LarkSS

I don't know where to put this because I don't want it on the main site (it's incomplete, buggy, incomplete, etc) and it's not a fangame. So about... 6 months ago I started working on a simple 3D engine in MMF2 using a dropped OpenGL extension which included enough features to do the majority of what I felt necessary. After finally getting decent collisions and shadow casting working through the use of Lua scripting, the engine was already starting to lag even on modern machines. I implemented delta time to counter the effects of lag to some degree, but I know that if this was applied in a large case scenario, well, the lag would just be unacceptable. I also was forced to stop working on it for a couple months because of college and now it's unbearable to try and dive back into it again. In any case, I'm uploading what I have for others to learn from or even use if they so care, given that they're able to actually get this thing up and running. http://larkss.thisisourcorner.net/files/OpenGLsource.zip As the OpenGL extension I used is no longer uploaded to the author's website, I packed up everything I THINK it needed; probably a mix of files for that other OpenGL extension got included. http://larkss.thisisourcorner.net/files/OpenGL.zip Now, there are a lot of other extensions you will need, namely the latest versions of them. At least try to get the newest builds of IniPlus, ForEach, and XLua. You can find a lot of updated extensions from these two sites (check the forum board first). http://www.clickteam.com/epicenter/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=17&page=1 http://sites.google.com/site/mmf2stuff/ And yeah, here's an image or four for anyone who likes images. Have fun! Edit: As Strife pointed out, the AdvSound extension no longer exists, so just grab it from my server. http://larkss.thisisourcorner.net/files/AdvSound.zip Edit2: Due to the engine crashing if the beta version of the INI object I used is not present (and upon checking it appears the author has removed the specific version I downloaded), I now have the ini object uploaded to my server as well. http://larkss.thisisourcorner.net/files/INI1.5b.zip Edit3: Recommending that anyone who wants to use this NOT use HWA. It'll render faster and allow the Lua code to execute 100% correct.

Add the condition 'only one action when event loops' and you should be set. Should be under the wrench icon iirc.

I really need to remind myself to download this at college and make a little time to test it this weekend.

Looks pretty solid for 4 player gameplay. I think it would be nice if you can walk around the finish zone though while waiting for the other people, or to have an ingame chat that you can use to taunt them at that time. ;>

This was designed for the back of a moon pie cereal box wasn't it? I want it.

For 0.5? That example doesn't even use an existing engine, so it's compatible with anything as long as you port it over. You just need to adapt the code to work in the Sonic engine you're using, and replace the dragable diamonds with your enemies.

Gah Azu just made me realize that I had posted two bad links in one of the homing attack topics not realizing that the server I used doesn't handle .7z files well. (Well I updated one of the links there now in case anyone stumbles upon it from a forum search.) Here is a good link to the example: http://larkss.thisisourcorner.net/tuts/HomingMovement.zip

I believe he wanted to know the software you used to get the graphics into MMF2 to behave as particles. Photoshop?

Yes, but can it run smoothly at the highest settings? ;p It really is too bad that this game has to work within MMF2's limits in terms of performance, and honestly this engine is much more optimized than it was before. So much has been done already though that we'd prefer to continue with what we got. Also a general tip for everyone. If you find that the game is lagging constantly and you picked a Joypad device in the input manager, try picking a Joystick2 device (shows the device's actual name) or using keyboard/mouse. The Joypad device seems to lag exponentially based on how many input devices you have connected to the machine.

I haven't seen that glitch anywhere, though it has nothing to do with HWA (it's very stable) but rather a window resize extension I was using to try and get fullscreen while preserving aspect ratio. I guess it'll have to be scrapped...

You might need another gig of ram. =<

Once from my computer and another from my school's server via remote desktop. I'll probably boost it on a few different computers later on as I remember.

The elemental abilities also won't all be given to you from the start. Especially the final element which grants you teleportation; you'll have to specifically earn that power. I wish Streak would have waited until a more representable demo was ready, but I guess he just wanted some people to finally give it a try, not to mention there are many things waiting for me to code which I won't be able to until the Summer...

@Overbound: I still think it can resemble a sunrise, since the small glow probably isn't enough to completely veil the stars. Also I didn't mention this before, but the Sonic sprite matches with the background very nicely; feels tropical. :> yessir Finally someone I know that recognizes the game!

