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How to improve your program!

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SamCreated:

Hello there!

This guide is for people who have already made their program, but want to improve it in various ways. Let's get started. (For lazy people, there's a TL;DR at the end of the guide.)

1. USE YOUR OWN TEXTURES!

Of course, it's not necessary to make your own textures in SmileBASIC: the game already gives you plenty of resources. However, if you're willing to make your program look even better, an interesting solution is to make additional textures and graphics. Here's a few things you could do to make your game look unique.

Make a custom font!

You could edit the font and make your own! It's a relatively easy way to add originality to your project.

For experts:

Another thing you could do is a custom 16x16 font with sprites. Afterwards, you would need a command that translates the text you want to display into sprites.

Make your own sprites and backgrounds!

If your program is a tool, you will likely need custom textures at some point. Of course, most of the sprites and backgrounds are totally fine if they're used correctly. What I mean is, you should keep some sprites and make new ones depending on your needs!

Make sure the background of your program is never empty!

That's very important. Unless your program absolutely needs the background to consist of one color, make sure to give life to your program by adding a colorful background!

For experts:

You can make awesome-looking textures on your computer, and import them using Homebrew or Petit Modem. That's the best way to give your game the looks you want.

2. MAKE SURE EVERYTHING GOES SMOOTHLY!

Nobody likes laggy games, right? And you might think it's only a small detail, but making smooth transitions between "scenes" can give your program a cool touch. Here's what I recommend you could do.

Before publishing your program, run it and use every feature you programmed!

You might still find a few laggy things and maybe even bugs. Look at the code, and attempt to fix these. In case you have no idea how to make your feature work properly, ask us! The forums were created just for that. Just remember that even the smallest bugs can make your game less enjoyable.

Add fading and shading!

Fading is simple to do: use the command "FADE Color, Time(in frames)". For example, in a RPG, once you start a new game from the main menu, you could make the screen fade, then let the game initiate everything, then make the screen unfade once everything's ready. Shading can also be useful: it consists of fading the screen just enough so it doesn't disappear entirely. You can use that, for example, when you want the player to focus on the other screen. Believe me, you could use shading to make really cool visual effects. You just need some creativity.

3. ADD COOL DETAILS!

You don't really have to do this, but programs usually are more enjoyable when it contains more content than necessary. Honestly, if you're human, you enjoy video game easter eggs.

Add easter eggs or very small details that are susceptible to make the player smile!

As I just said, people generally love easter eggs. If your program is actually meant to be serious, adding references from your favorite games can be a possibility. Be creative with how the player should encounter these!

Add tutorials and/or samples!

Sometimes, programs can be difficult to understand, and users get frustrated and have no choice but to ask the author how to play. People probably will understand better how your game works if there's a tutorial. Or, if your program is a tool, making a few samples is a very good idea.

Conclusion

If you follow the tips I talked about in this guide, your program will certainly look better. But do keep in mind that it's not because you followed all of my advice that your program will necessarily be a popular game.

TL;DR

Even the smallest details can make your program more enjoyable. Even the smallest issues can make your program less enjoyable.

