Hello All

[StarLite]

Hello everyone,

Just wanted to do the pop in and see how everyone is doing. Haven't been working much on Roanoke this week, I'm starting to get put off. I'm so close to the end but it's 1 step forward and 150 back. I've got all kinds of weird things happening to me with this game. Objects disappearing and showing up where they shouldn't be. Characters not behaving, cutscenes not kicking in when they should. I hate this, just when I was on a great roll. Then to top all that off I fell coming up the basement stairs and hurt myself pretty bad so that put me back another week.

The funny thing is, there is absolutely no reason for the problems I'm having. I was hoping for a Xmas release as a little gift to everyone but it doesn't look like it. What a nightmare. To tell the truth I hate the sight of the stupid game, and constantly hearing every time I load a saved game.

"I've got to do something about this headache."

Ya, you and me both pal. But I will keep plugging away. It would be a shame to put in all this work and not bother releasing it.

How are things here. Did I miss anything at all. We've got a bit of freezing rain here today. I don't know what all the big scare was about, we've had worse last year. Sort of looking forward to but not, shoveling snow. Shoveling should be alright though, I'm in a little better shape than I was last year. Down now to 148lbs from 175, that's a plus I guess.

Well don't know what else to say. I'll be back before Xmas to wish everyone a merry one. Take care for now and happy creating. 

[ad7venture]

I'm out shoveling snow off and on right now.  The first one always isn't that bad.  It's later on.  I had a snow blower but it's on the fritz for good.  Now it's good old manual labor.  It is good exercise if you don't overdo it.  I do it the same as everything else, putts, putts, putts.   I've worked putts into a fine art form.  Do a little, take a break, do something else, come back, etc.  It drives most people crazy.
Sorry to hear about your game.  I think you are having problems with programming and it's snowballing on you, if you'll forgive the snow pun.  That's why it's always much better to start on small projects and gradually increase.
I'll be ready to more or less get started on the real game making of my Flash game pretty soon.  I've got most of the underlying framework done.  I need to work on the inventory and dialog system a little more, though.  It will be nice to actually get working on the game.
Glad to hear about the weight thing.  I need to lose a few more pounds. 

[NigeC]

sorry to hear about the game and fall

I've done nothing game wise, right now its just not interesting me, I have been Beta testing a 3D renderer which has been fun, shame I can't post pictures lol

both of you need to get a winter retreat in the UK!, all we've had is rain, and very little frost

[Kickaha]

Sorry to hear about your fall StarLite, and the stress of game making.  I like to think I'm pretty good at programming now, but it's been a slow journey getting there.  When I started I called all my variables A B C etc - which was fine to start with, but impossible to debug as the code instantly became unreadable.

I hope to post a version of my latest project soon having taken onboard useful comments, and have ideas for more games.  But I have trimmed back how ambitious I was trying to be, and tried to match the project to the time and talents available.

[tfarr]

I know the feeling (the frustration of bugs cropping up when you were otherwise "in the zone", I mean... not the falling down the stairs part).

Every time it happens to me, I start to feel like I'm way behind some intangible, perhaps unreachable, self-imposed deadline. At times, it's more pressure than I experience in my day job!

There's always a logical explanation for what appear to be completely illogical happenings. And knowing that only makes it more frustrating lol!

Hang in there!

[fogfighter]

Thanx for sharing, and good luck with your projects

I guess I've been the most inactive person  (no surprise) . At least when it comes to programming. Not a single line of Delphi-code written in months now.
My 'project is still stuck in the same state as this summer  I have spent the fall "researching" the addictive potential of internet-based medieval multiplayer strategy games.  Yes they have addictive potential 

However I can show some results. My program can now generate graphics like this image.



It's supposed to be a corridor. I hope in some future also to be able to walk around in a maze.. But certainly not this year.  First let's hope for a nice (and white) christmas.

[ad7venture]

Nice project fogfighter.  Generating walls and textures is an interesting topic.  I imagine you've seen the tiny fps's that have been developed that way.  I saw one that was around a 100k or something, I think.  Really quite impressive.

[tfarr]

... However I can show some results. My program can now generate graphics like this image.



It's supposed to be a corridor. I hope in some future also to be able to walk around in a maze.. But certainly not this year.  First let's hope for a nice (and white) christmas.

