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Messages - Zefk

#496
Quote from: Christopho on May 07, 2016, 12:05:51 AM
Nice to see the progress every day :D
Free tilesets fully compatible with my Zelda tilesets are really a dream to me :)

Me too! This is a really fun project.
#497
Your projects / The Solarus Resource Help Project
May 06, 2016, 10:23:55 PM
Solarus Resource Help Project

Update:
Go here for more official information: Here

About:

This project is meant to help Solarus. The contents are below. Please make suggestions.

Reports:

Let me know of:

  • Dead links
  • Service changes - Ex: Like how ADrive no longer gives 50 GB free.
  • Typos or grammar mistakes
Basic Question:

Q: Can Solarus make more than ARPG games?
A: Solarus can make visual novels, monster battle, card battle, and any other game type in the 2D realm. (Although, there is talk of mode7.) Solarus is aimed at ARPG, so there will need to be more coding for other game types, but Solarus is made to make coding easy. (At least in my opinion.)

Q: Is Solarus an emulator?
A: No.

Q: Is there a simple android export option?
A: No. Not "yet."

Q: Single exe?
A: You can make a single .exe with a free packager software like "Inno Setup".

Q: Can I sell my game in communities like Steam, and make money from it?
A: Yes, but follow the GPLv3 license.

Q: Is there online support?
Q: Can I make a game without programming?
Q: How much experience in Lua is needed prior to starting to use Solarus?
Q: Is there a short explanation for GPLv3?
Q: What basic information will pixel artists want to know?

ARPG 2D Games good for studying:

-The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past
-The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past and Four Swords
-The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages
-The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons
-Zelda ARPG games: Wiki
-Secret of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 2)
-Secret of Evermore (Not related to the Mana series, but pretty much has the same functions and was made by the same company.)
-Seiken Densetsu 3
-Sword of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 5)
-Children of Mana (Seiken Densetsu 6)
-Avatar The Last Airbender GBA
-Boktai
-Alundra
-Soul Blazer
-Illusion of Gaia
-Shining Soul II
-Juka and The Monophonic Menace
-Yu Yu Hakusho - Ghostfiles - Spirit Detective
-The Legacy of Goku
-The Legacy of Goku II
-Buu's Fury
-Terranigma

SideScrolling Games:

-Gunstar Super Heroes gba (Full of ACTION)
-Mario Land
-Wario Land
-Sonic
-Metroid
-Mega Man
-Lady Sia

SideScroller/ARPG: (Half/half):

-Summon Night: SwordCraft

Port information:

Homebrew 3DS: Here

Wii port information: Here

Android port news: Here
There is an older android port for an older version of Solarus, but there seems to be a better port in progress for maybe 1.5

Old android port info: Here

Some information of people that did the ports: Here

Lua learning information and Solarus documentation: Here
Solarus uses Lua for scripting with Solarus libraries to make things easy. This should not be an issue if one already has experience in a high level language like C or C++. Do not let that scare you because Lua is actually a very easy programming language and it will actually help you with learn C or C++ later, but C languages are not needed for making games with Solarus. It will help if you want to assist with the Solarus engine or modify it.

C++ SDL 2.0 and QT Creator: Here
Want to help program for Solarus and fix bugs? This would be a good place to start. Once you begin, fork Solarus and do a pull request once you made your changes on GitHub. Scroll down to GitHub on this post if you have no clue what I just typed.

Upgrading:

The migration guide will help one upgrade from different versions of Solarus: Here

Diarandor's Audio and Pixel art:

Updates Here and his work is in the sample quest in Solarus Engine!

Sample Quest:

The sample_quest and Children of Solarus project have some free graphics too.

Book:

Solarus 1.5 free book by zefk: Online - PDF - GitHub - Post

Basics:

The new Solarus 1.5 tutorial series: Here
The basics for Solarus - Video Tutorials by Christopho! The Creator of Solarus!

