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1216
Works in Progress / Re: Dungeon Blabber
« on: February 08, 2014, 12:16:17 am »Thanks. =) unfortunately I won't be able to produce a demo for a while, 4 weeks minimum. Because every time I render 1 single 2048x2048 panorama or 1024x768 frame it takes hours/days+ to render depending how complex my scene is and how many light sources are being used. The demo will have
Wow, I haven't touched Bryce in ages. If you don't mind me asking, do you use some pre made resources or all designed from scratch ? Those look custom. I've purchased a few add-on packs a while back for Bryce, never really gotten to using Bryce as my computer was too slow back then.
That sure is a long time to render, what's your setup ?
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about 50 renders at least, and perhaps some videos (In Bryce videos are exported as AVI and I'll have to convert it all to multi frame sprites).
Why would you do that ? That will be a memory resource killer. Do you mean videos as cut scenes ? Why not have them streamed by the built in video commands ? Personally I use TMPGEnc Video Mastering Works for all my video conversion needs, multi-core and latest CUDA ready, it's blazing fast and high quality.
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The music is and will be completely home made by me - an original sound
Original music, very cool. Will you use voice overs what would be a myst like game without voices
1217
Works in Progress / Re: Dungeon Blabber
« on: February 08, 2014, 12:09:02 am »Why no playable demo? Your water looks nice, btw, all of your renders remind me of this old school voxel engine.
I don't mean that in a bad way, I am a huge fan of voxel graphics!
His kind of game would be perfect candidate for dynamic external resource handling especially when dealing with big files.
Personally if I made this type of game I would be using external resources and making good use of threading.
1218
Programming Help / Re: Using external resources (loading/unloading)
« on: February 03, 2014, 02:05:20 am »sound_add exists in 8.1 and lower, Studio uses a new 3D positional audio engine, or basically just OpenAL, they also
Ok now I remember it was for 8.1 indeed, it's strange but I thought they had included that in GM:S 1.0, oh well, from what I recall they use FFMPEG that is externally called each time a sound is played:P I remember on the forum some people complained they saw hundreds of instances of FFMPEG in their tray LOL. I have not used GM:S much at all sine11.2 due to time constraints, are they still using FFMPEG?
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butchered the original implementation pretty bad, they just deprecated half of the functions too. They have never added audio_add.
So is that how they work ? Ooops we fucked something up bad let's just remove it.... ?Why does this sound so familiar lol, does it remind you of other companies that make software ?
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Right, they really don't care about that, because it is primarily a 2D game engine, and all the attention is on mobile development. In fact you no longer even have
What ? So a 2D engine, but people don't have more ambition ? high definition sprites, scenes, heavy content ?
I think they figured out that serious developers who want to make heavy games will not bother touching GM and use competition - but it's sad, because their competition is doing so much better in so many areas.
Personally I have always been polite and I try to distance myself from flame wars and public bashing on the GMC forums, so I am on good terms however, one thing I witnessed many times that really gets to me is how rude
some people get replied to, particularly in the mantis,
paying members requesting features or help etc.......rudeness from yoyo staff, mods and other members, I have observed this since YoYo took over. What a shame really. It's one thing to bash but many (including you and others) have made factual, valid, constructive criticism. I am also well aware now that some people got banned too!
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access direct access to your projects working_directory, a working directory for an application is usually the path where the executable is run.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Working_directory
yes things changed a lot when they started adding platform exports, I guess they have to abide by some restrictions for apps (security restrictions) according to them ! LOL when you see all those apps in the store practically want access to your underwear I wonder how valid their reasoning is ?
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Interesting, so I don't have to use system(). The problem with those two functions however is they are unlikely to work for mobile devices and you'll probably need to check os_type to run a different command on Linux/Mac.
I won't have to worry about this on mobile for smaller projects, obviously they won't be needing external calls
And I'm using Windows.
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I have a conspiracy theory they broke all those extensions on purpose so people would upgrade :\
Ohhhh thank you ! Confirmation that I am not the only one to make conspiracy theories abut the evolution of game maker. I guess that means I agree 100%. But again, in all fairness, that's business, and many software companies do that.......*cough*Microsoft*cough*cough*
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Anyway it is important to note, things like our Box2D extension for physics uses a dll, though not actually. Our extensions build the library directly inside the game executable because all of the extensions I wrote are static linked.
