Cave Story RPG?

Jul 19, 2008 at 5:55 PM
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I'm seriously considering doing it.

I'd make it in Game Maker, which is the game dev tool I'm most familiar with. Before you protest, I am fairly experienced with it. I've had it for two years and I've made lots of games with it, including an MMORPG, I know what I'm getting into. If you want proof of my experience, here's my latest finished project, which I did for a contest in just two days, I was given only ten sentences to use as dialogue, and wasn't allowed to use any other words/numbers. I won that contest by the way. Arrows move, A shoots.

Download: http://www.box.net/shared/p2wf03cis4

As I said, I did that in two days, so just think about how much I could get done in say, a week.

Anyways, it'd be real time, similar to a Tales game. (Tales of Symphonia, Tales of the Abyss, Tales of Eternia, etc.. If you haven't played one yet, you should play one ASAP.) Being an RPG, it would be considerably longer than the original game, which means I'd have to make up much of the dialogue, and even change some things to adapt it in a way that would feel right. What works for a Platform Shooter might not work for an RPG. (Since you wouldn't want just one party member for the whole game.) I would need to take some creative license. If that would make fans angry, I might as well quit right now, but if you guys don't mind, then great. :D

Anyhow, I have some basics working, but nothing good enough to show yet. When I have something screenshot worthy I'll post it, and once the game engine is fairly well on it's way I'll post a demo.

Anyway, now that it's out there, you can feel free to comment. Talk me out of it, encourage me, offer help, throw out some ideas, whatever. I'm off to work on it some more. ;)

Things I could REALLY use help with at the moment:

General Spriting:
-
-

Sprite Animation
-
-
 
Jul 19, 2008 at 6:42 PM
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Basic? ;)
Maybe I could help you with the project. I've got GLBasic.
It's really easy and good :D
It costs money but I could compile the code for you.
Plus there is a demo in the net.
 
Jul 19, 2008 at 6:52 PM
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Basic, as in some graphics, and a movement engine. ;)

I'm got programming and music down, it's spriting I'd like help with, I'm kinda so-so at spriting, and even worse at animating, are you good at that? I started on a Quote sprite but it wasn't turning out so great. I'm sure given enough time and patience I could get a decent looking quote sprite, but then I have to ANIMATE it, and when that's all said and done, I'd have several more characters to sprite and animate, not to mention enemies and bosses.

It'll be a medium-large project, so I'd rather stick with what I know than learn it as I go, which is why I'm using GM... Unless... Would GLBasic happen to be a graphics editor? I was thinking GL as in OpenGL, but I guess GL could stand for other things. :D

Music wise I'm planning on using remixes off the Music list, (I'll fully credit all the original authors.) and for the songs they don't have good remixes of, I'll just use VGMusic MIDIs and convert them into higher sound quality MP3s. (Again, crediting the original composers.)

I guess all that leaves is sound effects, but that shouldn't be too hard, I have a pretty large library of sound effects laying around on my hard drive. :p

Hm, I guess I'll add a list of things I could use help with on the original post. :D
 
Jul 19, 2008 at 7:31 PM
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GLBasic is a programming language...
I dislike the idea of Game Maker ;)

GLBasic would be better because:

1. Executables are much smaller. (About 0,8 - 1,5 MB)
2. It's multiplatform! (Not only WinXP or Vista) We can have it for Win95 - WinXP, WinCE, XBOX, Linux, Macintosh and so on...
3. It's faster than gamemaker :D
4. It doesn't contain all the sound/graphic in the executable :p Allthough you can include it in a "shoebox" so noone can modify it.
5. We are able to make 3D graphics.
6. We are able to make use of network.
7. No "Loading" splashscreen.
8. It's easy to learn.
9. We can use DLL's. So we maybe have original Org sound instead of huge MP3's.
10. We can write it in C too because it has the option for INLINE C.
 
Jul 19, 2008 at 7:41 PM
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1. Executables are much smaller. (About 0,8 - 1,5 MB)

GMs EXEs start around 1MB, they get bigger as you add to them.

2. Its multiplatform! (Not only WinXP or Vista) We can have it for Win95 - WinXP, WinCE, XBOX, Linux, Macintosh and so on...

I suppose that's true, but 98% of the people who would play it have Windows, seeing as CS was originally a Windows only game. Plus, as far as I'm aware, OpenGL isn't 100% Vista compatible, which I'm sad to say is the OS I got stuck with. :D

3. It's faster than gamemaker ;)

I'll give you that one, it is faster.