Tutorials by ffomega: Website

Advanced Screen Capture Tools:

  • Shutter for Linux -There are many options. The most important is selecting an area on the screen and making a screenshot. There are some basic paint editing tools as well.
  • Greenshot for Windows -There are many options. The most important is selecting an area on the screen and making a screenshot.
  • The use of gifs might be better than videos for reporting bugs. They are easier to post and upload. Giphy might be a good place to upload them before posting...only if they are bigger than 100 kb. Silentcast for Linux and ScreenToGif for Windows or LICEcap v1.26 (works with wine)
Error Solutions:
-Function at line has more than 60 upvalues for local variables, arrays, & 200 Local Variables Limit Problem solutions: Here
-Control structure too long near: Here
-Solarus Graphic scaling solution/Images beyond 320x240 solution: Here

Scripts:

A list of scripts: Here

Audio:

Audio: timer and timer_hurry (CC0): here

My music for Solarus

A free music making software list and soundfonts (sf2)

Looping .Ogg music Solarus: Here

Font:

Bitmap font - Direct download

Making Font Resources and Template

Font (.ttf) to Bitmap and Glyph Dump: Here

Pixel art or graphics:

Animation list for sprite characters: Here

Diarandor's selective outlining post: Here and my: comment

Diarandor's Design of graphs of dungeons post: here & my comment: here

Spritesheet Editor Software: Here

LPC Character Sprite Generator: Here

Free Pixel art: Here (login to view)
-Crystal, switch, & block
-Unlucky Studio graphics
-Urbansquall ARPG Graphics
-ARPG Skull Shield

ARPG Heroine Sprite Eldrina: Here (Eldran Sprite Mod by ZEFK)

Sprite Character Templates - Opensource Free

Open Source Graphic Pack - Finished
Part1: Fairyolica World Outside/exterior Finished

Free Pixel Art Making Programs for Linux, Windows, and Android

Transparency and opacity

Making maps with a program called, "Tiled."

Easy palette swapping tool. A post by MetalZelda : Here

Story:

Most of this section has been deleted and added to the Solarus book project: Here

Interesting brainstorm features: Here

Music, mapping, and story help

Free Office Suites for online and offline use: Here

Linux:

Solarus Linux Wine Guide based on Zuto Kaza's

Mac:

Having trouble installing the Mac version? Use Wine to use the Windows Solarus version on your Mac. Here is a Wine Installation guide for Mac. Here

Android:

You might be able to use Wine on your android by emulating Ubuntu. There is a root and no root method. Here

Running Android apps through chrome. The article is detailed enough. Some android programs can be used to help with Solarus game making, but not all will work because a lot of apps that you buy have annoying verification that may need something that is not functional. Also, some apps crash when sound is used.
http://askubuntu.com/questions/605589/can-android-apps-be-used-in-ubuntu

Raspberry Pi:

I am not sure about the Solarus Editor, but the engine works. Here are two sources.

Source: Solarus's creator confirms it works

Source: Successful test and Github source.

Source: How to set up solarus on raspberry pi?

Legal:
License help

Storage:
Attachment too big? Here is where you can upload large image files and other file types for free. They are good places to store your files too.

GitHub Help:

Github in my opinion the best free service to use for your project. There are obviously other as good free alternatives.

Link to GitHub: Here

Some basic markdown formatting: Here

Formatting Cheatsheet: Here

Uploading files to your repo: Here

Pull requests: Here and video tutorial: here

Fork: Here

Markdown offline editors: 
-I like CuteMarkEd because it is portable. Go here for more options. (Buggy)
-Haroopad - best here in my opinion. One can even insert a table of contents based on the headers, no bugs to be found, and the html file can be turned into a pdf with chrome. (Table of contents still work in pdf)

Common bug fix for Haroopad on older Linux distributions:
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:ubuntu-toolchain-r/test
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install libstdc++6-4.7-dev


-Asciidoc Book Editor - Has everything, but only for 64 bit! No x86...

