Magic Pockets remake - work started - Page 4

jotd · 24 May 2009, 07:19

Good news for the remake anyway: I could figure out most of the stuff in the PC data files: will be much easier to populate the levels and much more faithful to the original.
Stay tuned

gimbal · 24 May 2009, 17:23

great!

Now get back to work on Cadaver!

jotd · 24 May 2009, 21:26

Cadaver is now in stand-by, but with all the work I put in it, I'll resume it. But I need time since I worked too much on it those last months.

jotd · 16 June 2009, 22:57

update: made good progress in decoding Magic Pockets levels. I think I can even create a level editor for the PC version using original PC exe. I could change monster coordinates & behaviour in the original game. Funny.

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Retro1234 · 17 June 2009, 01:24

Nice work there jotd - Is there no way access the Amiga files? its just one big block NDOS disk with no filesystem.

Will you be adding ingame music I always thought this game needed music.

gimbal · 17 June 2009, 08:42

another example of brilliant reverse engineering I'll bet. Congratulations!

zenox98 · 17 June 2009, 09:31

Good news, jotd. An editor would be cool.

jotd · 17 June 2009, 22:31

ATM I think I'll concentrate on the editor, making it very user-friendly. Designing levels for the original game would be cool. Not sure which freedom I'll have in the end, but I can definitely move all the monsters & bonuses & alter monster stamina and behaviour (I could make the frog jump and head to the exit, thing which is nowhere to be seen in the original).

On the other hand, the remake would have better graphics. The biggest work is to make the AI (that I have ported from Gods remake) work.

jotd · 25 July 2009, 09:00

A little update: I could go a lot further in the remake development after having decoded most of the level data.

Here are some snapshots. The AI won't be so hard to do finally. I think the greatest work lies in the animation of the various enemies and the tweaks needed for final stages and underwater level.

I'll keep you informed.

bye

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gimbal · 25 July 2009, 15:45

waking up on Saturday before 9AM. It should be forbidden.

Anyways, good to see you are still in the game, so to speak

gimbal · 29 July 2009, 14:48

question out of pure interest: have you thought of some ways to make this game more fun than the original? IMO the original was far too repetitive to hold the attention.

Moar secrets would be one of my wishes if you are taking requests. The game could be a lot of fun if it was completely loaded with secret areas, like Donkey Kong Country for example. Scouting for the hidden secrets is half the fun in that game.

jotd · 29 July 2009, 15:37

I think that too: the game is repetitive, but it still has a lot of secrets (here's a guide of the game I just updated here: Hints.zip). The main problem is that there's no scripting (or very few) or code-driven puzzles (as opposed to Gods, Cadaver or Chaos Engine) which limits the way secrets could be inserted. The secrets rely on some specific items (magic ball, chalices) and teleport rooms.

By studying the game, I found more secrets, like for instance the way to warp from world 4 back to world 1 and keep your score, allowing you to reach a huge score without completing the game. I also found useless items such as chalices in teleport rooms, which have no effect.

IMHO the most sedate level is the jungle level with growing plants. And the gamemaps are huge, in fact maybe too huge.

Apart from that, the programming is awesome, and the game engine is a little jewel. I still think this game is very good, and underrated.

gimbal · 29 July 2009, 16:19

... but with your experience from Gods you could implement those things, couldn't you? Would be neat to have triggered events and traps. That would really decrease the boredom factor.

Leffmann · 29 July 2009, 17:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by jotd

Apart from that, the programming is awesome, and the game engine is a little jewel. I still think this game is very good, and underrated.

In what way? The first things one notices is how slow the game runs compared to some other games.

Qube · 29 July 2009, 18:14

The game was slow, but was kinda fun, after all it was only ever meant to be a fun bouncy game or somin lol. I think the 3-1 chalice did something with the continues. But there are probably hidden secrets left in the game, e.g. the magic stripey marble ball thing...

Pick up the ball, pick up a cocktail, max your fire, throw 5 balls, jump on each ball to make loads of gold coins.

The running jelly baby is always a blast. Would be good to explore the teleport rooms more, while stopping the warp timer, some of those rooms seemed to go on and on and on..

