I've always wanted to do a World Heroes module, and even though I have several projects on the back burner, I figured why not jump back into some mod authoring work and see if I still got it. 
The full project details are here. Incidentally, I HIGHLY recommend using Github for your module projects - it may be meant for coding, but it works like a dream for pretty much any project you want archives of your progress.
Anyway, here is a simple stage demo of the "Metal Mesh Deathmatch" area. Nothing too fancy - but it does combine several concepts not usually seen together.
Other than the destructible panels it's not particularly complicated. Really the only difficult part was the palettes - they had to be planned carefully for the neon city lights to work. Although each layer may have its own palette, only layers on the global palette can use the engine's built in neon effect. Otherwise you have to start using scripts and entities to make it work.
The destructible panels are in two parts. The Metal Mesh sign is a panel entity with one frame and four color palettes that rotate on a timer. The back wall is another panel entity, tied to the global palette so it darkens with everything else. If either takes enough damage, both are immediately killed while spawning a normal entity duplicate of themselves that falls into the ocean.
The next step will be real time light effects - as the stage darkens, I want to add a glow around players and entities from the sign. I have a script that will do the job, but it needs some cleanup before testing.
More to come.
DC
The full project details are here. Incidentally, I HIGHLY recommend using Github for your module projects - it may be meant for coding, but it works like a dream for pretty much any project you want archives of your progress.
Anyway, here is a simple stage demo of the "Metal Mesh Deathmatch" area. Nothing too fancy - but it does combine several concepts not usually seen together.
- Multiple "Mode 7" layers.
- Working city lights.
- Reflective water.
- Changing environment (dusk to night).
- Interactive (not shown here). The back wall with neon Metal Mesh sign can be destroyed by throwing enemies into it. Both players and enemies are then subject to being thrown into the water. Entities will scale as they fall away or toward the camera and splash into water, similar to my old Fatal Fury stage work seen here:
Other than the destructible panels it's not particularly complicated. Really the only difficult part was the palettes - they had to be planned carefully for the neon city lights to work. Although each layer may have its own palette, only layers on the global palette can use the engine's built in neon effect. Otherwise you have to start using scripts and entities to make it work.
The destructible panels are in two parts. The Metal Mesh sign is a panel entity with one frame and four color palettes that rotate on a timer. The back wall is another panel entity, tied to the global palette so it darkens with everything else. If either takes enough damage, both are immediately killed while spawning a normal entity duplicate of themselves that falls into the ocean.
The next step will be real time light effects - as the stage darkens, I want to add a glow around players and entities from the sign. I have a script that will do the job, but it needs some cleanup before testing.
More to come.
DC
