Monkey X Jam September/October 2015

Monkey Forums/Monkey Programming/Monkey X Jam September/October 2015

Duke87(Posted 2015) [#1]
Hey Monkeys,
I'd like to collect some ideas for next Monkey Jam :).
When there're enough people joining this, I'll edit this post.

First we need to organise some things to get the '???' filled.

Quote from last Jam:
Welcome to the Second Monkey X Jam
Sponsored by
XXX

First of all let me introduce you to Monkey-X.com, Monkey is a flexible affordable and powerful development tool for making games and app's, which can then be deployed on a lot of platforms. some of the main targets include Html5, Flash, Windows, Linux, Android and apple but there are many others, Monkey has already been used to make commercial games which can be found on Apple and Android as well as Steam.

This Monkey X Jam Event is open to everyone, the Event will take place over xxx weeks at the end of which all entries will be accepted and judged, good luck all.

MonkeyJam
Theme Options
Themes ???
Start Date : ???
End Date : ???
Judged/Announced : ???

Scroll to the bottom for the Free version.
Download Monkey [ http://www.monkey-x.com/Store/_index_.php ]

Rules
1. All entries must be original works created for this event using the HTML5 target.
2. All entries must be based on the provided theme.
#####
3. All entries must be Zipped and e-mailed to the Judges.
3.1 Entries should also be submitted to the Monkey-X app's section and the source posted in the apps subsequent forum post. or uploaded some where and linked into the forums if upload access is not available to free users..
3.2 Zip files must be under 20 meg for the site, and as small as possible for the e-mail, if issues arise via e-mail due to size then please upload the zip and e-mail the judges a link.
####
4. All entries must be PG rated and not use any copyrighted asset's, art, sound or music.
5. Use of Third Party Modules is permitted and encouraged but not required.
5.1 All Modules / source used must be Free so that judges can compile/run

Prizes
???

Judges
???

[Quote end]

Any ideas?


Poll results:
Opensource YES (1) ; NO ()
Theme:


Playniax(Posted 2015) [#2]
I can offer Ignition X, Pyro and Defenstar as prizes. I am skipping on the judging...


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#3]
Oooh cool. Here's my input :

Themes : NES game (anything goes as long as its in NES style) (256 x 240 res), 64 color pallete
Start Date : September 18th
End Date : October 2nd
Prizes :
1st : Monkey-X Studio
2nd: $50 Amazon voucher
3rd: $25 Amazon voucher

Reason for my dates is because i'll be out of the country on vacation with my wife until Sept 15th...but thats just me.

About the use of "3rd party modules", what if we're using Pyro or something?


Playniax(Posted 2015) [#4]
That conflicts with rule 5.1 but I can deliver a version to the judges if that would help.


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#5]
I'd like to see a choice of ignitionX or pyro as a prize


Duke87(Posted 2015) [#6]
Idea for judging:
Maybe we could judge as a community. everyone of this Forum can give 3,2,1 Points. (participants (is this a word?) must not judge their own game, but can give points to other games). - Problem then: Who will decide the Theme? Maybe we could collect some Themes and then Vote for them?

What do you think of extending the Competition Time from 1 week to like 2 or 3 ?

My 2 Cents :)


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#7]
I like the NES theme suggestion! Having just finished #gbjam. Cool way to feature mojo2's draw to image capability.

Or something that puts a limit/constraint on gameplay/graphics, but still allows for creativity and a wide variety of games.

x Only one or two button gameplay
x Arrow keys & one button gameplay (Atari style)
x Gravity based gameplay
x Bouncing
x Running low on time
x Eating/consuming

As for length, 7-10 days, please. I like the shorter time which adds (fun) pressure and focus, and doesn't blur into everything else work/life wise.


Playniax(Posted 2015) [#8]
Maybe we could judge as a community


That is most fair I guess.


Duke87(Posted 2015) [#9]
+1 for 2 Button gameplay


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#10]
I'm still liking the NES theme. It would keep the aesthetics consistent, also i think it would be quite interesting :).
For the dates i already suggested, it would run for 2 weeks. However, shorter time frame does allow for more focused development and sense of urgency to complete it too.


tiresius(Posted 2015) [#11]
Does Monkey-X demo version use Mojo2 ? I would like to get into Mojo2 and this would be a good reason to.

I'm different than nullterm I think 2 weeks at the least, as some people have work/family and other duties, even in summer. But yeah it requires dedication to the jam, I guess.

I think we should leverage one of the existing websites that is used to track these "jams". I don't do the jam scenes so I do not know the best ones for our use.


therevills(Posted 2015) [#12]
I'll be up to do a little Monkey Jam :)

And I like the idea for the of the NES theme.


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#13]
Yeah, I like the NES theme too. And like I said, dovetails nicely with mojo2's draw to image.

GameJolt has decent setup for hosting jams, but (based on tough first hand experience) the hosting didn't work with the HTML5 version of my game. Specifically, keyboard input didn't work as it didn't seem to give focus to the GameCanvas. I took a few pokes, but I'm not enough of a HTML5 guru to debug it.


