[WIP] Teamnesia: A community-wide effort

[Juby]

(08-21-2011 07:41 PM)Kyle Wrote:  But to be honest, I didn't have any sort of reaction to any of those "scares". xD

Usually when you get into making your own stories, the scares really just go away, like for you and I. I wish the scares were back personally.

Woot, off-topic

[zeravia]

I think I want to join in this. my level designs are pretty good I think...

Still trying to work with scripting, but My maps are good. ^_^

[darkside]

(08-20-2011 07:40 PM)Kyle Wrote:  "I just getting really tired of seeing old monsters"

Oh snap! I just wanted to add the dog from penumbra but you broke me

But let's stay on topic, shall we?

[palistov]

The reason a lot of stuff isn't scary anymore is that we've seen a lot of it. I haven't played The Dark Descent in a while but I bet it would still make me wee my pants out of fear. There's a lot more to making a game evoke emotions than just having stuff jump at you.

That's also the reason I encourage uniqueness in each map for this project There's no need for it to be a scary map

[Elven]

What makes game scary isn't monster jumping out from everywhere. What makes scary is not having monster jump out everywhere, what makes you think that monster might jump out from anywhere .

[Apjjm]

Finishing up building a lang file merger, it's all working but i want to test it a little more before I release it. Below are some features:

1. Detects all .lang files in a folder, merges them into a new file as specified.
2. Automatically generates a credits entry based off the credits entries in each file (See below for the standard of naming). Credits entry is named "StoryCredits" in "CREDITS" category after merge.
3. Merges categories with the same name, discards any entry collisions.
4. Can specify a prefix to put at the start of the credits entry - this can be used to put "TEAMNESIA" in big letters or something. Also, sorts maps by alphabetical order to show in the credits.
5. Is quite verbose about what it's doing, so if any errors, entry collisions or stuff happens it will plonk it into an output text box. The program also outputs the names of the all the credit entries it's put in (as well as a count), so it is possible to perform a quick manual check to verify that all the credits entries were added without a hitch.
   

Anyway, here's the standard I propose that we adhere to:

1. When submitting your map to the project, name the language file the same name as your map. This will help out the person who has to put all the language files in the same folder so that they can be merged.
2. Don't use really generic names for your categories. Prefix them - at least try to make them unique. The program will merge categories with the same name, but if two entries have the same name and category, one of them has to be discarded.
3. Include a category called "Maps", inside this category have ONE entry with the entry name the same as your map name. The entry text will have text showing the map name as it should appear on the hub door.
4. Include a category called "Credits", inside this catagory have ONE entry with the entry name the same as your map name. The entry text will be what appears under your map's name in the credits. Do not put the map's name at the start of the credits - the program will do this automatically!
5. Don't include the "Resources" tags - the program just ignores them so it wastes space.
   

Below is a sample lang file:

Code: (Select All)

<LANGUAGE>
  <CATEGORY Name="Credits">
    <Entry Name="MapNameHere">MapCreditsHere</Entry>
  </CATEGORY>
  <CATEGORY Name="Maps">
    <Entry Name="MapNameHere">MapNameHere</Entry>
  </CATEGORY>
  <CATEGORY Name="Mapname Cat1">
    <Entry Name="Entry1">Meow</Entry>
  </CATEGORY>
</LANGUAGE>

[palistov]

That's brilliant, thanks a bunch Apjjm. I'll throw up a link to that post so people know how to put together their lang files.

[Apjjm]

Still need to put in the static objects linking up the cogs and decoration etc, but i'm really happy with the first larger sequence of move-and-collapse platforms - they're starting to look a lot more perilous:

Spoiler below!

I haven't programmed in checkpoints yet, but all the different flavours of moving platform are in (need to put in the lights which will indicate direction still) - I can still get through it deathless .

[Phoroneus]

(08-21-2011 09:15 PM)Apjjm Wrote:  [*]Don't use really generic names for your categories. Prefix them - at least try to make them unique. The program will merge categories with the same name, but if two entries have the same name and category, one of them has to be discarded.

Posting my recommendation that mappers place "<mapname>_" before their entry names, so something like:
<Entry Name=RustyKey_ItemDesc>A rusty key.</Entry>
would become
<Entry Name=MyMap_RustyKey_ItemDesc>A rusty key.</Entry>

It's probably the simplest way to ensure we have no overlap between entry names.

[Phoroneus]

And it's still entirely possible to get scares from maps, even after mapping for a while. The trick is to have the map scare you in ways you haven't thought of, or in ways you don't expect.

- Everyone expects the monster to show up as soon as you pick up a key or a piece of the puzzle or enter an important area, or open a door.
- Everyone expects the monster to show up right on the other side of the door, or right behind you, or just far enough away to give you plenty of time to hide, or right on top of you (the lamest way).
- Few people expect the monster to show up on a random timer, or in a random location (out of several possibilities), and even fewer people expect the monster to be assigned a random patrol route (and if they do expect it, it's damn difficult to predict and avoid).
- Fewer still expect a monster to show up in an inaccessible location (e.g. behind a locked door for which there is no key). This method is doubly effective if you can cause something to make noise outside the player's control (for example, their leaving a door open for too long triggers a gust of wind at a random interval that knocks over a perilously-balanced book or other object, alerting the monster and causing him to "investigate" by smashing down the door and beginning a patrol route - bonus points if the gust of wind knocks over something the player themselves erected shortly before).