BGP Level Builder in development!

That critical mass of time necessary to develop a game has finally presented itself in these winter holidays. Here's a sneak-peek of what you can expect to see:

 

Starting with Mars Lander Edition, BGP Level Builder will be going multi-platform! Look forward to more development news as it happens. If you'd like to try your hand at some level building right now, you can download a free copy of the current Mars Lander Builder using one of the links below:

Robo's World: The Blulite Rocks is now officially available for purchase on the Mac App Store!

Download it today for only $1.99!

Robo's World: The Blulite Rocks includes:

• Story Mode
• Achievements: 7 to collect!
• Ammo Scramble Minigame: A platform challenge featuring nearly 30 levels!
• Air Battle Minigame: High-score oriented arcade Shoot-'em-up!

Bluish-Green Productions has been going through a lot lately. It's gotten an official website, it's on the brink of it's first official retail release, and before long I'll be attending my first ever Expo where I'll be exhibiting. Oh! And I'm in a University program to get a Bachelor of Information and Technology with a specialization in Game Design.
So yeah, many irons in the fire. But there's going to be a lot of cool stuff coming out of Bluish-Green Productions in the coming months and that's definitely something to look forward to. I haven't been able to work on Tutorials as much as I wanted to because there's no money in it. Hopefully some of my other projects will prove more fruitful and I can afford to spend the time making free content.
Here's to the future!
~Bluish-Green Productions

BGP Library Message Box Actions:

Continuing on from last week in this overview of the BGP Library, this week I present the Message Box Actions video:

Completely alter the look of GameMaker's default Message (or Dialog) boxes with the the Change Message Box Properties Action. You can even customize the font for the message box and it's button.

To download the BGP Library; click either button below:

And as always,

Good luck Game Making!

~Bluish-Green Productions

BGP Library Draw Actions:

Continuing on from last week in this overview of the BGP Library, this week I present the Draw Actions video:

Draw a healthbar using a custom variable with Draw Variable Health and then redraw the Object's sprite with Draw Self. To download the BGP Library; click either button below:


And as always,

Good luck Game Making!

~Bluish-Green Productions

BGP Library Movement Actions:

Continuing on from last week in this overview of the BGP Library, this week I present the Movement Actions video:

Manage collisions with Jump to Previous and Move to Contact with Instance and move with Polar Coordinates using Jump to Radial Position.
To download the BGP Library; click either image below:

BGP Extensions Hub Video:

Last week's video on Callouts was the first in what will be a series of videos on the BGP Extensions and the Actions within them. This week, I've uploaded the "Hub video" which will have YouTube Annotations to all future videos, and also serves the very important role of the installation guide. After all, what good are these Extensions if you don't know how to install them?

 

To download the BGP Library; click either image below:

Callouts video:

 If you've never seen Callouts in Action before, this video shows what Callouts are and how to implement them into your game with a simple 5-minute tutorial.

Callouts are a handy and elegant way to display text to the user that doesn't interrupt game-play, and their buttons can have a variety of functions. Download the Game Builder Tab V3 and try Callouts for yourself:

Mars Lander Builder:

Here it is at last! After 15 level packs and 105 individual levels, the Builder Program itself is now available for Download.
Check out an overview of the program in this video:

The BGP Reader

In case you missed it last week, here is the First Look at the BGP reader;

BGP Reader - Mod DB It's a program I'm writing especially for the tutorials, and you can read more about it here.

AltPath II Level Pack:

It appears that quite the milestone was overshadowed by the First Look at the BGP Reader last week. Due to the varying numbers of levels within the level packs I've made so far, I hadn't realized that I'd actually made 100 levels for Mars Lander already (that is, IF you count all 25 levels in the Ultra Pack)! Love it or hate it (or something in between), you've got to admit that something. And you know what? It's only the beginning! Mars Lander Builder is far from finished, I wouldn't even say the program I use to make the levels is complete at this point. It's taking back seat at the moment, but I can at least say that the changes currently in development are going to be worth the wait!
Stick with me, cool stuff is on the way!

The BGP Reader

This is a special program that I've been working on for a while now, and while it's not quite finished, I thought it was far-along enough to make this First Look. The program and all of its functions are explained in the following video:

BGP Reader - Mod DB

Inertia II Level Pack:

These 5 levels are some of the most difficult, requiring lots of speed and precision to finish:

Click either image to download the Inertia II Level Pack:

Funding tutorials:

As you may or may not know, BGP Tutorials are not officially endorsed by anyone. As a result, I don't make any money from creating tutorials, and since I'm not independently wealthy, that's a problem. I may have finally found a solution to that problem however; AdFly! On new posts, you'll see AdFly links appearing next to regular ones. I will ALWAYS provide direct links to content, although I would sincerely appreciate it if you use the AdFly links.

