Messages

1

Ask a Question / Re: Good places to learn about attributes..

« on: February 27, 2017, 03:38:49 am »

There's a really old blog article here; it refers to an older version of Stencyl, but the principles are still the same.

http://www.thestencylblog.com/2012/07/19/about-stencyl-attributes/

2

Chit-Chat / Re: Book recommendations to become a better programer/stencyler?

« on: January 08, 2017, 04:39:46 pm »

Obviously, I'm biased as to which is the best book! If you want unbiased opinions about both Stencyl books, then I recommend reading the reviews on Amazon.com

Also, if you go to www.packtpub.com and search for 'Stencyl', you can read the first chapter of each book by clicking on the 'Free Sample' link. When in the free-sample section, the books are referred to as 'courses', but they contain the book content.

Also, if you visit my web site, www.stencylbook.com, you can download a complete free chapter - it's a 'technical' chapter (rather than the book introduction) so you'll get a good idea of the style and depth of information.

As I understand it, today (Monday 9th Jan 2017) is the last day that  Packt are offering all books for US$5 each, so you could bag both books for US$10.

3

Resolved Questions / Re: How do I Check Relative Position?

« on: September 24, 2016, 04:02:44 am »

Wow, that really works, thank you.

It's been working for about 2,500 years, so it should still be good now!

 

4

Chit-Chat / Re: Full-Time Stencyler Journey (updated for Mar)

« on: September 20, 2016, 02:25:30 am »

I haven't updated the original post, so no

... And in six months it'll be right again!

5

Ask a Question / Anyone tried FGL Enhance?

« on: September 17, 2016, 06:40:25 pm »

I just read an explanation of FGL Enhance (recently updated to V2) on Emanuele Feronato's blog:

http://www.emanueleferonato.com/2016/09/14/how-to-use-fgl-enhance-to-quickly-monetize-your-mobile-games-without-even-changing-a-line-of-code/

It looks pretty good, and I was wondering if any Stencylers had tried it.

6

Ask a Question / Re: What is the best program to create characters?

« on: September 16, 2016, 12:26:23 am »

For vector graphics, I'm a fan of Serif's DrawPlus. I have version 8 (which is a  bit pricey if the full-price is paid).

However, you can get the DrawPlus Starter Edition for free: http://www.serif.com/int/en/freedownloads/free-graphic-design-software/

Note: You need to register to download the free software, and you will receive a fair number of promotional emails (only from Serif; I have never been spammed at the unique email address I registered with them). However, their promotional offers are pretty good if you like the software; I am frequently being offered good upgrade deals. If you are offered DrawPlus 6 on special offer, then take it - don't pay more for version 8, because it's not worth it (in my opinion). Once you pay for version 6, you will receive a very low-priced offer to upgrade to the latest version anyway.

7

Ask a Question / Re: how to make text appear on screen for a limited amount of time.

« on: August 02, 2016, 05:35:10 am »

Another option is to use the [change...] block to change the opacity over the required period.

8

Ask a Question / Re: Stencyl Book available now!

« on: July 05, 2016, 09:25:39 pm »

I've also found that several of the files won't run because of errors. Could this be because I'm using a later version of Stencyl and the book files have to be converted before running the test?

It could be, but I'd expect the sample files to work okay after conversion; I'll download the files and check them. If necessary, I'll provide Packt with the updated files.

9

Ask a Question / Re: Stencyl Book available now!

« on: July 04, 2016, 03:49:16 am »

Hi,

I'm a bit puzzled; the files have not been changed since the book was published.

I'll try to have a look as soon as I can, but if someone else can have a quick look, I'd be grateful.

10

Ask a Question / Re: Destroying actors in certain radius

« on: June 15, 2016, 11:33:10 pm »

You could do a calculation based on the required radius, but the bones of an alternative solution could be:

When designing the scene,  create a circular region of the required radius. Give it a name like TestRegion
When the collision occurs, move TestRegion to the required point. [Move region to...]
Then check for the relevant actors in that region...
[for each actor in region TestRegion]
     [for each actor in group ...
            [kill ...]

If there could be several collisions occuring, and thus, several regions required, you could create a circular region at the collision point, on the fly, then do the test. Something like this...

[create circular region ...]
[set regionattributename to last region created]
[for each actor in region regionattributename]

etc...

11

Ask a Question / Re: Progress bar

« on: June 15, 2016, 11:13:55 pm »

I'm using "when drawing fill rect at x:10 y:10 with (w countdown x 15 h:25)", working through learning Stencyl 3.x Game development- chapter 6 have a go hero so I'm an absolute beginner and not sure what the max value, current value or bar length are

I'm pretty sure that the solution for a smoothly-progressing progress bar is provided in the book's sample files. I don't have the book to hand right now, but I think the 'Have a Go Hero' section specifies where you can find the solution.

12

Ask a Question / Re: messages in collisions

« on: June 05, 2016, 02:20:54 am »

Try looking at the following explanation:

http://www.thestencylblog.com/2012/06/16/stencyl-events-do-please/

It's for an old version of Stencyl, but I think it may help.

13

Ask a Question / Re: Legalities of publishing game under my name, sending the takings to someone else

« on: May 17, 2016, 04:00:50 am »

Legally, I see nothing wrong with your proposed solution.

The key thing from your point of view is that you can demonstrate to your tax office that money coming into your account from Apple is not net income. One way to do this would be for the person to whom you are sending the money, to invoice you before you send it.

I think noxtudios suggestion is more practical and professional though.

14

Ask a Question / Re: Best way to stop continuous collision?

« on: May 17, 2016, 03:50:11 am »

I think I know what you mean. When a collision occurs, the collision is detected until the the actors are no longer touching. It is often the case that you only want to detect the collision once, for example, to increment a score or decrement HP.

If I have understood your requirement correctly, the following (very old) article may help. Be aware that it was written for an older version of Stencyl, but the principles are still the same.

http://www.thestencylblog.com/2012/06/16/stencyl-events-do-please/

15

Ask a Question / Re: Count down timer

« on: May 17, 2016, 03:24:08 am »

Would the 'change' block be useful in this scenario:

http://www.thestencylblog.com/blog/slowly-displaying-a-number-count-in-stencyl