That's really neat fogfighter! I've been programming for over a decade and still wouldn't have a clue on how to approach 3D graphics like that. Very neat!

From an "ability to dynamically render a maze" standpoint you're already ahead of the early Ultima games or Sierra's old Shadow of Yserbius.

[fogfighter]

Thanx folks and sorry for possible derailing of the thread 

It's not going to be smooth quake-style moving but rather hit-forward-button-and-instantly-jump to-next-position. Most of the times the next postion is not drawn as intended though - more debugging for poor fog. Like ad7venture said I hope to be make a fairly compact game. Perhaps not 100 kB but at least downloadable for slow internet-connections. (i.e. if I ever finish the project) Also not thinking of FPS but rather point-and-click. Point-and-click at the monster and it disappears, if you carry the right thingie..

But anyway, soon it's christmas and hopefully there will be some time to get stuff done

[StarLite]

Good day all,

Thank you everyone for the vote of encouragement. That's what I like about this site. When I feel down about my game everyone is great helping pick me up out of the gutter so to speak.

@fogfighter: Nice pic, I love the hand drawn artistry, it looks good can't wait to play your game.

Would you mind if I pick your brain a little. You said you use Delphi programming language. I also use Delphi in the engine I use. I use Point & Click Development Kit. Do you know how to program a ripped up note puzzle. I really wish I could catch on to scripting. I've only recently with bilikasana's  help learned exactly how bools work.

I'm good at learning once someone explains to me how it works and BiliK did an excellent job at that. If you like I could post some of the script that I am having trouble with if you'd like to take a look at it. Maybe you can let me know where I am going wrong.

Keep creating and keep us posted on your project.

@everyone else: Well I've got a day off today so I am going to try to get hard at it again. Feeling much better from the fall, thank you everyone for your concerns. Glad I didn't break anything, this time. I just wish this wind could die down. It sounds so freaky.

@ad7: How did you like the first snow shovel of the year. Not looking forward to it myself even though I'm in better share than I was last year, but I still don't like the cold. You can feel the draft just blow right through the walls here. This house is badly insulated. This house is badly everything. After Xmas we've got to give the old girl a face lift to balance out her Karma.

Well, I'm off to beat my head against the wall again. Take care everyone and happy creating 

[ad7venture]

How did you like the first snow shovel of the year. Not looking forward to it myself even though I'm in better share than I was last year, but I still don't like the cold. You can feel the draft just blow right through the walls here. This house is badly insulated. This house is badly everything.

I sort of enjoyed it.  I even cross country skied up to the mail box just for the fun of it.  Now it's cold, though.  I think it went to 3 below zero Fahrenheit last night.  From the middle of December til the middle of February it gets unbearably cold here.  I imagine it's the same where you are.  It becomes risky being out in the cold too long because of frostbite, etc. I'm planning on doing some more insulating also and closing off some unused space in the winter.  I was hoping to get to it last fall, but it didn't happen.  I make small improvements each year.  I've had water lines burst, pipes freeze that were buried very deep, you name it.  It's always survival trying to get through this time of year.  I filled a 55 gallon drum with water to be on the safe side just in case my line freezes.  I've had it freeze for a few weeks in the past.  It hasn't burst underground yet though.  One line burst that I had in an outside wall last winter and I'm still repairing that.  Fun fun.

[fogfighter]

@fogfighter: Nice pic, I love the hand drawn artistry, it looks good can't wait to play your game.

Would you mind if I pick your brain a little. You said you use Delphi programming language. I also use Delphi in the engine I use. I use Point & Click Development Kit. Do you know how to program a ripped up note puzzle. I really wish I could catch on to scripting. I've only recently with bilikasana's  help learned exactly how bools work.

I'm good at learning once someone explains to me how it works and BiliK did an excellent job at that. If you like I could post some of the script that I am having trouble with if you'd like to take a look at it. Maybe you can let me know where I am going wrong.

