WIP - Hero quest themed shooter.

[yuppicide]

Looks great! I didn't read the entire thread, but I am thinking turn it into SATAN'S HOLLOW!

[Robert M]

I am working on this occasionally. I started the whole thing over from scratch taking what I learned as a base. Heopefully I will have something worth posting before the end of August.

 

Cheers!

[Legend]

I am working on this occasionally. I started the whole thing over from scratch taking what I learned as a base. Heopefully I will have something worth posting before the end of August.

 

Cheers!

 

Awesome. Glad to hear. I know the theme is only superficial, but it's my favorite part. You don't see many fantasy themed shooters. Not that I know of anyways. Can't wait.

 

-Legend

[Legend]

Any Progress?

 

-Legend

[Robert M]

One step forward. Two steps back. I have rebuilt the entire game engine so to speak. The player movement and animations is driven from tables rather than nested if then statements. The player can now jump and perform a rolling dodge manuver.

 

Near term TODOs:

- Rewrite the flaming sword code.

- Begin generating game levels code and enemies.

 

main025.txt

main025.txt.bin

[Legend]

sweet. I was afraid this project was dead too like so many others. I look forward to seeing this one completed. I think it's the only fantasy/hero themed shooter out there for 2600.

 

-Legend

[Robert M]

The weapon flame animation code is back in place. There are a number of frames of animation missing so like when you perform the roll manuver the flame is not correct yet.

 

main027.txt.bin

main027.txt

 

Next tasks.

1. Get the player shot working again.

2. Rebuild the first level enemies code.

[Legend]

any new progress?

[Legend]

"bump"

 

This one and sword of iffrete are two that I'm really looking forward to. ANy progress on this one?

[Robert M]

Too much overtime at work. Its not dead, just sleeping.

[jrok]

This is such a great looking game so far. Also, the inline assembly code is facinating and I am really learning a lot from reading it. Using a multidimensional array to store the animations is just brilliant.

[Robert M]

This is such a great looking game so far. Also, the inline assembly code is facinating and I am really learning a lot from reading it. Using a multidimensional array to store the animations is just brilliant.

Thanks for the kudos.

 

I have improved the player animations and control. Touching the left or right wall of the cavern kills the player simply to show the animation. It won't kill the player in the final game.

 

main038.txt.bin

main038.txt

 

Cheers!

[yuppicide]

Looks pretty good. I haven't played it because I'm motivated to work on my own a bit tonight, but I wanted to chime in.

 

This looks kind of like a "Satan's Hollow" for the Atari 2600. Would be kind of cool to turn it into a port of that in sorts.

[Robert M]

The player can shoot now, but I am not sure if I like it. Hold the button to charge the attack, and release to fire. There are 4 levels of attack. There is limited collision detection with the letters on the screen to see the shot explosion animations.

 

So I am interested to hear if people like the weapon charging idea, or would they prefer a straight forward shot with perhaps power-ups that increase the player attack level?

 

main043.txt.bin

main043.txt

[Byte Knight]

The player can shoot now, but I am not sure if I like it. Hold the button to charge the attack, and release to fire. There are 4 levels of attack. There is limited collision detection with the letters on the screen to see the shot explosion animations.

 

So I am interested to hear if people like the weapon charging idea, or would they prefer a straight forward shot with perhaps power-ups that increase the player attack level?

 

I like the charge attack - very cool! This attack could be used against larger or armored enemies. It would be nice if you had a way to attack horizontally, otherwise you'll be limiting the game to be a vertical shooter.

[Robert M]

It would be nice if you had a way to attack horizontally, otherwise you'll be limiting the game to be a vertical shooter.

 

 

I know what your saying. The use of a human looking player implies the player should be able to attack sidewise. I thought a bout that a lot and I decided in the end I am really setting out to make a vertical shooter.

 

Cheers!

[+Nathan Strum]

The player can shoot now, but I am not sure if I like it. Hold the button to charge the attack, and release to fire. There are 4 levels of attack. There is limited collision detection with the letters on the screen to see the shot explosion animations.

 

So I am interested to hear if people like the weapon charging idea, or would they prefer a straight forward shot with perhaps power-ups that increase the player attack level?

Power-ups would be fine, but I like the weapon charging since you get to choose when you use it, and aren't relying on the game to give you extra firepower whenever it feels like it. Although I think the lowest power shot should cycle much faster. I get a little frustrated that he doesn't shoot as rapidly as I'd like.

 

Does the multiple levels of attack mean there will be some enemies requiring several hits to kill?

 

Maybe the higher power shots could take out multiple enemies (the highest one plowing right through an entire column of them).

 

Will there be bosses of some sort? Seems like a natural for this game (in a Phoenixy sort-of way).

 

This is looking excellent, and I'm glad to still see this in development.

[Legend]

This is looking great. I love the player animations. Charging the weapon is cool. SOme power ups would definitely be cool. Like standard invincible and maybe like a double shot or spread shot. Will there be enemies on the ground you have to jump over? If so, maybe the player can have a downward stab kinda of move for ground enemies.

[jrok]

I really like the idea of a weapon charge as well. Depending upon how frantic the action is overhead, something like that could make for a good little risk/reward decision in the heat of battle.

