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FuzzYspo0N
05-08-2008, 04:54 PM
Yes, the classic arcade returns lol.
I decided to go for a simple game type and a great classic.
But alas my crazy mind will not allow me to be the same!

A twist i hear your cry. I have written a game engine (lol) which i will release pretty soon (more info to come) BUT... for now, my entry.


[ Release Block ]

6 August
Prototype engine test not much)
www.owned.co.za/TE_output.zip

1 Sep
Final
http://www.gamedev.za.net/filecloset/data/files/587/GTH_1.0.zip



There is an info window, HOPEFULLY it makes sense. Else, side scroller. figure it out.

ShadowMaster
05-08-2008, 05:48 PM
Hmmm interesting concept just one question how does one control the thing, cause I would suspect other apps to bind the keyboard.

FuzzYspo0N
05-08-2008, 06:34 PM
no, its got control, and when u pause/minimize it gives focus back to whatever was there before. so u can "tab in and out of it" quite as u please. The keys are global, so its not a problem with control... im taking control and giving it back when u pause or leave or what not. its safe too, which is nice.

ShadowMaster
05-08-2008, 06:41 PM
Cool, very nice. ;) However it might just anger people when they run and don't see a window on the desktop, cause most won't notice the thing in the system tray and may or may not figure out how to control it. Just make a plan on how to deal with training and noticing of the game. If you haven't already... In which case you can ignore me. ;)

FuzzYspo0N
05-08-2008, 09:38 PM
lol ill ignore you :P

Thaumaturge
06-08-2008, 12:24 AM
Wow, a game played in a system tray icon - that's actually really cool - I'm impressed! Well done! ^_^

Well, what does one do in the game? Is there combat? Are there puzzles? Is there exploration? :P


However it might just anger people when they run and don't see a window on the desktop, cause most won't notice the thing in the system tray and may or may not figure out how to control it.

I don't know what you have in mind already, Fuzzy, but the idea that springs to mind is simply to create a temporary window and have it appear to "minimise" to the system tray, thus directing the player's eye to the icon. Combine that with some initial animation in the icon, and you might manage to suggest to players that they are expected to play within the icon. ;)

FuzzYspo0N
06-08-2008, 09:50 AM
Thanks for the tips guys. Dont forget windows offers balloon tips, and the fact there is a tray icon, means there is a window available to me anyway. I will using this window to display informations and what not. There is also a second icon (hell yea) that keeps your stats (bars) and can change to suit the output you want(for example the length of the map etc)...

its graphical, still no text. its interesting :D im enjoying this little engine a lot.

On that note, check the first post i posted a small demo of the older version of the engine. Its all "hardoded" into my prototype engine but it should be interesting.
And there is no information in the texh demo (like keys etc) i dont know if it will ruin the comp rules and or the point of my game. so , good luck.
:D

note :doesnt work on vista yet, will be fixing this soon

Thaumaturge
06-08-2008, 11:32 PM
Hmm... Interesting, and pretty cool. ^_^

I look forward to seeing what you put into those balloon tips. ;)

I did find, however, that I had trouble perceiving that I was moving when not near a wall with some visible changes in shape. Unfortunately, I found that I didn't really notice the changes in wall colour (which I discovered when looking at the map in the sub-directory); it seems that the contrast between the surrounding colour of the system tray and the white background make spotting changes in the wall colour a little tricky. I don't think that I even noticed the green section until I was aware that there was one and looked for it. I experimentally raised the contrast and gamma by quite a bit and noticed a great improvement - and I suspect that it could be improved further by the overlay of a light noise layer to provide some change in the background when away from walls.

FuzzYspo0N
07-08-2008, 12:23 AM
Dont worry about that :) the game will have a much better background scheme. The white was a test at first (as you may notice, this is more rpg based) and is not anything of the actual game :D
Take a look at the map below, it will make more sense :

http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/9392/lolmapnw7.png

you will most definately be able to see.
:) thanks for the feedback. The next prototype will be more like the final game

Thaumaturge
07-08-2008, 02:29 AM
Fair enough, my pleasure, and good then. ^_^

Although I do think that the backdrop of that level map should perhaps have a slightly higher contrast... but we'll see how it looks against the system tray background. ^_^

sambarino
09-08-2008, 02:34 AM
i posted a small demo of the older version of the engine. Its all "hardoded" into my prototype engine

hordoded... i lol'd :P btw hi guys :P

Kensei
09-08-2008, 02:50 AM
hordoded... i lol'd :P btw hi guys :P

Hi sambarino :D Welcome to the forums.