BTW has anybody done some tests to compare GM:S compiled games side by side with ENIGMA ?
(meaning YYC Compiled Windows games vs. ENIGMA ?)
It would be nice to have a site with some extensive tests...
GPU intensive GM vs.ENIGMA
CPU intensive GM vs. ENIGMA
CPU intensive GM YYCvs. ENIGMA
etc.
Also do you think that in the next official version of GameMaker (codename GM:NEXT) but probably going to be called Studio 2.0, they will allow C++ code and GML to coexist, meaning you can use both GML and C++
I wonder what they have in store.
1219
Programming Help / Re: Using external resources (loading/unloading)
« on: February 02, 2014, 11:07:27 pm »This is actually one of my main gripes, although they claim to be making all these new advancements, they are forgetting functions like audio_add, which does not exist,
really!?!?!? I thought it was a function that did exist in GM, at least in 8.1, and I recall in early versions of GM:S...hmm. I recall something that GM:S already uses external resource files, in my opinion it is poorly implemented.
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at all, well except in ENIGMA. They seem to be wanting to do away with external resources.
Weird, and so how are you supposed to make big games then ? If I wanted to make an adventure game with tons of hi-res scenery and sprites, how would I do that without external ? I think they use external handling only for certain things, but from what I saw it is not done well and you have no control over it.
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execute_shell/execute_program is implemented in ENIGMA
Interesting, so I don't have to use system().
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I even went and documented the functions for you.
Great ! Thanks!
Quite an amazing and helpful community here, I'm impressed. I completely hate the theme of their forum there.
Quote from: time-killer-games
It does support DLL's I've tested this a while back and it worked.You do realize all the cool extensions like GMOgre, 3D particles, Ultimate 3D, etc. etc. Are all still broke, right? They all need rewritten because every GM extension relied on GMAPI which is defunct with Studio.
[/quote]
Indeed, lot of the DLLs are outdated and non functional.
Once I asked YoYo about implementing some functions
and their reply was "we won't...... use a DLL" LOL.
The only DLLs that did what I was looking for did not work in Studio.
Nice isn't it ?
1220
Programming Help / Re: Using external resources (loading/unloading)
« on: February 02, 2014, 10:57:07 pm »It does support DLL's I've tested this a while back and it worked.
Good to know thanks, although the majority of the DLLs in the GM community are outdated and go way back, most are broken, not documented and buggy. Luckily I will not be needing DLL. I think I want to start expanding my knowledge and learning some C++. I really like the fact one can use C++ inside my projects alongside what I already know. Great program. BTW I heard mention of a new compiler in the works, what will this do or intend to do ?
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I personally find the idea of loading external resources a great idea.
A great idea and a standard practice, as you see now commercial games take multi gigabytes and are massive, they all use external resources. The days of the games that pack everything inside the EXE and load all in memory are long gone.
As far as encryption yes I do realize that anything can be ripped using tools, in RAM, but the whole idea is to make it difficult for most people. When one works so hard to make a game with original content, it is a good to want to protect said work.
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But encrypted ones? Not so much. It would be better if we had a regular zip file and have it password protected and extracted to a well hidden temp directory at runtime with files deleted when no longer in use or when the game is closed.
That can easily be hacked using a tool to monitor registry, disk access, RAM, etc. One could have the files immediately deleted once the game loses focus and / or exited. However, again it does not stop the most persistent of hackers which can use tools to undelete files.
But it will stop the average person (most people) playing your game to say "WOW this is amazing, and one of the best games I played in my life, I think I'm gonna rip off the developer and steal his work " that's why I mention encryption.
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directory. If this method of protection is good enough for YYG there's no reason why we can't do this too for protecting include files and external resources.
In my opinion anything of the sort that gets implemented would have to be optional and flexible. The use of external resources and such method might not be needed for all games.
1221
Programming Help / Re: Using external resources (loading/unloading)
« on: February 01, 2014, 12:11:26 pm »That's exactly the problem. Using 7zip externally, your resources have to be read from disk (compressed, by 7z), written to disk (uncompressed, by 7z), then read from disk (uncompressed, by you).
Agreed, but so would my own engine (read byte range x to y from resource pak save to disk, read back using *_add. So you have the same read save read sequence right ?
Unless there was a function that works the same way as for example background_add, but instead of reading from a single file it would read bytes from range x to y from a given file and load to memory as with the *_add functions.
