10 replies to this topic

[Fadest]

During the AC2k9 show that held this WE in France, there was a coding contest on a specific theme.
Here is the entry we did for the Atari Lynx.

The goal was to make a game inspired by Lady Bug, an anhanced clone of Pac Man, where the labyrinth can be modified by player by rotating walls.

this version reflect what has been done in only 24h, ie, the essential is here but it can be improved a lot.
- the player can move
- management of rotating walls
- mushrooms kill the player
- management of bugs IA (very very dummy and simplist)
- scoring system
- life management and defeat
- level management

This is not a full clone of Lady Bug that had other specificities, especially in scoring system, but now, the game will follow another direction of his model and get its own appeal. This means I have some personal ideas that I did not have time to implement.

So, the game is playable. For thos that got the version from yesterday on their flash card, I just modified 2 small bugs.
- collisions between player and bugs are more player friendly (you do not lose anymore if a bugs collide you with only one pixel)
- you do no more get back all your lifes when starting a new level (yes, this was a bug, not a nice feature )

The zip file includes the game in .o format (Handy ou BLL), .lnx (handy ou flash card) and .lyx (flash card) and readme.txt.

Many thanks to DoctorY for time spent on graphs , to Rygar for music and testing, and to all people that came to test, give advice or just motivation.

Attached Files

•  ABL.zip   34.08K   110 downloads

[ls650]

I just tried this out on Handy and it plays great!
Some constructive criticism:
- I really do NOT like the pink background. I would make it black or dark blue so that it is easier to see the various objects.
- It is a bet hard to distinguish the objects. For example, I ran into a red mushroom before realizing it was like one of the poison skulls in Ladybug.
- I would have the background music quieter and make the sound effects louder.
- Your bug seems to move a bit slow. I would have it run a bit faster through the maze.

Other than that it is a great game!

[Fadest]

ls650, on Mon Apr 20, 2009 3:25 PM, said:

Some constructive criticism:
- I really do NOT like the pink background. I would make it black or dark blue so that it is easier to see the various objects.

Well, in fact, it was black, but it was not readable on Lynx but better on Handy than actual version.
As DoctorY was not here on sunday, we made some tests with Rygar and decided to put the light brown background (it is not pink, indeed I think it is not pink ) because it was better on Lynx.

Quote

- It is a bet hard to distinguish the objects. For example, I ran into a red mushroom before realizing it was like one of the poison skulls in Ladybug.

You are right, the game would need a serious rework on graphs. A show is not the best place to do this, and as I have previously said, DoctorY left on saturday evening, without having seen the game in action, so he wasn't able to do modifications.

Quote

- I would have the background music quieter and make the sound effects louder.

As said in readme.txt, HAndy does not replay ABC Music well. It sounds far better on Lynx.

This (background + music) there is a warning when played on HAndy (not displayed on real Lynx) saying that game give better experience to player on real hardware. And even better on a video projector with Lynx vision

Quote

- Your bug seems to move a bit slow. I would have it run a bit faster through the maze.

Well, there is a lots of things that need to be improved and I have some nice (in my opinion) ideas also. But you know, when the deadline is at 3PM and you get a stable version at half past two. You want to improve it a bit, designing ugly title screen, finding stupid name that will put in evidence lots of bugs (data corruption...) never found before, you finally are happy to make it works just 5 minutes before 3PM

Quote

Other than that it is a great game!

Many thanks.

[matashen]

Fadest, on Mon Apr 20, 2009 9:01 AM, said:

ls650, on Mon Apr 20, 2009 3:25 PM, said:

Some constructive criticism:
- I really do NOT like the pink background. I would make it black or dark blue so that it is easier to see the various objects.

Well, in fact, it was black, but it was not readable on Lynx but better on Handy than actual version.
As DoctorY was not here on sunday, we made some tests with Rygar and decided to put the light brown background (it is not pink, indeed I think it is not pink ) because it was better on Lynx.

Quote

- It is a bet hard to distinguish the objects. For example, I ran into a red mushroom before realizing it was like one of the poison skulls in Ladybug.

You are right, the game would need a serious rework on graphs. A show is not the best place to do this, and as I have previously said, DoctorY left on saturday evening, without having seen the game in action, so he wasn't able to do modifications.

Quote

- I would have the background music quieter and make the sound effects louder.

As said in readme.txt, HAndy does not replay ABC Music well. It sounds far better on Lynx.

This (background + music) there is a warning when played on HAndy (not displayed on real Lynx) saying that game give better experience to player on real hardware. And even better on a video projector with Lynx vision

Quote

- Your bug seems to move a bit slow. I would have it run a bit faster through the maze.

Well, there is a lots of things that need to be improved and I have some nice (in my opinion) ideas also. But you know, when the deadline is at 3PM and you get a stable version at half past two. You want to improve it a bit, designing ugly title screen, finding stupid name that will put in evidence lots of bugs (data corruption...) never found before, you finally are happy to make it works just 5 minutes before 3PM

Quote

Other than that it is a great game!

Many thanks.

i would say to all who play it. See it as Alpha not as Beta. It is a game fadest coded in 24h. For this time the stuff is absolutly ingenius.

So let Fadest do the game to a beta-status and you will see he create a really perfect game. More perfect as other ones.

@Fadest: Dont forget a saveable highscore

Regards

Matashen

[Ninjabba]

24 hours.. wow thats impressive man. took me 24 hours to compile helloworld on the lynx.. and probably a year or two before I will ever get anything properly to show off...

Surely is a nice game with an addictive feeling similar to pac-man I never played lady bug before, the only thing that struck me is that the AI is predictive as it only runs around in circles if the outer path doesn't get obstructed, but then again I wouldn't try implementing a path-finding algorithm on the lynx in 24 hours. Great job!

[Isgoed]

I've just played this with Handy, and I think it's great

Good job guys!

[Fadest]

Ninjabba, on Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:38 PM, said:

the only thing that struck me is that the AI is predictive as it only runs around in circles if the outer path doesn't get obstructed, but then again I wouldn't try implementing a path-finding algorithm on the lynx in 24 hours.

Basically, you got the algorythm
They just sometimes change direction in other way (in order to be blocked infinitely) with a little random.
I wanted to improve this part later, but I had no time.

I guess I spent too much time speaking with great guys who were here

[Fadest]

DoctoY in the best conditions to make his graphs. Yes, making a game is a sacerdoce :


and the public presentation (the image on screen is daisplayed via LynxtoTV/Lynxvision)


(photos by Zerosquare)

[im_reg]

Fantastic effort guys. Plays really nice. I love the idea of the swinging 'gates' makes the game alot of fun and I love blocking off the enemy!

Well done.

[gambler172]

Hi Fadest
For a game,made in 24 hours,it is really great.Iplayed it with flashcard on my Lynx and i like it.The music is really nice.......and the game plays very well.
greetings Walter

[Godzilla]

Very impressive bit of coding! great job!