Funding online platforms that can help your project with donations:
Have you ever thought of using Patreon, Kickstarter, and IndieGoGo? These could be funding platforms that could help your Solarus game projects. I think Patreon would be the best because people can send recurring payments monthly to creators. As in people can give you money monthly.

Funding platforms:

  • Patreon
  • IndieGoGo
  • Kickstarter
  • Appsplit
  • Wefund
  • Appstori
  • Onevest
  • Fundbyme
  • Razoo
  • Pozible
  • Croundfunder
  • Campfire
  • Rally
  • Rockethub
  • Gofundme
  • Fundrazer
  • Gambitious

Steam:

Related post: Here

You will need to use Steamworks SDK if you want steam achievements (you do not need it) and your game only gets on steam if Valve likes it.

You need to use Greenlight. If Valve likes the game, then they will publish it on Steam.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c61YgiNDd8E

More info on Greenlight:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=raIef6QXu0E
#498
Here is the update for today. I did a little more than I planned too.
#499
Edit: Maybe you could help with these sprites I attached.
#500
That is up to Diarandor. I do not want to take time away from his works and it would be best for me to complete everything I can before asking for others to join in.
#501
ileset:

Next update: 5-6-16 or 5-7-16
-Stump
-Leaves
-One Dungeon building
-Smaller red tree
-Upper left 2 small water blocks

Following Update: 5-8-16 or 5-9-16
-Flower
-Grass brick fence
-Stairs
-Cave entrance
-Wood fence

Hero Sprite update:


Next Update: 5-6-16 or 5-7-16
-Shield separation
-Walk in Solarus format
-Attack in Solarus format
-Color/colour variations.
#502
Added:
-Audio format licenses information
#503
I had some more time, so I added some more to the tileset today!
#504
I will probably be using these sprites as a test for the tileset.
#505
I kinda agree with Zuto Kaza. The games he listed are some of my favorites. I believe story and exploration make games exciting, but the art appeal/atmosphere can really hook a person first.
#506
No no. Thank you! Solarus in my opinion is the best free 2D ARPG Engine on the web. I am happy to help. :D
#507
General discussion / License Help for beginners
May 05, 2016, 09:15:12 PM
License Help for Beginners

Salutations,

Here is a pdf version: Here

About:
I had massive of amounts of license questions when looking for free graphics and audio. It can give one a headache, so I decided to not let others to go through what I had to. I will not talk about non-commercial use licenses, but these can be used for noncommercial use. This will be simplified version because who wants to read through a million pages? Let us begin our GPL and CC Journey! Added a note for MIT & OGL licenses.

CC: - Creative Commons
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Commons_license

CC0 - This is a public domain waiver. It means one can do as they wish with it and mix it with anything. No restrictions.

CC-BY - One must attribute to the artist the way they ask. Name, link, etc.

CC-BY-SA - One must attribute to the artist the way they ask. Name, link, etc.  Share changes or adaptations under same or similar compatible license. ( SA = Share-alike) You can credit yourself and must credit the other artists.

Combine - The 3.0 and 4.0 version of the ShareAlike licenses includes a compatibility clause, allowing Creative Commons to declare other licenses as compatible and therefore derivatives may use these instead of the license of the original work. That means a CC-BY 3.0 pieces can be combined with CC-BY-SA 3.0 and released as CC-BY-SA 3.0 or later.

"Adaptations of BY-SA 3.0 materials may only be licensed under BY-SA 3.0, or a later (4.0+) version of the BY-SA license."

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Share-alike
Source: https://creativecommons.org/faq/#can-i-include-a-work-licensed-with-cc-by-in-a-wikipedia-article-even-though-they-use-a-cc-by-sa-license
Source: https://creativecommons.org/share-your-work/licensing-considerations/compatible-licenses/

CC-BY-ND - CC-BY is okay to modify as long as it is not CC-BY-ND ND is for no derivatives or remixes.

