Clwe

UPDATE - It's time to rock! Got a guitar hero controller and a PS2-PC control adapter? Plug 'em in and download the updated demo, which allows you to use the guitar controller to play the tracks (oh yes). Besides strumming up and down, you can also perform hammer-ons and pull-offs wherever you see the notes with white circles inside them. I'm not going to explain how hammer-ons and pull-offs work, as anyone who has guitar hero (and therefore the controller) should know what I'm talking about =P. The joy2key program will automatically start up (with the correct configuration) when you select the 'Guitar hero controller' option in-game. You must select this option if you have the controller, as the way the controls work also change. Get the updated demo at: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/christopher.lowe7/rockon.zip

I must be invisible to you then, Rael =P. I do that too, though...I look at the avatar before the person's name, and seeing similiar ones can be confusing. Sage is open! Woo! No downloads...boo. Still, I think this time is a good exception =P. Imagine if the same thing happened to E3... I'll have to take a proper look around later, anyway, as right now I'm stuck elsewhere... EDIT - Wow, I made the sexy list too o.o cool. Uh...you don't want to see a picture of me, right? No, you really don't want to see me =P

C++ scares the hell out of me =P (Ok, that's an exageration, but I certainly wouldn't want to do anything more than short programs with it). It's Clickteam products for me...MMF2, specifically.

Yeah, and you know the worst part of that? They can't actually release it in the UK until it gets translated in those other languages too, thanks to certain laws. You'd think that they would give the UK some priority, considering that it's the third largest market for videogames (thereby putting it on top in Europe). Pfft. So...yeah, it's swap magic for me too. I'm not prepared to wait for around six months for a game after it's released in the US (or miss out altogether, because it never gets a UK release).

It will do. The only difference is that there's a metal part on the back hinge of the V14 model, designed to prevent you poking magic keys and the like down there (Sony caught wind of all this, natrually). You can either persevere, or gently pry the metal bit up using a knife, giving you room to insert it (that's what people are saying on related forums).

Ah...I stand corrected. You can leave the magic keys in and close the lid, providing you slot the third part in just right. There's some (relatively small) resistance on the lid hinges, but I doubt it's going to shoot off or anything =P. Now might be a good time to try the character quests on Tales of Legendia... Anyway, you can find out which version you have by checking the serial number on the underside of your PS2, then by looking at this page.

Hmm...well, if you can close the lid, you can't do it easily. I have a v12 model (so there should be no problem) and when I try to close the lid it gets stuck on one of the magic keys (the part you stick into the hinge that opens/closes the lid). At the time I didn't try to force the lid shut, in case I caused any damage. I'm still a bit dubious, but I'll try again later tonight and see what happens...

I've tried both the slide card and the flip-top with the 'fat' PS2, and I'm now using the magic keys with the slimline model. I would be wary about using the slide card solution, because what you're essentially doing is yanking out the tray with a bit of plastic (hell, you could even use a knife to do the job...though don't try that). I found it very fiddly to get right myself, and I heard from many a person that repeated use will wear out the motor on your DVD tray in a few months (at which point, you will have to use the slide card full-stop). So...not wanting break the motor on the tray, I decided to purchase a flip-top shortly after. Now this was quite a performance. Unless the lid you get happens to fit on your PS2 exactly, you'll probably spend ages screwing the new lid on to within an inch of its life so that it's on tight enough. If it isn't, thr PS2 wont read your games properly (it'll start spinning at hyperspeed because the plastic bit on the other side wont connect). I eventually sorted out this problem with a bit of added weight (read: a diary XD) on the flip-top, but that might have caused other problems. Fast forward six months later, and the PS2 starts having problems reading any game (the PS2 makes repeated clicking and whirring sounds when it tries to read from discs). I wasn't too bothered about it, as my PS2 was years and years old anyway (a version 4 model). Most recently, I got myself a new slimline PS2 with magic keys, and these actually seem to be the best so far. They are fiddly to put in to the right holes/parts (and I suggest using a bit of blu-tack to hold them firmly down), but you can actually leave them in place after the first time. The only catch is that you have to run games while your PS2 lid is open...if you don't mind that, then off you go.

