This thread is mainly for development purposes.  

--Last edited by alexxz4 on 2007-11-15 14:40:53 --

Hey, sethness. Thanx for joining.

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You never commented on the 4x4 explosion. If you like it, I'll make a larger C4 explosion in a slightly different color. (How big are C4 explosions-- 6x6? 8x8?)

Thing about it is that i need that in a strip.
Like one image next to another all in a row (or in a column). And, if possible more frames, like 20. If not then make dupliactes of each frame. The animation should last some time (~ 1 sec or 25 frames) or it will be too brief. I tried putting the explosion in a strip myself, but paint kills all the alpha and transparency. I noticed if i dont edit yo pisctures they show up nice in java, otherwise, its all screwd up. And could you make them close to 150x150 pixels. That cause the dynomite explosion takes out 3x3 block of earth (every block is 50 pixels). For TNT (if u gonna do it), its 250x250 pixels.

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Please take a look at this sample of 4 soil types, and choose one or tell me what you like/don't like.

I think maybe 4. Its not too sharp. Its hard to decided unless i see the whole screen.

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8 upgrade levels? I count 7.

Its 8 upgrades: engine, fuel tank, cargo bay, radiator, hull, drill, bio-x, battery.

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It's worth mentioning that although Java is slower than C++, it's not slower than, and far more flexible than, the Flash software that XGen uses to write and run the original Motherload. Another neat thing about Java is that it allows the program to run on many many operating systems-- Mac, Windows, Linux, etc.-- without modification.

Well, thats true, if u can make it run on those systems. Actually modern java is about 10% slower then C, and sometimes its even faster with cutting-edge optimizations. But of course it depends on how well the programmer uses the language.

And seth, how is it going with the bar? I been wanting to integrate it for a week now.  

OK, here is a quick preview. I added the opening secreen, transmission window and the base.
http://www.mediafire.com/?3o2a8mnw032
(Again, dont try to save/load, you wont be able to).
See the input boxes need some adjustment. The bottom box blocks part of the text. And move second box down 1 pixel, and third box up i pixel. You can just replace the boxes in the "images" folder to test it out.
About transmission, i think it would be better to put "TRANSMISSION" as an ornate text at the top of the transm. window. Its displayed in every message, so there is no reason to drawString() it every time.  
Ill integrate all the ship parts when they all will be ready.
About the ships-logo: I think its better if the tracks and the wheels dissapear when drilling down or using jet booster. (like i  have them in Aug 27 release).  

--Last edited by alexxz4 on 2007-10-05 19:13:29 --

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However, I can't get past the opening screen. I can't even type in the text-box. Is this ZIP file a complete version of the program, or just parts of it?

Hmmm... Did u click the applet to activate it? (i suppose you did).
And u didnt try to load the game? I just downloaded it and it works fin for me. Just to check, it should have motherload1.class, motherload1$1.class, motherload1$2.class, images, ML.html.
EDIT: I think the problem may be cause every java can run JAR files, but not every Java can run class files. That complicates things.
try this:  http://www.mediafire.com/?6jnwgejnoro
You can add/remove images from images folder using winRAR.

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I'll also put "Transmission from the Base" as ornate text on the transmission. Should it also say "press ENTER to continue" at the bottom?

Yeah u could do that.  

--Last edited by alexxz4 on 2007-10-06 11:41:49 --

Great!  Are you gonna do PNG transmission screen? Cause jpeg doesnt have trasparency. And id rather have more space for the message itself. Could u like squeeze down or rephrase "Incomming message from mars" and "Press enter to continue"?
Another thing before you change the start page: I need some space (about 250x30) for error messages, such as "File not found" or "Incorrect Password". Id rather have it right under "Enter a cheat code".I suppose you gonna change the gage bar, since we have a new one.
For the bar itself: Could u make the box where you draw numerical temperature bigger? Its way too small. Only dont change the other icons and dimensions cause i already fitted the bars to them.
And another thing is: with that configuration its not possible to have a gage bar for temperature. And its essential to have it so that player knows how far down he can go so he dont overheat. Again, try to do it so that it doesnt affect the other icons.

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By the way, we need to work on an explosion when the ship "breaks" (low fuel, engine temp too high, etc.).

When i dont suppose a ship would naturally burst into flames when its out of fuel. If u think about it, that would be the last thing it would do.   Maybe i could disable its controls when that happens (same thing for engine breaking). For overheat, we could have a short animation of the ship melting.  For radiation-exposure: give the ship a green glow. For hull, we could actually have it explode.
For drill: Should i dissable drilling when yo drill is zero? (i been thinking about it for some time now). Its not very realistic to die just because u cant drill.

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What else do you need from me, for the next release of the game?  (People at XGEN forum are asking when the next release will be. They're salivating!)

Do they really? How come i dont see them here?
I have a bunch of midterms comming next week, plus a road test. So i dont cant spend too much time on the game. I feel like im bihind even though its kindergarden stuff. ( Can u believe our second graphics assignment was to draw a smiley face   )
So u not gonna do any ship parts in recent future? I wanted to make the ship stuff all in once when i have all the parts of it. But thats allright. Are u gonna remake that green-looking hull (#7 i think)?

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The gage bar for temperature is just a thin red line that you draw with Java, so it looks like mercury in a thermometer. It can be erased by drawing over it with a white line. OK?

I think its too thin and small. If i edit it myself im afraid all the transparency would go away... The gage bar looks all right. Im yet to put time into it. (figuring out conversion formulas).

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I wasn't planning to redo the gauges on the opening screen, for this version. I was going to wait until the next version, when I'll also replace the "plastic dashboard jesus" with a Halloween pumpkin. (Let's call the next version "pumpkin patch" !) I can update the opening screen, of course.

