131-140

( Topaz )

Please do send me a copy of your .WRL file. This is one of the things I am trying to get "comfortable" is where courtesy in my engine oversteps the boundaries of common sense. I have set warp to do some pretty strange things, which seem good to me, but perhaps they are not with others ? Include an explanation of what is wrong or you would like changed with your enclosed .WRL world, thanks.

Note removal of v0.093c replaced with v0.093d.

Any world that has more then 16 maps read in v0.093d will be truncated so you should use your v0.093c to copy to the clipboard entire maps you want to insert to the original 16 later. Thereafter you should discard of v0.093c completely.

At this point (thinking of the math), there is no easy way to get more then 16 maps..
Aggh.. No easy way at all.. I would have to convert all map cels (63504 of them to be precise) to use more then 4 bytes and thereby muck up my GetCel() which took me several months to write. I really don't want to be tampering with that now..

Explanations are in order. For A Warp, I am using the first byte to show what Tile that is, the 2nd byte is #2 which says it is a warp, bytes #3 & #4 give the WORD value of the Map/X/Y location. By putting it at 50, this will royally screw up this extraction method, and this is the only method uses right now to do warps to different pages. I may in the future allow a very special warp to a custom map file that has a filename, but not now.. Also Map #16 is a special case expecting a Warp Arrow and not an actual map #.

Now, let's get back to your original question:
Warps don't have Sprite Messages encoded in them because they are not interpreted as a Sprite, but a Warp, which has no .SPR file attached to it. In time, I don't want people getting in the habit of writing a Sprite Message just to warp to an exact location because then becomes a numbers system where few people knew where went what. The Warp Arrows are good. I have future plans to make a Stair/Level-Warp which jumps up or down a map in the future, but I want to ensure current Warp is comfortable with everyone first before I introduce it into the already growing list of Sprite Messenger commands.

I'm not sure I understand you fully ?
I have up, am plotting a tile beneath a transport, all is well ?
You cannot press (Spacebar) or [Enter] to plot a tile when you are directly on top of a Transport. You can, however hold down the [Shift] key to plot a tile beneath it if you don't want to move it first.
If this isn't the answer you're looking for, you will need to send me a small .WRL example with more details, thanks.

This has just been changed and added for v0.093d
(thanks to Wolfette showing me the importance of camera speed)
After you have used , , and/or to set a new focus, type a , , or after it where a means to go slower, a means to go faster, and the will return that focus back to original default speed.
I originally didn't plan on any speed changes and only made "Grandpa" and "Gramma" go a little slower. Everyone else is the same as the two pip kids and the player, pretty speedy !

First off, the Warp Arrow is only for the player and is not used for the NPC and/or Camera. It is only used to move the player to that warp catch location.
There is no current way to teleport the NPC, but you can make it look like it teleported by creating a copy of the one at the location you want them to appear with a switch, I.E., create a Sprite with a Sprite Image. Press "H" to hide it. Hit "S" to make a switch on it called "MOVED" Then put the same switch name on the original position Sprite. To make them warp or teleport, change the switch and be certain to use the MagicWand, just before changing the switch to make sure will show the update.

A137: WarpPop has just been removed, it used to return the player from where they just warped, but I had some complaints about it so I removed it.

Import Tile is really neat (and more importantly, works great !)
There is an example of it in Suzi's Quest (the same quest that comes with ) found here: 00:02/60 . That is, Map #0 (Outside) and X/Y coordinates of 02 & 60.
It must be used on the 1st page in your Sprite Message or it will not work !

(make sure to have a SPACE after this if you want more commands on this line so it won't mix the two up)

In this, we are importing a bitmap file located in \REALM\ that has the filename PIC.BMP . (preferably in pixel steps of 32) to this tile. Now, you will not be able to change the image with a switch, hide, or invert it. But you have the unique opportunity to display this much larger image like this Castle which is 64x64, but you could just as well make a wall that is 256 pixels long by 32 down which has tremendous detail all the way across. Whatever you like !
You could just as well import an image that is 128x128, a massive big city if you like !
It opens up some very exciting graphic possibilities of detailed maps.
I will be making a new Add-Ons area in the future specifically for these unique images including Mayan Statues, Shrines, and Futuristic Cryogenic tubes, etc.

ImagePos allows you to insert an any-sized bitmap (preferably not bigger then the screen) at any location on the screen. You should have it as the first line on your Sprite Messenger page and it is used thus:



Where PIC is the name of a bitmap to display from your \REALM\ directory, and the # following the comma "," is the position on the screen where to put it, in this case, the Top/Right-hand corner of the screen.

This is an excellent command for using any of the Add-Ons from the Storyboards, I.E.:



Where "Greet6" is a bitmap (.BMP) picture you have a copy of inside your \REALM\ directory and the "2" shows that it is centered horizontally at the top of your screen. You are welcome to place as many bitmaps as you want in that subdirectory for use in your world creations. Click HERE to download any of the 40 Story Boards I have provided for others.
I add an additional 10 (ten) every month so keep tabs of your Add-Ons !

Get creative ! This is what is all about !

Home is not in use yet.
ForceDir is a new command, but is already in use.
It must be used on the 1st page in your Sprite Message or it will not work !
Serge showed me the importance of having Sprites initially facing in different directions by his puzzle room which required the player to cross the room without being seen by a guard.

It is a simple command that forces the Sprite to initially be facing a different direction then down (like they have been in the past). This might be useful for instance when two sprites are conversing with each other (by facing each other) and the player interjects only to be told not to interrupt as they face each other again..

For instance, would force that Sprite to initially be facing right, and once the player has finished talking with them, they will once again face in that direction.

Pistol and Ammo are not yet in use. When is doing a little better, this will be an option besides the Sword as a weapon. I want this because not every game (Like Aliens and Resident Evil for instance) use a Sword but relies on a firegun.

A138: The Beeline is not yet in use, and I'm going to have to set some pretty nasty arrays to travel in directions that are not straight out Up/Down/Left/Right .
Give a little time, I'm still working on it.

A139: You can do some degree of random checks in the Sprite Messenger already.
Look to my simple Slot Machine at 01:14/37 .

Just use as an inquiry, for instance, and based upon it being True will branch to the Label you want it to go to.

A140: Unfortunately, the images I have inside the bubble are 12x12 pixels. Nearly all of the Sprite Messenger's Icons are 7x7. It would really look way off scale. You do bring up an interesting point though that I might ^shrink the bubble so it looks good for the 7x7 icons, saving me from having doodled 8 separate bubbles with big 12x12 icons in them. My "!" for the Emotion Bubble looks red though, not like this which doesn't look nearly as good. There would be other image difficulties. There will be 8 emotions available for the bubble when it is ready for use.

Hope This Helps !

(Chibiness's ever inquisitive mind continues on the next page!)