e33b85 No.32310
I'm looking for suggestions for my desktop mascot program. That and I also want to share my progress. As to whether you can consider this a game, there's a togglable WASD so I consider it so. That and I plan to add extra gameplay/ interactions down the road.
So far it has gravity, can be thrown around with velocity and that's about it. It also reads all its sprites (placeholder) and movement variables from an XML file; allowing anyone to easily mod themselves a custom mascot.
I also plan to have to wonder about the screen and walk on open windows by somehow finding solid color blocks of pixels. The goal is to have a nifty desktop companion that's superior to the Chii one that's also included in the video. I also plan to pay an artist for custom sprites.
That being said, any ideas on features I can add? I'm trying to make it both entertaining and somewhat useful beyond eventually supplying the user with >>>/robowaifu/ propaganda.
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e33b85 No.32311
Screenshots of the current placeholder mascot and what would constitute a platform.
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7161d8 No.32312
>inb4 suicide jokes
Cute things she could do without disrupting the user
>knocks on the monitor when you are inactive for too long
>gets startled if you open a window while she is distracted
>if you have two monitors or more and fullscreens something on the main monitor she walks over to some other monitor and stays there
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e33b85 No.32313
>>32312
Great ideas! I'll be adding them to my "to add" list on GitHub (dunno if there's a more official way of doing it). Once I get a settings menu done and have basic support for new custom mascots I'll start working my way down your list.
Again, I appreciate the ideas. I likely wouldn't have thought of most those things.
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10a910 No.32317
As far as I remember Shimeji mascots climb up on windows and edges of the screen and you can spawn many of them at once.
As for suggestions, if possible think about allowing the mascot to go into a background layer and hide behind windows and occasionally peek out. Then it gets surprised if you move the window and reveal them.
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e33b85 No.32318
>>32317
Hmm.. seems like a challenge as it's basically an image on a transparent window. But a challenge is fun and it'll be good practice. I'll defiantly give it a go, thanks for the idea.
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8d42b5 No.32320
Can you detect where the mouse is?
Make it blush and get flustered if the cursor is nearby for a few seconds. Or maybe if you sweep your cursor over it's head, it'll get knocked over.
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e33b85 No.32321
>>32320
Yeah it can, I'm already tracking it to calculate the speed of which the mascot is thrown around to calculate velocity. So it's defiantly doable and would be very easy to program (art is the limiting factor).
I'll add your suggestions to my GitHubs "to do" document so I don't forget. Your ideas will defiantly add some character to my little desktop buddy.
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7161d8 No.32322
>>32321
make it so if you move slowly above her she keep jumping to try reach it, if you lower the mouse pointer she can grab it, it would act as if you were dragging her
Also make it so if you drag her too fast back and forth she gets dizzy, and vomits rainbows
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e33b85 No.32324
>>32322
lol, that's actually a really cool idea. I'll defiantly be trying to add your ideas. Besides, you can never have too many konosuba references.
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c5b220 No.32325
You fools, you're training OP to create the next huge piece of malware!
>>32317
I don't know if this can be done with Windows, which I'm guessing is OP's target platform.
>>32310
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/defiantly
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/definitely
Are you an ESL, OP?
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e33b85 No.32326
>>32325
Yeah, I'm unsure if it's possible. Especially as I'm using C# and Windows Forms, I'll probably just experiment a bunch and see what's possible.
Assuming ESL means English is my Second Language, nope. I'm just really bad at communicating online in an informal manner. Anything in particular weird about how I'm speaking?
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e33b85 No.32327
>>32326
>>32325
Shit NM. I'm trying out Grammarly and sometimes forget to double check the corrections it makes. That's what I get for being lazy. So no, I'm an English speaker, I'm just retarded and forget to double check my posts.
I also can't delete my previous post because my "password may have changed". God knows why, maybe it's Chrome or something?
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8d42b5 No.32329
>>32325
>I don't know if this can be done with Windows
You don't necessarily need to order the windows themselves, you can crop the image instead to give the illusion of it going behind a window. It won't work with the glass transparency in Windows7 though, and it might be inaccurate while a window is being dragged.
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c5b220 No.32332
>>32329
Can programs really tell the focus state and position of other windows?
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c5b220 No.32333
>>32327
Don't bother with dumb sites like that, just read a book. I think "defiantly"'s the only thing that came out to me.
