SOME TECHNIQUES
1. Is there a way for a hotspot to be activated after
I click on another hotspot in a different location (without scripting)?
2. How to go to a frame or to another
frame depending on the value of a variable (without scripting)?
3. How to allow the player to open a door with a
key?
4. Is it possible to create a hotspot that
is on all or just some of the frames, without having to create it in every single frame?
5. How does the Dialogue Wizard work?
6. How to combine two inventory items?
7. How to get Adventure Maker to loop a video
within a frame?
8. How to resize a hotspot?
9. How to achieve a "fade in / fade
out" effect when going from one frame to another?
10. How to put frames into folder?
11. How to load a project that is located on
a network drive?
12. How to run images larger than 640x480?
13. Does Adventure Maker support files with the
"jpeg" extension?
14. Are global variables stored in the
savegames?
15. How to edit the rippling water masks?
16. Can I rename the project folder, as
well as move and copy it?
17. How to save a project?
18. The music starts over every time that I go
back to a frame. How can I fix that?
19. How to duplicate a folder?
20.
How to prevent the player from picking up several
copies of the same item?
21.
How to
run or display a frame for a very short time only, like 10 seconds for
example?
22.
How to make it so that when the player reloads a
saved game, the frame displayed is like a portal (...)
23.
Can I make some areas in 1st person
and some other areas in 3rd person?
24.
Can
I distribute a main game and then add expansion packs to it?
1. Is there a way for a hotspot to be activated after I click on another
hotspot at a different location (without scripting)?
Yes, through the use of variables
(NO scripting is required). Just follow these steps:
1. Go to the "Hotspot
Properties" of your first hotspot and change the first option that is under the
"variables" tab so that a variable becomes 1 when the hotspot is clicked.
2. Go to the Hotspot Properties
of your second hotspot and change the second option that is under the
"variables" tab so that the hotspot is activated (i.e. "visible" or
"enabled") only when the value of the variable is 1.
2. How to go to a frame or to another frame depending on the value of a
variable (without scripting)?
Just create two hotspots stacked
one on top of the other. Set the first hotspot to go to the first frame and the second
hotspot to go to the other frame.
Then use the options that are
under the "Variables" tab of the "Hotspot Properties" of each of the
two hotspots to make it so that the first hotspot is enabled only if the value of the
variable is 0, and the second hotspot is enabled only if the value of the variable is 1.
3.
How to allow the player to open a door with a key?
This question assumes that you
have already created an item named "Key" and that you already know how to add the item to
the inventory (otherwise, follow the tutorial "How to create a key that can be picked up?").
1. Create two frames: one with a
picture of the closed door, and the other one with the
picture of the open door.
2. Go to the frame with the picture of the closed door and create a new transparent
hotspot over the door (with the same size as the door). When the "Hotspot Properties"
window pops up, just click OK without selecting any options.
3. Now click "Manage Inventory Items..." from the menu on the left. Select the
"Key" item and DRAG-AND-DROP it onto the hotspot that is over
the door (in other words, hold down the left mouse button on the item, and release it
when you are on the hotspot). A special "Hotspot Properties" window
will
automatically pop up when you release the left mouse button on the hotspot.
4. Under the "General" tab of that special "Hotspot Properties"
window, select "Go to
another frame", and choose the frame with the picture of the open door. Then click OK.
That's all! Now start your game in the frame with the closed door. You will
notice that it is possible to open the door by drag-and-dropping the key onto the door.
4.
Is it possible to create a hotspot that is on all or just some of the frames, without
having to create it in every single frame?
Yes, the "Runtime Frames
Merging" function makes it possible. Just create a new frame (called for example
"Toolbar"), then create a hotspot on that frame, and then go to the
"Runtime Frames Merging" window (from the PROJECT MENU) to merge that frame will
all or some of the other frames. You can easily undo the operation at any time later by
reopening the "Runtime Frames Merging" window.
5.
How does the dialogue wizard work?
The Dialogue Wizard allows
creating conversations between the player and the characters of your game (or
application). It can also be used for other purposes, such as the quick creation of menus,
tutorials, and other similar stuff.
