PBG Engine

[Joxon]

If I'm going to set it so you can call back the partner at anytime, I don't think I need to work on the partner AI THAT much. But I'll still work on it. Also, does anyone know a GM extension package with more room transitions, specially white out?

[TheShyGuy]

You could just have the partner's position follow your character's last position. If he catches up all the way, you push him backwards a little bit to avoid being completely atop the player. He might fall and get stuck though. If so, you just teleport him given some threshold or when you do something that requires him. Following becomes simpler and an aesthetic instead of actually affecting gameplay.

[Kelvin]

You know, in Donkey Kong Country, partners didn't use AI to follow the player. They just recorded the player's previous position and had the partner follow the exact path the player took. It might sound cheap, but it prevents the partner from getting left behind during tricky platforming situations, and then you could just let players switch characters, rather than have them try to fight at once. I found Pikachu's current AI to be too aggressive, anyway, and he would often sit there attacking rapidly despite getting hurt.

[Joxon]

Okay, so how would i go about making him follow the players path, while at the same time incorporating getting hurt? I can't seem to find a good tutorial or anything.

[Kelvin]

Well, I was thinking making him invincible, but just not do anything, like the way Diddy does when he follows Donkey Kong. Then just have it switch which life bar goes down when you're hurt depending on what character you're playing as. That would simplify a lot and allow you to still have two characters. Also, for health pickups, you could make it so if the active character is full and the partner isn't KO'd, you can have life pickups go to the partner.

If you really want complex platformer AI, though, look around gmc.yoyogames.com, and you should find a tutorial or open-source example there. They tend to be rather generous with sample code, and I'm sure someone will know where to find what you're looking for. Be warned, though, as you'll probably have to go through a LOT of code to tailor it for your own game.

[Joxon]

I actually didn't at all intend to have the partners playable. If you think that would be a better idea, I'll do it.

[Kelvin]

Just saying, it might make programming them easier. Although, AI would allow for greater variety of partners, such as some that fly or bounce or move in other odd manners. It's up to you; I'm just throwing around ideas.

[Joxon]

Okay, no AI update yet, but I fixed a few things. Like the sword reach. And I changed the controls to WASD, with JKL in place of ZXC.

[Joxon]

Again, no AI update, but you can hit space to get Navi to call back Pikachu, and fixed a glitch where you could only hit an enemy once. Also, any more partner ideas? Medli is for sure one, Pikachu might be, or might end up just being a placeholder. I've toyed around with the idea of E Gadd, but that's all. Any ideas?

[Kelvin]

I think it's too early to look into alternate partners for now. Your platforming system is stable enough to be playable, so I think you should focus more on the mechanics immediately after that. If you try to design content too far ahead of time, you'll end up having to force your mechanics to match, which can leave the game feeling broken. You should design the mechanics first, then decide on what content would best fit them.

It also seems to early to be picking characters in general, anyway, since you don't seem to have any context to this game other than "it's PBG". Come up with a basic story first, the most bare-bones thing you can think of. What is PBG tyring to accomplish? Does he have a nemesis? Where is he? The basics of the story are important to determine before deciding who's going with him and why.

So that's what you should do next: pick the next mechanic to work on, and make up a very basic story to build up from.

[Joxon]

Um, not to be rude, but did you look at previous posts? I created a story! Haha look at me! One step ahead of ya!

EDIT: oh jeez! I didn't notice that was you, what was once known as Midi. Well I'm gonna have to get used to this.

Well, for convenience,

The goal is to collect 7 keys in 7 worlds to unlock the virus's fortress and defeat it.

Nemesis? (Spoilers for secret final boss)

Spoiler

The Evil... PUHBUHGU!

Location? VirtualLand located inside his PC and consoles. Basically every game he has ever owned is connected to here in some way.

[Kelvin]

Ah, I had forgotten the story. OK, good job. ^^

[Joxon]

So, what would be the best way to use a Zelda like heart bar? Like with collection of heart containers, half hearts, ect.?

[Jaharl]

Do you mean in programming or sprite style?

[Joxon]

Programming. This is in game development after all!