A Few Questions from a Beginnner...

Started by ShatteredEssence, September 26, 2016, 06:10:22 PM

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September 26, 2016, 06:10:22 PM Last Edit: September 26, 2016, 06:13:22 PM by ShatteredEssence
My interest in aLttP has been sparked once again after playing through the randomizer version of the main game, (has anyone
here tried it? There are some pretty cool play throughs you can get out of it.) and I am now enthralled with the idea of
trying to create my own Zelda adventure. After playing through a bit of Mystery of Solarus DX, tRotH, and Tunics!, I
anticipate that Christopho has made quite a powerful engine in which the customization of different mechanics is vast and
exciting. I have looked through a good handful of guides posted to the YouTube channel, and the tutorials are clearly done
and informational.

I have a few questions though, if I may ask.

I have no experience in coding, especially in lua, but am interested in learning so that I may be able to set up my own
systems in Solarus. I had taken a short, very basic coding course at one time in college, but it was nothing more than
explaining the very basics like logic.. if, if else, else, loops. Nothing detailed there, so you can consider me starting
from scratch here. I have compiled the lua console correctly, I hope, as I am able to run the .exe, and have it show Lua
5.3.3 Copyright (c) blah, blah, blah on the top line. I have having a bit of trouble getting started with the booklet,
however. What should I use to write my own scripts? Is Notepad++ acceptable? Any .lua files I've tried to drag and drop
onto the executable just open and closes in a flash, without time to read what was even on the window. Is there a better
interpreter that I could use to practice with? Perhaps something with an embedded editor, and a run button? Visual Studio
has something like this when learning C++. Probably isn't necessary, but it would save time. Any recommended tutorials to
get started with?

Also a couple questions on the quest editor itself.

I have put together a few map screens to try out the map editor, using
a compilation tileset by ffomega, the Full Hyrule tileset, and keep getting flooded with error messages when the hero
transitions to these screens using them.

"Error: Invalid tile pattern: a tile pattern with a diagonal wall must be square"

This one also comes up once when on the screen with the door I tried to place.
Error: Illegal direction 3 for sprite 'entities/door_light01' in animation 'closed'


Is it a mistake in the way that I have piece these tiles together on my map screens? Perhaps collisions are going funny
because I may have layered some of them together for a certain visual? Have I pieced them together in a illegal way
somehow? I thought the tile was supposed to really just have the properties of the topmost one on the layer.
I really don't know, as I am just starting out with this. The screens freeze for a moment, and the music stops as well,
during this freeze. It doesn't hang or freeze when entering a house made only using Christopho's default house tileset.

Any help on my questions would be greatly appreciated. I am looking forward to working on this little project of mine!  :)

Hi and welcome!

To learn Lua I recommend the Programming in Lua book (from the Lua author himself): https://www.lua.org/pil/contents.html
There is a free html version even though it is not the most recent one.
Lua is easy to learn (unlike C++).

To test a Lua script (when you are not in the Solarus environment), just type lua.exe your_script.lua in the Windows console and it should work.

Now about the error messages you get from ffomega's tileset, I am not sure, maybe there is something wrong in the tileset. I haven't tested it yet.

Thanks for the welcome, Christopho.

Just simply using the cmd to start the executable solved my closing problem.
It actually stays open so I can read what the thing says now.  ;D


Thank you very much you gathering these for people, Zefk.
I am sure that these will explain a lot of useful stuff for the future.

I appreciate it!