AuthorTopic: Feature 11 - Pharaohs Return (C64)  (Read 87170 times)

Offline PypeBros

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Re: Pharaohs Return (C64)

Reply #60 on: July 18, 2012, 12:58:17 pm
Way to go, making sure the coders just stay lurkers here! :)
So I'll just add that I don't just like the visuals here a lot, but that I also think that from a programming point of view, I don't see a problem with the restrictions. I think this is totally doable.
Hey, Mr. Sid.
Welcome aboard.

After your take on Prince of Persia, I'm pretty sure *you* would be able to find a way to do it... and I'm pretty sure you'd love doing it... the exact definition of "a challenge" ;)

Offline mrsid

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Re: Pharaohs Return (C64)

Reply #61 on: July 18, 2012, 06:45:14 pm
Well, considering some of the ideas I'm currently pursuing, this would be a rather simple challenge... But if there would be a full set of graphics and sprite animations and maybe some gameplay concept, I might actually consider it.

Offline mrsid

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Re: Pharaohs Return (C64)

Reply #62 on: July 21, 2012, 08:45:07 pm
I had a few minutes, so I made a quick POC to show that the limitations work. A few pixels had to be fixed, e.g. the hires tiles in the background are not possible that way, because they're against black (or brown), which are not available in those chars. Also the two black corner pixels at the bottom of the purple block had to be filled in, as there's no black in those chars (foreground color is purple). It's hardly noticeable though.
Check it out: http://galway.c64.org/~sid/pharao.zip

Screenshot, for the emulator-starved:
« Last Edit: July 21, 2012, 08:47:51 pm by mrsid »

Offline Lazycow

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Re: Pharaohs Return (C64)

Reply #63 on: July 22, 2012, 02:11:45 pm
->
(disclaimer: only the left picture is certified, the right one is ignoring the C64 restrictions here - just a color test)

A solid gray background looks interesting... But I think this contrasts to the style of all the mockups I made so far (with a black background). I had to test it, but I couldn't make it significantly better. I think a need a little break from drawing backgrounds, maybe some ideas will fly by then.
   
I understand now what you meant with embracing and I like the new dithering on the rock golem. (in fact, this was the 3rd or 4th try to draw a golem) I also tried to "camouflage" the wide pixels in the green mockup by drawing some edgy plants, but in the end Helm's dithering looks better although you see the wide pixels clearly.
   
By the way, the C64 has no "vram" for sprites. It just gets the sprite data from the standard memory. So you do not have to copy sprite data if all your sprites fit in a 16k memory bank.
   
mrsid! Just great, man! "in a few minutes", eh?  :P Thanks for the pixel-hints at the elevator. I guess there are even more nasty blocks with some "forbitten" pixels. It's hard to see without a check program. Thanks for attesting these restrictions, I was actually getting anxious and about to remove some bats. The hires sprites look supercool in the emulator, ha! Too much brown in the background, maybe.


Update! Had a few minutes... yada yada yada... animations and stuff, here we go:
 

Here's an update of the hero, using Adam's excellent pose. Like this, the global sprite colors are orange and yellow. (dark grey might not be the best color for sprites if the background isn't black)
A) medium grey outlines do not blend with background (but blends to skin color a bit)
B) dark grey works nice with black background (but blends with brown and blue backgrounds a bit) Yes, I know... black outlines do solve these problems... I just don't like them, haven't decided, yet.
C) test with taller legs (better?)
D) ptoings safari-hat
E) no hat
F) alternate head - I like the big head in the idle pose, but I do not like it animated. Maybe because he has to look more to the right, but then the head looks worse.


running: not half bad, a bit stiff maybe. Looks a bit like he has swallowed a broom. Couldn't get it better, though. Also tested accelleration an friction here.
   

jumping: jumps immediately, but pauses a bit after landing...


crouching: 2 versions, which is better? What is crouching good for, anyway? In some games you can avoid bullets. Ridiculous... It doesn't have any planned purpose for now. But I have the animation frame anyway.


attacking: the 3 attacks... whipping and throwing are using the same animation. Shooting looks a bit stiff again. All animations do not change the legs, couldn't find a good way to do it. Any of the attack animations utilize 1 additional sprite. (which has to be reserved for the player) The 2nd animation is for being hit by an enemy.
   

digging: An archaeologist has to dig somewhere, right? Since we have this reserved sprite, I could add some dust while digging.
   

elevators: I mad a mistake in the previous elevator animation, the rack rail in the background vanishes if the elevator is halfway on the block. I could fix that by reserving another 32 blocks, then it would be smooth again. But is this necessary? (Yes, Mummies like to ride the elevator) The 2nd animation is a test for an elevator in "slam-mode"! (so I can use the blocks as elevators, doors and traps)


"How would Indy pass these traps?"
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. Yes we can!

