Xlithan

I don't like the idea of other Eclipse users hosting my server. No offense, but I don't know anybody here and I don't like taking risks of being ripped off. I may speak to Jon at MrGigaBit.co.uk, he may be able to come up with a better solution.

I love isometric. Is this real? Have you done iso on Eclipse? If so, I want the source code :D

Does anybody know of any hosts that will run Eclipse servers?

Don't forget. You're not going to have layers on top of layers. The extra layers you'll probably only use 2-3 times on a map. They are there for more complex mapping, not for basic newb mapping. Stick to your standard layer count if you don't wanna use this, nobody is forcing you lol.

@'TheExtin': > So is this a custom tileset? It looks like it is, but I noticed (not all) the sprites aren't custom so I just wanted to check. Most of these are from RPG Maker 2000

Don't make your maps so large :) And yes. I have tested this on a 100x100 map using all layers.

While we're talking about our Eclipse history… Good afternoon all! I'm Xlithan, I'm nearly 29 years old, and this is my story… Back in good old 1998 I acquired my first PC. This was a huge turning point in my life. Back then, most of you had only just learned how to talk, or even walk! These were the days when having a PC was a novelty, because there was nothing on the internet that gave anybody the need to use one, unlike today where we have social networking, online banking, online booking offices and shopping. The best social chat website back then was something called Teen Chat, which I started using when I was 11 years old (Even though you had to be 13). Teen Chat was later banned because people thought it was inappropriate for young people to be engaged in online socialising, talking to strangers who lied about who they were. Which is slightly ironic, considering the power and influence of todays social networking. I played many computer games at first, changed my wallpaper a few times, and downloaded a couple of screensavers on my dial-up connection. That's right kids, we used to plug a telephone cable into the back of our computers to get internet! Extremely expensive and so slow that it would take half an hour to load the Facebook page. In 2000 I finally moved from Windows 98SE (Which was the better version of 98 of course) over to Windows 2000, which of course is based on the NT-Kernal frame. There was also Windows ME, which was similar to 2000 only it still used the MS-DOS framework, was very slow, and crashed a LOT. Also at this point in 2000, my parents had given me the gift of Blueyonder Broadband, 100 times faster than dial-up, AND it meant that I could stay connected to the internet 24/7! At this point, the majority of people in the UK owned a personal computer, and was connected to the internet. This is where my online gaming experience starts. Naturally being connected to the internet, I wanted more games to play, so I set off on my quest to download some games. In 2000, computer gaming was good, graphics and technology weren't as good as they are today but you had a decent selection of games, and Diablo 2 had just been released. Text-based games were still largely popular, and you could get 300 to even 1000 players on large servers at any given time. This lead me to my first serious online game, called Nightmist Online. Just saying the name right now sends me back. It was a real-time, multi-player online game, all the basics of hack n slash roleplay, based on a table top RPG game invented by one of the creators. The only graphics were on the interface itself. If you had more than half a brain, you could imagine the world inside your head. Remembering directions was difficult at first but once you got into it you could sprint from town to town in a matter of seconds. [http://www.nightmist-online.co.uk/nmsite/images/shot7.png](http://www.nightmist-online.co.uk/nmsite/images/shot7.png) I played this game from January 2001, for the next 10 years. There were other similar games to Nightmist, Realms of Kaos had been around much longer, was a larger game over-all and had a much bigger player base. Later came Deity Online, which never took off and was abandoned, and later on Revelation, created by a former Nightmist Online player. All 3 games are still downloadable and playable today, but unfortunately, the player base just isn't there any more and that's what made the games what they were. You can still download and play here: [http://www.nightmist-online.co.uk](http://www.nightmist-online.co.uk/) [http://realmsofkaos.net](http://realmsofkaos.net/) I also got into other text-based games along the way, such as Achaea and Imperian from [http://www.ironrealms.com](http://www.ironrealms.com/) –----------------------------------- Naturally, I was inspired by the game, and how you could easily escape into another world, even it was fictional didn't matter, you could be whoever you wanted to be, and if you worked hard and gained the max level, you had respect from other players. which at 14 years old was great, and these were real people playing along side you. I decided I was going to create my own world like Nightmist, so I set out to find out how. I had no programming knowledge, no design skills, no graphics skills or anything that would help me to start this project. So in 2002 I eventually came across some software from AxeUK (Later Axe Software, and now Text Adventures Ltd) called Quest. This software allowed me to create my own single player text-based games, using the editing software, and it had it's very own scripting language called ASL. QuestNet was also in the works, which would allow multiple players to connect to a game. FANTASTIC! And so I began to design my own online adventure game. [http://img.brothersoft.com/screenshots/ … 20455.jpeg](http://img.brothersoft.com/screenshots/softimage/q/quest-18410-1311820455.jpeg) [http://img.brothersoft.com/screenshots/ … 20457.jpeg](http://img.brothersoft.com/screenshots/softimage/q/quest-18410-1311820457.jpeg) Quest has really advanced over the years and is still a widely used software for text-based game competitions and educational uses. [http://www.textadventures.co.uk](http://www.textadventures.co.uk/) –----------------------------------- The problem with Quest, was that at the time it was fairly limited, in terms of to the extent of which I wanted to create a custom game. The online side of it hadn't really been developed enough, as far as interacting with other players went. I couldn't customise the client enough to make it how I wanted it, even if I paid the guy, it would still lack in many areas. So, I asked the developer of Nightmist Online and Quest, what they used to make their software? They both answered, Visual Basic 6. Brilliant! How do I get this? Back in 2002, downloading software wasn't as easy as it is today. BitTorrent came out in 2001 but wasn't largely popular until later on. We had to make do with Peer 2 Peer software such as Kazaa, Morpheus and others, which were usually packed with viruses and