USC - check your PM's - I just sent you a message. DW - This may seem a bit strange, but that's actually the idea. Just like in Guitar Hero, once you start using five keys you need to shift your hand up and down the neck (or keyboard). Yes, it is fiddly on the keyboard (and much worse when you're actually using the guitar controller)...but as they say, practice makes perfect. You can have your fingers over four keys easily with a bit of practice, but the fifth key requires you to move your position a little (or stretch a finger out for the occasional 'stray' note on either end). Yes, there's nothing stopping you from using two hands on a keyboard, but the odd five-key layout should discourage some people =P. You might notice that when you play on 'hard', you're not required to shift your hand half as much as you do on 'insane' - most sections of a song can be played with the first four or the last four keys (just a matter of knowing what comes next). I did this deliberately to ease players in a little, so they don't feel hopelessly out of their depth . There is the normal difficulty if you really don't feel comfortable with the idea (I wont go easy on players when it comes to the hardest songs =P)

I was actually worried abut what kind of response I would get, seeing as I didn't think the GH controller could be used for this. Now, though... Ila - ...why didn't I think of getting an adapter? Yes, that would be a great idea, as actually using the plastic guitar for these tracks would add so much to the experience. As you say, the fret buttons/strum on the guitar are 'mapped' to buttons on a standard PS2 pad. So...as long as you have a PS2-PC control adapter, the coding should be easy. I need a decent pad for my PC anyway =P, so I'll definitely have to pick up an adapter and try this. Expect to be rockin' out on your GH controller (if you have one, of course) in a future version I would definitely appreciate it if you could help with some of the note charts, Ila, as there's no denying they can be tedious. A different one has to be created for each difficulty level...which will mean three or four variations for every song. I don't know what other songs to include yet, but I will probably go for a mix of guitar-based tunes (The Divine Spirit of Language) and 'free range' ones where you could end up playing any instrument (Ilvern Ruins). The idea being that I would separate the game into two different modes, so those who are stuck with the keyboard wont feel too left out with purely guitar-based tracks. There's probably no hope of MP3 tracks being in the game, though, as I doubt I'll be able to find a band that would be willing to play two different versions of each track (one without the guitar, and one with) for me XD. Still, I'll be careful about what Midis go into the game - if a good song happens to sound a bit pants in midi form, then it wont make the cut. Midiman - Ok, you've got me beat there =P. I'll confess and say that, despite having made the demo, I'm not very good at the Insane difficulty (which can be likened to 'Expert' mode in Guitar Hero). I can complete the sequences on hard quite competently, but that's as far as my dexerity goes. It's for this reason that the 'Insane' difficulty will be more of a bonus than anything - after all, if I can't play it very well, I wouldn't know exactly how to grade player performances. When it comes to the quantity of notes, I'm basically using Expert note charts on Guitar Hero as a rough guideline (but toned down). I may look for a couple of nimble-fingered testers in the future to help =P I did think about incorporating a 'strum bar' on the keyboard, but a couple of things stopped me after a little experimentation. First, it's actually quite tedious to have to hold a key note and then hit a strum key for each note (not to mention, it feels unnatrual on a keyboard). Second, most keyboards don't like it when you try to press more than two keys at once - they just ignore the third one (a problem that occurs when you try 'strumming' chords, and I don't want to scrap those). Therefore, the keyboard setup will probably remain as is. Thanks for your responses - maybe I'm not so mad after all (but nobody would have stopped me anyway!)

Haha, I got lost in Techno Hill too, the last time I played (that was a while back)...it was in act 2, I think. The last time I tried to play it using a cheapo digital controller with buttons that kept on sticking. Needless to say, it fared pretty badly. I'll have to try the game soon with a proper pad...a PS2-PC control adapter should do the job nicely, methinks. As it stands, I find the game very fiddly to control. However, it is good to see the game still being worked on after all this time. It may have been development for a long time, but then we are talking about a Sonic fangame that's practically in 3D. I also remember seeing screenshots of the game with slopes in at one time...I don't know what came of it, though.

