With my very first game... which we now call a "test"... so I guess it isn't technically my first game. But whatever.
It's only going to be a few levels but it'll give you a taste of what's to come. Allow me to explain.
I had this idea for a 2d platformer early last year--an elaborate idea that I came up with while typing an email--and me and my programmer friend have been sloooowly working on it since then. We built
everything from scratch. My friend built the engine using java and I built all of the graphics that you will see, save one or two temporary sprites that I may be too lazy to change. I came up with the idea and designed everything while my friend Robert did all of the tough programming. And we both learned a lot working on the game. A
lot. So much so, in fact, that a couple of months ago we decided to to finish up work on the "test" game and get to work on a full version, with a completely new engine, completely new graphics sets, and tons of ideas that we couldn't get into this test and also ones that I came up with while we were working on it. So when you play this game, keep in mind that it is only a
test and that the real game will be much, much,
much better. I learned a lot about level design, balance, and
fun while working on this test, and I hope to use that knowledge in the next game (the "real" version).
Whoever wants to play the game send me an email at
prancetron2000@yahoo.com and I'll send you all of the files once we're finished (which should be within the next couple of weeks). I only want to send the game to people who have a decent gamepad (with key mapping software) because a keyboard will suck, and can give me some feedback on it.
Maaaaaybe. You seem to hate everything that is good and love everything that is bad, so how will I know if my game really sucks or not?
You'd do like you usually do and declare that whatever I say is bad must be good, right?
I'm afraid I don't have a gamepad, so...
A Black Falcon Wrote:You'd do like you usually do and declare that whatever I say is bad must be good, right?
Well what if you say that it's good?
Great Rumbler Wrote:I'm afraid I don't have a gamepad, so...
Get one!
I hardly ever play games on the PC that really need them. I mostly play FPSs, strategy games, and adventure games.
You can get one for like $5.
I'd love to play your game, perhaps I'll pick up a gamepad just for that purpose. Send it my way at
EdenMaster@gmail.com
Truthfully, I've been working on a game myself for the last few months. Now it's not as involved as yours with all the made-from-scratch programmingand graphics, mine's through RPG Maker 2003. It's, oh, about 85% done, and I'm very proud of it thus far. It's about the N64-PSX flamewar that Weltall and many others here were involved in many years back. Party members include Darunia, Geno, WhiteFleck, nickdaddyg, and myself. There's even a TendoCity :D Just about everyone I could think of is an NPC at TendoCity, and OB1, you become a party member! Here's a couple screenshots:
Sweet. How awesome am I in the game?
You're the fastest of twelve party members. Your speed is your main advantage, you're a little low on the defense and you weild no magic, yet your attack power and impressive speed more than make up for your shortcomings. If you cast Alacrity (which improves your speed further), you can attack nearly twice in the time it takes anyone else to attack once.
So yes, for the time you're in the party, you do kick ass :D.
In case anybody is interested, here's the full population of TendoCity, as seen during a scene near the end of the game:
From left to right:
Back Row: Nick Burns, Dark Jaguar (UltraMarioMan on roof)
Second Row: ThunderAngel, lazyfatbum
Third Row: Laser Link, Fittisize, Lord Shockwave
Fourth Row: Private Hudson, alien space marine, Sacred Jellybean, Dark Lord Neo
Fifth Row: TC Cow, Great Rumbler, NetMapel, N_A
Sixth Row: A Black Falcon, Nintendarse
Up front: OB1
Noticably absent in the lineup are Ryan (Weltall is the main antagonist of the game) and DMiller (for a good reason, which comes up within the game...)
I'm... my avatar... That's hilarious.
Okay then, I must know, what role do I play? I bet I'm the weird but lovable strange creature that has no real depth at all, also my special move has VERY limited usefullness and takes too much effort to fully master? You know, like Gau?