spyware. It was also very slow, and would take a long long time to download large files. So learning to program was out of the question for a while, and I turned back to Quest, and tried to encourage Alex (The creator) to improve on QuestNet. While still developing my game in Quest, I kept searching for similar game developing software. A few game up, ADRIFT, SUDS, both of which had no multiplayer support. I then came across BYOND, which is primarily made for developing multiplayer games. I gave it a whirl, but didn't like the scripting language much, and once again, it was based on a pre-developed client that couldn't be customised. Not sure how far BYOND has come these days, but I know it's still around, and judging by the latest games on their website it seems fairly good in terms of customising your own client, and creating some fantastic online RPG games. [http://www.byond.com/games/hubpic/96451_9192.png](http://www.byond.com/games/hubpic/96451_9192.png) [http://www.byond.com/games/hubpic/37191_2880.png](http://www.byond.com/games/hubpic/37191_2880.png) BYOND can be downloaded from [http://www.byond.com](http://www.byond.com/) –----------------------------------- Finding BYOND changed my goals on game development completely. I knew that making a graphical online RPG game would be a MASSIVELY increased success over a text-based game. Still without any programming knowledge I searched for software similar to Quest, and BYOND, that would help me create my own online RPG game. I came across RPG Maker 2000 (Need I say more?), which wasn't able to make online games, but it helped to improve my game design and mapping skills. Another game making software I came across was RPG Toolkit from Toolkit Zone. Not seen much of this software for years but it's now available at [http://www.rpgtoolkit.net](http://www.rpgtoolkit.net/). It must have been in later 2002 or early 2003 that I came across Playerworlds. I won't go into the history too much, but was based off the original Mirage Source (Now [DragonSource](http://draignet.uk/dragonsource/downloads/)), and was developed to assist in online 2D game development without ANY programming knowledge. This software was PERFECT. It didn't have the option to customise your interface, but the default interface was already pretty cool, and there was a MASSIVE community for it. Infact, OnRPG originally used to have it's own dedicated section for Playerworld created games, back when OnRPG was cool, and supported home-brewed and free games, much more than it does today. The most famous game to come from Playerworlds was Jerrath Online, which IIRC was Shannara's game (One of the founders of Mirage Online/Mirage Source). Jerrath can STILL be downloaded in Playerworlds format (But a MUCH later version of the software) from [http://www.jerrath.com](http://www.jerrath.com/) and as of this post, I can confirm you CAN log in and play online. http://jerrath.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/Jerrath.gif I developed my own game, set up a free website and had players log in and play from time to time. I was still very new at game development so still had so much to learn. The idea that you could create games in a short amount of time was a huge misconception. Most of the games were generally the same in terms of looks but all unique in design and gameplay, and some of them quite addictive. I'd gained a copy of Visual Basic Studio and was learning to program. Shortly after I'd found Mirage Source, which was the base of Playerworlds. This was very exciting as I was now able to completely customise my own game client the way I wanted it. In 2004 I released the source code to my game "Cult of Ishkur". This source code had multiple tileset support, encryption, MP3 support, pets, quests, alpha blending, NPC abilities such as poison, full D&D stats, day and night effects, and many other features that inspired the later released Konfuze engine. As some of you may know, Konfuze source code eventually lead to Elysium, which was used to create the very first Eclipse engines, later inspiring Eclipse Origins, and Mirage Creation (From Crystalshire source). The source code is VERY buggy, and the one that has been released to the public (Not by me) doesn't work without MAJOR bug fixing. It is called M:RPGe (Moonripper RPG Engine, named after the original head programmer who worked along-side me) and can be downloaded here: [http://echostorms.net/RPG/M_RPGe_0_118325612232004.zip](http://echostorms.net/RPG/M_RPGe_0_118325612232004.zip) You will notice it was released by Nevets Group, Surprisingly enough, Nevets is my name spelled backwards Over the years I have been the head community moderator for BaronSoft/QBite which was the creator of the ORE gaming engine (Used to create VbGORE), and the original Mirage Source community when it was run by Granite. Deloria Online was originally made using ORE. I now own and run a modern version of the Deloria Online game, created using Eclipse Origins. I ran and maintained the old version for a few years and created a new game from Deloria called Adventures of Virellia. Old Deloria Online: [http://draignet.uk/hosted/deloriaold/newDO5.jpg](http://draignet.uk/hosted/deloriaold/newDO5.jpg) Adventure of Virellia: [http://www.draignet.uk/hosted/virellia3.jpg](http://www.draignet.uk/hosted/virellia3.jpg) Unfortunately my external hard drive packed up and I lost everything I had, which meant starting over from scratch. I now run [http://draignet.uk](http://draignet.uk) which is a collection of projects that I run and develop. My current gaming projects are: [Deloria Online](http://deloria.draignet.uk) - Inspired by the original Deloria Online and earlier versions of Merrimint DragonSource - The new home and name of Mirage Source, also offering support for a modified version of Eclipse 2.0 and a modified version of the recently unsupported Mirage Creation. (Website in the works as of this post) Nightmist 2 - Currently in design phase, an approved unofficial sequel from the creators of Nightmist Online. Also in the works is a partially text-based online RPG game, inspired from Nightmist and Realms of Kaos. I had plans to turn it into a text-based game maker, but due to the lack of interest in text-based games these days, I've decided to continue to develop it as a game rather than an engine, but only purely for nostalgic purposes, as this is the reason I set out to make a game in the first place. I don't have plans to turn it into a successful games, but if I get around to finishing it, the goal I set out to achieve 12 years ago will have been made. http://i.snag.gy/984R9.jpg –------------------------------ To say I've been successful in game development wouldn't be true. And due to todays technology, and all the free 3D games coming out, it's impossible to make a successful 2D online game like it was years ago. But I enjoy doing it, it's a fun hobby, and I still love to play 2D online games over 3D games. Infact, I don't play any 3D online adventure games. So that's me! Hope you enjoyed the read.