Combined with the GM string encrypt functions (don't think those are supported yet in ENIGMA). I guess for now I will play with my own (experimenting a little).
BTW, does ENIGMA support DLL inside my projects ?
1222
Developing ENIGMA / Re: Window Alpha and Message Box
« on: February 01, 2014, 11:58:02 am »Quote from: TheExDeus [quote
vertex_argb
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If we keep adding their shit ass implementations of functions, then ENIGMA will become as chaotic as GM. We either have to start ditching that useless compatibility with GM:S. Or stick with their bull only in their functions and use correct (and consistent) convention in ENIGMA functions. I
I think that's a strong point in ENIGMA, compatibility with GM, for people who are not aware of all these technicalities, and used to working with GM for all those years and want to benefit from the advantages of using ENIGMA (faster, better, etc.) Not everyone wants to rewrite their projects from scratch. I think keeping compatibility with the bull but also supporting ENIGMA's own command set + new ones is brilliant, at least people can have it all and use GML, C++, enigma specific commands, etc, all in the same project.
1223
Programming Help / Re: Using external resources (loading/unloading)
« on: February 01, 2014, 02:59:52 am »
Thanks but I am confused, what do you mean it will cost me disk operations ? If I use 7z called externally through C++ I will be essentially doing the same thing as my proprietary method, except with 7z the resources would be compressed.
7z would extract and save the result to disk, then later called by *_add to load them in memory. With my script it would do the same, extract bytes from x to y saving the result to disk and calling it in memory using *_add, in which case
perhaps it would be quicker to use 7z right ?
Think I will experiment with my own packing/unpacking engine for now and skip 7z, see where it leads me.
Yes PAK files. or files can be renamed anything basically. From what I recall in some games I have, PAK files where actually ZIP files renamed ! I am looking at making a proprietary format that cannot be opened or ripped from using tools.
If ENIGMA could support this natively and handle all this dynamically that would be so amazing, but I understand that would require some time to get implemented right ?
BTW I recall someone saying Yoyo does use something similar in studio, I do know they use a resource file but don't think it is handled properly. So to make the proprietary format I would have to make 2 programs,
one would be used to PACK and ENCRYPT resources,
which would be a stand alone, and the 2nd would be the script to handle the extraction.
So if I have to use C++ inside my script would I need
to do it like this ?
#define PROG "(whatever filename).exe"
int main()
system(PROG);
return 0;
}
Thanks, i'm not fluent in C++ so please guide me if I have something wrong
BTW isn't it bad practice to be calling external programs from within a program this way ? Wouldn't that be detected
as a suspicious program by an AV ?
7z would extract and save the result to disk, then later called by *_add to load them in memory. With my script it would do the same, extract bytes from x to y saving the result to disk and calling it in memory using *_add, in which case
perhaps it would be quicker to use 7z right ?
Think I will experiment with my own packing/unpacking engine for now and skip 7z, see where it leads me.
Yes PAK files. or files can be renamed anything basically. From what I recall in some games I have, PAK files where actually ZIP files renamed ! I am looking at making a proprietary format that cannot be opened or ripped from using tools.
If ENIGMA could support this natively and handle all this dynamically that would be so amazing, but I understand that would require some time to get implemented right ?
BTW I recall someone saying Yoyo does use something similar in studio, I do know they use a resource file but don't think it is handled properly. So to make the proprietary format I would have to make 2 programs,
one would be used to PACK and ENCRYPT resources,
which would be a stand alone, and the 2nd would be the script to handle the extraction.
So if I have to use C++ inside my script would I need
to do it like this ?
#define PROG "(whatever filename).exe"
int main()
system(PROG);
return 0;
}
Thanks, i'm not fluent in C++ so please guide me if I have something wrong
BTW isn't it bad practice to be calling external programs from within a program this way ? Wouldn't that be detected
as a suspicious program by an AV ?
1224
General ENIGMA / Re: License Exemptions
« on: February 01, 2014, 01:58:30 am »
I didn't want to reply to his posts but I could not help some of the stuff is just ... wow !
Hmm you meant "your". and speaking of out of your minds:
That does not make any sense. Why would the developers of ENIGMA go after a game developer ? Providing you respected the terms of the licenses and you did not infringe any IP, and that your game is not similar to another game (if not mistaken one can get sued for having a similar game / similar design right?) then you should not worry.
