Reply to Re: 16-bit colors, and other things
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2. Is it possible to replace the pseudo-3D graphics with, say, sprites similar in style to the Zelda games?
Sure! This should be a simple matter of replacing the original graphics with more Zeldaish graphics? (There isn't any "real" 3D graphic stuff in Dink, and you can download the base graphics here (they might be readily available with FreeDink as well, can't remember))
3. Is it possible to alter the HUD (Heads Up Display), so it's an actual HUD, similar to The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past or Mega Man X? I really want to increase the playable screen area.
You mean that the screen should stay centered on the player as you move, no screen changes and such? (Talking about HUDs makes it sound more like you wanted to recreate Wolfenstein 3D =)
This is something that a number of people have actually requested as a feature in Dink over the years, but I don't know how easy it would be to change the engine to accomodate that. (I'm not a programmer, I know nothing of the internal workings of FreeDink)
4. Specific HUD question: I want to the Health and Mana meters to be simply Red and Green hearts, with numbers next to them which are your remaining amounts of health and mana. Sort of like this:
This is a feature that would be doable with the internal scripting language (DinkC), but I'm not sure if that would be ideal (lots of awkward scripting involved), if you (will) have the skill to program it directly into the engine.
6. Is it, in your opinion, a good idea to use the FreeDink engine as a base (or at least a starting point) for a game engine which accomplishes all of the above? I'm not a coder, but I start school in the fall for Computer Science, so this is on my to-do list.
No. =) I'm not an authority on the subject either, so take this with a grain of salt, but it sounds like far more trouble than it's worth. I would try looking for an engine that's inherently better suited for a Zelda clone, e.g. Seth's Novashell Game Creation System might be worth a look. (It's supposedly powerful and flexible, and has the scrolling HUD you mentioned built in)
Sure! This should be a simple matter of replacing the original graphics with more Zeldaish graphics? (There isn't any "real" 3D graphic stuff in Dink, and you can download the base graphics here (they might be readily available with FreeDink as well, can't remember))
3. Is it possible to alter the HUD (Heads Up Display), so it's an actual HUD, similar to The Legend Of Zelda: A Link To The Past or Mega Man X? I really want to increase the playable screen area.
You mean that the screen should stay centered on the player as you move, no screen changes and such? (Talking about HUDs makes it sound more like you wanted to recreate Wolfenstein 3D =)
This is something that a number of people have actually requested as a feature in Dink over the years, but I don't know how easy it would be to change the engine to accomodate that. (I'm not a programmer, I know nothing of the internal workings of FreeDink)
4. Specific HUD question: I want to the Health and Mana meters to be simply Red and Green hearts, with numbers next to them which are your remaining amounts of health and mana. Sort of like this:
:red heart : remaining health in decimal numbers :green heart: remaining mana in decimal numbers
This is a feature that would be doable with the internal scripting language (DinkC), but I'm not sure if that would be ideal (lots of awkward scripting involved), if you (will) have the skill to program it directly into the engine.
6. Is it, in your opinion, a good idea to use the FreeDink engine as a base (or at least a starting point) for a game engine which accomplishes all of the above? I'm not a coder, but I start school in the fall for Computer Science, so this is on my to-do list.
No. =) I'm not an authority on the subject either, so take this with a grain of salt, but it sounds like far more trouble than it's worth. I would try looking for an engine that's inherently better suited for a Zelda clone, e.g. Seth's Novashell Game Creation System might be worth a look. (It's supposedly powerful and flexible, and has the scrolling HUD you mentioned built in)
