Well, I've recently just started working on the new monsters for the expansion pack, and something's been bugging me: the sprite area is incredibly tiny! When I originally started work on Midnight Mansion back in 2001, I had a 13" Cathode-Ray-Tube based monitor, set to 640x480 resolution. And the sprite area was perfectly large. But today on my 20" iMac, it's downright tiny!

So whenever 1.0.8 is released, you'll have a nice bigger sprite area to work with. ;-)

-Vern

P.S. The new monster additions are also visible in this screenshot, although they currently don't do anything. It takes a lot of work to just add new sprites to the game, let alone make them actually *do* something. I'm still working on the former part.

VernJensen wrote on 11.01.2007 at 13:29:08:

Well, I've recently just started working on the new monsters for the expansion pack, and something's been bugging me: the sprite area is incredibly tiny! When I originally started work on Midnight Mansion back in 2001, I had a 13" Cathode-Ray-Tube based monitor, set to 640x480 resolution. And the sprite area was perfectly large. But today on my 20" iMac, it's downright tiny! So whenever 1.0.8 is released, you'll have a nice bigger sprite area to work with. ;-).

Oh Vern, you won't believe how good that sounds to me....!! You'll make us very happy.....
I hurt my eyes while creating my first mansion (on a 19" screen).... Stupid me didn't realise (until my 2nd mansion) that I just could change the resolution..... but even then I have a hard time telling one background tile apart from the other....
(That's whay I almost never create/use those layer-0 windows..... its tiles just all look black to me !!!).

I'm looking forward to your new monsters !!

That'll be great! Even changing the resolution on my monitor when I built my one and only mansion, the sprite area was still too small.

Love the new sprites, very cute.

8-)

aquaMat wrote on 11.01.2007 at 16:25:39:

(That's whay I almost never create/use those layer-0 windows..... its tiles just all look black to me !!!)

I would never do layer 0 stuff by hand. Look at the Empty Mansion. There's a room full of windows/arches/jail cells in layer 0. Just use the selection tool, copy, and paste into your room. :-)

Same thing for ladders, vines, etc. Check out the various rooms for this purpose in Empty mansion.

VernJensen wrote on 11.01.2007 at 13:29:08:

...just started working on the new monsters for the expansion pack,...

Do we have to buy the new expansion pack or will it be an update that we can install if it finds MM registered on the computer? Will there be more mansions?  :-?

Btw, when ever the newest version comes out, make selecting layer have hotkeys? Like to select layer one, you press Command + 1. That would make it alot better. Then I wouldn't have to go into the menu and scroll down and select... I have a laptop, and I hate scrolling down menus with it.  ;)

Also, there's ladybugs on vines in Mario!  ;D

Cheers,
Wingy

VernJensen wrote on 12.01.2007 at 01:50:09:

aquaMat wrote on 11.01.2007 at 16:25:39: (That's whay I almost never create/use those layer-0 windows..... its tiles just all look black to me !!!) I would never do layer 0 stuff by hand. Look at the Empty Mansion. There's a room full of windows/arches/jail cells in layer 0. Just use the selection tool, copy, and paste into your room. :-) Same thing for ladders, vines, etc. Check out the various rooms for this purpose in Empty mansion.

@Vern:  As good + helpful as it is that these things are there to be copied, I have hardly ever used them....for several reasons:

1. For vines and ladders etc. .... I usually want every ladder etc. to look a bit different from the last one, so I'm reluctant to just copy and paste the same one again.... it takes longer, but makes the rooms a bit 'different' and more 'realistic'.

2. As far as backgrounds are concerned, the windows I did use on a few occasions, but usually I do try to create "new things" in the background too, and it's always a lot of trial & error while choosing the right tiles.

Therefore I can only beg with you, while you're at it...please do make the tiles area also bigger, not just the sprites area (as in the picture above) !!!    :)

aquaMat wrote on 13.01.2007 at 05:38:56:

1. For vines and ladders etc. .... I usually want every ladder etc. to look a bit different from the last one, so I'm reluctant to just copy and paste the same one again.... it takes longer, but makes the rooms a bit 'different' and more 'realistic'. 2. As far as backgrounds are concerned, the windows I did use on a few occasions, but usually I do try to create "new things" in the background too, and it's always a lot of trial & error while choosing the right tiles. Therefore I can only beg with you, while you're at it...please do make the tiles area also bigger, not just the sprites area (as in the picture above) !!!    :)

For 1, what I do is still copy & paste the entire ladder, then use the eye-dropper tool (Option-click) to select certain parts of the tiles from what I copied, and draw them into other parts. This way, I can *very* quickly change the ladder to be different each time, but still use the copy and paste method, and never have to go to the Tiles menu.

As for making the tiiles area bigger, I'm not sure if this is easily done, but I might look into it. The thing is, if I did make it bigger, they would be "blown up" and very pixelated. I'm not sure if it would help much.

