----===== Chest Tile tutorial =====----

Difficulty: 3/5

All this tutorial will do is allow chests to be placed on tiles, display them being opened and closed, allow you to block players from opening them a second time and update the chests.

This isn’t exactly based on anything else, though I did advise someone to try copying what’s already in the code I’m doing it this way because I can implement features better like this  =)

Overview (Written after finishing this)

When this is finished you should be able to create a chest with the help of a chest editor that will display 3 item lists that will also give the name, type of item and the picture once you’ve clicked on an item.  You can also set if a player is able to open the chest more then once and if the chest is edited then a player is automatically able to reopen the new chest.  Only problem with this is that if you use two or more of the same chests anywhere and one is opened, they are all set as opened until the time set to close after has elapsed, same for if the player is only allowed to open the chest once, even if they open the same map in a different location it will count as the same map.

  http://img372.imageshack.us/my.php?image=chesteditoraction1hb.png">

^^^ ChestEditor

http://img216.imageshack.us/my.php?image=chestmap6as.png">

^^^ Chest Tile

Ok, Lets start by adding a Chest type that will basically describe a new data type and what it will store (Like chest items etc)

Add the following code to the bottom of modTypes in both server and client

 


Type
ChestRec

    ChestName As String ' ShortHandName

    ItemOne As Integer

    ItemTwo As Integer

    ItemThree As Integer

    

    StayOpen As Integer ' How long it stays
open (Seconds)

    OpenOnce As Boolean ' Weither players can
open it more then once

    

    Revision As Byte ' Chest Version (If chest
is editted we might want player to open it again)

 

    ' --- Open Chest Anim

    OpenTileX As Integer

    OpenTileY As Integer

    

    ' --- Closed Chest Anim

    ClosedTileX As Integer

    ClosedTileY As Integer

End Type

Now we need to add a constant that dictates how many different chests can be made add one time, so in both Client and server in modConstants find’MAX_PLAYERS’ and under it, add:

 Public
Const MAX_CHESTS = 100

Now we need to actually make the variable that will store each chests detail so find in both Server and clients

 Public Spell(1 To MAX_SPELLS) As
SpellRec

And add under it add

 Public
Chest(1 To MAX_CHESTS) As ChestRec

Now, add a new form to the client, and change the following properties

Name                              - frmChestEditor

BorderStyle                   - 1 - Fixed Single

Caption                           - Chest Editor

StartUpPosition              - 2 - Center Screen

Now, add a textbox somewhere (This will be the chest name)

Name   - txtName

Text     - (empty)

Now add three ListBoxes and for each one change the properties to

Name   - lstItem

Index    - Give the 1^st listbox 1

               2^nd listbox 2

               3^rd listbox 3

Add 3 Labels, each one under the Listboxes above, then Change the properties to

Name                 - lblItemName

Alignment         - 2 - Center

Caption              - Item Name

Index                  - 1, 2, 3 (Corresponding to the listboxs above them)

Yet again, add another 3 labels under the above labels

Name                 - lblItemType

Alignment         - 2 - Center

Caption              - Item Type

Index                  - 1, 2, 3 (Corresponding to the labels above them)

Now we need some Picture boxes for the items to blt into, so start this off by adding three picture boxes under the label you’ve just added and change the properties to these:

Name                 - picItem

Index                  - 1, 2, 3 (Same as above, give it the same index as the objects above it)

Height                - 480 (32 pixels)

Width                 - 480 (32 Pixels)

Yay, still more to come, add a checkbox and the change the properties to;

Name                 - chkOpenAgain

Caption              - Open Once

Time for the objects that will help with how the long the chest will be open for =)

Add a Horizontal Scrollbar (or vertical which ever you prefer)

Name                 - scrlTime

LargeChange    - 100

Max                   - 32767

Value                 - 10

Min                    - 1

Now a label

Name                 - lblTime

Caption              - 10

And a textbox

Name                 - txtTime

Text                   - 10

And finally add two command buttons

Name                 - cmdSave and cmdCancel

Cancel                - cmdCancel = true

Default               - cmdSave = true

Now all you need to do is add a few labels to show what each thing does.

