Some things I can't figure out

Hello everyone
Lately I've decided to take up Coldstone again, (still hoping that they can fix the OS X bug), but it must have been a while since I used it because I can't figure out two very significant things:

The first thing I can figure out is how to make the mouse click ONLY make the character attack, and not move. I still want the arrows keys to allow the character movement, but the mouse I'd like only for long-range weapon firing. Sort of like in that game Kill Monty, if that helps describe it.
Is there a way to do this?

Secondly, I still have this problem where projectiles fired at the horizontal come out at a slope, like so:

coldstone.JPG (59.8K)
Number of downloads: 13

The red line is the path the (plant) projectiles actually take, the blue line is how I would like them to fire.
I know it's possible to have them move straight; I've seen it in a game someone else made with CS and I tried the demo of.

Help greatly appreciated.
I'd like to sieze these creative juices while they're still flowing.

-PD

@plauge-developer, on Mar 15 2007, 06:41 PM, said in Basic Coldstone help:

I still want the arrows keys to allow the character movement, but the mouse I'd like only for long-range weapon firing. . . . Is there a way to do this?

You may have to hold down the Z key, default defend, to prevent the character from charging forward while you click the mouse on the target. As I remember it, this is one of the bugs that never got addressed concerning ranged weapons.

As for your second problem, I'm afraid I'm at a loss. I don't know what is causing your projectile to drop (other than too much gravitational pull with respect to forward velocity.) (Okay, . . lame attempt at humor.)

Ah thanks. Using the Z key stops the player so it make make a "turret" effect.

Well, I tried putting a 4-directional, simple animation in for the projectile and that solved the dropping problem... I swear I tried that before (and the tutorial says projectiles are supposed to work fine on 360ş) but I'm glad to have that problem gone.

As for the other, I'm startin to think maybe there isn't a way.

Hi. Your second problem:

If you give your weapon projectile an 8 directional, then however the Player is facing, the projectile will go that way initially, then try to hit the target. That's why it curves. It's curving toward the target. To change this:

Your projectile is an animation. For each of the 8 directions, in the animation window, create a projectile that moves a certain distance in each direction. Make sure your collision sphere is activated and click on "follow" so that the collision sphere will follow the projectile.

Your projectile will have to be launched by a weapon (like a bow does for an arrow). I'm pretty sure you have to have your range a "one", knowing that your animation will take it from there.

Fool around this way, and you should have it if it's possible. I've done a lot of this straight line weaponry, but with the NPC anchored, so I'm not sure if it'll work with a Player. Good luck.

(edit) Okay, I just took my own advise and built my boomerang this way. The Player CAN use it. BUT, you don't need a launcher after all. Just make sure that you place it also as a range animation with a range of at least two. I'm having some problems with the SW and W directions, but that's because the collision of the boomerang is hitting the collision of the Player when he throws it. Just have to work it out. As long as I miss, the boomerang comes back to me. When I hit, though, it disappears, which is fine. I have the animation kill itself at the end of every direction.

(edit the edit) After a whole lot of testing, I believe I've found a bug in the 8 directional animation. It messes up the southwest, west, and northwest; does not read it correctly. It's as if it reads southwest as south and screws up the other two because of it. I've managed to adjust the animation so that the west and northwest are correct. The southwest looks pretty funky since it's going south, but there's nothing I can do about it.

One final thing... maybe this is more obvious and I've just overlooked it, but...

How do I make a barrier that neither the player nor a fired projectile can go through? I can use the access grid on the map to stop the player from walking somewhere but enemies call still shoot right on through walls...

Any ideas appreciated.

If the player or an NPC has a ranged weapon, a wall is no different than a stream. You can shoot over both. I'm afraid there is no solution for this other than keeping the adversaries far enough apart so that they are either out of sight or out of range. Even a sword will strike through the wall if the collision spheres of each are close enough. Weapons do not honor access barriers. This is, unfortunately, built into the game engine.

If it is necessary to have the adversaries in close proximity but unable to fight, one solution might be a "conditional" trip line which, when crossed, checks to see if Bigfoe has Badgun in inventory. If so, replace Bigfoe with look alike Littlefoe who has no weapon. When the trip line is crossed again, Littlefoe is replaced by Bigfoe. This trip line would be an invisible string of movement tiles which call up the event "check foe status." If the player carries a ranged weapon you have to decide whether you want to temporarily disable it.

Ah, I see, not a bad solution, when it's absolutely needed. Thanks much.