RedPill - Amiga Game Creator Program

[amiman99]

Thanks for the update.

Question @Zener , Do you think the Z sorting speed could be improved even more, or this is probably it?
My game characters are bigger then the hit box, so I need this feature.
If the speed can not be improved then I need to rethink the game a bit. Maybe secondary hit box?

[Zener]

Originally Posted by amiman99

Thanks for the update.

Question @Zener , Do you think the Z sorting speed could be improved even more, or this is probably it?
My game characters are bigger then the hit box, so I need this feature.
If the speed can not be improved then I need to rethink the game a bit. Maybe secondary hit box?

I should take a look at the z sorting for 0.7.2, if my memory is right there was room for improvement in the sorting.

I don't know what is your game, but in most games there is no need to call every frame the Sort by Z trigger, maybe once a second should be Ok (or not)

[Zener]

Good news, a new version is available, with many many changes:

https://tiny.cc/getredpill

Upgrading from 0.6.x to 0.7.x
-----------------------------
The number of levels were incorrectly calculated, this will be fixed when opening the project, making the loading longer. Once the project is saved using 0.7.x version this will be fixed and next loading will be faster.
A new file named tileset0.rpb will be created. This file is necessary to use some of the new RedPill features.

Preparing a game for distribution
---------------------------------
-Open your game and then click on Export.
-A folder named export will be created inside your project folder.
-Export folder is your game folder to distribute.
-The exported .redpill file cannot be open in the editor.

Release notes
-------------
v0.7.1
-Export added in main screen to export the project into an encrypted .redpill file. This file can only be opened from the Redpill player.
-Export will create a folder named export, this export folder is the distribution folder of your game.
-Now each map can have its own tileset, the palette will be adapted to the spritesheet palette if there aren't enough colors available.
-This also means each level now has its own palette saved in a separate file
-Help for triggers is available inside the editor, just select a trigger and press the Help key. Sadly it is not finishing and not all triggers are documented, but it will come.
-Condition triggers had a general optimization resulting in faster condition evaluation.
-Level object screen has been changed to allow editing in a simpler way, several issues have been fixed.
-Object triggers can be exported to text for easier and global visualization.
-External text editor can be set in the icon, just like the image editor.
-In the HUD, the icon sprite used can be set with either a number or number variable.
-Added manual sprite cut to manually cut frames from a spritesheet.
-Added action trigger Angle to target that sets the GO angle to point the target, useful for shots and many more.
-Added action trigger Tiled Move <X in tiles> <Y in tiles> to move objects in tiles.
-Added action trigger Tiled Push to push other others away when moving objects with Tiled Move.
-Collision boxes changed to the old (and better) routine.
-Animation frames can now last less than 0.05.
-Tabs added in the level editor screen for faster ediing.
-Minimap tab added to the level editor for quick visualization of tiles and game objects, and map repositioning.
-Sound Generator added to create new sounds inside the editor, the save feature uses DataToIff V1.1 - Sound File Conventer - Written by Janne Saarme 1990-1992.
-Bouncing example added in the examples directory.
-Pillman game example has been added to the projects folder.
-Red color has been added in the editor for some menus and UI elements.
-Dialog engine noe uses AGA colors when the game is AGA.
-Added protection code to the custom load font, if font is not found it should not break.
-If the background sprites cannot be loaded then level sprites are deactivated.
-Frame has been removed from the HUD Bar element
-HUD Bar element now can show timer variables.
-Issue fixed with HUD texts numbers not being erased correctly.
-Fixed issue with triggers Hit->CustomX not working properly.
-Lumberjack platform by Lemming880 has been added to the projects.

[amiman99]

Originally Posted by Zener

I should take a look at the z sorting for 0.7.2, if my memory is right there was room for improvement in the sorting.

I don't know what is your game, but in most games there is no need to call every frame the Sort by Z trigger, maybe once a second should be Ok (or not)

The game is a simple maze game with oversized enemies. The maze "corridors" are 32 pixels wide, but enemy is 64 pixels tall with 32 pixels collision box. sometimes the enemies from higher order overlap with lower order and it looks like they are stepping on each others heads.
Any solutions to that you can think of?

[Zener]

Originally Posted by amiman99

The game is a simple maze game with oversized enemies. The maze "corridors" are 32 pixels wide, but enemy is 64 pixels tall with 32 pixels collision box. sometimes the enemies from higher order overlap with lower order and it looks like they are stepping on each others heads.
Any solutions to that you can think of?

In this case, try to run the trigger several times instead of one. It looks silly but it may work

[amiman99]

Originally Posted by Zener

In this case, try to run the trigger several times instead of one. It looks silly but it may work

What do you mean by "several times"?
Thanks

[Zener]

Originally Posted by amiman99

What do you mean by "several times"?
Thanks

Like this: https://gyazo.com/b029a218110826b21369607eb067fb4b

[amiman99]

Originally Posted by Zener

Like this: https://gyazo.com/b029a218110826b21369607eb067fb4b

Thanks, I'll look into it.

I'm not sure if it makes any difference.
To clarify, the Z sort works fine, but it slows down the game alot, but when the enemies are killed then the game speeds up alot.

