some great video tutorials, and official project tutorials available for Unity.

On an unrelated note, KhaosParadox should be banned from posting in any public areas of the site. His constant scam posts about assets he doesn't have, aspirations he won't live up to, and paid positions that he's unwilling to actually pay for; its just getting ridiculous at this point. He's been making such claims for over a year now, and obviously can't, or just wont, actually follow through on anything. His spread of false hope is almost as bad as NEStalgia's.

SG Dev News #2

Fri, 15 Apr 2011 19:09:16 +0000

Celestial Chaos: Adventures has been released.
The next version has a shiny black HUD, as seen in the screen-shots.
Equipment systems are on the immediate to-do list, as well as the option to change your hairstyle. Don't need everyone looking exactly the same forever =P
Boy, it sure is hard to make "original" games... PS, not really.

Celestial Chaos: Guardians had a few updates a while back. One of the screen-shots shows a quick preview of the map editor, or really... just of a map edited with it. As you can see, the tiles have auto-edging, so they don't just meet up in perfectly straight horrible looking tiles.
I have decided to use an IconShare-like application for sharing Guardian maps. It will be hosted on the same hub as Guardians, so it should be easy to find and access.
I also plan on changing wave progress. So that once you reach the final wave, the enemies will start over, but be much more powerful. Instead of just being stuck on a hoard of bosses forever. Especially since people somehow seem to be surviving them...
There will also be some sort of equipment/looting systems added to Guardians, though I haven't decided yet if this equipment will provide some sort of stat boosts or special effects, or just be purely visual to customize your character.

Conversion of Bleach Eternity to Celestial Chaos: Eternity is going pretty well.
Aside from just graphical changes, and some basic renaming, there have been major changes to gameplay.
Quests now require a max of 5 kills, instead of what previously started at 10, and increased from there. Quests now give 3x the exp to make up for the lower amount of required kills.
Quests are also more grouped, and enemies more intertwined. There is no more running to an area, running back to turn in the quest, then having to repeat that same area 3 more times. This also means you will have more active quests at once.
Bounts->Tamers have had a somewhat massive reworking of their gameplay style, to make it more accessible and fun to play. Though, in my opinion, it still needs even more improvement. They also start out with a different pet, and will be able to tame any monster in the world into their pet.
For the most part, the fan-game conversion aspects of the update are complete. However, I plan on adding dynamic dungeon systems, and some sort of official PvP, before re-releasing the project. Lest we end up in the same pointlessly contented state that the game is in now.

A global assets pack for Stray Games, or more specifically, for Celestial Chaos titles, has been established. This is basically a collection of original resources (graphics, audio, modular code) that will be used between projects to cut down on development time, give a unified feel to the games, and provide consistent productive updates between all projects at once. As of now, it is being used in Neo, Adventures, Guardians, and partially in Eternity.

Maybe something won't get left out of the next BYOND and Within =P

SG Dev News #1

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 22:28:43 +0000

Gold Guardians: Tales of a King has had a major update. It has also been renamed Celestial Chaos: Guardians. This newly updated state has most/all of the core mechanics completed. The only thing left to add is the map builder/sharing, and maybe some more bells and whistles on the gameplay, and of course any kind of maintenance for bugs and such. Feel free to keep providing feedback, it has been helpful in the development process.
I have also resubmitted it for listing, though not for featured status, since all of the audio is "borrowed" =P

Bleach Eternity -> Celestial Chaos: Eternity
Work is already underway to convert Bleach Eternity into an "original" game. Most of the changes are cosmetic, and saved characters should be able to seamlessly transfer over. This also means new updates for the game.
The new bases were based on a few generic period costumes: Maiden, Peasant, Samurai, and Archers.
Also, Shikais/Bankais will be replaced with full Samurai armor, boosting either Strength, Speed, or Magic/Mystic - Basically, the Shikais that are already in the game.

