Pandora Pandora Panic

[todd]

I forgot about the arrows, did you want me to try something else and see what we like more? I also forgot about the "pressing effects", were you asking me about those? lol. I don't have an animation program, I used to have flash but that was on my old PC and I never really got into it. I could just make alternate versions of the buttons that are a medium shade of gray and it could flash between the two images. Other than that, I'm not really sure how you could do it or how the motion lines would work (I'm not able to visualize what you mean).

I think those alternate versions sounds like a perfect plan. Here's my interpretation of a "sprite sheet":

You'll notice that each icon is centered in a cell which measures 65x32. Perhaps you could add the alternate buttons forms as a second line (meaning another 650x32 for a total image size of 650x64)? That would be pretty ideal for coding against the sheet. (I'm sorry I'm nearly positive I lost your layers...).

Re: arrows, let's hang on and see how things turn out before you put much more time into it. Once I have code working, swapping out the graphics file with an updated one should be trivial if we decide changes are needed.

--Todd

 

[TheBrainSquid]

How do these look?

I might have the side dimensions slightly off as for some reason PSE's selection tool wouldn't keep the entire picture with the layer in the copy, just the individual objects, so I had to eyeball it. Also, I wasn't paying attention so I used a darker gray... hmm. If it doesn't work for you I can change it easily, its not that hard.

 

[PokeParadox]

Looking at Image.cpp, I'm guessing here that a tilesheet is a single png holding all the images? Each image is held in a rectangle the same size as all the others. And they are displayed simply by clipping that image. Do I have it, more or less?

Will there be any problems displaying more than one symbol at a time?

I'm assuming if I figure out how to make my tilesheet with a transparent background, that will function appropriately.

That doesn't sound too hard.

Exactly as long as each image is in a same size rectangle you can do this. You just tell the loading function how many xTiles and yTiles there are, and it chops up the image. You could also load each image individually, but that's not recommended.

There are no problems displaying more than one symbol at one time in your ButtonPrompt class you would just make several calls to renderImage(tileIndex,screen,position). You would have to check which button needs to be displayed and then once that is working add any timers and effects.

 

[todd]

How do these look?

I might have the side dimensions slightly off as for some reason PSE's selection tool wouldn't keep the entire picture with the layer in the copy, just the individual objects, so I had to eyeball it. Also, I wasn't paying attention so I used a darker gray... hmm. If it doesn't work for you I can change it easily, its not that hard.

Look great. As you say, I was thinking of a lighter gray. But this is plenty good enough for me to get to work. We can see how they turn out and consider changing them later.

Thanks!

Miggles -- you may not feel like it's your greatest work, but it obviously met the "good enough" principle! Thanks for taking the time to include it: I think it's definitely needed in my game, too.

--Todd

 

[Zoxc]

I'd except a more modern look on the button, not just a simple bevel effect...

Try to mix around with more complete shading, colors, white on black, etc...

The shapes looks good except the arrow icons, they seem kinda out of place.

 

[adamorjames]

Oooh? We are doing buttons? Someone needs to make a list on the wiki with all the to-do's (like a "help! need graphics/sound for...").

EDIT: Also we should use vector for the buttons in case in the future we need them to be bigger, a different color, customized by the user and such.. make in vector and output in pixel.

 

[TheBrainSquid]

I'd except a more modern look on the button, not just a simple bevel effect...

Try to mix around with more complete shading, colors, white on black, etc...

The shapes looks good except the arrow icons, they seem kinda out of place.

When I asked, todd wanted it simple with lighter colors like that, and he was the only one who gave input before I made them. I also don't know how you make buttons look more modern... they're buttons. And I can always change the arrows, I wasn't sure how well people would like those anyways.

And Adamorjames: I'm sorry, I actually don't have a vector graphics editor, all I ever use is GIMP and PSE (for my tablet since GIMP crashes with it).

 

[todd]

Ahh, the joys of volunteer endeavours!

Improvements are welcome! Personally, I appreciate the simplicity of the current icons (though I agree there might still be a few rough edges to smooth out). They're exactly what I asked for. But mine isn't the only opinion that matters here!