Under enemy trigger, Condition Always, action Sort by Z, once or multiple times, same result, slow.
I need to know if I can Sort by Z when needed, every some time, or on collisions.

[Zener]

For enemies don't use Sort by Z, just Set Z from Y.

For one object (for example the player) use Sort by Z. Sort by Z only needs to be used once and in one object under Condition Always.

Originally Posted by amiman99

Thanks, I'll look into it.

I'm not sure if it makes any difference.
To clarify, the Z sort works fine, but it slows down the game alot, but when the enemies are killed then the game speeds up alot.

Under enemy trigger, Condition Always, action Sort by Z, once or multiple times, same result, slow.
I need to know if I can Sort by Z when needed, every some time, or on collisions.

[amiman99]

Originally Posted by Zener

For enemies don't use Sort by Z, just Set Z from Y.

For one object (for example the player) use Sort by Z. Sort by Z only needs to be used once and in one object under Condition Always.

Let me try it, Thanks

Edit: It works now and it's fast using "Set Z from Y" Thanks. Finally I can continue my progress.

I found weird bug in the new version 0.7.1
When I saved my project from 6.13 to 7.1, my HUD is acting up when running.
When the level starts the HUD is normal, but when the score/points counter changes, the HUD add an empty long field to my HUD blocking the value.
See my picture...

[Zener]

I've noticed the issue too, it will be fixed in the next release

[Zener]

This is the new integrated Sound editor/generator [ Show youtube player ]

[Samurai_Crow]

Cool! I hope Pink/Abyss makes the instrument format from Pretracker public so you can use those too. (If you haven't tried it yet is an AHX spinoff that uses better softsynths to reduce render time.)

[Yoz Montana]

Amazing, awesome Update.

Zener, you Rock !

[Zener]

Fix me beautiful - New release with several fixes, including the HUD one https://tiny.cc/getredpill

-Parts of the HUD were erased under certain circumstances, this has been fixed.
-Camera Follow now doesn't follow the Object when it is not active.
-In Grid Slice, an empty frame was considered, reducing the number of available frames, this has been fixed.
-Set Speed C action triggers now changes the side the Object if facing.
-Set Speed X from var now takes into account the side, if side is left speed X will be negative.
-Some glitches removed when switching between menus.
-Minor fixes in audio.
-Some other minor fixes.

Originally Posted by amiman99

Let me try it, Thanks

Edit: It works now and it's fast using "Set Z from Y" Thanks. Finally I can continue my progress.

I found weird bug in the new version 0.7.1
When I saved my project from 6.13 to 7.1, my HUD is acting up when running.
When the level starts the HUD is normal, but when the score/points counter changes, the HUD add an empty long field to my HUD blocking the value.
See my picture...

[Lemming880]

Thanks for the new update. I found two issues so far.

-Camera Follow now doesn't follow the Object when it is not active.

My intro screen has the player object turned off, so now the image is off center and part of it off screen. Well, when I start the game it shows fine but when I go to level 1 and back this happens. I can solve it by having the camera follow another object in the title screen and in level 1 follow the player again. And I have to do this for any screen that doesn't have an active player object. But it's not very handy.

-When exporting my game it gets bigger then 1MB, while in the old way, it's about 870kB. I can see in the export folder that each level gets an extra file called "levelsbg-0.rpl" of 8kB each. Seems like each level gets its own background file. But in my case I use the same background for all levels. My game has 20 levels so that's 19x8kB that I don't need.

Then there's a bug that has been in redpill for a while but I still don't know what causes it. Every now and then the Globals (now callled Vars) change into a 'snapshot' of the game when you exit it. So for instance a counter should be on 0 but when I exit the game when the counter is on 10 then the var also stays on 10. I can set it back to 0 and it's solved again but I have to keep my eyes on the gobals to make sure the game isn't messed up. I think it happens when I'm working on a project for a longer while. So I try to prevent it by frequently restarting redpill.

Ps. still waiting for floppy light off.

[Zener]

I am glad that you like the update. Damn floppy light, I will catch it!!

The feedback is super useful to me, having first hand feedback I can improve the program for the people using it.

The camera issue, I think it will be fixed if I just set it at 0,0 when there is no object to follow.

The background file is being replicated, I didn't think about the file size thing, but I can make the exporter take it into account and use only one.

[Lemming880]

Great, thanks for taking a look.

Another thing that has probably been pointed out before: the program can't handle big sprites. It already crashes with a sprite of 48x48 pixels. Which is a shame because I wanted to have a score board at the end of each level.

[Zener]

Originally Posted by Lemming880

Great, thanks for taking a look.

Another thing that has probably been pointed out before: the program can't handle big sprites. It already crashes with a sprite of 48x48 pixels. Which is a shame because I wanted to have a score board at the end of each level.

Sprites of 48x48 should be supported without issues. I am thinking it could be some issue in the algorithm, a peculiarity of the Sprite sheet or lack of chip ram. It you could share the image with me I can take a look. (I guess you are using autoslice)
Thanks

[Lemming880]

Yes I used auto slice. I also tried manual but the sprites disappeared after restarting redpill. I'll send you the image.