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… Progress made lately on CS mod project "Terminus": nothing, really. Got sidetracked by finding older (unrelated) projects I made files for and reading through most of them.

I do have ideas for another CS mod project ("Origin"), but I'm just gonna put that in a text file. (And then try to finish Origin Cave's maps. Ironically, Origin Cave isn't going to be in "Origin", haha.)
Cibryll
Cibryll
… And now my computer's mouse won't work properly (cursor won't move yet left- and right-clicking does) so now I can't do anything. -_-

So much for trying to make progress today.
I gotta ask, I've been working on a mod for cave story freeware (which I will be releasing an announcement with a demo), but can I ask how you edit the pictures used in the cast roll?
EnlightenedOne
EnlightenedOne
Download Resource Hacker. You can extract and replace the credits bitmaps inside the exe using that.
You might need an older version though, as I've heard that the new version of the program is missing functionality. Hit us up if you need help.
Plaindillo
Plaindillo
ok will
Edit: works just like it should!
I had already used resource hacker to change the music, and I dunno if the version I have is an older one or the new one. but it works \ ( ^ U ^ ) /
I'll be happy to announce the project in the near future.
(Also happy to hear the undertale project Hayden)!
Plaindillo
Plaindillo
uh oh, looks like I have trouble again.
I have two things boggling my mind about editing now.
1. I feel kinda stupid for not testing this before getting back to you, but I actually was only able to GET the bitmaps for the credits, not input edits.
(Got the older version of resource hacker, still didn't work)
2. A little more specific for this one, I'm having a problem with editing the last cave, I can't seem to change It's background.
I actually noticed it already had one, but it seems to not show up for some reason. (using CaveEditor)
Out of curiosity, is it helpful for me to use the "report" feature when I notice a spambot, or is it redundant and does it just give you surplus notifications to review when you log in?
DoubleThink
DoubleThink
I usually find them/get told about them pretty quickly but all the reports clear up when I remove them anyway so it's nbd
cave story mod where it's speedrun/challenge oriented, but everytime you press your shoot button, gravity flips and you can't flip gravity until you touch the ground again
(No weapons, spikes everywhere, the normal Kaitlyn mod design)
Has anybody come up with a good answer to why Quote says Curly is "still alive" instead of "still functional"? I've just recently thought of it, and its puzzling me.
AlmaHexie
AlmaHexie
The real question is how could Quote identify Curly as alive or even anything as alive.

My own answer is that it's because Quote and Curly were different robots, apart of the other soldiers. Sent for a certain mission, they probably would have more functions in their system and or the ability to think like a human.
RageRuner
RageRuner
Yea, the way I imagine the robots are...well...they're robots
They do what ordered
I mean technically Quote and Curly do too, but they seem to think more than the average "killer robots"
Eli
Eli
i wonder if it's something like why the water counter is 'air' despite the danger not being lack of oxygen but flooding - ease of player understanding/simplicity? also the chance that it's something lost in translation :V
hhhrmmm how do people write story stuff for mods?? And characters I genuinely don't know how people do it
Cibryll
Cibryll
… I just make stuff up as I go along. It's not the best approach, though.
EnlightenedOne
EnlightenedOne
Like most anything, it's a skill you have to develop with practice really. You'll get better with writing a decent story after writing a dozen flawed ones.

I might be wrong and there is other methods but at least for me, everything starts with being struck with a very basic idea and it's up to me to actively "exercise the writing muscle" in trying to continually think about and flesh it out. Even if you don't have the time or willpower to actually do anything about these ideas, the simple matter of thinking about it and making it into a story in your head or outlined in a private document, only to realize the terrible flaws or predictable tropes a year later, is still practice that slowly improves oneself.

The other neat thing about games is that they have A LOT of components (arguably the most of any media). A lot of the time you can combine separate ideas that are swimming in your head—using what appears to be unrelated ideas as a backbone and fleshing out how they connect—or can plan those components in a different order. For example here's a timeline of 4 different game/mod ideas I'm currently sitting on (excuse me for being vague but I don't like oversharing ideas unless they're scrapped):
[1] Made up my own character based on interactions inspired by three "meta" videogames I had played years ago. Separately was inspired by seeing a video of a cheap bootleg videogame product and wanting to make my own. Realized I could combine this character idea and game idea and then later drafted a rough plotline using both.
[2] Wanted to make a turn-based RPG after playing a bunch years ago. I didn't actually have a story in mind initially (which is kind of the point of these games) but I knew how bored I became after the gameplay stagnated in them, so I only focused on how I would spice up the turn-based formula with different "classes" that function differently within the party (i.e. an engineer spawning AI party members, a seer who predicts what enemies will do) and then LATER wrote actual characters to match these. It wasn't until like 2-3 years later I finally came up with a rough plotline for these characters to follow (although who knows I might scrap it again for a new one).
[3] Wanted to make a game using a specific artstyle. Wanted to make a story about robots and a world after human extinction. Really enjoyed a proof-of-concept flash game about spellcasting mages and wanted a refined full version of it. Had a story for just the magic thing but threw it out. Mages/witchcraft and robots share little in common but thought it would be interesting to combine these radically different styles and wrote a very rough story about a robot who learns how to use magic.
[4] Years ago I expressed interest in making a certain type of CS mod alongside an acquaintance, but the idea was only gameplay with no story attached. Unrelated, I had recently did a crap ton of in-depth research on Cave Story for a (now on hiatus) iceberg project. Naturally there were multiple mysteries and unexplained details swimming about because of this. Out of nowhere I had an idea for two scenes in a CS continuation, which had nothing to do with each other and there was no gameplay attached to this. It wasn't until a couple of days later I realized I could combine all three of these things into one project, but there was still only two scenes and I later spent months writing the story just so everything connected. This involved rewriting a segment because of a plothole discovered by a friend and actually deciding that one of those two scenes won't be shown to the player after all, but nonetheless that's the creative journey it took.
The takeaway of those examples is that there isn't a set order to writing, and in most cases you can combine different things seemingly unrelated. Now, I can't exactly help you get those initial inspirations. For me it's kinda an uncontrollable process you have to listen to and explore when it does spark, but if all you have is a game mechanic idea it's fine to start and hone that first in the hope that the story comes later. Tons of games come like that, and stories are easier to change than gameplay anyways.

