CREATE YOUR OWN RPG WITH DANTE 2!!

D. Lardenoye

CHAPTER 4 - CREATING THE GAME ENVIRONMENT.

Last time I explained how to create intro and end demos with
Dante 2, which is something that is completely separate from
creating the rest of the game. This time I will explain how 
to create the game environment, so in short the general
setting for your adventure.

THE SCREEN EDITOR

The Screen Editor of Dante 2 serves to create the graphical
frame for your adventure, so everything on the screen but
outside of game screen, the so called 'frame'. You get to a
similar drawing program as with the demo editor (with the 
same options, see previous issue). If you didn't create a 
Data disk 0 yet, you have to do so now. If you start from 
an empty Data disk 0, you get to see the standard black 
screen in the editor. White rectangles indicate the areas 
you have to keep clear, because here will appear the game
screen, your hit points, magic points et cetera. If you 
think the drawing program is not user friendly, you can use
the option Read Graphic Data to load a Screen 5 image. Make
sure you know which areas you need to keep clear.


WATCH YOUR PALETTE!

Before you start drawing, it's important to determine how
you want to set up your color palette. Dante 2 doesn't use
screen splits, so you're bound by 15 colors. The colors that
make up the border of the RPG you will never be able to 
change, or almost never (color 15 is also always white and 0
is always transparent, you cannot change it). So reserve 4
to 5 colors for the border you will never change. You will 
also have to reserve a few more later on for other, 
unchanging things in the game. The remaining ones you can 
redefine for each map. A best practice is to use a few 
'basic' colors for your unchangeable colors, which you would
need for drawing. Then you don't need to define them within
the map and you have more room for 'shading' colors that 
will make your RPG look a lot better. For example, if you 
know your RPG is largely takes place in a forest, it is 
convenient to have at least a standard type of green in the 
border. The following colors you should reserve for things
that will remain the same:

- The border
- The graphics for your own character
- The graphics for the magic you cast
- The graphics for the explosion when a monster dies
- A color for the HP and MAX HP gauge in the lower part of 
  the screen

You see that you have to be careful with the colors in your
palette. You probably already lost about 10 of them on the
aforementioned things. Of course there can be situations in
which these things do change. Anyways, it is very convenient
to determine these standard colors because you will need 
them again soon. So create your palette as well as possible
for now before beginning on your drawing.

TIP

This is a general tip is general and applies to using every
other Dante 2 option that you will use further on: WRITE
EVERYTHING DOWN! In this case you write down the border 
palette colors. Make a list of all data you set in Dante 2; 
coordinates, color values, meaning of certain items, 
objects. This will prevent you from switching through all 
parts of the program like a mad man to see what such and 
such was.

The Screen editor sub menu also has an option 'Load Palette'
which is meant to load a palette from a specific map 
combined with the editor. The value of this will become 
clear later on.

THE REMAINING GAME DATA

The option Make common data summons a fairly extensive sub 
menu, in which you can edit a few standard elements.

To start with there is the Common graphical data. This 
option calls forth a second kind of graphics editor in 
Dante-2, more akin to a sprite editor. This type of editor
is common in Dante 2, so I will review all the options once
to explain them. On the left you can see a zoomed in part of
the complete set of graphics on the right. You can draw by
by clicking on palette colors and then clicking on the 
zoomed in part. Below you find a few options you've also 
seen in the drawing program, only now there are also options
to rotate and shift the zoomed in part. You select by 
clicking with trigger A on the graphics on the right. You 
copy the part that can be seen on the left by clicking on
the right with trigger B on the location your cursor is 
pointing to. This is the general way this editor works.

In the part on the right you can see the full font of the
game which you can now edit. The rectangle to the right and
down contains animation graphics. These are: PLAYER ABOVE
1 & 2, PLAYER RIGHT 1 & 2, PLAYER BELOW 1 & 2, PLAYER LEFT 
1 & 2, MAGIC ABOVE, MAGIC RIGHT, MAGIC BELOW, MAGIC LEFT,
EXPLOSION 1, 2, 3, 4. The first eight graphics form the data
for the player. So the animations show the walking 
directions, with 2 steps available for each direction
to be. The Magic animations we'll get back to when you find
a 'Magic rod' with which you can cast spells at monsters 
(like with Ys 2). These animations make up the shape of the 
'bullet' that you shoot. For each direction there is only 
one step available. The last 4 graphics show the animation 
for the explosion/ implosion or whatever, which takes place 
when you have beaten a monster.

There are still a number additional options available though
the MENU option from the icon menu: ANIMATION, which allows 
you to see the animations, SHOW, which shows the graphics on
the right, but now with some extra space in between, which 
gives a clearer picture and HELP, which gives some extra 
help regarding this editor.

It's a bit inconvenient that you can't change your palette 
here. You can load a correct palette in advance by using
Read palette of map data so you will know know in advance
which values you need for your main character and by having
determined other important colors for this map.

PLAYER LEVEL PARAMETERS

With this sub editor you can determine the development of 
your character. You can reach 32 'levels' in you homemade 
RPG. You can get started with this option by determining 
how much experience you need to attain each of these levels, 
and how much your properties will increase with each level. 
It is very important that you do this wisely because setting 
up the level system incorrectly can easily cause your RPG to
becomes too easy or too difficult. You will likely have to
adjust the values repeatedly in the test phase, but then you
will be much and much further. A proven formula is for the 
experience points necessary for a new level to double each 
time.

MOVES FOR "TELEPORT" ITEM

This option is not really needed yet. You can use this to 
set the target of a specific item that you will find during 
your RPG: the teleporter. With this you can teleport 
yourself to up to five locations, which you can set up here
(name, map coordinates). Since you basically still haven't 
made any maps, you also don't know any coordinates, so you
can't set this yet. I will discuss this option later on.

INITIAL GAME START DATA 

This option is only partially useful at this time. This is 
where you determine where to start your RPG. Since 
coordinates and map numbers are requested, you can't enter
much yet. Because you probably give maps a number based on 
the order of appearance, the starting map is probably map 0 
on disk 1. You can also specify the palette colors that are
to be used to indicate the amount of HP and the MAX HP.

ITEM DATA

Same. In this extensive editor you can enter the names and
effects of all the items you can use in your RPG. Because 
you probably don't know anything for certain yet, you can't 
do much with this option yet. I'll get back to this at a 
later time.

READ PALETTE OF MAP DATA

With this option you can load the palette, that should be
used with a specific map in combination with the Common 
graphical data.

And that's a wrap for now. One last tip: create a sample 
game disk 0 so that you watch the art and tricks of the 
Japanese creators of Legend of Lidorune. Next time I will 
finally start making the actual RPG.

Dennis