Asteroid Belt II Level Pack:

I tried something a bit different with this week's level pack. Rather than making 5 completely separate levels, I made 5 levels that look like they match up around the edges. Perhaps you won't notice this when you're actually playing, so I took the time to stitch this together:

This level pack inspired me to alter a few of the Photoshop assets I've been using, so even if the edges don't always align so nicely, expect to see more graphics like this for future level packs.

Click either image to download the Asteroid Belt II Level Pack:

25 Levels: The "Ultra" Pack

This week I ended up making 25 levels. Halfway through making the second Crystal Collector Level Pack, as I was adjusting the difficulty of the third level, I realized how easy it was to modify the difficulty of a level with some well-placed Geysers or an asteroid. But since it felt cheap to release 5 nearly identical levels, I applied the treatment to five unique levels. The result is the "Ultra" Level Pack for this week.

The Mars Lander Runner file to include the first 8 level packs. New level packs that aren't included in the download will be linked individually as they always have been.

Click the image below to download Mars Lander Runner 50 Level Edition:

 

 

Level Pack #10: MultiRocket II

Level Pack #9
Level Pack #10

Upcoming news:

This is a tutorial series isn't it? Then WHY are the only things I see posted online Mars Lander Level Packs? Believe me, I am asking the same questions. The trouble is, while I'd love to be doing all this for free, that doesn't pay the bills, so I'm trying to negotiate a contract by which I'd be paid for making these tutorials. The only issue is, as long as that contract isn't finalized, I don't know what I would or would not be allowed to distribute. The last thing I want to do is post something and then have to take it down later because it violates the terms of my contract. That's why I haven't released Mars Lander Builder, or any of the other things I'm working on besides the updated Game Builder library:

What follows is the fifth segment of the Mars Lander Builder Behind the Scenes write-up. Click titles below to read other segments:

Working with a Theme
Creating the Level Code
Child-Proofing

Ranking Difficulty

Runner Editions:

When I made the Mars Lander Builder, the reason I needed the file system to be alphabetical was so that it could be loaded into different versions of the program. From one code I intended the level to be loadable into both Mars Lander Builder and several different iterations of Mars Lander Runner Edition. With the alphabetical file system, this became possible. While 300 characters isn’t short by any stretch of the imagination, it’s a lot shorter than the jargon that people would be copying if I used any kind of special encoding on the files. I still intend to use GameMaker Studio to develop Mars Lander Runner Editions for as many platforms as possible, and I know that with the alphabetical code this will be possible.
And now, for a very special level pack. With the addition of these 5 levels, there are officially 50 levels available for Mars Lander Runner! To that end, I’ve replaced the Runner download file with the “50 Level Edition”. This contains all 9 level packs and the Mars Lander Runner.

Click the image below to download Mars Lander Runner 50 Level Edition:

I hope you’ll find this worth the wait, I present to you; Version 3 of the BGP GameMaker Extensions. Both Extensions have new Help files, both the HTML Help files and the PDFs have been updated. The largest update in this version is the addition of Callouts to the Game Builder tab. What are Callouts you ask? Read on below to find out!

BGP Library Update

At first glance, the BGP Library doesn’t seem to have received much of an update, and that’s mostly true. There are still 23 Actions, but the “Set Variable in Instance” Action has received a slight update. It can now set arrays as well as normal Variables. This is especially important for modifying Callouts beyond their basic functionality.

Child-proofing:

I’m glad to say that I only had to cut one feature from the game: Check-points. While I originally planned to include check-points into the game, I realized this wouldn’t be possible if I was to allow for multiple-rocket levels. It would have been easy enough to only put check-points into levels with just one Rocket, but you can’t explain that kind of thing to kids who are using the program.

Creating the Level Code:

As hard as I worked to include as many features as possible, the framework of the game was still limited by one major factor; the alphabetical saving system. This meant that I could only have up to 26 types of Objects, and only 300 Objects within a level (for a size of 640x480). One of the ways I saved space in the code was to have Geysers snap to the nearest surface. This way I only needed 3 different Objects instead of 12!
Considering that Mars Lander’s code uses 24 letters to create a code that is 300 characters long, I’ve wondered how many unique levels could be made. Obviously a large percentage of those levels would be unplayable for various reasons, but I think it’s safe to say that you can make thousands of unique levels with the program before you start running into trouble. It might even be more than that… if anyone would like to do the math, I’d be happy to hear how many levels Mars Lander Builder can create!

Since not much was happening this week besides the release of the newest Level Pack for Mars Lander Runner, I thought I'd go into a bit of detail on how I got about creating levels. But that quickly became a two page long, complete "behind-the-scenes" write-up on the creation of the program itself. As a result, I decided to split the article up into key components and I'll release a part of it along with each week's Level Pack News Post. So without further ado, here is the first part of the behind the scenes look at Mars Lander Builder and Runner:

Working with a Theme:

First of all, I don't use any type of specialized editor which only I, the creator of the program, can use. I've been using Mars Lander Builder to make levels, just like anyone else with the program could. That is to say, I don't make the levels with GameMaker, I design, build and test them within the same program.

