Druidarium, second place of Silly Venture 2K18

[shanti77]

Music don't use 4 pokey channel. Play effects with GTIA takes a lot of time so it's gone.

[KK/Altair]

Hi!

 

Thanks all for the kind comments!

 

Responding to some questions:

- NTSC was supported, but right now is not due to code not optimized enough before Silly Venture deadline. But it's still on the list.

- The music uses just 3 channels, 4th is dedicated to future SFX.

- I didn't plan the multicolor sprites, especially that they are coupled with missiles, making things quite tricky. And it would limit the number of enemies.

- I would love some parallax scrolling, but that would be tricky as well.

- The name is "Druidarium". Title screen has a typo. Deadlines, again.

- The picture is a conversion with off-the-shelf font.
- The "Dru i dar i um" in the text is not stylized. Just monospace.

- I can have enemies moving up/down. They just would need extra logic to reserve a sprite from line below and do a line transition. I'd love to have some one day.

- The game wasn't really fast to make. 2 missile positions (4th missile is unusable) are updated every 2 scanlines so explosions are done using missiles and this system allows various spell projectiles (just deadline didn't allow adding more). And add to that running all the enemy logic and actually redrawing all the sprites - and you have the reason why it's not running in NTSC right now with some parts requiring (yet another) rewrite.
- Hi-res sprites would be (twice the) pain to refresh. Also I don't think it would add that much to the visuals without the increased horizontal resolution.

 

 

And thanks all again!

[TheNameOfTheGame]

Nice, fast-paced game. Looking forward to the release!

[_The Doctor__]

Hard bass

[+MrFish]

- The music uses just 3 channels, 4th is dedicated to future SFX.

 

OK, good news. I hadn't noticed only 3 channels. Good luck with the rest of the project!

 

BTW, will there be more background level graphics in the final game? What's

there so far really looks fantastic, and it'd be really great to have even more.

Edited November 18, 2018 by MrFish

[R0ger]

Good job KK, nice to see you here !

[adam242]

A suggestion - if the multi-shot enemies could register each hit with a momentary flicker or similar. Or perhaps get progressively dimmer until the kill shot is delivered.

 

Excellent game! Really impressive on real hardware. Looking forward to further refinement.

[emkay]

Hi!

 

Thanks all for the kind comments!

 

Responding to some questions:

- NTSC was supported, but right now is not due to code not optimized enough before Silly Venture deadline. But it's still on the list.

- The music uses just 3 channels, 4th is dedicated to future SFX.

The style is very nice and driving.

 

- I didn't plan the multicolor sprites, especially that they are coupled with missiles, making things quite tricky. And it would limit the number of enemies.

No flicker, a lot moving objects on the screen, just some proper game screen. Nice as well.

 

- I would love some parallax scrolling, but that would be tricky as well.

If the parallax scrolling is jut limited to some characters, the visuals could be enhanced, already.

- The name is "Druidarium". Title screen has a typo. Deadlines, again.

I understood , why the type happened. Could be nice to create the "ID" character a bit more recognizable, for some artistical stuff

 

- The picture is a conversion with off-the-shelf font.

- The "Dru i dar i um" in the text is not stylized. Just monospace.

Artistic parts in games do add well, if you understand

- I can have enemies moving up/down. They just would need extra logic to reserve a sprite from line below and do a line transition. I'd love to have some one day.

- The game wasn't really fast to make. 2 missile positions (4th missile is unusable) are updated every 2 scanlines so explosions are done using missiles and this system allows various spell projectiles (just deadline didn't allow adding more). And add to that running all the enemy logic and actually redrawing all the sprites - and you have the reason why it's not running in NTSC right now with some parts requiring (yet another) rewrite.

- Hi-res sprites would be (twice the) pain to refresh. Also I don't think it would add that much to the visuals without the increased horizontal resolution.

The most important point is to keep the cool "fluffiness" in the gameplay . The game doesn't feel "clamped" which is really important.

And thanks all again!

Thanks for your great work.

Such a game for the real machine , and it is kept to get a final version by the used tech, is highly recommended

[emkay]

Btw:

Some inspiration video for some possible ? DLI sets and other stuff

 

[KK/Altair]

 

 

BTW, will there be more background level graphics in the final game?

I have a few empty chars still left in the village/forest charset, and plenty in the stonehenge/cemetery one, so that would be a good idea.

Also adding a third one could still be an option.

Still, I have very limited amount of free time for all this, so I can't really promise.

 

But any ideas on possible new locations are always appreciated.

 

 

 

A suggestion - if the multi-shot enemies could register each hit with a momentary flicker or similar. Or perhaps get progressively dimmer until the kill shot is delivered.

I can't really change their color without affecting other things (missiles), but I'd really like to make a few pain frames for them.

 

 

 

If the parallax scrolling is jut limited to some characters, the visuals could be enhanced, already.

I know this trick, but it requires a single texture for entire background, otherwise you get into trouble at edges (the edges should move with background speed). I also like to have some more background variety in the caves, even if it's just mixing background and black tiles, as it is right now.

 

 

 

Could be nice to create the "ID" character a bit more recognizable, for some artistical stuff

I did not create the font, so it's probably better as it is now.

 

 

 

Artistic parts in games do add well, if you understand

Using proper variable-width font in graphics mode would add even more, in this case.

 

 

 

Some inspiration video for some possible ? DLI sets and other stuff

What elements exactly would you me to get inspiration from?

[popmilo]

- I can have enemies moving up/down. They just would need extra logic to reserve a sprite from line below and do a line transition. I'd love to have some one day.

