Ideas for a 2D platform engine?

[Kada]

blah

[Magno Boots]

I only know about playing games and can tell you that the main frustration (for me) in platform games is the actual jumping and landing itself.

Split second/sprite accurate joystick control is a complete no go.

Let's have our hero being capable of a good hearty jump, like Turrican, and not like some of the awfully controlled PD games of yesteryear. eg. Broderick, Mr Brick and Crazy Sue.
Standing on thin air at the side of a platform is off putting also.

Infact there were plenty of commercial games with the same problem.

The key is to produce a game that doesn't rely on your lives depending on the actual timing of the jumps.
That's what we had to put up with in the Manic Miner days; albeit the 8bit guys had a lot less to play with.

Just my thoughts.

[Zetr0]

Although I have never been a platform gamer, in all truth a genere that nearly bored me to death. however there are a couple of things and more specifically games that ment a lot to me.

If anything I would look to those game that inspire or overplayed wayback in the 80's/90's

for me.

Arcade:

Wonderboy
Shinobie
Altered Beast
Ghosts and Gouls

Home Computers:

Super Frog,
Zool (bit tooo much eye candy lol)
Sonic
Rainbow Islands
Cool Spot
Echo the dolphin (a good twist, reminded me of Airwolf on the C64)

Reviewing this list the one thing that draws me to a conclusion is sprite animation and from that when a character is idle it still has some animation, I have found that this small inclusion seems to set a game away from the pack and is more noticed

Sprite collision

A technique that was re-engineered manytimes over when i wrote programs on the Amiga was to use the Blit Bitmap Mask as a collision detection method. you could in practice use the masking plane as such on a pc, ( worked quite well on my last OGL project )

Anyways cool idea, anyway I can help, let me know

[gimbal]

I guess the most important things for platform games are to get the physics and collision detection right. Nothing is more annoying than when you get hit by an enemy when there was absolutely no reason, and overkill inertia like in Addam's Family is also bad design.

For collision detection some 2D vector math might help you out a lot. I recommend the book "3D math primer for graphics and game development" (which you can easily get digitally through your favorite edonkey client). It also has a section on 2D vector math that is very easy to understand, with example code (allthough it's simple C++, it should not be much of a problem with your basic C knowledge).

[Photon]

I always liked those platform games that did something extra besides jumping, shooting and collecting. Like pulling up beetroots and throwing at the enemy, flattening enemies by jumping on them, and swimming with the fishes... OK I like Super Mario, who doesn't ?

But as long as the control is perfection, you're safe I think. I think the trick with your engine might be to make the control absolutely perfect but still parameterized so that every platformer made with the engine doesn't feel exactly the same, but is configurable. Good luck!

[Zetr0]

*BRAIN WAVE*

why not mix in an RPG element?

extra stat points at the end of a round could equal greater jump or protection, attack.. hell you just think it baby!

hmmm RPG platform game.....

back to the source.... *hic* yummy beer....

[Rebel-CD32]

I've never seen a better attack method in a platform game than Sonic. Jumping on heads is boring, being able to spin and kill your enemy from any angle is awesome, and doesn't make the game any less of a challenge. If someone could think of an better way to kill an enemy, I'd love to play it.

[gimbal]

I think it was done better in Super Metroid That is to me the best platform (/shooter) game in existence. Thinking up new features for a platformer seems next to impossible, after the many years that they have been created it seems like everything has been done before already.

Ratchet and Clank has a very nice idea: you have to travel to different planets and on each planet you can get specific upgrades. On most planets you cannot do something unless you have the necessary upgrade which you can only get on a later planet, so you have to do some backtracking at certain points. I think Odyssey had the same idea with the morphs. That's a very cool feature and puzzle element.

And what else? Super bonusses that are tremendously hard to find (again Ratchet And Clank with the gold bolts). Or what about Kirby who is able to absorb enemies and morph into them?

The N64 Castlevania games have bosses that you have to fight multiple times. Would be fun if you'd create a game where one boss is in your face like throughout the whole game, each time with different attacks. Something like Jenova from Final Fantasy 7, only then with more diversity.

What else, what else... Dark Castle! There aren't enough games like it. You would make me happy if you'd ditch the idea of creating something new and just create a new Dark Castle game with the same gameplay.

[keropi]

if u make a game, make sure you assign a button for jump and not use the UP direction...

[Yaz]

Originally Posted by keropi

if u make a game, make sure you assign a button for jump and not use the UP direction...

Damn right

[gimbal]

meh, the up key worked perfectly in Mortal Kombat (pc)...

[keropi]

the up key for jump is stupid, and only exists because of the lame joystics the amiga had, with 1 button... like it is an atari2600!

NES, MasterSystem, Gameboy, all true consoles of the same era and before, had a seperate button in 99% of the games... and for a good reason....
I find it very hard to use the up button, especially in precision games, like in turrican where u have to jump on platforms that are direclty above the one you are... it needs a lot of practise and for a stupid reason...

[Ironclaw]

It depends on the type of game.

All fighting games = jump/up key

Rest = jump/space...

[BippyM]

make the controls configurable then everyone will be happy about the jump button.. jeez such an obvious statement!

[mcbpete]

Originally Posted by Zetr0

hmmm RPG platform game.....

back to the source.... *hic* yummy beer....

I'm guessing you're thinking of the Castlevania PS1/GBA/DS series ? All of which are fantastic.

[Zetr0]

irony is I have never played them lol, but they sound cool

I was justa thinking with added alcohole and snooping arround HOL

[Rebel-CD32]

I wish someone could get the source code for Backbone on the Amiga and finish off the program. That was by far the best platform game creator I'd ever used on any computer.

[StarEye]

The ability to crawl is a good idea, not to mention actually forcing you to use it also. Spaces where you can crawl through. Maybe to get to secret rooms, or just to advance on the level.

Eight-way shooting. Several frames for the jumping animation, not one animation for upwards jumping, freeze in air and landing animation. Have the character animated all the way.

Rolling. Running and shooting. Moving/runnig backwards/forwards while shooting in one of the opposite directions.

[DamienD]

Sounds much like the "Metal Slug" characters StarEye

Love the animations when you stand on the edge of a platform. LOL

[Rick Dangerous]

Originally Posted by Kada

What do you like most in platform games, what would you have liked to see back in the days but were always missing?

What did you hate the most? What could be removed?

My favourite platform game is 'Commander Keen' on the PC done by ID Software.

Answering your questions:
Q: What do you like most in platform games?
A: The Story.
Q: What would you have liked to see back in the days but were always missing?
A: Naked females.
Q: What did you hate the most?
A: Naked males.
Q: What could be removed?
A: Naked males.

Ok, 'Commander Keen' (CK) is based on a good story. The gameplay is marvellous.
At that time back in the early 90ies there was another game called 'Jack Jazz Rabbit' on the market. The gameplay was well too but the story of CK was much better.

Cheers,
Rick