Downfall - diary of a game... - Page 2

Predseda · 29 January 2012, 23:15

I like it. I think I could participate with some graphics.

Graham Humphrey · 29 January 2012, 23:39

Great, thanks! Here's a few details about what I'm looking for:

The graphics are in 16 colours (effectively 15 - colour zero isn't used for sprites etc and I'd like to save it for some sort of copper gradient for the background).

Unlike the ones I've drawn, I'd prefer the player sprite to fit into 16x16 pixels, with some animation frames to show him walking and one for falling (check the YouTube link to the Jaguar game for a guide). I'd also need a second player but you could probably just use different colours for that.

The platforms are 8x8 pixels and only use three components - a left edge, a right edge and the 'centre'. It should be pretty simple to come up with some different designs and patterns to inject some variety.

Lastly some bonus fruit pickups (preferably also to fit into 16x16).

Obviously there's also the issue of title/presentation stuff but that can wait for a while I think.

(If anyone's interested in doing music, I'd like a couple of reasonably short-ish tracks in .mod format, one for the title screen and one for the main game. I'd like to load all the data in one go so there'll be no disk access during the game so I don't want large samples etc. And the sound effects shouldn't be too hard, I only really need a sound to indicate an item has been collected and a death sample, maybe one for each player.)

Predseda · 29 January 2012, 23:47

It will be done, o'master of code

How many anim frames per running?

BTW: is the 16 cols pallette just for trial, could be there be 32 cols used in later versions?

Graham Humphrey · 29 January 2012, 23:51

Um... that's a good question, actually. I hadn't really given it any thought. Only a few in each direction I guess - the video of the Jaguar version may be a good guide. Maybe just have a play around and see what you think 'feels' the right amount. But I'd guess only about five or six per direction (not including the 'falling' sprite) would be needed.

Predseda · 30 January 2012, 00:12

Lol, I have found cute typo in your .asc file. You wrote there work begun 8th Jan 2011. Not much progress since

Graham Humphrey · 30 January 2012, 08:38

Don't see how that's an error... that is, in fact, when I started it

EDIT: Oh, I see... it's 2012 now. Doh...

Predseda · 30 January 2012, 08:38

I would like to know how do you imagine the 2 players game. They both will be playing simultaneously and if one dies (falls down or get squished on top), he is then respawned, if the other one is still alive? So the game ends when both of them are dead in one moment?

Graham Humphrey · 03 February 2012, 08:33

I didn't see this post (edited posts don't show up as unread so I missed it). Not too sure yet - there won't be any respawning though. I'll have to think about the best way of implementing it.

Anyway, I came back here to give people a quick update on what's going on. Predseda has very kindly stepped in to do some graphics work and he's come up with some nice, simple graphics that very much fit in with the game I think. He's done animated graphics for both players as well as some platforms and pickups... even a nice title screen. I've already managed to implement the animation for player one so that looks pretty good now.

I will once again post an updated version, probably on Sunday evening like last week, for you all to have a play around with - rest assured it's starting to look a lot better if nothing else

Predseda · 03 February 2012, 08:50

i think there could be two 2 player modes - one that would end for a player when he gets off the screen (while the other one would continue util his own death) and one that would return the fallen player to the game if the other one is still alive (with some delay) - this could keep the long gameplay for two players and the game would end if both are dead in one moment.

It is only my suggestion. Nothing is more boring than 2 player game, when one is already dead and has to watch the other one, who is progressing well, i think.

Graham Humphrey · 03 February 2012, 19:27

Yes - that's a trap a game like Base Jumpers falls into - it's really good fun but when there's only one player left, it loses its appeal (and that had enormous potential as a multiplayer game).

My first thought was to go for the game ending when one player dies. This means that although you're playing against each other in terms of your score, you're both dependant on each other staying alive to progress in the game (a bit like Pang in that sense).

Graham Humphrey · 05 February 2012, 21:48

Attached to this post is the third WIP version of Downfall.

