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[Retropunch]

Oh, I'll certainly make a couple of worlds myself, I wouldn't expect people to have any interest in playing without seeing what the game is capable of.  I was talking more about some kind of meta, all-encompassing story that explains why you're building worlds.  Games that focus on level design generally don't have an elaborate meta-plot in that sense.  I think it would be fun to make one but I don't think it's strictly  necessary to explain, for instance, that poorly rated worlds are corrupted and eaten by a Zalgo expy to stave off its hunger as opposed to simply being deleted to free up the database.  It might even be seen as kind of pretentious.

Definitely not, the more you explain and go into it - the more it becomes not just a level designer and an actual game. Just make sure that everything you put in has mechanics behind it. If a world gets eaten, don't just have it disappear with a quick note - have a quest attached to the whole process to find out why it disappeared.

[IndigoFenix]

Oh, I'll certainly make a couple of worlds myself, I wouldn't expect people to have any interest in playing without seeing what the game is capable of.  I was talking more about some kind of meta, all-encompassing story that explains why you're building worlds.  Games that focus on level design generally don't have an elaborate meta-plot in that sense.  I think it would be fun to make one but I don't think it's strictly  necessary to explain, for instance, that poorly rated worlds are corrupted and eaten by a Zalgo expy to stave off its hunger as opposed to simply being deleted to free up the database.  It might even be seen as kind of pretentious.

Definitely not, the more you explain and go into it - the more it becomes not just a level designer and an actual game. Just make sure that everything you put in has mechanics behind it. If a world gets eaten, don't just have it disappear with a quick note - have a quest attached to the whole process to find out why it disappeared.

Hmm... Well, that won't work with actual deletions, but if there's a function to fake corruption it could be included as part of a world's story to explain it by witnessing it firsthand... the slow destruction of a world around you.  Heh, that's not a bad idea.

[IndigoFenix]

So here's the plan as it sits now:

Physics will be similar to Zelda, Link's Awakening specifically - jumping included.  One tile property, "Fall", makes sprites fall downwards - it can be used for either jumping off cliffs toward the screen, or building 2-d platforming segments.  Platforming will be very basic though; Players can jump 1 tile up or 1 tile across.  There will also be sticky tiles to prevent players from jumping if the world's designer doesn't want them to.

Individual sprites can be designated as either grid-locked (for puzzle elements like moving blocks) or free-motion (for NPCs and enemies).  The player will be able to switch between them depending on the situation.

Combat will most likely be Zelda-esque by default; every sprite can be assigned to a team (so you can have allies and battles with multiple sides) and has a number of general properties to determine both its default stats (attack, defense, hp) and behaviors ranging from simple traps that slide back and forth to more complex AI based on "personality traits" like courage, aggression, gregariousness, and so on.  More advanced world builders will also be able to access and change all the variables involved in the AI of sprites to make their own routines.

[Rethi-Eli]

I'm sorry if this isn't the right place to put this, but the layout seems rather confusing. Perhaps it's just because the game is in open alpha, but I'm not sure how to leave the first area, and the world builder function is utterly confusing to me. Perhaps a quick guide could be included?

[IndigoFenix]

You can't leave the first area because there are no other areas.

I'm still working with the physics and NPC behavior so all you can really make right now are rooms, tilemaps and gates, and only with imported tilesets.  The rest of the things don't really work yet.

That being said, I would like the world builder to be more intuitive.

Basically you need to log in, then click the "create new world" button, then "add new" under "rooms", then likewise for layers and tilemaps.  You can then import an image for the tilemap and paint the room with tiles.

You can also add a gate to enter the room and test it out.

Clicking the X in the corner of a window exits and lets you save.

It is pretty shaky right now, but feedback or suggestions for the interface is always appreciated.

[Sponge]

 Wow, I had no idea you were working on this again! I saw this about a half a year ago, and thought you gave up on it. Pretty happy your working on it again, it's a very interesting idea!

EDIT: I assume the more code-y parts are in HTML5?

