My games for Pirate Kart V

[jfroco]

Hi all,

I created these games for the Pirate Kart V. All games were made using the same engine that tries to emulate old ZX Spectrum games.

Maze of the Dead

Löve file: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4281970/zx82/maze-new.love


Pacnic!!!

Löve file: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4281970/zx82/pacnic-new.love

Skeletons in the closet

Löve file: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4281970/zx82/skeleton.love

Any feedback is welcome!!

[miko]

Hi all,

I created these games for the Pirate Kart V. All games were made using the same engine that tries to emulate old ZX Spectrum games.

This is fun. Can you write more about the engine?

Any feedback is welcome!!

For skeleton.love I get:

Code: Select all

Error: [string "main.lua"]:419: attempt to perform arithmetic on field 'gravity' (a table value)

The problem is that you define hero.gravity twice: as a table and as a number. Attached is a patch which fixes this for me.

[coffee]

Hi all,

I created these games for the Pirate Kart V. All games were made using the same engine that tries to emulate old ZX Spectrum games.

Yes, tries to emulate but failed a bit I'm afraid (and if I'm right). When I saw first screenshot I thought was/could be really a spectrum game, but looking at second I notice you are aren't respecting Spectrum attribute clash (red/black colors of ghost sprite are over the same 8x8 space of dots and that would make a clash with grey or white colors of dots). Sound is more close to 128k mode than 48k.

Advice for engine: Don't "crop" so much Border area.
Advice for games: Do we always have to repeat levels if we die?

Fun nostalgic mini-games! Nice work.

[josefnpat]

Very cool stuff. I love the color palette.

Maze:
I noticed the levels loop once you beat them. Can't there be a win screen of some kind?

Pacnic!!:

Something very wrong is going on with the controls here. Maybe you're treating it as an enemy entity of some kind?

[coffee]

Very cool stuff. I love the color palette.

Well, you haven't really much choice in Spectrum (Timex for you) times.

palette.png

[jfroco]

Hi,

Thank you for all comments.

This is fun. Can you write more about the engine?
The problem is that you define hero.gravity twice: as a table and as a number. Attached is a patch which fixes this for me.

I tried to create an engine that allows me to create a game in two hours using just a properties file like this:

Code: Select all

hero.movement="platform_game"
level = { {id="level1", file="level1"...}

So the engine for the three games and two mores I'm creating should be the same the only difference should be the properties file (game.lua). I said should be because I made some minor tweaks in every game... sorry

Yes, tries to emulate but failed a bit I'm afraid (and if I'm right). When I saw first screenshot I thought was/could be really a spectrum game, but looking at second I notice you are aren't respecting Spectrum attribute clash (red/black colors of ghost sprite are over the same 8x8 space of dots and that would make a clash with grey or wouldwhite colors of dots). Sound is more close to 128k mode than 48k.

Yes, this is super interesting for me. Every time I tried a new language/framework/engine I try to emulate the color/attribute clash. I really love it, and it makes me very nostalgic. But the true is that few people understand and appreciate it, and in the end original zx spectrum programmers would have preferred that the zx spectrum wouldn't have that "limitation/feature".

Any way, I will post a tech demo soon

Pacnic!!:

Something very wrong is going on with the controls here. Maybe you're treating it as an enemy entity of some kind?

The main character will move as long as he finds a wall even if you are not pressing the directional keys. I think that's how Pac-man works, but I can be wrong.

Best regards

JF

[coffee]

BTW I think your ZX engine a very good thing. However when I saw your code I didn't found much separation about the "game" part and the "machine" itself. Maybe you could turn it a library or something.

Yes, this is super interesting for me. Every time I tried a new language/framework/engine I try to emulate the color/attribute clash. I really love it, and it makes me very nostalgic. But the true is that few people understand and appreciate it, and in the end original zx spectrum programmers would have preferred that the zx spectrum wouldn't have that "limitation/feature".

Any way, I will post a tech demo soon

That's nice you have interest in still do this engine. However to "replicate" the color clash would be a bit hard since you would to check all 8x8 grids count colors and tint "faulty" sprites. Nasty thing to do. Unless you go to the roots and write a dedicated video engine. And that also would be hard but not impossible. Some people did it for use with javascript for example.

The interesting about the color/attribute clash is that limitation made several Spectrum games defy machine color limits. And some accomplish that with well designed grid spacing or using overlarge sprites. I remember Exolon, Cybernoid, Zynaps and all bunch of Hewson games. Trap Door, Dan Dare... Spanish software houses also made impressive stuff. Some Spectrum games even looked better than other C64 games.

[jfroco]

Hello coffee,

Yeahh... I love those games. I always visit World of Spectrum for inspiration in those truly classic games.

This is what I did today.. unoptimized but it works as a proof of concept. One sprite moving over a check board with two attributes:

Paper yellow, ink black
Paper red, ink white

I'm using mapPixel to compute the ink color.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4281970/zx82/at ... clash.love

Hope you like it.

Next step is to have another sprite and change attributes when they clash.

Best regards

JF

[coffee]

Hehehe, no one would "badly" use ATTR clash that way. But your proof of concept is really working! Very nice and well done. Yeah, now you must get a way of or inherit colors of sprite bellow or impose the color combination of top sprite over (instead of change to a 3rd combination as you doing). So you need have to think 2 simulation modes. Try then to apply it to you pacman (since other 2 games don't seem have attr problems) if you can easily do it.

You will be "lost" in WOS and you will need years only to discover classics. Also you may want to check new current zx scene (mostly from eastern countries). They made amazing creative stuff as never done in old days like this (although the hardware rules are the same as in old times)
http://zxspectrum48.i-demo.pl/zxgallery.html

Nice reading for you
http://www.exotica.org.uk/mirrors/gfxzo ... le_01.html

Hello coffee,

Yeahh... I love those games. I always visit World of Spectrum for inspiration in those truly classic games.

This is what I did today.. unoptimized but it works as a proof of concept. One sprite moving over a check board with two attributes:

Paper yellow, ink black
Paper red, ink white

I'm using mapPixel to compute the ink color.

http://dl.dropbox.com/u/4281970/zx82/at ... clash.love

Hope you like it.

Next step is to have another sprite and change attributes when they clash.

Best regards

JF

[jfroco]

Hello coffee,

Thank you for your feedback and information.

Yes, I know this is the worst implementation of attribute clash, but it was,as you said, only a proof of concept If I have time today I will try to implement it in a real game (but badly as well)

Regarding classics, yes I know them as I was most of my childhood in front of a ZX Spectrum (actually it was a Timex 2048 but it is almost the same). Actually, I used to collect Sinclair's micros and games but that was ages ago..

Best regards