The most striking difference is the graphics. As I said earlier, Predseda has been doing great work with drawing graphics for the game and I've spent a bit of time implementing them. In the archive is the entire sprite set he's drawn (I assume he's okay with this) although I haven't included the title screen on the grounds that I haven't coded it into the game yet. So far, only the first player and one set of tiles are actually loaded into shape files but of course they will all be used eventually.

In terms of the actual code, I've added some code to animate the player shape, and also when you die the scrolling stops and you have to press escape or fire to quit. Of course, in the finished game you'll be taken to the high score table (if applicable) and then the title screen so it won't always be as crude as this.

As a nice bonus, I've added ten new 'rows' of platforms to navigate before it loops around to the start again. I'll create some new levels for the game proper; this is just to test things out really.

Also, I have been toying with the character's movement. I've been attempting to add inertia, adapting some code Anakirob wrote for me for use in Annihilation several years ago. The big problem I can't solve is the player flying off the screen and flagging an error, despite my attempts to catch it if the player's x coordinates will take him off the screen and adjust it accordingly. I've included the new code in the archive, but of course the new movement code is currently commented out - feel free to have a play around and see what you can do though...

In the meantime, I'll keep plugging away and aside from this problem, I also plan to add pickups soon, the scoring system and also a nice new panel and font for the bottom of the screen.

I'm still looking for music and sound effects if anybody would be interested in contributing. I would really appreciate it.

prowler · 05 February 2012, 22:11

Sorry about my lack of progress reports here. The Compute Games disk is both more difficult and interesting than I thought it would be.

I've actually had the WIP2 version running in emulation. I rather like the little character; he reminds me of Lester Chaykin (Another World), but I couldn't find a joystick to use with my PC, and then I didn't have time to write it to floppy to use in my A500.

I'm still following this thread with much interest, so keep up the good work!

Predseda · 05 February 2012, 22:13

Looks nice. There is a problem with y position of the sprite though, it should be one pixel higher (or hot spot one pixel lower), coz now feet are buried in the platforms.

Predseda · 05 February 2012, 22:16

BTW: Only Amiga makes it possible!

Graham Humphrey · 05 February 2012, 22:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by prowler

Sorry about my lack of progress reports here. The Compute Games disk is both more difficult and interesting than I thought it would be.

I've actually had the WIP2 version running in emulation. I rather like the little character; he reminds me of Lester Chaykin (Another World), but I couldn't find a joystick to use with my PC, and then I didn't have time to write it to floppy to use in my A500.

I'm still following this thread with much interest, so keep up the good work!

Thanks prowler! Certainly no need to apologise. I'm glad you liked my little character, I didn't though

Predseda has done a great job with the graphics and it's really taken on its own style now which is great. I'm pleased with how it looks now and it now means I don't have to worry about anything to do with graphics, which means more time for coding the actual game.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Predseda

Looks nice. There is a problem with y position of the sprite though, it should be one pixel higher (or hot spot one pixel lower), coz now feet are buried in the platforms.

Yes, I have noticed this. I don't think it really affects the game but it doesn't look brilliant. I can't move the hot spot lower as it's already as low as it can be

I should be able to fix it without too much bother though.

Djay · 06 February 2012, 00:50

BTW: Only Amiga makes it possible!

True that

fishyfish · 06 February 2012, 07:48

Just thought Id mention you can use a different set of 16 colors (well, 15+transparent) for hardware sprites even using 16 color screens (sprites get thier colors from registers 16-31) . Not sure if you realised this, but it sounded as though you was using a universal 16 colors (ergo perhaps some sort of bobs/software sprites?).

Graham Humphrey · 06 February 2012, 08:20

Yes, I know

I've just not really bothered to use them here. Predseda's done really well with getting everything into sixteen colours anyway

I do intend to use a separate palette for the panel at the bottom though. It looks a bit crude currently. And I really don't want to be using the Topaz font as I think it looks really amateurish in games.

