Roycommi

Heya, Having all those tiles would certantly make it much harder to do the individual levels. It would also make painting furhter levels or variations on this level impossible. As for the coding of the level, I am almost positive it would signifigantly slow down the program if it has to keep track of all those discreet tiles. It is certantly do-able, but I think its not the best approach. All the tile based game development web-sites I am studying make the point that you use a small set of tiles over and over to get your intended result. My ultimate goal is to create a game where say you could edit a simple text file and generate your won map, create a custom mission and control all aspects of the game. What are the problems you face with the tiles? That might be a part we can skip for now and move on. The VF-1s side view is great, could you generate a similar view for a cannon-fodder vf-1a based on std_valk.bmp? Also in the first mission there is a her NPC characte named Kai Rood. He has a red helmet like the generic one you made. Could you make a red helmet and customize it a little so I can use it for him? Did you want to redo the cutscenes as well? I am having the first one translated and we can post it reletivly quickly unless you want to re-do the art. Roycommi

Heya, Here is the pallette that I used in the tile based bap generator. If you start with the boarder tile as being 1, then move across to the right the next one is 2 on and on to 13. The next row starts with 14 and moves across as well. Roycommi lvl_01_tiles.zip

Hi, No I am sorry I was confusing. The array goes from 1 to 45, corrsponding to the number of different tiles there are in this level. for instance 1 is the boarder tiles, if you look at the array you can see it covers the entire outside of the map. The tile map generator I used allows you to paste all of the tiles onto one pallete, and basically paint the map you wish to have, then it will generate an array for you. The map tiles that I grabbed and sent to you are grabs from the screen caps of the level I took. They are sorted by terrain type, and difficulty modifier. Basically two seperate numbering schemes. When I get back to my work computer I will post the pallette I used and then you can see where all the numbers in the array are from.

Heya, Well the way that I make the map is with an array. As a matter of fact here is the level one array: myMap1 = [ [ 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 ], [ 1, 2, 34, 29, 3, 2, 18, 19, 42, 42, 33, 11, 24, 25, 35, 42, 2, 29, 3, 2, 1 ], [ 1, 42, 2, 3, 29, 2, 43, 6, 29, 42, 2, 10, 25, 7, 2, 29, 2, 8, 9, 8, 1 ], [ 1, 33, 29, 2, 42, 2, 18, 5, 6, 42, 42, 33, 33, 42, 3, 42, 8, 21, 21, 22, 1 ], [ 1, 12, 33, 3, 2, 26, 39, 18, 5, 6, 2, 2, 2, 8, 9, 8, 22, 44, 22, 42, 1 ], [ 1, 25, 35, 33, 33, 38, 27, 2, 18, 19, 29, 2, 20, 22, 44, 22, 16, 17, 42, 2, 1 ], [ 1, 12, 11, 12, 33, 33, 3, 42, 3, 42, 2, 11, 12, 2, 42, 2, 31, 30, 2, 2, 1 ], [ 1, 23, 24, 23, 12, 35, 35, 16, 17, 2, 2, 10, 25, 40, 39, 42, 2, 2, 42, 33, 1 ], [ 1, 24, 25, 10, 25, 29, 7, 31, 30, 29, 2, 2, 38, 36, 28, 2, 42, 33, 11, 12, 1 ], [ 1, 25, 33, 2, 2, 2, 42, 33, 29, 2, 7, 2, 42, 45, 2, 33, 2, 11, 24, 25, 1 ], [ 1, 2, 43, 5, 6, 42, 2, 42, 33, 29, 11, 12, 2, 3, 42, 3, 33, 10, 23, 12, 1 ], [ 1, 43, 14, 4, 32, 6, 2, 3, 2, 33, 10, 23, 12, 35, 33, 33, 33, 7, 10, 23, 1 ], [ 1, 5, 27, 28, 15, 5, 43, 6, 2, 7, 33, 10, 25, 33, 33, 35, 35, 33, 11, 24, 1 ], [ 1, 14, 27, 37, 36, 41, 32, 19, 2, 33, 35, 11, 12, 11, 12, 33, 35, 33, 10, 25, 1 ], [ 1, 13, 36, 28, 13, 4, 19, 3, 33, 35, 7, 10, 23, 24, 23, 12, 7, 35, 33, 35, 1 ], [ 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1, 1 ]; ]; I then have a movie clip that has 46 different tiles that correspond to the numbers above in the array. The program fills the screen by going to the number in the array and then going to the frame in the movie clip. as I add difficulty to the terrain, I am going to make the array multi-dimensional. Making the map as one big static image is really not the best way to go about making the playing field. Also, I am using a program that makes painting the tiles out and generating an array very easy (see my diary). I would prefer that we continut to use tiles The art you have made is really very good. I will intigrate what I can into what I am working on now. I am trying to figure out how to let a mouse move the PLayer inseat of arrow keyes. roycommi

Thats correct. The idea is that I want the character to advance by 1 tile instead of 1 pixel (which is the default in Flash) and there is a problem. More than 1 tile is needing to be drawn at that speed and the algorithm I am using doesn't keep up properly. I am working on debugging that. The next thing I wanna do is attatch a value to the tiles that will allow you to see the terrain movement difficulty as you scroll across them. Then add a second character and allow you to tab between them. My ultimate Aim is to copy the game as closely as possible. If anyone would like to see my code, please let me know. Roycommi

