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#51 2017-10-09 07:41:26

Jonas
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From: Frankfurt, Germany
Registered: 2016-06-06
Posts: 112
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Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

@Imanlolea: Thanks once more for sharing your insights in the blog post. smile

Just one question:

In his blog entry, Imanolea wrote:

In addition to the shifts there are also times when we have to reload the graphics of the backgrounds. The most obvious (and costly) of these reloads is the update of the window once the selection shift ends and all the icons alter their order.

The solution is to have a strict control of the VBlank interruption, and to optimize the graphic reprint.

What do you do to "control the VBlank interruption"? You probably call the routine shown in your blog entry when the VBlank period begins but it doesn't seem to do anything to check how long the VBlank period lasts. So, did you precalculate how many tiles you can copy to the screen during the VBlank period or is there anything you do at runtime to check when the screen starts to redraw?

Last edited by Jonas (2017-10-09 07:47:04)

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#52 2017-10-10 03:45:16

Imanolea
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From: Bilbao, Spain
Registered: 2014-05-17
Posts: 54
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Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

@Jonas: Thanks to you for reading it.

Yeah, the key is to have a fixed duration VBlank that updates the graphics in time. You can achieve this by precalculating the clock cycles needed versus the clock cycles available, or ultimately placing a breakpoint at the end of it and checking that it is still in VBlank. And also by executing "ei" (enable interrupts) at the start of any other interruption that could be running during the VBlank period, so you make sure that the interrupt is called at the right time and that no part of it will ever run outside the VBlank period.

I will update the scroll blog post (which is the one that explains that part) with this information: https://imanoleasgames.blogspot.com.es/ … croll.html

Last edited by Imanolea (2017-10-10 04:03:14)

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#53 2017-10-10 07:24:58

Jonas
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From: Frankfurt, Germany
Registered: 2016-06-06
Posts: 112
Website

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

Thanks, I understand.

In my current project, I simply used the trial and error method to find out how much time I have in the VBlank period.  I reduced the amount of data copied to VRAM until I didn't see any glitched tiles on the screen. However, my impression is that the emulator (BGB) is not 100% accurate in this regard. When my code worked glitchless on BGB, it still showed damaged tiles on the real hardware every now and then. These vanished when I optimized the code a bit to save some time...

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#54 2017-10-10 12:01:12

drludos
Member
Registered: 2017-05-11
Posts: 52

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

Woaw, this is very impressive Imanolea!

The select screen is gorgeous, and thanks for sharing tips on how you did it (I've read about sin/cos table, but it's better to have an actual example to understand how to use them!).

I'm really hyped for the game, which look more and more amazing.
Any ETA for the release date, or at least a beta version? smile


Download ROMs of my games: https://drludos.itch.io/
Support my work and get access to beta and prototypes: https://www.patreon.com/drludos

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#55 2017-10-10 13:08:02

Imanolea
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From: Bilbao, Spain
Registered: 2014-05-17
Posts: 54
Website

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

Thank you very much drludos.

There is a release date for a demo published on the Light Games website: https://lightgamesgb.com/portfolio/last … warriors/. A first version will probably be released on november 29. I will be very dedicated to the game until then.

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#56 2017-10-15 18:00:46

drludos
Member
Registered: 2017-05-11
Posts: 52

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

Cool, I'm really looking toward testing the demo!

Good luck on the last steps to finish / polish the beta demo version


Download ROMs of my games: https://drludos.itch.io/
Support my work and get access to beta and prototypes: https://www.patreon.com/drludos

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#57 2017-11-05 07:39:37

Imanolea
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From: Bilbao, Spain
Registered: 2014-05-17
Posts: 54
Website

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

I confirm that this November 29 will be published a demo of the game.

I also share with you this tweet, with the spawn system ready and an arrow that points to the base to conquer.

https://twitter.com/lightgamesgb/status … 9178672135

Greetings. I will be working hard on the game this month.

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#58 2017-11-05 08:51:14

ISSOtm
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From: Somewhere in Echo RAM
Registered: 2017-04-18
Posts: 160
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Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

The game looks quite good and snappy. I really look forward to trying it when the demo releases !


The French Lord Of Laziness.
Legend of Zelda and Undertale fan, I also tend to break Pokémon R/B/Y a little too much.

Twitter | Me on GCL | Discord : ISSOtm#9015 | Skype : isso.tm (I don't login anymore)

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#59 2017-11-29 15:03:09

Imanolea
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From: Bilbao, Spain
Registered: 2014-05-17
Posts: 54
Website

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

There is still content to be implemented and the mechanics of the game have to be refined, but I have posted the DEMO to collect feedback. I hope you like it.

https://twitter.com/lightgamesgb/status … 5538895872

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#60 2017-11-29 16:44:41

Mills
Member
Registered: 2012-12-21
Posts: 132

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

Imanolea wrote:

There is still content to be implemented and the mechanics of the game have to be refined, but I have posted the DEMO to collect feedback. I hope you like it.

https://twitter.com/lightgamesgb/status … 5538895872

Testing it right now. I also have a Color Game Boy and I'll test it there too.