4. It doesn't contain all the sound/graphic in the executable :D Allthough you can include it in a "shoebox" so noone can modify it.

Game maker has support for external files too if you know GML. (Which I do.)

5. We are able to make 3D graphics.

Game Maker can do 3D too, I wasn't planning on 3D though.

6. We are able to make use of network.

Again, Game Maker has networking capabilities as well.

7. No "Loading" splashscreen.

GM has an option to disable that.

8. It's easy to learn.

So is Game Maker, and I already know it. :p

9. We can use DLL's. So we maybe have original Org sound instead of huge MP3's.

Again... No, I won't say it, it's starting to get redundant. XD

10. We can write it in C too because it has the option for INLINE C.

I stink at C, I'm still just learning the simple stuff for that.

GM can do a lot of the things GL can, and while I agree GL would be more professional in many ways, it still stands that I would have to learn GL from the ground up, whereas with GM I already know everything I need and can start right now. Also, like I said, I'm on Vista, so I can't run GL anyway. :(
 
Jul 19, 2008 at 7:49 PM
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You sure about that? On the website it says GLBasic runs on Vista o_o"
I still dislike the GameMaker idea much ;)
I think it would need a good language and not a game making tool :/
I should think about a Online Cave Story anyway :D
Maybe not a MMORPG.
 
Jul 19, 2008 at 8:02 PM
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I didn't say MMORPG... Though that would be awesome too.

Game Maker can do some pretty fancy stuff given the chance. I'm not talking about the "easy-squeezy-drag-n-drop-make-a-game-in-5-minutes" part of Game Maker, I'm talking about GML, the coding part of game maker, and I'm using the full version, not the free one.

Anyway, maybe GLBasic isn't what I was thinking of, the one I was thinking of wasn't compatible with Vista, my memory is bad. ;)

Anyhow, it's not like Pixel himself approved of the idea or anything, if this game turns out like garbage, nothing is stopping anyone from making a better Cave Story RPG in some other coding language. I just really wanted to try doing it, and I'm at my best using Game Maker, the language I'm next best in is Visual Basic, and I don't know that well enough to make a proper game out of it. (I also lost my copy of it and don't have the cash to buy a new one right now. :D)
 
Jul 19, 2008 at 8:43 PM
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I don't want to make a RPG ;)
 
Jul 19, 2008 at 8:46 PM
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Well I do. ;)

Actually, it's going really well so far, I might post a screenshot tonight. :D
 
Jul 20, 2008 at 12:21 AM
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Well I think that a cave story RPG in tales style gameplay would be an excellent idea. Though it would be cool if the game could be ported to psp, but game maker can't do that I'm afraid. Though if you release your source code then I am sure someone could port the source to C.
 
Jul 20, 2008 at 3:52 AM
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It's not that simple. Game Maker takes away the programming element, leaving you with pretty much just the game design. All things engine are left 100% up to Game Maker - ie, you don't have to poll device caps to see what you can set DirectX up with, create a window, bind a display surface to it, etc..

Porting a non-programming language project like something that'd come out of RPGMaker or what-have-you to a programming language is almost like coding it from scratch. ;)
 
Jul 20, 2008 at 4:13 AM
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Why not MMORPG D:? (and what is Agora really about?)

And your MMORPG you made as you said, is it still playable now? Is there anyone playing it now? Can I have it?

all questions directed to the threadmaker
 
Jul 20, 2008 at 4:39 AM
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freezit4 said:
(and what is Agora really about?)
Agora is about making every element of cave story moddable using mostly lua and being able to play such mods across any platform. Just about everything is moddable Also mods can be easily converted to work with Agora. Have you ever wanted to play Jenka's Nightmare on a Mac? Have you ever wanted to create more advanced mods without the use of assembly? Have you ever wanted to edit framerect or create custom boss battles? And yes there is also the ability to include online play in mods and use other image and music formats like mp3, gif, png, etc. in your data files (with all music and sound effects extracted from the exe) among other things.

I am waiting for the final version so that I can play mods on my PSP.[/OFFTOPIC]
 
Jul 20, 2008 at 5:32 AM
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Ugh...I tried making a Cave Story RPG...
 
Jul 20, 2008 at 7:16 PM
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It's not that simple. Game Maker takes away the programming element, leaving you with pretty much just the game design. All things engine are left 100% up to Game Maker - ie, you don't have to poll device caps to see what you can set DirectX up with, create a window, bind a display surface to it, etc..