It's not that people don't want to, or aren't able to do this. it's because large interiors, like a castle for example, would take up a very large part of the map. This also would be very difficult to achieve if you have multiple floors in a building. To keep the map size as small as possible for your world design, the best way to do it is to use separate map files. Smaller maps allow the client to run at optimum speed, the larger the maps get, the slower the client will run. Plus, there's some beautifully pixeled buildings, which make the maps look better. Just having brick cubes all over your map doesn't look very appealing.

I first discovered PlayerWorlds in 2002, later discovered Mirage Source in 2002/2003 and began playing around with it from there

ADDING MORE LAYERS – A Tutorial by Xlithan -- Having more layers in your map editor can be very beneficial. It can be useful when creating more complex mapping. For basic mapping, 2 masks and 2 fringes should be enough, but I have definitely benefited from having extra layers in my map editor. This tutorial should also work for older versions of Eclipse as the source code is mostly similar. Firstly, we need to create extra option buttons. So locate to **_fraLayers_** in **_frmEditor_Map_**. You may need to bring it to the front.  Just remember, that these option buttons are in an index array. So just adding in the extra option buttons will result in your client crashing. You need to ensure that the array goes from 1 (Ground layer) to however many layers you have, in order. So you will need to swap a few index's around. Next, you need to go to _**modEnumerations**_ in both Client and Server source code, and find **_Public Enum MapLayer_**. Add your extra layers. If you're adding 2 extra masks and 2 extra fringes like I have done, then it needs to look like this: ``` ' Layers in a map Public Enum MapLayer Ground = 1 Mask Mask2 Mask3 Mask4 Fringe Fringe2 Fringe3 Fringe4 ' Make sure Layer_Count is below everything else Layer_Count End Enum ``` **The following is all client-side** Next we need to go to **_Public Sub ScreenshotMap()_** and replace the following: **_Change:_** ``` For I = MapLayer.Ground To MapLayer.Mask2 ``` **_To:_** ``` For I = MapLayer.Ground To MapLayer.Mask4 ``` And also… **_Change:_** ``` For I = MapLayer.Fringe To MapLayer.Fringe2 ``` **_To:_** ``` For I = MapLayer.Fringe To MapLayer.Fringe4 ``` Then we need to move on to **_Public Sub DrawMapTile_**, and replace the following: **_Change:_** ``` For I = MapLayer.Ground To MapLayer.Mask2 ``` **_To:_** ``` For I = MapLayer.Ground To MapLayer.Mask4 ``` And finally… **_Change:_** ``` For I = MapLayer.Fringe To MapLayer.Fringe2 ``` **_To:_** ``` For I = MapLayer.Fringe To MapLayer.Fringe4 ```

Ok so I noticed a small bug in SkyWyre primitive. It cuts off the last tiles of the sheet when you scroll to the bottom. Maybe it's just doing this for me, I don't know. However, if anybody else has this issue, this is how to fix it. **Find:** ``` frmEditor_Map.scrlPictureY.max ``` And at the very end of that line of code, add: ``` + 1 ``` There are only 2 instances of this line of code, so it's fairly straight forward.

