LasombraDemon

https://youtu.be/V95dK6b0ySM

The whole set of RotD stages is ready.

A new SCTRL is allowing us to actually expand and shrink stage areas! This is a gamechanger.

More advances in the multi-scene stage system.

https://www.mediafire.com/file/03cjm54pmu0zs2y/Arena+System.7z/file

Hey there! New release of Slammasters 2, this time the Mexico stage. Tons of interactives here, plus a polished rope system. Stage, as before, is done by Foobs. https://files.catbox.moe/jbz964.zip

Slammasters 2 London Stage, with full bells and whistles! Foobs did the stage and had the patience to do amazing playtesting, I did the interactives' coding. - You can bounce off from the ropes of the stage. - You can trigger a special ko using special/super grabs. - The crowd will react to the fight. https://files.catbox.moe/zjxzpg.zip Enjoy!

Interactive Stages in IKEMEN Go: AttachedChar Tutorial tutorial v 1.0 by Lasombra Demon for the IKEMEÑ Discord https://discord.gg/5CTvExHDhB For many, many years we have wanted to make stages with interactive objects in MUGEN. Whether it's breaking Ken's barrels in SF2, the falling floor on Wolverine's stage in Marvel Super Heroes, or facing the famous Deathmatch stages of World Heroes 1 and 2, doing fatal blows on stages like in Mortal Kombat 2 (and Eternal Champions)... Not so for Bonus Stages, since those are easily doable since the MUGEN DOS days and it is not necessary to use this use this feature; you just program a normal character to be the Bonus stage. Why is it interactive stages have not been common and widespread, then? =0.1: A history of interactive stages in MUGEN =0.2: Remembering some elements of the stages =1.0: What is AttachedChar (AC)? =1.1: How to put a AC in a stage? =1.2: Why do you use a ".CHR" extension? =2.0: What should a AC have? =2.1: The two types of interactive stages =3.0: The only aesthetic interactive stage =3.1: Putting deltas to character objects, the trick of PotS and Ricepigeon =3.2: Imitating Sin.Y =3.3: ModifyBGCtrl, the real interactivity with scenery =3.4: The real challenge, layers and sprpriorities =3.5: Using explods when you have to =4.0: The fully interactive scenery 5.0: Using a single AC for many stages =5. =X: What's to come =6.0: Examples and references =7.0: Special thanks =0.1: A history of interactive stages in MUGEN The short answer is because the engine at the time was clearly not made for that. The long answer is that, until now, it was necessary to solve the lack of truly interactive for stages in MUGEN by implementing code, graphics, animations and sounds in the characters, which then had to detect which stage they were in, to then activate all those elements. In the older times (WinMugen just released, back in 2004), p1startz and p2startz were used for the characters to detect which stage they were in; the zoffset method. Electr0, Syn and others did a lot of this. From MUGEN 1.0 onwards, stages could be detected by stagename and authorname, specific triggers for this. But this implied copying many lines of code, drawings, sounds and animations into each of the characters, a solution far from the kind of global implementation that should be sought in something like the MUGEN engine. Many times crucial variables or states were replaced, functionality was broken, and it it was honestly a nuisance to modify all that if you had a significant amount of stages and characters. On the other hand, using the common.cns, in the words of Syn (one of the authors of the most interesting interactive stages), was not a good idea because the characters often overwrite those and use their own code. Then IKEMEN Go and its AttachedChar enters the scene. =0.2: Remembering some stage elements The excellent basic tutorial for stage creation made by Cybaster made a few years ago is worth a read: https://mugenguild.com/forum/all./topics/complete-stage-creation-tutorial-104470.0.html We are going to assume that the contents of that tutorial and the basic one by Elecbyte are already familiar to the reader; http://www.elecbyte.com/mugendocs/bgs.html. =1.0: What is AttachedChar (AC)? "AttachedChar" is a functionality of IKEMEN Go to be able to generate a programmable entity neutral to the fight between Player 1 and Player 2 teams. For identification purposes, if we are going to consider each team has 4 Players (Players 1 and Player 2), then we have 4 Players in each. Players 1, 3, 5 and 7 are one, and 2, 4, 6, and 8 are the other; then the AC will be player number 9. It can kill the other characters but cannot win the round, nor continue or have a game over, nor be selected by anyone. It is only summoned when playing in the stage where it is referenced. Nor does it appear in the "select.def". They are simply integrated into a stage. ACs are, on the other hand, like any other character. For their creation there are plenty of tutorials, and the basic steps to create those exceed the scope of this tutorial. Suffice it to know that ACs have sprites, animations, sounds, code and definitions, like any other character. I don't mention palettes because there can only be one AttachedChar per combat, therefore selecting varied palettes doesn't even make