Q;

jotd · 29 July 2009, 22:18

@qube: I have explored all the teleport rooms, only bonuses here.
The 3-1 chalice (iron chalice, only to be found here) effect is: if you pick up the chalice + teleport => warp. Don't pick up the chalice & teleport => normal teleport room bonus.
You're perfectly right about the steel chalices strewn across the 4 worlds (AFAIR 1.2, 4.21, 4.26 x 2): they award 1 continue credit. I was not aware about this until today!
You can reach a mega-huge-big score by teleporting on the last level but one (twenty-six). Super-hard level, super-hard to teleport there but awards a lot of points and 2 continues + warp to level 1. Do it several times you can reach millions of points (it takes ages too!)

The magic ball does exactly that coin/cocktail thing, and only that. The first magic ball can be found on world 1 part 2 after 3 teleports (alongside with a steel chalice: contiunue).

Some levels have 3 different teleports and the 4th one leads to the exit. The 3th teleport is often very interesting, with continue chalices and special stuff.

1-2 level has got selectable routes, and teleports differ from one route to another.
In some warp room (with stairs) I could pick both coin piles once because I had enough time, but could not do it again. Probably some powerup I had but I cannot reproduce it.

I've focused on differences between US/NTSC version and UK (first release) version. The main difference is level layout, controls, passwords, and ... the lack of the Golden Chalice in the version with passwords. IHMO this re-release was botched hence small incoherences.

About the speed: play it on winuae you'll find the game very smooth and fast.

@Gimbal: this would be Gods with Magic Pockets graphics. I'm not an imaginative kind of guy. I cannot make a whole new game from those bits, sorry.

23 November 2009, 05:55

JOTD I love what you have so far. My wife LOVES Magic Pockets and other than actually setting up the Amiga for the purposes of her playing, to see a PC version is a fantastic alternative.

I hope you'll find the time to continue developing.

Wammy

humble worm · 23 November 2009, 07:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leffmann

In what way? The first things one notices is how slow the game runs compared to some other games.

The first thing I noticed was how cool the gfx was and then how funny the baddies behaved

jotd · 29 November 2009, 21:05

@Wammy: there's already a PC version, identical to the Amiga NTSC version.
@humble worm: you mean in this remake? or in the original game.

I'm trying to assemble a Nintendo DS version too. Not an easy job.

Dastardly · 29 November 2009, 21:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by jotd

I'm trying to assemble a Nintendo DS version too. Not an easy job.

That would be awesome!

29 July 2009, 22:18	#76
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,166	@qube: I have explored all the teleport rooms, only bonuses here. The 3-1 chalice (iron chalice, only to be found here) effect is: if you pick up the chalice + teleport => warp. Don't pick up the chalice & teleport => normal teleport room bonus. You're perfectly right about the steel chalices strewn across the 4 worlds (AFAIR 1.2, 4.21, 4.26 x 2): they award 1 continue credit. I was not aware about this until today! You can reach a mega-huge-big score by teleporting on the last level but one (twenty-six). Super-hard level, super-hard to teleport there but awards a lot of points and 2 continues + warp to level 1. Do it several times you can reach millions of points (it takes ages too!) The magic ball does exactly that coin/cocktail thing, and only that. The first magic ball can be found on world 1 part 2 after 3 teleports (alongside with a steel chalice: contiunue). Some levels have 3 different teleports and the 4th one leads to the exit. The 3th teleport is often very interesting, with continue chalices and special stuff. 1-2 level has got selectable routes, and teleports differ from one route to another. In some warp room (with stairs) I could pick both coin piles once because I had enough time, but could not do it again. Probably some powerup I had but I cannot reproduce it. I've focused on differences between US/NTSC version and UK (first release) version. The main difference is level layout, controls, passwords, and ... the lack of the Golden Chalice in the version with passwords. IHMO this re-release was botched hence small incoherences. About the speed: play it on winuae you'll find the game very smooth and fast. @Gimbal: this would be Gods with Magic Pockets graphics. I'm not an imaginative kind of guy. I cannot make a whole new game from those bits, sorry. Last edited by jotd; 29 July 2009 at 22:32.

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24 May 2009, 07:19	#61
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,166	Good news for the remake anyway: I could figure out most of the stuff in the PC data files: will be much easier to populate the levels and much more faithful to the original. Stay tuned

24 May 2009, 17:23	#62
gimbal cheeky scoundrel Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Spijkenisse/Netherlands Age: 42 Posts: 6,909	great! Now get back to work on Cadaver!

24 May 2009, 21:26	#63
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,166	Cadaver is now in stand-by, but with all the work I put in it, I'll resume it. But I need time since I worked too much on it those last months.