Once you’ve done that, you should have a form that looks something like this…

http://img132.imageshack.us/my.php?image=chesteditor9tw.png">

Now a bit of code for the form, this is all the code that will go into this form, but it’ll do for now
 

Double Click on the cancel button and add

 Unload me


    Unload frmTiles

Basic line just closes the form and clears it from memory (It also serves to close a form I’ll be adding later)

Now we need the scrollbar to change the textbox and the label that display the same value so double click the scrollbar and add

    ' --- Change the values for the txt and
lbls

    lblTime.Caption = scrlTime.Value

    txtTime.Text = scrlTime.Value

We also need to do the same for the text box but since we cannot place a limit on the text box, we need to add some range checks and check if the number is numeric, so double click the text box and put this code in, it should be self explanatory.

    ' --- Check if the time entered is within
range and is actually a number

    If Not IsNumeric(txtTime.Text) Then
txtTime.Text = 10

    If txtTime.Text > scrlTime.Max Then
txtTime.Text = scrlTime.Max

    If txtTime.Text < scrlTime.Min Then
txtTime.Text = scrlTime.Min

    

    ' --- Change the values for the txt and
lbls

    lblTime.Caption = txtTime.Text

    scrlTime.Value = txtTime.Text 

Now we need a way to activate Chest Editor so let’s start with the text command, find

              


' Map Editor

              If LCase(Mid(MyText, 1, 10)) =
"/mapeditor" Then

                  Call SendRequestEditMap

                  MyText = ""

                  Exit Sub

            End If

And below it add;

              ' Chest Editor

              If LCase(Mid(MyText, 1, 12)) =
"/chesteditor" Then

                  Call SendRequestEditChest

                  MyText = ""

                  Exit Sub

              End If

Basically, it checks if the first 12 letters = /chesteditor and if it is, it will send a packet to the server requesting chest editor and will then clear the text onscreen.

Now we need code for the server to run once it’s received the packet so find in the server:

    ' :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

    ' :: Request edit map packet ::

    ' :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

    If LCase(Parse(0)) =
"requesteditmap" Then

        ' Prevent hacking

        If GetPlayerAccess(Index) <
ADMIN_MAPPER Then

              Call HackingAttempt(Index,
"Admin Cloning")

              Exit Sub

        End If

        

        Call SendDataTo(Index,
"EDITMAP" & SEP_CHAR & END_CHAR)

        Exit Sub

    End If

And under it, add;

    ' :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

    ' :: Request edit Chest packet ::

    ' :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

    If LCase(Parse(0)) =
"requesteditchest" Then

        ' Prevent hacking

        If GetPlayerAccess(Index) <
ADMIN_MAPPER Then

              Call HackingAttempt(Index,
"Admin Cloning")

              Exit Sub

        End If

        

        Dim packet As String

        packet = "CHESTEDITOR" &
SEP_CHAR

        

        For n = 1 To MAX_CHESTS

              packet = packet &
Chest(n).ChestName & SEP_CHAR

        Next n

        

        Call SendDataTo(Index, packet &
END_CHAR)

        Exit Sub

    End If

Now, we need to allow the client to do something when we receive the packet so find in the client:

    ' ::::::::::::::::::::

    ' :: Social packets ::

    '
::::::::::::::::::::

    If (LCase(Parse(0)) = "saymsg")
Or (LCase(Parse(0)) = "broadcastmsg") Or (LCase(Parse(0)) =
"globalmsg") Or (LCase(Parse(0)) = "playermsg") Or
(LCase(Parse(0)) = "mapmsg") Or (LCase(Parse(0)) =
"adminmsg") Then

        Call AddText(Parse(1), Val(Parse(2)))

        Exit Sub

    End If

And under it add:

    ' :::::::::::::::::::::::::

    ' :: Chest editor packet ::

    ' :::::::::::::::::::::::::

    If (LCase(Parse(0)) =
"chesteditor") Then

        InChestEditor = True

 

        '---Update chest names

        For n = 1 To MAX_CHESTS

              Chest(n).ChestName = Parse(n + 1)

        Next n

        

        frmIndex.Show

        frmIndex.lstIndex.Clear

        

        ' Add the names

        For i = 1 To MAX_CHESTS

              frmIndex.lstIndex.AddItem i &
": " & Trim(Chest(i).ChestName)

        Next i

        

        frmIndex.lstIndex.ListIndex = 0

        Exit Sub

    End If

This pretty much opens up index form and lists all the chest names down in the list and also set a flag (InChestEditor) so we know what were meant to be editing.

