How do I end the demo, 1rst version, 2nd version of my game?

You have worked very hard on your game and are ready to release it? This article is made for you!

You may first wonder why do you need to end a demo version or a first version? Well, you're still working on your game and when the player will have managed to get reach where you finished programming he won't know he/she has to stop unless you tell him/her to do so.

Let's take an example: your heroe's main consists in searching for a sword that would give him/ her enough power to save his/her country from fiends invaders. You have programmed about 1 hours playing. The heroe has beaten two boss, he/she has also meet members for his party. The has to arrive to the next village and start to look for new indices that could tell them where to start looking for the sword.

You still have not made the village map and titleset (and so as the plotscript). Indeed nothing in the scenario tells the player that the Rpg is finished as you intend to add more things.

That's when the end of creating an ending comes in. If you don't the player may search some time for the next village and complain he/ she doesn't find it. That may help him NOT to the play to the version and may him question you game programming skills, whereas if he knew he had to wait for the next version it would appear more respectful.

Other main point in favour of adding an end to your demo and several version is that it is rather easy to do.

Let's go

First you need to go under custom. Edit the text box. Pick up a free one and write something like

This already the end of this version. I hope that enjoyed it so far and I'm
looking foward to creating a next version as good as this one.

You can eventually add another one !

GAME OVER

In this example we say that we'll use text box 38 and 39. Save the changes of your game and edit your hss file.

plotscript, game version ended, begin

suspend player
suspend npcs
suspend box advance

show text box (38)
wait (15)
advance text box
show text box (39)
wait (3)
resume box advance
game over

resume player
resume npcs

end  #End of the script

Now the most difficult : how to included it in your game?

The most simple is directly after the last cutscene. You just add the line :

game version ended

The script will run just after the last cutscene. The trouble is that the player may would have like to save and leave the game by himself/ herself.

Here are some other way :

Use a step-on npc

Go under custom edit the game, then the map menu and finally the map data. Edit the npcs and pick up a free npc. Go down to the activation line and put it to "step on". Then give it the script game version ended and place it on the map. Then go back the main menu and edit the tag. Pick up a free one and name it "game version ends" or any other name that could help you to remember what

This system implies that the player has to be where the NPC to learn that the game is finished. So you are very likely to have to place copies of the npc wherever the player is supposed to go (or search). The most appropiate places are

-> if you're using a world map, place the npcs copies around the entry door of the next village, castle. As the player is very likely to try to enter, the script will run and he/she will learn that the version has ended

-> near the exit door of the map in which the last cutscene took place. E.g: You have just beaten a boss in its castle. You want to leave the castle and go back to village near the village to be healed and buy new stuff. As you try to leave the map, the hero step on the npc and run the script. The player knows he/she will have to wait for the next realease to go back to the village.

Use a loop and global variable

A bit more difficult than the step on npc but useful if you want the player to stop playing as he/she enter the next village,(or dungeon or castle) in which he/she supposed to.

To do so created a global variable and name it

  Global variable (16, version finished) 

In the autorun script of the map of the next dungeon castle... the player will have to go, add the following lines If there are no autorun script for this map feel free to add it

plotscript, autorunmap14, begin

while (version finished == true) do, begin
game version ended
end #end for the while

end #end

In the script of the last cutscene, add

  version finished:= true

Now you can test the whole thing! When the player will enter the next village he/she is supposed to go to, she/he will know that nothing new can happen because it has not been implemented yet!