I dunno if you're trying to stick to the megadrive palette or something but there is absolutely no need for all that dithering in the sky.You're much better off sticking to one colour for the sky. If used inappropriately, dithering can be the ugliest thing. I can agree to the dithering issue 100%, though if it's supposed to be fog rather than sky, the dither adds a bit of a nice effect to it. If it does represent fog though, it's probably a bit too thick and should at least have shadowed trees/shrubbery partly visible in the distance. I suppose I can actually post an image for once; a current solo semester project of mine: I wonder how long I can hold onto the 60+fps...

When I was first messing with UDK, I referred to these two tutorials a lot: http://www.hourences.com/an-entire-simple-udk-game/ http://x9productions.com/blog/?page_id=357 Pretty good at helping you experience it for the first time, though honestly I had to get the book covering the engine too which went over the extreme basics (sadly for UT3, so eventually it doesn't sync with UDK). Even then however, I realized that I was so amateurish with scripts that I just couldn't pick up on Unreal Script. Thanks to college's teachings I may have more luck now, though I haven't found the time to give it another go. But I digress. :> If you can find Xaklse, he seems to be pretty experienced with UDK and would probably be ok with giving you a helping hand. I think in general though the best way to learn UDK after figuring out how to build scripts and maps, is to just keep playing with the different features and trying to make a goal to learn something new about it each day. Good luck!

Too bad jump buttons aren't as popular these days. It's all about automated jumps during precoded scenarios now.

Much better. :> @Overbound: Looks great, just that the rocks in the background are lit on the left side, while the tower is lit somewhat on the right.

I know you've been around here for awhile Overbound, but wouldn't it still be a good example to newer members to at least point to a thread containing media of your game? Glad you're getting assistance in any case. I'm no good with spriting, even if Blue Frenzy would say otherwise.

I can't tell what you even did there; it looks like you just cropped out one of the frames. In any case, I was referring to the land that the corkscrew connects to. When the camera is first moving with Sonic, you can see that it's just a small piece of land which makes it seem like the corkscrew is leading you to the middle of no where.

In the example mfa for that extension, did it include any frames that demonstrated parallax both horizontally and vertically at the same time? Something tells me it's one or the other. In that case, you'd be better off using an extension like Mode7, or even one of the OpenGL extensions if you can wrap your head around it enough to get the effect you want.

That would look considerably better if you extended the ground so you can't see the end of it during the animation.

I'm going to need some help putting that together due to my busy college schedule now, otherwise it'll be another 4 months before Delta sees an update. Also for those who had heard me mention it would significantly change the core engine code, this is no longer true when I realized that the transition would have caused negative impacts toward performance, which in my opinion isn't a considerable trade-off. I guess what this means to anyone interested in Delta is that upgrading shouldn't be as much of a hassle as I was initially claiming it was going to be. @Ollie: If only you could port that to a portable touchscreen device. ;>

Much better. I'm getting used to the panning you used too, though I think I liked it more when the melody that starts around 0:27 would shift the lead synth to the right before going back to the left at 0:55; adds more variety when you decide to keep the main melody away from the center.

Finally got around to playing the new version. Right now I'm at mission 2 of the second area with Violet and only just starting out with Indigo. The controller issues were fixed which as a result made the game exceedingly easier. Seeing my health also helps me to strategize my actions better, though I still admittedly get my butt kicked around sometimes. ;> In any case, the animation work is great and the levels are pretty creative. I agree that the enemy placement can be a bit unforgiving at times, but overall I'm having a lot of fun. Some comments regarding build 0.98: During one of the "You don't have enough spirit." prompts, pressing Escape did not allow me to skip the message. This may or may not involve all of these prompts, but if not, it was for the gateway to the first area's third mission. Is Indigo supposed to be able to fire both of his blasters off at once? On the keyboard I can do this by pressing left and right simultaneously. With the controller, I only have to flick left and right and then I'll be able to run, jump, and dash around with both blasters firing. This does not work while on ladders, which makes sense since one hand has to hold on, so I'm guessing this was purposeful. If it was on purpose though, I found that there are times when one of the held-out blasters do not fire. This is prevalent if you stop firing and then fire once more before your hands drop down. Have you considered having the background in the title screen slowing to a gradual scroll rather than a stop? It'll make it feel less frozen when the protagonists finish their dance. :3 I think I would be more tolerant of the enemy respawning if they weren't allowed to reappear while doing so would allow you to see them returning. In other words, they should not be allowed to respawn if you're near their respawn zone. I thought for sure there was one more thing, but 10 minutes later I just can't remember what it was...