Also, please note that I have implemented the ButtonPrompter in such a way as to make it trivial for you to use your OWN icons. Beautiful! And though I haven't tested it, I think you're not even limited to the quantity (ten) of the original. Another great advantage of using a spritesheet instead of loading the icons individually. Thanks for the tip, PokeParadox!

So, for your viewing pleasure, I present:

• ButtonPrompter
• BadVista (v. 20081206)

PokeParadox -- I tried to throttle down the input in BadVista. I also made use of the ButtonPrompter. Though I'm not sure if I put the prompt at "the right place." But it's a slightly improved version to be added to the game.

To all -- please feel free to use ButtonPrompter in your own games if you find it sane. I tried to put basic documentation (instructions + examples) in the ButtonPrompter.h file. You can modify which button, where to place it, how long to display it, whether to flash it and how many times to flash it. It is intended to be very easy to use. Personally, I think it would valuable to have some consistency for little stuff like this across the games. Though certainly it doesn't have to be my work that we settle on.

To whomever: some of the buttons may be off by a pixel or two on the spritesheet. Someone may need to cast a critical eye on the shading. Any better ideas for the D-Pad buttons are welcome. My C++ is very amateurish (I jumped straight from C to Java and now I've mostly forgotten how to cope with pointers). Suggestions/improvements are welcome.

I'm hoping (cue wistful music...) to get to back to work on a rhythm game I'd started. Coincidentally (hmm...) the ButtonPrompter class was the next big thing I needed to work on! I'll use it to guide the user through the sequences. Is there somebody here who might want to help with some relatively simple rhythmic/musical sequences for the user to enter using the Pandora's buttons? And the (unencumbered by copyrights) sounds for those sequence? I already have the basic sequencer implemented. I have a couple ideas/specs to get you started. I think it's going to be fun!

--Todd

 

[adamorjames]

Tell me what you people think of this button style:

EDIT: I made it in Inkscape, which means it's vector.

Another image:

Glossy?

Jingle bells, jingle bells... sry I got carried away :lol:

 

[TheBrainSquid]

Those are looking nice, adamorjames

 

[Vorporeal]

They look good, but I think a slightly more cartoony style would fit better with the menu theme.

 

[rooster]

Jingle bells, jingle bells... sry I got carried away :lol:

Those colored buttons look great! good job.

I've done a new looping jingle for the project "PP Interlude": download
I don't know where or on which part it would feature so I'll leave that to you guys

 

[trabitboy]

I like the idea of the boxing game, although I think it needs to be made harder... possibly. And I'm unsure why it doesn't fill the screen. If it is not updated, I'll have to centre the images and do a black fill.
Discussion starts here.



hi,
I'm back from a long holiday and back at work on the boxing game .
minimum features will be :
- 3 different blows
- qte style sequence to win
- difficulty adaptive and random

pictures are not exactly the right size because I author them using colors on the DS,
which outputs a fixed res, I will resize them when these are definitive.

btw, when is the pandora release/deadline for the cd ?

T.

 

[PokeParadox]

Jingle bells, jingle bells... sry I got carried away :lol:

Those colored buttons look great! good job.

I've done a new looping jingle for the project "PP Interlude": download
I don't know where or on which part it would feature so I'll leave that to you guys

I do like the look of those buttons, but currently I have no idea how we could render them directly in vector form... so they would currently have to be saved as pngs. OpenSVG acceleration is something I do want to look into when I have time, however.

I like the jingle (jungle, lol!), but haven't a clue where to use it currently... hmmm. I'm wondering if it would suit some of the mini games themselves. Or can we swap some existing music around. Any suggestions?

I'm back from a long holiday and back at work on the boxing game .
minimum features will be :
- 3 different blows
- qte style sequence to win
- difficulty adaptive and random

pictures are not exactly the right size because I author them using colors on the DS,
which outputs a fixed res, I will resize them when these are definitive.

btw, when is the pandora release/deadline for the cd ?

Aha, glad you still have more to give with this minigame! That's great news, obviously we have to be prepared just in case a minigame is left in an unfinished state, but glad it's not the case.

