Arcymag, a new game

[Shoonay]

Minniat (programmer) and Koyot1222 (graphician) from PPA.pl (http://www.ppa.pl/) are proud to present (http://www.ppa.pl/wczesne.demko.nowej.gry.arcymag.,7172;aktualnosci.html) an early WIP demo of their new cooperative production - Arcymag (The Archmage)

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/1498/001ucs.png

It's a puzzle-arcade game, the hero must gather all the crystals on the map and hide them in a chest.

Requirements: AGA, AmigaOS 3.0

It is advised to try it on a real Amiga, it might not work properly on an emulated one.

Grab it here (http://minniatian.republika.pl/Arcymag/ArchmageDemo.lha), will soon appear on Aminet.

PS: Modifications are added on a daily basis, so expect new demo's in the near future.

[TheCyberDruid]

It is advised to try it on a real Amiga, it might not work properly on an emulated one.

Yup, a GFX glitch after the text window disappears on WinUAE. Tried a few settings and couldn't get rid of it. Maybe Retro will find out which setting will fix it ;)

It's playable though and quite fun. Two levels isn't enough for a demo though :D

[Shoonay]

Two levels isn't enough for a demo though :DYeah, I know, I guess it's more of a engine-demo/teaser... ;)

[nujack]

Yes. Will try it out on my miggy. Thank you for the link.

[Graham Humphrey]

Looks cool - will definitely try this one out. Thanks for the heads-up Shoonay.

[Marcuz]

cool! just the upper parts of the walls bothers me... i would prefer it rendered

[bippym]

Why is it AGA? Looks basic IMO!

[s2325]

yes, that screenshot have only 41 colors (and reduced to 16 looks almost the same)

[Graham Humphrey]

Just tried this, it basically works but obviously being a WIP demo there isn't much of a game there just yet.

I had a bit of a problem though, the text messages wouldn't disappear from the screen properly. They just flicker instead until the level is finished which is a bit off-putting. You can still play it but it's a bit tricky to know what you are doing when half of the screen is covered up by flickering text.

[Retro-Nerd]

Looks like a SNES RPG Maker game. :)

[TheCyberDruid]

I had a bit of a problem though, the text messages wouldn't disappear from the screen properly. They just flicker instead until the level is finished which is a bit off-putting. You can still play it but it's a bit tricky to know what you are doing when half of the screen is covered up by flickering text.

Is that on your real machine Graham? That is exactly the GFX glitch with WinUAE I meant in my post.

[Graham Humphrey]

Ah sorry - missed your post. Yeah this is on my A1200.

[Shoonay]

Why is it AGA? Looks basic IMO!Here's hoping all of the colors will be used in the newer beta, too ;)I had a bit of a problem though, the text messages wouldn't disappear from the screen properly. They just flicker instead until the level is finished which is a bit off-putting.Yup, Minniat noticed this glitch and said he managed to fix it.
He didn't post a fixed version though...

[TheCyberDruid]

Ah sorry - missed your post. Yeah this is on my A1200.

No problem. I just thought it was a WinUAE problem (although it seemed strange that it should happen in WinUAE and not on the real deal).

Yup, Minniat noticed this glitch and said he managed to fix it.
He didn't post a fixed version though...

Heh, you could have posted it when I said I have that problem ;)

[Shoonay]

Heh, you could have posted it when I said I have that problem ;)He wasn't aware then, that it glitches on a real Amy too and he doesn't care about emu problems. ;)

[TheCyberDruid]

...and he doesn't care about emu problems. ;)

I see. Well send him my kind regards and tell him :

http://startswithabang.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/simpsons_nelson_haha3.jpg

:p

[hextreme]

Yup, Minniat noticed this glitch and said he managed to fix it.
He didn't post a fixed version though...
Minniat, the programmer here. I've uploaded the update and it's reachable from original link, just didn't add comment about it in the original news. And I do care about emu problems guys.

[TheCyberDruid]

Thanks for the update! Works like a charm now :great

[Shoonay]

Why is it AGA? Looks basic IMO!hextreme/Minniat forgot to add that the game uses OS3.0 specific libraries so it would be easier to convert it to classic amy's with a graphic cards and newer amy's with OS4.x, maybe even MorphOS.
The number of colors may not justify the need for an AGA machine, but Koyot1222 hasn't said the last word about the graphics ;)

[Logan]

It took a while, but finally, here it is (http://www.ppa.pl/forum_ppa/read.php?f=22&i=157&t=152&ostatnie=1#reply_157):Here's the 2nd preview demo of the game, that consists of 5 playable levels. The game is a logical-arcade similar to games such as Sokoban or Robbo, with isometric graphics. The player needs to gather all the gold and diamonds on the level and stand on the teleporter. It's not always as easy as it sounds, you'll have to avoid the dangers and solve a few puzzles on your way. You'll get score points from gathering gold and killing the bats.

Here's the link (http://minniatian.republika.pl/Arcymag/ArchmageDemo2.lha) to the packed archive containing the game.
Make sure you've got the ixemul.library 48.0 version. The game requires an AGA Amiga, preferably with an expansion card (it is necessary since it's written for the system and thus on a 68020 works half the speed it should), or a similar emulated configuration. In this version the game uses the blitter, so it won't run on Amiga's with a graphic card, but that'll soon get fixed. The screen of the game is promotable.