Also for characters my advice is to attempt to give everyone IMPORTANT (protagonists, antagonists and any character who has a lot of screentime) three things: A strength, a flaw, and a motivation/goal. You don't have to actually explicitly mention these for every character, nor do you need those flaws to be solved or the goals to be reached, but having them helps to have a consistent and interesting character. It doesn't even need to be complex, just one thing they are relatively good at ("being friendly" to "doesn't give up"), something that makes them imperfect ("stubborn/closeminded" to "can't think when flustered"), and something they are trying to do ("seek companionship" to "maintain an effortless life and avoid conflict"). Like I said you don't need to actually show all of these in your project, but it helps to have them written down to reference and brainstorm.
Willow
Willow
I recommend putting yourself on a 5-10 minute timer and writing short stories. It's real easy and good practice
You are in the middle of an extreme game of Uno. The tension is high unbearable as all players involved wait patiently for their turns.

The silence is broken by an announcement.

"Thanks for the sub!"
i'm sure this has been asked before countless times but what's up with all the bots targeting this forum
Eli
Eli
oh shit not our doritos
Cibryll
Cibryll
… Great, now I want Doritos. ;-;

I'm guessing adding questions to registration (like "who is the boss of the Labyrinth" or "which Mimiga is not a Mimiga" or something) wouldn't be of any use in deterring the bots? Or is that a more complicated issue?
DoubleThink
DoubleThink
Realtalk though I've never been able to figure it out, at some point we must've gotten classified as a "target site" or something and now they just keep coming here out of habit
Progress… five maps.
The sixth one (about 126x80 tiles) seems to slow BL down, but probably better to take my time rather than a rush job at making the map.
I wish there was a "flip map horizontally/vertically" option, haha.
X-Calibar
X-Calibar
Huh, almost thought there was something like that? Probably my imagination if you didn't see an option for it.
And nice, don't forget to backup!
Cibryll
Cibryll
Well, I'm stuck with version 0.4.5.0 since my mobile devices won't let me download Java for Windows and I can't open version 0.5.0.0…

Having to flip the maps by hand isn't easy (as an example, think something like First Cave, except the Hermit Gunsmith is to the lower-left, and that enemy door is to the upper-left).
Origin Cave was inspired by First Cave, but instead of doors, there'll be H/V triggers.
I'm putting more effort into Origin Cave than the mod it would've, er, originated from. (Though the Solar Soul Castle would be visible but inaccessible, probably.)

I'll remember to make back-ups! (Just have to find those CDs I back stuff up on... how I misplaced those I don't know.)
might start using this to post shit about mods im creating, but first i have to actually figure out how to use this website
Last night I dreamt about watching a TMF episode with time travel in it, couldnt find a thread for weird dreams so i'll just post a text file on my profile instead

Attachments

I actually have no idea where else to ask this hence I could not find a significant thread in Music, so I thought I would ask here.

Is there a way to convert a traditional MP3, WAV, or OGG file to an ORG file for use in the freeware version of Cave Story? I really want to add custom music to a mod I am working on using Resource Hacker, but I can only import .ORG files, otherwise the game would crash.

Does anyone have any idea?
AlmaHexie
AlmaHexie
HaydenStudios
HaydenStudios
Converting a complex sound file like MP3/WAV/OGG into the specific format or ORG is no simple task. In order to automate this, it requires a complex machine learning algorithm that can recognize sounds in an MP3, and translate them into the equivalent ORG file. There is actually a program that can do this though, but it's very expensive. The name of the program is GIRakaCHEEZER.
mxOZfY9.png


Days of working on the mod, fucking Windows does this shit. Unbelievable. I guess all I can do is recover most of the Stage and NPC files, along with the TSC files and copy it all in a new Cave Story directory.
Cibryll
Cibryll
Er… forgive me for asking (I can't view images on my mobile device :-/ ) but what did Windows do?
its
its
Apparently, Windows corrupted the main game file ('Doukutsu.exe') and upon opening it says, "The file or directory is corrupted and unreadable." Since nothing loads up in the game (because I cannot get that far with that error popping up) it does not output an 'error.txt' file to view what the problem is.

Quite unfortunate, I have been working on that mod for days, but it is all okay now - I restored it by copying all the TSC files and all the Stage files from the 'data' folder into a fresh Cave Story directory, then applied the appropriate tileset for some modified maps, and it was good to go. One of the TSC scripts got corrupted (and it was an extremely important script) on one of the maps, so I had to try my best to rewrite it all.

So, yeah, that all happened.
HaydenStudios
HaydenStudios
One of the reasons it's so important to constantly backup your mod, you never know when the whole thing might get corrupted.
Cave Story's 17th birthday is at hand.
U
Usar
well they really should update cs+ although it would also be nice to see something special besides bug fixes but then i'm asking too much lol.
its
its
I definitely see your point, though, a ten-year special would definitely be a great surprise after all these years. For instance, maybe a new character? Or more seasonal art for the special? I am sure they can whip something up.
U
Usar
Yep, I think they really should because of the importance of Cave Story to the indie game industry.
back again to mod me some cave story because I havent learned from last time
its
its
Never too late to mod some good ol' Cave Story, eh?
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