Work on Celestial Chaos: Neo has also been resumed (after several years).
Various changes have already been made, HUD styling, and a few new races/classes added. (butt shot!)
Neo is basically an evolved version of Celestial Chaos 2 (Bug Report!).
The game will be fully controlled from the keyboard, with no need to use the mouse - ever. Enemies will appear on the field map, interacting with them will start turn based battles. You'll be able to use field positioning to your advantage, and even apply stealth. Spells can be cast on the field, like poison, to give you an advantage when starting the battle, and also to clear secret paths and such with spells like Fire. Each character will be able to use 2 classes at a time, leveling up both of them, as well as your character's base level. You'll be able to freely switch between any classes you've unlocked, of which there will be quite a few. The game will offer a true RPG experience, following an actual story, with NPC characters to form parties with (same concepts in CC2). There will also be a heavy focus on PvP and co-op partying with dynamic side dungeons for leveling.
That's just a small bit of information about the game... But, nobody cares about that until the game is playable, so moving on =P

The next major release for Heroes United 2 will feature a Casino and a Mission Maker for Players. There may be a minor release before then, to fix some bug which is being caused by BYOND's flunky map rendering, as far as I can tell.

Paradise City has been undergoing major updates since forever ago, but never seems to make any progress, and never seems to be fun to play. Maybe the new version will be worth it... someday. In the meantime, you can play Darker Emerald's game Dead World.
For more info on new PC concepts, check here.

Tutorial #9 of my series has been posted. It covers creating an interface and macros for keyboard controls. My plan has been to release a new Tutorial every Friday, but that hasn't been going very well so far =P

Tutorial Nine: Interface & Macros

Sat, 19 Mar 2011 19:34:41 +0000

To make our game a little more functionally intuitive and game-like, we're going to create a custom interface, and make use of macros for keyboard controls.
If you haven't already read Tutorial #8, you should check it out first. Or, start at the beginning, if you're new to the series!

Creating an Interface
To start off, we're going to create the actual interface file (.dmf), I just named mine Interface.
http://www.angelfire.com/hero/straygames/Tutorial/ NewInterface.png
You should now be looking at a screen with 3 sections, one for Marcos, one for Menus, and one for Windows.

Creating Macros
The interface file we just created will handle how our game's windows look and function, it also handles the macros (keyboard controls).

Step 1.1 First, we'll edit our macros. Double click the macro line at the top, and then delete out the unnecessary controls, leaving only the ones for cardinal movement. You can delete a specific key's macro by right clicking on it and selecting delete, or by highlighting it and then pressing the delete key.
http://www.angelfire.com/hero/straygames/Tutorial/ EditingMacros.png

Step 1.2 Now, we'll create our own controls. Click the [New macro...] button, then select a Key to use, and set the Command to Attack.
http://www.angelfire.com/hero/straygames/Tutorial/ NewMacro.png
Using the [Find Key...] button is usually easiest, and the Command represents which verb you want to use. In our case, this will call the Attack() verb that we created a few Tutorials back.
With this new macro added, we can now attack by pressing the F key, instead of having to click a text command in a stat panel/info control.
The various check-boxes here can be used to get different input responses. ALT CTRL and SHIFT will make it so those keys must also be held down for the macro to trigger. Repeat will cause the macro to automatically repeat every tick for as long as the key is held down. 'When key is released' will activate when the key is released... instead of when it is initially pressed down. Repeat and Release cannot be selected at the same time.

The Main Game Window
Now that we have a custom interface, our game won't have a map, or stat panels, or an output, or anything else. We'll need to add these onto the default Window.

Step 2.1 Double Click the default Window to bring it up for editing.
http://www.angelfire.com/hero/straygames/Tutorial/ EditingDefaultWindow.png

Step 2.2 First, we should make some basic changes to the window itself. You can do this by double clicking anywhere on it, or by clicking the [Edit...] button on the window in the upper left.
http://www.angelfire.com/hero/straygames/Tutorial/ EditingMainWindow.png
Here, I've set the window name/ID to MainWindow, this can be used later to reference the window from the code.