...but I've given it a try regardless =P So...there I was, with a brand new, shiny copy of MMF2 (after the monkeys at FEDEX took 10 days to deliver it - international priority as well), wondering what kind of Sonic fangame to make next. I had aready tried a few things in the past with MMF 1.5 (one-on-one fighting, action RPG, etc) but I got bored of them pretty quick. I then thought about my obsession with Guitar Hero and decided to try and make a game 'kinda' similar to it. Now...for those in the know (at least some of you), you may question 'whats the point?' when you can't exactly hook up a plastic guitar controller to your PC (though you could glue a strap to your keyboard, hold it to your side and imagine XD). However, I still think it can be pretty involving with just a keyboard. Think of it as DDR for your fingers, or something =P. Ok, let's get down to the nitty-gritty. I've made what you might call a 'technical demo' (is that the right term?), in that everything works as it should, but there's not much in the way of graphics. The idea is, of course, to hit keys at the right time in order to 'play' notes on the track. If you start missing notes they wont get played, giving the illusion that you screwed up. Likewise, if you hit bum notes, you'll definitely notice as well. Try and hit as many notes as possible for a high score. There are three tracks to choose from and a variety of difficulty settings in the demo. You can download it from here: http://homepage.ntlworld.com/christopher.lowe7/rockon.zip Use the up/down keys and shift to select the track and difficulty setting. The keys you need to use to actually play are Z, X, C, V and B (for the Green, Red, Yellow, Blue and Orange notes respectively). Notes that are connected by a black line mean you have to press them both together (chords). Notes with a purple line extending after them are sustains - hold the note until the line ends for extra points. Here's an explanation of the tracks and difficulty settings: • Ilvern Ruins - A short music piece from YS III that I used for practice more than anything (hence the fact that there's no guitar in it). Start with this one on Easy or Medium to ease yourself in. • Divine Spirit of Language - An energised, guitar-heavy track from Star Ocean 3 (at least, the MP3 was) that's scarily fast in places. In the interests of making it actually possible to 'play' decently, The tempo's been lowered slightly and a fair amount of notes are dropped (even on Insane). Tips? Watch out for the sudden scales interspersed in the main riffs and the killer solo halfway into the song. Good luck - you're gonna need it =P • (?) - I'm not saying anything about this one, other than to be prepared for a several minute long tune. Try it and see for yourself... The difficulty you select depends on the amount of notes you have to play, as well as the number of keys you need to worry about. 'Easy' uses the first three keys, 'Normal' uses four keys while Hard and Insane uses all five. You can only select 'Easy' for the first track - Ilvern ruins. I've done this because I'm not sure whether Easy is...well, too easy. I'm thinking of dropping easy difficulty altogether, but I'd like to hear your opinions first. There is the odd limitation to all this (besides the obvious - using a keyboard). I've had to use midi music for this, because MP3's have no concept of tempo...or notes, for that matter. It's just a stream of wave music. Midi music, on the other hand, allows me to see exactly when notes are being played, and then translate that into the game. I could also probably do it with Mod music (at a guess), though I don't have an editor for that. Part of the reason I'm showing this is because I'm looking for a pixel artist who could do some sprites for me (I did mention this was a Sonic fangame, right? =P), where Sonic and a few other characters play certain instruments and pull off a few moves in the process =P. I know this is isn't a great time as SAGE is starting soon, but I'm not in any rush. I'm actually not sure as to whether I should focus on guitar-based music, or go with a broader selection (any suggestions?) - this would affect the kind of sprites I would need, of course. In any case, I'd be interested to hear from anyone who would be willing to help me. ...annnnnd I'm done (at last) So, give it a try and see what you think. Am I crazy? actually, don't answer that

Um...I'm a bit confused. You want a single active object (as water) to follow Sonic so you don't need to use lots of actives across the level, right? Create an active object that will act as the water and make it the same size as the game window (320x240, 520x340, etc). Set the hotspot at the top-middle of the object (for a 320x240 game window, that would be 160, 0). Then, go to the event editor and add these events in: • Always: set X position of water to X position of Sonic • If Y position of Sonic <= (water level) : set Y position of water to -500 • If Y position of Sonic > (water level) AND Y position of Sonic < ('water level' + window height ) : set Y position of water to 'water level' + ( window height / 2 ) • If Y position of Sonic >= ('water level' + window height ) : set Y position of water to 0 I think that would work. The value of 'water level' can be anything you want; set it to a low value (say, about 500) for a high water level, or set it to a high value for a low water level. 'Window height' is fairly self explanatory - for example, if your game window is 320x240, then the height is 240.

I'm looking forward to Emerald Ties (surprise! ) and Sonic Frenzy Adventure. I would also say Sonic Utopia, but BF said that he wont be able to show any more of it for SAGE. Unfortunately, I'll probably miss a good deal of the SAGEcasts this year due to a combination of funny working hours and the usual US/UK time difference. Pity, as I really enjoyed them last time. ...I kinda miss one day a week college...

Hmm...what about Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure on the Megadrive? I don't know how popular it was, but the graphics on the game were stunning (the multi-layered forest/jungle levels put most other games on the system to shame). Oh, and it also happened to be a fun game, too =P, albeit rather difficult. Ecco The Dolphin also rocked, although I remember the sequel more fondly. That's probably because of the more varied puzzles/gameplay and the difficulty being toned down from impossible to...uh, pretty damn tough (but beatable). If we're talking about the real old days (C64), then I would choose Powerdrift. It was quite simplistic (nudge left and right a few times, go up and down, make the odd jump or two), but it was a thrill to zoom along the twisty, undulating tracks. It seemed really fast back then...now it feels like driving through treacle. Eh, you can only go so far back...