-Vern

Anthony wrote on 12.01.2007 at 05:44:48:

Do we have to buy the new expansion pack or will it be an update that we can install if it finds MM registered on the computer? Will there be more mansions?  :-?

You need to buy the expansion pack for the new monsters. The expansion pack will contain 1 or 2 new pieces of background music, a lot of replaced tile artwork, 4 new monsters, and all-new mansions. The mansions will be designed by *you*! Once the expansion pack is ready, I will hold a level design contest. Those entering will get access to the new editor, and can design mansions to enter into the contest. Something like $300 first place, $200 second place, $100 third, and $50 for all others.

Jacob Vann (of Nightmare Mansion and Spider Palace) will also be contributing one or two mansions to the expansion pack.

So hopefully it'll be worth paying for. :-) It costs a fair amount of money to pay for all the mansions/music/etc. so I need to try to make that back.

-Vern

Anthony wrote on 12.01.2007 at 05:44:48:

Btw, when ever the newest version comes out, make selecting layer have hotkeys? Like to select layer one, you press Command + 1. That would make it alot better. Then I wouldn't have to go into the menu and scroll down and select... I have a laptop, and I hate scrolling down menus with it.  ;)

Done!

Will be in version 1.0.8.

-Vern

aquaMat wrote on 13.01.2007 at 05:38:56:

Therefore I can only beg with you, while you're at it...please do make the tiles area also bigger, not just the sprites area (as in the picture above) !!!    :)

Done!

Man, I love it when it turns out my old code is well-written and easy to change. :-)

Not sure if everyone will like the change --- there's fewer tiles visible at a time now, but I hope everyone likes it.

---

Love it, love it, love it! When will all this be ready?
Thanks.

8-)

Together with your ... ... ... hacienda? ;)

@Vern:  Wonderful !!
Especially the big tiles area !!   :)

And - one other thing: you mentioned new music. A couple of days ago, while "checking" the music IDs for my Palace Of Gore, I actually played MM with the music ON for a continued amount of time. Putting the music off is usually the first thing I do in  ANY video game (even there have been progressions made in this area in some games).
However, I hate to say it, with you being so nice and everything.... but the music in MM is particularily bad. (Sorry).  Maybe I'm over-sensitive in this field, as music is not only my job, but also a real passion for me (with records even blocking the way to the bed etc....).

The music in MM (as in most other video games) sounds like the auto-pöay mode of a Portable Keyboard (that belongs to an ageing entertainer in a 3-star hotel lounge in Mallorca). Mmh, you get the picture (sorry I got carried away....). :)

Please feel free to contact me anytime should the need for music arise.
Even with the limitations of mp3 and restricted length you can do pretty good stuff these days.....

Freddy wrote on 16.01.2007 at 03:44:59:

Together with your ... ... ... hacienda? ;)

I have finally started playing around with custom graphics, so I hope inspiration will strike and I can get myself busy making another mansion. I could find the time to do it if I didn't spend so much time actually playing MM. Oh the irony.

:-/

aquaMat wrote on 16.01.2007 at 07:29:29:

However, I hate to say it, with you being so nice and everything.... but the music in MM is particularily bad. (Sorry).  Maybe I'm over-sensitive in this field, as music is not only my job, but also a real passion for me (with records even blocking the way to the bed etc....).

That's funny because music consistently got the highest marks in reviews. (MacWorld, InsideMacGames, and others.) It sounds a bit more like your own perspective. I personally think the music is great.

However, you're welcome to contact me at the ActionSoft support email and refer me to samples of your work. I'll always consider new options.

Part of the reason, perhaps, that you're bugged by the music in Midnight Mansion is that we specifically wanted something that was *background*. We wanted to limit each piece to aboout 2 minutes for download size reasons, and it's VERY easy for that to become very repetive and drive you nuts when you play the same mansion for 30 minutes or whatever. So we wanted to avoid that by not making it stand out too much. I think we succeeded pretty well.

But anyway, send me some samples of your work if you think you can do better.

VernJensen wrote on 17.01.2007 at 03:44:16:

aquaMat wrote on 16.01.2007 at 07:29:29: However, I hate to say it, with you being so nice and everything.... but the music in MM is particularily bad. (Sorry).  Maybe I'm over-sensitive in this field, as music is not only my job, but also a real passion for me (with records even blocking the way to the bed etc....). That's funny because music consistently got the highest marks in reviews. (MacWorld, InsideMacGames, and others.) It sounds a bit more like your own perspective. I personally think the music is great. However, you're welcome to contact me at the ActionSoft support email and refer me to samples of your work. I'll always consider new options..

Hi Vern:

I guess I might have been a bit 'harsh' in my last remark about the music. ;)

Of course you are right, the majority of games out there has music that is MUCH WORSE than that of MM. Last night I listened to the background music files again on their own (not from within the game)...and they're really not that bad.

