Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
Hi Rob That is praise indeed coming from the author of the mighty fine Garden Centre of the Universe. I'm chuffed with the response the game has had. Very chuffed indeed. SO chuffed in fact: with motivation at a record high we got carried away and sorted out a website for Black Jet at http://blackjet.co.uk All our games will be available from there in future so stay tuned for more announcements and be sure to bookmark it (no pressure, honest)! Cheers Andrew./ -- From: "the wub" Sent: Wednesday, February 01, 2012 11:12 AM To: Subject: Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders" Sorry to join the discussion a bit late! Dave Invaders is amazing! The graphics and music are fantastic and the playability is spot on! Every go leaves you with that, "next time I'll get a bit further" feeling... I've got to level 4 so far! Great work Andrew! You've really given me something to aim for, particularly in terms of making a game that's fun to play. Can't wait to see what you do next! Rob.
Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
Sorry to join the discussion a bit late! Dave Invaders is amazing! The graphics and music are fantastic and the playability is spot on! Every go leaves you with that, "next time I'll get a bit further" feeling... I've got to level 4 so far! Great work Andrew! You've really given me something to aim for, particularly in terms of making a game that's fun to play. Can't wait to see what you do next! Rob.
Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
Yesss like it even more now. The level swap seems to have helped (although I couldn't get past the Easter level before - I'm that bad), and flashing the collectables in the right order has fixed two problems in one. Good work for 3 days beta testing! I'm getting itchy feet to get stuck in again myself now. Don't panic, I always say this without ever doing anything about it... :) Howard (=Tobermory) On 01-Feb-12 00:36, Andrew Gillen wrote: Hi Thomas I originally intended to release the source, but then assumed no one in their right mind would be interested. I don't have any objections to still doing so, but you'll have to wait for me to get it cleaned up. I will also remove the graphics and music data as I'd rather keep those from the public. Tonight I've also uploaded a new bug fixed version of the game. The game features bonus levels that are accessed by grabbing the keys in a specific order on each level, only on many levels it was not possible to get them in the right order. I've also tweaked the running order very slightly to move the Easter themed level slightly as feedback has suggested this is much trickier than the level directly after (the halloween one). There is also a couple of minor graphical tweaks here and there, and finally to address the problem that the keys are not always obvious I've inserted a nice little flash sequence that runs on level startup. I hope you enjoy the changes, and I look forward to hearing any more feedback you might have. Same place as before: http://www.joua.net Cheers Andrew -- From: "Thomas Harte" Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2012 4:17 PM To: Subject: Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders" I'm also going to out myself as a fan — though it took me about five goes to get to the second screen! As a career non-finisher I also have to agree with Andrew's comments on seeing a project through. My only observation would be that sometimes the collectibles aren't obvious because of the nice, detailed and colourful backgrounds. Is there any way they could periodically do a little sparkle or something? And would attempting to prod you towards an open source release have any effect? On 28 January 2012 11:41, Andrew Collier wrote: On 27 Jan 2012, at 13:49, Andrew Gillen wrote: Hi folks I've finished writing my first game for the SAM. In fact it is pretty much the first game I've ever programmed in assembler (certainly on the SAM anyway) . I've tinkered with various high level languages over the years but have nothing to show for it. Nice work! I particularly like the graphics. The Sam's 16 colours can be a bit limiting and a lot of games have very sparse backgrounds because of that, so it's great to see yours with lots of detail and different themes. Most especially though, congratulations for taking a project and seeing it through until its released. I know from experience how difficult this can be. Andrew
Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
