All right! Everything went well. Older fighter files now automatically resize their sprite sheets, ensuring a two-pixel separation between each frame. This is all handled during game loading or when opening an old fighter in the Fighter Editor.
If you encounter any issues with fighter files, please let me know!
AGAIN, I INSIST ON THIS IMPORTANT NOTE:
Now I can go back to programming the platform's ledge slide.
Today, I added a neat target for each player. Right now, it's invisible. The camera bound to the player now follows that target instead of the fighter. This way, I can position the camera ahead of the fighter to see what's going on, which is something Sonic games fail to do. In Sonic, the camera focuses on what's behind the hedgehog, making it hard to see upcoming obstacles like those annoying spikes.
Anyway, I had to change how the fighter climbs stairs since it was using velocity instead of acceleration, which was messing up with this new camera system.
In the future, this target will become visible when aiming to shoot at an enemy.
- I think stair climbing could look more natural if characters did their walk animation uninterrupted instead of jumping maybe
- When jumping forward, characters should do their "jumping forward" animation from frame 1 (currently they do their neutral jump animation first for a few frames) then maybe go into their fall animation
Thanks, Bosha. I'll check what can be adjusted regarding those two animations. Right now, the animation is simply triggered based on the fighter's velocity on the x and y axes, but it could be improved 😉
Let's rephrase and repost my last message from ten days ago already:
I've added basic buttons to the Versus screen that let you load custom map and tile files.
This makes it easy for you to test different combinations of map and tile sizes.
The goal is to find the best balance between tile size, map size, and overall playability.
Currently, it's set to 8x8 tiles, but that’s just a starting point.
Please note: there are no safety checks yet, so loading invalid or mismatched files will cause the game to crash.
While you run simple tests, I’ll keep working on the remaining features for the next DBDEV release.
Thanks 😉
Today I fixed a few bugs and optimized several others. I also spent some time fine-tuning the overall speed, force, and bounciness of punched fighters.
Since there’s been no feedback on the simple test to validate block sizes, I’ll be shifting my focus to other areas for now 😒
Alright, I've done some testing, here's my feedback regarding the map tile sizes.
The smaller sizes, like size 1x1 or 2x2, definitely don't work. Each time you approach a 1-tile-tall ledge and automatically walk up it, the camera jerks around a bit, and the character loses all of their momentum. This was happening every fraction of a second while trying to run around in a size 1 map. The only reason to have smaller tile sizes is to make more detailed terrain, so this would be constantly happening on any sort of height-varied ground.
I think 8x8 tiles works the best. Playing with a standard-sized character, 8x8 allows characters to fall down 2-tile-wide holes, and run over 1-tile-wide holes, but still jump up 1-tile-wide holes from above, so they don't get trapped anywhere. It also allows them to fit in 2-tile-tall tunnels easily. The characters just seem the most well-built for this size of ground.
Besides, a smaller tile size will make it more difficult it will be for the average person to draw their own tiles and maps. The smaller the tiles are, the more tiles you have to draw in order to have an actually detailed-looking terrain. Since BASTON is all about accessible character creation, I think 8x8, the easiest to manage, is the best option.
Thanks for your review, Cairns. Glad to see someone is following after 111 DAYS of waiting for some feedback 🙄
For the small 1x1 tiles to work, I’d have to adapt both the movement and the camera. But even if I did, I think the sprites would still look weird on slopes, unless the sprite is rotated to match the slope's angle 🤔
I really like the idea of more complex destructible terrain, though. But making that work with Baston fighters would be a pain. I need to check if a 1x1 destructible terrain is doable in Haxe, because using the basic collision map would make the game super slow.
As for the larger squares, I agree, the 8x8 ones are the best!
Instead of using collision blocks, destructible terrain should be doable with BitmapData:
https://emanueleferonato.com/2010/06/25 … -in-flash/
I could also apply a shader on top of it to make it look pixelated, matching the fighters’ resolution:
https://thedeivore.medium.com/construct … 53762f6b90
I'm going to open a side quest regarding the terrain after releasing the next version of Dragon Ball Devolution.
I managed to fully reprogram Emanuele Feronato’s Worms-like terrain in HaxeFlixel, and I must say I’m quite happy with the result. I had to rely on pixel color detection instead of pixel transparency, though.
I’ve added worms_test.exe to the alpha package of BASTON if you want to try it out:
Now I'm going to make a branch of the current BASTON (in case I want to go back to blocks), and implement the worms like terrain.
HELLO!! It's been a while since my last post and it's really great that the project is still in development. The worm-like maps are amazing, the only thing that raises doubts for me is the digging function with the mouse, mainly because I think it could cause problems when playing with other players. I think it would be better if that function is assigned to a button if possible.
Other than that, I think you're doing a great job 🐻.
Keep it up👍️
Thanks Nikrø. I work on it whenever I can.
This winter has been pretty complicated, and there’s been little to no feedback so far.
Digging with the mouse is just for debugging and testing purposes. I’m certainly not going to program ki blast collisions with the ground or similar features before making sure that fighter movements on this kind of terrain feel nice and playable 😉
I’ve added mouse-based destructible terrain to the BASTON alpha and adapted the fighters’ collision detection accordingly. There’s still room for improvement, but I believe it’s already working quite well.
Now I need to clean up and reorganize the code before making some adjustments, like allowing fighters to walk up slopes to climb higher.
The terrain now features automatic texture, relief, and pixel overflow at the top, so fighters no longer look like they’re standing over the void on slopes. It currently overflows by 10 pixels, but that can be adjusted. Next, I’m going to reactivate the shadows with a blending effect like multiply, so they appear only on the ground and not in the sky.
I added a first draft of projected shadows
☀️ 😎___
Fighters now rotate to match the slope beneath their feet when standing, up to a 20-degree tilt. With today's screen resolutions, it looks and feels surprisingly better than I expected 🤩
Edit:
Whops, the shadows were destroyed in the process. Here's the fighter's rotation combined with the projected shadows:
Next up: reactivating fireballs (initially with a 0° angle) and making sure they collide with fighters and terrain.
Hello!! I have been testing the alpha and I noticed a few bugs and issues that need to be fixed. Before I begin, I would like to highlight how good the inclination with the terrain feels; it gives a lot of fluidity and the movement feels more natural. Another addition that adds a plus is the shadows; there still needs to be work done to improve that, but it's pretty cool as it is.
I will notify you of any other details.
Thanks Nikrø for your input.
I moved your bugs where they belong, one bug per topic. This is simpler to track.
And you can take screenshots by pressing F2 😅
I’ve added the Android build to the alpha.
Note: This is a very early and buggy version.
Edit:
Lots of bug fixes, and now the terrain is only redrawn when the user releases the mouse click, to avoid major lag on crappy hardware.
I’m really happy with how the terrain plays. In the version I’ll upload tomorrow, it’ll be wider. Huge, even.
Right now, I’m torn between two options: eroding the left and right edges to create an island-like feel, or looping the terrain so that going off the far left brings you to the far right.
Just like our politics... 🙄
I can’t playtest a fighting game alone forever, and with so little feedback coming in, I started building an AI, just to have someone (or something) to spar with.
At the moment, it can:
It’s still dumb, but once you throw 32 of them into the arena, it’s already complete chaos 😄
Video here:
https://bsky.app/profile/txori.com/post/3lupruyfyps2b
Edit:
After watching this video a few times, I think I’ll start by slowing down the walking speed and making basic punches push enemies farther. Then I’ll go through and list a few bugs I spotted to fix.