31 replies to this topic

[theloon]

Oh no! Aliens have taken over the orphanage on Sleepystreet and only Nite Bear can save them!

Game modes include:
* Knightmare style shooting levels with boss
* 4 way scrolling platform rescue the Steffies in the orphanage levels
* Final boss battle

Below are pictures of the title screen and in-game. Zip file with pictures and binary too. Cover art was provided generously by neotokeo2001.

Attached Thumbnails

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Attached Files

•  NiteBear.zip   82.15K   25 downloads

Edited by theloon, Tue Nov 8, 2011 9:38 AM.

[TooSlowGamer]

Awesome! I love that coverart!

[yuppicide]

Yeah, Neotoke (if that's his work) comes up with some great art. They always remind me of a Taiwan bootleg.

[theloon]

A little more progress.

* Enemy movement patterns
* Color flashing when enemy hit
* After so many enemies Nite Bear reaches castle gates and boss

Still have lots to do such as sound, 4 way scrolling level, power ups, etc..

Attached Files

•  nightbear002.bas   6.97K   67 downloads
•  nightbear002.bin   8K   111 downloads

[atari2600land]

Are you planning on using no_blank_lines?

[theloon]

I think I lose missile0 with no_blanks lines. The title screen looks worse with those gaps I know. Nite Bear is using the ball for his sword. Right now I could use missile0 and missile1 for enemy shots. Plus, I was thinking of making a car out of the ball and tires out of missile0 and 1 in a later game mode.

I don't think the gaps look bad in-game though, right?

[theloon]

* "Loli" power ups implemented and functional
* More enemy patterns
* Nite Bear HP implemented
* Nite Bear flashes and gets knocked back with hits

Attached Files

•  nightbear003.bas   8.63K   57 downloads
•  nightbear003.bin   8K   71 downloads

Edited by theloon, Tue Sep 21, 2010 9:23 AM.

[TooSlowGamer]

I'm liking this. However, why did you change the scrolling to that? I liked it better the old way.

I just now figured out what the title screen was. I always thought it was a castle.

[theloon]

TooSlowGamer, on Tue Sep 21, 2010 7:38 PM, said:

I'm liking this. However, why did you change the scrolling to that? I liked it better the old way.

I just now figured out what the title screen was. I always thought it was a castle.

Actually, the lack of marching was a bug! I wanted to simulate the scrolling effect of Knightmare for the MSX.


I'll take your feedback to heart though. Any other opinions on marching vs. continuous scrolling?

I've also got feedback on the title screen pointing towards using no_blank_lines. I don't wanna give up that missile though! But, if a bear looks like a castle.. maybe a redo is necessary.

Many thanks for taking the time to review this WIP!

This new version has:
* Nite Bear changes color to indicate damage levels.
* More random enemy deployment.
* Second game mode (4 way scrolling) available after boss fight.
* Bat/Spider thing changed to double-wide.
* Using new 25 color palette referenced in my other topic.
* Bumped ROM size to 16k.

Attached Files

•  nightbear004.bas   14.03K   55 downloads
•  nightbear004.bin   16K   67 downloads

Edited by theloon, Tue Sep 21, 2010 8:26 PM.

[TooSlowGamer]

The marching slows down the gameplay a lot and makes it look like you did it because of a technical limitation.

The sprite in the 4 way movement looks like a little girl, but just barely. Also, there's a lot of bugs in it that it makes it almost unplayable.

Oh, and the color for the first stage made the enemies kinda hard to see.

[theloon]

TooSlowGamer, on Wed Sep 22, 2010 12:57 PM, said:

The marching slows down the gameplay a lot and makes it look like you did it because of a technical limitation.

The sprite in the 4 way movement looks like a little girl, but just barely. Also, there's a lot of bugs in it that it makes it almost unplayable.

Oh, and the color for the first stage made the enemies kinda hard to see.

YAAAAY for feedback! Thank you for helping me TooSlowGamer

So far corrected:
* Broke down and used no_blank_lines
* Changed the background color to dark gray (I'm assuming hard-to-see meant too bright?)
* Removed marching effect

Added:
* Sounds for Knightmare level (no music yet)
* Changed 4 way scrolling level so player wont get stuck in TV

Immediate Todo:
* Will re-work side scrolling orphan sprite
* Try and get enemies to fire missile1

Not sure what "lot of bugs" means. I know you can get stuck in the TV. Made the TV more solid to compensate. If you could describe what "lots of bugs" is please do! If the bugs you describe are too much or too hard I may have to back down to Zelda style top down format.

Attached Files

•  nightbear005a.bin   16K   88 downloads
•  nightbear005a.bas   14.51K   62 downloads

Edited by theloon, Wed Sep 22, 2010 2:11 PM.

[TooSlowGamer]

theloon, on Wed Sep 22, 2010 1:49 PM, said:

TooSlowGamer, on Wed Sep 22, 2010 12:57 PM, said:

The marching slows down the gameplay a lot and makes it look like you did it because of a technical limitation.

