suggestion for new feature: rotate-able baselines? It'd be nice to be able to angle a baseline, especially in isometric views!
On top of this, and I don't know if I already can do this or not, but when working in isometric, the walk directions are a bit odd.
The character uses the up-right animation loop when, I guess, he walks at an x+1, y-1 rate, or an angle of 45 degrees. The game I'm working on is angled slightly differently (about 30 degrees) so often when you expect an up-right loop to be used, it doesn't.
This, and the rotate-able baseline thing are specifically geared towards isometric or otherwise odd-angled scenes.
I made the diagonal loops suggestion in another thread (http://www.agsforums.com/yabb/index.php?board=2;action=display;threadid=10206).
The baselines I think present a bigger obstacle in terms of the routine demands on the engine.
The easiest approach that I can think of just happens to be compatible with my suggestion in the other thread.
For each room define a value, g=horizontal/vertical. (g = 2 or 3 being the most likely)
For each walkbehind set a point=(u,v) corresponding to the bottom of the "\/" shape where the angled 'baselines' meet.
Then, for the bottom-centre of a character/object, (x,y),
g(y-v)+abs(x-u) is positive when in front, negative when behind.
Contrast this with y-v, for flat baselines.
You could probably use this formula to script a variable baseline, but I imagine that it could get messy.
Usually, isometric games are not based at 45 degrees.
relation to x and y is more like 2:1 or even 3:1.
But I believe that some of you folks there may really find diagonal baselines useful, yeah.
Allowing non-horizontal baselines is rather complicated and not something I can really prioritise.
Setting a ratio for the choice of the directional loops is viable though, and has already been suggested as mentioned, so it's on my list.
You could adjust the baseline according to the character's x-position via
"SetWalkBehindBase (int area, int baseline)", couldn't you? That would, of course, kill the effect for objects and other characters...
I've got to ask.
Why on earth would you want this feature? What can it do? Seems pointless to me;)
Quote from: deltamatrix on Thu 11/12/2003 23:43:29
I've got to ask.
Why on earth would you want this feature? What can it do? Seems pointless to me;)
Try making a good walkbehind in an isometric or otherwise semi-top-down view. It's a nightmare! The main problem is that the character could be ABOVE the baseline but visibly still be IN FRONT OF the walk-behind.