Hello chaps,
new game ongoing, something I already had graphics done. I hope to be a quick project <1 month.
Since I broke my main hand last year, I haven´t been able to properly draw by hand or computer, but coding is fine, we just need 2 fingers! :S
Anyways, I plan to bring major updates to this thread.
It is a pc-win game that is to mimic the trs-80 color computer (coco I or II) capabilities.
In this case, the semigraphics 4 mode, a very weird one, but fun to deal with.
This is to be an "updated" version of an 1981 game called OUTHOUSE, first released for the trs-80 model I/II/III and later for the coco itself, but the least one in high resolution graphics.
Let´s see how it works out. I´m making it of here on this thread:
https://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=69502.0
Here is the intro, title and game start going about:
(https://i.ibb.co/grf2kqk/10.gif)
looks Cool!
Is it based on HP Lovecraft mythology?
Just a little bit, so to tide up a neat story/scene.
The original had some enemies that were more abstract, I changed those.
The crusher became chtchulhu, zappers became drones, anglers and rotors became bats and skylab debries.
Here is how the original looks like:
(https://i.ibb.co/WHYBxH8/02.gif)
Never heard of the game but I like the retro atheistic. I like mono graphics too of the original, it would be nice to have this option in the remake?
UFO movements, crash and outhouse destruction, 3 life, game over system.
(https://i.ibb.co/6JkzgLr/GIF.gif)
actuelly im like it. look sometime im previous have due with "Catch Out", hehe. Here im diddent use any txt graphics at all throught unlike here.
The text is within the capabilities of the machine. ;) Very hard to add to the lower graphic game play though, ate another virtual screen/buffer.
(https://i.ibb.co/TbXwhDg/05.png)
That retro styling looks awesome.
Not a game I'm at all familiar with, and it doesn't make a great deal of sense from the GIFs, but it's intriguing, nonetheless! :D
:D It's probably the most retro game I've seen here... Nice work Erico! :good:
This very retro graphic style is cool, but your usual graphic style (with your 2 hands) is really special too, so I hope your hand will get better. ;)
I think the outer colour of the UFO maybe needs to contrast more - there seems to be a lot of black already...
That is one the troubles with this mode.
Inside a charachter area there can only be 2 colors and one of them must be black. The black outline as it is permits me to move the object per pixel instead of per charachter. I'd still be stuck with black and single color and increasing the ufo size will clutter the game as there isen't much room already. :)
Ahh, I see, it's a limitation you're emulating. No probs!
i like it <3
and it comes out before dropzone from Archer Mc.Lean
Made the rays...
(https://i.ibb.co/9hwSV4M/15.gif)
It was punk to align the rays... they can only happen on a block position , not within.
Sideway shots , since the ufo has 3 pixels height, is no trouble wherever is ca happen. It is always alligned with the color part of the ufo.
Up/down shots sucks. They come from the middle should the ufo be on a 3 blocks area but if he is on a two block area, the ray has to choose which side to be. The latest sideways move or shot dictates that.
Diagonal shots has lots of trouble :)
Anyways, working fine now and also implemented collisions of the ray. Ground, ufos and outhouse working fine. Needs to add some toilet paper particles to fly out of a shaken outhouse. Its shaking state also doing fine.
limits to a contain resolution was something im also did for CatchOut as well. He might also have limit of colors uses of course.
This can been fun to design with limits in mind.
Looks nice.
The vandals that steal paper and the squatters that actually have to go (and use some) are working fine now.
Vandals can´t steal paper if a squatter is in the outhouse and if one is pulling paper and a squatter gets in, the paper is shredded by the slamming door.
You can hit a vandal only and the paper will retract back to the outhouse but if you shoot the paper or the outhouse, you will burn it.
Here is the stuff on going, the paper shred should be behind everyone though, will fix it later.
(https://i.ibb.co/jTTLmrh/GIF.gif)
Apart from the squatters and vandals, there is now a bomber vandal, here are them in action.
(https://i.ibb.co/68DyvKB/GIF.gif?fbclid=IwAR3v0HCILbTFP432nJOHJ9ePJk0UP_dHJnU4v-TTXU2OoWn2Gm92lEWVeCY)
There are military guys, which should be part of a boss system on level 10.
(https://i.ibb.co/vsDvZs2/GIF.gif)
...and I just added bats.
(https://i.ibb.co/rbYgdpt/GIF.gif)
Now to work on the drones and meteor showers (skylab debries :) )
i know you're working to a spec limitation - but I think a GameBoy styled version of this would also do well on mobile :)
V good!
it could!
Here are all elements stuck together just for testing. There won´t be such a situation in game but it is fun to look at.
I just need to finish the final boss now.
(https://i.ibb.co/8xf6BXt/GIF.gif)
A silent 2 player game run.
Got to the militaries, the second boss. ;)
:good: ... I have a question : is it a real emulator with which you can run another TRS-80 program or just a game that mimics style?
(https://i.ibb.co/BtRLW0M/trs-80.jpg)
Just a glbasic game that mimics the semigraphics mode on the color computer.
I dumped the font and recreated it glbasic wise and the game runs on a 64x32 virtual screen, square pixels, then it gets scaled to 640x480 with the tall semigraphic pixels and I add the fonts, then upscale the result to whatever user´s resolution. I hope it ends up very close to a coco game.
I´m working with the sound and music now and hope that will also be genuinely similar. :booze:
Here a study compiling a series of coco game´s sounds. Hopefully I can come up with "proper" sounds for the game, sounds that mimic the real machine or are , at least, possible to do.
I´m still debating about the pause/play sound deed, some I can keep.