LOL !!! Too funny. You clearly have not seen app stores and shareware windows games, some are so simple and not too complex and have had millions of downloads and done so well. and many of those games can be done with either GM or ENIGMA....pre-alpha.......wow that's extreme !
Yes Namco does not want anybody making Pac Man clones or even making game that resembles them. So if even if you make a game with 100% original sprites, example a character going around and eating dots then you can get sued. But what's your point ? If your game is good enough and generates loads of cash, it would have to be substantial enough for lawyers to want to get involved, and by the time that happens you would have enough money to defend yourself, really this is silly. People get their projects shut down and S&D, people actually getting sued, that's another story,it would have to be something substantial (gaining revenues) and breaching IP.
What are you doing here then ? Sue them for what ? That is a baseless argument. They might as well sue their competitors too. They cannot sue for the use of GML, no way...the worst that can happen is a S&D and asked to remove any reference to GameMaker / YoYo, etc, but all that will be needed is some name changes and revamping the interface. But again, it's not going to happen.
Again, why ? Not everyone is using these programs to make profits, but I disagree with your statement. With clever coding / optimizing, good skills one can do miracles.
This is something I want to work on and getting skill (GML, structure, ) and who knows maybe moving into learning other languages.
LOL! People who do clones and imitations is because they are lazy or they don't have the skills to design their own stuff. I must confess i'm one of those who is not too skilled in making sprites, but at the same time I don't want to make mario clones or catch the clown. And as far as kids, lot of adults use GM and ENIGMA. Some "lame" adults make bad games too, you can see lot of them reviewed on sites like gamespot etc...... some people have amazing design skill but make games with poor playability, poor story, poor everything yet some people have poor graphic skills and yet their game has playability and a good story, and you have people who are skilled at both (mind you I think it's rare to have someone skilled on both, in my opinion, based on the stuff that gets released!)
What ? you don't have to release your source code when compiling with ENIGMA........
Funniest thing I read today!
You clearly have absolutely no clue about games. Do you think every game is coded in C++ from scratch or whatever language they use ? You clearly have not seen the credits in many games, that clearly reference 3rd party engine they use, it's written all over the game and its files....Baseless argument again, the creator of the engine has to protect their IP ! the same way YoYo's runner is their IP and needs to be protected, so you will see reference to YoYoGames in the compile as well in ANY tool you use to create a file there will be a reference somewhere. Do people buy games and use a hex editor to look for stuff and say "Oh noooes it's ENIGMA I won't buy it" People will play your game and judge it based on whether they liked it or not!
I know some people got S&D but have not heard of someone being sued and having to pay !
What was your name on GMC ?
You must be out of their minds !
Hmm you meant "your". and speaking of out of your minds:
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All it would take is for some person to release a very popular game made with ENIGMA, one that does well and generate tons of revenues for someone out there to team up with a good lawyer and find ways to sue the developper of the said game.
That does not make any sense. Why would the developers of ENIGMA go after a game developer ? Providing you respected the terms of the licenses and you did not infringe any IP, and that your game is not similar to another game (if not mistaken one can get sued for having a similar game / similar design right?) then you should not worry.
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BUT NO WORRIES !!!! Because ENIGMA is in pre-alpha stage and you can't release decent shit enough for anybody to give a damn anyways.
LOL !!! Too funny. You clearly have not seen app stores and shareware windows games, some are so simple and not too complex and have had millions of downloads and done so well. and many of those games can be done with either GM or ENIGMA....pre-alpha.......wow that's extreme !
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Remember how a well known videogame company sued a fan for making a game (even free) that was similar - even with a different name........ Does Pac Man ring a bell ?
Yes Namco does not want anybody making Pac Man clones or even making game that resembles them. So if even if you make a game with 100% original sprites, example a character going around and eating dots then you can get sued. But what's your point ? If your game is good enough and generates loads of cash, it would have to be substantial enough for lawyers to want to get involved, and by the time that happens you would have enough money to defend yourself, really this is silly. People get their projects shut down and S&D, people actually getting sued, that's another story,it would have to be something substantial (gaining revenues) and breaching IP.
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So maybe by 2020 or 2045 once ENIGMA is a working product and people start earning revenues from it, someone somewhere will find a way to sue them.
