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the sprites in this demo are scaled with GE's own built in vector graphics engine ..... yes it does have one




There is one type of graphic that is perfectly scalable, and can be easily rotated. And that is a vector graphic.. this demo takes advantage of that fact by using GEs very own built-in vector scaling engine .

There are limitations on this method, due to the type of "actor" being used - but I have a solution for that as well..which can convert this actor type to another ( it can be done now..I just need someone like SGT Sparky to help out and I will tell you ALL what I need shortly, and someone else may volunteer.) , but in the mean time.. yeah I know we can't use this exact method/actor type for some types things but there are easy workarounds.

I am hoping also that if I can iron out some bugs, Makslane may be able to give us access to the dialog boxes required to do this in a more scripted fashion. rather then manually as it is...again any volunteers to help sort out bugs ?

I am also hoping that the GE vector graphics engine has built in rotation, which has simply not yet been implemented..not probable... but a small maybe.

note: there are a few "issues" with either GE, (or this method,) .. as some "scales" don't seem to work well.. - they should... so I am trying to sort that out.

KEYS
use the up down keys to scale up and down ( only 6 scales ) -
if you hold down the keys it scales quickly from 0-6 and back, or you can tap the keys for smaller jumps..

feral

PS: for a really cool trick hold down and/or tap the number 3 key (top of keyboard not numpad) ...for some even more fantastical !! amazing!! feralX3D fun

PPS: I want that cookie NOW

Downloaded. Thank you, feral. Do not have any Cookies, just a thank you. : )

BTW - SGT Sparky was doing a demo on this for me, but i hadn't heard from him in a long time, so i thought i would give it a go..so i hope i didn't spoil anything he was working on for it..

and a second BTW - the code in here is awful..don't try to follow it.. I can't stand strings in 'C'.. yuk.. and all the code is basically just patched together to make the demo work..

cheers
feral

lol, this method is pretty clever I have to admit! The main problem I can see though, is that text actors do not generate collision events, so that may be bothersome to some people out there. What tool did you use to create this animation font anyway?? Good work once more feral!

Here is your cookie!




With nuts! (it is invisible)

pyrometal wrote:The main problem I can see though, is that text actors do not generate collision events,

The quick and dirty fix is to have a standard actor hidden behind the scaled actors to pick up events , that way the nice scalable vector graphic masks the the usual crappy rotated bitmap actor behind...

but I am working on a better plan Mwhahahahaaaa ! cough ! ... essentially pre-render and convert to bitmaps.. will explain soon.. although a few of you can probably already do it...

RE: the animation package... it simply a font creation package, as easy to use as most bitmap drawing packages, except that it automatically rotates the vector graphics for you (and does it very well) i can rotate 36 turns of a char in less then a minute perfectly...

so steps are
1. create a char in font package
2. use font package to rotate as many as needed ( I only used 36, but can easily use upto 255 turns)
3. import to GE and use GE to scale (again scaling is perfect as it is based on vectors, and using the "SOFT" option allows for anti-aliasing with built in transparencies)

NOTE: for multicolored/shaped sprites use a second set of a font char and layer onto first.

i think this is what makes it cool, just how easy it is..

there are some bugs that should NOT be in there though.. . i will list them shortly and ask for help..

feral

oh and one other thing...

the quickest way to use these as "real" sprites, is to take them into any package (ms word for example) and type them to a blank sheet - then screen capture the sheet ( as long as you space the letters right ( use a table) , you should now have an instant sprite sheet...for real actors..

also you can have fun with wordart or similar

quick test - click to enlarge

feral wrote:BTW - SGT Sparky was doing a demo on this for me

I'm sorry, I forgot about the demo.
I am working on softwhere for rotating images (I'm most of the way done! ) and an animation program.

Sgt. Sparky wrote:

feral wrote:BTW - SGT Sparky was doing a demo on this for me

I'm sorry, I forgot about the demo.
I am working on softwhere for rotating images (I'm most of the way done! ) and an animation program.

no problems sgt, i know your busy... thanks anyway.

also I wanted to add, that the reason i was working on this was to give me scalable sprites for my 3D engine, if you have been following it, you will note that they can be text actors in the 3d engine, because all of the collisions and events etc happen in a separate 2d map.. i hope to get back to work on it soon...

cheers
feral

Sorry, I haven't been fallowing along with your 3D engine (I haven't been on the GE forums much.) but I have looked at how you did it.

wow..... THANK youi have been waiting for sumeone to post somehing like this!!! lol i wa just abo ut to ask sumeone if you could do this
o.O
+1 point 4 u!!!