Offline mrsid

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Re: Pharaohs Return (C64)

Reply #64 on: July 22, 2012, 02:36:53 pm
I really like the jump animation and the way the character reacts to the slamming lift block. There's a lot of detail in those little sprites, thanks to the hires overlays.
Btw, the screen I've used had 151 unique characters. So you have 105 left, unless you want to split that too.

Offline PypeBros

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Re: Pharaohs Return (C64)

Reply #65 on: July 22, 2012, 03:28:16 pm
Quote
Just great, man! "in a few minutes", eh? 
Yeah, I was impressed, too. Pure respect, Mr. Sid ;)

Those animations are imho a pure marvel. yet, I'm afraid you're heading towards difficult-to-control character, given the speed at which it runs vs. the size of the hazard/platform in the game. The duration of the slide may also get in the way in a non-desirable way...

Quote
I mad a mistake in the previous elevator animation, the rack rail in the background vanishes if the elevator is halfway on the block
Is that rack rail useful/helping, after all ?

Offline Lazycow

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Re: Pharaohs Return (C64)

Reply #66 on: August 02, 2012, 10:39:10 am
Yes, these are only "animation-mockups"... So it might be necesarry to cut of the slide or the friction. It's hard to say without actually playtesting it. But I would prefer to keep them. Some guy from tigsource made the suggestion, that you are actually controlling the hat in the game, instead of the guy.  :o

The sliding and slithering might be a problem when you slide towards an edge. Then you will fall down. There are 2 possible solutions to this problem:
- the hero falls over the edge, but manages to grab the edge with his hands.
- the hero rows with his arms for a second at the edge and finally manages to stop. (oh no, more animations!)

Good to know that there're over 100 blocks left. There's no absolute need that one single tilemap covers every room. Each room might get its own tilemap with 256 blocks. That would just eat up more memory, but the rooms could be loaded from disk or cartridge, so I don't want to restrict the graphics here. My converter actually works this way, it reads the PNG of the mockup and builds a tilemap and the tiles.

Anyway, I was tinkering with more animations...


rope climbing...


old - new

runnig: tried to make the running more dynamic (does not really look better)
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. Yes we can!

Offline mrsid

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Re: Pharaohs Return (C64)

Reply #67 on: August 02, 2012, 10:44:35 am
Good to know that there're over 100 blocks left. There's no absolute need that one single tilemap covers every room. Each room might get its own tilemap with 256 blocks. That would just eat up more memory, but the rooms could be loaded from disk or cartridge, so I don't want to restrict the graphics here. My converter actually works this way, it reads the PNG of the mockup and builds a tilemap and the tiles.

Yeah, mine too. Btw, there were some minor pixels wrong, fixing those I got it down to 141 chars.
But in any case, I think loading a charset and a screen (+color RAM) for each room is a bit prohibitive, especially if the screens are not made up of bigger "meta blocks". I think using two or maybe three charsets and keeping them in memory might be more practical.

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Re: Pharaohs Return (C64)

Reply #68 on: August 05, 2012, 10:45:55 am
Ok, I think I have enough graphics now to start programming. Feel free to take a look at the "Pharaohs Return devlog" on tigsource. (linked in the 1st post)

@mrsid: yes, using 2-3 charsets for all rooms sounds reasonable

the guardian...


idle - walk - attack (wip)

idle: tried to "embrace" the limitations a bit more
walking: stomp stomp stomp... There's not very much space for the guardian to walk around, so the game would have to scroll around for a chase. Haven't decided, yet.
attack: Should the fist show some motion blur? I have one sprite left: either for displaying the arm, or for some motion blur.

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Offline jams0988

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Re: Pharaohs Return (C64)

Reply #69 on: August 06, 2012, 11:43:27 pm
Quote
I am not sure if I like the elevators from Pharaoh's Curse that much. They work very well for the fast paced gameplay, but the logic behind them is a bit... well... Did the Pharaohs really have elevators that day? But how could you get up again? (There's no problem to go down) Some moving blocks maybe. Like the big block in the 2nd mockup and the blue block at the bottom in this picture here.
Don't worry. It's been awhile since I studied the ancient Egyptions, but I'm pretty sure they didn't have reanimated mummies or golems guarding their tombs, either. ;P
I'm loving your green cave tileset. Awesome use of the palette, and the animations have a lot of character. I'd play this, heheh. =)
If you only have one frame left for the golem animation, I'd probably display the arm instead of going for the motion blur.
« Last Edit: August 06, 2012, 11:46:58 pm by jams0988 »