game-editor.com

First of all, thank you so much for providing an easy-to-use (once you understand it) platform for me to create Pocket PC games. I always desired to create my own but relied on programs such as NSBasic/CE which didn't give me the full potential that I have with Game Editor.

Sorry if some of these have been repeated or if this is a lot to ask in one shot, but I'm looking forward to the next update or release of Game Editor. Do you have a timeframe for the next release and what will it include to date?


FEATURE REQUESTS (specific or towards Pocket PC game development) not in any particular order:
1. Import or access the system date and time.
2. Access, view and search all available scripts and global code. FEATURE ADDED!
3. Delete unused timers.
4. 640x480 (VGA) and 240x240 (iPAQ HX6500) support for Pocket PC.
5. Rotate orientation of Pocket PC apps from within the executable.
6. Assign values to an actor's variable and all of its clones simultaneously, (i.e. I had to enter 60 assignment commands for the 15 pseudo-particle Actors in my Bubble Buster game for x, y, xvelocity, and yvelocity when a bubble was busted). ISSUE RESOLVED WITH GETCLONE2 FOUND IN FORUM!
7. Separate the executable from the data file (what is Export Game Data for?). ALREADY AVAILABLE
8. NOT include a particular file inside the executable (i.e. music file, customizable graphics by end-user).
9. Zoom/stretch/shrink/squish an actor's animation on the fly. Will be the first step in creating pseudo-3D games! PATIENTLY WAITING
10. Detect if a music or sound file is still playing within a specific channel, (i.e. if (SoundStatus(channel) == false) PlaySound... you can return 0 if channel is no longer playing any audio, or the current loop count, or just -1 if audio is still playing on that channel, etc.) PATIENTLY WAITING
11. Shortcut keys (i.e. ALT-F) in editor UI.
12. Intermittent autosave feature in editor UI.
13. Rectangle-select a number of actors and simultaneously move them, delete them, or change their animation or other possible properties.
14. Select the color or pixel to which the transparency of an animation will be based upon, or disable transparency at will.
15. Line of sight capability between two Actors.
16. Online or Bluetooth implementation for features such as network game play, in-game chatting, uploading/sharing of high scores, registering a game online, etc. (i.e. saveOnlineVars/loadOnlineVars commands?)
17. Optionally show live animation of an Actor within the editor UI.
18. Particle graphics support.
19. Draw a transparency as a color for putpixel, or the ability to remove a pixel to reveal what's underneath (i.e. Z-Depth, other Actor's animation, etc).
20. Encrypt files used with saveVars/loadVars commands.
21. Add RPN (or similar) registration algorithm so games can be easily designed for registration codes, etc. (i.e. code = "i 0 == 111 * key + c 2 * +" If you are a Handango developer, you can read up more here: https://developer.handango.com/Develope ... GISTRATION) SOLUTION PROVIDED BY MAKSLANE IN FORUM!
22. Read/write information from/to the Windows/Pocket PC's registry, (i.e. Owner Name, hardware ID, etc.).
23. Easier manipulation of text strings, (i.e. Score.text = "BONUS: " + bonusscore + " points!")


BUG FIX REQUESTS not in any particular order:
1. Shift-selecting text in the script can inadvertently remove an additional line if cursor is positioned at the start of that line. RESOLVED
2. Editor UI intermittently crashes during error-checking routine as script is to be saved (i.e. missing or too many brackets). RESOLVED
3. Cut/copy and paste does not function between the editor UI and outside applications, such as Notepad. RESOLVED
4. On Pocket PC models I have tested, exported games will always start in Suspend mode if feature is enabled in Game Settings, which requires user intervention to actually start the game. RESOLVED
5. "GameEditor" flashes in title bar upon loading a Pocket PC application and during Suspend mode, should be changed to title set in Game Properties. RESOLVED

BeyondtheTech wrote:6. Assign values to an actor's variable and all of its clones simultaneously

I didn't understand. Clones share actions.

7. Separate the executable from the data file (what is Export Game Data for?)

You can use game data to export your game levels and load with LoadGame function. You can make a menu, export the executable, and load all other levels as dat files.

Optionally show live animation of an Actor within the editor UI.

Use the Stop/Move option in Actor Control


Your request (and all other in this forum) is in my task list now
Some bugs already fixed in 1.2.9 version (released soon)

In regards to clones sharing actions, as I understand it, they do not share the variables. For instance, in my Bubble Buster game, when a bubble is popped, I have these (10) bubble particles that will start at the current location of the bubble, then explode in all different directions. At the moment of popping, I have to execute the following code, based on this thread I found on the forums.

Code: Select all

getclone("burst.1")->x = x;
getclone("burst.1")->y = x;
getclone("burst.1")->xvelocity = rand(5) - rand(5);
getclone("burst.1")->yvelocity = rand(5) - rand(5);
.
.
.


