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The new Image Editing Window implements the core functionality of a professional graphics application within Power Game Factory. It may be used to create and modify sprite graphics for characters, scenery, background tiles, and virtually all other game objects. The Image Editing Window features ten painting tools, including a Pencil, Paint Bucket, Zoom Tool, and Marquee Tool. Also included is a customizable color palette and a range of image adjustment options for scaling, rotating, and flipping sprites. Users may switch between the standard Image editing mode and a Mask editing mode, which is used for defining semitransparent areas. A Preview pane provides a fully composited view of each sprite, complete with animation.
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The new Content Library Manager window offers a collection of ready-made game objects such as characters, animated scenery, and background tile sets. Now whenever a new object is created, the user is offered the option of importing it from the Content Library. Objects may also be moved from a game project to the Content Library. Additionally, individual objects can be exported and imported to and from the Finder as stand-alone documents, allowing them to be shared with other users.
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Background tiles now contain built-in solid material masks. When a tile is placed in a level, its solidity is altered accordingly. These masks can be edited using a simplified painting interface that appears when the Levels Window is set to Tiles mode. This feature streamlines the process of designing tiled backgrounds by significantly reducing the amount of time that must be spent in Mask Mode.
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The handling of Screen Settings has been completely overhauled. In addition to offering support for nonstandard screen aspect ratios, the system now makes it easier to configure and more convenient for the end user. Instead of always filling the screen, the game display scales to the user's preferred size. By default, the screen scales to the largest possible even multiplier of its native size without exceeding the size of the display. This behavior may be overridden, however, if the designer wishes to enforce a more limited set of display options.
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Several weapon properties have been added. Now it is possible for a weapon to disappear from the player's inventory when it runs out of ammo. A weapon may also have built-in ammo, so that it can be used even if the player has not collected any accompanying ammo packs. Additionally, a weapon may be disabled when the player is jumping, and its ability to fire at diagonal angles may be controlled.
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Lighting effects are now available in twelve basic shapes, representing spot lights and flood lights of varying sharpness. Additionally, lighting effects may now be configured to illuminate only foreground objects, leaving background layers unaffected.
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Parallax background layers may now be animated. This is achieved by assigning an animated scenery object in place of a background layer's main image. To maintain consistency between parallax and non-parallax backgrounds, it is now possible to designate a normal animated scenery object as hidden while in parallax mode.
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The blue and green squares representing
solid material and ledge material may now be displayed using
a semitransparent overlay, making it easier to position objects
with respect to the underlying terrain. This feature may be
enabled in the Power Game Factory Preferences window.
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Respawn locations now resemble ghosted versions of the player sprite image in the Levels Window. When the player loses a life, the camera may now either scroll or jump to the nearest Respawn Location. If a level does not have any Respawn Locations, it reloads and starts from the beginning when the player loses a life.
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Parallax background layers may now be quickly repositioned by dragging the mouse while holding down the Command key.
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Character Sets now support a "Mirror Left Frames" option, which reduces the number of animation sequences needed. This improves load times and decreases disk space requirements.
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The controls used to configure level scrolling options have been simplified, and the scrolling algorithm itself has been improved. The new system allows for smoother scrolling while ensuring that the player always remains on screen, even when falling significant distances.
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The location of the cursor is now displayed in the upper right corner of the Levels Window.
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It is now possible to specify whether a projectile moves more quickly if the attacker is running while firing. |
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Routines are now unable to change the properties of a dead player unless triggered by the event of the player's death.
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Enemy characters are now capable of inflicting touch damage whenever the player makes contact with them; it is no longer necessary for the enemy to actively approach the player for touch damage to occur. This change does not apply to characters that have a Horizontal Acceleration Rate of 0 (such characters are assumed to be non-living objects; a rock for example, can only injure the player if it is being propelled toward him at the moment of contact.)
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Characters that inflict touch damage no longer injure the player if stomped on. This change allows the player to perform clean stomp attacks upon enemies that may not be contacted in other ways.
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If the player is using a weapon that does not allow running while attacking, the player is forced to remain stationary until after the point in the attack sequence at which the projectile is released.
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Large non-tiled level background images may now be stored in the JPEG and Targa image file formats.
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A character that is hit by a projectile while jumping is no longer launched upwards at an excessive speed.
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Projectile sprites no longer appear upside down when facing towards the left.
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Resizable objects such as force fields, hot zones, and lighting effects are now easier to select and manipulate when overlapped by other objects.
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The Attack Range property has been made functional.
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Items with gravitational acceleration rates that are not whole numbers no longer vibrate when resting on the ground, nor do they continually emit "landing" sounds.
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Certain weapon configurations no longer cause incorrect animation frames to appear when the player lands from a jump-attack and starts running.
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Performance has been improved when switching from the Levels Window to other editing windows.
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If the player is riding in a vehicle that enters within the blast radius of a projectile launched from the vehicle, it is no longer susceptible to damage.
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Several cosmetic improvements have been made, including changes to the design of the Power Game Factory Preferences Window.
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The Levels Window now displays backgrounds,
scenery, characters, and other objects with proper masking,
for an authentic preview of how semitransparent sprites will
look in the actual game. |
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The compiler now optimizes game
file sizes by removing unneeded level data. If a level uses
background tiles, any data not related to tiles is deleted,
and vice versa. The compiler also removes parallax and non-parallax
background data as needed, for a significant reduction in file
size. |
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In saved games, the current level
and total time elapsed are now maintained accurately. |
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The Continue Saved Game Window's
interface has been cleaned up. Full level names are now visible,
while health bars have been removed (they disappeared on some
system configurations.) |
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Power Game Factory no longer crashes
if the user clicks on the desktop while one of the floating
Properties window's contextual menus is open. |
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If a particular control is set to
be invisible in a game's Preferences window, its value is automatically
set to its default when the game launches. This prevents the
program from attempting to access data that had been removed
during compilation. |
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The correct transitional frames
are now displayed when a player with mirrored frames jumps
and turns to the right in mid-air. |
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The effects of the Falling Damage
property have changed; damage is no longer sustained when the
character is falling at less than half of his maximum downward
speed. |
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If the player can fly and has a
Gravitational Acceleration Rate of 0, he now re-spawns properly
instead of hovering in the air indefinitely after dying. |
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Stomping an enemy can now trigger
a Being Hit character routine. Previously, only projectile
impacts could trigger Being Hit routines. |
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If the No Attack Sequence When Running
While Firing checkbox is not checked in the Player Sets Window
or Character Sets Window, the character's leg turnover animation
will no longer be reset when the Attacking while Running frame
is displayed. |
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Contextual menus have been enabled
for editing weapon icon masks in the Weapons Window. |
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When a character releases a child
character, the parent is no longer assigned the child's dying
related properties. |
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When a character tilts his weapon
up or down, his animation sequence is no longer reset to the
first frame. This allows for more fluid running animation sequences. |
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