Are these features available?

  • #1, z Ignazio De GuglielmiSunday, 08. January 2017, 18:19 hodinky 8 years ago
    Hi there,

    I'm Ignazio, an aspiring point and click adventure maker. First of all, I apologise if I'm going to ask questions that have already answers, but I couldn't find them in the forum.

    So, I'm at the early stage of writing the "storyboard" and I can see that I need some clarifications on some of the Visionaire Studio feats. Some of them would be needed, while some other can be sacrified if too tricky to obtain. 

    Here we go:

    1. Map: I would like to add a map in order to move between locations. This should be dynamic, with grayed out or appearing areas, like in Shardlight. 
    2. Zoom: I would love to have a zooming feature. For example when the character is moving toward an object, the camera zooms in, like the tube station in Void and Meddler.
    3. Particles: can the particles zoom in or out, like snow flakes coming toward the camera?
    4. Stretching: can the whole camera image be stretched? For example think of having it printed on a gummy surface and stretching it with your hands in several directions, like up and right.
    5. Reflections: is there a reflection feature? For example, when the character pass in front of a mirror or a window.

    As you see, most of the features are more effects, that can be left out. Map and Zoom, instead, I think are needed.

    Thank you very much for answering smile
    Ignazio

    Bažant

    2 Posts


  • #2, z sebastianSunday, 08. January 2017, 20:54 hodinky 8 years ago
    Hello Ignazio,

    lets see what we have here:



    Map: I would like to add a map in order to move between locations. This should be dynamic, with grayed out or appearing areas, like in Shardlight. 

    >Yes. It can be handled as a normal scene with condition based selectable areas.

    Zoom: I would love to have a zooming feature. For example when the character is moving toward an object, the camera zooms in, like the tube station in Void and Meddler.

    >I don't know Void and Meddler so i dont know exactly which effect you mean, but a zoom to specific position would be doable with the shader toolkit.

    Particles: can the particles zoom in or out, like snow flakes coming toward the camera?

    >The engine has a built-in particle generator. The dev team is recreating it for the next version so i don't know the exact changes they make. But all in all this is possible right now anyway.

    Stretching: can the whole camera image be stretched? For example think of having it printed on a gummy surface and stretching it with your hands in several directions, like up and right.

    >I don't know ^_^". Maybe also with the shader toolkot.

    Reflections: is there a reflection feature? For example, when the character pass in front of a mirror or a window.

    >Shader toolkit grin Its possible to have water reflections for example but didnt get it working only for specific objects (only whole screen). Maybe the devteam will release some tutorials regarding this topic smile


    kind regards
    Sebastian

    Kapitán

    2346 Posts

  • #3, z afrlmeSunday, 08. January 2017, 21:03 hodinky 8 years ago
    I believe most things can be achieved with the openGL Shader, but unless you know GLSL/C then you will probably need SimonS to help you with that.

    1. Yes you can create a map screen. Basically the same as a regular scene. Use conditions or animations to determine what should be visible/greyed out. Technically you could even create a mini-map interface if you like, but it would require scripting if you wanted it to be dynamic.

    2. Zooming can be done with the Shader (via scripting).

    3. Not 100% sure. Visionaire Studio has a built in particle system which you can use. It's somewhat buggy in the current version, though apparently Simon has overhauled it for the next release of VS, so you'll just have to wait for that to see what is & isn't possible with it.

    4. I don't think so. You can scale images/animations & reposition the camera, but what you are talking about sounds like warping, where you manipulate an image. It's not possible directly in VS, but we do have support for Spine which is a sprite part animation application which has mesh warping (pro version) features & keyframe animation options, etc. You could probably import a model from that & manipulate it via scripting (not until next update of VS though).

    5. I believe this is possible with the openGL Shader. Another member on here shared a water reflection script they found online. Simon edited it a little bit so it would work with the VS Shader Toolkit script. I tested it & it did show water ripple & my characters reflection. I didn't have a clue where to begin editing it myself, but it at least tells you that it's possible.

    Personally I wouldn't get so hung up on all the tiny details. You will have to learn what is & what isn't possible as you go along. You will also have to figure out what you need to cut/edit due to optimize your game as 2D games; especially 2D games at 1080p can be quite demanding compared to 3D games depending on the amount of animations you display & how many frames each animation has & the amount of detail in your images & all sorts of stuff.

    Imperátor

    7285 Posts

  • #4, z Ignazio De GuglielmiMonday, 09. January 2017, 21:17 hodinky 8 years ago
    Hey,

    thank you very much for addressing my queries Sebastian and AFRLme, much appreciated.

    I'm very happy to know that Maps and Zoom are available already in VS, which were the two features I really wanted to use.

    Again, thank you very much, I'm getting back to work then smile

    Ignazio

    Bažant

    2 Posts