Keep creating and keep us posted on your project.

 to beat my head against the wall again. Take care everyone and happy creating 

@starlite
I was not aware of the Point & Click Development Kit before but just found it's website. Seems like a neat program. I'm not sure how Delphi fits in it but they really seem to do use some Delphi there. On the other hand script thingies is not my strong point. However I'd be glad to have a look at the scripts but don't have too high hopes of any useful comments 

I noticed your avatar in their fourms though. I also found and tried the Mystilinchen game some person there had made. Seems like Point & Click Development Kit is quite versatile and useful

[StarLite]

Good day everyone

Ad7, I know all too well about frozen pipes inside walls, but underground I guess would be a major pain. It's pretty cold here right now. I was laying on the bed earlier tonight and the hair on top of my head was chilly, yet in the livingroom it was nice and warm. The furnace we have isn't powerful enough for this house. We're in for a new one this summer, hopefully. Try to stay warm 

hi fogfighter,  P&C is a pretty good program. I love it and don't want to switch to any other. Actually Zimond the creator, simplified the script to make it easy for everyone, but I'm a bit of a brain dead idiot and have a hard time grasping script.

Mystilinchen

I've played some of that game as well even though I can't understand the language. They did a pretty good job with that game. If you want to see P&C in it's full glory you should stop by my forum and grab Alühn, there is an English patch for it there as well. It was made by Zimond and a bunch of his friends. They did a great job with it.

I can show you this one piece of script I've had trouble with for a long time. It is a box where you have to push buttons to spell out a certain word. When you get the word wrong a voice says "try again" and the buttons reset themselves to blank. Then when you get the word right it is supposed to go into the next puzzle, but instead it just keeps saying, "try again". The problem is with this piece of script and I  can't figure out where it is. If you'd like to take a look here it is, or if anyone else can figure it out:

Code:

setnum (codecorrect ; 0)

if_num (code1 ; 2)
  if_num (code2 ; 3)
    if_num (code3 ; 1)
      if_num (code4 ; 3)
        if_num (code5 ; 1)
          if_num (code6 ; 3)
            if_num (code7 ; 1)
              setnum(codecorrect ; 1)

if_num (codecorrect ; 1)
{
playsound (openingbox;50)
loadroom(box 2)
setfocus(none)
}

if_num (codecorrect ; 0)
setobj(Letters1;0)
setobj(Letters2;0)
setobj(Letters3;0)
setobj(Letters4;0)
setobj(Letters5;0)
setobj(Letters6;0)
setobj(Letters7;0)
playsound(try again;50)
break()

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you 

[fogfighter]

The mystilinchen game started with a letter saying roughly that some scientific experiment by a professor had gone wrong. Now it's your task as his student to find out what on earth was going on.

Then the actual game seemed to rely more on visuals than text but I still got stuck in the professor's laboratory

...................................
The code is not delphi and I can only guess. However I suggest a possible explanation:

the missing brackets {} after
if_num (codecorrect ; 0)
makes the lines resetting the puzzle and signaling failure
kick in regardless of state of codecorrect.

setnum (codecorrect ; 0)

if_num (code1 ; 2)
  if_num (code2 ; 3)
    if_num (code3 ; 1)
      if_num (code4 ; 3)
        if_num (code5 ; 1)
          if_num (code6 ; 3)
            if_num (code7 ; 1)
              setnum(codecorrect ; 1)

if_num (codecorrect ; 1)
{
playsound (openingbox;50)
loadroom(box 2)
setfocus(none)
}

if_num (codecorrect ; 0)
setobj(Letters1;0)
setobj(Letters2;0)
setobj(Letters3;0)
setobj(Letters4;0)
setobj(Letters5;0)
setobj(Letters6;0)
setobj(Letters7;0)
playsound(try again;50)
break()

suggested action: try changing the last part to:

if_num (codecorrect ; 0)
{
setobj(Letters1;0)
setobj(Letters2;0)
setobj(Letters3;0)
setobj(Letters4;0)
setobj(Letters5;0)
setobj(Letters6;0)
setobj(Letters7;0)
playsound(try again;50)
break()
}

[StarLite]

Hi fogfighter,

Sorry I haven't answered your reply. I took the day off computers yesterday because I was having a problem with my right eye. I haven't tried your suggestion yet, although I think I've tried it before and it didn't work. Not sure but I will give it another go. If this doesn't work then I'll have to try what ad7 suggested a while ago and that's delete the script and re-type the whole thing in again line by line. Or else go with my suggestion and just leave the puzzle out, which would be a shame. I'll let you know what happens when I try it. Thanks for taking a look.