Alright, i integrate what i have now. Just dont wanna put out too many versions too often.

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About the error message space on the opening screen-- could we not have a popup message that sits on top of the opening screen and doesn't go away until you hit the "enter" key, like a popup error message in Windows?

Allright ill do that. Though i need yo graphics for that (if you dont want it to look too "painty"). Nothing fancy, just a an empty window with "press enter" on the bottom.

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About the drill, we could have the drill change shape (melt, or get dull, or spread out like an exploding cigar). Or an animation of the drill getting pushed back into the hull and making the hull explode. Realistically though, does the ship die when the drill is zero, or can the player still drive the ship back to the base?

Have you played my game? (forgive for asking). Id suppose if u did you would see what would happen, unless u r a kick-ass Motherload player and never loose. Actually, u die the instant yo drill breaks down. U know what we could do: we could have a smashed/broken drill instead of normal one (to show its broken). Ill think ill make it so that u dont die when that happens. I think the player has too many other gages to worry about.

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Shall I make the base taller, more like a big city?

Sure.

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When do we do the new shop graphics?

Its all up to u, since its "you" not "we". Im not pushing you. You can start right away or next week.

Anyways, im off the internet for today, be back tomorrow.  

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Let's add a "help" command, a "pause" command, and a fancier "m-for-inventory-menu" command.

Lets leave it for the next release.

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I've finished the soil icons http://mitsuko3.com/mlu/ground-replacement.zip , but to look correct, we must change the Java too.

I dont know... I like the clean-cut tunnels in the current version.
Again, dont wanna imitate Xgen ML too much. Do u think we really have to change it?

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2) Using one 50x50 soil tile repetitively looks weird. Players quickly spot the repetition. Can we randomly use 4 or 6 different soil tiles? Or use a big 800x600 soil tile, and just paste tunnels and rocks on top of it? Or maybe randomly flip and rotate one soil tile, so it doesn't look so repetetive?

I dont think i can paste the tunnels on the fround. It doesnt work like that. I kinda got used to this repeatition, but i can flip/rotate the tiles easily.

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By the way, how did you make the black-and-red explosion (caused by hull damage from falling)? It looks GREAT.

I of course didnt make it. I found it on google search.

Anyways, ill be working on the game from time to time. (kinda getting busy lately with other stuff).

Ok, first things first. This is my game and my word is my command   So i was kinda ok with you experimenting and changing a few things. Like adding the percentage boxes to some of the gages, even though i only use percentages for the engine. Changing the gold. Doing ship parts without any programming considerations (like concentrating too much on jet booster animation even though u seldom have to use it; and all the hulls [8 not 7 of them] even though u never have to buy more then 3 of them). Making my game look like Xgen ML (repeatedly [If people wanna play Xgen ML, they can play it, not my game]). Replacing upgrade icons that dont need replacing (like hull7 which is NOT from Xgen ML). Not replacing the icons that do need replacement (like radiator6 and radiator7 [But thats ok, it can wait]). Making weird explosion formats (i think it should be clear that dynomite should be 150x150, 30 frames, in horizontal succession; TNT should be 250x250, 40 frames, in horizontal succession).
Im not saying that you are a bad graphics person. You are pretty good   But it would help if u played the game (for some time and learn its dynamics).
Well anyways, i never expected it to be easy, but thats allright.
So here is what i have right now:

http://www.mediafire.com/?bggdevztzx1

IMPORTANT (reading is mandatory, so is paying attention)
1. In the score-bar change "m" (meters) to "ft" (feet). Weird that you changed it to meters, since there are many other fancier measures like furlongs, chains, light years. etc. If u change it change it do it with a bang, i say.
2. Look at lead, its got some weird frosting on the edges. I dont like it (when i say i dont like it, i mean i want it changed). Its glow should be grayish not white.
3. Ok, since i love my gold, if u gonna do glow for it, dont change the icon. Also change silver to something shinier. Do glow for platinum (dont change the icon [or at least the color]).
4. Look in the images/ship folder. I want you to CAREFULLY without changing dimensions, replace the images with yours. I edited yo images to how i want them in paint but all the smooth edges are gone. Dont get too creative, just make its so the hulls and drills look fine in-game.  
5. For future: Replacing upgrade icons: Try to replace the batteries. Just make sure that bat1 looks really crappy and bat7 looks really high-tech. (Not like u did with hull7 that looked like a piece of rust). Use the same "theme". Replace drill2 (make it look like it is a steel drill [which it ACTUALLY is]), eng1, eng7 (which is not an actual engine), DEFINATLY replace rad6, rad 7, rad8. Also replace fuel8, hull8, cargo8 (those i got from Xgen ML). Make them kick-ass high-tech. DONT (yet) REPLACE ANYTHING ELSE.
6. Make petrol look more like my petrol (y? cause i said so
)

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How long did it take to do the  "smiley-face" homework? I'm betting between 10 and 35 minutes. :-D   smile/hapface01.gif

Giving that i had to do it in OpenGL (which is like Assembly) about 30 minutes. Of course in java it would take me 3-5 minutes.

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Do I have your permission to upgrade the sky? (please!)

Of course, it depends on what you want to do with it (in detail). I (and i think you too) dont wanna waste time on doing something that wouldnt work.

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Personally, I like the rough-edged walls. Not because "that's how XGen does it", but because perfectly smooth-walled tunnels look

 (i call it "Im the KING" smily. Its meaning should be obvious).

Anyways, if u change most of the things i mentioned, I think i would release "The dashboard Jesus son of Mary bobble-head thing edition" pretty soon    

--Last edited by alexxz4 on 2007-10-10 13:41:45 --