sense. =1.1: How to put an AC in a stage? If we want to add the AC to the game, it must be integrated into any stage. To do this, we will write in the [Info] section of any stage a line with the parameter. "AttachedChar=", and refer to the ".DEF" of our AC. Example (without quotes): "AttachedChar = KFMStageInteractive.DEF" =1.2: Why do you use a ".CHR" extension? When I noticed that the definition files of the interactive objects are .DEF, an identical extension to those of the stages, I figured it would be a problem to differentiate one from the other. I decided then to use the extension ".CHR" for the ACs, and the file is still text. On the other hand, Winane's "Small" creation taught us that there is no need to have a thousand files for each character. Small only had a .DEF file containing all the contents of the CMD, the CNS, the ST, the DEF, and the AIR. The key is in the order; first the DEF, then the CMD, then the ST and CNS, then the animations (the only detail is that if we work in ZSS this must go in a separate file, it cannot be mixed with CNS in the same file). This allows for two things: to compress almost all the AC to a single file, on the one hand, and to distinguish that file from the rest. =2.0: What should be in a AC? The first thing that one should notice with the AC is that it does not use the character itself, but rather helpers of the character itself. The character itself in fact is better not used, so we use the following commands to guarantee it does not interfere with combat, in the -4 of the code. -Assertspecial with invisible, noshadow, and noautoturn -TagOut Other SCTRLs that are highly useful: -AttackDist = 0 so that characters in the fight don't try to block the AC, -Screenbound to get out of camera, and the MoveCamera parameter according to the desired effect (the best way to manipulate the camera is still to create a giant helper and move it), -NotHitBy with SCA just in case, -PlayerPush with 0 just in case. When creating the Helper, it is important to use two new parameters of IKEMEN Go, which are Immortal = 1 and Preserve = 1. The first one so that they do not kill our instrument of interaction with the game world, the second so that when the intro is skipped it does not disappear, and it remains from round to round. =2.1: The two types of interactive stages While this is a rather arbitrary distinction, it makes sense to start by thinking of at least two common types of interactive stages; those that are interactive in a purely aesthetic sense (Darkstalkers, Street Fighter 2, King of Fighters, Moral Kombat 2), and those that have elements that do affect the combat (items in Samurai Shodown 1 and 2, ring outs, World Heroes in Deathmatch mode). This type of distinction is crucial when designing and deciding on aspects of the creation to be made. =3.0: The purely aesthetic interactive stage Let's think of a purely aesthetic interaction. The girls in the Boxer stage of Street Fighter 2 take off their hats when the round is over. As a Trigger we will surely use RoundState = 3, so that at the end of the round we define the change of animation of the girls. This would involve using one of three strategies: -Make the girls as Helpers. -Make the girls as Explods. -Make the girls as an element of the stage itself. Creating them as Helpers has the advantage that it allows their absolute manipulation, because we have great control of the helpers. Creating them as Explods has the advantage that it consumes less resources, but their manipulation is harder and more complex. But IKEMEN Go allows to change the animation of the Explods by modifyexplod, so we can at least try. We should also use IKEMEN Go's unique IKEMEN Go exclusive parameter called "under", so that they are behind the characters and life bars. Creating them as objects on the stage has the advantage of allowing us to interact with "layers" of the stage in another way. For the first two, we will need to use a complex trick to "simulate" the delta in a helper. =3.1: Putting deltas to character objects, the trick of PotS and Ricepigeon One of the points that one observes when creating a helper or an explod is that it follows the same speed of movement as the characters, i.e., it gives the impression of being in the same plane. The elements of the scenery have an equivalent to that, which is called Delta. It is enough to remember that a delta of 1 corresponds to the plane of the characters, and a delta of 0 is a totally immobile object. In other words: the higher the delta, the "closer" the object appears to be. But objects created by characters do not have this parameter, so we will have to craft an alternative. The best thing to do is to create a helper with ScreenBound = 0, and constantly refer to the X Position of that helper with the following formula(without quotes): "x = ceil(helper(No Of Helper),pos x * 0.75); to simulate a delta = 0.75, 1." This allows you to "follow" the extra helper (which functions as a reference point), without getting lost. If you are going to do it with explods, it is necessary to remember to use "bindtime = -2" because the idea is to follow the helper. =3.2: Imitating Sin.Y Another