What are you doing here then ? Sue them for what ? That is a baseless argument. They might as well sue their competitors too. They cannot sue for the use of GML, no way...the worst that can happen is a S&D and asked to remove any reference to GameMaker / YoYo, etc, but all that will be needed is some name changes and revamping the interface. But again, it's not going to happen.
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Nobody in their right state of mind would use ENIGMA to release commercial (for profit) software.
Again, why ? Not everyone is using these programs to make profits, but I disagree with your statement. With clever coding / optimizing, good skills one can do miracles.
This is something I want to work on and getting skill (GML, structure, ) and who knows maybe moving into learning other languages.
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The software is mainly aimed at lame kids who's mummy can't afford a few bucks to buy GM Standard, to make catch the clown and mario clones and cheap ripped imitations unoriginal crap.
LOL! People who do clones and imitations is because they are lazy or they don't have the skills to design their own stuff. I must confess i'm one of those who is not too skilled in making sprites, but at the same time I don't want to make mario clones or catch the clown. And as far as kids, lot of adults use GM and ENIGMA. Some "lame" adults make bad games too, you can see lot of them reviewed on sites like gamespot etc...... some people have amazing design skill but make games with poor playability, poor story, poor everything yet some people have poor graphic skills and yet their game has playability and a good story, and you have people who are skilled at both (mind you I think it's rare to have someone skilled on both, in my opinion, based on the stuff that gets released!)
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and who in their right mind would want to release their commercial games and having to release the source code with it..........LOL.
What ? you don't have to release your source code when compiling with ENIGMA........
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The compiled result of your game has enigma written all over it, all you need is a hex editor and you will see ENIGMA reference all over.
Funniest thing I read today!
You clearly have absolutely no clue about games. Do you think every game is coded in C++ from scratch or whatever language they use ? You clearly have not seen the credits in many games, that clearly reference 3rd party engine they use, it's written all over the game and its files....Baseless argument again, the creator of the engine has to protect their IP ! the same way YoYo's runner is their IP and needs to be protected, so you will see reference to YoYoGames in the compile as well in ANY tool you use to create a file there will be a reference somewhere. Do people buy games and use a hex editor to look for stuff and say "Oh noooes it's ENIGMA I won't buy it" People will play your game and judge it based on whether they liked it or not!
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I have yet to hear of a person getting sued for their catch the clown miserable effortless attempt at a game.........
I know some people got S&D but have not heard of someone being sued and having to pay !
What was your name on GMC ?
1225
General ENIGMA / Re: Should I help Develop Enigma?
« on: February 01, 2014, 01:31:16 am »
lol - oh what the heck I'll bite:
Yes indeed, keeps your sanity...
Got a point there I voted 1 too..... But I disagree with your last part, it IS possible with other software, I guess you meant to say "not possible with GameMaker"
Hmm that's a positive outlook on things and I do think there is a market for retro games, point and click, 2D games, adventure games, even text games, I don't think that is what sells at the moment. People are into RPG & FPS.... Unless you have a REALLY amazing game you probably won't be a self made millionaire anytime soon.
Wee exports lol I love that.
One thing for sure, I also agree that their software is not worth the price tag.
Yep fuck
Yes indeed, keeps your sanity...
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But I also selected option 1. Why ? Because you are helping to build something to make better games, FASTER games, larger games,
all of what is not possible with the other software
Got a point there I voted 1 too..... But I disagree with your last part, it IS possible with other software, I guess you meant to say "not possible with GameMaker"
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Then you can use the said software to make that amazing game, it gets popular, you become famous and rich, then you'll be doing a lot of fucking.......
Hmm that's a positive outlook on things and I do think there is a market for retro games, point and click, 2D games, adventure games, even text games, I don't think that is what sells at the moment. People are into RPG & FPS.... Unless you have a REALLY amazing game you probably won't be a self made millionaire anytime soon.
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A couple of more wee exports and magical transformations to their software and before you know it, it will cost $1000.
Wee exports lol I love that.
One thing for sure, I also agree that their software is not worth the price tag.
1226
Programming Help / Using external resources (loading/unloading)
« on: February 01, 2014, 01:18:42 am »
I have been pondering on this for quite some time now. At the current stage I don't like the way GameMaker handles resources. It is better suited for smaller games that can load all resources at startup but can become a memory hog and problematic for those with a bit more ambition who want to make big games and use large sprites and other resources.