The sprite in the 4 way movement looks like a little girl, but just barely. Also, there's a lot of bugs in it that it makes it almost unplayable.

Oh, and the color for the first stage made the enemies kinda hard to see.

YAAAAY for feedback! Thank you for helping me TooSlowGamer

So far corrected:
* Broke down and used no_blank_lines
* Changed the background color to dark gray (I'm assuming hard-to-see meant too bright?)
* Removed marching effect

Added:
* Sounds for Knightmare level (no music yet)
* Changed 4 way scrolling level so player wont get stuck in TV

Immediate Todo:
* Will re-work side scrolling orphan sprite
* Try and get enemies to fire missile1

Not sure what "lot of bugs" means. I know you can get stuck in the TV. Made the TV more solid to compensate. If you could describe what "lots of bugs" is please do! If the bugs you describe are too much or too hard I may have to back down to Zelda style top down format.

When you're moving the spaces are kinda small and you can go partly through them. It makes it feel like a quick beta of a game.

I think using a similar engine without the gravity effect and making it top down would work better.

EDIT: Nevermind, that only really happens when you hold the jump button.

However, I think the problem lies with the collectable. It gets stuck on the playfield until you move and makes it feel weird. I haven't reviewed your code, but this could be a bug with where you placed the movement code for it.

Also, if you have time, would it be possible to make the jumping better. It's fine for Atari standards, I guess, but I think it'd be better if it was a little faster and had some momentum and less perfect controls. Like, when you let go of the jump button, make her keep going a couple of pixels then come back down. The controls are too precise to make it feel like you're jumping. Play Mario and see how the jumping is.

Edited by TooSlowGamer, Wed Sep 22, 2010 2:53 PM.

[theloon]

I really appreciate the comments and views on this topic. The game is shaping up much better. of course, the verdict is still out on how much better

* Changed the orphan sprite. Made it 16 pixels tall for more detail.
* Stage display implemented.
* Nite Bear must rescue the frightened orphan. Initial orphan AI implemented. Now Zelda style top-down.
* Each stage requires more enemies killed and more orphans saved.

Immediate Todo:
* Get that darned missile1 to actually fire!!!

Attached Files

•  nightbear006.bas   17.84K   59 downloads
•  nightbear006.bin   16K   68 downloads

Edited by theloon, Wed Sep 22, 2010 10:52 PM.

[TooSlowGamer]

I like the top down style better, but when you move left and right you speed by and when you move up and down you go at a snail's pace.

Also, now I feel like I'm playing with the black and white switch on. Also, it's hard to see more than just a blob of pixels without focusing on the bear. It should be colored, just not colors that do that. I think Random Terrain has a chart on his site somewhere for web design, but it applies here, too.

[theloon]

Thanks for sticking with me on this guys! The more feedback the better!

I've made these changes:

Fixes:
* Adjusted vertical speed in 4 way scroll level (TooSlowGamer feedback)
* Tweaked colors in both game modes (TooSlowGamer feedback)
* Stage display was getting scrolled a bit. Partially fixed that effect
* Slowed enemy movement a bit

Features:
* Monsters fire missles
* Boss has heat-seeking missile
* When Nite Bear rescue orphan the next one will have different color

BUGS!
* Boss cannot hurt player

Attached Files

•  nightbear007.bas   20.95K   54 downloads
•  nightbear007.bin   16K   70 downloads

[TooSlowGamer]

I really feel bad for bashing your game like this. I really do enjoy it, I'm just trying to help you make it better. I wasn't going to post again, but you seem to REALLY crave feedback:

1. On the top down perspective you still go super fast when going left and right. I think that the speed in which you move up and down is perfect, so I think the left and right should be the same.

2. On the top down perspective I really have no idea what I'm playing as. It doesn't look like the bear, and it doesn't look like an orphan. The orphan that you're trying to catch looks good, though.

3. Probably my biggest complaint is with the AI on the top down stage. It always seems to be placed on a box and the only way to move it is to move yourself.

4. The first boss is only 1 hit kill? Too easy.

[Gateway]

This game reminds me of when the Globetrotter cart visited the VGXPO show last year, and it was funny (and a bit creepy) to meet PedoBear there!

@theloon: I like the concept of your game so far. I like the scrolling although it may be a bit too fast?

I assume you will be fixing the scoring routines, as I don't know if that is Nightbear's health status, or how many aliens he killed, or what.

Also, I suggest a debounce pause between the game over and start of a new game, if it's not on your list already. A few times the next game started and the missles are already in the air before I realized it was a new game.

As above, I have also noticed a few times the same missle will kill an alien, then when it switches to the boss, it will instantly kill the boss too, and you find yourself in the orphanage already.

Also, I like that the orphans run away from you ( I would too, if PedoBear was after me, lol ), but I don't like that they can pass through walls. Can you add collision detection to the orphans?

