Is there a Tutor or a Tutorial?

All about creating levels and level sets, custom elements and custom artwork.

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Mark
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Is there a Tutor or a Tutorial?

Post by Mark »

Hello. I've set my goals for making a new level set for a long long time. I have never actually made one because I would get stuck somewhere. Also, the fact that I have limited amounts of graphics. BD2K3 is alright, but I need to make my own. I can. I've done it before with DX-Boulder Dash; and yes, you heard right: DX's sprite editor is not user friendly! I made one anyway, and it looked sweet. I made this entire levelset that had a organic theme to it. Everything was alive. Even the walls has veins and pretty much it was the inside of your body. You were collecting little spungy thingys, and you were a red blood cell that wondered off from the rest. So, it was pretty cool... pretty nasty too becuase everything was moving and breathing. lol. Anyways, I have just started to make my levels for R&D. However, I need someone or something to tell me the basics of creating your own graphics. err. not making them, cuz I know how to draw animations, but I need info about how to implement and connect these graphics into R&D and make it work. Thats all I would ever need. Perhaps there is a readme someone can give me that deals with applying graphics for R&D? Or something? Anyways, if someone can help me with all this scripting stuff, I would appreciate it a LOT. I would like to continue the saga of this red blood cell, or whatever. Actually, I might have to make the main caracter something else, but the point is that its going to have a theme of "inside your body" mwhahah. don't take my idea though. lol. just help me make it. If anyone would like to help, then thats awsome. credits to where credits are due, of course. By merely providing info on how to make a BD2K3-like script would earn you credits.
whew. anyway. yep. so. anyone?
The Emerald King
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Mark
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Post by Mark »

Then again, the theme is still trivial though. I think its original, but I don't think I can pull it off. In DX-boulder, ALL of the enemies looked the same. They all looked like little moving slime. But thats just boring. I am open to many other themes too though... like.... I dunno if its been done already, but I think if Alan thought about this one: Dentist theme. You are a hyperactive kid that goes mad with sugar! You run around eating candy ALL day collecting tootsie rolls, pops, gum, pop rocks, ANYTHING!!!!.. you have enemies. your arch enemy could be... oh lets say a dentist. Of course, the whole theme would be funny, so the dentist would have to look funny too. Maybe a bit evil. Walls made of teeth? NO? Perhaps one of those wind up toys... a mouth piece that came after you or something. Different rooms... like the candy factory, bank, or the dentists office? lol
lol Toothbrushes laying around? I don't know what thats good for maybe, if you pick up a certain amount, the dentist will not kill you. lol. CANDYLAND or whatever. Or perhaps we could go for the theme that was already taken. Frutica Caves. DX-Boulder Dash had a sprite set for that. You collect fruit. Nice graphics, variety among enemies etc... Anyways, tell me your thoughts.
The Emerald King
asiekierka
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The special amount

Post by asiekierka »

if you pick up a certain amount, the dentist will not kill you.
It's not possible to do in R'n'D.

The alternative method will be possible. Create the special emerald which when getted... dentist will not kill you.
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Darkon
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Post by Darkon »

Actually it would be possible, but you would need to set asside some CE's to count how many of the object you have collected.
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Mark
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Post by Mark »

I did't really mean to start a controversy. I just wanted to know if anyone could tell me about making graphics for R&D. Oh! I heard that this CE-dit thingy is coming. what is it and how will this help me apply graphics?
The Emerald King
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Holger
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Post by Holger »

> I just wanted to know if anyone could tell me about making graphics for R&D.

This is relatively difficult on the first view, and relatively easy once you got the idea how it works (*).

You can find more information about how this works in the R'n'D Wiki, and also in a good tutorial of Andreas Buschbeck (linked on the Levels page).

The main difficulty (at least for people with non-technical background) is that you need a text editor and have to edit configuration files for graphics, sounds and music (instead of using some graphical tool where you click together everything with the mouse (**)).

> I heard that this CE-dit thingy is coming. what is it and how will this help
> me apply graphics?

(*) and (**) above are exactly the reasons why Alan Bond, our R'n'D level and artwork wizard, has created CE-dit, a program that makes it a lot easier to create those artwork configuration files mentioned above.

As there were some problems with the existing CE-dit on some systems, Alan is just about re-creating it with many new features. I do not know this new tool by myself so far, but from what I was told, it must be a great improvement over the old CE-dit.

So, let's wait and see! :-)

(Until then, studying the "graphicsinfo.conf" files and friends of existing level sets with custom artwork are the best start to learn how it works!)
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Mark
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Post by Mark »

thanks
The Emerald King
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