[TechDemo] Gameboy Dungeon Explorer

[NickyP]

Updated download link (09/17/2011):
http://www.mediafire.com/?sawi1o47hv1dtlz

Or, "Why OpenBOR can't really do top-down games that well."



This is a sort of proof-of-concept for a top-down game. The gameplay style is very akin to the Gameboy Legend of Zeldas. There are so many bugs and issues that I'm almost embarassed to release this; but I'm doing so for the sake of knowledge and etc.

It's in the attachment.

KNOWN ISSUES/PROBLEMS:
-@#$%, too many to list....
-You can walk through certain parts of walls, typically corners. This is because OpenBOR only allows 40 walls per level... and that one level has exactly 40 walls. Trust me, it might look sloppy, but it was tough to make.
-The offsets used for the characters may give the illusion that they can walk through walls... they can't. It's really just the offset doing that. I intend to fix that later.
-Enemies (even the boss) can somehow walk through walls... despite having subject_to_wall 1 and players not being able to walk through the same walls. This is by far the most frustrating thing about this mod. Fixed, refer to my post below.
-If you die, you respawn waaay at the top. Sometimes even on a wall.
-The 4-way attack system isn't perfect, but its not hard to get the hang of.

Now that I've said all that, you probably don't even want to try it.  But yeah. This is a Lavalit-only release for now, as it's a tech demo. If I improve it, I may do a proper release.

[MatMan]

Hey NickyP

Try not using any 0's when using walls/holes, especially on the x,y axis. I had ton's of problems of not being properly blocked when I used walls/holes with 0's in them. (Suppose I should of reported that when it happened)

So change this ....
Wall  309  275  0  0  400  400  277  20
Wall  -1  19  0  0  309  309  30  20

to
Wall  309  275 1 1  400  400  277  20
Wall  -1  19  1  1  309  309  30  20.....

[NickyP]

You think that would fix the mysterious "enemies walk through walls even though they shouldn't" dilemma?

[MatMan]

It did for me. I only noticed this bug once I started using large walls and there was all sorts of weird aligned meant problems (like you mentioned and more) but the second I stopped using 0's then everything was working perfectly.

[NickyP]

Changing the 0 0's to 1 1's didn't actually do anything for me.  It actually made things worse, because then players could totally walk through the walls, as opposed to only enemies.

But I learned a trick that fixes that; if the walls overlap eachother, nothing can get through. Refer to the image below...



I changed all of my walls to reflect the bottom example, and it worked great. I may have missed one or two, though, but I fix them as soon as I realize it.

Also, I updated the demo. Added a handful of more characters, and a second stage. Because its bigger I had to upload it to my mediafire, but you can grab the download here. I'll put the download link on the first post as well.

[NickyP]

Updated it again; added a 3rd stage/boss. Check the first post.

I have to admit, as frustrating as this mod is to make (and believe me, it is), it's actually pretty fun. Needs to be tweaked and whatnot, but yeah... did a 3 player test with my bros on the Wii. It has potential to be quite enjoyable.

[DJGameFreakTheIguana]

You know, when I first saw this topic, the first thing that came to my mind was this Gameboy RPG called Azure Dreams. It's basically like the pokemon dungeon games except you play as the human char, control the monsters, and still fight.
Anyway, even though I'm not into the zelda series, I'll check this out, seeing that you said you added more characters.

X)

[NickyP]

Another update. Added stage 4/boss, and a nifty new gimmick~!

There is now a barrier blocking the boss room. Walking into that barrier will blast you away. The only way to disable the barrier is to look around the stage for a switch. Attack the switch, and the barrier will disappear. 

[nedflandeurse]

I love the concept.
I like to see various types of games based on Openbor

[Bloodbane]

 I just tested the demo and I must say: Great work! Although the fight is simple but the hard work setting the walls worth a praise .

 You're right about the 4 ways attack though, took some time to get used to but I think you might need to fix on how Sumo and Edricth swings their sword. They should swing forward as default swing instead of down.
 And while swinging downward, it should match facing direction. For instance, if they face left, downward swing should be on the left too. Currently, it's opposite and makes me confused.

 As for walls, it doesn't look good seeing characters pierce through walls like this. I suggest that you add the size of walls more. This is for every mod cause as we all know, characters aren't just 1 pixel wide therefore extra wall width is required to give impression that all of their body is blocked.

 4th stage boss is annoying not because it shoots but because it can hide its head inside walls .

 About the respawn point, I can see the problem. Guess it's time for me to share my knowledge. In my Contra mod, I have thought about respawn problem long time ago. I solved it by having respawn point in certain levels. This point will change player's respawn place to desired place. Very useful in vertical level and levels with holes!

 Here's script from Fang's RESPAWN animation:

@script
    void self = getlocalvar("self");
    int x = getindexedvar(0); //Get respawn x coordinate
    int z = getentityproperty(self,"z"); //Get character's z coordinate
    int a = getindexedvar(1); //Get respawn a coordinate

    if( x!=NULL() && a!=NULL() ){
      if(frame == 1){
        changeentityproperty(self, "position", x, z, a);
      }
    }
@end_script

 It has more lines than this but to make it simple, I removed the unrelated ones.
 This script acquire value from indexed variable 0 and 1 (any will do, I just chose the 1st ones) which holds the respawn point. Then if both are available, at 2nd frame, Fang's position is changed to that respawn point.

 The respawn point is set by this entity:

name      Respawn
type      none
offscreenkill   3000
antigravity   100

anim idle
@script
    void self = getlocalvar("self");
    int x = getentityproperty(self,"x");
    int a = getentityproperty(self,"a");

    setindexedvar(0, x);
    setindexedvar(1, a);
    killentity(self);
@end_script
   loop   1
   delay   5
   offset   1 1
   frame   data/chars/misc/empty.gif

 Simply spawn this entity in certain coordinate and that coordinate will be the respawn point.
 I have another entity which also sets respawn point but only if it's touched.

[NickyP]

Yeah it's neat but needs a LOT of work to be something great...

About your respawn method; it sounds great, but it won't help the real problem. Yes it'll prevent your character from respawning on walls... in single player. But I've done a multiplayer test, and it's just a mess. If one person dies, the camera basically locks onto the middle of the screen, so no one knows what they're doing. I have no idea how to remedy this... the only solution I can think of is to reformat the mod for the biggest resolution OBOR can handle. But if I do that, then I basically screwed over anyone who wants to play it on a console/handheld. The screen resizes to fit the TV/handheld screen, so the players and enemies will be tiny.

Concerning the 4-way attack system... yeah. I can fix the "reversing" left/right attack by making the characters have a facing and backwalk, but beyond that I have no idea what to do with it. I wish I could make it like the Zelda style, but I'm lost as to how I'd pull it off. Probably something to with weapon models and switching them during walking animations, but feh.

[darknior]

So good to discover this demo, i will try it

I'm a fan of Street of rage, Dugeons and dragons, Golden Axe ... AND ZELDA !
I think it can be fantastic if some zelda games come to OpenBOR
But it is many and many work to make them ...