Greetings! I'm working on a solarus game where you can control 3 heroes that have different abilities and weapons, and switch between them using the menu (or pressing space bar if they are in the same map). I have not worked much on the plot, but I will explain now a bit about the gameplay.
The main heroes will be:
-An archer, the only one who can jump over holes (and water and lava), and has a bow with wooden arrows, a crossbow with metal quarrels, a shovel (that can be used to obtain metal quarrels from the ground and the usual uses), a sickle that can be used to obtain wooden arrows from certain plants (which unlike the sword, cannot cut solid plants), running boots (that can be used with the ability of jumping), etc.
-A swordsman, the only one who can swim on water, and uses short range weapons like a sword, spear, shield, a magneto (that can be used to deflect the metal quarrels a certain angle, and other uses), etc.
-A mysterious wizard (with short range spells) who has lost his memory, that can throw fire (to burn plants, or to combine it with the arrows of the archer to produce fire arrows), throw electricity (which paralizes enemies, turns on machines, hurts water-type enemies, and also can be combined with metal quarrels to electrify them), swimming in lava, mind reading of npcs (and even the other heroes), teleporting all heroes to the entrance of the dungeon or certain place of the map, etc.
I have also finished the scripts to change control between heroes, but it remains to make the menu to change between them from different maps. In maps where one of the main heroes is left, the position and state of everything must be saved to avoid solid entities to reappear overlapping some hero (this is necessary, but easier than it seems).
Also, I made a script to carry custom entities (although I still have to solve some problems and improve it). These portable entities can be thrown from one hero to another (useful if there is a hole or thin wall between heroes, or if they are moving in platforms, etc). Keys will be custom entities that will be carried, which is something unusual, and will allow to make enemies that steal the key, or annoy in other different ways (like changing the color of the key, but I don't want to give more spoilers). A key will open only a door of its color. There could also be magnetic keys (to use the magneto with them), and other types. Some portable items can be used to push buttons, and they are always moved by platforms.
The symbol of the game will be a clover (instead of the triforce), there will be secret clovers in the island that can be collected for something good to happen (like the secret seashells in Link's awakening), and a dark/light magic clovers which will be part of the main plot.
There are huge possibilities for the puzzles in a game like this. But the hardest part will be to design the island (not the dungeons), since sometimes the heroes will need to take different paths to arrive to the same place, and other times you can cross some road if you take two or all the heroes at the same time in that way (cooperation between them is needed). There will be parts of the game when you don't have the three heroes (at the begining you only have one of them). Etc.
This are the main ideas for my game. This is maybe too ambitious, but it is possible, and the hardest part of the scripting is almost done, although it still remains to make most of the graphics and start making all the maps and dungeons. I would be grateful if someone wants to cooperate with this project or contribute with some more ideas.
Make the change cost something that can run out. This way you can create puzzles with the change alone. That with the combination of puzzling with using the the right items can make really hard puzzles.
Sound like a cool idea.
If you mean that changing the hero should cost something that can run out, that would be a pain, and probably unnecesary...
Anyway, you have given me an idea about changing, not exactly the hero, but in chains of changing (trading) objects in the game (which is typical from Zelda games). I could make some areas accessible for some heroes so that it will make necessary to interchange objects from one hero to another (this will be done using the menu), since the hero that obtains the item in the trade cannot access the area for the new trade.
EDIT: I think I understand now what you meant. (Something like in Zelda Navis Quest with the tradings, I suppose.) But that is more an annoyance than a puzzle...
I made a very silly video to show the carrying system of custom entities that I have scripted and show a bit of what will be the game. (It's just a bunch of test maps, with no dungeon or puzzle.) I think this game will take me at least 5 years of work (I am replacing all the ALTTP resources by others made by me, and that is too much work for one person), so be patient.
You can watch it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY-yckilRrg
PS: sorry for my English if it is terrible and if the quality of the video is not too high.
This looks like a really cool idea! And it appears you've gotten a lot of the difficult custom scripting done, so great work! I look forward to trying this one out.
I saw the video, Everything looks great, Other that the obvious bugs.
Also, I have a small problem with the clashing tilesets and characters.
But that's just personal preference.
I look forward to it's release!