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e33b85 No.32334
>>32332
Maybe C++ or Python (poorly) can, I don't know about C# as I'm using Windows forms and I honestly doubt it. An idea I had was to find some sort of recognition code library to identify windows as the form I'm using is locked to the top layer (visible over all other windows). Alternatively, I could scan the pixels on screen for specific patterns. However, that'll take up WAAAAYYYY too many resources so it's impractical.
So for now I plan to just make a cute buddy using the suggestions I was given, maybe she'll be able to offer quick access to some programs for extra functionality. Then I'll see about advanced stuff like tracking other program windows.
I'm building her so anyone can easily edit the mascot, settings, physics, graphics and more in minutes with no coding. Hopefully that, the final mascot itself being cool and cute, plus my public repository will attract more skilled programmers to help out down the track. It'd be nice to work with other anons once I have a solid foundation and all the features I want.
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b8e058 No.32335
>>32334
>Maybe C++ or Python (poorly) can, I don't know about C# as I'm using Windows forms and I honestly doubt it.
You certainly can, although you _may_ need to set up the appropriate P/Invoke calls. There's probably already a library available with NuGet that covers it (likely one of the Windows interop libraries Microsoft themselves have put out).
Remember, anything you can do in unmanaged code on Windows, you can do in .NET apps. You just sometimes need to jump through a couple of extra hoops (P/Invoke, marshalling, etc.) in order to achieve it.
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e33b85 No.32336
>>32335
You've got me excited. Despite the fact I'm currently majoring in Computer Science I feel like I've learnt fuck all. I learn more talking with randoms on the internet and making autistic programs than I do undertaking a $30k AUD degree.
The moment I'm on end-of-year break and I've got the fun features down, I'm gonna learn all this crap so I can build even more complex and autistic programs in the future. Then some website to show it all off for a future employer when I get an actual job in the field.
Then I'll have something to do besides trying to design and 3D print robot companions with random anons on >>>/robowaifu/
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b8e058 No.32338
>>32336
>Computer Science
There's your problem, bro. CS doesn't teach people how to program. It's essentially math with computers. You should have gone to a college / career school for programming instead.
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acd432 No.32339
headpats
sleep cycle
lewding
trash bin/cage
dollhouse/disappearing door
dancing
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0a9a50 No.32340
>>32332
How's the mascot sitting on top of the window in OP's video if you couldn't?
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms908392.aspx
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e33b85 No.32341
>>32339
Great ideas, thanks!
Just looking at all the future features has be both excited and a little pained about whatever it's going to cost to commission an artist. That or I could pay for a 3D model and make frames in blender using a 2D shader?
> pic related, features I want to add so far.
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e33b85 No.32399
Download here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1cXKQYsVBO4PC9n8OUMwwydB5Gn_ezYw2/view?usp=sharing
Nothing major. The sprites been replaced with a temporary Panty one (because best girl). That, and I rewrote everything into a couple smaller classes. So basically, you can still only throw the character around the screen; it's just implemented well this time.
Anyway, the GitHub is here for anyone who wants to steal my code:
https://github.com/Buldron/Desktop-Mascot
If anyone actually tries it, please let me know if there's any obvious improvements I can make to the current features.
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894a4c No.32412
>>32399
what's her refresh rate? I'm getting some stuttering at 120Hz.
She's standing behind the taskbar on Win7
it's fun to catch her mid-flight. It would be cool to have her animate when being moved faster/thrown/caught.
How about multi monitor support? imagine a dozen of them walking across screens and having to jump up when they are not aligned evenly
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e33b85 No.32415
>>32412
> refresh rate?
It currently refreshes every millisecond, but I'll have to change that to a proper refresh rate in the next update.
> stands behind taskbar on Win7
Currently she stands on the bottom of the screen. So I'll add some code to check if the taskbar's visible to fix the issue.
> throw speed animations?
I plan to add this in the next big update. I'm borrowing preexisting sprites right now though so my main limitations are to do with the art. This should be fixed once I commission an artist to make me some sprites.
> multi-monitor support?
I'll be adding this once I have a second monitor(s) to test with. It should be simple to add. Your idea for jumping across misaligned monitors is awesome BTW. I'll see about adding it down the track.
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b8e058 No.32429
>>32415
>Currently she stands on the bottom of the screen. So I'll add some code to check if the taskbar's visible to fix the issue.
Make sure that your code also checks the height of the taskbar too. It'll differ based on DPI settings, configuration (i.e. adjustable # of rows), etc.
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e33b85 No.32438
>>32429
Yeah, I'll definitely have to have checks for that in addition to where it's positioned on the screen. I found a pre-built class that'll let me have a polished and tested implementation in an hour or so. However, I think I'll just try do it all from scratch so I can get comfortable with the WINAPI. I've never used it before so it seems like good practice.
