[Graham]

Lately, MegaZeux has been crashing with more and more consistency. It seems to crash a lot of times when I try to exit the robotic editor by pressing Escape. the cursor freezes and nothing responds, the only thing I can do is press Ctrl, Alt, Enter to minimize it and force it closed. Windows then says MegaZeux has a problem and needs to close.

I will pay attention more and see if it always happens when I exit the editor, or if other things cause this too. I'm wondering if its happening more and more frequently because my game is getting larger? The .mzx file is still only 2708kb, so really not that large yet.

I'm just thankful I turned on backups when it first started, I'd be so furious with all the progress I would've lost recently if not. Tonight it crashed at least three times, possibly four, I wasn't keeping track that well.

I wasn't sure if I should report this as a bug in the tracker, because I don't really have a lot of specifics. I'm not sure what's doing it. On a more positive note, I'm making really good progress lately. Unfortunately, it's not a section of the game I can really talk about here without spoiling some pretty major secrets. Pretty soon I'll be past this part and can show some more progress via pics and videos.

I've been thinking a lot lately about doing more tutorial videos too. I'm going to have to use some time to do some more of those, especially because I've been getting some positive responses lately.

[Terryn]

Perhaps you can get it to crash in a debug build/gdb and we could get useful traces out of it.

Instructions located here are still mostly relevant, except that a suitable GDB now lies HERE. That and Lachesis tends to prefer "bt full" over plain old "bt".

[Graham]

Ok I can look into that soon.

[Graham]

It has mysteriously stopped crashing. Hasn't happened once in the last two days. If it comes back I'll try the debug version. Frankly, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it doesn't return. I know that doesn't help, but it was so frustrating. I'm thinking it was another program in windows causing some interference. Maybe I'll try having some stuff open I had before and see if it returns.

[Lachesis]

If it's not too much trouble, you could always run MZX in the debugger. That's really the only way to have a chance at catching bizarre unpredictable bugs like that, unfortunately.

[Graham]

Yeah I want to help, so I'll do that. I just have to figure out how to make it happen again. I'll try and open some other programs one at a time and see if one causes it to freeze.

[Graham]

Since around the time of MZXcon 2013 I've been working on secret levels. These are only playable when you really search so they're not part of the main storyline of the game. Because of that I haven't had a lot to talk about or show and so I have been more silent and haven't had any screen shots I can post. But soon that will be coming to a close and then I will return to work on the game proper.

I will say that these levels have taught me a lot about what direction I want to take the rest of the game, artwork, level design, and story wise. So It has been a very worthwhile detour that I'm glad I took. It will help me make a better game than it otherwise would have been.

[Graham]

I've been trying to stay motivated but it's been a little difficult lately. I may need some help, but I'm not sure in what capacity yet. I've never collaborated with anyone so I'm not sure how it goes, if it takes a lot of time to fill someone in on how the game is set up, processed, etc. Or if it's even worth it to have help.

Some things I want to improve are UI, the current one sucks, it's too hard to tell what ability you have vs. what you need to progress through a level. I don't know if the gameplay needs to change, so I could use help with playing it and getting feedback about what might need to change. The way it is now, you collect abilities inside levels to progress through them. If you leave the level before making it to the exit, you lose those and revert back to the ones you started with, outside the level. If you make it to the exit, you take out whatever abilities you currently have. You hunt for another level in which those abilities are required to begin it. When standing in front of a level entrance, a window pops up showing how many ram slots you need and which abilities you must have. The game is non linear, and you may be able to choose from more than one level to start with your current abilities.

It would be pretty easy to change how this currently works, I could have no requisite for beginning a level, you would just get whatever abilities you need when you enter and the progress be linear. Or I could make the only requisite be how many ram slots you possess. That is were abilities are stored and you change them out to get through a level. That would make the game even less linear, since you could have half a dozen levels to choose from that all require that amount of slots to play though them. But I think I like it the way it is, it adds more puzzle and intrigue I think. Not only are the levels puzzles, but the game is a puzzle of how to get to the next level, and which level is next. The ability combination is like a code, it unlocks a level to you that needs that particular combination. The way it is now, I do need to add a way to re download the abilities you exit with, without replaying an entire level to get them. The reason for this is you may need to use the same abilities again on a different level.

I don't have a title screen or story, and the levels aren't entirely stitched together yet. All of that hinges on finishing up the levels and getting them playable. I have levels 1-20 and 5 secret levels mostly done. I still need to balance level difficulty, e.g. add/remove enemies and save points through level. I'll need input on that for sure. Plus there are tons of bugs that need to be addressed but I felt it might be best to wait until all levels/systems are in that way I can balance it all at once vs. having to do it again and again whenever I decide to add something new. Thoughts? Want to help? Have input?

