Bennu Game Development

English Forums => Projects => Topic started by: JaViS on January 26, 2015, 02:09:30 PM

Title: Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: JaViS on January 26, 2015, 02:09:30 PM
Another Global Game Jam and we've used BennuGD again for making our game.


The game is about a magician who liberated an horrendous monster by mistake and tries to defeat him, but first he will need to chase him riding his dragon.


(http://i.gjcdn.net/imgserver/game-thumbnail/588/46254_4uxpmjtt.jpg)


More info and download available on the next link! (Source Code also available!! =))


http://gamejolt.com/games/arcade/super-magic-monster-chaser/46254/



Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: blabla on May 28, 2015, 09:47:32 AM
Gee, how i missed this ?

For those who didn't played the game :
It's a mostly flappy bird-like game where you have to catch a yeti.
So when you chase the monster, it plays like flappy bird :
You press Space to Fly and avoid random obstacles.
There's one problem though that's not in flappy bird :
Since your character will not be at the center when flying fullspeed
but slightly on the right of the screen, you need to react crazy fast
to avoid the obstacles and most of time it's chance.
Probably the worst part though is the fight with the yeti :
After you catch him, you're supposed to fight him by pressing
one of the buttons.
The game shows me a SNES pad and it's telling me to press the Y (ALT or CTRL ?) button.
I tried twice using CTRL and ALT and that didn't worked.
The third time, i tried by spamming the buttons and i was able to defeat it.
The music could be more fitting and the very few sound effects are so low
you probably won't be able to hear them.
On a positive note :
the drawings are great and the dragon's animation is ok though the background is repetitive.

In conclusion, you can clearly see it's a game made for some game jam
and it's just not very fun.
It's very short with little to no replayability.

I was actually considering porting this game to Android/OUYA/Dreamcast
but even by fixing the few flaws, that game just doesn't have much interest.

Also, i can see you rated the game with the descriptors : "Brief Nudity".
Is this because of the yeti, a joke or maybe i missed something ?
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: FreeYourMind on May 28, 2015, 10:07:49 AM
do you want a open hand heald port ?
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: blabla on May 28, 2015, 10:11:42 AM
Quote from: FreeYourMind on May 28, 2015, 10:07:49 AM
do you want a open hand heald port ?
Who you're asking, me or Javis ?
I don't think it's worth the trouble, unless you want to improve it a bit.
EDIT : Plus it's probably going to be too slow as it seems this game uses a high resolution.
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: FreeYourMind on May 28, 2015, 10:21:41 AM
I'm asking the autor  :P

Depends, on GCW Zero the game comes at original speed, because is the powerfull handheld running bennu on the market, superior to Pandora
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: blabla on May 28, 2015, 10:26:46 AM
Quote from: FreeYourMind on May 28, 2015, 10:21:41 AM
Depends, on GCW Zero the game comes at original speed, because is the powerfull handheld running bennu on the market, superior to Pandora
CPU wise, the GCW Zero is on par with the Pandora.
It's just that there's less overhead on GCW Zero thanks to Dingux while Pandora is using a full-blown OS.
Because BennuGD fully depends on the CPU, it's a tad faster on GCW Zero.
For 3D however, the PowerVR found inside the Pandora is much superior to the Vivante. (GCW0)
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: JaViS on May 28, 2015, 10:30:40 AM
Thanks for playing the game guys!

You can modify or port the game as you wish! It's an open source protect that I think is more interesting by its code than by the game itself.

Regarding the nudity flag, yup, it's because of the yeti, I thought it might be appropriate :P
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: FreeYourMind on May 28, 2015, 10:33:55 AM
Bennu engine on GCW Zero run 100% full speed, I made 10 ports and all of them runs 100% fullspeed, note pandora have more resolution options, some of them can slow a little bit, so at 320x240 on GCW Zero this don't happen you get always full speed, becase you are limited in resolution and don't have touchscreen or other features by example.
also if you change resolution from bigger to 320x240 you also will get high speed
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: blabla on May 28, 2015, 10:40:33 AM
QuoteBennu engine on GCW Zero run 100% full speed, I made 10 ports and all of them runs 100% fullspeed, note pandora have more resolution options, some of them can slow a little bit, so at 320x240 on GCW Zero this don't happen you get always full speed, becase you are limited in resolution and don't have touchscreen or other features by example.
also if you change resolution from bigger to 320x240 you also will get high speed
Well, i can't deny it's running pretty well on GCW Zero.
I forgot the OpenPandora's resolution was much higher (800x480) then the GCW Zero. (320x240)
Seems like downscaling to a low resolution is faster than downscaling to a slightly lower resolution, interesting.
EDIT: Might be a good idea to port this game to OpenPandora and GCW Zero,
just to see what's the best console of all time.
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: FreeYourMind on May 28, 2015, 10:43:35 AM
yes, if you have the console you can try dead eye, this is from a superior resolution to a smaller and runs 100% fullspeed even with the screen full of shoots, enemies and missiles. Finally we can see bennu running on a portable console without any kind of speed problems
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: FreeYourMind on May 28, 2015, 10:45:57 AM
no need to know it, open pandora is better so far, due the others features, for me caanoo is the best portable console, but needs a led screen and better processor to be the best portable and small console ever made
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: blabla on May 28, 2015, 10:51:35 AM
Quoteyes, if you have the console you can try dead eye, this is from a superior resolution to a smaller and runs 100% fullspeed even with the screen full of shoots, enemies and missiles. Finally we can see bennu running on a portable console without any kind of speed problems
Sorry, i wanted to get one but the GCW Zero is out of stock everywhere, it's crazy.