A few screenies:

Level 1
http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/9590/wb31007.png

Level 2
http://img52.imageshack.us/img52/1391/wb31008.png

Level 3
http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/8216/wb31009.png

Level 4
http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/2207/wb31010.png

Level 5
http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/5383/wb31013.png

And here's a few screenshots from various versions of the main engine. Some things aren't used in the demo, for example the shadowing of those unseen fields, the text at the bottom, and some icons.

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/9338/wb31002.png

http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/5951/wb31003.png

There's quite a few of different version of the engine on my HD, one could simply find himself lost ;) A few random events decided on the release of thise demo. The biggest problem for me wasn't the engine itself, but the general idea behind the game. I do hope I managed to create something that's playable. To be prefectly honest, the game can get boring with time, the puzzles are easy and it's no challenge for a good player. That's why I'm afraid the future release of the game is a mystery, and I can't give you my word on it.

I'd like to thank my graphician - Krzysztof Matys (Koyot1222) for co-working with me on the game.

Do share your thoughts on this one, all comments are welcome. Just please don't say it doesn't work on MorphOS, I already said why it is so... (the graph-card version doesn't exist yet, but it's a simple matter of swapping the graphical operations)

Cheers and happy testing!Gameplay video @ YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3EaCH8veYc)

[RNS]

Hi guys! Robert / Minniat, the programmer here:

Thanks to Logan and Shoonay for advertising the game. From the release of first and second demo many things have happened and the game is now at beta stage! This beta version will work only on classic Amiga with AGA chipset (unexpanded Amiga 1200 is enough) or emulator, bacause it is written entirely in assembler. It is a game very similiar to Robbo/Sokoban and placed in medieval castle. The features are: nice and colorful graphics, fast and flexible engine, nice sound effects (music will appear after). The view is, unlike first demos, from the above so there is much more place on the map and engine has much more features and is faster.

http://minniatian.republika.pl/Arcymag/ArcymagBeta.lha Here you can grab the beta version. By far it includes only 4 levels.

The game is ready to run on version 3.0 Kickstart/Workbench. Just extract archive and click on the icon. The controls are: joystick and ESC (exit game) and R (restart level ) Keys.

Bugreports and suggestions are very welcome. Send them to bun7/poczta fm (thanks). Enjoy the game and see you :great

Here's a screenshot from 2nd level:

http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/3363/wb31014.png

[Konrad]

Hats off for still creating an Amiga game :). I'm really looking forward to this. Although, if I may be honest...

I understand that the prior perspective restricted the size of the playfield and that there's more space now. But I really LOVED the graphics. There were so many details on floor and walls. And the player sprite was looking great. I was really looking forward for this.

All the fine details are lost now :(. Also, you have a strange perspective mix going on. For example, the player is seen from top, whereas the treasure chests have the same perspective as before. The player sprite is...ugly, sorry. It simply doesn't fit to the rest of the graphics. Guess it was made by another artist ?! This one definately has to change.

But as I said, still looking forward to this. Keep us updated :).

[gimbal]

I must agree, the dynablaster/bug bomber style perspective looked a lot better, at least on the screenshots :(

[Graham Humphrey]

I've submitted a short preview on this game to Amiga Future after having played the Alpha (?) version on Aminet... looks like I've suffered from the "complete article in time for new version to be released" syndrome :)

I never tried the game with the previous perspective... although that does look better the most important thing is the gameplay so if it's better now then great.

Also how do you complete the third screen on the Aminet version? Is it possible? I always manage to block off some of the treasure. How do you do it?

[Zagrebista]

I'm using my first post here to say yes, bring back the old quasi-isometric view! It's that important.

(PS, hello all)

[RNS]

All right my dear friends, since you'd like to the upcoming version of the Archmage will have isometric view with original graphician's theme. But this version has a chance to appear by Christmas (or a bit earlier) because I'm studying computer science by now and have got a lot of work :D ;)

BTW: Have you heard of the competition on Amiga.org which was organised last year? I managed to write a game called "Dwarves in the Iceland" which is fully working Lemmings clone. This Christmas Cammy (organiser of the competition) will be completing X-Mas Amiga Games CD and I need to complete the "Dwarves in the Iceland" in order to make it a part of the X-Mas compilation.

Cheers.

[kriz]

Really good and cool work !! Thx for the updates !!

[Graham Humphrey]

Also how do you complete the third screen on the Aminet version? Is it possible? I always manage to block off some of the treasure. How do you do it?
No help then? ;)

(Not that it really matters anymore...)

[Zagrebista]

Any news?

[Photon]

Thumb for support, always nice to see gamedevs on Amiga :great

[r0ber7]

Looking good! :great

Well done on releasing your demo! I'm still working toward a first alpha release of my Amiga platform adventure. I know how much work finishing a game can be, so much respect for you guys. :bowdown Until yesterday, I didn't realize there was an EAB Game Factory forum (so many subforums!).

Good luck on the Christmas version.