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e33b85 No.32466
>>32429
Alrighty, I added dynamic support for the taskbar. You can now bully your waifu even more.
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791b19 No.32467
Something similar was mentioned on /tech/ a week ago in the libbieOS thread >>>/tech/890783
http://rosegray.sakura.ne.jp/macopix/index-e.html
https://github.com/chimari/MaCoPiX
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e33b85 No.32470
>>32467
Thanks for the links, the software certainly looks cool (and with a lot of mascots). I'm hoping to make mine a little more advanced but overall it's the same concept. A little buddy to keep your company.
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f15d16 No.32512
>>32310
Switch to linux.
Memery aside the X-Server will give you a lot more power over dynamic interaction compared to wangblows if you ever feel like you are too limitedAlso works on mac too
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e33b85 No.32521
>>32512
I plan to. However, this project is to practice C# and learn WinAPI. Once I feel comfortable with what I would consider a "somewhat competent" level of programming. I'm then going to be doing some Python for a robotics project, C# for a Unity game and then maybe some NodeJS stuff. I recon doing the majority of this on Linux will help me get to a point where I think I'd be employable as a programmer.I'll also have to check out X-Server, I haven't had a chance to play around with it before.
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ca88fa No.32552
>>32310
doesn't react to my taskbar. no reaction to my cursor. but it makes me giggle so I'll keep it.
Panty is my goth gf now
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ca88fa No.32553
>>32552
also cant access my taskbar when its active whoops. seems to go past the top of my screen to
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ca88fa No.32556
>>32552
>>32553
also the carry_left and carry_right sprites do not display.
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e33b85 No.32558
>>32552
Damn, well I haven't tested on other PCs yet so I'll see about fixing that. Once college is finished in a week or so I'll have time to try finish the software and fix these annoying bugs.
>>32553
I'm not too sure what you meant by "also cant access my taskbar when its active whoops". Leaving the top of the screen is intentional, but I'll see about adding a toggle in case it's annoying.
>>32556
Sweet! Thanks for pointing that out, I'll have that all working in the next patch. I really appreciate all your feedback, it's incredibly helpful.
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ca88fa No.32559
>>32558
I have my task bar set to disappear unless I hover over it. when I have panty active I can't hover over it, and if I hover over it beforehand she doesn't react to it.
It's a cool lil program though, happy to help if you need any
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e33b85 No.32563
>>32559
Yeah, I see what you mean. I'll have to see about fixing that in the next patch. It hopefully won't be that hard to fix. If you're a regular here then once I push the next big update I'd appreciate any inputs you have. It's always a massive help to have other people testing your software.
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b43593 No.32614
Requests:
The character should be more bouncy. If you drop her form too far up, she should bounce once before stopping on the ground. Same for the sides of the screen. Physics are cute.
Also, does the system you have support using animated images? I think that might be important in the future.
Bug?:
If you grab her midair, she'll stay in her falling animation.
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e33b85 No.32615
>>32614
I like the bounce idea, I'll see about adding it. As for animated images, the images used are gif so there shouldn't be any trouble using animated images. You can test this by replacing the frames in Data with a gif of the same name. If not I'll see about adding it.
> bug
thanks for reporting it. The next big feature apart from another code refactoring is the animation state manager which should handle all animations and fix these issues. I appreciate the feedback, it'll make the next update a lot better.
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464f0a No.32623
>>32615
>You can test this by replacing the frames in Data with a gif of the same name.
The two .gif's I tried animated only the first 2 or 3 frames, which made them look awkward.
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bbd928 No.33234
As much as I like the idea of desktop mascots, they do occasionally get in the way, so maybe a way to put them in time-out while you're busy would be good.
Drop in a kotatsu, a cardboard box, a bubble or something and put them in it while your busy, then when you don't mind them wandering around and interacting remove the 'time-out' object.
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3ba463 No.33290
>>33234
Genuinely a great idea. I might as well use a box and throw in a Metal Gear reference if I ever get around to it.
Off topic, but like most of my projects I've once again burnt myself out once art became an issue. So I think I'll henceforth just try my best to improve my coding alongside learning to 3D model + maybe some light art. I'm not a genius so I dunno if I can actually get good at multiple things like that. But hopefully in 2-3 years I'll be a skilled coder and able to produce good quality drawings and 3D models.
TL;DR - project is on hiatus because I'm autistic.
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