Wow, that's an impressively long introduction post =P. Welcome to SFGHQ. *chips in with his own opinion on MMF* MMF (and the recently released MMF2) are quite powerful 2D game makers. MMF's main strength is that there's no coding involved, save for expressions/calculations. It's pretty easy to pick up and learn, but at the same time you can achieve a lot with the built-in 'commands' (all accessible with a few clicks). I would also argue that it speeds up the process of making a game...unless you're dead hot when it comes to programming =P. I would recommend MMF as a middle road between 'template-based' game makers (RPGMaker, RPG Toolkit) and the more complex ones that use scripting languages (DarkBasic, Blitzbasic).

Sonic Heroes was in 3D. Most of us still make our games in 2D. That's that problem solved, methinks =P. Seriously though, the 'Tales of' RPG games prove that real-time 2D combat works brilliantly, if done right. Something like that would translate well to Sonic. However, the supporting AI would be difficult to program, no two ways about that. They would have to be competent, but not too clever - you can't have them doing all of the work for you, after all. Another solution would be to have some kind of hybrid battle system - think Valkyrie Profile (a bit hard to explain in simple terms, but it definitely has untapped potential) or maybe Legend of Dragoon (performing combination attacks via precise button taps). They're both turn based, but they give the player more 'interactivity' when their turn comes round. There's my two cents, anyhow. If you're confident with your game-maker-of-choice (even basic RPGs are quite difficult), then go right ahead.

Great stuff. I really enjoyed this demo, overall. Both the graphics and the level design are excellent, with lots of neat touches and gimmicks. I particularly liked how you could jump on the windowsils in the first level, or The occasional 'ramps' you come across that automatically launch you into the air. It's fun zipping around the first level using the fireball move (maybe it's a bit too much of an advantage to have instant to speed when you use it in the air? I'm not sure), though I had to play it again to spot some of the secrets. To put it simply, it flows very well, but also has some depth to it. The second level, I noticed, was slightly more puzzle-based. Nothing very taxing, though...which is how it should be for a Sonic game . I was a little disappointed to learn that falling into the murky water was an instant death (I was hoping for a underwater section), but that's only a minor thing. Good to see you went easy on those 'pits of doom', at any rate. The graphics are a very good combination of original and existing/edited 'pieces'. I only noticed most of the edits after I slowed down and took a closer look. They blend in well together - nothing looked out of place, really. They look and feel like totally original levels. I'm not sure if the guitar music at the title is entirely suitable for Sonic, but I 'dig it' nonetheless =P. The same goes for the area select, the fight against Robotnik and...well ok, all of it is good . Glitches? Well, I wan't trying too hard (and most of them have been mentioned already), but if you use the fireball move in the air, Sonic can end up lodged in a wall slightly on the way down, stopping his descent. Sonic also reacts to springs, shimmying poles and the like when he dies, though that's pretty minor. There's just a few things that I don't like at the moment. First, Sonic bounces off the badniks in an unusual way (almost as if they were pinball bumpers). This can lead to some irritating moments where you bounce uncontrollably into a hazard. Second, if you land on a platform mear it's edge, Sonic runs off it diagonally (treating it as a slope) and falls. It's relatively minor, but I did fall into a pool of gunk once because of it. Then there are the bosses...oh boy, I'm going to be scared of these if they continue in this fasion =P. Nah, they're not that bad, but I feel that they are too challenging for...are these the first levels? If so, then yes. If I hadn't accidentally read the word 'crouch' while skimming your first post, I would have lost a good few lives on the Panic City boss. The boss is also too high to jump and hit consistently (without getting spiked as you fall), and the spindash-jump method is too obscure, IMO. It's just not a very conventional tactic. The sewer boss is better, though again I think it's asking a bit too much of the player. They're certainly inventive for mini bosses - they just need some tweaking. As for the real boss fight against Robotnik...I just found it to be annoying. There was more luck than skill involved in reaching the next 'level' when the eggs bounce around as fast as they did. I think this one needs to be fleshed out more. Overall though, this is shaping up to be an excellent fangame. As it stands, it nearly reaches the dizzying heights of S:TA (only marred slightly by the bosses), which I think is one heck of an achievement. You deserve that vacation of yours =P.