Some bat orbit.
(https://i.ibb.co/gRFGNMk/33.gif)
And some sound work in progress:
I'm amazed by what you do with a few pixels. Everything you touch starts to bloom.
Great work.
For the controls - that's always very tricks - move and shoot in another direction. Too much for me.
I'd prefer mouse movment, and when you hold the button, you can aim in a fire direction with the mouse - but hey, I'm not a good gamer ;)
I think this looks really good. I love the style.
Thanks for the kind words chaps! I´m still stuck on sound, had to skip a few days to cool down a bit.
But yeah, the controls are going to be hard to set.
The current way I did is an old school way and I´m noticing people have difficulties playing it. :(
I could use both analogs on a joypad but I wanted to keep it pad+single button for the sake of the oldschool.
It could be that fine tuning current controls could fix it but I´m unsure.
I will see to finish everything and then to get to it at the end, some more ideas might pop up.
you could add dual stick and a old school control options.
Dual stick seems like the best option.
I will make a beta soon and share here.
I was also thinking about using analog like half way does not move the ufo but it aims towards that direction. Push analog full way for movement. I hope one can aim without moving by adding these? I think the original on the coco has a bit of this.
you could do auto fire while moving the aim? etc holding fire also move the aim, and the ufo when not held down?
Autoshoot won't work as the game will pause a lot. I tryed it while also making it move half speed if button is pressed but didnt work either. So I reverted to the 1 button 1 speed control.
Hello back chaps! Finished the game, it is for sale on itchio here for $5:
https://ericomont.itch.io/the-outhouse
It is a little bit expensive compared to my other games but I added a super high resolution exploded tech illustration of a color computer 2 to help the value.
It should go to $2.99 in a couple months and the image will become free. ;)
Here is the trailer:
Here a gameplay video, very bad one, will probably change it to a more exciting one later:
And I will later finish the making of too here:
https://sites.google.com/view/fuedhq/the_outhouse?authuser=0
Will bring some keys for us soon!
congratulations erico a great job and an important advertisement for GlBasic. :good:
I like retro graphics and it should be a great compliment because said by a high definition graphics purist ...... !!
When work is worth ... it must be recognized.
Ciao
Very nice!!
Love the sfx too! very satisfying :)
Like that art :-) Such restricted visuals show what can be achieved with good idea and proper work.
Good luck with it! Thing about that, I saw that You have also other games on itch.io, and I'm curious does itch is kind of rewarding platform in both terms of $$ and constructive/inspirational feedback?
Thanks, I said I bundleed a poster image with the game, here is a glimpse of it.
It is a 14kx18k image and it should print neatly at 300 dpi up to 2 meters tall or close to that.
About Itchio, it does not sell as much as steam, but then, I can´t afford placing all my games on steam for the 100$ gets a bit too much.
None of those stores will auto-sell your game, you have to rely on your notoriety, and since I don´t yet have one, steam is a bit of a waste.
That leads me to itchio, which is a platform I like from its beginning.
About feedback, I still get more of that on the regular forums, but they are certainly getting smaller as time goes by.
I try to tweet/facebook and some discord too, but that does not seem to do much for non notorious people.
Moneywise, if you bring people over, it will sell and it works. I have some 50$ lying around there and mostly from past 2 months.
My take is that, if one can produce a good number of good/avarage quality games, say 10 games, it should be enough to push sales on both stores.
I find that as I start a new project and start dev logging it, newcomers eventually stumble on my other games and they do buy it.
So as long as I keep producing and already have some games on sale, things flow.
I wish you success Erico, you deserve it because you are a very motivated and hardworking person :booze:
Like MrPlow, I <3 the sfx !
By the way, are you still working on your game with parallax scrolling (like in "Shadow of the Beast") ?
I ask you that because I think it was really a good idea too ;)
Tks!
You mean the underwater shotemup?
That is a bit of a bigger project, one I won´t be able to do, if I have to do everything, in ~3 months.
I could change the gfx style to easy that part but I´m doubt of next project, it should fit a 2 months time scale, just like the outhouse. :)
Yes I think that's it.
You started talking about it here https://www.glbasic.com/forum/index.php?topic=11255.msg99063 (https://www.glbasic.com/forum/index.php?topic=11255.msg99063)
Yep, that one. Graphics are from a friend, while I can mimic it and add frames and extras, it would be too much for me to do by myself.
If I change the style, then it is possible but I´m currently struggling between projects to choose.
For the outhouse, I did another poster image to go along the first one, here are both in preview mode:
Yo chaps, some keys!
If all gone pm me.
share score!!
https://ericomont.itch.io/the-outhouse/download/zreuSF6ftTLZMks4dYbKbfTTYP-hApiYn4covXrUrxz6qYBswpnBCc
https://ericomont.itch.io/the-outhouse/download/cws7zjXhJhpBFpEU5YbKbfTTYP-jRR5vfPYaKVvQUqLhA6TFWeW4chp
https://ericomont.itch.io/the-outhouse/download/NKSpYCMr5e68GKSpoYbKbfTTYP-oHpmxWAeYH5wqN7uMcpjpMArvXgs
https://ericomont.itch.io/the-outhouse/download/iTq2nbBxfEPQjbdi1YbKbfTTYP-1FcnMuhmmJCux2xJNBh6qnspGPGs
You should bundle your games in a pack on itch.io, I'm sure many would be happy to buy it (me for example :)).
If you need help with your underwater shootemup I can give you a hand if you want.
A good underwater shootemup is this one on PS1, it's like Metal Slug but underwater ...and too fast for me.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJIcb6ebi1I