[Joseph Collins]

Alright, so. I was originally trying to create a 'bot that changes directions while walking when certain types of CustomFloor tiles are beneath it. (Think Wolfenstein 3-D / Rise of the Triad patrolling guards.) Apparently, MegaZeux 2.5x doesn't do that, so I switched over to having it switch directions when it detect certain types of CustomFloor next to itself.

Spoiler

cycle 8

: "Ngloop"
* "Flowing"
wait 1
if c?? CustomFloor p?? to NORTH "Idle"
if c?? CustomFloor p?? to SOUTH "Idle"
if c?? CustomFloor p?? to EAST "Idle"
if c?? CustomFloor p?? to WEST "Idle"
walk FLOW
goto "Ngloop"

: "Idle"
* "Idling"
walk IDLE
cycle 3
loop start
wait 1
loop for 4

cycle 8
. "There HAS to be a better way to do this in v2.5x…"
if c?? CustomFloor p18 to NORTH "North"
if c?? CustomFloor p19 to NORTH "South"
if c?? CustomFloor p1a to NORTH "East"
if c?? CustomFloor p1b to NORTH "West"
if c?? CustomFloor p18 to SOUTH "North"
if c?? CustomFloor p19 to SOUTH "South"
if c?? CustomFloor p1a to SOUTH "East"
if c?? CustomFloor p1b to SOUTH "West"
if c?? CustomFloor p18 to EAST "North"
if c?? CustomFloor p19 to EAST "South"
if c?? CustomFloor p1a to EAST "East"
if c?? CustomFloor p1b to EAST "West"
if c?? CustomFloor p18 to WEST "North"
if c?? CustomFloor p19 to WEST "South"
if c?? CustomFloor p1a to WEST "East"
if c?? CustomFloor p1b to WEST "West"
goto "Ngloop"

: "North"
* "Going North"
walk NORTH
wait 1
goto "Ngloop"

: "South"
* "Going South"
walk SOUTH
wait 1
goto "Ngloop"

: "East"
* "Going East"
walk EAST
wait 1
goto "Ngloop"

: "West"
* "Going West"
walk WEST
wait 1
goto "Ngloop"

This mostly works, though it occasionally fails to detect a tile. Moreover… good lord, the code is messy, messy, messy. Is there a way to optimize this mess within the confines of old MegaZeux versions? Or, am I stuck with twelve "if c?? CustomFloor p?? to DIRECTION "Label" messages for this?
–

02/18 Edit:
I figured it out.

This post has been edited by Joseph Collins: 18 February 2024 - 10:41 AM

[asiekierka]

At the risk of stirring up a hornet's nest, given that your game is seemingly outgrowing the confines of MegaZeux 2.51(something), is there a specific reason why you're sticking to that version specifically?

[Joseph Collins]

asiekierka, on 17 February 2024 - 09:55 AM, said:

At the risk of stirring up a hornet's nest, given that your game is seemingly outgrowing the confines of MegaZeux 2.51(something), is there a specific reason why you're sticking to that version specifically?

What, did somebody warn you about me? (;
Nah, you've probably been scoping out all my recent bug reports, I'll bet.
Not to derail my own topic, Professor, but I can give you an actual practical reason. Universal compatibility. But for me? It ultimately boils down to… 2.51 feels "cozy". Like an old friend who welcomes me back with open arms despite me neglecting them for literal decades. (,:

Further Thoughts on "Why 2.51?"

Spoiler

On the topic of "compatibility", I don't imagine most people are going to want to fire up DOSBox and run 2.5x when they could just use 2.93 natively and get, more or less, the same results. So, that's not a very good reason. The Windows version seems to have marginally different timing than the DOS version of 2.93, though, so…

There's also the huge counterpoint that later versions have a lot of really keen bugfixes and new stuff that is neat as heck. I used to play around with version 2.70 and I adored some of its quality-of-life features (which escape me at the moment…). Back in the day, I was even on the 2.51 Spider bandwagon, excited for the latest and greatest developments! But, I guess that over time, I've kind of… fallen back into "old ways".

2.51 is what I was introduced to. 2.51 is what I made some truly awful things on. And despite its limitations and annoyances (GDM playback can be… tricky… with certain sample rates)… 2.51 seems to do mostly everything I ask of it. It just sometimes takes a while to get there.

–

02/18 Edit:
Yooooo, I figured it out. And I feel both smarter and dumber for it!

Patrolling Robot Code

Spoiler

: "Ngloop"
cycle 8
if c?? CustomFloor p18 to FLOW "North"
if c?? CustomFloor p19 to FLOW "South"
if c?? CustomFloor p1a to FLOW "East"
if c?? CustomFloor p1b to FLOW "West"
if walking ANYDIR "Ngloop"

: "thud"
walk RANDANY
goto "Ngloop"

: "North"
walk NORTH
goto "Ngloop"

: "South"
walk SOUTH
goto "Ngloop"

: "East"
walk EAST
goto "Ngloop"

: "West"
walk WEST
wait 1
goto "Ngloop"

The Code In Action

Spoiler

• Simple Image
  
• A More Complicated YouTube Demonstration

Easy, no~?
(Of course, mine idle for a bit before turning, and they have an "aggro radius", but this is the basic code.)

This post has been edited by Joseph Collins: 18 February 2024 - 11:58 AM