Now, visualize that code 9 more times for each of the cloned actors.

I am hoping for some optimized and easier code, such as this:

Code: Select all

getclone("burst.all")->x = x;
getclone("burst.all")->y = y;
for (i=1;i<11;i++)
{
   getclone("burst."+i)->xvelocity=rand(5)-rand(5);
   getclone("burst."+i)->yvelocity=rand(5)-rand(5);
}


Note: I just thought of the second half of that above code, and don't know if it's actually feasible even though it's theoretically logical.

One of the things I failed to mention in the ability to zoom/stretch/squish/shrink the animations of actors is the neat ability to rotate them. I know it would be a difficult task, since anti-aliasing or smoothing would be a necessity as to not ruin the original graphic being rotated on a arbitrary angle, but it would make for easier and more exciting use of animations in a game.

Lastly, one really important feature I would like to have is string manipulation. My other coding platform is Visual Basic, and I deal with these functions on a consistent basis, since they are so powerful:

Code: Select all

str(number)
val(string)
instr(searchstring,searchfor,startpos)
left(string,numchars)
right(string,numchars)
mid(string,startpos,numchars)
ucase(string)
lcase(string)
etc.


One of the things that I found to be incredibly cumbersome is being able to insert a value in the middle of a string. In Bubble Buster, I have statistics in plain English running on the bottom of the screen, such as "accuracy: 66%" and "best times in a row: 24x." I had to use a series of strncat and sprintf commands for each segment that was string and variable.

It would be easier to say and use this command in the Script Editor.

Code: Select all

statistics.text = "Accuracy:" + str(accnumber) + "%"


BeyondtheTech wrote:I have these (10) bubble particles that will start at the current location of the bubble, then explode in all different directions

Are you creating 10 bubles? What's the creation code?

Sorry, makslane... I've been tied up with things and still have to provide you the executable with the OGG/WAV looping executable that crashes on the Pocket PC.

As for the registration feature, I've found a program that would be nice if it could be implemented into the GE code.

http://www.handango.com/PlatformProduct ... tId=142887

Code: Select all

   Const rpn = "i 0 == 111 * key + c 2 * +"

   user = TextBox1.Text
   code = TextBox2.Text

   If code = DynaReg.GenCode(user, rpn) Then
      // success
   Else
      // fail
   End If


They offer samples in
.Net Visual Studio:
North Wind (VB)
RPN Tester (C#)

AppForge (MobileVB):
North Wind
RPN Tester

Java (J2ME):
RPN Tester

[/code]

I really like to say thanks to Makslane for resolving the all the bugs in I mentioned in my first post [regarding 1.2.8] and directly addressing the registration issue. Support like that has made a GE user forever!

The first post has been updated to reflect the changes to date.

I am still hoping and looking out for the following features in Game Editor Pro, in the order of my importance!

1. Rotate/zoom/stretch/shrink/squish/skew an actor's animation on the fly. Will be the first step in creating pseudo-3D games!
2. 640x480 (VGA) and 240x240 (iPAQ HW6500) support for Pocket PC.
3. Rotate orientation of Pocket PC apps from within the executable.
4. NOT include a particular file inside the executable (i.e. music file, customizable graphics by end-user).
5. Import or access the system date and time.
6. Rectangle-select a number of actors and simultaneously move them, delete them, or change their animation or other possible properties.
7. Intermittent autosave feature in editor UI.
8. Read/write information from/to the Windows/Pocket PC's registry, (i.e. Owner Name, hardware ID, etc.).
9. Select the color or pixel to which the transparency of an animation will be based upon, or disable transparency at will.
10. Line of sight capability between two Actors.
11. Online or Bluetooth implementation for features such as network game play, in-game chatting, uploading/sharing of high scores, registering a game online, etc. (i.e. saveOnlineVars/loadOnlineVars commands?)
12. Optionally show live animation of an Actor within the editor UI.
13. Particle graphics support.
14. Draw a transparency as a color for putpixel, or the ability to remove a pixel to reveal what's underneath (i.e. Z-Depth, other Actor's animation, etc).
15. Encrypt files used with saveVars/loadVars commands.

I'm just starting game production on a big project and wondering if I should work in a 640x480 environment or 320x240... I really would like to know if VGA support will be possible soon, and if the same executable will be automatically "shrunken" down into a 320x240 screen.

How can I use a loop and reference clones?

I saw the "wish" for code methods such as

for (i=1;i<11;i++)
{
getclone("burst."+i)->xvelocity=rand(5)-rand(5);
}

... I am also having to do something like that... I even tried:
getclone("burst.all")->x = x;
getclone("burst.all")->y = y;
for (i=1;i<11;i++)
{
getclone("burst.[i])->xvelocity=rand(5)-rand(5);
}

I figured it out... thanks... let me know if others need the details