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Gruberub's Sojourn [In-progress]


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Gnuberubs Sojourn

by TheLoon

for the Sega Genesis

 

DEV BLOG HERE: http://www.atariage.com/forums/blog/514-gnuberubs-sojourn-dev-journal/

 

Description:

Gnuberub must find the five artifacts scattered across the land! Each artifact has a unique bond with a particular location. The evil Squarox has already stolen and hidden several items. To correct the lands Feng Shui Gnuberub must find each artifact and place it back in its correct location. Only one artifact can be carried at a time but two power-ups salvaged from enemies can be used. In addition, the sonar ability can locate artifacts and their coinciding drop-off points (at a substantial energy cost). Flying across the land also requires energy. If reserves get too low Gruberub must forage the current area for energy sources. Returning to the bat cave will also replenish energy reserves and allow you to store artifacts until needed.

 

The game can be divided between these level/screen types:

 

Land Map

Bat travel view. Can see whole sections of land. Player can opt to move (takes energy) scan (takes energy) or dive into the current area.

 

Area View

Top down scrolling shooter view. The player must traverse a section of land. The environment and enemies will be determined by the type of land section. There will always be chances to pick up energy and weapon parts. At the limit of the section the player will either enter the inner sanctum of that section or escape to the Land Map.

 

Boss View

Here the screen stops and the player is confronted with a boss. When the boss is defeated it may drop an item including keys to inner sanctums or allowing entrance to the current inner sanctum.

 

Bat Cave

This is an an enclosed section that scrolls a bit. Artifacts may be removed from inventory and safely stashed. Inner sanctums of Area views contain artifacts or artifact drop-off points or other prizes.

 

Game Completion

The game is won when all 5 artifacts have been found and paired with the 5 coinciding drop-off points. The game is lost if all bats are destroyed.

 

Further notes:

Per Yurkies request I decided to start an Arcade type homebrew. As there is no Genesis programming section I've posted it here. This was going to be a semi-port of ZBlast of Linux and Sinclair fame. Since then I've been mulling what I can do with my current skills and decided a port may not be the answer. As well, I wanted something original yet paying homage to games I admire. Thus, Gnuberub's Sojourn was born!

 

What if you played a game from the perspective of a certain item stealing bat? What if walls weren't an obstacle? Could one make an exciting shooter based off of a premise like item swapping? I plan to find out! Since the premise change no current work will be thrown out. The work setting up the tools and creating the font will be retained. Actually, if I hadn't done a 180 on the game design I wouldn't have known to get permission to edit the first post. Thanks Albert!

post-13304-0-55496700-1350577848_thumb.jpg

Edited by theloon
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Thanks theloon. Can't wait till there are things to blast! Are you considering doing Galaga?

 

Naw, sorry Yurkie. It's a tribute to another game called ZBlast SD

http://www.svgalib.org/rus/zblastsdp.html

 

I'm a little too dense to properly simulate the wave attack patterns in Galaga. I know that's what you wanted. Still, a nice, simple shoot'em up would be good?

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Naw, sorry Yurkie. It's a tribute to another game called ZBlast SD

http://www.svgalib.o.../zblastsdp.html

 

I'm a little too dense to properly simulate the wave attack patterns in Galaga. I know that's what you wanted. Still, a nice, simple shoot'em up would be good?

 

I knew from the first post that this game wasn't going to be Galaga. I meant to ask if you planned on doing Galaga after you finished this. Sorry for my poor communication.

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Okay, I'll bite. What o you consider "fun" in a shooter?

 

Bite? Bite on what? It wasn't meant as a jab at you or anything. :lol:

 

If you really want me to answer, then, hm.. I think it depends on what kind of shooter you are aiming for.

 

As far as games in general though, I don't feel it's ever about a single trait that is "fun". To me it's about a combination of traits that make for a fun experience. A player shouldn't have to think about what's "fun"--They should feel it and enjoy it right when they pick up the controller. Things like tight, responsive controls, actions that feel good, a nice variety of enemies that are slowly introduced as the game progresses, and ironing out all traits that could cause irritation or frustration (i.e., choppy framerates, inaccurate hit detection, etc.) can help a lot. Catchy music is always a plus, too.

 

Talking about shooters specifically, hm.. I am gathering that you are trying to create an early '80s arcade-style shooter like Galaga? Well, a game that starts off relatively easy, but picks up in difficulty as the player progresses, is good. Enemies that aren't completely static (i.e., Galaga-like patterns as opposed to Space Invaders). Perhaps enemies that can morph into one-another to form larger enemies. Being able to shoot more than a single bullet at a time (Galaga does two; I would prefer three or four to make the action faster). Enemy patterns that might seem tricky at first, but can be overcome methodically when the player gets familiar with them. Bullets. Always have to have bullets. Maybe not a ton, but have them come out faster and more frequently as the player gets farther. Oh, and power-ups. I think the Space Invaders-kind can get stale, but power-ups can keep it fresh. Have a laser that slices through a whole row. Maybe a spread shot. Also, having a nifty scoring system in place will add depth. For instance, in Galaga you can blast away as quickly as you can, and that's fun as-is. But you can also wait for groups of enemies to appear and fly down at you. Certain ones and certain patterns will give you a lot more points, but it's dangerous. That gives a nice risk versus reward element in the game.