I still have nothing playable, but the new things done are:
Customized half of the HUD: there appears a bag of money instead of the usual rupee, which appears when you pick some money and disappears in 2 seconds (I prefer to hide it since the money is not important information). Also I made custom hearts, which appear with a beat effect in the hud (which is cool). I also made pickables for the hearts, heart containers and money. The money are no longer rupees, but what I call ore drops (pieces of ore) of different colors similar to the rupees (the ore drop with value 1 is the malachite ore, which is green like the normal rupee, etc).
On the script part, I can now also switch hero from the menu. This works also if the new selected hero is in a different map (the action button switching only works for heroes in the same map). Also, some custom entities I made, which I call portable entities (they can be carried but not destroyed when thrown), can be carried by heroes to other maps, etc. Also, several types of entities, like independent entities (which can be left alone and reappear when coming back to the map), and companions that follow you between maps if some condition is satisfied (I made a silly one which works), etc. I also customized my dialog box, also allowing to show a sprite of the npc or hero who is talking.
I will be improving my code and solving bugs for some time. But now I will be mainly working on the graphics, making some tilesets and a small part of the world. I want to replace all Zelda sprites and tilesets for my own ones, but this will take many months of hard work.
New video showing more features and things.
This video contains spoilers!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFBOuENNbIY&feature=youtu.be
That poor cat ...
Though, I'm really impressed by the progress so far, hope to see more :).
@MetalZelda: Thanks a lot! Although there are still too many things to do. The general idea of the game is to have 3 different short stories to choose at the begining, one with each hero. These stories could be played in any order, and even simultaneously. When you complete all the short begining stories, the three heroes will join for a common goal (maybe to save the world and that kind of things), then the switching heroes mechanics will be enabled (and then the most interesting part of the game will begin).
Since I am working alone, this project may take between 6 and 10 years of work, but I am doing this as a hobby so that does not matter, and I am very obstinate so I think I will finish this someday. I plan to make a 256 x 256 island (like in LA), and to use Chtulhu as the end boss, so there could be crazy things. I will try to release the first demo before the end of next summer, which will be a silly level where you get the first weapon (obviously the sword), and the most important thing: there will be some cats to rescue ;). Of course, there will be original puzzles and enemies that can be killed without the sword.
Next future work:
-Make the initial menu to choose savegame, and for each savegame choose a story between the three heroes.
-Create sprites, redraw the main heroes, and draw more and more sprites, including grounds and some enemies...
-Choose a title for the game (this is harder than it seems... :P)
-Write part of the plot with details, and program/draw the starting story of the swordsman hero. (Maybe I will skip this for now.)
-Re-program the menus: first menu for the inventory of weapons and some info (like the money you have), the second one for non-weapon items (the ones that can be interchanged between heroes) and other options like saving the game and switching between heroes, and the third menu for the maps.
-Make the first level and a small part of the island near the beach.
This is ambitious, take your time, Rome was not built in a day ;)
I also do like all these little details that you put here and there (the raft)
Wish you good luck for your project :)
Very nice project :)
Where do the hero sprites come from? Did you make them yourself?
@Christopho: Yes, I drew them almost two years ago, when I was still learning how to draw sprites. I now have more experience, so I can improve them a bit and finish some remaining animations to do. All graphics of the video, except the weapon part of the hud (that will be made too), are original and made by me.
Ok, very good work then!
Would you be okay to allow reuse of your hero sprite for the official sample quest of Solarus? With a creative commons license?
Because we are having huge difficulties to gather a coherent non-Zelda set of sprites for the hero and some NPCs, and your hero sprite with a sword is just what I am dreaming of!
@Christopho: Yes, you can use them :). I will have to upload all my art and sprites to my repo (I will do it before summer, probably for the next month).
The art license I am using currently for the graphics, sounds and music is: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0).
If someone else wants to use some of my art, it is necessary to keep the original license and give credit to me. I might change the license in the future for a commercial one (which would allow people to sell a game that uses my graphics), but not yet. If someone wants to use my graphics I recommend to ask to me first.
Great, thanks! Yes, you will have full credit of course.
Another question about something that is tilting me : how did you do for the bird thing at 5:23 (slowly landing), I'm trying to make some items using this feature but it always fail
@MetalZelda: I used the same script I use to carry and throw custom entities (which I call portable entities). I improved the code, so it's cleaner now, and added some more parameters for more customization during the throw. Now one can choose the number of bounces, max distance, the speed for the thrown entity, and define some custom optional events like on_carried, on_thrown and on_fall_finished; thats what I used for the bird thing. That script is great for a lot of purposes. Wrightmat has an older version of that script integrated with his own scripts, which could still be useful for others.