Lastly, when you see the "Stage 1" screen, etc, you may have screen roll or more than 262 lines because sometimes the top of the word "stage" is cut off. Also saw this on the titlescreen after a new game is ready to start.

More later, as I have to go. Keep up the good work.

Attached Thumbnails

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[theloon]

NEW BUILD IN THIS POST! LOOK BELOW!!

I think the thing to understand about hobby programming is that the actual coder and his immediate relations are NOT good critics. The programmer will see the art in his work better than anyone - and that sometimes leads to overlooking faults. The friend or family member will also overlook flaws because they understand what the programmer was trying to do. Also, most of the time we're encouraging our mates by not nit-picking. In this case nit-picking IS the encouragement!

Samuel Johnson is attributed (at least on the Internets) as saying:
"The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good. "

Playing WIP games is very hit-and-miss. Sometimes it can leave you craving more. Sometimes it leaves you in shear wonderment how the programmer can properly put on clothes in the morning without suffocating themselves. Fellow AtariAge members who dare tred into my game leaving constructive feedback are truly magnanimous and brave souls.

You. Guys. ROCK!!

Fixes:
* Slowed horizontal movement in Orphan rescue mode. Maybe the best I can do with 2600. (TooSlowGamer)
* Removed side-view Nite Bear sprite and just used vertical scrolling sprite (TooSlowGamer)
* Tweaked AI and made them into "Orphan Ghosts" since I can't figure out better collision (TooSlowGamer/Gateway)
* Weapon was super powered to aid debug. Now more normal damage (TooSlowGamer)
* Slowed vertical scrolling speed (Gateway)
* Score was in debug mode. Scoring now implemented. (Gateway)
* Added cooldown so firing doesn't happen after game start (Gateway)
* Sword no longer continues after killing an enemy. (Gateway)
* Added playfieldpos = 8 to correct overscrolling when changing playfields. (Gateway)
* Corrected "Boss can't kill you" issue (theloon)

Features:
* Bat swoops horizontally further.
* Tweaked Boss homing missile.
* "Orphan Ghost" level decorations are now randomized.

Attached Files

•  nightbear008.bas   21.13K   60 downloads
•  nightbear008.bin   16K   76 downloads

Edited by theloon, Sat Sep 25, 2010 10:19 PM.

[theloon]

double-posted somehow

Edited by theloon, Sun Sep 26, 2010 11:06 PM.

[theloon]

This should be pretty close to final. Maybe a little balancing and hopefully no major bugs.

Features:
* Last stage (level 9) has big end boss with cool fireball effects!
* Monsters increase in difficulty by stage
* Bonus sound when "Ghost Orphan" is rescued
* "Ghost Orphan" now heals Nite Bear somewhat
* Title screen music

Attached Thumbnails

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Attached Files

•  nightbear009a.bin   16K   91 downloads
•  nightbear009a.bas   28.87K   63 downloads

Edited by theloon, Sun Sep 26, 2010 11:11 PM.

[TooSlowGamer]

The four way scrolling stage went by really fast for me, but it's not that big of a deal.

If you have any extra room, difficulty settings could be added.

[theloon]

I added a stage select via the select switch. Think it'll be good enough? Oh, yeah. The release candidate is at the top of the page.
Figured out that non-subscribers can edit the original post

[TooSlowGamer]

What dictates when the stage will end?

Also, what happened to the old coverart?

[theloon]

@TooSlowGamer: You must defeat an increasing number of aliens per stage. Also, the number of Orphan Ghosts needing rescue increases. This is a good thing as Orphan Ghosts now heal you.

I got too many bad vibes from people about the other cover art. I hope it wasn't the reason I got little to no response from the Homebrew section.

neotokeo2001 stated he needed the games by the end of the month.. and, by golly, the time is nigh! I know I could do alot more balancing especially with the mid-bosses but, yeah.

TIP: Lolipop power-ups count as a kill towards completing the stage. If you're already buffed up you might consider shooting the lolipop on purpose. Lolipops also change their behavior on stage 9.

Edited by theloon, Tue Sep 28, 2010 5:38 PM.

[neotokeo2001]

theloon, on Tue Sep 28, 2010 5:34 PM, said:

@TooSlowGamer: You must defeat an increasing number of aliens per stage. Also, the number of Orphan Ghosts needing rescue increases. This is a good thing as Orphan Ghosts now heal you.

I got too many bad vibes from people about the other cover art. I hope it wasn't the reason I got little to no response from the Homebrew section.

neotokeo2001 stated he needed the games by the end of the month.. and, by golly, the time is nigh! I know I could do alot more balancing especially with the mid-bosses but, yeah.

TIP: Lolipop power-ups count as a kill towards completing the stage. If you're already buffed up you might consider shooting the lolipop on purpose. Lolipops also change their behavior on stage 9.

Just because the autograph cartridge is finished doesn't mean you can't continue to work on the game. Phantasm went a long way beyond the initial autograph version.