point that is a challenge is to imitate the speed of the elements of the stages. If we are going to do something like this, it is important that the element has very high SuperMoveTime and PauseMoveTime, in order to maintain synchrony with the elements of the background in case there is a pause that allows movement of the stage (pause with pausebg = 0). The trick to imitate the Sin parameter of the stages with a character, is to use the following formula. Suppose the formula is "sin.Y = -10, 220"; then for the PosSet of the character you should use: "y = - 10 * Sin ((2 * (pi) /220.0) * time)". Special thanks to Whiplash for the mathematical help. =3.3: ModifyBGCtrl, true interactivity with stages So far we have used only Triggers and SCTRLs assembled for "normal" characters, and made them do stage functionalities. But IKEMEN Go implemented a special SCTRL for the AttachedChars: ModifyBgCtrl. It allows, by using a parameter called SCTRLID, to modify the values of a BGCtrl. You probably remember clearly that BGCtrls allow you to do almost anything with the elements of a stage... The list of what they can do is visible, enable, velset, veladd, posset, posadd, anim, sinx and siny. The trick I use is to start by setting the BgCTRL to a null value, and change it via the SCTRL when I want. I attach an example where I hide element 3 from the stage after 2 seconds. This requires two parts, one in the stage itself (the element to hide has an ID of 3), [BGCtrl 3] type = Visible time = 1,99999,-1 value = 1 sctrlid = 3 And one in the AC code [State Hide] trigger1 = Time = 120 ignorehitpause=1 persistent=1 supermovetime = 99999 pausemovetime = 99999 type = ModifyBGCtrl SctrlID = 3 ID = 3 value = 0 And why complicate things like that? =3.4: The real challenge, layers and sprpriorities As any stage dev knows, the order in which the elements of a stage are drawn is static, and you start with the objects furthest back and finish the file with those on top. This kind of thing is unchangeable in IKEMEN Go... Unless we assemble duplicate elements and make them visible or invisible at will. What is unchangeable for now, is that you can't intersperse stage elements (that are not in a layer in front of the characters), with character objects. That is, explods and helpers. This demands extra planning and care when developing each interactive stage. =3.5: Using explods when you must On the other hand, someone reading this tutorial may think I am discarding explods. Nothing could be further from the truth. In my experience and as a piece of advice, it is almost always better to test an effect using an explod and then start using other alternatives (especially if the effect doesn't need to be between the stage layers). Another crucial example is when you make fatalities or animations that include the characters in the fight; in that case it is practically mandatory to use explods because manipulating the character itself is more complex. You can simply use an Explod and RedirectID to redirect the effect of the Explod to any player. =4.0: The full interactive stage This applies the resources used in the aesthetic stage.... But maximizes them. With what? With whatever is needed. The first thing is that this will mean starting to use helpers with active collision boxes, with frames, with LifeAdd and PowerAdd effects... And HitDefs. Only here you can really start to glimpse the potential of IKEMEN Go stages even as a narrative tool.^ =5.0: Use a single AC for many stages This trick is useful when working on a very large project ^^ It is best to simply create a single file with all the effects, another one with all the sounds, and just one for code; and in the code file use a trigger that is StageVar(info.name) to decide which effects to do. Then simply add the same AC to all the stages, and the AC itself will detect which stage we are in. =X: What's to come Talking with IKEMEN Go devs over the past couple of years has filled me with excitement about the future of the engine. Specifically, about stages and their interactivity, there's been talk for some time now about several improvements. One of them could be something like "ModifyStageConst", allowing to "widen" the stages, for example. This would make it possible to make MvC1's Honda's bathroom stage with real destructible walls, or the Power Instinct and Rage of the Dragons stages where you break barriers before they expand. The other big addition that has been mentioned is the ability to do platforming, something that would add enormous possibilities to mimic Smash Bros type levels with more ease. =6.0: Examples and references ^I made several stages of this type, from those of World Heroes in Deathmatch to Hikyaku from Samurai Shodown, which throws items and bombs on the stage. The biggest stage so far, with several modes and changes that was made, to my knowledge, is SFvsMK. ^^As I did with all the stages of the Double Dragon saga of Neo Geo. =7.0: Special thanks K4thos and Gacel for carrying the torch left to them by Suehiro. Kamekaze and the Discord People of IKEMEN Cyanide, 2OS, Cybaster, Whiplash and the Guild's Discord People XGargoyle and the IKEMEÑ Discord People