Quoteno need to know it, open pandora is better so far, due the others features, for me caanoo is the best portable console, but needs a led screen and better processor to be the best portable and small console ever made
Caanoo is dead unfortunely, it's pretty rare now and the OpenPandora is expensive and cost a house.
Also, BennuGD is quite heavy on cpu resources : i find this very worrying the fact that BennuGD requires a good cpu and it doesn't help it's all interpreted.

Anyways, i want to see this game running GCW Zero so now, i'm all for the port.
I think i'll port this game to the PS2/Sega Dreamcast, it might be a good benchmark.
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: JaViS on May 28, 2015, 12:16:25 PM
My original idea was to increase the dificult each time you reached the boss, and to add more possible boss / counter actions, too bad the time wasn't enough :P
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: blabla on May 28, 2015, 01:57:30 PM
Quote from: JaViS on May 28, 2015, 12:16:25 PM
My original idea was to increase the dificult each time you reached the boss, and to add more possible boss / counter actions, too bad the time wasn't enough :P
Even with more fights, if the fights are not interesting themselves then it's just not worth.
I don't like the counter system too, it's just not intuitive and not fun.
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: JaViS on May 28, 2015, 02:04:31 PM
We made it that way because it was originally planned to be played with a XBOX controller we had in the Jam :P
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: JaViS on May 29, 2015, 03:13:43 PM
BTW, if you are looking for something to port, you may want to take a look at the other games we made with Bennu for Game Jams: http://gamejolt.com/profile/pixelatom/17565/
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: Outlaw on May 30, 2015, 04:10:29 PM
Hi JaVIS! The game looks great, I love the graphics style (it reminds me of Yoshi's Island). Just one thing I've noticed. There's a string used for the mage that has a grammar error:

"We are going to loose" --> Loose is wrong , it's used when something is unfasten, like a rope, etc., (in Spanish "suelto"). The correct term is "lose", i.e. I've lost my keys and can't find them (in Spanish, "perder").

Cheers!
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: JaViS on May 30, 2015, 04:12:25 PM
Haha thanks for letting me know
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: Outlaw on May 30, 2015, 04:14:32 PM
Hey, don't worrry. If you ever need a LQA tester, just let me know! ;)

Cheers!
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: blabla on May 31, 2015, 03:27:47 AM
Quote from: JaViS on May 29, 2015, 03:13:43 PM
BTW, if you are looking for something to port, you may want to take a look at the other games we made with Bennu for Game Jams: http://gamejolt.com/profile/pixelatom/17565/
Thanks javis ! It seems like i forgot one game, i'm already working on a port though...

One more question, what's your next project(s) ?
If i remember well, you currently have two projects, Ball Fighters and another one without a name,
how much progress you have made on your games ?
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: JaViS on June 01, 2015, 01:41:06 AM

Thank you for asking!




I'm afraid that those projects, Ball Fighters and another one without a name, won't be continued. The reason is mainly because one of the 3 members who are Pixelatom left the team, and the one who left was very involved in those projects.
He could continue with Balls Fighters, since it was mostly his own project, but I don't know if he is actually planning to do any more work on that. If you are interested in it you should go and leave a comment in the project page at Indie DB or GameJolt.


There wasn't much advance on the other project either, there was only one character and a tileset made. I might release or publish the tileset in the future, since it was my work, and I don't want it to be wasted.


What I'm working on right now is another game that has been in development the last 2 years. I know it's too much, but we were going pretty slow and just this year we started to dedicate more time on it (after Pixelatom was dissolved).


The game is a local multiplayer VS shooter, from 2 to 4 players, maybe the best way to describe it is "a cross between Unreal Tournament and Super Crate Box".


We have the gameplay done, and we are working now on the graphics and game content. The departure of the team member forced us to redesign the characters graphics.


The game features multiple weapons, select-able character skins, random arenas (so you never play the same stage twice), power ups, etc.


Technically speaking, we feature automatic zoom, a very cool random stage algorithm, a pretty intelligent way to skin these random stages doing some math calculation to choose the right tile to use on every space, a very nice plat-former engine with characters that can run, do double jumps, grab on the edges of the walls, etc.