Hi Thomas I originally intended to release the source, but then assumed no one in their right mind would be interested. I don't have any objections to still doing so, but you'll have to wait for me to get it cleaned up. I will also remove the graphics and music data as I'd rather keep those from the public. Tonight I've also uploaded a new bug fixed version of the game. The game features bonus levels that are accessed by grabbing the keys in a specific order on each level, only on many levels it was not possible to get them in the right order. I've also tweaked the running order very slightly to move the Easter themed level slightly as feedback has suggested this is much trickier than the level directly after (the halloween one). There is also a couple of minor graphical tweaks here and there, and finally to address the problem that the keys are not always obvious I've inserted a nice little flash sequence that runs on level startup. I hope you enjoy the changes, and I look forward to hearing any more feedback you might have. Same place as before: http://www.joua.net Cheers Andrew -- From: "Thomas Harte" Sent: Saturday, January 28, 2012 4:17 PM To: Subject: Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders" I'm also going to out myself as a fan — though it took me about five goes to get to the second screen! As a career non-finisher I also have to agree with Andrew's comments on seeing a project through. My only observation would be that sometimes the collectibles aren't obvious because of the nice, detailed and colourful backgrounds. Is there any way they could periodically do a little sparkle or something? And would attempting to prod you towards an open source release have any effect? On 28 January 2012 11:41, Andrew Collier wrote: On 27 Jan 2012, at 13:49, Andrew Gillen wrote: Hi folks I've finished writing my first game for the SAM. In fact it is pretty much the first game I've ever programmed in assembler (certainly on the SAM anyway) . I've tinkered with various high level languages over the years but have nothing to show for it. Nice work! I particularly like the graphics. The Sam's 16 colours can be a bit limiting and a lot of games have very sparse backgrounds because of that, so it's great to see yours with lots of detail and different themes. Most especially though, congratulations for taking a project and seeing it through until its released. I know from experience how difficult this can be. Andrew
Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
Hi LCD I'd love to contribute but I fear I don't have the required expertise. I'm going to stick to releasing games while I grow my knowledge. I wish you luck with the endeavour though: it could open up the SAM to new development and that can only be a good thing. Cheers Andrew -- From: "Leszek Chmielewski" Sent: Monday, January 30, 2012 2:11 PM To: Subject: Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders" I wanted to note that Boriel want to expand his ZX BASIC Cross-Compiler to support SAM Coupé in future too: http://www.boriel.com/wiki/en/index.php/Other_architectures But he will surely need help to finish it. His ZX BASIC is already great for coding games on Spectrum because he expanded the Spectrum syntax a lot and allow to use InLine Assembly, and I miss a good BASIC Compiler for SAM Coupé, with support of Strings and similar stuff. This would surely allow more people to write new Software for this machine. Anyone of assembly wizards willing to help him in this task? LCD Am 29.01.2012 19:45, schrieb Chris Pile: I'm not really sure exactly where the age divide falls on this issue and I'm willing to bet none of us is classically young, but yeah! I can categorically state that I fall into "Old Git" territory! I keep meaning to do some Sam work again, but getting started always feels like a huge effort... Me too. Finding both the time and, more importantly, the enthusiasm to do anything on the SAM is pretty much impossible. Which is why it's refreshing to see new games and new developers such as Andrew and Rob still willing to put the effort in. Starting and (crucially) finishing any project on the SAM can be nothing more than a labour of love these days. Chris...
Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
I wanted to note that Boriel want to expand his ZX BASIC Cross-Compiler to support SAM Coupé in future too: http://www.boriel.com/wiki/en/index.php/Other_architectures But he will surely need help to finish it. His ZX BASIC is already great for coding games on Spectrum because he expanded the Spectrum syntax a lot and allow to use InLine Assembly, and I miss a good BASIC Compiler for SAM Coupé, with support of Strings and similar stuff. This would surely allow more people to write new Software for this machine. Anyone of assembly wizards willing to help him in this task? LCD Am 29.01.2012 19:45, schrieb Chris Pile: I'm not really sure exactly where the age divide falls on this issue and I'm willing to bet none of us is classically young, but yeah! I can categorically state that I fall into "Old Git" territory! I keep meaning to do some Sam work again, but getting started always feels like a huge effort... Me too. Finding both the time and, more importantly, the enthusiasm to do anything on the SAM is pretty much impossible. Which is why it's refreshing to see new games and new developers such as Andrew and Rob still willing to put the effort in. Starting and (crucially) finishing any project on the SAM can be nothing more than a labour of love these days. Chris...