GPL: - General Public License

LGPL - Lesser General Public License - Commercial and noncommercial use.

The freedom to use the software for any purpose,
the freedom to change the software to suit your needs,
the freedom to share the software with your friends and neighbors, and
the freedom to share the changes you make.

The LGPL and GPL licenses differ with one major exception; with LGPL the requirement that you open up the source code to your own extensions to the software is removed.

GPL - General Public License - Commercial and non-commercial use.

The freedom to use the software for any purpose,
the freedom to change the software to suit your needs,
the freedom to share the software with your friends and neighbors, and
the freedom to share the changes you make.

GPL (Not LGPL) Source Code Release:
The GPL FAQ has this to say about keeping your modifications private:
Source: https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html#GPLRequireSourcePostedPublic

Does the GPL require that source code of modified versions be posted to the public?

The GPL does not require you to release your modified version, or any part of it. You are free to make modifications and use them privately, without ever releasing them...

But if you release the modified version to the public in some way, the GPL requires you to make the modified source code available to the program's users, under the GPL.

Thus, the GPL gives permission to release the modified program in certain ways, and not in other ways; but the decision of whether to release it is up to you.

Mixture: (As in putting them on the same png, keep reading for package mixture.)

Creative common mixture can leave your mind a little confused. CC0 obviously can be used with anything, but what about CC-BY and CC-BY-SA? How do I mix these or can it do that?

The answer is yes! You can mix them, but you must credit all the authors and release it under CC-BY-SA.

GPL Mixture can I mix it with GPL art? No! You can not unless it is GPL3 being mixed with CC-BY-SA 4.0 or CC0. It will be released as GPL3 and never can be released as CC-BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://creativecommons.org/compatiblelicenses/

Package mixture:
Can art/audio under CC0, CC-BY, CC-BY-SA, and GPL be put in the same package on separate image/audio files such as png/ogg? Yes!
GPL code mixed with other code is always turned into GPL, but code is functional data. Non-functional data based on beauty are not affected by any GPL functional data. That means all audio and graphics will stay as their own license. Source:  http://opengameart.org/content/faq#q-ccgplcompat


Non-functional Data

Data that has an aesthetic purpose (Beauty purposes), rather than a functional one, may be included in a free system distribution as long as its license gives you permission to copy and redistribute, both for commercial and non-commercial purposes. For example, there are some game engines that have been released under the GNU GPL, and have accompanying game information, a world map, game graphics, and so on released under such a verbatim distribution license. This kind of data can be part of a free system distribution.

Source: http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-system-distribution-guidelines.html

Loopholes:

Programming code is amazing because it allows loopholes. What do I mean? Layers, overlaying, etc.

You can overlay a GPL tree trunk and a CC Bushy tree top with programming code or Game Engines as long as the art pieces are on separate image files.

Sadly, Solarus has no plans on supporting this tab feature.
https://github.com/christopho/solarus-quest-editor/issues/182

EX:
http://forum.solarus-games.org/index.php/topic,603.0.html

MIT - Other info:

MIT is another license that is somewhat common with freedom, but trust me there are a bunch of them. MIT is pretty short and easy to understand. You are free to sell, give away, etc.

Mixture: (Putting together, not package mixture. Ex: Putting MIT pixels on GPL pixels or putting a Mit audio loop with a GPL loop together. As long as they are on the same image or audio file.)

MIT can be put into GPL, but not the other way around. Do understand that audio and pixel art are almost never MIT license. I found no sources on it or mention of mixture with creative commons. You can, however mix MIT audio and the pixel art (if any exists) with the GPL. You will have to release it as GPL. Most engines or code are under MIT. For instance, Torgue 3D game engine.
Ex: http://www.garagegames.com/products/torque-3d
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MIT_License

MIT:
Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to
deal in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the
rights to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or
sell copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in
all copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR
IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE
AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING
FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS
IN THE SOFTWARE.