Ah yes I've used Colors great homebrew app for the DS I can't get good results though... :lol:

This will be difficult, because people will read into the date and say the Pandora will be out on date x then... I will try and see if ED can give us a deadline to work from, but I may just have to say "hurry up" rather than give a specific date once I know... I'll talk to ED.
UPDATE: I suggested a deadline of 2 weeks from now and ED says that sounds ok. This is just a deadline to commit to getting a finished build ready to be put on the software disc.

I'm going to put together the Pandora controller stub class in my days off, but I also have my birthday to fit into this... I'll try my best though.

 

[TheBrainSquid]

Ah, I was going to try to work on learning C++ a little bit and work on some games during my christmas break. Well, if I get anything done in that respect (which I doubt I will), I'll let you know I guess. Two weeks sounds really soon to me but oh well. Is the game going to be expanded upon after release? Like, say, releasing add-on packs a few months afterwards with more games?

 

[PokeParadox]

Ah, I was going to try to work on learning C++ a little bit and work on some games during my christmas break. Well, if I get anything done in that respect (which I doubt I will), I'll let you know I guess. Two weeks sounds really soon to me but oh well. Is the game going to be expanded upon after release? Like, say, releasing add-on packs a few months afterwards with more games?

TBH it's more of a deadline for myself. Working minigames can be easily added into the most current build. The deadline is a goal to work by. Basically we know Pandora is coming, we just don't know when. The earliest it could be released is just before Christmas... I don't think we want to be coding on the 24th/25th though, right?
I'm hoping I'll have everything done that needs doing from an engine perspective and we have enough fully working minigames in two weeks time. I also I can sit and make 2 minigames for the collection.

Well Alex's suggestion was something that I really like the sound of. We could make monthly compiles with the latest added mini-games.

Anyway what I did today: http://projectinfinity.org.uk/doku.php/dev...joypad_handling

 

[MarkoeZ]

Well since this is kind of your thread anyway i hope you won't mind a bit of off-topicness:

Happy Birthday Poke!!!

May you drink lot's of beers and curse at lot's of code

Cheers!!!


Edit: damn those tags

 

[PokeParadox]

Thank you for the Birthday greetings! I am a Vodka man actually - I'll be playing some drunken Guitar Hero WT with friends later on.

But anyway I don't mind the occasional OT message, but this shouldn't become Poké's birthday thread, so any further birthday greetings should be tacked onto the end of a PandoraPanic! related post, pm'd or sent through the post with lots of cash... :lol:

Thanks again

 

[todd]

Anyway what I did today: http://projectinfinity.org.uk/doku.php/dev...joypad_handling



Excellent! Thank you for going after that. Will it be included with the next framework update? I'm assuming it would be helpful if I updated BadVista to use it? I definitely need it for the other game I'm working on.

Two weeks... it's good to have a deadline: that frees me up to work on other stuff afterwards! That might be just about right. Hopefully!

(Happy Birthday!)

-----------------------

I PM'd one of the volunteers from the Wiki about doing some sound for BadVista. But I haven't gotten a response yet. Anyone interested? I have some suggestions for what to do. Drop me a PM & we'll figure it out. Thanks.

--Todd

 

[PokeParadox]

Anyway what I did today: http://projectinfinity.org.uk/doku.php/dev...joypad_handling



Excellent! Thank you for going after that. Will it be included with the next framework update? I'm assuming it would be helpful if I updated BadVista to use it? I definitely need it for the other game I'm working on.

Two weeks... it's good to have a deadline: that frees me up to work on other stuff afterwards! That might be just about right. Hopefully!

(Happy Birthday!)

-----------------------

I PM'd one of the volunteers from the Wiki about doing some sound for BadVista. But I haven't gotten a response yet. Anyone interested? I have some suggestions for what to do. Drop me a PM & we'll figure it out. Thanks.

--Todd


It will be updated in the next framework. Updating (If you used the GP2XJoy class) should be as simple as doing #include "SimpleJoy.h" and instead of GP2XJoy Input; you do SimpleJoy Input. and all the functions are the same. With the added bonus of you will have access to the nubs once this is finished.

Yeah deadlines are a good thing as it helps you to focus and work towards a goal. I hope we have something that feels complete and releasable after two weeks in any case.

(Thanks! )