Feel free to try out some of the first prototypes for Comp 20 - a fresh person's view is always good :D

FuzzYspo0N
09-08-2008, 03:45 AM
lol he used to be registered for a long time b4 forums moved. anyway, he is my flatmate, him and i are working on the engine and the games together.


Its all "hardoded"

your quote skills are amazing, they spelling changed leet.
Anyway, im remerging the engine into its own project. Then i will start the game itself :d

sambarino
09-08-2008, 03:49 AM
lol yeah, flatmate = automatic beta tester :P

Kensei
09-08-2008, 11:40 PM
lol yeah, flatmate = automatic beta tester :P

::wishes her flatmates knew even how to play Tetris, let alone her games :( ::

FuzzYspo0N
19-08-2008, 01:48 PM
Small update :

Game name : GuyTray Hero (insert asian accent here)

Gameplay : First demo near complete (for reals)

Hints : Its going to be interestingly fast at times :D

Bonezmann
19-08-2008, 10:16 PM
Sounds cool, although i just cant remember who or what aslan is/was

FuzzYspo0N
19-08-2008, 10:55 PM
im sorry but i dont understand that last post completeley :D
I am working on this now, actually. i will hopefully make some progress tonight.

Thaumaturge
19-08-2008, 11:29 PM
Small update :

Game name : GuyTray Hero (insert asian accent here)

Gameplay : First demo near complete (for reals)

Hints : Its going to be interestingly fast at times

This sounds very interesting indeed - I'm very much looking forward to seeing what you make of this. ^_^

I still love the conceit of a game engine that runs the game in the system tray! ^_^


im sorry but i dont understand that last post completeley

I think that Bonezmann misread AsIan as AsLan... ;P


Sounds cool, although i just cant remember who or what aslan is/was

Aslan (with an 'L') is a character from The Chronicles of Narnia, I believe - a rather special lion, specifically.

FuzzYspo0N
24-08-2008, 04:05 PM
thanks for the info thaum.

Update : i have completed a playable but buggy demo, i will tweak it and will most likely release a playable demo of the "first mode" of the game tonight, (there are different gameplay modes) but this will be the fallback if i dont finish the rest in time. I WILL enter this time, seeing as i actually made progress lol :)

FuzzYspo0N
01-09-2008, 11:59 PM
first post updated :D just in time

dislekcia
02-09-2008, 12:11 AM
OMW... 1 minute to spare! Sheesh.

FuzzYspo0N
02-09-2008, 01:02 AM
oh, it seems that hosting has not activated yet! :0 im reuploading to filecloset,and fixing the link in the first post.

http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/5213/screen1in9.jpg

Credits :

Sambarino for the last minute maps (2 and 3) :D

edg3
02-09-2008, 06:59 AM
Glad to see you made the deadline :P

Im a bit confused as to whats happening though. I sart it up and then try to start a game, and all I get is a new window with just a red 'X' in? (Im probably doing something wrong) But polished as ever :)

EDIT: also it appears dis never sleeps >_>

sambarino
02-09-2008, 08:20 AM
hey, did u look in your system tray? you need to click on the system tray icon to be able to play

mind u, dont think its working.

lol! it wont die, cant end the process in the task manager

FuzzYspo0N
02-09-2008, 09:31 AM
Some notes :
There are bugs as mentioned :

Double clicking the tray SHOWS the fail window (forgot that in there lol)

The fail window timer doesnt get disabled sadly (as in it keepes showing on a timer of 5 seconds)
To avoid this, hit ALT-F4 when it pops up, and you can choose another level.

The buttons are buttons except for play, this seems confusing. 1 2 3 anyone? lol

I only tested on XP btw, and it works fine here, and on other pcs. Thats 4 -5 pc's it works fine on, with the bugs. So, sambarino your laptop sucks lol

edg3
02-09-2008, 03:18 PM
Ok, with that, I now get a .NET error :(


System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at GuyTrayHero.mNU.mNU_KeyDown(Object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnKeyDown(KeyEventArg s e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ProcessKeyEventArgs(M essage& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ProcessKeyMessage(Mes sage& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmKeyChar(Message& m)

maybe its only a vista issue...