 

Also, I just wanted to say that I think the character graphics and animation are really wonderful in this game so far, and some of the best I have seen on the 2600. The jumping animation is so simple and effective in conveying the important parts of the motion, and I love the additional radiating effects of the shield manuever. In addition, I love how this game is affording so many optional menuevers.... you can run, jump, slide, defend, attack and power up a supershot, all with only a 8-directional stick and a fire button. This has the potential to wind up being one of the deepest and most satisfying shooters for the system, I think. Great work.

 

Cheers,

Jarod.

Edited June 11, 2009 by jrok

[Robert M]

Does the multiple levels of attack mean there will be some enemies requiring several hits to kill?

Yes, and/or some enemies will require a minimum power level to even damage them.

 

Maybe the higher power shots could take out multiple enemies (the highest one plowing right through an entire column of them).

That's a possibility.

 

Will there be bosses of some sort? Seems like a natural for this game (in a Phoenixy sort-of way).

Definitely.

 

This is looking excellent, and I'm glad to still see this in development.

 

Thanks.

[Robert M]

Will there be enemies on the ground you have to jump over? If so, maybe the player can have a downward stab kinda of move for ground enemies.

 

There will be ground enemies. Things that crawl down the walls and across the floor, or emerge from the floor holes. I am leaning towards making the current slide move into an attack move against ground enemies. Does that sound like a good idea?

 

Thanks everyone for the kudos.

[jrok]

There will be ground enemies. Things that crawl down the walls and across the floor, or emerge from the floor holes. I am leaning towards making the current slide move into an attack move against ground enemies. Does that sound like a good idea?

 

I guess it depends on how fast they'll be traveling, and how they will navigate the pits when they reach them. In general I think some form of sideways action will really make this game special, even if the primary action is topside. The main reason I was addicted to Space Cavern was those little freaks that would dash at you from either side, momentarily taking you out of your rhythm to deal with them.

 

One thing I was going to suggest was that I kept feeling like I wanted to press the button to slide and jump, rather then just move the joystick diagonally up and down. Both maneuvers seems a little risky to me, so I'd want to mentally commit to do them with the fire button. With a keyboard it seems okay, but I imagine there could be a little frustration with a 8D-stick.

 

Also, considering that your hero is carrying around a gigantic, flaming sword, I'm wondering if he might use that to dispatch ground enemies, rather than kicking them in the shins The current sliding animation could be re-purposed into a flying jump kick triggered by an input when the hero is in his jumping state. That way, if an enemy ever leaps across one of the pits to attack him, he could try to dispatch him in mid-air, Bruce Lee style.

 

How about this as a possible alternate control scheme:

 

Joystick Only

• Up: Null
  
• Up-Right: Run Right (prepared for a jump)
  
• Right: Walk right
  
• Down-Right: Guard Right (prepared to swing sword)
  
• Down: Crouch with Shield up (no change)
  
• Down-Left: Guard Left (prepared to swing sword)
  
• Left - Walk left
  
• Up-Left - Run Left (prepared for a jump)
  

 

Joystick and Fire Button

• Up: Jump Up
  
• Up-Right: Jump right
  
• Right: Fire up
  
• Down-Right: Swing sword right
  
• Down: Null
  
• Down-Left: Swing sword left
  
• Left - Fire Up
  
• Up-Left - Jump left
  

 

In Jumping State with Fire Button

• Up: Fire up
  
• Up-Right: Fire up
  
• Right: Kick right
  
• Down-Right: Kick right
  
• Down: Null
  
• Down-Left: Kick Left
  
• Left - Kick left
  
• Up-Left - Fire Up
  

 

Just a random thought. Of course, it would be easier to judge with a few enemies involved. I mean, if a key part of the challenge would be mentally measuring the distance to make sure you don't slide into those pits while taking out baddies -- and that turned out to be frantic fun -- well then the sliding movement is the best movement. Also, the sliding could serve a secondary defensive function to avoid swooping foes or bullets fired horizontally at the hero... actually while I was playing, that is sort of what I imagined.

 

I remember seeing a build of this a long time ago with a swarm of bat-like enemies. Are you going to reinstate those eventually, or are you re-imagining that part of the game? I remember they were looking really fabulous with their attack patterns... man I really wanted to blast those guys. Thanks again for letting us watch your process.

 

Cheers,

J

Edited June 12, 2009 by jrok

[Legend]

I remember a version with a roll move. Maybe for sideways enemies, the player could roll and make a sword slash at the end of the roll. That way the player would have to think quick and time the roll right so they can hit the enemy. Otherwise, if they are still rolling when they reach the enemy, they take a hit. Not sure how complicated that is to implement since I'm not a programmer, but Just an idea. I also think being able to jump and stab downward is a good idea too since the player also has to worry about not jumping into an enemy coming down.

 

Just some ideas.

[Legend]

I was just looking at this again. I just noticed the death animation. Very cool looking. Any progress?

[Legend]

Sorry to bump an older thread, but I was curious if there was any new progress on this one. It's one that I think has a lot of cool potential and I'm looking forward to seeing it completed.