RE: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
I think im probably picking up my pension then ;) I have got several things I need to sort out on the Sam. Maybe ill play around with it a bit more soon Adrian -Original Message- From: owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no [mailto:owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no] On Behalf Of Chris Pile Sent: 29 January 2012 18:46 To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Subject: Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders" > I'm not really sure exactly where the age divide falls on this issue > and I'm willing to bet none of us is classically young, but yeah! I can categorically state that I fall into "Old Git" territory! > I keep meaning to do some Sam work again, but getting started always > feels like a huge effort... Me too. Finding both the time and, more importantly, the enthusiasm to do anything on the SAM is pretty much impossible. Which is why it's refreshing to see new games and new developers such as Andrew and Rob still willing to put the effort in. Starting and (crucially) finishing any project on the SAM can be nothing more than a labour of love these days. Chris...
Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
I'm not really sure exactly where the age divide falls on this issue and I'm willing to bet none of us is classically young, but yeah! I can categorically state that I fall into "Old Git" territory! I keep meaning to do some Sam work again, but getting started always feels like a huge effort... Me too. Finding both the time and, more importantly, the enthusiasm to do anything on the SAM is pretty much impossible. Which is why it's refreshing to see new games and new developers such as Andrew and Rob still willing to put the effort in. Starting and (crucially) finishing any project on the SAM can be nothing more than a labour of love these days. Chris...
Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
I'm not really sure exactly where the age divide falls on this issue and I'm willing to bet none of us is classically young, but yeah! Let's either show them or allow ourselves to be shown, as applicable. I keep meaning to do some Sam work again, but getting started always feels like a huge effort — what tool chain did you use for Dave Invaders? On 29 January 2012 10:52, Andrew Gillen wrote: > Yep and show us youngsters how it is REALLY done :) > > > -- > From: "Chris Pile" > Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2012 10:48 AM > > To: > Subject: Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders" > >>> Have to send a "me too" post - really impressed. Love the graphics. >>> That's two good new SAM games in the last year (Rob's Garden Centre >>> Of The Universe game being the other one) - what's going on?! >> >> >> I agree 100%! It's quite worrying... But inspiring all the same. Maybe >> it's time for us >> "old dogs" to dust off our assemblers and get coding!! :-) >> >> Chris... > >
Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
Yep and show us youngsters how it is REALLY done :) -- From: "Chris Pile" Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2012 10:48 AM To: Subject: Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders" Have to send a "me too" post - really impressed. Love the graphics. That's two good new SAM games in the last year (Rob's Garden Centre Of The Universe game being the other one) - what's going on?! I agree 100%! It's quite worrying... But inspiring all the same. Maybe it's time for us "old dogs" to dust off our assemblers and get coding!! :-) Chris...
Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
Have to send a "me too" post - really impressed. Love the graphics. That's two good new SAM games in the last year (Rob's Garden Centre Of The Universe game being the other one) - what's going on?! I agree 100%! It's quite worrying... But inspiring all the same. Maybe it's time for us "old dogs" to dust off our assemblers and get coding!! :-) Chris...
Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
Have to send a "me too" post - really impressed. Love the graphics. That's two good new SAM games in the last year (Rob's Garden Centre Of The Universe game being the other one) - what's going on?! -- Gavin Twitter: @gvnsmth, @libapp On Jan 28, 2012, at 7:38 PM, James R Curry wrote: > Very nice -- very Manic Miner, though visually quite different. > > I like the backgrounds a lot, and in fact, the only graphical complaint I > have is that the things you're meant to collect can get a little lost against > it. (Perhaps if they blinked or changed colour or something). > > Otherwise, I can't fault it. Good work! > > On Fri, Jan 27, 2012 at 7:49 AM, Andrew Gillen wrote: > Hi folks > > I've finished writing my first game for the SAM. In fact it is pretty much > the first game I've ever programmed in assembler (certainly on the SAM > anyway) . I've tinkered with various high level languages over the years but > have nothing to show for it. > > You can grab it from this rather minimalist website: > > http://www.joua.net/ > > You need a 512KB SAM for it (although when playing it you'd be forgiven for > asking why..). > > Just a run of the mill single screen platfomer, really, but I appreciate any > feed back. I've learned a heck of a lot of the year programming it and should > be taking the experience gained to improve my skills (what skills?!) when > tackling new projects which will be forthcoming! > > If you find the frame rate somewhat lacking on some levels then you can turn > off the music (e-tracker mods) to gain some processing time. Or just turn it > off anyway of course if you don't like it! > > Anyway, enjoy. > > Cheers > Andrew. > > > > -- > James R Curry > 8...@itdoesntsuck.com
Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
Great job with your game, especially as a first in Z80! As well as Manic Miner I got a hint of Jasper from it for some reason. I'm also a fan of the sideways screen wipe, which feels very arcade retro. I didn't notice any issues with the collision detection, though I did struggle to spot the items at times. Looking forwards to what you have in store for future projects :) Si On 27/01/2012 13:49, Andrew Gillen wrote: > Hi folks > > I've finished writing my first game for the SAM. In fact it is pretty > much the first game I've ever programmed in assembler (certainly on the > SAM anyway) . I've tinkered with various high level languages over the > years but have nothing to show for it. > > You can grab it from this rather minimalist website: > > http://www.joua.net/ > > You need a 512KB SAM for it (although when playing it you'd be forgiven > for asking why..). > > Just a run of the mill single screen platfomer, really, but I appreciate > any feed back. I've learned a heck of a lot of the year programming it > and should be taking the experience gained to improve my skills (what > skills?!) when tackling new projects which will be forthcoming! > > If you find the frame rate somewhat lacking on some levels then you can > turn off the music (e-tracker mods) to gain some processing time. Or > just turn it off anyway of course if you don't like it! > > Anyway, enjoy. > > Cheers > Andrew.
Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
Very nice -- very Manic Miner, though visually quite different. I like the backgrounds a lot, and in fact, the only graphical complaint I have is that the things you're meant to collect can get a little lost against it. (Perhaps if they blinked or changed colour or something). Otherwise, I can't fault it. Good work! On Fri, Jan 27, 2012 at 7:49 AM, Andrew Gillen wrote: > ** > Hi folks > > I've finished writing my first game for the SAM. In fact it is pretty much > the first game I've ever programmed in assembler (certainly on the SAM > anyway) . I've tinkered with various high level languages over the years > but have nothing to show for it. > > You can grab it from this rather minimalist website: > > http://www.joua.net/ > > You need a 512KB SAM for it (although when playing it you'd be forgiven > for asking why..). > > Just a run of the mill single screen platfomer, really, but I appreciate > any feed back. I've learned a heck of a lot of the year programming it and > should be taking the experience gained to improve my skills (what skills?!) > when tackling new projects which will be forthcoming! > > If you find the frame rate somewhat lacking on some levels then you can > turn off the music (e-tracker mods) to gain some processing time. Or just > turn it off anyway of course if you don't like it! > > Anyway, enjoy. > > Cheers > Andrew. > -- James R Curry 8...@itdoesntsuck.com
Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
