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1

General! / Anyone here speak Japanese?

« on: August 18, 2011, 04:02:12 pm »

I came across a Japanese wiki today which directly links to an old version of Pickory. I'd like to change it so that it links to the forum thread so that people will get the latest version instead, but unfortunately, I don't speak Japanese.

Could someone help me and fix the link please?

2

Other Games! / Tunnel Attack Advance!

« on: March 20, 2011, 06:33:28 pm »

This is a GBA game I made for a school assignment. It's pretty simple. The goal of the game is to fly down a tunnel as long as possible without crashing into the sides. It gets narrower the longer you play.

Controls: (and default controls on VBA)
Left/Right - movement (Left/Right arrow keys)
L/R - hold to move faster (A/S)
Select - go to title screen (Backspace)
Start - start a new game (Enter)
A - hold down while starting a new game to activate slow mode. (Z)

My personal record score is 6003 in regular mode and 8060 in slow mode.

3

Game Design! / Story's Save System - Now with encryption!

« on: January 20, 2011, 02:00:50 pm »

Here is a save system I created as a dll for use in Game Maker Pro.
http://www.mediafire.com/?r3p9157t4u7io4d

If you are confused about how to use it or you want a new feature added, please tell me.

Features:
*Savefile encryption
*Minimum possible filesizes (may be as low as one byte depending on the save)
*Ability to undo saves so players won't get stuck

Here is a guide to using Dlls in Game Maker.
http://gamemaker.info/en/manual/414_00_dlls

To use this DLL in Game Maker you first need to specify the external functions you want to use and what type of arguments they take. For this there is the following function in GML:

    external_define(dll, name, calltype, restype, argnumb, arg1type, arg2type, ...) Defines an external function. dll is the name of the dll file. name is the name of the functions. calltype is the calling convention used. For this use either dll_cdecl or dll_stdcall. restype is the type of the result. For this use either ty_real or ty_string. argnumb is the number of arguments (0-16). Next, for each argument you must specify its type. For this again use either ty_real or ty_string. When there are more than 4 arguments all of them must be of type ty_real.

This function returns the id of the external function that must be used for calling it. So in the above example, at the start of the game you would use the following GML code:

    {
      global.mmm = external_define('MyDLL.DLL','MyMin',dll_cdecl,
                                         ty_real,2,ty_real,ty_real);
      global.ddd = external_define('MyDLL.DLL','DoubleString',dll_cdecl,
                                         ty_string,1,ty_string);
    }

Now whenever you need to call the functions, you use the following function:

    external_call(id, arg1, arg2, ...) Calls the external function with the given id, and the given arguments. You need to provide the correct number of arguments of the correct type (real or string). The function returns the result of the external function.

So, for example, you would write:

    {
      aaa = external_call(global.mmm,x,y);
      sss = external_call(global.ddd,'Hello');
    }

If you don't need to use the DLL anymore you had better free it.

    external_free(dll) Frees the DLL with the given name. This is in particular necessary if the game should remove the DLL. As long as the DLL is not freed it cannot be removed. Best do this e.g. in an end of game event.

4

Game Design! / Does anyone have Game Maker Pro?

« on: January 19, 2011, 11:17:26 am »

Does anyone here have Game Maker Pro? I was thinking of trying to make a GM dll for fun, but I'd have no way to test it.

5

Game Design! / GM extraction help

« on: January 10, 2011, 12:57:01 pm »

Does anyone know how to extract all the images and sounds from a gmd file? I'm trying to use LateralGM but I can't get it to work.

6

Game Design! / Game Theory

« on: June 29, 2010, 11:47:24 pm »

Today I noticed that the forum description lists Game Theory among the topics you should discuss here, but there is a complete lack of threads doing so. Therefore, I hope to remedy this deplorable situation.

Game Theory has long been applied to the field of economics in both normative and positive contexts. It provides a logical model in which each agent is infinitely rational and utility maximizing. However, these assumptions have been criticized. In some cases, the empirically observed behaviors of humans contradict the strategies expected due to game theoretic calculations. Do you think that game theory has a place in economics? Why or why not?

7

Crap! / Cantavanda

« on: June 21, 2010, 11:52:00 pm »

Could any of the crap forum regulars please clear up something for me?

As I remember, Cantavanda got banned during the leekspin craze. So why do people keep acting like he is here or accusing people of being Cantavanda? Did he make an alt or something?

8

General Discussion! / Polls

« on: April 25, 2010, 07:15:28 pm »

How do you remove a poll?

9

General Discussion! / Is there anyway to add a new poll to an existing thread?

« on: March 14, 2010, 01:35:47 pm »

If you make a normal thread without a poll, is there anyway to add a poll later?

10

General! / Interesting information about the bug

« on: February 17, 2010, 05:57:44 pm »

It takes roughly 17 seconds to go through the first screen
It takes roughly 32 seconds to get past the invisible block room
It takes roughly 135 seconds to get to the end of the area. (The place after Kraidgief and before the dragonflies)
No matter how long you wait, it will not go to the starting screen.

11

Fangames! / Should fangames have save slots?

« on: February 10, 2010, 07:08:57 pm »

Well we all know that IWBTG has a fancy save select screen with three save slots, so you can have multiple saved games at once without the hassle of copying and renaming files.
However, with the exception of Fangame, none of the fangames have done this. Why is this? IS it because they are unnecessary? Is it because you can only do them in MMF2 and not I Wanna Be The Engine?

What are your thoughts about this? Do you think it is important for a game to have save slots?