For a while I have been thinking maybe I should code my own engine (scripts actually) to handle this with ease. Here is an example: (this is just what I was visioning, nothing was made yet) so this serves as an example:
Level complete, everything uneeded is freed from RAM, new level resources to be loaded from single encrypted resource files, the script would automatically handle locating the individual file within the single file, decrypting it and storing it, it would use an encrypted pointer file / index file to do its trick as well. Only one command would be used to extract from the single resource file, be it sound, music, background and video.
res_load (music.pak,act2.mp3,act2_snd)
So in this example res_load will pass along MUSIC.PAK which is the single large file containing all game music and extract act2.mp3 from it and store it in act2_snd.
This would be quite practical for large adventure games whether point and click, scrolling, etc, only loading the background / scenery, music, sound and video cut scenes as needed.
Now I can get this accomplished by coding a script to handle all this work and could plug it into any game I need this for. One advantage to that is that the resources are not stored individually and easily accessed by someone, they are PACKED inside one file and encrypted. That is an easy part to make a script for, the trickier is the custom encryption and proprietary nature of my idea.
Now as I was thinking of that, I asked myself, wouldn't it be simpler to just use 7z which is an open source, to pack my resources into single files and simply use 7z to EXTRACT whatever file I want and use it then delete it when I don't need it ? That was possible with the shell execute command in earlier GM versions but this option was obsoleted and not available in STUDIO. I don't believe this is possible in ENIGMA either due to the compiled nature,
so there is no way to access programs externally from a compiled enigma project.
Of course the script method, I would have to extract what I want to disk then later load it to memory using built in functions inside my script such as sound_add, video_add, background_add, sprite_add, etc......So what I would be doing is using the pointer file seeking to the right spot on the resource file and binary reading bytes for the entire file to be extracted, but I would have to save the resulting file......Unless there is a way to append these bytes to a string for example res_loaded is the string containing all the read bytes off of the mp3 file, then I could use the sound play and refer to the string ? I don't think this can be done. The sound_add, video_add, etc......DIRECTLY load into RAM, but they load from individual files, which is great, I would like to apply the same by directly extracting from a resource file into RAM.
Any suggestions ? The direct to memory extraction from a large resource file would avoid needing a disk cache and save an extra step (freeing up CPU and speeding up loading).
Using my method everything would be encrypted so it would not be possible for people to RIP resources using one of many hack tools out there.
For a while I have been thinking maybe I should code my own engine (scripts actually) to handle this with ease. Here is an example: (this is just what I was visioning, nothing was made yet) so this serves as an example:
Level complete, everything uneeded is freed from RAM, new level resources to be loaded from single encrypted resource files, the script would automatically handle locating the individual file within the single file, decrypting it and storing it, it would use an encrypted pointer file / index file to do its trick as well. Only one command would be used to extract from the single resource file, be it sound, music, background and video.
res_load (music.pak,act2.mp3,act2_snd)
So in this example res_load will pass along MUSIC.PAK which is the single large file containing all game music and extract act2.mp3 from it and store it in act2_snd.
This would be quite practical for large adventure games whether point and click, scrolling, etc, only loading the background / scenery, music, sound and video cut scenes as needed.
Now I can get this accomplished by coding a script to handle all this work and could plug it into any game I need this for. One advantage to that is that the resources are not stored individually and easily accessed by someone, they are PACKED inside one file and encrypted. That is an easy part to make a script for, the trickier is the custom encryption and proprietary nature of my idea.
Now as I was thinking of that, I asked myself, wouldn't it be simpler to just use 7z which is an open source, to pack my resources into single files and simply use 7z to EXTRACT whatever file I want and use it then delete it when I don't need it ? That was possible with the shell execute command in earlier GM versions but this option was obsoleted and not available in STUDIO. I don't believe this is possible in ENIGMA either due to the compiled nature,
so there is no way to access programs externally from a compiled enigma project.
Of course the script method, I would have to extract what I want to disk then later load it to memory using built in functions inside my script such as sound_add, video_add, background_add, sprite_add, etc......So what I would be doing is using the pointer file seeking to the right spot on the resource file and binary reading bytes for the entire file to be extracted, but I would have to save the resulting file......Unless there is a way to append these bytes to a string for example res_loaded is the string containing all the read bytes off of the mp3 file, then I could use the sound play and refer to the string ? I don't think this can be done. The sound_add, video_add, etc......DIRECTLY load into RAM, but they load from individual files, which is great, I would like to apply the same by directly extracting from a resource file into RAM.