[Lachesis]

As far as the level prerequisite system, it sounds good as-is! Your game looks quite impressive so far; motivation can be hard, but if it comes to it, don't be afraid to scale down (25 levels sounds like a lot!).

In regards to balance, having several people play test a game before release is pretty much the norm.

[T-Bone]

To create a foreseeable future for my games I've had to cut down on my goals to having 40 levels to 20. Its pretty good advice if you feel it may help you see your game to completion.

This post has been edited by T-Bone: 18 February 2014 - 08:31 AM

[Graham]

I've been thinking a lot about what Lachesis and T-Bone suggested and I think I may make it fewer levels both for those reasons mentioned and because the gameplay may get stale over that many levels. I just have to figure out a way to do it that makes me comfortable. I want the character to have progressed way further than he currently is at this point if I'm going to end it sooner. So it will take some reconfiguring I think. I need to go and rebalance some things. Thanks for the advice, it helps.

[Graham]

Undertaking reworking the later levels of areas 1 and 2 to work as levels for areas 3 and 4. It will take some work, especially redoing the art to look like the later areas. But will definitely be easier than making 25 more levels.

*Sigh* it's a relief.

[Graham]

Hey all. Sorry I've been very absent lately. Sharing and personal interaction isn't really my thing. I'm trying to be better at it but sometimes I slip back to my old ways. Anyhow, work on Servo still progresses. After a stint of what feels like writers block (creators block?) I'm back in the thick of it. Turns out a vacation where I had literally nothing else to do but work on my game was what I needed.

I worked on level balancing for a while and then I created a new level. They are getting progressively harder but I'm not sure if the puzzles are to subtle. Before I do level art (that's really the easy part, but it takes time) I will need alpha testers to help suss out gameplay and level design issues.

But before that I'm working on making the UI better. It's just not real apparent what you need to proceed sometimes. Even to me, so that's a problem. So I'm creating customized info pane sprites, no longer using MegaZeux's default text message box to deal with UI. It's for the best.

I may post daily progress to this journal to help hold myself accountable for progress and for anyone who's interested to see. I really do want to finish the game this year, sheesh I started it in the beginning of 2012, I think that's long enough. But we'll see. If it's in beta test mode at the end of the year, that will have to do. There will undoubtedly be lots of bugs in such a complex game by someone who has no real programming expertise.

[Graham]

So this won't mean much to anyone else, It's purely to make me feel better and show that I'm making progress. Here is tonight's changelog:

[ "4/25/14, #269"
[ "+made char set sprite screen sized so it can also be used for"
[ " effects, like text box animation"
[ "+reconfigured status panes so they show level information only"
[ " when you are in a level, not over world"
[ "+setting up options to save and exit game"
[ "+working on status panes & accompanying programming (and bugs)"
[ "-bug with save menu where some things get permanently paused"
[ " when you choose cancel, because #pause gets used twice"
end

[Graham]

Tonight's changelog=bugfixes!

[ "4/26/14, #270"
[ "*need to add 'zap #pause 1' & 'restore #pause 1' to paused robots"
[ "+fixed double #pause bug"
[ "+fixed bug where menuclose didn't happen between help to status"
[ "+fixed bug where ability info closed twice and had no open anim."
[ "+fixed bug where button menu didn't close status panes and had"
[ " a long pause"
[ "+fixed bug where options menu didnt return after selecting options"
[ " and there was a menu open animation after selecing options"
[ "+added header title (@robot name) to menus that didn't have one"
[ "+fixed a bug where tablets used the wrong (old) menu open anim."
[ "+fixed a bug with tablets intended only to save where they would"
[ " allow you to go into the download menu"
end

[Graham]

Well no progress today, but that's ok because my hands are starting to get that aching numbness feeling. That tells me I've been spending lots of time at the computer, and not holding my wrists at the correct position.

[Graham]

I've been making some progress the last few days and have completed a number of immediate goals that I had listed out for myself. I'm not going to talk about the progress because it would be spoilery.

But now I'm on to a new set of goals: title screen and story. Speaking of which, can anyone think of a good acronym for Servo? I had always imagined it was an acronym but never could think of one.

The story: Servo was created by a boy genius named Brennan in his basement to be his personal assistant and friend. He never intended for it to be something to "help humanity" because he knew that Servo would just wind up in the wrong hands and be used for evil, instead of good. To that end, Brennan was installing a number of abilities in Servo that would ensure that he was powerful enough to escape the clutches of whatever evil dude might want him.

Brennan was in the process of installing those abilities when he was kidnapped. The kidnapper has the intention of forcing Brennan to develop a fleet of Servos to be used in war.

