An anticipated feature (#6 on the poll, which was dubbed under Collision/Routes for Dynamic Objects (moving platforms, special monsters) for simplicity sake), is right around the corner for subscribers, and everyone else shall see it come in version 1.8.
By the end of this message, I hope you appreciate actor objects and actor templates. They will change the way games are made, and make the possibilities of games endless. These are, of course, applicable to 3D and multiplayer once those are complete.
And no, they're not complicating. You won't notice a difference. Only a lot of things will become infinitely more convenient.
And lastly, this is nothing new for most makers! So I'm very glad I've finally taken this step with 001, while still maintaining the power and flexibility of 001.
ActorsCharacters, vehicles, turrets and dynamic objects will no longer exist. That is, in their original incantation, seen below:
- Different!
Now, all these interactive things are called actors. Names used by other programs include: events (heh), objects, entities, actors. I chose actor because they are definitely not events, they are living things (objects are not), and entities might be valid, but don't seem to express what I'd like it to.
Actors basically take on what characters, vehicles, turrets and dynamic objects could do.
Sprites is the replacement for Character Sprites. Vehicle and turret resources now use what used to be the character sprite editor. Sprites editor now supports polygon collision.
The drawbacks:
-actor window has a few new options making it fairly large
The benefits:
-everything is generalized
-less triggers
-less events
-less use values
-less inconsistencies
The following is a list of things that were NOT possible until now:
-trigger for when a vehicle touches a turret
-make a dynamic object follow a route and have collision
-change vision range and vision cone for character AI
-give health to turrets and dynamic objects
-allow players to get rewards (money/exp/points/items) for destroying a vehicle/turret/dynamic object
-ensure that a key is needed to use a turret
-script a manual transmission system for vehicles
-script changes to vehicle/turret turn speeds, max/min velocity and acceleration, for the sake of perhaps customizing vehicles in-game
-create new character HUDs for specific characters
-position turrets
-give animations to vehicles and turrets
-allow characters and turret bases the ability to use polygon collision detection rather than just rectangle
-auto-rotating of sprites in top-view characters (like what vehicles use)
-8-directional vehicles for proper perspective (like what characters use)
-etc...
Actor TemplatesNow that most things are generalized, it is incredibly easy to add new features to 001 that pertain to these actors. The first big thing is this new concept, actor templates.
They're main purpose is to make things even more generalized. A new project will initially have four general-purpose actor templates: Character, Vehicle, Turret, Dynamic Object. Sound familiar
?
When placing an actor, a quick pop-up comes up where you pick what template to create the actor from. The obvious benefit is being able to define what a default character or whatever will be.
You could create a Slime actor template, have it come with the slime body sprite already picked, and have the appropriate health and rewards for killing it. You could even setup what happens when it gets hurt, such as playing a sound effect or something interesting.
For those interested in the specifics, here they are. Actor templates are composed of two things - a Base Actor and a Default Actor. The Base Actor would have the HUD to use (optional), its statistics, its rewards, and its scripts for what happens when it's killed or touched. The Default Actor would have the basic things like what graphics to use, what equipment it has, and so on. This split makes it convenient to have a base (such as base stats, general rewards, etc...), but also allows you to change certain things on each placed actor (such as graphics, colors, equipment, variation in stats, and specialty items).
There is also a use value for which template an actor is using, so you can just imagine all of the possibilities in scripting, for instance, the damage script.
Dynamic TriggersThese will be discussed in a new thread. These are still being developed, but pretty much tie the loose ends. Instead of having multiple triggers (touched by character, touched by vehicle, touched by ...), it'll leverage the actor template system, and allow you to pick options for different triggers.
ConclusionHopefully you see the power in this. The major benefit for me, personally, is less code, which also means less different things to worry about, less bugs, less events to build, less triggers, less of everything. And yet... for everyone else. Tons more power.
.