Now, we need to declare the flag so find: (Still in the client)

 Public
InSpellEditor As Boolean

And add:

Public
InChestEditor As Boolean

Now you also need to find

    InSpellEditor = False

And add:

    InChestEditor = False

And also find:

    If InSpellEditor = True Then


        Call SendData("EDITSPELL"
& SEP_CHAR & EditorIndex & SEP_CHAR & END_CHAR)

    End If

And under that, add

    If InChestEditor = True Then


        Call SendData("EDITCHEST"
& SEP_CHAR & EditorIndex & SEP_CHAR & END_CHAR)

    End If

Now this is the part where the server actually sends the chest details to the client for editing so find what you added earlier in the server

    ' :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::


    ' :: Request edit Chest packet ::

    ' :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

    If LCase(Parse(0)) =
"requesteditchest" Then

        ' Prevent hacking

        If GetPlayerAccess(Index) <
ADMIN_MAPPER Then

              Call HackingAttempt(Index,
"Admin Cloning")

              Exit Sub

        End If

        

        Dim packet As String

        packet = "CHESTEDITOR" &
SEP_CHAR

        

        For n = 1 To MAX_CHESTS

              packet = packet &
Chest(n).ChestName & SEP_CHAR

        Next n

        

        Call SendDataTo(Index, packet &
END_CHAR)

        Exit Sub

    End If

Now underneath it add:

    ' :::::::::::::::::::::::

    ' :: Edit chest packet ::

    ' :::::::::::::::::::::::

    If LCase(Parse(0)) = "editchest"
Then

        ' Prevent hacking

        If GetPlayerAccess(Index) <
ADMIN_MAPPER Then

              Call HackingAttempt(Index,
"Admin Cloning")

              Exit Sub

        End If

        

        ' The item #

        n = Val(Parse(1))

        

        ' Prevent hacking

        If n < 0 Or n > MAX_CHESTS Then

              Call HackingAttempt(Index,
"Invalid Item Index")

              Exit Sub

        End If

        

        Call AddLog(GetPlayerName(Index) &
" editing item #" & n & ".", ADMIN_LOG)

        Call SendEditChestTo(Index, n)

    End If

    

Also find

Sub
SendPlayerXY(ByVal Index As Long)

Dim Packet
As String

 

    Packet = "PLAYERXY" &
SEP_CHAR & GetPlayerX(Index) & SEP_CHAR & GetPlayerY(Index) &
SEP_CHAR & END_CHAR

    Call SendDataTo(Index, Packet)

End Sub

 

And add:

Sub
SendEditChestTo(ByVal Index As Long, ByVal ChestNum As Long)

Dim Packet
As String

 

    Packet = "EDITCHEST" &
SEP_CHAR & ChestNum & SEP_CHAR & Trim(Chest(ChestNum).ChestName)
& SEP_CHAR & Chest(ChestNum).ItemOne & SEP_CHAR &
Chest(ChestNum).ItemTwo & SEP_CHAR & Chest(ChestNum).ItemThree &
SEP_CHAR & Chest(ChestNum).OpenOnce & SEP_CHAR &
Chest(ChestNum).StayOpen & SEP_CHAR & Chest(ChestNum).ClosedTileX &
SEP_CHAR & Chest(ChestNum).ClosedTileY & SEP_CHAR &
Chest(ChestNum).OpenTileX & SEP_CHAR & Chest(ChestNum).OpenTileY &
SEP_CHAR & END_CHAR

    Call SendDataTo(Index, Packet)

End Sub

The code above just sends one of the chests details to the client ready to be viewed and edited.

The client needs to interpret this, so find what you did earlier:

    ' :::::::::::::::::::::::::


    ' :: Chest editor packet ::

    ' :::::::::::::::::::::::::

    If (LCase(Parse(0)) = "chesteditor")
Then

        InChestEditor = True

 

        '---Update chest names

        For n = 1 To MAX_CHESTS

              Chest(n).ChestName = Parse(n + 1)

        Next n

 

                frmIndex.Show

        frmIndex.lstIndex.Clear

        

        ' Add the names

        For i = 1 To MAX_CHESTS

              frmIndex.lstIndex.AddItem i &
": " & Trim(Chest(i).ChestName)

        Next i

        

        frmIndex.lstIndex.ListIndex = 0

        Exit Sub

    End If

    

And add under it:

    ' :::::::::::::::::::::::

    ' :: Edit Chest packet ::

    ' :::::::::::::::::::::::

    If (LCase(Parse(0)) =
"editchest") Then

        n = Val(Parse(1))

        

        ' Update the chest

        Chest(n).ChestName = Parse(2)

        Chest(n).ItemOne = Val(Parse(3))