Predseda · 06 February 2012, 08:48

In fact, in game there is currently only 14 colours used. Title screen will be in 32 cols palette, because of some antialiasing effect.

Of course, we can use separate palettes for sprites and other graphics, but in this case it doesnt matter as there is not other graphics than sprites. Maybe later, when Graham deicides to add some vertical scrolling 5 layers paralax background, we will need separate palettes

Graham, I have read carefully your ASC file, it is very well commented and I can now imagine how the whole game works. It would be great if you would always summarise all the changes since previous version at the beginning of the new file.

fishyfish · 06 February 2012, 12:33

Cool. It was mostly just because the graphics in your game are 16 pixels wide that made me think of it. Personally Im always trying to squeeze hardware sprites in wherever I can, so it was probably a bit of a reflex action in mentioning it

30 January 2012, 08:38	#27
Predseda Puttymoon inhabitant Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Tromaville Age: 46 Posts: 7,539	I would like to know how do you imagine the 2 players game. They both will be playing simultaneously and if one dies (falls down or get squished on top), he is then respawned, if the other one is still alive? So the game ends when both of them are dead in one moment? Last edited by Predseda; 31 January 2012 at 11:45.

06 February 2012, 08:48	#39
Predseda Puttymoon inhabitant Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Tromaville Age: 46 Posts: 7,539	In fact, in game there is currently only 14 colours used. Title screen will be in 32 cols palette, because of some antialiasing effect. Of course, we can use separate palettes for sprites and other graphics, but in this case it doesnt matter as there is not other graphics than sprites. Maybe later, when Graham deicides to add some vertical scrolling 5 layers paralax background, we will need separate palettes Graham, I have read carefully your ASC file, it is very well commented and I can now imagine how the whole game works. It would be great if you would always summarise all the changes since previous version at the beginning of the new file. Last edited by Predseda; 06 February 2012 at 09:28.

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29 January 2012, 23:15	#21
Predseda Puttymoon inhabitant Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Tromaville Age: 46 Posts: 7,539	I like it. I think I could participate with some graphics.

29 January 2012, 23:39	#22
Graham Humphrey Moderator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Age: 37 Posts: 11,167	Great, thanks! Here's a few details about what I'm looking for: The graphics are in 16 colours (effectively 15 - colour zero isn't used for sprites etc and I'd like to save it for some sort of copper gradient for the background). Unlike the ones I've drawn, I'd prefer the player sprite to fit into 16x16 pixels, with some animation frames to show him walking and one for falling (check the YouTube link to the Jaguar game for a guide). I'd also need a second player but you could probably just use different colours for that. The platforms are 8x8 pixels and only use three components - a left edge, a right edge and the 'centre'. It should be pretty simple to come up with some different designs and patterns to inject some variety. Lastly some bonus fruit pickups (preferably also to fit into 16x16). Obviously there's also the issue of title/presentation stuff but that can wait for a while I think. (If anyone's interested in doing music, I'd like a couple of reasonably short-ish tracks in .mod format, one for the title screen and one for the main game. I'd like to load all the data in one go so there'll be no disk access during the game so I don't want large samples etc. And the sound effects shouldn't be too hard, I only really need a sound to indicate an item has been collected and a death sample, maybe one for each player.)

29 January 2012, 23:47	#23
Predseda Puttymoon inhabitant Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Tromaville Age: 46 Posts: 7,539	It will be done, o'master of code How many anim frames per running? BTW: is the 16 cols pallette just for trial, could be there be 32 cols used in later versions?

29 January 2012, 23:51	#24
Graham Humphrey Moderator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Age: 37 Posts: 11,167	Um... that's a good question, actually. I hadn't really given it any thought. Only a few in each direction I guess - the video of the Jaguar version may be a good guide. Maybe just have a play around and see what you think 'feels' the right amount. But I'd guess only about five or six per direction (not including the 'falling' sprite) would be needed.