You're thinking of Game Maker's drag and drop feature, that's not what I'm using. Game Maker has a scripting language called GML too, which it what I use. From what I've seen, it's syntax is similar to C, but not enough that GM code could simply be converted into C/C++ code.

Why not MMORPG D:? (and what is Agora really about?) And your MMORPG you made as you said, is it still playable now? Is there anyone playing it now? Can I have it? all questions directed to the threadmaker

My MMORPG isn't finished yet, and people do still play it when a server is running. We've had trouble keeping it up though, since all the hosts are just volunteers running it off of home computers, and we don't have the funds to get a paid server. Maybe I'll post a link to it sometime.

Anyways, I know my limits, and I'm pretty sure I could pull it off in Game Maker, but I don't even have enough knowledge of C to make a text adventure game, let alone a graphics intensive RPG. I won't be able to do it in any other language, if someone else wants to tackle it in C, feel free, but the one I'm making will be in Game Maker, period.

... So... Anyone want to help me with graphics? The characters will be in an 80x80 area. The characters will be:
-Quote
-Sue
-Kazuma
-Curly
-Malco

I may add more later depending on the scale we want to do this on. We'll need different animations for:
-Standing
-Running
-Attacking
-Unconscious
-Using items
-Individual Skills/Attacks/Whatever
-Jumping/Falling
-Guarding
-Victory

I can sprite/animate, I'm not that great, but I can. The thing is, there's a lot to do, and I can only get so much done in a short period of time, so if someone wants to volunteer to lend a hand, I'd really appreciate it, and I'll give full credit for any sprites done.
 
Jul 20, 2008 at 8:56 PM
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Absolute Zer0 said:
You're thinking of Game Maker's drag and drop feature, that's not what I'm using. Game Maker has a scripting language called GML too, which it what I use. From what I've seen, it's syntax is similar to C, but not enough that GM code could simply be converted into C/C++ code.
I think you missed my point. Game Maker doesn't make you write your own resource manager, to set up the graphic/sound engines, query the device caps, write an input manager, implement synchronization mechanisms, and basically everything that you don't have to do.

The only "code" (script) you write is directly related to your game system, and very little to your game engine (Game Maker is an engine; that's kind of the whole point. :) ) You don't have to work out the low-level implementation details.
 
Jul 20, 2008 at 9:00 PM
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RuneLancer said:
I think you missed my point. Game Maker doesn't make you write your own resource manager, to set up the graphic/sound engines, query the device caps, write an input manager, implement synchronization mechanisms, and basically everything that you don't have to do.

The only "code" (script) you write is directly related to your game system, and very little to your game engine (Game Maker is an engine; that's kind of the whole point. :) ) You don't have to work out the low-level implementation details.

Then again unless he was out to make something way beyond an RPG would he need to take care of input/resourcing/ect? :)

AFAIK hes just out to make an RPG, not to make FFXIV.
 
Jul 21, 2008 at 12:34 AM
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lipucd said:
Then again unless he was out to make something way beyond an RPG would he need to take care of input/resourcing/ect? :)

AFAIK hes just out to make an RPG, not to make FFXIV.
But an RPG that is only for windows.
 
Jul 21, 2008 at 12:43 AM
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lipucd said:
AFAIK hes just out to make an RPG, not to make FFXIV.
Wouldn't FFXIV be an RPG? :)

The things you listed have nothing to do with the kind of game you're making or how complex it it; they're just a matter of making the game do what you want it to be able to do. Game-makers provide you with a fixed degree of customization built around a mostly static game engine with limited capacities. It's often enough, but if you've ever tried setting up a side-view battle system in RPGMaker2000 you'll know it can be a painful limitation. Now suppose you wanted to do more than just add echo to sound effects, like applying flange or a low-pass filter... you just have to live without it. :)

Then there's portability. And you can't gracefully degrade the features of your game to run better on lower-tier computers either - if a Game Maker project won't run on, say, Linux, you can't simply port the code and recompile it. If it won't run on your old P3 because the graphics are too intensive, you can't switch off features selectively or fall back on faster-but-less-efficient rendering algorithms.

Of course, I'm not disputing the use of Game Maker to do this - if what it offers is enough, then so be it. The tool fits the needs, so why look for a bigger, better one? Just offering some food for thought though.
 
Jul 21, 2008 at 1:58 AM
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One of these days someone should seriously consider recreating the RPG Maker RPG_RT.exe binary as open source (C++) as it is exactly the same file for each game. Would probably take years but it would be sooooo worth it as you could just replace RPG_RT.exe with the executable supported by your system. :)
 
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