Full Universal Water Effect released: https://youtu.be/CtRRryUJg-E

To not clog the Dojo, I'll gather my releases here. Full stagepack of Fighter's History Dynamite with interactives, released: https://youtu.be/pQkYH4Y6mSs

Stage by Foobs, who is an excellent betatester!

I don't think I've announced my latest WIP here!

All set, ppl! Give it a try! https://www.mediafire.com/file/hvle5gdi3bvpvu2/UniversalWaterEffect.7z/file

Latest WIP. More coming soon!

Full release, please report any bugs. https://www.mediafire.com/file/fy0f89vtg4htuyv/SAMSHO_1-3.7z/file

Can IKEMEN creators apply, too?

This is my stagepack folder, in here you can get most of my stuff. Some of it: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1aOSX-mi6iId0LrAV4-5V03NzsRhP9RY_?usp=sharing And, for a real NEW release, the Screenpack with new fully IKEMEN-compatible lifebars that my buddy Taybear helped me cook (video is outdated): https://www.mediafire.com/file/ncmn69zvtcxpur5/MvCIKEMEN.7z/file

Thanks! All that stuff is what's already done. And most of it is already released. Will make a thread in the IKEMEN section.

Leecher? What's this, 2007? But now seriously, hey there. Lasombra Demon, Argentinian, psychologist, 37. Been around since... 2000? 2001? Did a couple stages back then. A fullgame project that was never released. More than anything in MUGEN, I always wanted stage interactivity... Which was impossible back then without hacking and patching and breaking stuff in the process. The old engine could only go so far. So, when IKEMEN's AttachedChar feature came out, I started. Took other people's stages and developed the interactives that were missing. All of them are done thinking of a universal scenario, not a closed fullgame. Play them in Simul 4v4 using Sub Zero and Super Mario and Goku and Ryu verus KFM and Terry and Zero and whatever you want, they should work. All World Heroes deathmatch stages, which were my main motivation to start this in the first place. Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct and Eternal Champions stage fatalities. Street Fighter 2, Fatal Fury and Fighter's History barrels and breakable stuff. A Geese stage with a whole cutscene transition from the tower to the street fight. Interactive cameos and crowds that cheer when someone is knocked down. Three referees and that one guy from Samurai Shodown that throws items into the ring. The whole batch of Neo Geo Double Dragon stages. Stages that change lighting and music when you've reached certain amounts of damage. Traps that damage you, bridges that break and make you fall. Stages with secret fatalities. All in all it's over 100 interactives, and I don't plan to stop soon. I've now done collaborations with a ton awesome stage creators, and made some new friends along the way. I'm glad to be here.

Thanks! Now, I just have to update/sort out *all* my MUGEN stuff.