I know. You're so secretive that then only thing I can relate to you with is your creepy 12-dimensional avatar, so that's who you are in the game :)
As for the role you play...well...you don't really play any role. You're just an NPC. Sorry
Yeah baby. Link is in the house.
OB1- I don't have a gamepad and I won't be getting one. But I still wanna see you game. Pretty please. I'll even host it for you instead of emailing it out to anybody. If you want.
I really want to see the code. I've never done graphics with Java, but I'm having to do a lot more Java with my job so it would be a nice tutorial to see somebody's stuff in action.
So like, I'm someone who says "I'm sorry, I know nothing."? Okay then!
The next step is to have the cow run over me.
Tendo City is mine, and I'M the bad guy.
Sweet, and I just posted all those pictures in the wrong thread!!! I'll be moving those to the correct thread now...
Ryan Wrote:Tendo City is mine, and I'M the bad guy.
What can I say? :D
Laser Link Wrote:Yeah baby. Link is in the house.
OB1- I don't have a gamepad and I won't be getting one. But I still wanna see you game. Pretty please. I'll even host it for you instead of emailing it out to anybody. If you want.
Hey certainly, though you really do need a gamepad to enjoy the game. But as soon as we've wrapped it up I'll be sure to give it to you. Thanks for offering to host it but I think we already have something planned in that regard. :)
Quote:I really want to see the code. I've never done graphics with Java, but I'm having to do a lot more Java with my job so it would be a nice tutorial to see somebody's stuff in action.
Heh, my friend might be embarrassed by his code though. It was his first big attempt at using java to create a game engine so he says that it's very messy and sad to look at.
EdenMaster Wrote:In case anybody is interested, here's the full population of TendoCity, as seen during a scene near the end of the game:
From left to right:
Back Row: Nick Burns, Dark Jaguar (UltraMarioMan on roof)
Second Row: ThunderAngel, lazyfatbum
Third Row: Laser Link, Fittisize, Lord Shockwave
Fourth Row: Private Hudson, alien space marine, Sacred Jellybean, Dark Lord Neo
Fifth Row: TC Cow, Great Rumbler, NetMapel, N_A
Sixth Row: A Black Falcon, Nintendarse
Up front: OB1
Noticably absent in the lineup are Ryan (Weltall is the main antagonist of the game) and DMiller (for a good reason, which comes up within the game...)
Haha, that's awesome. I hope I have some witty dialogue.
Since I'm so damned witty.
Quote:Well what if you say that it's good?
Well then you'll do what you do when I agree with you and proclaim that you're happy that I'm right for once? :)
I would like to try it, though.
Oh, and I have a nice gamepad, as I'm sure you remember. But it is definitely possible to play arcadish PC games without one... sure, it's a lot better with a gamepad, which is why I buy them for PC. But it's not totally awful without one, unless it's a game with ten buttons or something... that can get tricky.
Quote:Fifth Row: TC Cow, Great Rumbler, NetMapel, N_A
My guy looks like a peasant...
A Black Falcon Wrote:Well then you'll do what you do when I agree with you and proclaim that you're happy that I'm right for once? :)
I would like to try it, though.
Oh, and I have a nice gamepad, as I'm sure you remember. But it is definitely possible to play arcadish PC games without one... sure, it's a lot better with a gamepad, which is why I buy them for PC. But it's not totally awful without one, unless it's a game with ten buttons or something... that can get tricky.
I made the game pretty tough. You have to be quick and totally in control, and it's a huge pain in the ass with a keyboard. Believe me, I've been playing it for months. I'm actually thinking of putting a disclaimer before the game that says "This game is not suitable for play on a keyboard. Get a stupid gamepad already, you cheap bastard.".
$20 can get you a pretty good gamepad... yeah, it's not expensive. And yeah, gamepads make arcadish games easier to play. But it's not impossible on keyboard.
Oh, and EM, if we're in Tendo City, and Weltall rules Tendo City, and he is the big bad guy, does that make us the opressed peasants or something?
It doesn't make it impossible, but it does make it a bitch to play.
