Quote: "How hard would it be to implement a difficulty setting? The zones themselves are segments and are controlled by using trigger zones."
You could implement a difficulty setting by trigger and hud. By selecting the key to select easy/medium/hard, you can set a variable called "settings" to your value (easy=1, medium=2, hard=3). For example:
;Artificial Intelligence Script
;Header
desc = Level Settings
;Triggers
:state=0:hudreset,hudx=50,hudy=50,hudimagefine=gamecore\huds\fader.dds,hudname=black,hudhide=1,hudmake=display
:state=0:state=1
:state=1,plrwithinzone=1:etimerstart,hudshow=black,plrdisable=1000000,sound=$0,state=2
:state=2:fpgcrawtextsize=24,fpgcrawtextfont=Verdana,fpgcrawtextr=255,fpgcrawtextg=255,fpgcrawtextb=255,fpgcrawtextx=50,fpgcrawtexty=50
:state=2:fpgcrawtext=Please choose your level setting. <ENTER>
:state=2,etimergreater=500,scancodekeypressed=28:state=3
:state=3:fpgcrawtextoff
:state=3:etimerstart,state=4
:state=4:fpgcrawtext=[E]asy [M]edium [H]ard
:state=4,etimergreater=2000:state=5
:state=5:dimvar=settings
:state=5:state=6
:state=6,scancodekeypressed=18:setvar=settings 1,state=7
:state=6,scancodekeypressed=50:setvar=settings 2,state=7
:state=6,scancodekeypressed=35:setvar=settings 3,state=7
:state=7:fpgcrawtextoff
:state=7:etimerstart,state=8
:state=8,etimergreater=250:hudunshow=black,plrdisable=0,state=9
:state=9:none
;End of Script
As I mentioned earlier, depending on the selection determines what could appear/not appear in the level. Say you have that room with the "jump zone". It took me a couple tries to reach the platform and go to the next part. If they select "easy", then perhaps an extra "jump zone" closer to the platform could be available in that level. Or other "zones" appear to help the easy settings. In hard, the "jump zone" could remain where it is originally. Follow?
Quote: "Is it possible to make segments appear using variables?
"
No, but you could change from segments to entities. You take a floor mesh and make it into an entity, then place the texture for the zone on it. Now your segment zone becomes an entity zone and can be spawned according to the settings variable. We did that in our developments- took wall segments to create entities so they could be spawned/destroyed depending on game play and what the player did/did not do. The trick is to remember to have collision on so the player does not fall through it, and you can eliminate triggers and have the floor zone entity (dynamic) run the script.
Quote: "I just thought, to make it harder, i could use variables to give the player less lives at the beginning and maybe give every level a timer?"
That would work as well. By using variables, you could create multiple possibilities to make it easy or hard for the player.
Quote: "Have you or any of the rest of the fox pack any ideas on other 'zones' that i could include? I was thinking of trying to make a zero gravity zone, but, i had no idea where to start. "
To make your zones, you have to work within the confines of the engine and what it has (version dependent). If you can enable/disable gravity, that is a start.
There's no problem that can't be solved without applying a little scripting.