I am sorry I thought you meant the ground tiles. the new ones from the Status bar can be kept in the same proportion. The pilots face is 38 x 46 pixels so any multiple of that is fine. Same goes with the other pics. the ground tiles start off as 24 x 24 thats why 72 x 72 is fine. Here is example 04 with the blinking lights on the small pad. I also think the boarder tiles lose something with the black boarder around them gone. I think that the bases should have some lights that are always on and some that blink, the landing pads should have blinking lights. Roycomi

72 x 72 is fine I dunno of a mac version, but the way it works is you put static images in a timeline and it runs at 24 frames per second. I can throw the animations into the char if you like and show you what it will look like. All I will need is any intermediate animations Ed

Heya, Blinking lights are very doable. I need seperate images of each and I will make them a movie clip inside the animation. Here are the rest of the tiles for level 1 (attatched). The bases tiles look really nice! Looking to update with more programming today. Roycommi ELS_tiles_2.rar

There are basically three varieties of standard valks, The "hero" one, a high level NPC version that is blue like Max's, and the tan cannon fodder model for low level NPCs. All the "hero" valkyries sport Hikaru's paint scheme. As the Characters gain XP from kills and missions completion, they will promote to Super valkyrie and on and on to Strike Sirens. Level 1 primarilly has just the ones in the pack I uploaded. If you can create a scheme that has interchangable colors, I dont think it would be hard to give each "hero" a seperate color.

Wow, I am impressed . Well switching graphics isnt really that hard in Flash, so I will tell you what. I will post the tiles I am using so far and if you like you can animate them in the same style as the nice valk above. Here are most of the tiles for level 1 (attatched in zip file) 48x48 pixels is best I think. They are originally 24x24 pixels and I enlarge. Did 72x72 for the first 2 demos, thats the 1 inch scale. If you do an inbetween transformations, I will add that in to so u can see the valk x-form. My art skills are non-existant otherwise I might give it a shot. As for completion, I have no idea since I am no expert in Actionscript. I am happy to share my updates as they come. If you would like to help, just lemme know. Ed tiles.zip

Definalty gonna have the cutscenes. Will all be translated too. A friend has tentativly agreed to translate them and I will subtitle them. Here is an example of what I will do, again in flash. This example is rather basic, but the ELS cutscenes will be better as my skill increases. The interface will be in english of course.

Look Here

Flash can export to an XML document (or txt I think). I dont think it should be hard to create a file that contains the stuff for the next level, like character experince and new mecha. Well the original game has a TON of levels with lots of different tiles and then there are the cutscenes. I dont see how entirely new graphics can be accomplished in a reasonable time unless there were a staff of animators. However, I intend to create a game engine that can be used by other game developers to create similar games or further missions, or entirely new scenarios. New graphics could certantly be incorporated at that point. All that having been said, If you did wanna try doing that we could certantly experiment and see how it goes... Duh' well if I could do that I would, but my skills in Actionscript are so far pretty limited. I am gonna post a diary and put up all developments there. Here is a link Macross ELS Diary Ed

Hi, I am gonna take a stab at doing "Macross Eternal Love Song" in Flash using Actionscript. I dont really know either but really like ELS so I thought I would give it a shot. My aim is to emulate the turn based engine and recreate all the missions in ELS. Eventually I want to have an engine that anyone can use. Here is my first step in creating tiles and a moving Valkyrie. First Step (Once it loads, click on the Valkyrie and use the arrow keys to move it around. Thats all it does so far) If anyone has any Actionscript or Flash hints, please feel free to share. If anyone would like to help, please let me know. I intend on GPL'ing it once its done, so no profit or proprietary or secrets stuff, just lots of turn based gaming fun with Macross!! Roycommi

Hopefully because YOU find it fun and interesting. I know I do my stuffbecause I like doing it firstly, and if others like it too, thats very cool and an ego boost, but if not, well who cares. You and I have talked on occasion and I dont agree 100% on your take on some things, but then again we arent clones and its to be expected that we would each have our own take on the piece of art that is Macross. I think Mr Kawamori would be honored as an artist to know that his work can mean so much to so many people. To get back to why you bother, I think if you read the vast VAST majority of the comments on your posts, you will find nothing but praise. Dont let the few rather academic disagreements that some have with your work make you think your just wasting your time, not seeing the forest for the trees and whatnot. Unlike Mr Kawamori, you dont have to earn a profit on your work. Therefore you dont need to be bothered by what others think of your work. Take constructive critisisms as they are, and let other stuff just pass.

With regards to the scramble valkyrie stuff, yes its all poetic liscense. You are welcome to dl the rom and play the game with the emulator and see what you think. Its an ok game. About the translations, I am not a professional translator and may be missing some of the nuance that might be in the original japanese. I have had the translations for some time and felt kinda negligent for not posting them. It will be interesting to see if any of this material is refernced or used in some way/shape/form in M0...

Hi, I have it translated with the pics. "The Plundering Fleet" and "The Lost Two Years" They are two seperate PDF files. Enjoy. Ed

Is there a rom availible and emulator?

Hi, There werent any stats or anything per-se written about the VF-1SOL. I did grab some screen caps of it and they are included Here You can find a rom for Scambled Valkyrie Here Ed

Its from the end of the Macross 2 video game on MAME.

Hi, Was curious if anyone knew what this ship is, what it is supposed to be for, and why was it only in like 2 seconds of Macross 2? Roycommi

Zounds, Very kewl, with a FAST pack in the first pic to boot! Very cool design.

Heya, Does anyone have the skinny on what the second book would be about? I read some rumor stuff but i was curious if there was any more official info, or if anyone had some solid behind the scenes info. Just curious... Roycommi

My favorite one is the one where they sub it into English. I find I really understand what the story is about when I can actually read...what the story is about. So I would recommend the English version if English is your primary language.