Newbie help please!

[Lee Brewer]

Hi,
I am wondering what directory to store the tapes in so i can play them. For example, I have downloaded BD2K3. i see it has tapes included in its level folder. However, when I hit the player buton from the main screen it says the level has no tape - no matter what level I choose, 001, 002, etc.

I also downloaded the Pacman game - and when I choose the Pacman from the levels directory, I DO get a pacman startup screen, but when i go to play the game, mRockford IS a pacman, but I am standing in a field of diggable dirt and nothing else!


Also, does anyone have a step by step, clear set of instructions for making custom graphics. Such as:
1. load this file into your grpahics program
2. make these settings
3. Change your graphics to be what you want
4. save them as "this file' in "this directory"

Thanks for any help!

Lee

[Holger]

> However, when I hit the player buton from the main screen it says the
> level has no tape - no matter what level I choose, 001, 002, etc.

These included tapes are indeed solution tapes for the BD2K3 levels -- to make watching them a bit harder (as it is considered "cheating" ;-) ), there is a "cheat code" required to watch them. :-)

To play the tape, go to the main menu, eject the current tape (if there is any) and then press ":ist" (without the quotes), which is itself a shortcut for ":insert-solution-tape". When typed correctly, the solution tape is loaded and can be played! :-)

> I DO get a pacman startup screen, but when i go to play the game,
> mRockford IS a pacman, but I am standing in a field of diggable dirt and
> nothing else!

As the "Pac Man" level set uses the latest and greatest features of R'n'D to make it happen, you definitely need the new R'n'D version 3.2.0 for playing this set! The behaviour you described is typical for trying to play it with an earlier version. Just update, and everything should work fine! :-)

> Also, does anyone have a step by step, clear set of instructions for
> making custom graphics. Such as:
> 1. load this file into your grpahics program
> 2. make these settings
> 3. Change your graphics to be what you want
> 4. save them as "this file' in "this directory"

Best thing for a start is to have a deep look at the directory structure and the file "graphicsinfo.conf" in the "graphics" sub-directory of the level set "BD2K3" (which you can edit with a simple text editor). There should be a tutorial for this, which I should write some day. Until then, looking at existing level sets with custom artwork is the best start! (Maybe start with a easy one which only haves few new graphics -- BD2K3 is a good example anyway, I think, as it uses many of the techniques that are possible.)

Maybe other forum users can give better instructions from their own experiences!

[Lee Brewer]

Thanks for the quick reply! I look forward to you "tutorial" on changing the graphics. I remember back in the good ol' Amiga days of games that allowed you to change graphics just by loading atheirs (on one ssheet) into DP IV and changing them.

I have a young son who is very into making levels and customizing elements. He wants to know if there is a way that the player can be a Yam Yam (or any other element)? he has become very creative in what he has been doing!

Also - how can i make a separate set of levels for him? Currently he is using the default set that R&D sets up. i want to give him his own folder - as well as my daughter.

Thanks again - i am so glad to see this game has not gone the way of Commodore!

Lee

[Martijn]

Also - how can i make a separate set of levels for him? Currently he is using the default set that R&D sets up. i want to give him his own folder - as well as my daughter.

Once I had made this for someone else:
http://www.zomis.net/rnd/download.php?id=377

It's a special folder with 'Projects'. You can create five levelsets with this one. Of course you can change the names in the levelinfo.conf manually but you can also tell your children which number they have to use!
Tell them that we are all looking forward to their levels!

[Daniel H.]

Welcome to the Rocks 'n' Diamonds Forum, Lee!

He wants to know if there is a way that the player can be a Yam Yam (or any other element)?

Yes, in Rocks 'n' Diamonds 3.2.0, the latest version. You click on the yellow player and click on the ? button (element properties). Then you check the check box that says "Use Artwork of Element (element)." Then you just put a yam-yam in the element box. Then the player will sound like a yam-yam, too! (when the player is not moving, just like real yam-yams)

he has become very creative in what he has been doing!

That's good!

[Lee Brewer]

Martijn, - thanks for the projects folder - this will really help

Daniel - thanks for the info on making Rockford change into something else.
We could not get the sound to go with it (we changed to a yam-yam and sat still to hear hom - nothing!).

But we also found out this means we can make a good looking 2 player game with the BD2K3 graphics by making player 2 use the green Rockford graphics! pretty neat!