[IndigoFenix]

Wow, I had no idea you were working on this again! I saw this about a half a year ago, and thought you gave up on it. Pretty happy your working on it again, it's a very interesting idea!

EDIT: I assume the more code-y parts are in HTML5?

The whole thing is in HTML5 (except for server side stuff).
I'm basically rebuilding the whole thing from scratch; there's going to be more focus on making it easy to create the stuff people will probably want to create, which in this case means enemies.
Also there's jumping and sidescrolling platforming sections.  I'm going to need a new player sprite, I think.
The current open alpha has examples of all of these, though the physics are still a little bit off.

[Sponge]

Wow, I had no idea you were working on this again! I saw this about a half a year ago, and thought you gave up on it. Pretty happy your working on it again, it's a very interesting idea!

EDIT: I assume the more code-y parts are in HTML5?

The whole thing is in HTML5 (except for server side stuff).
I'm basically rebuilding the whole thing from scratch; there's going to be more focus on making it easy to create the stuff people will probably want to create, which in this case means enemies.
Also there's jumping and sidescrolling platforming sections.  I'm going to need a new player sprite, I think.
The current open alpha has examples of all of these, though the physics are still a little bit off.

I would suggest eventually adding stock tilesets while keeping the ability to import your own. BTW what would be the best PixelxPixel size for tiles?
 Once you leave Open Alpha you might want to add some HTML5 basic documentation as well. I could probably find out how to do all this, but it would make it easier just to have some side-notes to look at.

[IndigoFenix]

Wow, I had no idea you were working on this again! I saw this about a half a year ago, and thought you gave up on it. Pretty happy your working on it again, it's a very interesting idea!

EDIT: I assume the more code-y parts are in HTML5?

The whole thing is in HTML5 (except for server side stuff).
I'm basically rebuilding the whole thing from scratch; there's going to be more focus on making it easy to create the stuff people will probably want to create, which in this case means enemies.
Also there's jumping and sidescrolling platforming sections.  I'm going to need a new player sprite, I think.
The current open alpha has examples of all of these, though the physics are still a little bit off.

I would suggest eventually adding stock tilesets while keeping the ability to import your own. BTW what would be the best PixelxPixel size for tiles?
 Once you leave Open Alpha you might want to add some HTML5 basic documentation as well. I could probably find out how to do all this, but it would make it easier just to have some side-notes to look at.

Oh, building in the game doesn't require knowledge of HTML5.  I actually made a custom scripting language for that.  Which... will need documentation, yes.  It's pretty self-explanatory stuff if you're into programming; just your standard loops/conditionals/variables, but people will want to know all the keywords for maximum options.  (You can modify almost all object variables through the function system, it's pretty neat.)  Although I do want to make the basic options flexible enough that you can make complex and fun worlds without getting into scripting.

I do intend to include stock tilesets and sprites, unfortunately my pixel art skills are rather basic so I'll have to either find a set that works for the game's purposes, or commission someone to draw them.

The tile size is 32x32.

[Sponge]

Wow, I had no idea you were working on this again! I saw this about a half a year ago, and thought you gave up on it. Pretty happy your working on it again, it's a very interesting idea!

EDIT: I assume the more code-y parts are in HTML5?

The whole thing is in HTML5 (except for server side stuff).
I'm basically rebuilding the whole thing from scratch; there's going to be more focus on making it easy to create the stuff people will probably want to create, which in this case means enemies.
Also there's jumping and sidescrolling platforming sections.  I'm going to need a new player sprite, I think.
The current open alpha has examples of all of these, though the physics are still a little bit off.

I would suggest eventually adding stock tilesets while keeping the ability to import your own. BTW what would be the best PixelxPixel size for tiles?
 Once you leave Open Alpha you might want to add some HTML5 basic documentation as well. I could probably find out how to do all this, but it would make it easier just to have some side-notes to look at.

Oh, building in the game doesn't require knowledge of HTML5.  I actually made a custom scripting language for that.  Which... will need documentation, yes.  It's pretty self-explanatory stuff if you're into programming; just your standard loops/conditionals/variables, but people will want to know all the keywords for maximum options.  (You can modify almost all object variables through the function system, it's pretty neat.)  Although I do want to make the basic options flexible enough that you can make complex and fun worlds without getting into scripting.

