Toys can be one of the simplest types of object you can make. There needs to be very little (if any!) interaction with other objects, all they need to do is take care of themselves and provide a stimulus that will encourage creatures to play with them.For this tutorial we will make something that animates and plays a song when it is clicked on, using sprites and sounds that are already in the game. I'm going to use the graphics for the Meerk that lives in the desert terrarium ... if you open up the sprite file called 'meerk.c16' you can see what it looks like. We'll be using various frames from this file, and animating them, just to show how easy animation is.
If you take this file and load it into the CAOS Tool you can alter it yourself, making changes and getting to grips with making your own toy.
| Code | Explanation |
| ***create the Meerk Toy | |
| inst | Make the rest of the instructions run in one tick (happens automatically for injection scripts with the CAOS Tool though, this is just a good habit to get into). Commands that stop the script running all in one tick include: slow, over, wait and endm |
| *create one under the Norn garden | |
| new: simp 2 21 1000 "Meerk" 0 0 5000 | Create a simple object with a classifier of family=2, genus=21 and species=1000. Family 2, Genus=21 shows that this is a toy object. The sprite file to use is called 'meerk', and you should use all the images starting at 0. Put the finished creation at image plane 5000. |
| attr 199 | Give it attributes of 199 - (gravity, boundaries, activateable, pickupable) |
| *hand can click on it - activate 1 | |
| clac 0 | When the hand clicks on it that will launch an activate 1 event |
| *can be picked up, hit, activate1 and 2 | |
| bhvr 43 | A creature can pick it up, hit it, or activate 1 or 2 it. |
| accg 3 | Acceleration due to gravity = 3 |
| elas 0 | Not very elastic ... when it hits the floor 0 percent of it's velocity remains |
| fric 100 | High friction ... will not slide down slopes. |
| pose 59 | Use image number 59 |
| puhl -1 40 30 | Define a point on the object where it will be picked up from (pickup handle). If you look in the sprite file you'll see that each frame is 72x56 pixels. Therefore the point (40,30) is slightly right and down of the centre of this sprite. |
| mvto 1850 950 | Move to the position specified ... |
| cmrt 0 | ... and make the camera move to show you where that is. |
| **activate 1 event | |
| scrp 2 21 1000 1 | This marks this chunk as being an activate 1 event script for any object that has the classifier 2 21 1000. This will be stored in the scriptorium. |
| clac 1 | Next time the hand clicks on this object it will launch an activate 2 event. |
| stim writ from 97 1 | Give a stimulus to whatever activated (this will be ignored if the FROM object isn't a creature). Giving a stimulus lets the creature learn lessons from this. Stim 97 is the number you need to use for a toy, as it will reduce boredom in most cases. |
| anim [94 95 96 97 98 98 97 96 95 94 255] | animate! Use the frames specified, in order. The 255 at the end means 'loop this sequence forever'. |
| sndc "mb_2" | Play a sounds effect from the object - Mb_2 happens to be a sound effect from the music box but you can use any sound file you like! |
| wait 130 | wait for a while (around 6-7 seconds). This allows the music to finish playing before the toy changes pose (in the next line) |
| pose 59 | Go back to the sitting down pose |
| endm | End of the activate 1 event script. |
| **Activate 2 event | |
| scrp 2 21 1000 2 | This marks this chunk as being an activate 2 event script for any object that has the classifier 2 21 1000. This will be stored in the scriptorium. |
| stim writ from 97 1 | Same stimulus as the activate 1 event |
| anim [22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 59] | different animation than before |
| setv vely -15 | Give the object some velocity in an upward direction. |
| sndc "ct_1" | Play a sound effect |
| clac 0 | Next time the hand clicks on this object it will trigger an activate 1 event |
| endm | End of the activate 2 event script |
| **hit event | |
| scrp 2 21 1000 3 | This marks this chunk as being a hit event script for any object that has the classifier 2 21 1000. This will be stored in the scriptorium. |
| stim writ from 97 1 | Same stim as before |
| sndc "hit_" | Play a sound effect |
| anim [70 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78] | Animate |
| over | Do not carry on with the rest of this script until the animation has finished playing. In this case when the object reaches pose 78 the script can carry on. |
| wait 10 | Wait a little while (about half a second) |
| pose 59 | Change pose back to sitting on the floor |
| endm | End of the hit script |
| **pickup event | |
| scrp 2 21 1000 4 | This marks this chunk as being a pickup event script for any object that has the classifier 2 21 1000. This will be stored in the scriptorium. |
| Pose 0 | Change pose |
| endm | End of the pickup script |
| **drop event | |
| scrp 2 21 1000 5 | This marks this chunk as being a drop event script for any object that has the classifier 2 21 1000. This will be stored in the scriptorium. |
| Pose 59 | Change pose |
| endm | End of the drop script |
| ****REMOVAL | A remove script part is a very good habit to get into. It allows you to easily remove all objects and their scripts with the press of a button. |
| rscr | This is a special command that is only used by the CAOS Tool. It marks the area below as being the remove script. This section will only be injected by selecting the 'inject remove script' from the CAOS Tool. |
| enum 2 21 1000 | Enumerate across all the objects that have a classifier of 2 21 1000 (in case you've forgotten this is the Meerk toy we've just been making!) |
| kill targ | Kill it |
| next | Chose the next meerk toy |
| scrx 2 21 1000 1 | Remove the activate 1 script for object 2 21 1000 |
| scrx 2 21 1000 2 | Remove the activate 2 script |
| scrx 2 21 1000 3 | Remove the hit script |
| scrx 2 21 1000 4 | Remove the pickup script |
| scrx 2 21 1000 5 | Remove the drop script |
If you inject this COS file you will see the camera move to an area just below the garden, and a small Meerk looking object will fall to the floor. If you pick this up you will see that it alters it's pose (and if you've got the sprite file open you should see that it changes to the first image in the file - just as you'd expect with the drop script above injected!).
If you click on it you'll see it animate (it should start doing press-ups) and a tune will play.
Next time you click on it it should jump up into the air while animating and play a short sound effect.... and that's it! You've created a simple toy.Using this basic code there are many things you can alter to make a completely new toy. Remember though to change the classifier of the object unless you want to overwrite the existing scripts.
Some suggestions on areas you can change:
(1) Change the animations that are used in each event script (there are plenty to choose from in the Meerk sprite file)
(2) Change the sound effects that are played - there are a lot of sound effects in the sounds folder, try some of these
(3) Change the Sprite file used ... and make a new toy that doesn't look like a Meerk. Some of the sprite files have a lot of frames of animation in them - especially the sprites for the animals in the game. Try using 'graz', 'gnarl' or 'uglee' for some bizarre looking toys!
For the ultimate in creation, try drawing your own frames of animation in a paint program and make them into a sprite file. You can then make a toy that uses these graphics you have drawn.