Mmm...I wanted to like this, I really did. There's little to fault where the graphics and animation are concerned - they have a very pleasing cartoon style about them. Plus, I've always liked the whole concept of a sentinent waffle. The voice work was reasonably good too - Bob Havaar sounded pretty much like I expected him to, and the lines are delivered with appropriate enthusiasm/sarcasm. However, it's unfortunate that most of the humour is as overdone as Waffle-X was in the toaster. A couple of bits made me laugh (the monocle magpie, again. Nice and subtle), but the vast majority of it was too overblown to be funny, IMO. Lines like - 'Fridge, reveal your frozen treats!' (or something like that) and other such absurd 'waffle' (har har) is the kind of lazy humour that's been done too much on the Internet. I just don't dind it funny anymore. *runs from impending lynch mob*

Yeah, a few complete fangames have come out in the past 6-12 months (around six, I would say). They just haven't been hyped up on this MB much =P (if at all). Out of those, I enjoyed playing both Chao World 2 and S&K: Flicky Panic (made by Darkleo). Simple, uncomplicated gameplay and good level design goes a long way. Onto the subject of finishing games...the biggest problem most of us will still face (MMF2 or no) is the necessary motivation. The birth of MMF2 opens up more possibilities and makes some things easier, but as Shadix rightly says, it's no cure for the "I can't be bothered/lost interest" syndrome =P. It's only a tool, after all.

I'd just like to point out that you shouldn't feel forced into getting the Developer version of MMF2 (and end up paying $299 - a big difference over the standard version) just because you'll miss out on certain features. I can't see many people missing out on MDI (Multiple Document Interface) applications, for example. The same goes for the unrestricted commercial license - most of us developers make Sonic fangames, after all. There are a handful of extensions only for Developer, but certain ones (like the double precision calculator and the trial period) are probably a bit too specialised in their uses for the majority. Myself included. So...if price is a big concern to you, then I would recommend just scraping together the cash for MMF2 standard - You wont be missing out on that much, unless you plan on selling your games or using more specialised features.

I honestly couldn't tell you, Azu - I don't remember the fansubber. You might have a point there. I do know I wasn't watching the trailer, though. Eh, I'll just stick to the game =P

I tried watching Paronoia Agent a while ago, hearing that it was a more adult and intelligent anime than most, but I just lost interest in the end. It became too damn mysterious for my liking =P. I think it had potential, though....just a slow burner. Maybe i'll go back to it sometime. As for the Disgaea anime...um, how can I put this? I 'acquired' the first episode out of curiosity (being a fan of said game), then deleted it straight after watching it. Too bad I couldn't flush out the memories as easily. Never mind the fact that the writers decided to go off on a tangent...what's with skill names popping up as the characters execute them? (am I watching a show or playing a game here? Next we'll have HP and MP floating above character's heads) And don't get me started on Gordon and co doing a Team Rocket impression (hello fork, meet eye). I think its clearly aimed at a young, easy-to-please audience - I just wished I did a bit of research first. But hey, that's my opinion.

I don't need to try out the demo - I'll probably buy MMF2 regardless =P. TGF/MMF has long been the most familiar way of game making for me, and some of the new additions are pretty cool. I prefer to use a joypad where possible, so inbuilt support for detecting four buttons is very welcome (I could never get the advanced gamepad/joystick extensions to work). I love the idea of having multiple layers to play around with, especially as you can have both background and active objects in each one. The obvious way to use it is for parallax, but I reckon it has much more potential than that. For example, you could have your character in a game travel in and out of the background at certain points (while remaining fully controllable), giving your levels another 'dimension'. So to speak =P As for the adjustable FPS...don't get me wrong, it is a nice feature, but it's not terribly important to me. Unlike around 90% of the people here, I can't see what the fuss is about over ten extra frames a second, nor can I tell the difference. Might be interesting to tinker around with for more CPU-intensive games, mind. On the other hand, the debugger is something of a godsend. It may not sound like much to some people, but being able to see all the alterable values and other semi-hidden stuff during runtime (as the screenshots suggest) should make bug hunting a whole lot easier. Faffing about with lots of 'temporary' counters when your game didn't work right was never particularly enjoyable. I'll most likely go for the MMF2 Standard version, rather than Developer. I have a feeling that the latter will be pretty expensive (if the difference between MMF 1.5 standard and pro is anything to go by), and I can live without additional 'bonus pack'-like extensions. I'll admit I have no idea what MDI applications are, though.

I say definitely buy it - this game is fantastic. I've had it for around two months now and I still play it at least once every two or three days. Seeing as I don't have the patience (or sense of rhythm, heh) to learn how to play a real guitar, this suits me just fine. =P I think I've come to a brick wall in terms of progression, though. I've aced every song on medium and I can play about two-thirds of the songs on Hard competently, but the last several tracks murder me. The sheer mass of notes that fly across the board for Bark at the Moon is quite scary. Oh...yeah, I guess I've returned. Yet again.