I do intend to include stock tilesets and sprites, unfortunately my pixel art skills are rather basic so I'll have to either find a set that works for the game's purposes, or commission someone to draw them.

The tile size is 32x32.

I can interpret coding pretty well, I dabble in it from time to time, but I still need too know the basic codes and stuff. For example how you define variables. What I really want to know is how you would make a text box (Maybe I'm just missing something obvious).

[IndigoFenix]

Wow, I had no idea you were working on this again! I saw this about a half a year ago, and thought you gave up on it. Pretty happy your working on it again, it's a very interesting idea!

EDIT: I assume the more code-y parts are in HTML5?

The whole thing is in HTML5 (except for server side stuff).
I'm basically rebuilding the whole thing from scratch; there's going to be more focus on making it easy to create the stuff people will probably want to create, which in this case means enemies.
Also there's jumping and sidescrolling platforming sections.  I'm going to need a new player sprite, I think.
The current open alpha has examples of all of these, though the physics are still a little bit off.

I would suggest eventually adding stock tilesets while keeping the ability to import your own. BTW what would be the best PixelxPixel size for tiles?
 Once you leave Open Alpha you might want to add some HTML5 basic documentation as well. I could probably find out how to do all this, but it would make it easier just to have some side-notes to look at.

Oh, building in the game doesn't require knowledge of HTML5.  I actually made a custom scripting language for that.  Which... will need documentation, yes.  It's pretty self-explanatory stuff if you're into programming; just your standard loops/conditionals/variables, but people will want to know all the keywords for maximum options.  (You can modify almost all object variables through the function system, it's pretty neat.)  Although I do want to make the basic options flexible enough that you can make complex and fun worlds without getting into scripting.

I do intend to include stock tilesets and sprites, unfortunately my pixel art skills are rather basic so I'll have to either find a set that works for the game's purposes, or commission someone to draw them.

The tile size is 32x32.

I can interpret coding pretty well, I dabble in it from time to time, but I still need too know the basic codes and stuff. For example how you define variables. What I really want to know is how you would make a text box (Maybe I'm just missing something obvious).

Text boxes can be displayed by sprites, either through the basic "display text" parameter which will be triggered when the player touches or checks the sprite, or with a "Display" event inside a function. 

[Sponge]

Something else, how do you put more then one tile in a tile map?

EDIT: Also, it seems some of the tiles I've replaced can't be changed. Is there an eraser or something?
EDIT EDIT: Never mind, it was a layers issue.
EDIT EDIT EDIT: Is there an eraser though?

[IndigoFenix]

The white box under the tilemap represents a "blank" tile and can be selected like a normal tile.  (You can select tiles with both mouse buttons by the way.)
You can't put more than one tile in a space in a single tilemap, but you can make multiple tilemaps in a single layer.  One of the best techniques is making two tilemaps, one for visuals and an invisible one for collisions.

[Sponge]

The white box under the tilemap represents a "blank" tile and can be selected like a normal tile.  (You can select tiles with both mouse buttons by the way.)
You can't put more than one tile in a space in a single tilemap, but you can make multiple tilemaps in a single layer.  One of the best techniques is making two tilemaps, one for visuals and an invisible one for collisions.

So the blank tile works like an eraser? I could of swore I tried that...
I'll have to try again once I get home.

[IndigoFenix]

Been playing with enemy AI.  NPCs have a whole bunch of parameters for basic combat behaviors, like aggro radius, leash distance, damage, knockback, attack cooldown, and "stalking radius", which is the distance they will "circle" around their target while their attack is on cooldown.  Also NPCs can be assigned to different teams, which lets them fight each other.  The only "attack" right now is to run into their target, but I plan on making custom combat techniques like weapon strikes, projectiles, and spells; more complex behavior will be possible through functions.  The player's main attack will be a strike (possibly with a flute?), which is not implemented yet, so the player cannot attack yet.