I'd actually like to +1 Solomns post. I have seen something along these lines on BYOND, but only for the interface. NEStalgia uses a HUD based one, I believe; so they would be a better example.
I would say this next suggestion would be better handled in the sample game, but I would also like to see some support for a guild system. Nothing too fancy. Just guild chat, maybe a window or list that displays all existing guilds or a guild of your choosing and details about it. Anything basic or generic.
It would be a lot like the party system you have in mind, so including it is debatable.
Oddly enough, Player Markets are something that are incredibly easy to install in a game, but used so little. They provide a framework for a real-working in-game economy. In larger games, these things work extraordinarily similar to a Stock Market. The fun comes in the fact that you can make a fair profit.
m is just src typecasted to a movable atom so it shouldn't be null. Under most circumstances it shouldn't be possible to call damage_number() if src was null - how exactly are you calling damage_number?.
number_obj comes from the map_label() proc. Are you sure you copied the code exactly as it was? If you missed the last line you'd miss the return statement which could explain why number_obj is null.
There are a lot of features that'd work well as separate demos or libraries. Not everything has to be part of the framework and I'm hesitant to start getting into that area - once I do, where does it stop? I can add some features to the framework to make it easier to create an auction house and mailboxes (ex: a prompt() type of proc that asks the user to select an item from their inventory). It's a pretty safe bet that an action RPG will have combat, enemies, and items. When you start to get into these kinds of features, these are things that maybe 5-10% of games will have. If I do add them, it'll be after I've added the features that 20-50% of games will use.
You were right, I was missing a large chunk of code. The only problem is that
1) The numbers move and disappear too slowly for me. Is there any way to speed that up?
2) When I delete a mob, the numbers will hang there. They won''t dissapear. I'm talking about the most recent number hits. There's really no good way for me to say that, so I hope you understand what I mean. The most recent number "overlays" that were still on the mob do not delete if the mob deletes.
The numbers are stationary for a period of time, then they move 10 pixels up (at one pixel per tick). The amount of time they're stationary for is a parameter of the damage_number() proc (the default value is 15). The movement is hard-coded to be 10 pixels. If you want to change how they move you'll have to change the proc itself.
2) ...
damage_number uses spawn() and sleep() to delete the number at a later time. When you delete a mob, all procs that belong to it stop running which causes the damage_number proc to stop before it gets to the point where it deletes the numbers. To fix this you can make the proc a global one so it doesn't belong to any object:
proc __damage_number(atom/a, ...) // make the damage number
atom proc damage_number(number, ...) __damage_number(src, number, ...)
In that case, I wouldn't worry about it too much then. I'll draft something up and leave you to the more important sections. I feel the need to publish something anyways. I don't want to feel as though I've wasted my membership. :)
@F_A: Ah, well that's very true and understandable.
@:Solomn: That's a great attitude to have about it. I hope there are others with the same attitude, it could help out people around here a lot in the long run.
I'd love to see libraries and demos specifically made to work with this framework. That's how BYOND will become easy to use. There's no easy way to pull together arbitrary resources into a single game, but if each demo/library is built for this framework it's possible to make things that are very easy to use.
My goal is to write it as basic and simple as possible. The only things it should handle is simply the data. What the player does with that data is their prerogative.
This engine seems great, I loaded it up just now. Very smooth and lag free(I have not been to BYOND since the pixel movement was added). I returned a few days ago and am brushing up on my coding skills again after a 6 year hiatus :D. This engine would be perfect for me to use for the game that has been floating around in my head a while(dungeon crawler). Thanks for the great resource Forum_Account!
Also I support Solomn in making a Auction house feature :), regardless if that happens or not I would make one but it saves time.
This engine seems great, I loaded it up just now. Very smooth and lag free(I have not been to BYOND since the pixel movement was added). I returned a few days ago and am brushing up on my coding skills again after a 6 year hiatus :D. This engine would be perfect for me to use for the game that has been floating around in my head a while(dungeon crawler). Thanks for the great resource Forum_Account!
Also I support Solomn in making a Auction house feature :), regardless if that happens or not I would make one but it saves time.
I agree that it'd be a good feature, it just doesn't have to be part of the framework. If there was a standalone auction house library you could plug it into this game with no problem.
#34 Jun 28 2012, 8:20 am (Edited on Jun 28 2012, 9:07 am)
This engine seems great, I loaded it up just now. Very smooth and lag free(I have not been to BYOND since the pixel movement was added). I returned a few days ago and am brushing up on my coding skills again after a 6 year hiatus :D. This engine would be perfect for me to use for the game that has been floating around in my head a while(dungeon crawler). Thanks for the great resource Forum_Account!
Also I support Solomn in making a Auction house feature :), regardless if that happens or not I would make one but it saves time.
I agree that it'd be a good feature, it just doesn't have to be part of the framework. If there was a standalone auction house library you could plug it into this game with no problem.
Thanks, and yea I agree it should be a stand-alone addition.
I think it'll automatically download the latest version if you don't have the library at all, but if you have an old version it won't automatically update it. If you did have the latest version then who knows, maybe it just wasn't getting included properly.
I would say this next suggestion would be better handled in the sample game, but I would also like to see some support for a guild system. Nothing too fancy. Just guild chat, maybe a window or list that displays all existing guilds or a guild of your choosing and details about it. Anything basic or generic.
It would be a lot like the party system you have in mind, so including it is debatable.