Mars Lander Runner Major Update:

A promise made…
At long last the Lander Runner is (hopefully) going to receive its final iteration. And contrary to what I said last week, I’ve made a few significant changes:

Aesthetic Update:

Mars Lander Runner no longer has those unsightly black bars along the sides of the screen that made it look like a really weird aspect ratio. The sides of the screen have been properly filled with some real content, adding back the play/stop, load, and quit buttons from the Mars Lander Builder. Also, the buttons from dialog boxes appear nicely on the other side of the screen. Overall, I think it just looks better, and no longer requires you to go back to the main-menu to load another level.

BGP GameMaker Help News:

If you're a long-time follower, you'll have noticed that BGP GMH has gotten a new front page! If you're reading this for the first time, then forget what I just said, it's always looked that good...
Anyway, a little less text and a few more images really do go a long way! I hope you're as happy as I am with the new look.
Speaking of the "new look" you might notice a little yellow button. It has the word "Donate" written on it, and I think it deserves a little elaboration:
Bluish-Green Productions Game Maker Help tutorials will ALWAYS be free. But it's kind of hard to offer something for free when you aren't making any money from other sources. I ought to be able to licence my tutorials for use this coming summer, which of course means I will be making more. However, I haven't heard back regarding this deal, so I can't count on it as a source of income. In the meantime, I thought if anyone was feeling generous enough to support BGP GMH, the opportunity should at least be available.

Thank you.

Now on to more fun things:

I’ve been quite busy these past few months. Busy with education, busy with work, and busy with what you care about most: Game Maker. The result of this busy-ness with Game Maker is quite something; two programs, one called “Mars Lander Builder”, the other called “Mars Lander Runner”.

The Story of Mars Lander Builder/Runner:

Mars Lander Builder was a specially requested piece of software I developed as part of the aforementioned “work” I did. I work at a program called iCamp where I help kids make games, either by teaching them myself or by assisting them through tutorials much like the ones I write. Part of my work includes birthday parties, where the children go through our single shortest tutorial. Only, they rarely finish it within the time we have, and never get to make more than a single level. So I proposed that I develop a pair of programs, special proprietary level building software and another program that would run those levels.

As a result of this agreement, I will not be distributing the Mars Lander Builder, but I will be distributing the Mars Lander Runner. But what good is the Runner without the Builder?

 

Level Packs:

I will release level packs on a weekly basis for the Lander Runner. The Lander Runner itself comes with 10 levels in a “Starter Pack”. The weekly packs will be in sets of 5, one for each weekday! Expect them along the traditional "Sunday-night/Monday morning" release schedule.

Level Editing:

While I can’t release the level building software, I can tell you how the levels are saved, and how you can edit them manually. The levels are saved in an alphabetical code with each letter corresponding to a different Object:
Levels are loaded from a 300 character “string”. They are loaded in columns, from left to right. Also, all letters must be in uppercase. The default case for any unrecognisable character is an empty grid space, and I’ve yet to enter a string that messes up the level-loading script. So it doesn’t matter if the string it too short, too long, full of lower-case letters, it will load. You can use Notepad to edit levels.
Asteroids are different Objects depending on what direction they travel:
M = Left
N = Right
O = Up
P = Down
Geysers snap to adjacent surfaces automatically, but the time it takes them to fire can be adjusted:
T = 3 Seconds (Fast)
U = 6 Seconds (Medium)
V = 9 Seconds (Slow)
I could easily have written a level-code that would be harder to manually edit, but it would have been to our own detriment. After all, with such a simple level code (and thanks to the fact that it was made with Game Maker), the Runner can be ported onto any number of devices, basically anything Game Maker Studio will have support for.
So with all that in mind, I would like to issue a challenge:

Level Building Contest:

By manually editing a level save-file, try to design a level that is actually playable but can be read as a sentence when opened for editing. Don’t worry too much about it being “playable” if you manage to make a neat pattern, or discover that a high-school essay becomes a horrible death-trap, you can send those in too.
To submit your levels, simply leave the code as comments on this News Post. Let everyone try your level! HAVE FUN!
Anyone who sends in something exceptionally creative will get their levels featured in an upcoming Level Pack.
Tips:

• You can leave        a whole bunch of spaces     and it will just load empty grid-spaces. This will prevent your level from being too cluttered while also reducing on how many “W”s you need in the save-code.
• If you use an "L" in the code, the game will spawn a "Checkpoint" this Object was cut from the final game because of saving difficulties it would cause. The Object has no programming, and will appear as a "CP" in it's grid-space.
• Grab any text you can find! What does this News Post look like as a level!?

So have fun! See what makes a neat level, functional or not.
And as always,

Good luck Game Making!

~Bluish-Green Productions