That's pretty much where the story ends and the game begins, Servo has to rescue his friend, and in the process, gain the abilities that Brennan had planned for him, which Brennan has cleverly placed like a trail of bread crumbs leading right to the stronghold he is being kept at.

[Graham]

Here is some progress to Servo's UI, namely the level portals and the status panes menu. Contrasts between summer 2013 and 2014.
Servo UI

[Otto Germain]

I can't wait to play the heck out of this.

S.E.R.V.O. ...

Self-Educating Robot for Various Operations

[Graham]

Ooh! That is a very good acryonym, thank you! Can I credit you for that in the credits?

[Otto Germain]

Sure! Glad to help :]

[Graham]

So I was wondering if anyone would like to help with making a title screen? I'm trying to find the ambition and I'm just not into it. Too hard to switch gears, I'm way deep in level design and programming so I don't feel artsy. It can be a full screen or a box, centered in the screen. You can even make it a two color 256x112 bit map so it can be pasted onto a char set square if you wish. That would be a little smaller than what I'm hoping for but I could make it work.

You can of course have full use of the Character set and Palette. I would like it to be in SMZX mode 2 if you are able. if not, whatever works best for you. This is going to be a splash screen with minimal to no text, just the image with music as an intro to the game. As soon as you press a button you would be taken to a different screen with options for starting the game. Think something in the order of an NES title screen. I have some ideas:


That is my best estimation of a good title screen. Those are an RC truck and airplane BTW. Most of the enemies in the game are RC vehicles of some sort.


some additional poses and ideas to consider there.

Let me know if you would be interested in doing this for me, it would save me some time too. I would of course give you complete credit. Thanks for your consideration.

Edit: I've come up with a much better, more original concept for a title screen. I'm very excited to do it, so unless anyone offers to help, consider it done.

This post has been edited by Graham: 05 May 2014 - 11:41 PM

[Graham]

Here is the start of a really cool, simple title screen:

and it took minimal characters, which is great. I'll add some animations and clean up the letters and make it look more like a blue print in general. Maybe point to some stuff with lines and add info like; ____________Quantum Computer (pointing to his head).

[Old-Sckool]

A possible programming mistake I noticed...

Quote

[ "*need to add 'zap #pause 1' & 'restore #pause 1' to paused robots"
[ "+fixed double #pause bug"

If you're calling "send "all" to #pause", adding "zap/restore #pause 1" to robots shouldn't help things, unless it's the robot calling the send "all".

Say you have a robot with the following code:

send "all" to "#pause"
send "all" to "#pause"
end

This will cause all robots with a valid #pause subroutine to ALWAYS execute it twice, since the zap command won't execute until control has left the calling robot.

You can test this by putting the following code in a second robot

end
: "#pause"
zap "#pause" 1
inc "hit" by 1
goto "#return"

[Graham]

This bug is caused by multiple robots calling the (send "all" to "#pause") command. It happens at different times and there can be quite a bit of space between the commands issued.

What happens when the command gets called a second time is that the #return mark gets placed at the previous #pause that was called. And since there is only one (send "all" to "unpause") those affected robots never restart their routines. (Calling : "unpause" causes those paused robots to goto "#return" btw).

Anyway, using zap label commands seems to work fine to fix the issue. I appreciate the information though, sorry about the need for proper clarification on my crappy note taking. I usually type those last in the evening and I don't feel like recording everything as well as I could.

This post has been edited by Graham: 11 May 2014 - 11:43 PM

[ThDPro]

The trick I see alot (and have used in many games) for pausing everything on the board pretty frequently is having everything that can pause the game in the global robot, where you can use

: "action"
freezetime 1 
wait 1
. "Stuff"
goto "action"

and anything on the board stops running for that cycle except the global. It has the obstacle of getting all that stuff in the global, but every time I've tried to use anything else for pausing the game, it just tends to break or work weirdly at times. Freezetime is a sure thing.

[Graham]

ThDPro, on 11 May 2014 - 05:20 PM, said:

The trick I see alot (and have used in many games) for pausing everything on the board pretty frequently is having everything that can pause the game in the global robot, where you can use

: "action"
freezetime 1 
wait 1
. "Stuff"
goto "action"

and anything on the board stops running for that cycle except the global. It has the obstacle of getting all that stuff in the global, but every time I've tried to use anything else for pausing the game, it just tends to break or work weirdly at times. Freezetime is a sure thing.

Yep, I'm utilizing that one for sure. But only for pausing the game. Frequently I need to halt the action and have one robot continue to run (like a tablet to download an ability) so I can't use that trick everywhere. Fortunately I seem to have conquered most conflicts with pausing.

[T-Bone]

Love the concept art

[Graham]

Thanks T!

[Graham]

The title screen for my game-Servo's Adventure