OGL License:
Source: Here

OGL (Open Game License) is a very simple license. You can use everything for free as long as a copy of the whole license is in the directory. One can make money off OGL content and do not need permission or pay anything.

OGL license does not mix well with other license. Just do not mix the content on the same image or in the same software. A free distribution is always just fine or sold by itself.

Formats:
.ogg is an open source format and it should be used in most projects for the games to work perfectly on Linux Operating systems. (This format works in Solarus)
.png is very common due to transparency. It is free to use just like .ogg.

MP3 license has fees, but there are ways to avoid it. Solarus does not support MP3 as far as I know, but read on for more information.

If you let Flash combine everything into a single .swf it therefore avoids separate MP3 files, making the license unnecessary for Flash games. (If you use external MP3s though, you still fall under the license!)

Source: https://www.scirra.com/blog/65/even-more-about-audio-licenses-on-the-web

Questions or improvement suggestions:
Please let me know if you have any questions because they may help make this guide better.

Common questions:
1. Q: I made unique art that I do not want free. Will the GPL3 force me to make them free?
    A: No. Only your game programming code is made free under GPL3. You have full rights to your audio and pixel art. I mention this above. You will still have to release the source code because GPL requires it, so it might be best to have your non-free art in a separate package, but you can encrypt it. No one is saying you "have" to share your unique original art. I honestly can not find anything on it because it is not a free distribution, but if you are including free Creative common or GPL graphics, then you must release those license type graphics for free. If you get complaints about your original encrypted art, then separate your original art that you do not want to be free. You can sell it on a separate disc or it can be bought and downloaded online. The package you are selling (GPL data on one disc and original art on the other) or disc is not GPL, so people would have to buy it if it was sold in a store. You have your right to sell it. You must have the source code free somewhere and online is the best way to do that.

2. Q: Can I encrypt my code?
    A: I would think so, but you must still release that code not encrypted as GPL3 if you distribute your game. I do not see the point in encrypting it.

3. Q: Can I encrypt my art and audio?
    A: Yes, but you must still release that encryption code under GPL 3 not encrypted if you distribute your game. I do not see the point in encrypting unless it is not free art/audio. You may want to encrypt your own audio and pixel art so the majority of the people do not rapidly distribute your work illegally. Solarus does have a way to archive your data and rename the extension to data.solarus You might need to keep some .dll if things break. I had to. This is good because you can compress your data with zip (only) and rename the extension. This will be fine for protecting your art and audio from the majority. You will still have to release the source code, so it might be best to have your non-free art in a separate package. See A, B, C, D, & E if you are having a hard time deciding encryption due to GPL3 license.

A. At some point in time someone somehow will decrypt your encryption.
B. People can just record your audio and print screen your pixel art to edit. They do not have to decrypt it.
C. People can use your work under fair use for criticism, commentary, parody, news reporting, research and scholarship, and classroom instruction. I would think that the attention your work is getting is a good thing. It might increase the sells for your next game.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use
D. People who buy games will almost always buy games.
E. You will still have to release the source code, so it might be best to have your non-free art in a separate package.


4.Q: Does my story writing became GPL? GPL is a software license, so text and writing really does not apply. The last I checked stories are not software. There is not really an answer anywhere.

   A1: If your story writing and dialogues are written in the Lua programming code with Solarus libraries (EX: sol.surface.create("Menu.png")) and distributed with or without game, then no or yes . Stories are not software.

   A2: If your story writing and dialogues are written in the Lua programming code without Solarus libraries (EX: sol.surface.create("Menu.png")) and not distributed with game, then no. Lua is MIT and you can do what you want with it, but Stories are not software.