Any suggestions ? The direct to memory extraction from a large resource file would avoid needing a disk cache and save an extra step (freeing up CPU and speeding up loading).
Using my method everything would be encrypted so it would not be possible for people to RIP resources using one of many hack tools out there.
1227
Off-Topic / Re: New Member Intro + Other
« on: January 30, 2014, 10:11:27 pm »QuoteWow - you are really taking it to high standards, that's nice, that's exactly what I am aiming for. Are you using GM Studio or ENIGMA from scratch ? I was not even aware one could use such big sprites in GM Studio. I read on forums about some people complaining of not being able to use large resources particularly on the GMC forums, and I have noticed this too.GameMaker combines sprites together into texture sheets, so if your sprite is larger than the texture sheet, problems occur. The solution is to use GM Studio Professional, where you are able to configure the max texture sheet sizes.
Also, you shouldn't worry about RAM. 32 bit applications can have a max of 2 GB RAM.
Yes that I know, 32bit limitations, that's why I like to use external resources as much as possible as not to hog RAM.
And GM Studio Pro is what I use ....
BTW, I notice LGM does not have any conrfiguration for texture sizes, is this handled automatically ?
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Off-Topic / Re: New Member Intro + Other
« on: January 30, 2014, 06:43:24 pm »Wow you make myst-style adventures?? Meee toooooo!! =D you are my new best friend.
I wish ! I dream about it sometimes, In my post I said "I would LIKE to....." I've played around with GM:S and experiment, but never officially released anything, not even pixel art stuff
BTW, line jumper, which is composed of lines (2 colors) made a killing success, so who knows, maybe I can come up with something simple to begin with.
I do have all the equipment to build full fledged myst like games in terms of computer power, GPU, etc, minus the millions of $ to pay actors but lack of time...... Or perhaps I could make an adventure game based entirely on pixel art ! lol.
Now here is another crazy idea, because I like thinking outside the box and trying stuff.
Now I know you probably will say I am out of my mind ! But I am also looking
at doing some TEXT adventures ...... I'd like to try every known type of game out there old and new generation, if you can invent for me a time machine and a machine that freezes time, I'd be really grateful
I like these type of games, have ever completed such games ? How long did it take you ?
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Off-Topic / Re: New Member Intro + Other
« on: January 30, 2014, 06:34:06 pm »It at least to me doesn't really matter what resolution is used as it automatically gets scaled to fill the screen (much like the full-scale option on windows) when running the apk. But the aspect ratio does matter if the width < height fixed portrait should be used otherwise landscape. But typically I recommend 4:3 like 320x420 or 640x480 for small games and 1024x768 or even as big as 1280x960., which is what I typically use. If your game isn't 4:3 an easy fix would be change the view ports in the first room's view settings to be 4:3 and the viewport can't be set at runtime so whatever you set the w/h view ports to in the first room then all the rooms and views of that index will have that w/h view port.
virtual_key_add() can simulate keyboard press/released/down by making a tapp-able rectangular areas on the touch screen which will act like the keyboard buttons. The problem with this however, we as human beings have only two thumbs, so due to the way most people hold their device is kinda like a game controller. But technically only the thumbs can press the buttons in that posture due to moibile devices and tablets are rectangular and not shaped like a console controller. So each hand can only press one button at a time. Meaning you can only press two buttons (one on each side of the screen) simultaneously which can be a major problem, a fairly easy way around it however is to make a virtual joystick.
I've never had issues with running my games on android and I've made games well over 100s of MB made mostly of large sprites and backgrounds. I really don't think we'll have much trouble getting your games to work how they should on mobile. All this hardware limitations and crap I'm very certain won't be an issue with you as it hasn't been for me and I use rediculously sized sprites especially when I make pre-rendered 3D Myst games we are talking multiframe sprites as big as 1024x760 and panoramic textures as big as 2048x2048 trust me dude it won't be a problem. =)
Wow - you are really taking it to high standards, that's nice, that's exactly what I am aiming for. Are you using GM Studio or ENIGMA from scratch ? I was not even aware one could use such big sprites in GM Studio. I read on forums about some people complaining of not being able to use large resources particularly on the GMC forums, and I have noticed this too. So you are using pre-rendered stuff, great, that's what I intend to do as well, using 3D elements in a 2D game, using pre-rendered sprites, blending everything together.