**COPY & PASTE NPC's** **–** A tutorial by Xlithan – Just thought I'd contribute this small piece of code to the community. It makes adding NPCs much easier with just a few clicks of a button. Anybody who has made large maps with a lot of NPCs knows the frustration of going through each list item one by one. This tutorial will work for any version of Eclipse Origins, and any source code that uses a similar map properties design (Which as far as I remember, is pretty much every version dating back to Mirage Source). **Open up your Map Properties form. You will need to create the following items:**  cmdPaste (CommandButton) cmdClear (CommandButton) cmdClearAll (CommandButton) 2 Labels (Name doesn't matter) txtStart (TextBox) txtEnd (TextBox) cmdBatchPaste (CommandButton) cmdCopy (CommandButton) **Place the items next to your NPC listbox like so:**  **Now you need to add the following code to each item (Code may vary for different sources. This was written for SkyWyre Primitive):** **_At the very top of the form, add:_** ``` Private CopyIndex As Long Private PasteIndex As Long ``` **_cmdPaste_** ``` Private Sub btnPaste_Click() cmbNpc.ListIndex = CopyIndex End Sub ``` **_cmdClear_** ``` Private Sub btnClear_Click() cmbNpc.ListIndex = 0 End Sub ``` **_cmdClearAll_** ``` Private Sub btnClearAll_Click() Dim I As Long For I = 0 To MAX_MAP_NPCS - 1 lstNpcs.ListIndex = I cmbNpc.ListIndex = 0 Next I End Sub ``` **_cmdBatchPaste_** ``` Private Sub btnBatchPaste_Click() Dim I As Long Dim s As Long Dim e As Long s = txtStart.text - 1 e = txtEnd.text - 1 For I = s To e lstNpcs.ListIndex = I cmbNpc.ListIndex = CopyIndex Next I End Sub ``` **_cmdCopy_** ``` Private Sub btnCopy_Click() CopyIndex = cmbNpc.ListIndex End Sub ``` **And that's all!** 

Never called him retarded. I said if **somebody** needs a search. What's up your ass tonight? lol

Yeah I suppose there is that. But it would be a lot quicker to have this one attribute for a door than making a bunch of events for it, especially if you have 10+ buildings on a large map, that many events just seems like an unnecessary amount of resource usage.

Searchbar? If you need a search to find the download page you're pretty retarded anyway.

Couple of issues I've noticed so far. 1\. Tileset scroll bars are not enabled until you click on the next/previous set, and click back onto it. 2\. Seems to be an issue with scroll bars in terms of the height of the tile set. It's cutting off the bottoms of my tilesets for some reason.

See that sounds like something I would use.

So quickly browsing through the source code doesn't really reveal much. From what I can gather, it's either an unfinished attribute, or just completely useless. It works exactly the same as the warp attribute, only it sends a packet to the client, which sets some values in the TempTileRec. It uses the same arrays as the Key attribute, which opens and closes a "door". What I'm guessing, is that this Door attribute was meant to show a layer on that tile, disappear when the door was opened. If anybody could shed some light on it, that would be great, as it's been sat in the source code since Eclipse Origins or even before, and it does absolutely nothing.

Was just pointing it out. Also, your maps are screwed. There's yellow squares everywhere

No, Final Saga is still in development. The alpha release was a massive success and I was able to uncover a lot of bugs which I'm working on fixing. Nightmist 2D started out on this same engine, but taking a look at the SkyeWyre Edition I've decided to switch to it. There's so much more I can do which justifies spending time making another 2D game. Deloria Online is purely for nostalgic purposes. I have no plans to expand the game or make any major upgrades in the near future. Nightmist 2D will be a much more serious project and will consume all of my time and efforts.

Any reason you've included Client.vbp?

REMOVE THREAD. I'm releasing this open source as I have a much better project in development.

Nice. Using this for Nightmist Online 2

MAJOR UPDATE Delete what you have and re-download from the website. I've included an automatic updater in this version. http://finalsaga.draignet.uk

**Updates:** Character Generator updated. Re-added the races (6 in total) Added stat roller Added name verification check on character generator Adjusted experience formula Fixed a bug that caused the server to crash when exiting the character generator  Download now available for testing: [http://finalsaga.draignet.uk/downloads.html](http://finalsaga.draignet.uk/downloads.html) if you get a subscript out of range error, just try to log in again.