I''m working on a real nice SideScroller! (similar to Amigas Silkworm - if someone out ther knows this fantastic game) Two players one heli and one nice looking tank For this I use DirectX and also Direct3D (for 2D) Splines for the movement of the enemies, ... Currently I''m thinking about the level design, cause I don''t want a tile-based-game (with tiles of the same size), perhaps I realize it with an array, where the information is stored, then when the counter is equal to the counter in the array i add it to an linked list, which represent the sprites which are currently on the screen, ..) But if someone has a better idea or information about level game structures and so on, ... tell me!!!! Sidescrollers forever!!!! Bunnz

If it proves efficient, you could have an array of height-values for the terrain, like this....

This is the terrain below:

// /
/ /// /// ///
///////////////////

1212331112221132211 <- Values in array

Get the idea? Kinda like 2D voxels...

Anyway, you would fill them in with color values from bitmap or random "dirt" colors.

You could have one value represent a strip 2 or 4 or even 8 pixels wide instead of 1 if it didn''t make the landscape look too pixelized.

"The wise make proverbs, and fools repeat them." -- ISAAC D'ISRAELI

lntakitopi@aol.com
http://geocities.com/guanajam/

Whoops, that terrain didn''t come out so well!

Here''s how it should look:

** *
* *** *** ***
*******************

1212331112221132211 <- Values in array

"The wise make proverbs, and fools repeat them." -- ISAAC D'ISRAELI

lntakitopi@aol.com
http://geocities.com/guanajam/

Darnit, there''s something seriously wrong with this formatting. One more try:

This is the terrain below:    **        * * ***   ***  **********************1212331112221132211 <- Values in array

Please work please work please work....

"The wise make proverbs, and fools repeat them." -- ISAAC D'ISRAELI

lntakitopi@aol.com
http://geocities.com/guanajam/

By the way, I also replied to this on the other version of this thread. Hint: only post once

If you are using d3d anyways, you could make the world and sprites flat polygons textured mapped with the sprite image, all in the same z-plane (or maybe not if you want to do something fancy). You could then use simple collision detection for sprite-environment interaction. Just some thoughts...

<(o)>

(1) Thanks for your posts! This 2D-Height Map sounds very interesting! I''m sure I will use it!
(2) Sorry for my posting twice! Actually I wanted to post a replay (the 2nd time) to a thread dealing with "current projects" or something like that! Unfortunately I clicked on the wrong button!

Ok! Sprite-Engine(D3D) is working already! Movement of sprites is done with the help of Splines! This works well and I only can suggest it to everyone to do the same instead of a long array with dx, dy, ...

To the level design: I want to use tiles of varying size (if its not too complicated)
I thought about something similar, I''ve already uses for sprites something like that:

struct Level
{
int counter;
CPos pos;
CTile tile;

....
}

while ...
{
if (Frame==Level.counter)
{
OnScreenList.Add(Level.tile);<br> i++;<br> };<br> Frame++;<br>}<br><br>But I''m not that sure how to handle driving on the ground! And also how to handle more than one ground (tiles somewhere in the air (Super Mario Style) …<br>How to handle loopings <img src="wink.gif" width=15 height=15 align=middle><br>How to handle water, …<br><br>Currently I''m working on it! But I''m interested in any sort of comments! (ideas about the game, design, sprite engine, explosions, fog, …. )<br><br>Thanks Bunnz<br> </i>

For level design ideas, check out Inner Worlds. It uses some sort of object-based system rather than tiles. I''m not sure exactly how it works though.

For collision detection with the ground, take a look at this article: Tile Based Jump''n''Runs. It has some information on walking on sloped terrain. A bit different than what you doing, but you could find this information useful.

- n8



nathany.com

For the record, I remember Silkworm on the Amiga, unfortunately I was too young to be able to appreciate it...

Anyone else?

- IO Fission

Tearing 'em apart for no particular reason...