I'm also going to out myself as a fan — though it took me about five goes to get to the second screen! As a career non-finisher I also have to agree with Andrew's comments on seeing a project through. My only observation would be that sometimes the collectibles aren't obvious because of the nice, detailed and colourful backgrounds. Is there any way they could periodically do a little sparkle or something? And would attempting to prod you towards an open source release have any effect? On 28 January 2012 11:41, Andrew Collier wrote: > On 27 Jan 2012, at 13:49, Andrew Gillen wrote: > >> Hi folks >> >> I've finished writing my first game for the SAM. In fact it is pretty much >> the first game I've ever programmed in assembler (certainly on the SAM >> anyway) . I've tinkered with various high level languages over the years but >> have nothing to show for it. > > Nice work! I particularly like the graphics. The Sam's 16 colours can be a > bit limiting and a lot of games have very sparse backgrounds because of that, > so it's great to see yours with lots of detail and different themes. > > Most especially though, congratulations for taking a project and seeing it > through until its released. I know from experience how difficult this can be. > > Andrew
Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
On 27 Jan 2012, at 13:49, Andrew Gillen wrote: > Hi folks > > I've finished writing my first game for the SAM. In fact it is pretty much > the first game I've ever programmed in assembler (certainly on the SAM > anyway) . I've tinkered with various high level languages over the years but > have nothing to show for it. Nice work! I particularly like the graphics. The Sam's 16 colours can be a bit limiting and a lot of games have very sparse backgrounds because of that, so it's great to see yours with lots of detail and different themes. Most especially though, congratulations for taking a project and seeing it through until its released. I know from experience how difficult this can be. Andrew
Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
Hi Chris Great to have your feedback. You're right the collision detection isn't quite there. I don't think it helps that the sprites are pretty irregular in their dimensions, I've tried to make allowances for this in the code, but it doesn't quite work as well as I'd like, but you live and learn. There is also some weird program flow design choices I made to make things a little smoother, and I think they make the detection look a bit off sometimes. The player thinks they've made it past an enemy sprite only to be penalized for it a frame or two later. This is a throwback to some old code I had in there which eventually got removed, but I didn't tidy the rest of it up so some of it remains. I'm probably not making any sense now, I know I'm rambling on so I'll just stop here. Anyway I'm grinning from ear to ear with the positive reaction the game has had. cheers Andrew -- From: "Chris Pile" Sent: Friday, January 27, 2012 2:55 PM To: Subject: Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders" Hi Andrew, You know what - that is very nice!!! I'm not usually a fan of platformers - but you've created a little beauty there! Love the graphics. Love the arcade-type touches in there too - especially the side-swipe CLS. That little touch alone is very retro! It's something you used to see all the time back in the early days of the '80s arcades. I love things like that! I even like the music! The little ditty used on the cut-scene is great - again, it gives it a very retro feel. If that's your first game in assembler then I'm looking forward to your second!! If I had one criticism it would be that the collision detection is a bit off at times. But accurate collision detection can be a PITA to be honest. That's perhaps a task to address in your next game? For now - I love it, even though it's bloody hard!! But then I'm generally pretty useless when it comes to playing games! :-) Regards, Chris.
Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
I'm going to have to download Simcoupe to try this out ... i've always had a soft spot for platformers :) Quoting Andrew Gillen : Hi folks I've finished writing my first game for the SAM.
Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
Hi Andrew, You know what - that is very nice!!! I'm not usually a fan of platformers - but you've created a little beauty there! Love the graphics. Love the arcade-type touches in there too - especially the side-swipe CLS. That little touch alone is very retro! It's something you used to see all the time back in the early days of the '80s arcades. I love things like that! I even like the music! The little ditty used on the cut-scene is great - again, it gives it a very retro feel. If that's your first game in assembler then I'm looking forward to your second!! If I had one criticism it would be that the collision detection is a bit off at times. But accurate collision detection can be a PITA to be honest. That's perhaps a task to address in your next game? For now - I love it, even though it's bloody hard!! But then I'm generally pretty useless when it comes to playing games! :-) Regards, Chris.
Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
HI Warren, Glad you like it. There are 15 screens of the main game, but there might be more to see if you get lucky... :) I should of course mention when I say "my" first game, I didn't work wholly alone as I had great assistance from a good friend of mine on the graphics and music - Mr Jaco Van Der Walt. Cheers Andrew -- From: Sent: Friday, January 27, 2012 2:49 PM To: Subject: Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders" It's great to see any new SAM game! Well done! And congrats for programming it in assembler. Wish I could do that, as it would give me much more elbow room for a couple of my own projects. (It's GamesMaster's fault, honest!!) It's certainly good old fashioned platformer fun. How many levels/screens are there? Warren Quoting Andrew Gillen : Hi folks I've finished writing my first game for the SAM. In fact it is pretty much the first game I've ever programmed in assembler (certainly on the SAM anyway) . I've tinkered with various high level languages over the years but have nothing to show for it. You can grab it from this rather minimalist website: http://www.joua.net/ You need a 512KB SAM for it (although when playing it you'd be forgiven for asking why..). Just a run of the mill single screen platfomer, really, but I appreciate any feed back. I've learned a heck of a lot of the year programming it and should be taking the experience gained to improve my skills (what skills?!) when tackling new projects which will be forthcoming! If you find the frame rate somewhat lacking on some levels then you can turn off the music (e-tracker mods) to gain some processing time. Or just turn it off anyway of course if you don't like it! Anyway, enjoy. Cheers Andrew.
Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
Oh well done!!! I didn't think I'd ever read another message like this, Sam's a great platform to hone your skills. *waiting impatiently for work to finish so I can try it* Howard Sent from my BlackBerry® smartphone on O2 -Original Message- From: "Andrew Gillen" Sender: owner-sam-us...@nvg.ntnu.no Date: Fri, 27 Jan 2012 13:49:30 To: Reply-To: sam-users@nvg.ntnu.no Subject: New Game - "Dave Invaders" Hi folks I've finished writing my first game for the SAM. In fact it is pretty much the first game I've ever programmed in assembler (certainly on the SAM anyway) . I've tinkered with various high level languages over the years but have nothing to show for it. You can grab it from this rather minimalist website: http://www.joua.net/ You need a 512KB SAM for it (although when playing it you'd be forgiven for asking why..). Just a run of the mill single screen platfomer, really, but I appreciate any feed back. I've learned a heck of a lot of the year programming it and should be taking the experience gained to improve my skills (what skills?!) when tackling new projects which will be forthcoming! If you find the frame rate somewhat lacking on some levels then you can turn off the music (e-tracker mods) to gain some processing time. Or just turn it off anyway of course if you don't like it! Anyway, enjoy. Cheers Andrew.
Re: New Game - "Dave Invaders"
It's great to see any new SAM game! Well done! And congrats for programming it in assembler. Wish I could do that, as it would give me much more elbow room for a couple of my own projects. (It's GamesMaster's fault, honest!!) It's certainly good old fashioned platformer fun. How many levels/screens are there? Warren Quoting Andrew Gillen : Hi folks I've finished writing my first game for the SAM. In fact it is pretty much the first game I've ever programmed in assembler (certainly on the SAM anyway) . I've tinkered with various high level languages over the years but have nothing to show for it. You can grab it from this rather minimalist website: http://www.joua.net/ You need a 512KB SAM for it (although when playing it you'd be forgiven for asking why..). Just a run of the mill single screen platfomer, really, but I appreciate any feed back. I've learned a heck of a lot of the year programming it and should be taking the experience gained to improve my skills (what skills?!) when tackling new projects which will be forthcoming! If you find the frame rate somewhat lacking on some levels then you can turn off the music (e-tracker mods) to gain some processing time. Or just turn it off anyway of course if you don't like it! Anyway, enjoy. Cheers Andrew.
New Game - "Dave Invaders"
Hi folks I've finished writing my first game for the SAM. In fact it is pretty much the first game I've ever programmed in assembler (certainly on the SAM anyway) . I've tinkered with various high level languages over the years but have nothing to show for it. You can grab it from this rather minimalist website: http://www.joua.net/ You need a 512KB SAM for it (although when playing it you'd be forgiven for asking why..). Just a run of the mill single screen platfomer, really, but I appreciate any feed back. I've learned a heck of a lot of the year programming it and should be taking the experience gained to improve my skills (what skills?!) when tackling new projects which will be forthcoming! If you find the frame rate somewhat lacking on some levels then you can turn off the music (e-tracker mods) to gain some processing time. Or just turn it off anyway of course if you don't like it! Anyway, enjoy. Cheers Andrew.