30 January 2012, 00:12	#25
Predseda Puttymoon inhabitant Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Tromaville Age: 46 Posts: 7,539	Lol, I have found cute typo in your .asc file. You wrote there work begun 8th Jan 2011. Not much progress since

03 February 2012, 08:33	#28
Graham Humphrey Moderator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Age: 37 Posts: 11,167	I didn't see this post (edited posts don't show up as unread so I missed it). Not too sure yet - there won't be any respawning though. I'll have to think about the best way of implementing it. Anyway, I came back here to give people a quick update on what's going on. Predseda has very kindly stepped in to do some graphics work and he's come up with some nice, simple graphics that very much fit in with the game I think. He's done animated graphics for both players as well as some platforms and pickups... even a nice title screen. I've already managed to implement the animation for player one so that looks pretty good now. I will once again post an updated version, probably on Sunday evening like last week, for you all to have a play around with - rest assured it's starting to look a lot better if nothing else

03 February 2012, 08:50	#29
Predseda Puttymoon inhabitant Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Tromaville Age: 46 Posts: 7,539	i think there could be two 2 player modes - one that would end for a player when he gets off the screen (while the other one would continue util his own death) and one that would return the fallen player to the game if the other one is still alive (with some delay) - this could keep the long gameplay for two players and the game would end if both are dead in one moment. It is only my suggestion. Nothing is more boring than 2 player game, when one is already dead and has to watch the other one, who is progressing well, i think.

03 February 2012, 19:27	#30
Graham Humphrey Moderator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Age: 37 Posts: 11,167	Yes - that's a trap a game like Base Jumpers falls into - it's really good fun but when there's only one player left, it loses its appeal (and that had enormous potential as a multiplayer game). My first thought was to go for the game ending when one player dies. This means that although you're playing against each other in terms of your score, you're both dependant on each other staying alive to progress in the game (a bit like Pang in that sense).

05 February 2012, 22:11	#32
prowler Global Moderator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Sidcup, England Posts: 10,300	Sorry about my lack of progress reports here. The Compute Games disk is both more difficult and interesting than I thought it would be. I've actually had the WIP2 version running in emulation. I rather like the little character; he reminds me of Lester Chaykin (Another World), but I couldn't find a joystick to use with my PC, and then I didn't have time to write it to floppy to use in my A500. I'm still following this thread with much interest, so keep up the good work!

05 February 2012, 22:13	#33
Predseda Puttymoon inhabitant Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Tromaville Age: 46 Posts: 7,539	Looks nice. There is a problem with y position of the sprite though, it should be one pixel higher (or hot spot one pixel lower), coz now feet are buried in the platforms.

05 February 2012, 22:16	#34
Predseda Puttymoon inhabitant Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Tromaville Age: 46 Posts: 7,539	BTW: Only Amiga makes it possible!

06 February 2012, 00:50	#36
Djay 95th User Join Date: May 2001 Location: Brighton/UK Age: 48 Posts: 3,120	BTW: Only Amiga makes it possible! True that

06 February 2012, 07:48	#37
fishyfish Banned Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Australia Posts: 475	Just thought Id mention you can use a different set of 16 colors (well, 15+transparent) for hardware sprites even using 16 color screens (sprites get thier colors from registers 16-31) . Not sure if you realised this, but it sounded as though you was using a universal 16 colors (ergo perhaps some sort of bobs/software sprites?).

06 February 2012, 08:20	#38
Graham Humphrey Moderator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Norwich, Norfolk, UK Age: 37 Posts: 11,167	Yes, I know I've just not really bothered to use them here. Predseda's done really well with getting everything into sixteen colours anyway I do intend to use a separate palette for the panel at the bottom though. It looks a bit crude currently. And I really don't want to be using the Topaz font as I think it looks really amateurish in games.

06 February 2012, 12:33	#40
fishyfish Banned Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Australia Posts: 475	Cool. It was mostly just because the graphics in your game are 16 pixels wide that made me think of it. Personally Im always trying to squeeze hardware sprites in wherever I can, so it was probably a bit of a reflex action in mentioning it

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