LAR RPG

Posted by LAR Games on Jan. 17, 2015, 3:26 p.m.

Considering my last blog was mostly about announcing my project. I decided to finally make a blog post dedicated to updates. Especially since it was getting more annoying to add to it since there was so much stuff on one page. :P

Any changes and progress will be posted here instead of the other one.

If you want to see the previous versions, you can go here:

Pervious Blog

The latest version is Version 12 :

- Bunch of changes to lighting system (Reliability Wise)

- Bunch of changes to shadow system (Reliability Wise)

- Completely changed melee system (Swings are more natural)

- Experimenting with Tileset templates (Not going well, I really hate tiles)

- Can now go into buildings

- Interior lighting is separate from exterior

- Temporarily disabled detailed tooltip in inventory. (Will soon be a screen with even MORE info)

- Some adjustments to the walking animation (Not sure about this)

- Slightly dynamic menu animations (Dependant on container size)

- Replaced hilarious enemy audio. :(

- If you don't have anything equipped, YOU CAN PUNCH!

- Added VSync to options menu (Start Menu options still not in. :P)

- Screen is centered on character now. Freelook can be toggled with Ctrl.

-Tons and tons of other small things I can't remember

The latest version is Version 11 :

-Enemies can now drop items

-Created colored lighting system

-Lighting system is now tied to time of day (It didn't use to be, it just got darker or lighter as time passed. Changing the time wouldn't actually change the lighting)

-You can change the time of day with the scroll wheel (Just for testing, of course)

-Shadows now move according to the time of day as well.

-Shadow position is tied to time of day as well.

-Enemies actually look like enemies

-UI changes

-Felt like drawing stuff so I drew some art for the inventory.

-Usable equipment slots have icons to show what goes there.

-Enemy AI is better and you can see their aggro distances and where they're looking (Temporary, of course)

-There's now a button to open and close inventory on screen.

-Added a hit stop effect (weapon slows down due to impact on enemy)

-You can't use weapons on both hands at the same time anymore

The latest version is Version 13 :

- Changed movement system so it's not possible to walk faster diagonally anymore

- Made it possible to change the contents of chests after they've been created. (Allows for randomization of contents at any time. Possibly for a gambling mechanic?)

- Correctly liked character speed with speed of walking animation.

- Added dynamic animation to character's feet

- Added dynamic animation to arms and body. Can attack, run, and walk fluidly

- Created a tileset mask I don't hate

- Spent a couple hours last night actually making some art for this thing. It doesn't look dreadful anymore. (In my opinion)

- Revamped UI Look

- Added durability to weapons and spells. Can see current durability when equipped or in inventory

- Made it possible to change direction of inventory transition really easily.

- Added more scenery in the world like plants.

- Redid the sounds (Again)

- Items now have sounds attached to them so they all sound differently when used or picked up.

- Added ability to have particle effects on weapons. (like a fire sword)

- Added a fire sword to test this out

- Added currency to the engine. I haven't decided if you should have it be separate from the inventory or not though.

- Added transitions to healthbar damage for enemies so it's easier to see how much damage was done to them.

- A bunch of other things that I forgot to put here because It's been a long times since I've updated this.

The latest version is Version 14 :

- Worked on making the menus a bit less uggo

- Added settings menu to title screen

- Added parallax effect to some objects in the world. (I don't know why I love this so much)

- Small tweaks to damage dealing system. (Still In progress. Still need to implement armor)

- Added ability to change the sound levels (Having a lot of trouble with this on objects with Game Makers positional audio system. Might need to make my own…)

- Added audio menu to settings so you can actually change the sounds. (For some reason, zero means go back to full volume. I have no idea why.)

- Added new floor type with new sounds. Wood.