However, I still think that it could be done better, and will e-mail you some samples of my work.
I also do think that there are more and more games out there, which do feature better music than MM.... a German colleague of mine has recently hired a whole symphony orchestra for a game music project (!!), although I have to admit that this was a big budget game, probably PS3 or something.

Please watch your mailbox, I'll make it several mails (to be faster).

Yeah, budget is definitely a consideration. I talked with one musician who had done music for an Ambrosia game as well as at least one of Brian Greenstone's games, and it would've cost over $1000 per minute of music. That's *way* above what I could afford.

I was very happy to get the quality of music that I got for the price I paid.

In the end, I know MM's music doesn't compare with the very best out there... Some day, I'd like to get music of a similar quality as those from certain Nintendo games, like Super Metroid or some of the Zelda classics. They have these themes that stick in your head, and you even play the music on its own, just to hear it again -- it's that good. I'd *love* to get music that awesome for future games.

But musicians that good are extremely rare, and you need a very good budget to hire them. :-)

I don't mind the music in MM. I play a LOT, and it still doesn't drive me crazy hearing it over and over again, like in some games. I think it fits the game.

8-)

I agree.  The music in MM fits the game like XO cognac fits Havana cigar ;)

I also noticed how nice effect it can be to have NO music in a "quiet" room after a havoc room, like the saving room after the zoo in the hard area of my BtSO.

@Vern:

While you're at it, re-designing the sprites area i mean, I have one more suggestion for you:

For some reason you have left out 1 sort of brick-switch / moving platform until now - there are switches / platforms in every color BUT NOT in brown.... so whenever I am creating an area in brown colors, using brown bricks etc., I have a problem, as there is no platform / switch to go along with it.  I always have to use another color...

I'm not quite sure, why you left them out, maybe it wasn't needed in the original mansions.

However, it would be a very welcome addition for all of us, I think.

(And I guess, it shouldn't be too complicated to add it, would it ??)   ;)

VernJensen wrote on 16.01.2007 at 02:22:04:

aquaMat wrote on 13.01.2007 at 05:38:56: Therefore I can only beg with you, while you're at it...please do make the tiles area also bigger, not just the sprites area (as in the picture above) !!!    :) Done! Man, I love it when it turns out my old code is well-written and easy to change. :-) Not sure if everyone will like the change --- there's fewer tiles visible at a time now, but I hope everyone likes it.

Hey, that looks kind of familiar... ;)

That looks like the entrance to the Creepy Cottage, but with vines, a conveyor belt in mid-air, and... ghosts.

Maniac wrote on 30.01.2007 at 06:07:37:

Hey, that looks kind of familiar... ;) That looks like the entrance to the Creepy Cottage, but with vines, a conveyor belt in mid-air, and... ghosts.

Haha. Yeah, I choose random mansions to modify and test new additions to the game. Creepy Cottage was the random one I chose for my latest testing. ;-)

About he brown tile brick switch.... I'm not sure what will happen regarding that, because a lot of the tile artwork will be new! I thinnk lava may end up being acid, for instance. There is a lot more outdoor tile artwork (grass, etc.) It's pretty cool. Gives the whole game a new look. Some artwork will still be around from the original game, but there's enough new stuff to give it a fresh look.

Screenshots? :) ::)

VernJensen wrote on 31.01.2007 at 03:40:17:

About he brown tile brick switch.... I'm not sure what will happen regarding that, because a lot of the tile artwork will be new! I thinnk lava may end up being acid, for instance. There is a lot more outdoor tile artwork (grass, etc.) It's pretty cool. Gives the whole game a new look. Some artwork will still be around from the original game, but there's enough new stuff to give it a fresh look.

That sounds fantastic, Vern.... I'm really looking forward to it.

One question turns up though: Will that new "expansion pack" ADD all these features to the ones already there, or REPLACE older features with the new ones. Your last remark looks like the latter being the case.

But then:
What will happen to all the beautiful mansions we have created.... they will all look strange, won't they ?

Or will it be possiblke to run new style "expansion pack" games ALONGSIDE old ones, like having 2 versions of the game installed or something. That would be preferable, I think.
Otherwise it'd be kind of sad....  to see those "old" mansions disappear !!

In StarCraft, when you startup the game, it says: Play StarCraft Original or Expanion set. You should do that for the MM expanion, Vern! :)

Anthony wrote on 31.01.2007 at 19:38:25:

In StarCraft, when you startup the game, it says: Play StarCraft Original or Expanion set. You should do that for the MM expanion, Vern! :)

Yes, that's essentially how it will work. Except that the Expansion Pack is a separate game. You still have the original game, in a separate folder, and you run it to play or create original mansions. Then, in a different foolder, you have the expansion pack version of the game and editor, and you use this to create expansion-pack mansions or play them. The expansion pack editor can also convert original-style mansions to the expansion pack format, but not vice-versa.

-Vern