   A3: If you use a .dat file, then yes and no. This can be debated either way. It contains text data and basic formats, but it is not really programming code like Lua. The programming code uses the data. Distributing it separately should be okay. This way your story does not become GPL, but again that might be impossible because stories are not software.


How do I license my work?
In anyway you want as long as you are the owner of the work. You can put them under as many difference licenses or you can make up one. You can give people an option to pick different licenses as well. For example, pick from GPL, CC-BY 3.0, and CC-BY-SA 3.0. You do not have to choose those licenses and you can make up a license that will be compatible with any license. You can also give non-commercial restrictions or no remixes/derivatives. Your work! Your rules! A popular license might protect your work more and the same goes if you share it with a large community. Example for free with commercial GPL free distribution compatibility

Most people want credit like this:
1. They want to know when others use/modify their work.
2. They want their name in the credits.
3. They want a link to their website in the scrolling credits or a text file.

You might want the same!

Deciding to no longer use CC-BY:
Anything once CC-BY is always CC-BY. You can stop distributing it as creative commons and no longer use the CC-BY logo, but it can still be used under that license. Ex: The Solarus logo is GPLv3, but is can still be used under CC-BY 3.0 because it was once that license.
Source: https://creativecommons.org/faq/#what-if-i-change-my-mind-about-using-a-cc-license

Return to Solarus Resource Help Project
#508
Here is a update for a Opensource Light world. Only CC0 trees were added today, but it is progress! I have so much more to add!
#509
Greetings,

I just wanted to say that the Solarus developers are the best. Always improving the Solarus engine in a zealous way and helping others with their Solarus issues. It is very inspiring.

The outside world tileset project is done.

Latest release:
Alpha-0.3

Completed:
Fairyolica World v0.3

Tools used:
-Krita 2.8.2
-Gimp 2.8

Name for this pack:
Fairyolica World

A preview of current progress for a outside world tileset - Fairyolica World Tileset: (Login to view)



Hero Sprite:

Hero Sprite Progress: (Login to view)







(Login to view)








Entity progress Updates:

Bomb Entities: (login to view)


Boomerang Entities: (login to view)


Items Entities:
(login to view)


Chests Entities: (login to view)




Bush and leaves Entities: (Login to view)
#510
Update:

-  I have separated and added my over 300 SE/UI sounds I made. Also, some swimming SE, 1 BGM, and a musical effect. I will not be making anymore audio for a bit, but enjoy! I might update sometimes, but I am putting most of my work into making a Open source tileset for Solarus. If I do update, then it will be fixes and BGM with my professional commercial soundfonts/VST.

Added:

SE:

-Alien Sounds                   
-Boomer rang throw and return   
-Bubbles                       
-Bug chirps                     
-Creature sound                 
-Money Drop or payment1         
-Movement-spit attack-blob hop 
-Small Creature Death           
-Space Laser2                   
-space lasers                   
-Space lazer 3                 
-Space lazer 4
-Space lazer 5 and static
-Space Lazer 6 and engine
-spring and creature growl
-spring and creature growl2
-Static-grass-Steam
-Swimming
-UI or Border hit - block hit
-warp and Bubbles
-warp and maybe arrow
-Work tapping-metal sound

GUI-UI-Menu:

-GUI-GUI-Menu16-space door                 
-GUI-UI-Menu_1                             
-GUI-UI-Menu10                             
-GUI-UI-Menu11                             
-GUI-UI-Menu12 and robotic-paging sounds   
-GUI-UI-Menu13-Alien-Robot                 
-GUI-UI-Menu14-Alien-spring-teleport-Robot 
-GUI-UI-Menu15-Alien-spring-teleport-Robot 
-GUI-UI-Menu2
-GUI-UI-Menu3
-GUI-UI-Menu4
-GUI-UI-Menu5
-GUI-UI-Menu6
-GUI-UI-Menu7
-GUI-UI-Menu8 and power down
-GUI-UI-Menu9

ME:

-Music box

BGM:

-The Unknown Danger