        Chest(n).ItemTwo = Val(Parse(4))

        Chest(n).ItemThree = Val(Parse(5))

        Chest(n).OpenOnce = Parse(6)

        Chest(n).StayOpen = Val(Parse(7))

        

        Chest(n).ClosedTileX = Val(Parse(8))

        Chest(n).ClosedTileY = Val(Parse(9))

        Chest(n).OpenTileX = Val(Parse(10))

        Chest(n).OpenTileY = Val(Parse(11))

        

        ' Initialize the chest editor

        Call ChestEditorInit

 

        Exit Sub

    End If

    

Now, we need to create the sub ‘ChestEditorInit’ that we’ve called in the above piece of code, all the sub does is load the details onto the Chest Editor form then loads the form, so find the sub

 Public Sub
ItemEditorBltItem()

And underneath the sub, add this sub

Public Sub
ChestEditorInit()

Dim n As
Long, i As Long

 

 

    ' --- Set all the basic settings

    frmChestEditor.txtName = Chest(EditorIndex).ChestName

    If Chest(EditorIndex).OpenOnce = True Then
frmChestEditor.chkOpenAgain = 1

    

    If Chest(EditorIndex).StayOpen <
frmChestEditor.scrlTime.Value Then Chest(EditorIndex).StayOpen =
frmChestEditor.scrlTime.Min

    frmChestEditor.scrlTime.Value =
Chest(EditorIndex).StayOpen

    

    ' --- Add the items to the listboxes

    For n = 1 To 3

        frmChestEditor.lstItem(n).AddItem
"No Item"

        For i = 1 To MAX_ITEMS

              frmChestEditor.lstItem(n).AddItem i
& ": " & Item(i).Name

        Next i

    Next n

    

    frmChestEditor.lstItem(1).ListIndex =
Chest(EditorIndex).ItemOne

    frmChestEditor.lstItem(2).ListIndex =
Chest(EditorIndex).ItemTwo

    frmChestEditor.lstItem(3).ListIndex =
Chest(EditorIndex).ItemThree

    

    frmChestEditor.Show

End Sub

Ok, now we need to add some more code to the chest editor, this new bit of code will add the ability to view item picture, name and type when we click on it.  First let’s deal with getting the item name.

Double click on one of the listbox on the chest editor window and add this piece of code:

    If frmChestEditor.lstItem(Index).ListIndex
> 0 Then

lblItemName(Index).Caption =
Trim(Item(lstItem(Index).ListIndex).Name)   
Else

        lblItemName(Index).Caption =
"N/A"

    End If

This just checks if an item is selected, if it is, it will retrieve the item name, if not it will just replace it with N/A

Now we need to change the item type label, so under

lblItemName(Index).Caption =
Trim(Item(lstItem(Index).ListIndex).Name)   

(Which you just added) Add this bit:

       
Select Case Item(lstItem(Index).ListIndex).Type


            Case 0

                  lblItemType(Index).Caption =
"None"

              Case 1

                  lblItemType(Index).Caption =
"Weapon"

              Case 2

                  lblItemType(Index).Caption =
"Armour"

              Case 3

                  lblItemType(Index).Caption =
"Helmet"

              Case 4

                  lblItemType(Index).Caption =
"Shield"

              Case 5

                  lblItemType(Index).Caption =
"Potion Add HP"

              Case 6

                  lblItemType(Index).Caption =
"Potion Add MP"

              Case 7

                  lblItemType(Index).Caption =
"Potion Add SP"

              Case 8

                  lblItemType(Index).Caption =
"Potion SUB HP"

              Case 9

                  lblItemType(Index).Caption =
"Potion SUB MP"

              Case 10

                  lblItemType(Index).Caption =
"Potion SUB SP"

              Case 11

                  lblItemType(Index).Caption =
"Key"

              Case 12

                  lblItemType(Index).Caption =
"Currency"

              Case 13

                  lblItemType(Index).Caption =
"Spell"

        End Select

This may look like quite a bit but its nothing really, all it is checking what type it is, and depending on the type of item, will change the label to different text

Also, under the other bit you just added

       
lblItemName(Index).Caption = "N/A"

Add:

        lblItemType(Index).Caption =
"N/A"

TADA

Now the form displays the item details, but now we can go one step better and display a picture.  I’m not going to do this the normal way where another copy of the items.bmp is loaded into a picture box since that wastes so much memory considering its already loaded into a direct draw surface, so I’m going to do some blting!!  YAY!