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#61 2017-11-30 17:57:03

cloudZz
Member
Registered: 2017-08-08
Posts: 13

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

Awesome demo! It had me interested ever since I saw a few screenshots and it was worth the wait! Played it on emulator first and then gave it another go on my GBA SP.
Combat feels great and gives good visible and audible feedback when you get hit or hit one of the poor mushrooms (that's something you probably normally don't notice unless you play something like Final Fantasy Adventure...which I did recently.... where the feedback is sometimes a bit misleading or even missing in contrast to for example Link's Awakening).
On the other hand, I was and still am a bit confused about what it takes to capture a base, I just mow down quickly as many mushrooms as possible and once captured, repeat the procedure with the next base.
I mostly played with Boney, since I think his bomb throw is the most useful (one hit KO yay!), but Tim's boomerang is OK too. I don't really know what Lilian's special does, it does't seem to inflict any damage..? However, I still mostly used the normal slash attack, so in the end the choice of the character wasn't that important. (Then again I always got the B rank, so maybe I'm doing something wrong here...I always had to recapture one of the bases)
Anyway, it would be nice if the different characters would have different normal attacks in the full version (and/or some other quirks to differentiate them further). It would also be cool if you could chain the rolling or dashing to a more powerful attack, I mostly used them to travel between bases.
A little nitpick on the controls: Double tapping to dash worked flawlessly on my GBA SP but didn't respond that nicely on my keyboard/emulator (had to hammer it a bit). I also tested it with my CGB, where I had the same problems as on emulator.
I really look forward to playing the full version! Also, the graphics and animations are so adorable!

On a side note, thank you for your blog posts they're always interesting to read!

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#62 2017-12-01 12:12:38

DevEd
New member
Registered: 2015-11-04
Posts: 9

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

Pretty neat game. The music is pretty catchy.

For those who are interested, I have ripped the game's soundtrack in .GBS format, which can be played in nezplug++, Audio Overload, or any other such player. Get the .GBS here: http://devnet.sonicgamesdimension.net/G … rriors.gbs


You know, the DevSound guy.

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#63 2017-12-01 19:03:03

Jonas
Member
From: Frankfurt, Germany
Registered: 2016-06-06
Posts: 112
Website

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

Great work! smile It's almost flawless and there isn't much to criticize in my opinion. So, only because you explicitly asked for feedback in your tweet:

I noticed that sometimes the enemies spawn very close to the player's position which might seem a bit unfair. However, in most other situations they don't pose much of a threat.

Also, I didn't really understand what exactly I have to do to conquer a flag and under what circumstances the computer conquers it back. Obviously, I have to kill enemies to conquer a flag, and obviously I'm supposed to conquer all at the same time, but the exact conditions remain somewhat unclear...

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#64 2017-12-04 05:03:22

Imanolea
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From: Bilbao, Spain
Registered: 2014-05-17
Posts: 54
Website

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

Thanks for your comments and for playing it,

The feeling that I have left is that there are some people who understand perfectly what to do and some other that has no idea of the goal. So we will work on finishing the How to play part among other features and adjustments.

Thanks for testing it @Mills. I hope it works well.

Thanks for the feedback @cloudZz, I take note of everything. I think Lilian's special weapon is the most powerful currently. It can attract enemies to a specific point and it is good to conquer all bases in the shortest possible time. And I will write more entries on the blog about the features of the demo.

Thanks @DevEd. The music is not yet definitive. But I will make sure to share in the future for any interested person.

I take note of your feedback too @Jonas. Thanks!

For people who have doubts about the mechanics I would say that it tries to resemble a Dynasty Warriors or Musou game. We must defeat enemies in the bases (where the arrows point) to lower the enemy banner and raise ours. If time passes, they will be conquered again by the enemy. This information can be checked in the bar at the bottom.

Thanks to all, I hope more people can try it and comment on impressions while we work on more content smile.

Last edited by Imanolea (2017-12-04 05:03:58)

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#65 2017-12-08 18:38:56

drludos
Member
Registered: 2017-05-11
Posts: 52

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

Hey, I'm a bit late to the party, but I tested the demo, and WOAW!

I'm really impressed by the game, it really looks professional. Count me in when you release a cartridge, because it's most beautiful and polished GB homebrew I've seen lately smile.