OK - another question - my level, by default, is named leebrewer. i see his is not stored in the levels folder with the rest of the levels - so where is it?

Also - Pacman worked - but it also seemed to fritz the program as there were no words at all on the main menu after I loaded it - weird!


My son has made several levels which use graphics from different sets (such as BD2K3, Walpurgis World, etc.). I want to upload these leves (somewhere??) and i am curious as to whether they will retain the same graphics when they are uploaded as a lot of his levels depend on keeping the specific elements he has created mixed in with the graphics from the different sets we have downloaded.

Thanks again for all the help!

Lee

[Alan]

Hi Lee, welcome to the forum.

Also - Pacman worked - but it also seemed to fritz the program as there were no words at all on the main menu after I loaded

No words on the side bar? I made that totally black (to give it that arcade feel)

My son has made several levels which use graphics from different sets (such as BD2K3, Walpurgis World, etc.). I want to upload these leves (somewhere??) and i am curious as to whether they will retain the same graphics when they are uploaded as a lot of his levels depend on keeping the specific elements he has created mixed in with the graphics from the different sets we have downloaded.

Yes, so long as that person already has BD2K3 and Walpurgis World, which most people do.

[Tomi]

There are two different places where you can put levels: "C:\Program Files\Rocks'n'Diamonds\levels" (assuming the game is installed in "C:\Program Files\Rocks'n'Diamonds") and "My Documents\Rocks'n'Diamonds\levels". The first one is intended for downloaded levels or levels shared by everyone on the computer. The second one is for your own levels, which no-one can modify (assuming you use better OS than Windows 98, of course), but if only few people use the computer, it doesn't make big difference.

So, to answer your question, your private levels probably are in "Rocks'n'Diamonds\levels" in your My Documents folder.

[Lee Brewer]

Oops - I failed to mention I am in OS X (a recent convert and loving it - my computer is fubn again!)

Lee

[Daniel H.]

I want to upload these leves (somewhere??)

The Rocks 'n' Diamonds File Archive is where everybody can upload their own Rocks 'n' Diamonds Levels.

i am curious as to whether they will retain the same graphics when they are uploaded

Yes, so long as that person already has BD2K3 and Walpurgis World, which most people do.

To specify which graphics set a levelset should use for people who have downloaded them, edit the file levelinfo.conf file and add (or edit) the following line:

Code: Select all

graphics_set:                           gfx_classic

Change "gfx_classic" to "BD2K3" or "Walpurgis Gardens" or the name of the folder that contains another level set with graphics.

[Martijn]

Oops - I failed to mention I am in OS X (a recent convert and loving it - my computer is fubn again!)

That doesn't matter! As far as I know, the level files work in every version of Rocks 'n' Diamonds.

Change "gfx_classic" to "BD2K3" or "Walpurgis Gardens" or the name of the folder that contains another level set with graphics. Smile

Not the name of the folder, am I right? But the graphics set name that is mentioned in the graphicsinfo.conf of that level set...

[Daniel H.]

Oops - I failed to mention I am in OS X (a recent convert and loving it - my computer is fubn again!)

That doesn't matter! As far as I know, the level files work in every version of Rocks 'n' Diamonds.

Yes, but I don't think that Rocks 'n' Diamonds for OS X installs in "C:\Program Files\. . . ."

Not the name of the folder, am I right? But the graphics set name that is mentioned in the graphicsinfo.conf of that level set...

I'm pretty sure that it's the name of the folder. The name mentioned in graphicsinfo.conf is just for display purposes under the "Custom Artwork" section of Setup, isn't it?

[Martijn]

I'm not sure... but it would be very strange if it used the folder name... it's nearly a bug then! but you may be right (don't have time to test it now)

[Lee Brewer]

I still cannot find where the default level for the ditor is stored in my OS X system. I am not a newbie to computers and directory hierarchy structures. My "LEEBREWER" level set is not in the LEVELS directory. I did a Spotlight search (OS X version of XP "search"- but much, much faster - finds all relevent files before you can finish typing the word!), and it cannot find a folder by this name. I am therefore surmising that R&D must take the username from the system and apply it to the default level. It really does not NAME the level this - it just displays the username of the system.
Even if this is not the case, i really just want to find the default level R&D uses when you open the level editor for the first time. Any ideas? I just want to copy these over and transfer them to my other computer.

Lee

[HerzAusGold]

The default level is generated internally!
There is no default level on the disk.
If you want it on the disk just save the empty level in the editor.