12

Fangames! / *Lionheart*'s sprite rips

« on: January 18, 2010, 11:19:11 pm »

Here is a bunch of miscellaneous sprites *Lionheart* sent me before he left. He said that he had trouble posting them, so I figured I might as well. I never found a use for any of them, but hopefully someone else here will.

http://www.mediafire.com/?dutqje0jmg0

13

Game Design! / Menu design

« on: January 16, 2010, 02:20:00 pm »

How do you design menus that look good?

Right now my achievements menu looks pretty bad. It's supposed to have a list of all the secret items that you found, but it just looks empty and plain.

[:]

14

Fangames! / Pickory - Final version!

« on: December 14, 2009, 12:58:12 am »

Pickory is a fangame I am making. However, it is completely different from the other fangames. I made it from scratch in C++. I tried to make each area feel unique - it doesn't just have spikes and apples everywhere. It also has a much bigger focus on puzzles, particularly in the Portal area.

Also, the physics are a bit different. Specifically THERE IS NO VARIABLE HEIGHT JUMPING (except for the final boss).

Latest version: 12.03.18
Mediafire Download Link
Note: Please do not link directly to Mediafire on other websites. Link to this thread so that people will get the latest version. I upload new versions and take down old ones periodically, so direct links are likely to get broken.

Features

• Level designs based on numerous games, not just IWBTG
• No invisible blocks (ok there's one but at least it's unique and funny), fake blocks, or falling Delicious Fruits
• Secret areas to find and items to collect
• Built in instant save fixer - no more getting stuck, ever
• Custom engine coded in C++, a lot faster than Game Maker
• Ability to record and save replays of a game
• Unlimited save "slots" - You can rename savefiles to anything you wish and have any number of them
• PORTALS!

Bonus Space Duel Standalone Version
If you think the fight with aiMir is unbalanced, here's your chance to even the odds. You can change the settings by editing a textfile, and press E to reload them. If you find some values for the settings that you think are more balanced than in the current version, or you have any other suggestions regarding the fight, please tell me. Mediafire Download Link

Porting
This game is intended to be cross platform. If you are interested in making a native Mac or Linux version, pm me or post here and I'll send you the source code. Though it may be difficult to build since I don't have any makefiles.

Controls
Note: the controls can be changed by editing controls.txt.
Currently, only keyboard controls are supported. If you have a joystick and want me to add joystick support, please pm me.

Menu Controls:
Up/Down arrow: Change selection
Enter: Select choice
Escape: Quit
Print Screen: Screenshot
F3: Mute\Unmute music and sounds
F4: Toggle fullscreen

Game Controls:
Move left: Left arrow
Move right: Right arrow
Up/Down: Up and Down arrows (only used in some areas)
Jump: Left Shift
Shoot: Z
Special: X
Suicide: Q
Reload: R
Skip cutscene: S
Pause/Unpause: P
Unsave: Backspace
Open main menu: Escape
Go to titlescreen: F2

PageDown: Decrease game speed
PageUp: Increase game speed

Unsaving
This is a feature I made which I believe has never been done before in any other fangame.
Basically, it is a built-in instant save fixer. If you ever get stuck, just press the backspace key and the last save will be undone. Be careful not to undo the good saves though!

Difficulty
The difficulties in Pickory are named one lower then IWBTG. So Wuss is equivalent to Medium, Medium is Hard, and Hard is Very Hard. Playing on hard difficulty your first time is a very bad idea.

Secret Items
There are secret items and secret levels placed throughout the game. However, they are not hidden with invisible blocks, fake blocks, or other cheap tricks. Instead, they require out of the box thinking or puzzle solving to reach. You can view a list of the secrets you have already found in the achievements menu.

Replays
This is another feature which I believe is unique among fangames. Whenever you play a game, it is automatically recorded, so you can play it back later or send it to someone else to watch. By default, replays are saved to WriteDir/Replays/LastReplay.txt but you can always rename them to something else to stop it from getting overwritten next time.

Screenshots
Mansion of Pickory (with boss paintings)

: show

Swimming Pool

: show

Iron Head

: show

Frequently Asked Questions
Q: How do I get past the bullet bills or the flying black chompers?
A: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LepOFP4Xorc

Q: I watched the video but I still can't get past it!
A: Try the left path, it's a lot easier.

Q: Why is it named Pickory? What does it mean?
A: The name refers to the main character, Pickory Nolastname. It is a fake name I randomly made up and is not supposed to mean anything.

Q: How long did it take you to make?
A: I've been working on it since mid October 2009. I intended to keep working on it as long as I have enough spare time and enough ideas.

Q: I'm stuck on the second part of the Portal area.
A: You can hold down the arrow key to go farther. Other then that, it's a standard Portal fling, with a airjump at the end.

Q: I'm stuck on the Majora's Mask screen.
A: You have to jump into the moon.


Q: What day is the Fourth of July celebrated in Britain?
A: In Britian, they use the eastern orthodox calendar, so the date varies from year to year depending on the lunar cycle. Next year, the Fourth of July will be celebrated on June 31st.

15

General! / How fast can you shoot?

« on: December 01, 2009, 11:22:24 pm »

How many bullets can you shoot per second (assuming you're sufficiently close to the boss?)


In my fangame, I made a boss that was pretty challenging for me, but when I showed it to my friend, he managed to kill the boss before it even fired a single shot.

So I decided to find out Just how fast can people who don't fail as badly at video games as I do shoot? I remember one person here could shoot so rapidly that they were accused of using turbofire in a video they posted.