Step 2.3 Switching over to the Options tab, we have a few more things to change
http://www.angelfire.com/hero/straygames/Tutorial/ EditingMainWindowOptions.png
The Title of the window will be displayed at the top, and if its the main window, also in the taskbar.
We turn the Statusbar off because its just a waste of space, it displays an /atoms name on MouseOver, but not much else.
The icon for your interface can be set to display on both the Titlebar, and on the taskbar entry, same as the Title. If you set the icon on the window marked as default, it will automatically apply to all other windows. Here, I've just set it to the Player icon, for demonstrative purposes.

Step 2.4 The last tab is the Skin options. These let you set background color/images, and an overall transparency for the window. I won't be using any of these for now, but you can mess with them if you'd like.

A Main Map Control
Our window is currently blank, we won't be able to see the actual game, or any of the stat panel info we've previously setup. To add various controls to our window, use the button from the window in the top left.

Step 3.1 First, we'll add a map control. Click the [Map] button, and then click anywhere on our window to place it.
http://www.angelfire.com/hero/straygames/Tutorial/ NewMapControl.png

Step 3.2 Now drag that map control so it is aligned with the top left of the window, just below the File Menu.
http://www.angelfire.com/hero/straygames/Tutorial/ MapAlignment.png

Step 3.3 By using the blue boxes on the sides of a control, you can re-size it. Use the bottom right box, and make the map cover the entire window.
http://www.angelfire.com/hero/straygames/Tutorial/ SizingMapControl.png

Step 3.4 Now double click the map, or use the [Edit...] button, like we did before with the main window, to bring up this map's editing window.

Step 3.5 In the General tab, set the map name/ID to MainMap and make sure the default check-box is checked.

Step 3.6 In the Anchors tab, set the anchors to 0,0 over 100,100
http://www.angelfire.com/hero/straygames/Tutorial/ MapAnchors.png

Step 3.7 Use the OK/Done buttons to close those windows back down to the base DM layout, then press ctrl+R to run your game. It should ask if you want to compile (because you've made changes to the interface), say yes.
There is now nothing but a map, with icons that will scale to fit the window, and you can attack by pressing the F key. Our output is missing though, so we won't get a report about damage!

Adding Output & Info Controls
Finally, we'll add controls so we can see our stats and damage outputs again.

Step 4.1 First, re-size the map so that it isn't taking up the entire window. Once you have room, add an output control, and set it up on the opposite side of the map.
http://www.angelfire.com/hero/straygames/Tutorial/ AddingOutput.png

Step 4.2 Select both the map and the output control, by holding ctrl and clicking both of them. Re-size one of the controls over the other. Then use the [Distribute width evenly] tool from the menu bar.
http://www.angelfire.com/hero/straygames/Tutorial/ DistrubuteWidthEvenly.png
This will evenly size them, so each one takes up half the window.

Step 4.3 With the controls still selected, click the [Auto-anchor controls] tool.
http://www.angelfire.com/hero/straygames/Tutorial/ AutoAnchorControls.png
This will make sure the controls resize properly if the window changes size. It doesn't always give the best results, so make sure you check.
You want 0,0 over 50,100 on the map, and 50,0 over 100,100 on the output. The 50s are here because each one is using 50% of the space. If you had 3 controls, you would want something like 33 to 66 to 99, and the 99% should be rounded up to 100, so no blank space is exposed.

Step 4.4 Double click your output control to edit it. Change its name/ID to MainOutput, make sure the default check-box is checked, and set the border style to sunken.
http://www.angelfire.com/hero/straygames/Tutorial/ OutputGeneralSettings.png
You can use the Appearance tab to change the default font face and colors for your output, but I won't be bothering with mine.

Step 4.5 To add an info control, follow the same basic steps we did for the output. Except, this time, place it above the output, instead of beside the map.
http://www.angelfire.com/hero/straygames/Tutorial/ AddingInfo.png
The edited settings for the info control should be about the same as the output's as well.
http://www.angelfire.com/hero/straygames/Tutorial/ InfoGeneralSettings.png
When you use the auto-anchor tool this time, make sure you have all 3 controls (map, info, output) selected.

