What if Deflektor had some elements from Mindbender

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

Moderators: Flumminator, Zomis

User avatar
Eizzoux
Posts: 567
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 5:32 am
Location: Russia
Contact:

Reflektor video - development showcase Jan 15 2023

Post by Eizzoux »

Here's a video showcasing most of the progress that was done for now. (click on the image)

Image
𒈟
User avatar
Holger
Site Admin
Posts: 4073
Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2004 4:13 pm
Location: Germany
Contact:

Re: What if Deflektor had some elements from Mindbender

Post by Holger »

Wow, very cool and really impressive! :shock: :D

There are quite some things where I wonder how you did that (like the alpha numeric level numbering on the main screen)!

I hope I can test this soon by myself. :) And, always keep backups, please! :wink:

BTW: You are using the Windows version, right? So I could provide you with a latest test version with a number of bugs fixed and some new features like animated bombs/mines.
User avatar
Eizzoux
Posts: 567
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 5:32 am
Location: Russia
Contact:

Re: What if Deflektor had some elements from Mindbender

Post by Eizzoux »

Holger wrote: Sun Jan 15, 2023 8:37 am There are quite some things where I wonder how you did that (like the alpha numeric level numbering on the main screen)!
This one is pretty simple, I just use main.text.level_name and main.text.level_author for level number and a level name below, whilst main.text.level_number is off-screen.
By the way, there is a certain bug with aligning both level_name and level_author. By default they're aligned to the middle, and aligning it to the left or right lets it align as intended, but once you put it near the relative edge of screen (left side when .align: left and right side when .align: right), it just lock on the first level highlit in the main menu and only updates after entering and leaving another screen. Basically, it doesn't update when scrolling through levels on main menu because the game for some reason counts it as an off-screen item or like that.
Oh, and that also sorta gives me an idea, what if R'n'D actually had some kind of dynamic level numbering system? Like, if you wanna have BD-like cave numeration, then it might display all the way from A-1 to ZZ-99, or maybe similar act-by-act numeration except with only the numbers, so it's from 1-1 to 99-99, or if you're someone really strange, then a hexadecimal numeration where it uses 16 numbers from 0 to F. Actually, come to think of it, I'm overthinking too much on that...
Holger wrote: Sun Jan 15, 2023 8:37 am BTW: You are using the Windows version, right? So I could provide you with a latest test version with a number of bugs fixed and some new features like animated bombs/mines.
No real need for now, I have the active state for the mine written in my conf already so it will work anyways once you release the update. (whether it's R'n'D or MM)

Yorick was here (:


Some plans on other miscellaneous stuff I wanna do for the levelset:
  • Animated intro for the levelset using global anims on title.
  • Some variety on the sprites: I want to make such things as chipped cells have more random variations, especially after ".anim_mode: random_static" was added.
  • Just a bit more tiny reinforcements on the visuals. I, of course, haven't yet finalized most of the things like door and panel graphics, so for now it's just basic shapes.
  • Some tricky stuff on levelset info screen, since it got expanded a lot.
  • Tape.
𒈟
User avatar
Eizzoux
Posts: 567
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 5:32 am
Location: Russia
Contact:

Reflektor change log report Jan 20 2023

Post by Eizzoux »

Finally added a very tiny tape bar, which also contains save and load buttons on the right.
Added a little bit of variety for chipped cells, also wanted to add an animation for neo-blocks (amoeba wall replacement), but, as it turns out, mini-tiles don't quite like being animated.
Also added a little tiny change of displaying letter+number type of level number instead of basic level number on game panel.
Tape!
Tape!
hm1.png (250.13 KiB) Viewed 92439 times
Fast forwarding...
Fast forwarding...
hm2.png (284.3 KiB) Viewed 92439 times
Recording...
Recording...
hm3.png (246.4 KiB) Viewed 92439 times
Misc stuff to do list:
  • Animated intro for the levelset using global anims on title.
  • Some variety on the sprites: I want to make such things as chipped cells have more random variations, especially after ".anim_mode: random_static" was added.
  • Just a bit more tiny reinforcements on the visuals. I, of course, haven't yet finalized most of the things like door and panel graphics, so for now it's just basic shapes.
  • Some tricky stuff on levelset info screen, since it got expanded a lot.
  • Tape.
𒈟
User avatar
Eizzoux
Posts: 567
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 5:32 am
Location: Russia
Contact:

[RF] Deco in question: block-like letters

Post by Eizzoux »

I'm not exactly sure about this idea, but it is about adding characters as part of decorative walls. And the first thought was to just make letter shapes out of wall textures. Then second, being more abstract, walls made of simple shapes that sorta resemble letters. Third I is same as second but with combination of wooden and steel walls, where steel walls resemble the characters amongst the wooden ones. The result, though, might be a bit too much, since I think they're pretty hard to distinct overall (it's the alphabet, by the way)
Image
𒈟
User avatar
Holger
Site Admin
Posts: 4073
Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2004 4:13 pm
Location: Germany
Contact:

Re: What if Deflektor had some elements from Mindbender

Post by Holger »

Looks cool indeed, even if not being very readable. ;-)

But that shoudn't stop you from using it -- it looks cryptic, and you have to look hard at it to read (or decipher) any text written using such a font, which could be used to add some not-too-obvious text messages inside some levels. :)
User avatar
Eizzoux
Posts: 567
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 5:32 am
Location: Russia
Contact:

Re: What if Deflektor had some elements from Mindbender

Post by Eizzoux »

I still feel like it's better to redesign them for better readability anyways.

Also, seems like I won't quite be able to cram everything in the version info page simply because the screen is not that tall for it. I could go with a smaller font, which I have, but since it doesn't use it's own defined font, then the sacrifice of other screens using same font just won't be worth it, so I'll leave it like that for now, I guess.
gsddasagds.png
gsddasagds.png (120.79 KiB) Viewed 92214 times
𒈟
User avatar
Eizzoux
Posts: 567
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 5:32 am
Location: Russia
Contact:

Reflektor - First public demo released!

Post by Eizzoux »

Not gonna be as secretive as last time, so, here it goes, the first demo released!
The demo includes pretty much everything I reported in previous messages, only excluding title animations, as for now it uses just basic flashing title card.

Download link is below the image.

fjbkdjfksf.png
fjbkdjfksf.png (2.2 KiB) Viewed 92092 times

Requirements: Rocks'n'diamonds 4.3.4.0 or above/Mirror Magic 3.1.0 or above
Last edited by Eizzoux on Mon Feb 06, 2023 9:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
𒈟
User avatar
Holger
Site Admin
Posts: 4073
Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2004 4:13 pm
Location: Germany
Contact:

Re: What if Deflektor had some elements from Mindbender

Post by Holger »

Wow, that looks cool! :-D

I've watched the video for now, because I get the following error on my Linux system:

Code: Select all

[FATAL] SDL_CreateTextureFromSurface() failed: Texture dimensions are limited to 8192x8192
Maybe this error does not occur on other platforms like Windows and Mac (not tested yet). I think this is caused by these lines in the custom "graphicsinfo.conf" file:

Code: Select all

global.anim_....gfx.scale_up_factor: 570
This causes an internal bitmap of 9120 pixels width, which apparently is too much for textures in SDL, at least on my (admittedly outdated) Linux box. :(

Maybe you could do something about this? :?
User avatar
Eizzoux
Posts: 567
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 5:32 am
Location: Russia
Contact:

Re: What if Deflektor had some elements from Mindbender

Post by Eizzoux »

Ah, yeah, that issue, I honestly forgot of it's existence, since I personally found about it only on Android years ago. It seems like they have image boundaries down to 2^10 or 2^11 specifically on Android, I don't really remember.
Fortunately, this issue is only related to title animations (and partly to door fading animation), which, I guess I can remove in the next demo today.
Last edited by Eizzoux on Mon Feb 06, 2023 4:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
𒈟
User avatar
Eizzoux
Posts: 567
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 5:32 am
Location: Russia
Contact:

Reflektor - Second public demo released!

Post by Eizzoux »

Second demo doesn't exactly include many changes, but sacrifices the flashy title screen for wider platform capabilities.


Requirements: Rocks'n'diamonds 4.3.4.0 or above/Mirror Magic 3.1.0 or above
𒈟
User avatar
Eizzoux
Posts: 567
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 5:32 am
Location: Russia
Contact:

Reflektor - Third public demo released!

