Some fun.

[Darmakwolf]

I'm working on an 8-bit smash brothers-esque game to play with some friends. I call it X Bit Tournament. It's pretty easy to work on, and I just finished a stage editor. It supports up to 4 players via game controller.

Characters possible in the roster:
Megaman
Mario + friends
Bionic Commando
Contra-guys
Ninja Gaiden protagonist
Kirby!
Various enemies from games (for fun!)

I'm going to use scaling so that the camera zooms in to where the action currently is, rather than showing the whole map zoomed out. This is just something I'm doing for fun, nothing commercial or high profile.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[mentalthink]

Very Nice Stuff!!!

[erico]

Great!
The zoom in into action can be really nice.

[kaotiklabs]

looking good!

[Schranz0r]

We need the "I like" Button

[Darmakwolf]

Alright - got some more done! Full 4 player menu support implemented. 4 different colored hands can move around at once. Character selection is complete, now I just need to pick all the characters. Reply with suggestions! (Remember: 2D platformer legit nes-characters only, e.g: mario.) I have FIFTY slots to fill!

I don't really intend to add multiple "versions" of the same character, such as mario from 1,2 and 3. It'd be too cheesy. There are lots to pick from though!

If you want, you can even throw together a character pane for a suggested contestant. Template attached.

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Darmakwolf]

Added: playable Mega Man. Full map tile collision detection, jumping + gravity enabled!

[attachment deleted by admin]

[Wampus]

Awesome! I love Smash Bros and have had daydreams about doing what you're doing.

If you finish this you are a god

[Ian Price]

Have you seen the GameBoy like game, Super SmashLand (it looks like a GB game, but isn't and is available for pc)

http://geek.pikimal.com/2011/09/14/super-smash-land-releases-today/

[Darmakwolf]

I have seen that, Ian. It's pretty great! But I have a heart for the NES. And there are so few characters in that...

[erico]

Rygar the legendary warrior could be a nice chap on this!
Not the newer crap, but Argos no senshi of course.

[Ian Price]

I didn't mention Super SmashLand so that you'd go GameBoy stylee - I mentioned it so that you can see that a project like this can work on pc and could get inspiration from how it plays.

I think using NES characters is a great idea, as the graphics are pretty much readily available, simple, consistant and small and there's so damned many of them!

[Darmakwolf]

I thought I had collision right down until I ran into several snags due to making character AI and detection "modular" (So I don't have to reinvent the wheel for each character.) So I got it close to perfect. There seems to be a slight issue where you can stick on corners if you fall into them *just* right. Why don't you guys test it out? The game REQUIRES a game controller. You cannot play with just a keyboard. This is because it's meant to be like a console game. It's designed with 360 controllers in mind. Other controllers will likely work but the buttons may be different for now. I'll add a detector later that sets up common controllers such as ps1/2/3 controller layouts.

left analog: move cursor / player
A: choose, jump
Start: start the game (press start after selecting a character)
Back: Go back (in the map editor, this saves the map and returns to the main map selector), un-select a selected character.

The entire level editor can be worked via controller OR keyboard/mouse.

Right now it's just a map test. You can only select Megaman. I have tested two players, and they can both simultaneously play. Four is possible but untested.
(There's no fighting action atm!)

Sorry about binary-only. It'll be fully open source when I'm done


[attachment deleted by admin]

[erico]

I will give a try, I have a joystick for such around here, just need a friend to visit over.
I may need some time for that as these days are quite bad ones.

Your idea + Ian´s recommendation made me remember an old MSX game where two robots battle, if I can recall the name I think it can also help you out on the inspiration front.

Can you post a sprite board for an actor? Should I get some 15min I could try and add Argos myself, can´t promisse.

[Darmakwolf]

Hey Erico - you don't need a 2nd controller. It's designed to be playable solo as well (for testing purposes, of course.) You can use a single controller and just load up a character and a map and hop around. Character template attached!

[attachment deleted by admin]