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Bite? Bite on what? It wasn't meant as a jab at you or anything. :lol:

 

If you really want me to answer, then, hm.. I think it depends on what kind of shooter you are aiming for.

 

As far as games in general though, I don't feel it's ever about a single trait that is "fun". To me it's about a combination of traits that make for a fun experience. A player shouldn't have to think about what's "fun"--They should feel it and enjoy it right when they pick up the controller. Things like tight, responsive controls, actions that feel good, a nice variety of enemies that are slowly introduced as the game progresses, and ironing out all traits that could cause irritation or frustration (i.e., choppy framerates, inaccurate hit detection, etc.) can help a lot. Catchy music is always a plus, too.

 

Talking about shooters specifically, hm.. I am gathering that you are trying to create an early '80s arcade-style shooter like Galaga? Well, a game that starts off relatively easy, but picks up in difficulty as the player progresses, is good. Enemies that aren't completely static (i.e., Galaga-like patterns as opposed to Space Invaders). Perhaps enemies that can morph into one-another to form larger enemies. Being able to shoot more than a single bullet at a time (Galaga does two; I would prefer three or four to make the action faster). Enemy patterns that might seem tricky at first, but can be overcome methodically when the player gets familiar with them. Bullets. Always have to have bullets. Maybe not a ton, but have them come out faster and more frequently as the player gets farther. Oh, and power-ups. I think the Space Invaders-kind can get stale, but power-ups can keep it fresh. Have a laser that slices through a whole row. Maybe a spread shot. Also, having a nifty scoring system in place will add depth. For instance, in Galaga you can blast away as quickly as you can, and that's fun as-is. But you can also wait for groups of enemies to appear and fly down at you. Certain ones and certain patterns will give you a lot more points.

 

Great articulate response!

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Yeah! Thanks Austin for the response. Just thought the word "fun" wasn't enough to understand your comment.

 

To Yurkie: I never considered doing a Galaga port. I could never obtain the rights. I did get permission for ZBlast though.

 

If you need a Genesis Galaga fix take a look at this:

DOWNLOAD LINK: http://www.romnation...-padded-PD.html

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9ZG-_nIhHM

 

I could make a small homebrew shooter though. Just wanted to know what people would like in such things. I'm an RPG man myself :P

Edited by theloon
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Do you have any updates on your game theloon?

 

Thanks for checking up Yurkie! Right now I'm working on the font. GroovyBee has given me some pointers to make it look better. Some of the characters are left over from the IBM ASCII table. Those will be changed over time. I'm not sure what style I'm gonna use for the graphics. I may go super, super retro on this. We're talking Sinclair/MZ-700/Aquarius type graphics.

 

What about weapon shops? Should there be any? Or just power ups?

post-13304-0-18639500-1348856065_thumb.jpg

Edited by theloon
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  • 2 weeks later...

Not much to report this week as I decided to be sick. Spent most my free time recuperating.

 

I did try and flesh out more of what this game could be. There are a few areas I could explore including simple RPG elements, rouge/elite style exploration and "tiles". "Tiles" is still an idea being fleshed out. The basic concept being, since Genesis games are made of tiles - why not elevate that to a full game mechanic? Customize your ship by piecing together tiles. Construct missiles using different parts. One could collect and buy new tiles. Terrain and enemies could change based on what tiles land where. Again, still mulling it over.

 

Although I had my compiler of choice installed I never bothered to see if my current music and sound effect code could run. After some downloading and scrounging things sorted themselves out. As well, I had assumed Game Maker 5 would be fine for not just font building but tiles too. Problem is, I've got a custom palette and Game maker does not support such things. Good 'ol MS Paint seems to support custom palettes but I nevere figured out how. Finally, I found a free sprite/animation tool called GraphicsGale FreeEdition that meets my requirements.

 

Right now the music engine I know how to use is pretty dead. It's been taken off the developers web site and no one seems to want to respond to posts about it. I've tried over the years to convert songs to its format and have usually failed. It may be time to figure out a new music system called "Echo". Managed to successfully convert an .XM (mod/tracker music) file to the "Echo" sound system so more points,er, point to using it. I'm looking into that whilst limping along with the old stuff.

 

Stay tuned for more next week fellas!

Edited by theloon
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There used to be a thread where you could ask for specific posts (of your own) in a thread to be editable again. If you can't find that thread then drop Albert a PM.

 

I already PM'ed Albert on a separate matter and haven't heard back in about a week. Maybe a mod for this section of the forum could help? How do I find out who be the guardian of this section?

Edited by theloon
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