Post by Keri in MariaEngine 64 + Open World Edition comments

MariaEngine 64 + Open World Edition » Comments

Viewing post in MariaEngine 64 + Open World Edition comments

Absolutely MIND-BLOWING! I was trying to make a 3D platformer in GameMaker with a retro N64-style theme, needless to say this is PERFECT! One thing I didn't know how to do while making my engine in relation to the world/level was trying to figure out the Z collision between the player and the terrain model. I didn't want the world to be completely blocky/voxel, so I needed to use more than just AABBs. I see that your system includes slopes along with the other shapes, AS WELL AS a custom level editor to make creating your own worlds easier? AND the fact that you're also able to place your custom level into procedurally generated terrain? This is all extremely impressive!!! Thank you Yal, I can't wait to deep-dive into all of this to see how it works!

One thing though, when I enter the Stage Editor in the "legacy" (non-open world) version, it crashes:

___________________________________________

############################################################################################

ERROR in action number 1

of Create Event for object obj_editoroverlay:

DoNeg :1: illegal reference use

at gml_Object_obj_editoroverlay_Create_0 (line 34) - button_text[c] = "Creat.Code"; buttonevent[c] = -editor_event_creationcode; c++

############################################################################################

gml_Object_obj_editoroverlay_Create_0 (line 34)

Yal136 days ago(+1)

Oops, I must've forgot to check the legacy version when I checked if everything still worked after the "references are a real data type now" update...

It's an easy fix at least, remove all the minus signs from setting up the buttonevent array and then in the one mouse event in that object (which handles actually clicking the buttons) replace the line 18 "if(bev < 0){" with "if(!is_real(bev)){". I'll get a fix for this up ASAP.

Keri136 days ago (1 edit)

Awesome, thanks for fixing it as soon as you did!

I have a question regarding the Open World project. I edited the "wmhm_overworld.png" image in Paint.net. In-game in the Stage Editor, I made sure to type in "overworld" as the world map name. BUT it's still procedurally generating the same exact terrain when I click on the "W.Map cell" button. I also made sure to click on the "rebuild world map chunk map" reset button on the main title screen, but the terrain being generated is the same.

Is there something else I need to do in order for the random terrain to change/be different besides editing the heightmap image?

Yal136 days ago (1 edit) (+1)

The World Map Chunk Map is the data that keeps track of the coordinates where level files should be loaded (or in other words, it places the handmade map chunks on the world map), the geometry is stored in a different folder called the world cache. It's found in AppData --> Local --> (name of the project) --> cache_world. Delete every file inside this folder and it should be regenerated next time you run the game.

Keri134 days ago (1 edit)

Comparing the two project versions, I noticed that some shapes were removed in the stage editor for the OpenWorld Edition like moving platforms, X/Y/Z tunnel objects, and X and Y cylinders. If I want to have these, do I need to add them back into the newer version?

(Also is it possible to rotate shapes along the Z axis at all, or are the "ROT" buttons just for rotating stuff along the X,Y?)

Yal133 days ago(+1)

I had a look in the codebase and yeah, the code has been completely removed so they're completely gone, they're not just disabled.

The reasoning for removing stuff I remember at least, I never was happy with how the code basically needed a completely separate copy of the behavior for each axis (applying to both rendering and collision). Rotating cylinder objects in a prefab/copypaste didn't work as expected either (since they would have a rotated size but still be cylindric along the original axis) and starting to need special behavior for rotating certain objects felt like such a kludge I just couldn't keep going anymore. And the collision code for tunnels especially always was a nightmare, they are paper-thin so for smaller tunnels it was easy to get stuck, and there was no good way to connect tunnels to a start point or a corner that LOOKED right (for making sewers etc) so I always felt like they were a total failure. For making tunnel areas I'd recommend using separate prisms for the floor and ceiling instead, they even can be cobbled together into smooth rounded corners.

There's no way to rotate things around other axes. A lot of stuff treats the vertical axis in a special way (since Game Maker doesn't have a Z axis natively) so a lot of code (especially the collision code) wouldn't know what to do with e.g. a prism protruding along the X axis instead of at the top.

Keri129 days ago(+1)

Thanks for the clarification. I'm definitely going to try to add some of those features back (like the moving platforms) since I'm going to be using this engine for my 3D platformer game! Also in regards to the terrain generation— using a customizable .PNG image is nice, but it would be neat if there was also an option to generate randomized terrain on the fly. You just give it the max Z height and select what biomes you want on a pop-up menu and it spits out some terrain. Just a suggestion!

Keri127 days ago

Uh oh. I've encountered two more runtime errors in the Legacy version's stage editor. You might need to update it again...

This first one happens when clicking on the "Enemies" tab in the editor (I'm pretty sure this error is the same one as before, with the minus signs preceding scripts so it's an easy fix)

___________________________________________

############################################################################################

ERROR in action number 1

of Mouse Event for Glob Left Pressed for object obj_editoroverlay:

DoNeg :1: illegal reference use

at gml_Object_obj_editoroverlay_Mouse_53 (line 20) - script_execute(-bev)

############################################################################################

gml_Object_obj_editoroverlay_Mouse_53 (line 20)

----

And then this second crash happens when placing a "Waterfall" object under the "Misc Props" tab in the editor:

___________________________________________

############################################################################################

ERROR in action number 1

of Alarm Event for alarm 0 for object obj_waterfall:

unable to convert string "" to number

at gml_Object_obj_waterfall_Alarm_0 (line 4) - terrain_height = max(terrain_height,real(my_creation_arg))

############################################################################################

gml_Object_obj_waterfall_Alarm_0 (line 4)

Yal126 days ago(+1)

I'll get to it right away!

Yal126 days ago(+1)

The fix should be available now :)

Keri121 days ago

GMSMariaEngine64PathOops

In the Open World version's Stage Editor, I noticed that if you save a level with a footpath, and then import that same level with Prefab, the footpath isn't being spawned again into the correct place. Its position keeps randomly being moved along the Y/Z axis. Is there any way this can be fixed?

View more in thread

itch.io

Viewing post in MariaEngine 64 + Open World Edition comments