Nice to see how it is always possible to reimplement engine things in pure Lua to allow more customization :)
@Christopho: I agree. Although I forgot to show it on the video, I am using custom entities for pickables and teleporters. This allows, for instance, to jump over a pickable without picking it, or over some stairs teleporter without teleporting (any additional condition can be used in the collision test). Another script is used to replace built-in pickables and teleporters defined on the map by custom entities, so all the properties can be set directly in the Editor (you suggested to me to do this and it was a great idea, so thanks!).
Haha yes, a very interesting trick :)
But jumping over a built-in teletransporter does not activate it. I use this behavior in puzzles of ZSDX.
Jumping over a built-in pickable should ignore it too, but I have never tried so maybe there is a bug.
I forgot to say that I am using a fully scripted jump, similar to the jump in LA, which allows to control the hero during the jump. So there is no bug. Also, the long jump shown in the video, with boots + feather, is scripted.
Hi there! Here you have another video showing more things and features.
It shows the starting menus (I made them this week, the select hero menu was inspired by the one in the game Treasure of the Rudras), and the improved dialog box that allows using sprites for more customization.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRRcZjAwMw8
I am planning to make a new HUD like the one in Link's Awakening but with 3 assignable slots (exactly like the one in Lenna's Inception). This HUD will be possible in Solarus 1.5, when the camera will allow more customization. (And then I will replace part of the current graphics of the HUD to have only original ones.)
I have uploaded a new video to show the new sword animations: sword_loading, sword_loading_walking, sword_tapping and spin_attack.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uGiGAEvwml0&feature=youtu.be
New video testing an experimental game over menu, and also some new original animations.
Link here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SnaEUMfiI4&feature=youtu.be
-The animations: "grabbing", "pushing", "pulling", "hurt", "victory", "falling", "dying" and "jumping" are finished for the main hero (the swordsman).
-Remaining animations to do: the swimming ones, a better one for running, the super spin attack, and the ones for all of the weapons.
A new one of my silly videos:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Bxxk-sldEzc
This one shows:
-Some silly slime enemies.
-Improved trajectory for the jump.
-Running and swimming animations (these are new).
This is so cool :)
Thanks! ;D
Awesome ! This is getting better and better !
Good job
Looks awesome Diarandor!
I could really use that jumping trajectory scripts for my Tektite enemy - any chance you'd share it?
@wrightmat: Hi! Yes, of course you can use it!
I have added a previous version of the slime enemy that jumps to the sample quest. You can get it here:
https://github.com/christopho/solarus/blob/dev/sample_quest/data/enemies/slime_green.lua
I explained some things about this trajectory here (MetalZelda is using it too for his fishing rod):
http://forum.solarus-games.org/index.php/topic,572.0.html
That trajectory is the same I use for the jump of the hero (shifting the sprite).
The important part of the code is the following part (of course there are more details, like the creation of the shadow, etc, that you can check in the script of the slime enemy):
-- Start shift on sprite.
local function f(t) -- Shifting function.
return math.floor(4 * max_height * (t / jump_duration - (t / jump_duration) ^ 2))
end
local t = 0
local refreshing_time = 10
sol.timer.start(self, refreshing_time, function() -- Update shift each 10 milliseconds.
sprite:set_xy(0, -f(t))
t = t + refreshing_time
if t > jump_duration then return false
else return true
end
end)
Thanks Diarandor! I am having a slight issue though, and I think you may have had something similar and don't recall how you fixed it. After the enemy jumps, the shadow is not being removed and the enemy remains invincible. Everything works fine up to this point, so I'm guessing it's something to do with a timer? Here's my version of the code:
local enemy = ...