When using the Dialogue Wizard,
you will notice that there are "Questions" and "Answers". The
"Questions" are those that the player can ask to the game characters. The
"Answers" are those that the game characters will give to the player. If you
want to give the player the possibility to answer a question made by the game characters,
just create "Questions" that are answers and "Answers" that are
questions.
The best way to fully understand
how this works is to experiment a little with it. Here is a short tutorial that will guide
you through the creation of your first dialogue:
Tutorial:
1. Go to the frame that contains the character you want to talk to,
2. Click "Dialogue Wizard" from the menu on the left,
3. Click "Create New Question",
4. Enter both a question and an answer,
5. Click OK,
6. If you want to create more questions, click "Create New Question" again, and
repeat the steps 4 and 5.
7. Once you have finished creating questions, click OK to close the dialogue wizard.
8. Now start the game and move to the frame that contains the dialogue. You will see that
you have the opportunity to ask questions to the character and get the answers.
Notice that when you create a
dialogue inside a frame, the dialogue will automatically start when the player goes to
that frame.
Also note that while the dialogue is open, you can move to another frame without causing
the dialogue to disappear.
The dialogue will disappear only when all the questions have been set as
"hidden" (i.e. when there is nothing else to ask), or when the player clicks on
a question that is supposed to "quit the dialogue", as specified in the
"Question Properties" window (i.e., in order to create a question that will
cause the conversation to stop, check the option "Quit the dialogue after this
question (stop conversation)" that is under the "General" tab of the
"Question Properties" window).
6.
How to combine two inventory items?
The tutorial below you show you
how to make it so that when the player drags-and-drops the ITEM1 onto the ITEM2, the two
items disappear from the inventory, and a third ITEM3 appears.
Tutorial:
1. Go to the "Frame Editor" of any frame in your game (to do so, just
select a frame, and then click "Edit Selected Frame"),
2. Click "Manage Inventory Items". The window titled "Inventory
Items List" should appear.
3. Create the three items by clicking on the "Create New Item" button.
4. Once you have created ITEM1, ITEM2 and ITEM3, click "Using items on each
other" from the menu on the left,
5. Click "Create New Event". A new window should appear.
6. Select ITEM1 and ITEM2 from the two available drop-down lists,
7. Check all the 3 options that are available ("remove the first item",
"remove the second item" and "add a new item"),
8. Select ITEM3 from the drop-down list at the bottom.
9. Click OK to confirm.
10. Click "Back to project menu" to continue working on your game.
7.
How do I get Adventure Maker to loop a video within a frame?
Just create a new hotspot. When
the "Hotspot Properties" window appears, choose the option "Looping
video" that is under the "Hotspot appearance" section. Then click
"Click here to select a file", and import the video file that you want to loop.
Then click OK to close the "Hotspot Properties" window.
8.
How to resize a hotspot?
Simply right-click on the
hotspot. When the context menu pops up, click "Resize". Then move the mouse
until you find the size that suits your needs, and then single-click with the left mouse
button to validate.
9.
How to achieve a "fade in / fade out" effect when going from one frame to
another?
Just select "Display a
full-screen transition" from the "Hotspot Properties" window, under the
"Go to another frame" option. Then select "alphablending" from the
drop-down list, and specify the duration of the fade in / fade out effect.
10.
How to put frames into folders?
First load a project. Then click
"Show Folders" at the bottom of the "Frames Management" window. The
list of folders should appear on the left. Click "Create New folder" to add
folders to your project.
To move your frames from a folder
to another, just select one or more frames, and drag-and-drop them into the destination
folder.
Note that you can also move the
frames from one folder to another by right-clicking on a folder, and then clicking
"Organize Frames..." from the context menu. A special window will appear,
allowing you to move the frames from one folder to another.
11.
How to load a project that is located on a network drive?
Since the "Load
Project" window shows only the drive letters and not the other computers on the
network, you must map the network drives so that they appear as a drive letter on your
computer.
To do so, simply right-click on
the icon "My Computer" that is on the Windows desktop, and click "Map
network drive". A new window will appear. Select a network drive, and also select the
letter that you want to associate with it. Then click OK, launch Adventure Maker, click
"Load Project...", and select the drive with the letter that you have chosen.
