Opry99er Posted May 3, 2015 Author Share Posted May 3, 2015 LOL!!! Probably... But that is the challenge, isnt it? After I finish array and data reconstruction and move all my text to disk, I should have plenty of room for my battle engine and encounter routines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted May 3, 2015 Author Share Posted May 3, 2015 (edited) Everytime I look at those screenshots I wanna play Well thank you. I hope to have something playable soon. For now, you can walk the map, use the ITEM menu to take potions, cast heal spells and such from the SPELLS menu, you can view your status via the STATUS menu, and you can complete the first quest without battling anyone... If you get lost, you can stop and ask the Eolis elder what your next move should be. It is very close to being playable... And yet so far away. I still need to finish the EQUIP routines and the SAVE/LOAD routines, also (the biggie) finish the Battle engine and I need to completely write the encounter routine. If I can cram all that into roughly 10K, the world, as we all know it, will change forever... It might cause Australia to sink into the sea. Edited May 3, 2015 by Opry99er 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted May 4, 2015 Author Share Posted May 4, 2015 (edited) Small (but important) development update... 1) Individual member variables have ALL been replaced with arrays. 2) All array data and all initial inventory variable values are being being pulled from a DV file on the game disk 3) 80% of in-game text is being pulled from a DF file on the game disk 4) All menu functions that previously used temporary variables are being re-written to reference the new array data (of which STATUS and ITEMS are completely done) 5) 230 bytes of PROGRAM space have been reclaimed by indexing all my variables and simplifying the STATUS and ITEM functions (once SPELLS is complete, I will eliminate a few large chunks of code and a ton of variables---this should net me almost 1K of savings) ***Once the functions have been rewritten and my code has been stripped of lazy hack-job garbage, I will complete the SAVE/LOAD routines. They are basically complete, because I wrote a separate program to put the variable data onto the DV file... This will be modified slightly and dropped into my program as the SAVE function. The LOAD function is basically done, as that is how I am pulling all my data from disk and inputting it into my program. A couple more days and I will have something pretty stinkin' slick. Edited May 4, 2015 by Opry99er 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted May 4, 2015 Share Posted May 4, 2015 I'm anxious to see how all this hard work turns out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted May 14, 2015 Author Share Posted May 14, 2015 All hack code and junk crap has been removed, it is a streamlined jet airplane now... Over 2k of PROGRAM space saved, all data, variables and text, are being loaded from disk now. Next to implement are the SAVE/LOAD routines and the "encounter" routine. I envision using close to half a K on these routines, still leaving me with something like 9 K for battle and other odds and ends. Just switched shifts. My 2:30P to 2:30A schedule is a thing of the past... Now it's 5:30A to 4:00P. Crazy switch, my body is still trying to adjust. Anyway, the May issue of SHIFT838 is done and in the hands of the editor, so I can turn focus back to Beryl once my mind and body stop being so freaked out by being awake in the day and sleeping at night. Good things. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwantgames:) Posted May 14, 2015 Share Posted May 14, 2015 Nice I always hated night shifts, that's my party time tho these days in getting to old for much partying lol. More movie and game time now lol. Anyways still looking forward to playing this in the future Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted May 15, 2015 Author Share Posted May 15, 2015 When the battle engine, encounter routines, and SAVE/LOAD are in place and trsted, I may (MAY) release a small demo to the public... Youll be able to complete the first world, battling your way through the bad guys. I am still a ways away from that, but we've come so stinkin far in the last 3 months... That pace won't keep, as life is changing, but progress won't stop. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+InsaneMultitasker Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 3) 80% of in-game text is being pulled from a DF file on the game disk I noticed this and thought I'd ask if you meant Display Variable or Display Fixed? It can make a difference for load times and storage space. It also depends if you load it all at once or access the file during the game. Just tossing out food for thought. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted May 15, 2015 Author Share Posted May 15, 2015 Fixed... The text is pulled a chunk at a time (as needed during gameplay) so I need the ability to specify by record, All player data variables and strings are coming into the game via a DIS/VAR file, read and inputted from at the beginning of the game. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted May 15, 2015 Author Share Posted May 15, 2015 Actually, (not that it matters) it is an INT/FIX data file. Doesn't really matter I guess, as I tested both ways and they function the same. The contents of the file are readable in both... The INT version just replaces spaces with periods. Wish I could have my DV80 file in internal format, but it cannot be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted May 27, 2015 Author Share Posted May 27, 2015 Have had no time at all to work on this game... Literally 10 minutes in the last week. But in that time I was able to add the SAVE routine to the game. It was a direct drop-in of the program I wrote to PUT the data onto the datafile which is loaded at the start of the game. I tried it a few times. Seems to update properly, now I just need to add the "LOAD A SAVED GAME?" sequence at the beginning of the program... Cost me 864 bytes, but it is working. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted May 28, 2015 Author Share Posted May 28, 2015 I still have a good bit of program space remaining. I just started on the encounter routine. It is small, but effective. A simple decrementing counter that gets set after an encounter, the size of the starting number is random, but with limits and modifiers. It works, but doesnt feel perfect yet... Too much variation for my liking. I don't have any more time to work on it now, but next time I sit down, I intend on having fully functional SAVE, LOAD, and ENCOUNTER routines rockin' and ready for testing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 (edited) Having some conceptual dificulty with the "LOAD" routine. How should I implement it? Should I have 3 "slots" for saved games? This seems to be standard practice in RPGs, even ones like Zelda. My initial thoughts were to just have ONE save file and allow the user to save the one game, but now I'm starting to think that having multiple saves is a good thing. Twill eat some disk space, but that can be managed... Since I am currently loading all initial game data from disk anyway, it would only be a matter of having a couple extra files on the disk and asking the user which file to access... Any preferences on saved-game slots, etc? Edited June 4, 2015 by Opry99er 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Schmitzi Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 yep, I think 1 is not enough, but 3 would work fine. More than 1 is better so this is good for some testings on playing maybe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 You need at least two so you can have a safe 'backup' save and one slot where you can experiment and do stupid stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Schmitzi Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 right, and the 3rd one maybe for another player, playing the game ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 Thanks for the input. 3 it shall be. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted June 4, 2015 Author Share Posted June 4, 2015 I know when I play FF games, I have one primary "safe save" slot and one for little saves in between... For instance, safe saves are used when I finish some big quest, when I'm in a safe town with some cash and a bed to sleep in. Once I leave town and start going through tough areas, I'll use the second slot to save after a tough battle or when I enter a bad-looking cave or something... Once I complete a quest and get back to a safe zone with my party in-tact, I will save to the safe file again. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 Welp... Save routine is debugged and running as it should... You can select from 3 slots for saving, each saves with perfect formatting. Now, the challenge is to get the LOAD part up and going. The main LOAD code is in place and running superbly, but now I will need to write the "select slot" code outside the current stuff. The more I tinker with it, the more it feels like a "game" as opposed to a project. The slot-selection is currently just jammed into the main game code, but I get the feeling that it will need to be completely separate, calling for a restructure of the flow of things. Perhaps as part of the current LOAD program or maybe even a chain between LOAD and gamefile, since all levels are unique XB programs. More to come... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Schmitzi Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 I know when I play FF games, I have one primary "safe save" slot and one for little saves in between... For instance, safe saves are used when I finish some big quest, when I'm in a safe town with some cash and a bed to sleep in. Once I leave town and start going through tough areas, I'll use the second slot to save after a tough battle or when I enter a bad-looking cave or something... Once I complete a quest and get back to a safe zone with my party in-tact, I will save to the safe file again. yeah, sometimes I wish that for real life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 aye... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesD Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 Too early to ask about trying the compiler now that it supports disk access? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Opry99er Posted June 15, 2015 Author Share Posted June 15, 2015 I'd need to figure out how to modify mechanics to use DV80 only, but that isn't a huge deal. It is on my mind, for sure. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sometimes99er Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 If I remember correctly, your plan was to have background music playing. Does the compiler support that ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
senior_falcon Posted June 15, 2015 Share Posted June 15, 2015 (edited) If I remember correctly, your plan was to have background music playing. Does the compiler support that ? Yes, the compiler can play sound lists. Additionally, it can play a second sound list simultaneously with the first, so you can have background music punctuated with explosions or other sound effects that do not interrupt the main sound list. Remember that you are not restricted to DV80 - it can be any DV from 1 to 254 if that works better. Edited June 15, 2015 by senior_falcon 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.