-- Tektite: a jumping enemy which moves toward the hero.
local state -- States: "stopped", "going_hero", "jumping", "prepare_jump", "finish_jump", "going_random"
local speed = 20
local detection_distance = 80
local jump_duration = 1000 -- Time in milliseconds.
local max_height = 24 -- Height for the jump, in pixels.
local jumping_speed = 100 -- Speed of the movement during the jump.
function enemy:on_created()
self:set_life(3); self:set_damage(4)
self:create_sprite("enemies/tektite_blue")
self:set_size(16, 16); self:set_origin(8, 13)
self:set_hurt_style("monster")
self:set_pushed_back_when_hurt(true)
self:set_push_hero_on_sword(false)
function sprite:on_animation_finished(animation)
if animation == "immobilized" then -- state: finish_jump
state = "stopped"
sprite:set_animation("stopped")
sol.timer.start(self, 200, function()
enemy:go_hero()
end)
end
end
end
function enemy:on_restarted()
is_pushing_enemy = false
self:check_hero()
end
function enemy:go_hero()
state = "going_hero"
self:get_sprite():set_animation("walking")
local m = sol.movement.create("target")
m:set_speed(speed)
m:set_target(self:get_map():get_hero())
m:start(self)
-- Prepare jump.
sol.timer.start(self, 1500, function()
self:prepare_jump()
end)
end
function enemy:prepare_jump()
state = "prepare_jump"
self:stop_movement()
self:get_sprite():set_animation("shaking")
sol.timer.start(self, 2000, function()
enemy:jump()
end)
end
function enemy:finish_jump()
state = "finish_jump"
self:stop_movement()
self:get_sprite():set_animation("immobilized")
self:set_can_attack(true) -- Allow to attack the hero again.
end
function enemy:jump()
-- Set jumping state, animation and sound.
state = "jumping"
local sprite = self:get_sprite()
sprite:set_animation("walking")
sol.audio.play_sound("jump")
self:set_invincible(true) -- Set invincible.
self:set_can_attack(false) -- Do not attack hero during jump.
-- Start shift on sprite.
local function f(t) -- Shifting function.
return math.floor(4 * max_height * (t / jump_duration - (t / jump_duration) ^ 2))
end
local t = 0
local refreshing_time = 10
sol.timer.start(self, refreshing_time, function() -- Update shift each 10 milliseconds.
sprite:set_xy(0, -f(t))
t = t + refreshing_time
if t > jump_duration then return false
else return true
end
end)
-- Add a shadow sprite.
local shadow = self:create_sprite("entities/shadow")
shadow:set_animation("big")
local new_frame_delay = math.floor(jump_duration/shadow:get_num_frames())
shadow:set_frame_delay(new_frame_delay)
-- Add movement towards near the hero during the jump. The jump does not target the hero.
-- The angle is partially random to avoid too many enemies overlapping.
local m = sol.movement.create("straight")
local angle = self:get_angle(self:get_map():get_hero())
math.randomseed(os.time()) -- Initialize random seed.
local d = 2*math.random() - 1 -- Random real number in [-1,1].
angle = angle + d*math.pi/4 -- Alter jumping angle, randomly.
m:set_speed(jumping_speed)
m:set_angle(angle)
m:start(self)
-- Finish the jump.
sol.timer.start(self, jump_duration, function()
self:remove_sprite(shadow) -- Remove shadow sprite.
sol.timer.start(self, 1, function() -- TODO: remove this after #868 is fixed.
self:set_default_attack_consequences() -- Stop invincibility after jump.
self:finish_jump()
end)
end)
end
function enemy:on_movement_changed(movement)
local direction4 = movement:get_direction4()
local sprite = self:get_sprite()
sprite:set_direction(direction4)
end
function enemy:on_obstacle_reached(movement)
if not going_hero then
self:go_random()
self:check_hero()
end
end
function enemy:on_hurt()
if timer ~= nil then
timer:stop()
timer = nil
end
end
function enemy:check_hero()
local hero = self:get_map():get_entity("hero")
local _, _, layer = self:get_position()
local _, _, hero_layer = hero:get_position()
local near_hero = layer == hero_layer and self:get_distance(hero) < 100
if near_hero and state ~= "going_hero" then
self:go_hero()
elseif not near_hero and state == "going_hero" then
self:go_random()
end
timer = sol.timer.start(self, 2000, function() self:check_hero() end)
end
function enemy:go_random()
state = "going_random"
sol.timer.start(self, 2000, function() self:check_hero() end)
end
Hi wrightmat. Which version of Solarus are you using? There were some issues with Solarus 1.4 which are fixed in the dev version (thanks to Christopho). Make a backup and test it with the development version, so we can know if the issue comes from the engine or not. (My slime enemy works fine in the dev version, but probably not in 1.4.)