Managing the Interface with Code
Step 5.1 winset() content by popular demand! Now then, we'll setup the default state of our main interface window with a new line of code in /mob/Login()

mob
    Login()
        if(src.LoadProc())
            world<<"[src] has Returned"
        else
            src.loc=locate(5,5,1)
            world<<"[src] has Logged In"
        spawn(-1)    winset(src,"default","size=640x480; pos=100,100; is-maximized=true")
            //The above winset() line is new
        return ..()

winset() is used to change interface settings. You give it a player (src, in this example), the window or control to be changed ("default" in this example. If we wanted to change some settings on our interface's map, we could send it "default.MainMap"), and finally, the settings we want to change. As you can see here, we are using a single winset() to change multiple parameters (the size, position, and maximized state of the window), you do this by separating the parameters with their values by a ; (as seen in the example above)
Sending multiple parameters at once is beneficial as it cuts down on network traffic and processing. We also spawn() this code off to prevent any possible network delays from effecting our overall project. Such network delays when working with the interface are more of a concern with winget(), which I won't be going into for now.
A full list of interface settings can be found here: http://www.byond.com/docs/ref/skinparams.html

After writing this tutorial, I've realized what a ridiculous amount of work it is just to get your interface halfway back to default, just so you can implement custom macros...

* Tutorial 10 will be about on-screen damage, and hiding our Attack() verb from the Commands tab.

@SilkWizard

Fri, 18 Mar 2011 15:52:58 +0000

SilkWizard, since you decided to ban me for putting you in your place on your own blog, you get a full post on mine! Aren't you just a special little monkey?

SilkWizard wrote:

NEStalgia really is under your skin, isn't it Falacy?

No, not really. There are plenty of worse games (astonishingly enough, they exist) that have gotten just as many, or even more legitimate players. Not to mention, NEStalgia's player surge is already half dead, as predicted. You're the one that seems to have a jealous rage of anime games under your skin.

I barely even knew that you existed a month or two ago

Sounds like a personal problem

(This post is almost 2 months old, by the way).

You apparently think its still relevant, since you just linked to it. I was linked there, so I decided to post a comment.

...Are you like 11 years old? Is the internet some magical land where laws, reason, and morality don't exist?

Age is irrelevant. If you think think laws, reason, or morality exist on the internet, well... I'd like to see what internet you've been using.

I found out the other day that you make money off of transactions on your embarrassingly bad ~~DBZ~~ game.

I could say the same about you, what a coincidence.

If NEStalgia continues to grow exponentially and/or if another original BYOND game or two hits it big, Tom is eventually going to hire himself a lawyer to help manage things.

NEStalgia is already dieing (for its 2nd time now), not growing exponentially, and why would Tom waste salary on a lawyer? Skilled programmers would be a better investment.

The first thing that lawyer will advise him to do is to delete every ~~unapproved~~ fan game that has ever existed on BYOND from his web servers.

Wouldn't be far from whats already happened. Setting up an external server list wouldn't take much effort. And once the Flash client is available/finished, BYOND hubs will be mostly irrelevant anyway.

YO GAME GONNA GET SUED! (may not be an actual quote =P)

As for legal issues, I am not directly selling copyrighted material, and the entire subscription process is under a general umbrella donation. Its not much different than BYOND memberships. They could issue a C&D for the game, but they could do that regardless. As for contacting them, you could try, I doubt you would even get a response, especially since they have (supposedly) been contacted before.

Jaredoggy wrote:

I got those pages directly off of DBZ:HU. Didn't BYOND used to delete hubs for stuff like that?

Only when such information was on the actual hub page.

EmpirezTeam wrote:

Falacy felt the need to raise hell over absolutely nothing in a 2-month old blog post because he's mad about his recent curb stomping.

You know, Silk has absolutely no power or standing around here, you should probably stop sucking up to him. Latch on to Tom or Lummox. Also, though its becoming more and more clear that you actually want to look like a ghetto retard, its getting really annoying. For the 1,000th time, nothing anywhere even close to a "curb stomping" took place.

Featured Games

Wed, 09 Mar 2011 23:46:08 +0000

Just posting to say I like the new featured game layout. Wastes less space on the page, and makes the featured games look more featured. It also has a fancy effect when swapping through them. I don't much care for the background color, though. And it could use a border outline like the rest of the hub entries... THOUGHTS!?