The game is very fun to play too, and I like the attention to details (slowdown when dies, dust particules when running, etc.). Gameplay-wise, like @CloudZzz I think it could be fun to have a "dashing" attack: when pressing A when running, the hero raise his or her weapon in front of him/her and cut through the enemies, that would be very cool. The special attack are maybe a bit long to load (a few milliseconds less would be better for me), but that's very subjective (and I'm the kind of player who enjoy smahsing buttons mindlessly when playing beat'em ups games).

The art is just perfect, I'm really amazed by how detailed they are, and yet the game is 100% all the time.

By-the-way, I did encounter a slight graphic glitch, where a 8x16 sprite of the hero (using time) was remaining onscreen (it scrolled though, so it may have been just displayed on the BKG). When I scrolled it away and got back, it was normal grass / tree again. I don't know what I did to trigger this, but I was smashing A button and fighting evil mushrooms! (bug happened on BGB, not on real hardware).

Any ETA on the full game release, now that the demo is out?


Download ROMs of my games: https://drludos.itch.io/
Support my work and get access to beta and prototypes: https://www.patreon.com/drludos

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#66 2017-12-09 07:32:24

Imanolea
Member
From: Bilbao, Spain
Registered: 2014-05-17
Posts: 54
Website

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

Thanks for the feedback drludos.

I take note of your suggestion to add a dashing attack and to reduce the time for the special attack.

I have also noticed that glitch that you comment after publishing the demo. That glitch and others are targeted to be fixed in the next update. In any case, thank you very much for telling me about that, because there may be some undetected bugs.

About the release date, I take this opportunity to detail what are the current plans for Light Games.

1. Update the demo to the ultimate version, with a How to Play and some other surprises I will be detailing on Twitter (https://twitter.com/lightgamesgb). Your feedback will be key in finding a solid playable base.

2. Plan (on paper) what will be the final game of Last Crown Warriors: how far will we go and what will we leave out.

3. Develop the complete game and report on a possible release date as soon as we know it.

We will continue working on updating the demo. Thanks for your comments. I hope more people can give their opinion about the demo.

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#67 2017-12-11 18:43:13

drludos
Member
Registered: 2017-05-11
Posts: 52

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

Good luck with the project!


Download ROMs of my games: https://drludos.itch.io/
Support my work and get access to beta and prototypes: https://www.patreon.com/drludos

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#68 2017-12-29 11:44:26

lee
New member
Registered: 2016-06-17
Posts: 2

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

drludos wrote:

Hey, I'm a bit late to the party, but I tested the demo, and WOAW!

By-the-way, I did encounter a slight graphic glitch, where a 8x16 sprite of the hero (using time) was remaining onscreen (it scrolled though, so it may have been just displayed on the BKG). When I scrolled it away and got back, it was normal grass / tree again. I don't know what I did to trigger this, but I was smashing A button and fighting evil mushrooms! (bug happened on BGB, not on real hardware).

I have encountered this too, and it's fairly easy to reproduce:

Press start; Select woods; Select Boney; Walk up to the trees and wait; a damaged half-Boney appears (most likely because you are only storing the half tiles internally to mirror).

Other potential issues:

I can roll over enemies without getting damaged.

My secondary attack for Lilliah and Tim do not work, no matter what I do. Boney's bomb works just fine.

I am able to trigger an always-damaged sprite/palette by rolling or running right as I get hit. It can be cleared by getting hit again.

Another way is to hold onto B for your secondary attack, and wait to get hit. It is basically random when the damaged sprite stays, but it will.

Right before the Game Over screen appears, you can continue putting in inputs for a moment.

The player sprite is underneath all other sprites. This is easy to fix, but I'm not sure it is intentional.

After playing for a good 15-20 minutes, I was able to get over 999 kills, resetting to zero.

The collision for Player -> hearts seems by their feet. Please fix this so it's their entire body.


All my testing is done on Game Boy Color.

Great job smile

I would add sound effects for sword swiping, running, and secondary attack. Other than that this engine is top-notch.

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#69 2017-12-29 12:27:59

Imanolea
Member
From: Bilbao, Spain
Registered: 2014-05-17
Posts: 54
Website

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

Thank you very much lee for the incredibly valuable feedback. I appreciate your dedication.

The technical bugs that you are reporting should be solved for the update of the demo in which I am working. Wich will have a boss in the forest and some adjustments and improvements. I only have a question about one of them:
You are saying that the player sprite showing underneath all other sprites should be easy to fix. What do you mean exactly? The sprites of the hero are already in the lowest address of the OAM RAM, but unfortunately that does not ensure that they are drawn above in all cases.

Then there are design errors that you also reported. And on which I will think about.
- The hero should be in fact invincible when rolling, but I think that is no well expressed. I'll think about adding a flickering for the update, so it's better understood.
- Tim's boomerang only paralyzes the enemies.
- Lilian's special weapon causes the enemies to walk towards the flower. To have them grouped together and make them easier to kill.
- You have made me see that interactible elements should interact with the visible area of the player, not with the collidable area.
If you have any opinion about these latest mistakes, go ahead. It is important to know how the player understands the ideas that I intend to express.

