vids 5 and 6
Well here’s 5 and 6, i wasn’t going to do anymore vids for a while, but I want to bring attention to an issue. Maybe a few of the few that actually read this can give me some ideas.
Hypno-Joe requires very specific things for sprites and collisions. They have to be at the right position at the right times to match the animations. Mostly I’ve been just hacking these interactions together, but it’s far from foolproof. For instance in the video the “Brainless dummy” (You can tell them by their neanderthal like brow and almost teardrop shaped head) will ‘pound’ Joe with his fist. To do this he must be facing Joe, and then play the animation, then when the animation is done, I “crumple” Joe up. But at times the fist doesn’t connect with the brain.
If I just stand there like here in vid 5:
Then it’s pretty much at the perfect position.
However Joe slides sometimes and he looks like vid 6:
You may not be able to see it clearly, but he was in a different position, and thus there wasn’t a good connection with fist to brain.
I’m trying to figure out the best ways to deal with this, as I have something coming up where you “ride” a Dummy while he’s hypnotized. In order for that to work I’ve got to do a number of things, first, both characters have to be in a specific position, second, I can do it a number of ways including, just creating a “climbing” animation which includes both characters. This would mean the animation plays, and then play resumes.
In this instance, I would create a larger sprite for Joe that includes the dummy lifting him up and walking. There are some potential problems to this, one being that the sprite could be resized but the collision rect still only encompasses Joe (specifically legs feet and brain, as the eyes aren’t included in collision as seperate entities). I could also increase the dimensions of Joe for a period of time to include the dummy sprite with it. Which would help with collision. I don’t know what affect it would have changing dimensions in real time though.
Another way to do it is to actually use the dummy and Joe characters. I would have to create a “sitting” animation for Joe, and then move him into place attached to the Dummy somehow, and temporarily “control” the Dummy instead. This has an added bonus of when you get off of him, I can program him to return to his place on his platform. Also you’ll have to get off eventually when you see his eyes start to change from a hypnotic state to a regular state.
It’s just a pain all these little details (for instance getting the eyes in the right position on left and right sides, and changing angles — Also making sure the “hypnosis bolts” hit the eye area of the baddie. I had to create a seperate entity just for the eyes). I think it will be worth it when the actual full, real, game is done, but until then, it’s problematic.
If anyone has any ideas of how to better accommodate specific positions, and interactions let me know, as I’m trying to figure out how to make it easier to program.
KWII