Erik_
First screen shot!
Fri Oct 21, 2022 5:12pm

Below is the first screenshot from within the map editor using a test map I threw together with some examples of the sprites in the game.
Objects (like keys, enemies, player, and other pickups) have a transparency color so that they don't disrupt the tile sprite they're standing/placed on. You can see this in the few keys I dropped around.

Basic idea of the game is that there will be floors in the mansion that get progressively larger and harder both in puzzles and hazards/enemies. Floors can span multiple screens.

So far a few objects I have in mind are:
* brown doors don't require a key to open.
* color doors require a matching key color. Not sure if I want the keys to be single use yet or stay for the length of the level. Leaning towards multi-use for the length of the level.
* garlic - when picked up, bats will run away from you in the level instead of at you.
* pumpkin - extra life
* ghost/zombie enemies
* level exit will either be an elevator or a set of stairs.
* I'm thinking perhaps the player doesn't get any weapon and has to avoid enemies..? might make the game too hard though but it would decrease the amount of code needed to be made.

Anyway, here's the screen shot!
map maker screen shot


  • Halloween 2022 QB Game - Erik_, Mon Oct 17 2022 3:54pm
    Well, the deadline for this has come up way faster than I would have thought and I'm wayyyyyy behind (read: I spent 20 minutes one night playing with an idea). I got caught up updating the DiscApp site so that the email subscription service is integrated into the main code base. That opened a can... more
    • No I didn't forget.... - Erik_, Thu Nov 03 2022 11:01am
      So, Monday (Halloween) ended up being busier than I thought it would be and I didn't get a chance to do any last minute touches that night. As it stood on 10/30, I had a complete engine but no levels except the few test areas I made. I wanted to have at least level 1 done for the 10/31 release but that... more
    • Last day update... - Erik_, Sun Oct 30 2022 3:44am
      Code wise, things are about as good as they're going to be for a 10/31 release. I only have to add 1 more enemy and the "instructions" selection off the main menu... oh and some levels to actually play besides the test ones I've made. I expect the 10/31 release to be bug ridden and completely unbalanced... more
    • 10 days before "I'm not done but I turned it in anyway." - Puckdropper, Fri Oct 21 2022 11:29pm
      Is Santa's Christmas Rescue done yet?
      • Just about actually! - Erik_, Sun Oct 30 2022 3:38am
        There's only a few levels left to add. The code and assets are all done. I plan on finishing that final bit in November so it can be released in the first week of December. (aiming for 12/01).
        • Just in time for Christmas, a Halloween game! - Puckdropper, Thu Nov 10 2022 3:12am
          Hopefully I'll get some free time to actually play it. I brought my laptop on a trip recently and never got to touch it.
          • That's how it's looking! haha - Erik_, Fri Nov 11 2022 1:50am
            This one is actually working out to be pretty decent. There's some engine janky-ness that I'm noticing while mapping out level 3 that I sort of have to work around. I guess that's expected as the core of the game was written in a crunch. I actually think I like this one better than Santa's Delivery... more
            • So no Thanksgiving release? - Puckdropper, Fri Nov 11 2022 2:20am
              That way they'll both be out of season? As you keep writing game engines, you'll get to the point where they can be done faster and faster. Except for the creative bits, I wonder if it'd be possible to write a new game in a week.
              • The engine was basically done in a week for this one. - Erik_, Wed Nov 16 2022 3:54pm
                QB has sort of become like riding a bike over all these years. Once I actually dedicate some time and sit down and start hacking away at it, it comes flooding back. lol Halloween game is looking at a Thanksgiving-ish release. Work and life has kept me from making almost any progress on level 3 for... more
                • Happy Birthday! - Puckdropper, Sun Nov 27 2022 1:15am
                  Did you do anything you wanted to do? Yeah, life's gotten busy for me too. I've got 3 models in the queue and can't seem to get any time to work on them. Hopefully that changes with both kids going to daycare twice a week. My wife wasn't too happy with me the first time they went all day, I went... more
                  • Happy belated Birthday to you too! - Erik_, Thu Dec 01 2022 3:29pm
                    I think you're birthday is sometime in Nov too? Maybe I'm misremembering. The past "weekend" is always so busy, it's hard to really get anything done. But that's okay, it's still a good time. We've somehow managed without Daycare so far but it's been tough at times. Once my wife starts working... more
                    • I happened to glance at the book of faces and it reminded me - Puckdropper, Mon Dec 05 2022 5:20am
                      Good remembering! 11 Nov. The trick is to shop around. Our daycare is an in-home daycare and the lady is awesome. She sends photos several times a day and the kids are always happy and smiling. We wouldn't touch a big daycare, they'll get enough of that when they join school. It can be, but... more
    • First screen shot!- Erik_, Fri Oct 21 2022 5:12pm
      • If you do go with no weapons and avoid, - Puckdropper, Fri Oct 21 2022 11:32pm
        then you'll have to keep your enemies down to just a few. It could be interesting, I remember a level like that in Zelda where you had to avoid the guard's view and you couldn't attack them.
    • Sprite editor done. Level editor mostly done. - Erik_, Thu Oct 20 2022 2:37am
      This is actually (knock on wood) going along smoother than Santa's Delivery Rush. I've decided to use the same "graphics engine" for the game, map editor, and sprite editor. It's a new engine from scratch and different from SDRs. Sharing the same engine has helped so far keep things moving along quickly.... more
      • Capcom did that with Zelda - Puckdropper, Fri Oct 21 2022 11:35pm
        They built an engine and released two separate (Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Time) games. They purposely interrelated them, but it could have been different games and they were both fun. I guess with 10 days left, you should go simple and get things done. Other wise, your game might turn out to... more
        • Scope creep is real... even when trying to avoid it. - Erik_, Wed Oct 26 2022 5:20pm
          I think I'm on track though if I keep working like I have been in the evening. I've some how managed to already get dangerously close to QB45's memory limits to the point that it started throwing weird error messages. I had one where it said I was trying to pass an invalid parameter type (I wasn't)... more
          • That's very cool. The Excel team used to have a saying - Puckdropper, Sun Nov 27 2022 1:31am
            "Don't save anything you can recalculate." Raymond Chen said they used this philosophy for big performance gains, but here it looks like in this case the calculation is expensive and saving it is much less so. The to-do list remaining is: * Add enemies and their visual assets Class: Make it work... more
            • Precalculation was definitely the way to go here. - Erik_, Thu Dec 01 2022 3:41pm
              I remember about 10 or so years ago, the lead at my old job was showing me how to create a date table in MSSQL server because it was faster to pull the precalculated dates from there than to have the queries doing a whole bunch of date function calls or something like that. Sort of the same thing.... more
              • Looking things up can be expensive as well - Puckdropper, Mon Dec 05 2022 5:29am
                I'm going to guess a smallish LUT (look up table) will be faster than calculations in most cases, but as the LUT gets bigger then calculating a value becomes faster.
"Forces act when not restrained" - Puckdropper