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Final Fantasy
I have recently begun playing the original Final Fantasy for the GBA and it has me wondering about how they render that stuff and make objects interact.
Do they simply have the map laid out in a perfect grid of squares and then just render the pictures from the diagonal angle? Do they have the grid kind of lopsided and render the pictures lopsided with it?
How do they design maps and stuff? I currently use text files with binary maps, but it makes for a very blocky map.
How do they implement story-line? Do you completely design the game and then just go back and layer a story-line with some cut scenes on top of it?
I'm relatively new to the idea of creating games, so this kind of stuff stills boggles my mind. Haha.
Do they simply have the map laid out in a perfect grid of squares and then just render the pictures from the diagonal angle? Do they have the grid kind of lopsided and render the pictures lopsided with it?
How do they design maps and stuff? I currently use text files with binary maps, but it makes for a very blocky map.
How do they implement story-line? Do you completely design the game and then just go back and layer a story-line with some cut scenes on top of it?
I'm relatively new to the idea of creating games, so this kind of stuff stills boggles my mind. Haha.
There is no one correct way to structure a game.
In ff1 (from what I see in gameplay videos), the map is a big rectangle of square tiles. I don't see what you mean by 'lopsided' and 'render from diagonal angle'. These are 2d images and you can only render them as they are drawn.
A map is surely saved in a binary file, for example, first save the types of all tiles, then coordinates and data of all npcs then coordinates and data of all special tiles like doors, chests, etc.
The map in ff1 is as blocky as they get. If it looks better than yours, it's probably due to well drawn images.
Story may be the hardest thing to do. I'd suggest having a list of objectives where an objective is an event that need to be triggered. Special actions like defeating a monster, entering a new map, talking to sb, etc. would be represented as events and would be matched to the objective on the top of the list. If there was a match, a cutscene of a textbox would be displayed and the next objective would become the top one.
It's probably a good idea to first feel comfortable with how basic gameplay works, before creating the surrounding story line framework.
In ff1 (from what I see in gameplay videos), the map is a big rectangle of square tiles. I don't see what you mean by 'lopsided' and 'render from diagonal angle'. These are 2d images and you can only render them as they are drawn.
A map is surely saved in a binary file, for example, first save the types of all tiles, then coordinates and data of all npcs then coordinates and data of all special tiles like doors, chests, etc.
The map in ff1 is as blocky as they get. If it looks better than yours, it's probably due to well drawn images.
Story may be the hardest thing to do. I'd suggest having a list of objectives where an objective is an event that need to be triggered. Special actions like defeating a monster, entering a new map, talking to sb, etc. would be represented as events and would be matched to the objective on the top of the list. If there was a match, a cutscene of a textbox would be displayed and the next objective would become the top one.
It's probably a good idea to first feel comfortable with how basic gameplay works, before creating the surrounding story line framework.
Story-line is typically implemented with a scripting language or a GUI tool developped internally which will generate scripts. A simple way of implementing scheduling is to consider events as a tree:
a node can be:
-a simple action(like moving a character form point A to B)
-a list of nodes executed sequencialy
-a set of nodes executed together
The map is also desinged using a GUI, sometimes the same as the one used for scripting and will generate binary of text files the game uses to load the maps
a node can be:
-a simple action(like moving a character form point A to B)
-a list of nodes executed sequencialy
-a set of nodes executed together
The map is also desinged using a GUI, sometimes the same as the one used for scripting and will generate binary of text files the game uses to load the maps
| original Final Fantasy for the GBA |
As an avid fan of the original Final Fantasy, I must point out that it was not for the GBA.
There was a remake of it for the GBA, but it was not the original.
=P
I'll shut up now.
@hamsterman: how would you go about saving all of this stuff in the binary file for the map. Right now I have a rather large text file with 0's for water and 1's for grass, etc. Haha.
@aquaz: I'll try out the tree thing. That makes a lot more sense than how I had it envisioned. Haha.
@dish: FF is the greatest game series ever made!! XD I actually do not own this game, I use an emulator. What system was the original on? GBC?
@aquaz: I'll try out the tree thing. That makes a lot more sense than how I had it envisioned. Haha.
@dish: FF is the greatest game series ever made!! XD I actually do not own this game, I use an emulator. What system was the original on? GBC?
There is nothing that you can save in a binary file, that you couldn't save in a text file. Also, all files are binary, when you think about it.
By using a binary file you could save some space both in your code and in the file. For example, if your map is defined as
But. again, you're not gaining much. In fact, text files are much easier to debug.
By using a binary file you could save some space both in your code and in the file. For example, if your map is defined as
char map[80][80]; you can save it in a single line file.write((char*)map, sizeof(map));.But. again, you're not gaining much. In fact, text files are much easier to debug.
Okay, so I should just stick with the whole number thing?
0000000000
0001101000
0001111100
0011111110
0001110000
0000111000
0000010000
0000000000
0000000000
0001101000
0001111100
0011111110
0001110000
0000111000
0000010000
0000000000
If I change it, ill have to reengineer how the program interprets the file. haha. Haha this map that I have sucks. Its a bunch of 25x25 squares. Lol. I can't figure out how to use the images for the smooth edges of the land because that would require essentially a new image for every single tile that connects water with land.
| @dish: FF is the greatest game series ever made!! XD I actually do not own this game, I use an emulator. What system was the original on? GBC? |
NES or MSX, I forget which was first. But they're both the same game. MSX had slightly suped up graphics.
MSX:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSX
MSX version of Final Fantasy:
http://www.compmike19.com/id421.htm
According to that page the Famicom version came out first, but as I suspected both were released around the same time. The MSX version is more of a port than a remake.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MSX
MSX version of Final Fantasy:
http://www.compmike19.com/id421.htm
According to that page the Famicom version came out first, but as I suspected both were released around the same time. The MSX version is more of a port than a remake.
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| Trsky wrote: |
|---|
| I can't figure out how to use the images for the smooth edges of the land because that would require essentially a new image for every single tile that connects water with land. |
I would suggest using multiple layers to achieve that. Layer 1 could be the base, or ground, and each subsequent layer would be drawn over the previous to compliment it. A majority of layers 2+ would be transparent, but there would be parts that could add detail to the map (a pile of rocks to be drawn over a sand tile, etc) or be used to create smooth transitions.
@Disch: Wow! That is crazy old! XD Thank God for advancements.
@ModShop: Aight. Thanks. I'll do that. :)
@ModShop: Aight. Thanks. I'll do that. :)
I'm not really knowledgable about this topic but from what I've heard game designers using Direct X programming for games.
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