I'm using 1.4.5, and I thought that might be the problem. I may try the dev version or I may wait until 1.5 comes out as stable. Thanks so much!
You can use the 28th March snapshot, it's the most stable snapshot of 1.5.
If this is just for testing some enemies this is the way to go.
http://www.solarus-games.org/downloads/solarus/win32/solarus-1.5.0-snapshot-20160328-win32.zip
There is a more recent one (April 3rd), is it less stable?
I got several errors regarding sprites (illegal direction 0) and random crashes, but that might be me.
These errors didn't exist in the 28th march(the crystal fix), so i'll stuck with this version
Ok then please report these problems :)
EDIT: Actually there is a crash when a pickable treasure dropped by a destructible or an enemy starts blinking, I fixed it two days ago. Maybe this is your random crash? No one reported it so I did not make a new snapshot.
The errors regarding sprites are problems that could exist before but were never reported. They should be harmless. One of them was the fault of the engine (Illegal direction 3 in animation 'sword' of sprite 'hero/shield1') and I also fixed it yesterday.
So okay, I will do a new snapshot now.
New snapshot: http://www.solarus-games.org/downloads/solarus/win32/solarus-1.5.0-snapshot-20160407-win32.zip
Please confirm if it fixes the crashes.
Yes, I confirm, no more crash and no more errors.
Thanks for the snapshot
Greetings Solarus community! I uploaded a new garbage-video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKRV_kcr3Vw&feature=youtu.be
Improvements and added features:
1) A new (original) HUD has been added, similar to the one in Link's Awakening. It can display the current hero, three assignable items for each hero, a money counter and an action icon (it will show the action that can be done, like lifting, speaking, etc). The life counters for the three heroes are still to be done (I have not decided yet if they will be hearts, or bars, or a mixture of both).
2) As you might have noticed, the sword in the video is not the built-in one but a fully scripted one. I was able to mimic all actions of the sword, including the loading and tapping animations and the spin attack. New feature: the normal sword attack changes direction each time the sword is used. New features still to do for this custom sword: fast attack, sword jumping attacks, and running with (custom) boots attack.
New video! Here I show how the custom sword can be combined with the custom jump (like in Link's Awakening).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REtiEtbxt_s&feature=youtu.be
Awesome :)
Thanks! Your feedback gives me motivation.
I plan to program a few more features for the custom sword in the future:
1-Custom boots compatible with sword (like in Link's Awakening). This will be easy to code.
2-Fast attack if the attack command is pressed many times and quickly (like in Terranigma). This will be easy to code too.
3-Some powerful attack to replace the super spin attack (maybe a tornado-with-electricity effect). This will be quite tedious to draw.
4-Maybe a slash-electric attack towards up, if the jump button is pressed during a normal attack (good against flying enemies). Although I am not sure of this one because maybe there is enough diversity of sword attacks.
Some sword abilities will be unblocked during the game (sword loading, spin attack, super spin attack, sword inverting direction on each attack, fast attack, etc).
New video showing the new weapon animations: bow, boomerang and hookshot.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t02HS7kxX7c&feature=youtu.be
Greetings!!!
New video of a new scripted experimental item: the magnet. ;D
This is still unfinished (I have not coded yet the feature to attract/repel the hero towards "metallic rocks" stuck in the ground). There are also some issues to be fixed.
Link here: https://youtu.be/Z_dXtTY6N6M
Cool item! Game is looking good!
Thanks! Although it will take a lot of time to finish the game (several years probably). I am still not working on the maps and puzzles because I am still working on the items and art...
Probably won't take longer than it took me to finish mine.... be ready to be in it for the long haul!
Yeah! Heheh.
(Estimated release date: for the end of the year 2024! ;D XD)
Update:
-The sound of the magnet has been replaced by a less annoying one.
-The magnet can now move the hero when used on "magnet-rocks".
-There are still some small issues to fix.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6vuT5Apq4Q&list=PLysNP7i5PKBCgT898-xreWyPcaByEB6Rg
New skeleton enemies. These will be called "skelfos" (instead of "stalfos").
https://youtu.be/ayfHJ3zlZ3s
New Spiderman Spider enemies!!! ;D
https://youtu.be/JELPsjwhe6E
These will replace wallmasters (hand-shaped enemies that take you to the dungeon entrance).