The Hi-Tex Terrain Asset Packs Volumes 1 & 2 for SMILE GAME BUILDER are now available for $3.99 each on the Gnome Treasure store.

Volume 1

Volume 2

Combined they total 178 high-texture terrains to enhance your indie games. These have been designed for SMILE GAME BUILDER.

The Smile Game Builder Tutorial on waypoints, Waypoints Revisited: Resurrect at Set Waypoints, is now up.

You can set up a waypoint system where, after you die in battle, you’ll resurrect at a "stored" waypoint location. And you can register any waypoints you find on a wall map!

Video Tutorial

Notes

The methods for returning to waypoints after defeat in battles only applies to events. It can’t be used with 3D Battles with respawning monsters placed in Map Settings.

This week’s Smile Game Builder video tutorial is another "tips & tricks" video, where I’ve answered some of the how-to questions my commenters have asked.

Tutorial Video

The topics covered in this tutorial are:

Use Mobile Devices as Gamepads

I also mentioned in the video about Monect, an excellent, easy-to-use program to enable using your mobile device as a gamepad for playing Smile Game Builder games.

Of all the various apps I tested, this is by far the best one as far as ease of use and versatility is concerned, and it’s easy to set up as well if you follow their instructions.

Good news for Smile Game Builder users. The latest update is actually a significantly useful one.

Importing OBJ

You can now import OBJ models instead of just FBX ones. Using OBJ is less proprietary than FBX and more universal.

A plethora of programs exist, both online and as downloadable software, to create 3D objects and export them to OBJ format. So with this update (currently still in beta), it opens the doors to 3D model creation. Since I’m a 3D noob, even I’ll be able to start creating models.

Terrain Height

The second update is being able to increase the terrain height to 20. Imagine huge mountains or dizzying skyscrapers in your game! And when you reach the top, it’ll give you a fresh perspective on everything below.

As part of the ongoing experiments with the "Old Ruin" High Quality Assets, I created two more assets for Smile Game Builder. Except in package title, there’s no real theme yet. It’s been more of an experiment as inspiration strikes.

Stone Wall Terrain

The first is two different types of angular stone wall terrains for the "Old Ruins".

Rock Object

The second "Old Ruins" asset is a rock object. This is a retextured version of the existing rock object, imported and rendered through Blender as part of some ongoing experiments with texture and UVs.

Future Development

Development on the "Old Ruins" assets will continue periodically.

I’m still learning how to use Blender properly, so objects will be few and far between for a while. However, I may still produce more terrain assets in the interim, along with various other graphics, such as windows.

A while ago (29 October, 2016, to be exact) I posted on Twitter and Facebook that a new high quality SGB mapset was in development.

It started more as an experiment than anything else, but I’ve actually been making progress on it, on and off. So I decided to share what I’ve done so far.

"Old Ruins" Gallery (So Far!)

Smile Game Builder High Quality Assets: “Old Ruins” Terrain Showcase

Smile Game Builder Assets: Dark Rock Terrain

Smile Game Builder High Quality Assets: “Old Ruins” Cave Entrance

Smile Game Builder High Quality Assets: “Old Ruins” Bloddied Cave Entrance

Over time, I’ll add more to it and create a proper gallery showcase page when there are enough. Development will be ongoing on this, I think!

Blender Assets

Although I’m not proficient at all with Blender, I’m determined to be. The idea here is to create matching high quality characters and objects, and then combine into a single resource pack for you to use.

The High Quality Assets I release will most likely not be free; however, once I’ve learned the essentials of Blender for creating things for SGB, I’ll also have a lot of free assets available for download.

This tutorial’s focus is on cut scenes and how to create an effective method to use them.

The idea is to show how to set up a basic cross-map cut scene, where a knock on the door results in a message from the Temple, ultimately setting the scene for the main storyline.

It’s easy to configure the sequence of events using a single variable – not multiple switches – and activate them in order. Continue reading “Smile Game Builder Tutorial #21:
Cut Scenes”→

This tutorial is an overview add-on to the Time and Date function (in the Advanced Variables Option). It demonstrates how you can use and display the local system time in message boxes.

Initially, this was intended as a simple calendar system, but due to the nature of parallel events, it wasn’t working as it should. Parallel events need to be set up on each map to function properly. Continue reading “Smile Game Builder Tutorial #13:
Time and Date”→

This, the second Smile Game Builder tutorial tutorial is an overview on creating basic maps.

It doesn’t go into much detail, as everything is straightforward. It shows the basics of navigating the map in the editor, placement of tiles and adding events. Continue reading “Smile Game Builder – Tutorial #2:
Creating Maps Overview”→