Dungeon Master Forum

So I was testing out using a full-screen (viewport) effect.

I tested the Viper spell from Lands of Lore as an attack method for a monster:



I've resized it to fill RTC res. I thought the best way of getting the spell to be in a fixed position in the viewport would be to do it as a flooritem, but I realise that won't work due to RTC adjusting the item's position depending on how far away from it you are (the viper appears to move up and down the screen as you walk to it/away from it).

I can't create it as a flying item because of the same problem.

Info screens won't work as they take over the entire screen, not just the viewport,

In fact, all possible avenues suffer from the problem that the item will re-scale depending on how far away you are.

I need the ability to place the viper image in a fixed spot that's independent of what the party do as they move around.

I don't think this is possible with existing mechanisms. Any thoughts?

EDIT: I had a thought that the attack could also create a PARTY_HOLDER on the party's current square, thus preventing them from moving while the spell is animated, but I think this would just annoy players and is a bit mean...

EDIT2: Woo..... 7000 posts!

congrats!

Darn, i thought your reply meant you had a solution.

Also, check your PMs....

Use a FLOORITEM_PARTYS_TILE object.

Where ever an object of that type is placed, whatever is on the same tile as it is drawn on the same tile as the party is on (where ever that might be).

It was designed for precisely this kind of thing!

So it moves with the party automatically?

So if I clone the FLOORITEM_PARTYS_TILE and make the outcome of a monster attack the creation of my new clone, the above spell would work?

ive just had a play with this feature and although it works - it depends on the orientation of the party. eg. if i put an item or a monster on this FLOORITEM_PARTYS_TILE then it will rotate or even leave view depending on which direction the party is facing. is there any workaround for this?

For my example, I imagine assigning the same front facing bitmaps to all views (front, back, sides etc.) will suffice. I haven't tried it yet.

OK, I had a play too and unfortunately it's not suitable.

PARTYS_TILE only targets where they currently stand. If they move, the item stays where it was created.

What's needed is an item that automatically follows the party around and that is always ON the party's tile.

The problem is compounded by the fact that the y-coordinate offset for flooritems is a relative measurement, designed to work with the positioning and scaling calculations.

We need a way of keeping something at a fixed point in the viewport. PARTYS_TILE doesn't offer that, unless I'm misunderstanding how its used.

Couldn't you drop a pressure pad aswell that activates when the party moves, and activates the move to party tile again?

Gambit this is my understanding of what you mean:
for an image/animation to stay at a fixed point on the screen, no matter which way the party faces or where they go to?

if this is what you mean, then the FLOORITEM_PARTYS_TILE should be what you need - load in your graphic or animation in as a single-scale image. clone a flooritem, and attach this image to it for north, south, east and west. then create a single square (somewhere secret), with the flooritem-partys-tile mechanic, and your new flooritem on top. make this invisible, and use a relay or whatever to enable/disable it as required. i have used this method to overlay a screen of text onto the screen during play.

if this is not what you mean, then my apologies

Black Eagle wrote:if this is what you mean, then the FLOORITEM_PARTYS_TILE should be what you need - load in your graphic or animation in as a single-scale image. clone a flooritem, and attach this image to it for north, south, east and west. then create a single square (somewhere secret), with the flooritem-partys-tile mechanic, and your new flooritem on top. make this invisible, and use a relay or whatever to enable/disable it as required. i have used this method to overlay a screen of text onto the screen during play.

This is exactly what I was thinking too.

@Black Eagle, excellent suggestion, that's exactly what I'm trying to do, I'll try it out.