Most platformers that are made for the PC are light on platforming and the need for quick reflexes. My platformer is like a console one, and it was made to be played with a gamepad. Which you can get for much less than $20. You can get one of those cheapy SNES knock-off controllers for like $5. Just make sure you have key mapping software. Unfortunately we could not include gamepad support specifically for the game so you'll need to map keyboard keys to your gamepad.
Keyboard mapping? Ick! That works badly if it works at all... I've used it before and never found it to work well. Also, you won't find that on bargain-bin gamepads for sure... yeah, mine has it, but I've only found it a feasible feature when used to compliment gamepad controls -- like in Lost Vikings where the game supports only a 4-button gamepad on a 6-button game so I mapped the other two commands to gamepad buttons. That works. But when I have to map the d-pad as well... I've tried it, with Norse by Norsewest (Lost Vikings 2, which idiotically has no gamepad support on PC). It's not like real gamepad controls and is much harder to control... honestly, I almost find it easier to play that game on keyboard... it just doesn't control quite right! I think it's about the number of buttons you can press at once and how mapping buttons to axes is not the same as a d-pad.
For my game you just need two directional buttons and two action buttons. Mapping it to a controller would be a cinch. I have no idea why you're crying about it so loudly.
And I think you can get keyboard mapping software separate somewhere else. I'll look it up. That way you can very easily use a bargain controller.
I have a Saitek P880 of course so I have programming software (and after that last post I thought of updating the drivers and did)... it works okay. But it's just not the same. One thing is multiple buttons at once -- keyboard emulation seems to have some issues with multiple presses (like keyboards do too sometimes), unlike gamepads. With the dpad, the main problem is with directions -- NBN didn't become really playable until I realized that it had defined diagonal controls that I could map to the diagonals in the programming software. Without both it just felt weird...
Fine, it can work somewhat. And I know you did it this way because it's a lot easier, which I understand. But it just doesn't work as well as real gamepad support.
It works just as well as regular gamepad support. Either you are mentally challenged or don't know how to map correctly. I use a controller all of the time when I'm testing the game and it works just as well as games that natively support gamepad inputs.
Have you directly compared mapping to other games that use full gamepad support? The more complex the more challenged mapping gets... I've tried it with BG&E too and it doesn't work great there either. It's usable, but it's not the same as real gamepad support... not in any of the cases I've tried it in.
The fact that Saitek's mapping software has, in my experience, been crash-prone sure doesn't help things either.
DirectX has support for gamepads, called DirectInput (it is also used for sound and other stuff to import into your game, I think). I have no idea if there is an interface between Java and DirectX, and I know you aren't interested for this game. Just something you might want to look into for next time.
I've pulled some stunts with coding my game/class project, so I wouldn't think badly of anyone with messy code. Especially when you spend most of the time trying to figure out what you are trying to do. I tend to hack at it and try this and comment this out, and it gets ugly fast. I had a day to finish my game, and I had only created half the world. I was using a badly designed data structure for the world, and ended up with a hardcoded 700x500 array of objects. It was the ugliest thing I've ever seen. :)
I have the same exact Saitek pad that you have, actually.
For something like BG&E where you need analogue support mapping will not do, but for a game that only needs four digital buttons? There won't be a single difference at all. If there were I'd raise hell, believe me.
Quote:I have the same exact Saitek pad that you have, actually.
Because I said it was good? :) I remembered that you had the same pad, though.
Oh, and for BG&E using the Saitek software you can map mouse axes to the analog sticks, so you can map all the controls to the pad...
Yeah but analogue mapping always sucks. Analogue sticks are not made like mice are.
Hahaha, my guy has long, grey hair with a mustache. I look like some dirty, smelly hippy. :D
OB1: *GroupX voice* I want to play it! I don't have a gamepad I can hook up, but I might be getting one soon. In the mean time, I'll try to play with the keyboard...