As far as 3D rendered scenes that's great for building adventure games.
Which program would be good to use if I want to render rooms with lights, tables, objects, halls, doors, etc, if I want to build an adventure game ?
Of course by using those big resources they take quit a lot of RAM in GM:S, I don't know how ENIGMA handles it, but from what I recall back in the GM days the bitmap was stored twice ? Sound is stored uncompressed and so I must assume you have a lot of RAM. Also to do the pre-rendered 3D sprite or large objects, those take a lot of RAM too, especially the large, multiframe sprites
In GM:S I remember projects of only 2-4MB when run would take 50-100MBs of RAM, imagine when using pre-rendered / multiframe sprites, large resources.
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Off-Topic / Re: New Member Intro + Other
« on: January 30, 2014, 04:05:34 pm »
Well thanks a lot.......It's amazing that someone is offering this to others, it's a big thing.
As far as blocky / retro I think there is a market, believe it or not, some people around the world are still playing those type of games inside emulators and they would pay if newer games were made. Perhaps people make those kind of games either because they are lazy or they suck at art. I have to confess, I totally suck at sprite design, but I do have lots of good ideas and concepts so in the case for example that I want to do a platform with a moving character, I would have trouble designing it from scratch, although I do have a clever idea on how to achieve this and I have the means, but it would require so much time and work to be done!
But anyhow, before making my first android point I have several questions that would have to be addressed since I am not too familiar with the specifics of android and the like, such as, are there are any boundries, limits I have to respect ? as I am working in windows and would not want issues when game is ported - what screen res should I use (optimal) to get best android ports ?
Ideally for windows I would prefer using HD graphics and HD resolution for
those bigger projects, but that would be pointless (no pun intended) for certain
type of games / apps that would not requirei t. Any limitations on RAM usage, resource sizes, project sizes, sound usage, etc.
Besides I know how people work, good or bad, even the best of games gets you negative remarks. I see the android market there are always a group of people who always post negative and always will fnd something not to like in your game regardless if others liked it mostly.
You know what I like, those adventure type games / puzzles, not exactly point and click but more interactive where you can move your character around a scene, have it scroll left right, engage in puzzles, cinematics, etc. I don't know if you've ever played Syberia I & II and the likes, but these were engaing adventure games. I just don't want to limit myself to platform / run and jump type of games, my only problem is my extremely limited ability in art ! lol.
I,d like to make Myst type games too, adventure/intrigue/puzzle, a mixture of everything, etc.
Now this is clearly something I can do now using ENIGMA, given its speed and supported functions that are not present in GM.
As far as blocky / retro I think there is a market, believe it or not, some people around the world are still playing those type of games inside emulators and they would pay if newer games were made. Perhaps people make those kind of games either because they are lazy or they suck at art. I have to confess, I totally suck at sprite design, but I do have lots of good ideas and concepts so in the case for example that I want to do a platform with a moving character, I would have trouble designing it from scratch, although I do have a clever idea on how to achieve this and I have the means, but it would require so much time and work to be done!
But anyhow, before making my first android point I have several questions that would have to be addressed since I am not too familiar with the specifics of android and the like, such as, are there are any boundries, limits I have to respect ? as I am working in windows and would not want issues when game is ported - what screen res should I use (optimal) to get best android ports ?
Ideally for windows I would prefer using HD graphics and HD resolution for
those bigger projects, but that would be pointless (no pun intended) for certain
type of games / apps that would not requirei t. Any limitations on RAM usage, resource sizes, project sizes, sound usage, etc.
Besides I know how people work, good or bad, even the best of games gets you negative remarks. I see the android market there are always a group of people who always post negative and always will fnd something not to like in your game regardless if others liked it mostly.
You know what I like, those adventure type games / puzzles, not exactly point and click but more interactive where you can move your character around a scene, have it scroll left right, engage in puzzles, cinematics, etc. I don't know if you've ever played Syberia I & II and the likes, but these were engaing adventure games. I just don't want to limit myself to platform / run and jump type of games, my only problem is my extremely limited ability in art ! lol.
I,d like to make Myst type games too, adventure/intrigue/puzzle, a mixture of everything, etc.
Now this is clearly something I can do now using ENIGMA, given its speed and supported functions that are not present in GM.