jacobus Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 I've always like the 3D maze/dungeon games - Dungeon Master in particular - so I'm currently working on a game in this genre. I plan to have 12 or so levels, each 20 x 20 locations with up to 15 different monsters, doors, keys and specialty locations. At this point I have rough walls and passageways and the first of the monsters. I don't think I'll have enough memory to create the "traditional" inventory screen, so I'll be making something a little more automatic in nature. The attached video shows rotation in place, followed by a stroll up and down a hallway and the approach of a NPC. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F6MYf5vilzo&feature=youtu.be 17 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kogden Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 That's pretty neat so far! I was actually surprised they didn't do an 8-bit port of Dungeon Master. Would probably have been doable as a floppy game or bankswitched cart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Very nice, Jim! Do you use Quick language? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Goochman Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 This is something I always wanted to do way back - even had an idea on how to do it which would've been similar to your results. Only problem was I knew Basic only so it would be about 10% the speed of yours Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danwinslow Posted August 25, 2014 Share Posted August 25, 2014 Looks cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacobus Posted August 26, 2014 Author Share Posted August 26, 2014 That's pretty neat so far! I was actually surprised they didn't do an 8-bit port of Dungeon Master. Would probably have been doable as a floppy game or bankswitched cart. Although I appreciate the comparison, suggesting this is anything like Dungeon Master is a bit of a stretch! But thank you! I fully intend to load levels off of disk - nice side effect of making it endlessly modable. Very nice, Jim! Do you use Quick language? Yes, I'm really enjoying it and continue to find ways to make it accomplish more. Looks cool! Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacobus Posted August 26, 2014 Author Share Posted August 26, 2014 (edited) Another update tonight - Similar to previous video, but with much improved passageway drawing. One issue I'm having right now (and it's a nice problem to have) is that the screens draw so fast that it's way too easy to over control. The video shows this problem near the start. http://youtu.be/QMJGbpee-gQ Edited August 26, 2014 by jacobus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danwinslow Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 This is probably ahead of the game, but as a finishing touch I'd suggest some kind of alternate shading on the walls, ie, every other panel slightly darker and lighter, or maybe a slight textual difference, or an occasional wall hanging or sconce or bumps or something. Perfectly flat and identical wall panels always make me feel like the game is moving around me rather than me through it, or that I'm just looking at snapshots...a very small amount of extra detail or shading difference in the panels really snaps you into place and makes you feel like you are actually moving through something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Great job! Dungeon Master is my all-time favorite ST game! It will be cool to see a similar game on the 8-bits! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Don't name it Centron 3D for gods sake... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenjennings Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Don't name it Centron 3D for gods sake... Right. It doesn't include a DeLorean. Also, he's demonstrated a fairly good working actual program which is considerably more than Centron 3D screen mockups. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danwinslow Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Actually, I guess they finally released an actual 'game'. Reception was less than enthusiastic from I can tell. Sorry for the derail. Back to subject : This effort pleases me. Continue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ricortes Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 You may want to take a quick peek<sic> at Labyrinths. http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-labyrinths_2877.html Just for ideas/display. The source code was published in ANALOG and well commented. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Started a BASIC dungeon crawler as a kid but gave up when I found out that I lacked the artistic skill to draw convincing monsters.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 Started a BASIC dungeon crawler as a kid but gave up when I found out that I lacked the artistic skill to draw convincing monsters.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelmischief Posted August 26, 2014 Share Posted August 26, 2014 @slx: Did you start a BASIC dungeon crawler as a kid, but give it up when you found out that you lacked the artistic skill to draw convincing monsters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacobus Posted August 27, 2014 Author Share Posted August 27, 2014 This is probably ahead of the game, but as a finishing touch I'd suggest some kind of alternate shading on the walls, ie, every other panel slightly darker and lighter, or maybe a slight textual difference, or an occasional wall hanging or sconce or bumps or something. Perfectly flat and identical wall panels always make me feel like the game is moving around me rather than me through it, or that I'm just looking at snapshots...a very small amount of extra detail or shading difference in the panels really snaps you into place and makes