Castle of Devils (homebrew game)

[xbataxel]

This is the first version of my homebrew game "Castle of Devils", a 16K platformer. I included a few screenshots below, and the BIN file.

 

Here are short instructions for the game:

 

The purpose of the game is to successfully traverse all nine rooms of the castle. These rooms can be accessed through their doors in the main hall. The eight rooms on the main hall’s lower floors are accessible from the beginning. After having completed these eight rooms, the ninth room, located on the top floor, will become accessible. Each room of the castle is completed by first locating and operating the black lever that opens the exit door. Next, the player must reach and go through the open exit door. Once a room has been completed, it cannot be accessed anymore. After all nine rooms of the castle have been completed, the game ends. Each room contains a unique set of traps and obstacles. When entering a room, it can be useful to “study” it for finding the easiest way to the black lever, and to the exit door. Upon colliding with a monster or falling out of a room, the player is returned to the main hall. The number of attempts per game (“lives”) is unlimited.

 

The player moves horizontally on a platform by pressing LEFT and RIGHT. Climbing up a platform is done by pressing UP while touching that platform. Climbing down from a platform is possible only by falling off it (there is no fall damage). Pressing FIRE triggers an instant short-distance leap in the direction the player is facing. This is necessary to bridge gaps and to avoid colliding with stationary or oncoming monsters. Some rooms require precise leaping in order to not fall out of the room. Any interaction with objects (elevators, black levers, collectibles etc.) is done by touching them.

Summary: movement - LEFT / RIGHT / UP, instant leap - FIRE

 

I hope you have fun playing this game.

 

 

 

castle_of_devils.bin

[killersquirel]

This looks awesome.  Looking forward to trying it out as soon as possible.

[+cjherr]

Very nice! Well done.

[r_chase]

Before I play this, I have a thing to note: I'm glad more games are coming out in B&W/greyscale, but has anyone tested this on actual hardware. I would, but I don't have anything like a Harmony cart yet.

Anyway, I'm gonna try this game on one of my Lakka devices, I'll probably be back with a bug report and critique later. Judging by the screenshots, this looks fun though.

[r_chase]

16 minutes ago, r_chase said:

Before I play this, I have a thing to note: I'm glad more games are coming out in B&W/greyscale, but has anyone tested this on actual hardware. I would, but I don't have anything like a Harmony cart yet.

Anyway, I'm gonna try this game on one of my Lakka devices, I'll probably be back with a bug report and critique later. Judging by the screenshots, this looks fun though.

Well, my first playthrough so far gives me this impression: It's a unique and very challenging game. The graphics are great and so is the sound. However, I do have a couple critiques: Some of the traps are rather too difficult to detect. In one room I think the "false platforms" flicker too quickly as a warning signal. So, I suggest making them flicker at a slightly slower rate. Not sure if this'll turn out on a PAL (not to be confused with PAL60, which is just PAL on modern European TVs iirc) console, but I tested the game in an emulator using NTSC mode. So, yeah.

Anyway, other than all that, I think this is a solid game so far. Good job.

[xbataxel]

Thank you for this detailed feedback. I was not aware of the issue in the room you mentioned. In the attached update, I lowered the flickering rate of the traps and colored them white during flickering. I hope this will make them more noticeable. 

 

I would appreciate any feedback on issues of this type or if the difficulty level is frustrating. It is correct that the rooms are meant to be challenging. I plan to upload a video soon that shows how each room can be completed.

castle_of_devils.bin

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

ZeroPage Homebrew is playing Castle of Devils on tomorrow's ZPH stream LIVE on Twitch! Hope you can join us in the chat tomorrow!

 

Tue Nov 14, 2023 | 6PM PT | 9PM ET | 2AM GMT+1Day

WATCH LIVE: https://www.twitch.tv/zeropagehomebrew/
WATCH LATER: https://youtube.com/zeropagehomebrew/

 

Games:

• Flippets (2023 Exclusive World Premiere | 2600) by Red Button Games / Leonardo Santiago @Leonardo Santiago
• Castle of Devils (2023 WIP | 2600) by xbataxel @xbataxel
• Jutland Skies (2023 Exclusive WIP Update | 2600) by Mirsad Sarajlic @kikipdph
• Duelo (2023 | 2600) by Natanael Vasconcelos Leitão @nvlgun1996

 

 

[xbataxel]

Here is a video walkthrough of the game. It shows how to complete all rooms, including the final one.