The last 2 games we made in the game jams are actually using much code we made for the game we are doing now. We are sharing much of that code as open-source because we got to make a sort of framework for solving many common issues:


* Hardness map physics for platformers
* A common layer for user input (joystickkeyboardmouse..)
* Animations
* Motion Tween animations
* Tilemap render












                           
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: blabla on June 01, 2015, 02:30:06 AM
Quote from: JaViS on June 01, 2015, 01:41:06 AM
I'm afraid that those projects, Ball Fighters and another one without a name, won't be continued. The reason is mainly because one of the 3 members who are Pixelatom left the team, and the one who left was very involved in those projects.
He could continue with Balls Fighters, since it was mostly his own project, but I don't know if he is actually planning to do any more work on that. If you are interested in it you should go and leave a comment in the project page at Indie DB or GameJolt.       
I didn't know PixelAtom was dissolved !
Well, it's seems we will never see these projects completed.
I will ask him at IndieDB but i'm afraid he's not going to give me a positive answer...
It would be very nice though to have the assets and the source code for the games, especially Ball Fighters !

Quote
The game is a local multiplayer VS shooter, from 2 to 4 players, maybe the best way to describe it is "a cross between Unreal Tournament and Super Crate Box".
We have the gameplay done, and we are working now on the graphics and game content. The departure of the team member forced us to redesign the characters graphics.
The game features multiple weapons, select-able character skins, random arenas (so you never play the same stage twice), power ups, etc.
Technically speaking, we feature automatic zoom, a very cool random stage algorithm, a pretty intelligent way to skin these random stages doing some math calculation to choose the right tile to use on every space, a very nice plat-former engine with characters that can run, do double jumps, grab on the edges of the walls, etc.
The last 2 games we made in the game jams are actually using much code we made for the game we are doing now. We are sharing much of that code as open-source because we got to make a sort of framework for solving many common issues:
* Hardness map physics for platformers
* A common layer for user input (joystickkeyboardmouse..)
* Animations
* Motion Tween animations
* Tilemap render
Super Crate Box and Unreal Tournament combined ? Mmm, that already sounds too awesome !
i'm glad you cancelled the 2 other projects :d

Also, thank you for even planning on releasing the sources, i'm sure aliasbody would love to hear this !
Many Indie developers don't even understand you can release a GPL-game on Steam for a fee.
All the gamers want is to have the game inside Steam.
In fact, if your too-awesome-game ever gets released, you should put the data and the code under the GPL and sell it on steam,
just to see what happen.
According to proprietary developers, you should lose money but my game Rubby bird was open sourced (available on my website)
and i'm still making lots of money despite being GPL'd.

Anyways, back on topic and one last question.
To me, it's seems like you designed the game for OUYA, am i right ?
Local multiplayer games only exist on OUYA :d

Thanks for your answers !
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: JaViS on June 01, 2015, 11:05:06 AM
Doing it GPL is a very interesting idea! But it's something to discuss with the other member.

We are preparing a proper release of our library though. It'll have examples and documentation, etc

We are now focused on having something to show, and then maybe a beta or an early access release, we have to think what is the best

And yes, it was initially planned to be released on OUYA, but after discovering some issues Benny has with multiple joysticks in Android I believe it won't be possible. :(
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: blabla on June 01, 2015, 04:58:51 PM
QuoteAnd yes, it was initially planned to be released on OUYA, but after discovering some issues Benny has with multiple joysticks in Android I believe it won't be possible. :(
Ha yes, i remember the thread you're talking about. http://forum.bennugd.org/index.php?topic=4023.0 (http://forum.bennugd.org/index.php?topic=4023.0)
Josebita's BennuGD fork partially switched to SDL2 and SDL2 introduced not only hardware scaling
but a new api called GameControllers as well which should solve the issues you have with the controllers on OUYA.
Josebita's BennuGD fork is still not using the new GameControllers API but the old joystick API. (which is still available and not deprecated yet)

Good luck with your game !
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: JaViS on June 01, 2015, 05:07:38 PM
Quote from: blabla on June 01, 2015, 04:58:51 PM
QuoteAnd yes, it was initially planned to be released on OUYA, but after discovering some issues Benny has with multiple joysticks in Android I believe it won't be possible. :(
Ha yes, i remember the thread you're talking about. http://forum.bennugd.org/index.php?topic=4023.0 (http://forum.bennugd.org/index.php?topic=4023.0)
Josebita's BennuGD fork partially switched to SDL2 and SDL2 introduced not only hardware scaling
but a new api called GameControllers as well which should solve the issues you have with the controllers on OUYA.
Josebita's BennuGD fork is still not using the new GameControllers API but the old joystick API. (which is still available and not deprecated yet)

Good luck with your game !


I'm aware of Josebita's fork, but sadly our game is not compatible with it. Another thing which I think is a pity is to lose the capability of using 8 bits graphics. Pixelart can really use palette support on Bennu.


Thanks pal!
Title: Re:Super Magic Monster Chaser - Global Game Jam 2015
Post by: blabla on June 01, 2015, 05:15:33 PM
Seems like you're stuck with the OUYA version. Alright then.
I'll just let you finish the game and then we'll see what we can do for the OUYA version after the game is released.
Cheers