Post by Eizzoux »

Third demo doesn't add a lot of levels, but gets some enhancements and various, presumably, controversial changes, which may change or go away depending on the feedback. No video this time, sorry...
  • Added some small details on the door just so it wouldn't look so empty;
  • Tape now has three indicators related to the single sounds, looping sounds and music;
  • Snapshot buttons now appear over the save and load buttons on the tape panel if enabled;
  • Added headlines the logo on the top right of the screen border for some sub menus;
  • Added some backgrounds for the info sub screens;
  • Added a highscore bar on the in-game interface panel right below the score counter;
  • Some fonts have been changed, especially noticeable in Setup page;
  • Overall most of sub screens have been modified to fit into the small screen (most of them, sadly);
  • Added an in-game font and arrow signs which are purely decorative and are used only to tell you some information or point at something;
  • Changed some menu buttons, notably the 'leave menu', 'enter menu' and all buttons of score info page;
  • Some of music was modified just so it would loop a little better, sacrificing some of the song intros, including Sparkling Remix;
  • All sounds have been replaced with new ones, both in game and menu.

Download link is, again, below the image.

sddsghdfdsgds.png
sddsghdfdsgds.png (87.81 KiB) Viewed 91053 times


Requirements: Rocks'n'diamonds 4.3.5.1 or above/Mirror Magic 3.2.1 or above
Last edited by Eizzoux on Sun Mar 05, 2023 9:41 am, edited 1 time in total.
𒈟
User avatar
Holger
Site Admin
Posts: 4073
Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2004 4:13 pm
Location: Germany
Contact:

Re: What if Deflektor had some elements from Mindbender

Post by Holger »

First impression: Looks very polished, cool sounds and music, fun to play (after playing a few levels) -- good work! :-)

BTW: In which time zone do you live, as it's already the 5th of March over there apparently! (First I though you live in the future, or at least are ahead of your time! ;-) )
User avatar
Eizzoux
Posts: 567
Joined: Wed Oct 30, 2013 5:32 am
Location: Russia
Contact:

Re: What if Deflektor had some elements from Mindbender

Post by Eizzoux »

Holger wrote: Sat Mar 04, 2023 8:11 pm In which time zone do you live, as it's already the 5th of March over there apparently! (First I though you live in the future, or at least are ahead of your time! ;-) )
Yeah, I'm from the future. But jokes aside, yeah, my time is just few hours ahead of Europe, since I live in republic of Buryatia. In short, my timezone is (UTC+08:00), so at the time of posting I was already past midnight.

Also, only now I noticed that for some reason Music info screen lists R'n'D music along with the custom music, while that does not actually happen with the Reflektor project I mainly work with. Where did that come from?
djbnkasbfksf.png
djbnkasbfksf.png (336.13 KiB) Viewed 90993 times
𒈟
User avatar
Holger
Site Admin
Posts: 4073
Joined: Fri Jun 18, 2004 4:13 pm
Location: Germany
Contact:

Re: What if Deflektor had some elements from Mindbender

Post by Holger »

Yeah, I'm from the future. But jokes aside, yeah, my time is just few hours ahead of Europe, since I live in republic of Buryatia. In short, my timezone is (UTC+08:00), so at the time of posting I was already past midnight.
That's very cool to know -- I am always happy to hear that people have fun with R'n'D at places where I did not expect it! I have to admit that I haven't heard about Buryatia before, even though it has nearly exactly the same size as Germany. But now I have read the Wikipedia article about your country and know more about it. :-)
Also, only now I noticed that for some reason Music info screen lists R'n'D music along with the custom music, while that does not actually happen with the Reflektor project I mainly work with. Where did that come from?
That comes from a fresh, newly added bug in the latest release version. :roll:

The purpose of that change was to prevent that no game music is listed at all on the music info screen in cases where there is a "main" music directory (like "music/mus_mirrormagic" for Mirror Magic) plus a level set specific music directory (like "classic_mindbender/music", also in Mirror Magic, containing a single extra music track only for this level set), which overrided the "main" music directory (with all the game music) before, with the result that no music was listed at all.

I will fix that problem, using your Reflektor level set as a reference to check that it works correctly again. :)
Post Reply