That TendoCity game sounds awesome. I'm really curious as to why I'm not one of those NPCs.
OB1: I doubt your game is Mac-compatible, but on the off chance it is I'd love to play it. I have a decent gamepad that I haven't dusted off in a while so it could use some work.
DMiller Wrote:That TendoCity game sounds awesome. I'm really curious as to why I'm not one of those NPCs.
You are in the game, Derek. You're a shopkeep in TendoCity. You're just not in that scene, and there's a very good reason for that, you're...elsewhere at that particular time in the game.
Man, either you guys don't have gamepads, are ABF, or have gamepads but not PCs.
This is why I wish I could develop for consoles. ;)
ice-9 was never imprisoned. He was just always on vacation. Always.
Well, he's imprisoned in my game, and there's not a damned thing you can do about it! Stealth is in jail there too :D
OB1 Wrote:Haha, that is awesome. Is ABF my arch-nemesis? And always wrong?
Yes, your rivalry does show through at one point :).
Oh, and you may also be interested to know that there is a shrine to Bo Jackson there, and wild Semnats can be found roaming the plains to the north of TendoCity :D. You need to slay three of them to advance the story.
Quote:Yeah but analogue mapping always sucks. Analogue sticks are not made like mice are.
True. Which is why I mostly use keyboard, not the gamepad. I tried it and found that it didn't work great. Still, it works well enough that it can work sometimes... and that game is certainly made for gamepad much more than it is for keyboard.
I guess the main complaints I had with mapping software were games that didn't have defined controls for diagonals (since you cannot map 'up and right' adaquately) and the crashing problems the Saitek software has. When it's working correctly and the game has listed controls for the things you need to map, though, it's a decent replacement for keyboard if you want to use gamepad instead...
Quote:No, the game takes place during the time before Weltall took over. Currently, TendoCity has no leader (ice-9 has been imprisoned) and OB1 takes care of the town being the "elder" (i.e. highest post count).
The EZBoard days, then? How fun... :)
Quote:Well, he's imprisoned in my game, and there's not a damned thing you can do about it! Stealth is in jail there too
Stealth... random switching between any verbal attack he can think up and reasonable conversation? :)
As for Ice-9, he wasn't imprisoned but given what he did to this place, it seems an appropriate place to put him in the game. :)
Quote:Oh, and you may also be interested to know that there is a shrine to Bo Jackson there, and wild Semnats can be found roaming the plains to the north of TendoCity . You need to slay three of them to advance the story.
So asking the question we all are wondering... what do Semnats look like?
Quote:Oh, and you may also be interested to know that there is a shrine to Bo Jackson there, and wild Semnats can be found roaming the plains to the north of TendoCity
Hahaha, that's so awesome!
Quote:Yes, your rivalry does show through at one point .
Oh, and you may also be interested to know that there is a shrine to Bo Jackson there, and wild Semnats can be found roaming the plains to the north of TendoCity . You need to slay three of them to advance the story.
That is fucking awesome. Wow.
Quote:True. Which is why I mostly use keyboard, not the gamepad. I tried it and found that it didn't work great. Still, it works well enough that it can work sometimes... and that game is certainly made for gamepad much more than it is for keyboard.
I guess the main complaints I had with mapping software were games that didn't have defined controls for diagonals (since you cannot map 'up and right' adaquately) and the crashing problems the Saitek software has. When it's working correctly and the game has listed controls for the things you need to map, though, it's a decent replacement for keyboard if you want to use gamepad instead...
Well it works perfect if you just have two directional buttons.
Well, it is written in Java, so in theory it could be Mac compatible. It depends on if the java graphics libraries they used are smart enough to know the OS specific stuff (like OpenGL GLUT), or if that is left to the developer to do.
I'll try to run it on Linux too!
I asked my friend about that today and he said that all he needs to do is disable the sound and it'll work just fine on a mac. And we have no music or good sound effects so it's no biggie. Just put on some music in the background while you play it. :D