- Changed the looting sounds so looting a bunch of stuff isn't as annoying

- Fixed a bug that made the framerate go crazy low for a second. (Had to do with shadows)

- Areas can have ambient audio now. The house in the map has some creepy ambient noise that doesn't belong to me since I didn't create it. Just there for proof of concept. I'll replace it with my own audio as soon as possible. For some reason, it doesn't play the first time you go in the house, so you have to go back out and in. Sounds pretty nice. Almost sad I can't keep it. :P

The latest version is Version 15 :

- Title screen is a bit more interesting

- Added dynamic camera movement so character can see further ahead when moving

- Refined the idle audio system for enemies.

- Time of day also changes color temperature

- Added buttons to audio settings menu

- Inventory system is now more card like. More info can be seen at once.

- Added working equipment slot for armor

- Added working equipment slot for pants

- Added working equipment slot for feet

- Can now see armor and shoes on character if equipped

- Added the basics of mount mechanics

- Enemies now have proper death noises with sound fade and everything. :P\

- Money isn't an inventory item anymore

- Reworked equipment and weapon system… Again. Now only need one weapon animation script for both hands!

- Added changing mouse cursor system. I don't know why, but it makes it much more satisfying to pick up items and move them in the inventory.

- Character now has momentum. It takes him a step or two to get to full speed.

- More stuff I'm probably forgetting. Might add later

Stuff I forgot the first time:

- Added a leveling system. lol. How did I forget that?

- Health scales with level

The latest version is Version 16 :

Changelog for LAR RPG Engine Version 016

- Player can now lose health

- Player can now die and loses items in inventory on death

- Player can now dodge and dodging provides invincibility frames

- Added support for ranged weapons with ammo

- Added accuracy bloom to ranged accuracy crosshair

- Added indicators for left hand or right hand ranged weapon accuracies

- Changed the way projectiles are created allowing for easier creation of custom projectiles (easy way to add bullet types)

- Containers can now be set to act as shops

- Shops can have individual buy / sell rates

- Items will display prices adjusted for shop buy / sell rate

- Shift Clicking in shop inventory will buy that item. (Shops are still in progress)

- Improved melee animations

- Player inventory can now be scrolled up or down allowing for larger inventories

- Scrollbar added so it's easy to see where inventory is scrolling

- Character stats added when other inventories not opened

- Dropping items from the inventory can now be done by grabbing it from and clicking away from the inventory

- Projectiles now impact solid objects

- Added an inventory button

- Added a visual indicator to show when player has leveled up

- Removed audio debug text on enemies

- Some other stuff I don't remember writing down

The latest version is Version 17 :

Changelog for LAR RPG Engine Version 017

- Removed "Play" option from main menu and replaced it with "New Game"

- Added a "New Game" menu screen with slots for save files

- Added a Load Game option to main menu and created a "Load Game" menu screen

- Added loadable save files to "Load Game" menu screen

- "Save Game" now works in the escape menu

- "Load Game" now works in the escape menu

- Dramatically improved the way dialog Boxes work

- Added a dialog box to confirm or decline quitting the game in main menu

- Added a dialog box to confirm or decline quitting the game in escape menu

- On new game, game asks to name character

- Added map that opens and closes with the "M" key (Will add dedicated menu UI button later)

- Created a marker system that shows position of things. (Can easily add more types of things that show on map)

- Added mini-map

- Added ability to zoom in and out of map

- Added an actual blood effect that pools and disappears in an interesting way.

- Added the ability to fast travel to markers on the map

- Added some nicer lighting effects. Most noticeable with the spells.

Pic (version 17):

PS: I'd really like to know what kind of framerates and bugs you guys are getting. (Not to mention your specs)

Comments

LAR Games 8 years, 10 months ago

@SpectreNectre

Personllay, I love pressing "E" a bunch to loot stuff on the ground. However, I might include an auto pickup option in the settings for people who don't.

@Mazimadu

There's links right before the change logs. Even the old ones.