16 June 2009, 22:57	#64
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,166	update: made good progress in decoding Magic Pockets levels. I think I can even create a level editor for the PC version using original PC exe. I could change monster coordinates & behaviour in the original game. Funny.

17 June 2009, 01:24	#65
Retro1234 Phone Homer Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: 5150 Posts: 5,773	Nice work there jotd - Is there no way access the Amiga files? its just one big block NDOS disk with no filesystem. Will you be adding ingame music I always thought this game needed music.

17 June 2009, 08:42	#66
gimbal cheeky scoundrel Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Spijkenisse/Netherlands Age: 42 Posts: 6,909	another example of brilliant reverse engineering I'll bet. Congratulations!

17 June 2009, 09:31	#67
zenox98 Joy Division Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: East Yorkshire Age: 60 Posts: 239	Good news, jotd. An editor would be cool.

17 June 2009, 22:31	#68
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,166	ATM I think I'll concentrate on the editor, making it very user-friendly. Designing levels for the original game would be cool. Not sure which freedom I'll have in the end, but I can definitely move all the monsters & bonuses & alter monster stamina and behaviour (I could make the frog jump and head to the exit, thing which is nowhere to be seen in the original). On the other hand, the remake would have better graphics. The biggest work is to make the AI (that I have ported from Gods remake) work.

25 July 2009, 09:00	#69
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,166	A little update: I could go a lot further in the remake development after having decoded most of the level data. Here are some snapshots. The AI won't be so hard to do finally. I think the greatest work lies in the animation of the various enemies and the tweaks needed for final stages and underwater level. I'll keep you informed. bye

25 July 2009, 15:45	#70
gimbal cheeky scoundrel Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Spijkenisse/Netherlands Age: 42 Posts: 6,909	waking up on Saturday before 9AM. It should be forbidden. Anyways, good to see you are still in the game, so to speak

29 July 2009, 14:48	#71
gimbal cheeky scoundrel Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Spijkenisse/Netherlands Age: 42 Posts: 6,909	question out of pure interest: have you thought of some ways to make this game more fun than the original? IMO the original was far too repetitive to hold the attention. Moar secrets would be one of my wishes if you are taking requests. The game could be a lot of fun if it was completely loaded with secret areas, like Donkey Kong Country for example. Scouting for the hidden secrets is half the fun in that game.

29 July 2009, 15:37	#72
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,166	I think that too: the game is repetitive, but it still has a lot of secrets (here's a guide of the game I just updated here: Hints.zip). The main problem is that there's no scripting (or very few) or code-driven puzzles (as opposed to Gods, Cadaver or Chaos Engine) which limits the way secrets could be inserted. The secrets rely on some specific items (magic ball, chalices) and teleport rooms. By studying the game, I found more secrets, like for instance the way to warp from world 4 back to world 1 and keep your score, allowing you to reach a huge score without completing the game. I also found useless items such as chalices in teleport rooms, which have no effect. IMHO the most sedate level is the jungle level with growing plants. And the gamemaps are huge, in fact maybe too huge. Apart from that, the programming is awesome, and the game engine is a little jewel. I still think this game is very good, and underrated.

29 July 2009, 16:19	#73
gimbal cheeky scoundrel Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Spijkenisse/Netherlands Age: 42 Posts: 6,909	... but with your experience from Gods you could implement those things, couldn't you? Would be neat to have triggered events and traps. That would really decrease the boredom factor.

29 July 2009, 18:14	#75
Qube Registered User Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: England Posts: 218	The game was slow, but was kinda fun, after all it was only ever meant to be a fun bouncy game or somin lol. I think the 3-1 chalice did something with the continues. But there are probably hidden secrets left in the game, e.g. the magic stripey marble ball thing... Pick up the ball, pick up a cocktail, max your fire, throw 5 balls, jump on each ball to make loads of gold coins. The running jelly baby is always a blast. Would be good to explore the teleport rooms more, while stopping the warp timer, some of those rooms seemed to go on and on and on.. Q;

23 November 2009, 05:55	#77
Wammy Posts: n/a	JOTD I love what you have so far. My wife LOVES Magic Pockets and other than actually setting up the Amiga for the purposes of her playing, to see a PC version is a fantastic alternative. I hope you'll find the time to continue developing. Wammy

29 November 2009, 21:05	#79
jotd This cat is no more Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: FRANCE Age: 52 Posts: 8,166	@Wammy: there's already a PC version, identical to the Amiga NTSC version. @humble worm: you mean in this remake? or in the original game. I'm trying to assemble a Nintendo DS version too. Not an easy job.

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