ResourcesBasic Tutorials
Minxrod#1
Looks like a nice guide! ...But I like the 8x8 default font. It looks nice, plus you get smiley faces and like 500 characters, which isn't easy in sprites. More guide stuff: I like the way it's divided up, and how key points are bulleted. It makes it easy to read! You should write a guide to writing guides... >:D
Sam#2
Replying to:Minxrod
Looks like a nice guide! ...But I like the 8x8 default font. It looks nice, plus you get smiley faces and like 500 characters, which isn't easy in sprites. More guide stuff: I like the way it's divided up, and how key points are bulleted. It makes it easy to read! You should write a guide to writing guides... >:D
The point to making a custom font is to make your program look unique. It's not the end of the world if the programmer uses the default font, but imagine if, for example, every Mario game in existence used the exact same font. :P
UltraPhoenix4#3
Yeah, what Minxrod said. +1 for trying to help.
Minxrod#4
Replying to:Minxrod
Looks like a nice guide! ...But I like the 8x8 default font. It looks nice, plus you get smiley faces and like 500 characters, which isn't easy in sprites. More guide stuff: I like the way it's divided up, and how key points are bulleted. It makes it easy to read! You should write a guide to writing guides... >:D
For the most part, the font HAS been pretty consistent between Mario games, or at least the newer ones. But yeah, it does add to the program. Though, custom 8x8 fonts are pretty good too though, it's better than 16x16 in terms of characters but still can look unique.
Sam#5
Replying to:Minxrod
Looks like a nice guide! ...But I like the 8x8 default font. It looks nice, plus you get smiley faces and like 500 characters, which isn't easy in sprites. More guide stuff: I like the way it's divided up, and how key points are bulleted. It makes it easy to read! You should write a guide to writing guides... >:D
I edited the fonts section so it explains things better.
Minxrod#6
Replying to:Minxrod
Looks like a nice guide! ...But I like the 8x8 default font. It looks nice, plus you get smiley faces and like 500 characters, which isn't easy in sprites. More guide stuff: I like the way it's divided up, and how key points are bulleted. It makes it easy to read! You should write a guide to writing guides... >:D
Great :P
12Me21#7
Replying to:Minxrod
Looks like a nice guide! ...But I like the 8x8 default font. It looks nice, plus you get smiley faces and like 500 characters, which isn't easy in sprites. More guide stuff: I like the way it's divided up, and how key points are bulleted. It makes it easy to read! You should write a guide to writing guides... >:D
if you use GPUTCHR to display the characters closer together, it looks a lot better.
Sam#8
Replying to:Minxrod
Looks like a nice guide! ...But I like the 8x8 default font. It looks nice, plus you get smiley faces and like 500 characters, which isn't easy in sprites. More guide stuff: I like the way it's divided up, and how key points are bulleted. It makes it easy to read! You should write a guide to writing guides... >:D
That's what I do all the time lol I did forget to mention it, thank you. I'll edit the guide later today.
12Me21#9
Replying to:Minxrod
Looks like a nice guide! ...But I like the 8x8 default font. It looks nice, plus you get smiley faces and like 500 characters, which isn't easy in sprites. More guide stuff: I like the way it's divided up, and how key points are bulleted. It makes it easy to read! You should write a guide to writing guides... >:D
Also, making the letters I,i, and l be less wide looks nice
glennxserge#10
Replying to:Minxrod
Looks like a nice guide! ...But I like the 8x8 default font. It looks nice, plus you get smiley faces and like 500 characters, which isn't easy in sprites. More guide stuff: I like the way it's divided up, and how key points are bulleted. It makes it easy to read! You should write a guide to writing guides... >:D
A variable width font system that uses GPUTCHR would be cool.
12Me21#11
Replying to:Minxrod
Looks like a nice guide! ...But I like the 8x8 default font. It looks nice, plus you get smiley faces and like 500 characters, which isn't easy in sprites. More guide stuff: I like the way it's divided up, and how key points are bulleted. It makes it easy to read! You should write a guide to writing guides... >:D
I made one, let me see if I remember... 
FOR I=0 TO LEN(S$)-1
 IF INSTR("ilI .",S$[I])+1 THEN DEC X
 GPUTCHR X,Y,S$[i]
 INC X,6
 IF INSTR("ilI .",S$[I])+1 THEN DEC X
NEXT
The text I displayed only had some letters, spaces, and ., so you'll have to add more symbols
Sam#12
lol I forgot to talk about the GPUTCHR displaying method in my last update too bad I might do it in the next update
Minxrod#13
The subheadings and such are unreadable on dark theme. Might want to fix that.
haloopdy#14
Replying to:Minxrod
The subheadings and such are unreadable on dark theme. Might want to fix that.
Thanks; fixed!
Minxrod#15
Replying to:Minxrod
The subheadings and such are unreadable on dark theme. Might want to fix that.
Yay, it's readable now :D
CyberYoshi64#16
Maybe even a 16x16 pixel font. 4 FONTDEFs for each char. I mean you have about 6000 chars usable total.
Sam#17
Replying to:CyberYoshi64
Maybe even a 16x16 pixel font. 4 FONTDEFs for each char. I mean you have about 6000 chars usable total.
That can work, but the font would take quite a lot of space on-screen..!
CyberYoshi64#18
Replying to:CyberYoshi64
Maybe even a 16x16 pixel font. 4 FONTDEFs for each char. I mean you have about 6000 chars usable total.
I thought about that to make like a better looking caption/header. Also I worked on a routine that makes the font look like the fonts here. (In other words, it combines the characters together to get it, so you can have more text on a single line. I could do the same thing with the 16x16 characters.) Like: iiiiiiiiiiiiiii vs. i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i i