you feel like you are actually moving through something. I plan to have the occasional "thing" either on the wall or floor - will help as a reference and to break things up. As far as shaded walls, I'd like to do that, but it will depend upon how many characters I have available. At this point I'm going to leave the walls as they are and revisit when everything else is done. You may want to take a quick peek<sic> at Labyrinths. http://www.atarimania.com/game-atari-400-800-xl-xe-labyrinths_2877.html Just for ideas/display. The source code was published in ANALOG and well commented. Thanks, I'll have a look at this later. Right now I want to develop my own look without worrying that it's become derivative. Started a BASIC dungeon crawler as a kid but gave up when I found out that I lacked the artistic skill to draw convincing monsters.... Yeah, I'm a little worried about that. Right now my monster list looks like this: 1 Ghost (revised from pacman look alike) 2 blob 3 different blob 4 son of blob 5 :-) Tonight's additions - doors! 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+slx Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 (edited) @slx: Did you start a BASIC dungeon crawler as a kid, but give it up when you found out that you lacked the artistic skill to draw convincing monsters? Yeah, but the auto-correct on my mobile was too basic to correct my basic spelling error Looking back I'll also have to admit that it actually was a basic BASIC dungeon crawler. Edited August 27, 2014 by slx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mclaneinc Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 Its looking really nice, I have to admit I was never a Dungeon Master person but anything new on the 8 bit always gets my vote. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nosty Posted August 27, 2014 Share Posted August 27, 2014 BTW: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/169329-dungeon-monster-game-on-the-way/ I have very early working prototype created for Corina cartridge. Unfortunately this project is cancelled as I know. So I'm glad that you try to create your new version. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacobus Posted August 30, 2014 Author Share Posted August 30, 2014 Major visual update for tonight - I broke down and improved the distance shading for walls, floors and ceilings. I kept telling myself to wait until everything else was done, but I really wanted to see how it would look! Turns out I had just enough characters left to handle all the shape combinations. Also added bar graphs to show the Health, armour, etc levels, rudimentary fighting code (not shown) and tracking for NPC health levels. Next up are wall panels to unlock doors, and regen health. I also tried to drive a little bit slower in the video. http://youtu.be/g1gEOQVQVsQ 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Irgendwer Posted August 30, 2014 Share Posted August 30, 2014 Turns out I had just enough characters left to handle all the shape combinations. Maybe you use this already, but if running short on chars, you could use the char flipping feature of the machine at the vertical mid of the depiction (DLI) to save some. Currently the 'danwinslow-feeling' is still present - which I also dislike. I could supply a mock-up for an alternate depiction - if desired. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacobus Posted September 2, 2014 Author Share Posted September 2, 2014 Maybe you use this already, but if running short on chars, you could use the char flipping feature of the machine at the vertical mid of the depiction (DLI) to save some. Currently the 'danwinslow-feeling' is still present - which I also dislike. I could supply a mock-up for an alternate depiction - if desired. I'm using that technique right now to give me full access to the normal character set and my redefined one. Currently I have less that 20 characters free in my own set - I plan to use them for more variety in the dungeon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jacobus Posted September 2, 2014 Author Share Posted September 2, 2014 Another update for tonight - lots of changes from the previous version: More mobs - still only one frame each, I think I'll have enough RAM for at least two frame animation, perhaps three! The player can now attack and kill mobs, with some preliminary death animation Once "discovered", mobs will slowly follow the player Health POI (point of interest - what I'm calling any interactive or informative object in the dungeon) is now working. Sorry about the jumping during this part of the video - I really need to slow down the frame/movement rate. Key POI now works - once pushed, the key icon appears in the dashboard and doors are unlocked. (right now one key unlocks all doors on a level - this may change) Less obvious stuff - I have a map editor in Excel which allows me to publish revisions in a matter of seconds, as well as a PM editor. Excel has been an amazingly good friend through this entire project! I use it for note taking, memory location tracking, to-do list, etc Video: http://youtu.be/np-pg2e7d1s P.S. Can anyone tell me how to add a YouTube link here that includes a preview frame? 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven/TQA Posted September 2, 2014 Share Posted September 2, 2014 cool stuff... I always will be and been a fan of RPGs... played Dungeon Master to death... preview frame should be automaticly added by the upload manager of Youtube... otherwise you can select that when upload is finished? Later in the youtube video editor. btw. I have done a lot of researches for Beyond Evil in terms of Battle Engine and LOOT engine... so I can provide the algorithms similar Diablo2 is creating them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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