In any case thank you again, I take note.

Last edited by Imanolea (2017-12-29 12:28:28)

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#70 2017-12-29 15:26:37

lee
New member
Registered: 2016-06-17
Posts: 2

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

Imanolea wrote:

You are saying that the player sprite showing underneath all other sprites should be easy to fix. What do you mean exactly? The sprites of the hero [bold]are already in the lowest address of the OAM RAM[/bold], but unfortunately that does not ensure that they are drawn above in all cases.

Nevermind what I've said then. I guess it can't be helped!

Perhaps actually, the player should be drawn underneath all sprites. There were many times a mushroom man was spawning and I couldn't see it was right under me!

As for the secondary attacks: this is not obvious. When I used them, it felt like they had no affect at all. I think because the paralyzing time is very small (I noticed there is a paralysis after hitting enemies, but it isn't obvious), it isn't easy to notice. The flower really didn't appear to do anything. You should have enemies flash and play a sound as indicators.

Another thing to note is, it is very easy to stay alive and fish for enemies around the surrounding flag area, if you stay outside the walls. The sword attack range is pretty insane in that regard.

The enemy movement also tends for them to bunch up around walls. I understand it is too intensive to do enemy -> enemy collision, but maybe something can be done about the movement.

Last edited by lee (2017-12-29 15:30:50)

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#71 2017-12-30 19:34:28

Jonas
Member
From: Frankfurt, Germany
Registered: 2016-06-06
Posts: 112
Website

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

@Imanolea: I just saw your very helpful post on collision detection on Imanolea's Games. Thanks a lot for all your work and for sharing your insights regarding that topic, it is very much appreciated! smile

Last edited by Jonas (2017-12-30 19:34:59)

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#72 2018-11-11 16:11:49

Imanolea
Member
From: Bilbao, Spain
Registered: 2014-05-17
Posts: 54
Website

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

Hi everyone!

I have posted the DEMO update of Last Crown Warriors. This update includes a boss for the level and a visual guide among other gameplay improvements.

https://twitter.com/lightgamesgb/status … 8642219009

Now we are going to focus on the final game, the feedback we collect of this update will be very important too.

I hope you enjoy it. smile

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#73 2018-11-17 16:50:14

Jonas
Member
From: Frankfurt, Germany
Registered: 2016-06-06
Posts: 112
Website

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

Thanks for sharing this! I just played it and it looks great. smile

I didn't see any glitches and there is hardly anything to criticize in the game, so I only have a few minor issues:

- In the main menu, I'd expect to be able to move the cursor with the arrow keys and access a menu item with A.
- It's also a bit strange that pressing any key during the tutorial sends you back to the main menu. In my first attempts, I thought that I was supposed to imitate the button presses displayed on the screen before I realized that the tutorial is simply a cutscene.
- The boss encounter should start with some kind of music or sound effect, the silence at the beginning comes somewhat unexpected. I could also use a health refill for the boss but maybe that's just because I'm not good enough...

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#74 2018-11-21 04:40:59

Imanolea
Member
From: Bilbao, Spain
Registered: 2014-05-17
Posts: 54
Website

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

Thanks for playing it Jonas.

I take note of the issues. That kind of impressions will be very useful now that I will be writing the final GDD and thinking about improvements. I will keep them in mind. wink

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#75 2019-01-06 14:33:51

drludos
Member
Registered: 2017-05-11
Posts: 52

Re: Last Crown Warriors, new game project for Game Boy

Oh my god, this game gets better and better with every new release!

I'm really impressed by the work you made, as usual.

The game is still very fun to play, and the music is awesome.
The boss is very cool, and quite challenging as Jonas said.
It's a great addition as it adds variety to the gameplay.

No big issues regarding the game, it's fun and quite polished, so I'll have only minor remarks:
- I still find a bit difficult to track the "state" of the three bases. For example, when you want to go to another base, it could be useful to know which one has the lowest flag. On other time, you may also arrive to late to save the base, and you'll have to reconquer it. So maybe you should make the white arrows blink or change "color" when a base is near being taken back by the enemies? Or maybe simply change the size of the arrows when the base get more and more in the hand of the enemies?
- Regarding balancing, I think that the knight is less powerful than the previous beta, isn't he?
Because it feels like forever now to kill baddies, especially compared to playing with the girl.
- Regarding the girl, what is the "flower launch" attack supposed to do?

Anyway, good luck with the project!
Do you have any targeted release date yet?


Download ROMs of my games: https://drludos.itch.io/
Support my work and get access to beta and prototypes: https://www.patreon.com/drludos

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