- The game wasn't really fast to make. 2 missile positions (4th missile is unusable) are updated every 2 scanlines so explosions are done using missiles and this system allows various spell projectiles (just deadline didn't allow adding more). And add to that running all the enemy logic and actually redrawing all the sprites - and you have the reason why it's not running in NTSC right now with some parts requiring (yet another) rewrite.

That's what I meant - you can have up/down movement, but would complicate things

Even if you solve that sprite move logic, you end up with one less sprite per "row". Imho it's more important to have that many enemies on screen (which looks great in later stages, shooting fast to kill some, and still plenty left to feel danger and look on that healthbar all the time ).

One thing that would maybe add value to gameplay could be weapons that shoot upwards or maybe on side with downward slope so you can hit stuff above you and enemies under your position.

 

Awesome project ! All the best!

Vladimir

[KK/Altair]

That's what I meant - you can have up/down movement, but would complicate things

Even if you solve that sprite move logic, you end up with one less sprite per "row". Imho it's more important to have that many enemies on screen (which looks great in later stages, shooting fast to kill some, and still plenty left to feel danger and look on that healthbar all the time ).

One thing that would maybe add value to gameplay could be weapons that shoot upwards or maybe on side with downward slope so you can hit stuff above you and enemies under your position.

If I didn't want to "complicate things", I wouldn't code for Atari.

Also the enemy count limitation would only be temporary for the duration of the move. As soon as the enemy moves to the desired row, it will free the previous one and continue horizontal movement. And I think it's worth including to break the row fragmentation and to surprise the player.

 

Also diagonal shots is something I probably should consider, but only if I can come up with a control solution that doesn't break the general flow of the game.

[Heaven/TQA]

Nice one KK. little bit suprised that it is a game and not a demo... seems Amiga and shaders are becoming boring?

[R0ger]

Nice one KK. little bit suprised that it is a game and not a demo... seems Amiga and shaders are becoming boring?

 

It's not finished, so maybe it is just a demo But srsly, I suggest everyone checking up devkk.net, lot of really impressive stuff.

It's great KK puts some time into Atari too !

[+MrFish]

I have a few empty chars still left in the village/forest charset, and plenty in the stonehenge/cemetery one, so that would be a good idea.

Also adding a third one could still be an option.

Still, I have very limited amount of free time for all this, so I can't really promise.

 

But any ideas on possible new locations are always appreciated.

 

Understood about having free time. No pressure... have fun with it.

 

I suppose a castle would be cool, and/or some type of castle dungeon.

 

It's kinda nice to see an occasional special graphic, like a statue or something.

 

Also, maybe some larger enemies/end bosses, using combined P/M's.

Edited November 19, 2018 by MrFish

[KK/Altair]

 

 

Nice one KK. little bit suprised that it is a game and not a demo... seems Amiga and shaders are becoming boring?

Never. Just Atari is also cool and Silly Venture needs some stuff to show.

 

 

 

But srsly, I suggest everyone checking up devkk.net, lot of really impressive stuff.

Good point! Haven't checked (i.e. updated) it for some time.

 

 

 

I suppose a castle would be cool, and/or some type of castle dungeon.

I was already thinking in this general direction.

 

 

 

Also, maybe some larger enemies/end bosses, using combined P/M's.

Endbosses were on my wishlist as well.

[_The Doctor__]

okay okay okay... let him work on it already.. I mean next we will ask him to do a 'Dickens Christmas Carol' version..... can we defeat the ghosts of Christmas past, present, and future.. and what of tiny Tim... lol

 

Great stuff, it's fun to talk with the creators of things.

Edited November 19, 2018 by _The Doctor__

[Mathy]

Hello KK

 

Still, I have very limited amount of free time for all this...

 

If you haven't found enough time by the end of August next year, you should really visit the Fujiama 2019. Starting from August 26th, you'll have a whole week for coding. (The Fujiama 2019 lasts from Monday till Sunday)

 

Sincerely

 

Mathy

 

[Mclaneinc]

Update to the game...A skeleton mod ....??

 

http://www.indieretronews.com/2019/01/druidarium-action-platformer-for-atari.html

[R0ger]

I'm not big fan of modding somebody else's game. I mean if it's abandonware, sure. But WIP, few months old ?

[Mclaneinc]

Pass, most people who post free games say that you can do what you like with it as long as you don't charge money for it..

 

As long as he's not passing it off as his own game its personal choice....I can only hope he asked the author, most people would before altering their work if its reasonably current..

Edited January 25, 2019 by Mclaneinc

[R0ger]

That's the thing. It seems he didn't. He's just saying he's not sure it's gonna get released at all, and that he will remove the link if people don't like it.

And the author is famously hard to get into contact with.

[+MrFish]

I hacked his hack, and came up with a better animation.

 

I won't show it here (or anywhere else), though -- except to the the author of the game, if he's interested.

[Mclaneinc]

All I can suggest is that a mod edit the link out of the post if people are not happy, as I said, I don't know the game and was just posting a bit of Atari game news seen on another site. The modded game itself was not linked to in here..

Edited January 26, 2019 by Mclaneinc

[+MrFish]

On 1/26/2019 at 2:42 AM, MrFish said:

I hacked his hack, and came up with a better animation.

 

I won't show it here (or anywhere else), though -- except to the the author of the game, if he's interested.

After 3 years... I guess I'll post it.

 

I was waiting to see what the author would do next before I edited any of the other sprites. So, it's just a skeleton edit at this point.

 

As I said, this is a hack of the hack that was linked to above. So, it contains the color change he did as well (yellow enemies instead of white on the second area).

 

 

Druidarium_skel5.xex