12.
How to run images larger than 640x480?
To do that, just follow these
steps:
1. Run Adventure Maker,
2. Load a project,
3. Click "Project Properties",
4. Go to the "Options" tab,
5. Increase the "Frame Size" (choose "custom" from the
drop-down list and enter the width and the height in the corresponding text fields).
13.
Does Adventure Maker support files with the "jpeg" extension?
Yes, but you need to manually
change their extension to "jpg" (instead of "jpeg").
14. Are global variables stored in the savegames?
Yes, global variables are stored
in the savegames.
15.
How to edit the rippling water masks?
The rippling water masks are
black-and-white pictures that tell Adventure Maker to which pixels the rippling water
effect must be applied. They are saved as files that have the RWM extension, under the
"Frames" sub-folder of the project folder. To edit them, just change their
extension to BMP, open them with MS Paint or any other drawing program, and then change
their extension back to RWM.
16.
Can I rename the project folder, as well as move and copy it?
Yes, you can safely rename, move
and copy the project folder.
17. How to save a project?
There is no need to save a
project, because every time that you make a change to the project, the change is
automatically saved. For that reason you cannot lose information, not even if you
experience a system crash.
To try out some changes that you
are not really sure about, it is recommended that you create backup copies of the frames
that are concerned with the changes. To do so, just use the "duplicate" function
that is on the context menu that appears when you right-click on a frame thumbnail.
18. The music starts over every time that I go to back to a frame. How
can I fix that?
Just use the "Audio" tab of
the "Frame Properties" window instead of using the "Audio" tab of the "Hotspot
Properties" window.
19. How to duplicate a
folder?
To duplicate a folder that
contains several frames:
1. Create a new folder,
2. Select all the frames from the folder that you want to duplicate,
3. Right-click on the frames and choose "Duplicate",
4. The duplicated frames will be automatically selected. Just drag-and-drop
them into the new folder.
20. How to prevent the player from picking up several copies of the same
item?
Go to the Hotspot Properties
of the item to pick up and check the option "Hide and disable this hotspot (permanently)"
that is under the "Action" tab.
21. How to run or display a frame for a very short time only,
like 10 seconds for example?
To display a frame for 10
seconds only, go to the "Frame Properties" window, and check the option
"Enable Timer". Enter "10" next to "Interval" and choose the destination
frame (choose "[LAST VISITED FRAME]" to go back to the previous frame).
22. How to make it
so that when the player reloads a saved game, the frame displayed is
like a portal that the player must enter that will return the player to
their last position in the game. I have different music tracks in different
areas of the game and would use this 'jumping in' point to load the
appropriate music based on a global variable that constantly monitors the
region of the game that the player is in within the game.
This is
exactly what the "Resume Locations" feature of Adventure Maker is for. Just
click "Set Resume Locations..." from the Project Menu of Adventure Maker (available
only when creating a game for Windows) and follow the on-screen
instructions. This will make it so that the portal is displayed when the
game is resumed.
Then, in
your portal frame, use the "Go back to the last visited frame" command that
is under the "Hotspot Properties" window to return to the last position in
the game.
23. Can I make some
areas in 1st person and some other areas in 3rd person?
Yes. Just
follow the instructions for creating a
third-person game, and then, in the frames that you want to be 1st
person, just uncheck the option "Show the Third Person Plugin character"
from the "Plugins" tab of the "Frame Properties" window.
24. Can I
distribute a main game and then add
expansion packs to it?
Yes, but
creating and distributing expansion packs is not very easy to do.
You can
distribute the expansion packs in ZIP archives, and then tell the users to
extract them into the directory where the game was installed. You must tell
them to overwrite all the existing files, and to preserve the directories
structure of the ZIP archive.
To create
the ZIP archive for the expansion pack, just install the whole updated game
on your computer, then go to "c:\Program Files\YourGame" and remove all the
files that you don't want to include in the expansion pack. You must be sure
to include in the expansion pack enough files to prevent the game from not
working any longer. Then, compress the whole folder into a zip archive, and
you are done.
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