FuzzYspo0N
02-09-2008, 03:44 PM
hmmm, seems like it to me. I was using 1.1 dotnet i think, if not its 2 or 3.5 BUT,
perhaps we can make a plan. If you have VS Express 2005 or 8, i have the source ready for compilation. I dunno, i will try catch you on gtalk maybe you can compile a vista version also, BUT

Not until i fix the major bugs and make a proper menu etc , with text and what not (seeing as my entry is in) :D

sambarino
02-09-2008, 04:10 PM
hmm, didnt know u had to click on the icon of the level to load the map. cool that u got the vertical scrolling in but that last map is pretty huge, lol (no fault to u :P )

FuzzYspo0N
02-09-2008, 04:32 PM
its still fun though, i added a longer timer after failing repetitively. lol

sambarino
02-09-2008, 04:34 PM
lol, so can you finish a map or fail it? cuz when i got to the end of the map it kinda just froze and i chose the next one myself. didnt fail, but maybe im just too quick

i should maybe have used double lines on the last map for walls to make it easier to see

Thaumaturge
02-09-2008, 10:47 PM
Overall I like it, Fuzzy - it's a neat experiment, I think. ^_^

Level three is evil, by the way. This is good. ^_^

On the down-side, I found that the help screen tended appear under the main menu, and disappeared too quickly for my liking - I'd prefer to close it at my leisure, I think.

I take it that the button marked with a play symbol doesn't itself do anything, with the buttons beneath it starting the game? If so, then I would indeed suggest that that icon look different to indicate that it's not a button.

I at first didn't realise that the white bar was a timer, instead thinking it a progress meter. Perhaps placing a clock symbol next to it in the help panel, or something similar, might have helped.

On the second level, I somehow ended up trapped beneath a very thin section of level, with the timer not seeming to run, my not managing to escape, and the space bar seeming unresponsive. I ended up closing the game and restarting in order to escape.

On the second occasion on which I was trapped there I ended up dying as usual and just started again.

Finally, I think that I once had the game cease responding to all but the close control on getting to (or near to) the end of level 2, although I'm not sure about that.

FuzzYspo0N
03-09-2008, 12:10 AM
yea these are some of the bugs that i cant explain, my one colleague suggested a couple of things i think it is, but these are simple things like, the last few minutes before deadline would not have mattered. At about 930 pm i had a working gameplay system, and added a menu and the rest, with graphics before 12, while my roommate was doing the maps lol. So, those bugs are simple to fix, just needed something playable

edg3
03-09-2008, 07:38 AM
hmmm, seems like it to me. I was using 1.1 dotnet i think, if not its 2 or 3.5 BUT,
perhaps we can make a plan. If you have VS Express 2005 or 8, i have the source ready for compilation. I dunno, i will try catch you on gtalk maybe you can compile a vista version also, BUT

Not until i fix the major bugs and make a proper menu etc , with text and what not (seeing as my entry is in) :D

I have the following installed apparently:

.Net Framework Version 2.0.50727.1433

Will be upgrading to 3.5 some time today then and will see if it works. Also, if you want I can compile it under vista as I do have VS2005, VS2005E and VS2008E :P

sambarino
04-09-2008, 01:21 PM
so... any luck edg3? i think this game gets +10 bonus points cuz u can play it at work. lol :P

edg3
04-09-2008, 02:41 PM
Well, considering I didnt have internet access yesterday I havent actually dont anything like that, but Im installing .NET updates right now. so will let everyone know soon.

EDIT:

System.NullReferenceException: Object reference not set to an instance of an object.
at GuyTrayHero.mNU.mNU_KeyDown(Object sender, KeyEventArgs e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.OnKeyDown(KeyEventArg s e)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ProcessKeyEventArgs(M essage& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ProcessKeyMessage(Mes sage& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmKeyChar(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.ScrollableControl.WndProc(Mes sage& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.ContainerControl.WndProc(Mess age& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Form.WndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.O nMessage(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.Control.ControlNativeWindow.W ndProc(Message& m)
at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.Callback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)


Also, I can play it now after updating .NET, although it still says im using version 2:
.Net Framework Version 2.0.50727.1433

sambarino
04-09-2008, 05:31 PM
it was compiled for .net 2 i think, so maybe thats why

FuzzYspo0N
04-09-2008, 09:53 PM
hmm ,i thought i set it to compile for .net 1.1 so that its win for others and hopefully vista. Now that you have it running, to compile on vista or?, does it work on vista natively?

edg3
05-09-2008, 07:09 AM
It seems to work natively, but ot with out getting .net runtime errors.

FuzzYspo0N
05-09-2008, 09:40 AM
cool, thanks edg3. Ill try catch you later and give you the source, polishing a few bugs and then a second release, then the major changes come (ie, a map with fog etc, and more games in the engine) :D

edg3
05-09-2008, 01:55 PM
Well, if you send the source I will compile it my side. Shouldnt be that difficult. :) I'll be at my pc quite a bit this weekend, but probably not on gtalk, so email is the best communication method for now.