Here's the link for Version 16

LAR Games 8 years, 9 months ago

The latest version is Version 17 :

Changelog for LAR RPG Engine Version 017

- Removed "Play" option from main menu and replaced it with "New Game"

- Added a "New Game" menu screen with slots for save files

- Added a Load Game option to main menu and created a "Load Game" menu screen

- Added loadable save files to "Load Game" menu screen

- "Save Game" now works in the escape menu

- "Load Game" now works in the escape menu

- Dramatically improved the way dialog Boxes work

- Added a dialog box to confirm or decline quitting the game in main menu

- Added a dialog box to confirm or decline quitting the game in escape menu

- On new game, game asks to name character

- Added map that opens and closes with the "M" key (Will add dedicated menu UI button later)

- Created a marker system that shows position of things. (Can easily add more types of things that show on map)

- Added mini-map

- Added ability to zoom in and out of map

- Added an actual blood effect that pools and disappears in an interesting way.

- Added the ability to fast travel to markers on the map

- Added some nicer lighting effects. Most noticeable with the spells.

Pic (version 17):

Unaligned 8 years, 9 months ago

Here are my thoughts in no particular order

-Real nice lighting and effects, colors pouring out of everywhere. I loved shooting the gunbow at night

-Smooth as hell interface, stuff sliding all over the place

-Please tell me how to make fonts and other drawing functions have an outline

-I can't put my finger on it exactly but something feels off from the movement of the character. Might have to do with the rayman-esque limb system you got going

-Consider trying out swooshy-trail effects to melee attacks (see here and here for what I mean), might improve the feel they've got. Maybe paired with some combo system where attack movements alternate

-Auto loot gold option please

-There was a bug in which the view shifted to the right, leaving the hp/stam/mana bar to the right and the camera shifted too. If I figure out how to replicate it I'll tell you. Might be due to fiddling with the inventory or pause screens

-About 830 fps on a 4690K / 970GTX

LAR Games 8 years, 9 months ago

That view shift bug has been plaguing me for the longest time. I'll figure it out someday but as of yet, it still eludes me.

As for the text outlines, I made a script for it. it basically draws text multiple times to get the outline. I'm not sure if it's the best way to do it, but it's the way I came up with. Here's the script if you want to see exactly how I did it:

///draw_text_outline_size(textX, textY, textString, textColor, lineColor, textSize, textFont)
var textX, textY, textString, textColor, lineColor, lineWidth, textSize, textFont;
textX = argument0;
textY = argument1;
textString = argument2;
textColor = argument3;
lineColor = argument4;
lineWidth = 1;
textSize = argument5;
textFont = argument6;

//Outline
draw_set_font(textFont);
draw_set_color(lineColor);
draw_text_transformed(textX +lineWidth, textY +lineWidth, textString, textSize, textSize, 0);
draw_text_transformed(textX -lineWidth, textY -lineWidth, textString, textSize, textSize, 0);
draw_text_transformed(textX +lineWidth, textY -lineWidth, textString, textSize, textSize, 0);
draw_text_transformed(textX -lineWidth, textY +lineWidth, textString, textSize, textSize, 0);
draw_text_transformed(textX, textY +lineWidth, textString, textSize, textSize, 0);
draw_text_transformed(textX +lineWidth, textY, textString, textSize, textSize, 0);
draw_text_transformed(textX , textY -lineWidth, textString, textSize, textSize, 0);
draw_text_transformed(textX -lineWidth, textY, textString, textSize, textSize, 0);

//Actual Text
draw_set_color(textColor);
draw_text_transformed(textX, textY, textString, textSize, textSize, 0);

The lineWidth variable used to be assigned an argument, but I removed it since I only ever needed the outline to be 1 pixel wide anyway.

As for the sword trail effect, I actually tried to implement that very early in the creation of the melee swing mechanics. It didn't work out. However, I might try to do it again at some point.

The movement, I don't know… I don't think there's anything I can do about it feeling off.

And lastly, I am looking into adding an auto loot for setting for people who don't like to manually loot things like I do.

Thanks for the input, man,. I actually really appreciate it!