Duke87(Posted 2015) [#14]
Do we need a hosting Website? I could load the Running HTML versions onto my Dropbox, and put a Link here. And then I'll open an extra Vote-Only thread.


Ferdi(Posted 2015) [#15]
+1 on the NES theme.

If I finish my game I would love to join the jam.


tiresius(Posted 2015) [#16]
GameJolt has decent setup for hosting jams, but (based on tough first hand experience) the hosting didn't work with the HTML5 version


Maybe itch.io , does that support HTML5 games?
I feel like we need one of these public game jam sites to promote it.
One of the goals is to get more monkeys over here.


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#17]
Yep, itch.io does have one : https://itch.io/developers/game-jams


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#18]
I did a test last night on GameJolt, even a basic HTML5 app I can't sort out how to get the keyboard working on Firefox specifically (Chrome, Opera, Safari work, frustrating!). It should say "key 56" when you press a key. Mouse works though.

http://gamejolt.com/games/jolttest/87501




nullterm(Posted 2015) [#19]
Morning hack attempt, if I add canvas.focus()l to the HTML5 in random places then I can get the keyboard to work in Firefox. But then reload and second try, it doesn't work.

Looking in the background, my key pushes are going to the GameJolt's search box in the background (upper right corner of screen).



I'm curious if itch.io does a better job.


tiresius(Posted 2015) [#20]
Maybe bug GameJolt about it and they can fix their page template?


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#21]
I tweeted them a few times and emailed, no response.

They even had a bot try to take my test page down, but I got it restored. haha


Playniax(Posted 2015) [#22]
Happening?


Richard Betson(Posted 2015) [#23]
This should happen in November. :)


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#24]
I won't be able to participate because I will be starting my development test of Monkey X, HaxeFlixel and Unity tomorrow or Wednesday.
Just finished my GLBasic version a couple days ago and am taking a brain break before starting on the next batch.

However, I am all for keeping alternatives around especially one as good as Monkey X.
If this actually happens, you can list me (Gar Benjamin at GarsGames.com) as a sponsor and I will donate $75 to the jam for the gift card prizes.
I guess there are prizes? I saw Neuro's post about $50 and $25 Amazon vouchers. If someone is already putting up the $75 for those that is even better because you can double the amounts to $100 and $50.

I'll update my sig links on the forums I participate in to point to the Compo thread as soon as you guys get it up.


Playniax(Posted 2015) [#25]
I am not keen in throwing money around but I offer Pyro, Ignition X and Defenstar as prices. Maybe we can create some combinations?


GW_(Posted 2015) [#26]
The theme should be chosen just before the jam begin.
Forcing entries to be submitted to App section is a bad idea. for every reason.
forcing people to mail source code to the judges is a bad idea.
Monkey supports html5 so providing a link to a game should be good enough. Also some entrants may not want to open source their code.


Samah(Posted 2015) [#27]
@GW_: The theme should be chosen just before the jam begin.

+1
@GW_: Forcing entries to be submitted to App section is a bad idea. for every reason.

+1
@GW_: forcing people to mail source code to the judges is a bad idea.

+1
@GW_: Monkey supports html5 so providing a link to a game should be good enough. Also some entrants may not want to open source their code.

+1


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#28]
Just wondering if this idea has been dropped or will it happen (next month I'd guess at this point)? Being a kind of outsider here I can understand if my input has little weight but I'd suggest either requesting source code OR asking participants to video record a segment or two of development or just take some screenshots (kinda time-lapse thing) of their work showing that indeed Monkey X was used to create the games. Otherwise you may end up with people using Phaser or whatever submitting HTML5 games for it.


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#29]
It's pretty obvious looking at the HTML5 if it came from Monkey.


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#30]
@nullterm

That's a great point that I never even considered. I suppose some people don't feel very comfortable giving out their source code either.


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#31]
I'm still for it. Just got back from my trip yesterday.


PixelPaladin(Posted 2015) [#32]
I am interested, too.
Will it be allowed to use libraries besides mojo/mojo2 and brl libraries (like diddy, ignition or others)?


Playniax(Posted 2015) [#33]
I personally do not have a problem with using any of those...


Duke87(Posted 2015) [#34]
Ok, let's say, you don't need to submit the App to the App-Section.
But the Source-code should be open in my eyes.


Duke87(Posted 2015) [#35]
List of possible Themes:

- 1/2 Button ; ArrowKeys - Limited Gameplay
- NES Style Game
- TileMap based Game
- Cards Game

You may add some more.
I would say, we start a Poll ending on Sunday?!

Theme: ?? I am for TileMap based game
OpenSource YES/NO ? I am for YES.


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#36]
- arrow keys (or dpad or single analog stick) only
- 1 or 2 buttons only
- 8 colors only


PixelPaladin(Posted 2015) [#37]
8 colors is not much. Maybe max. 8 colors on the screen at one time but more possible colors (5 or 6 bit colors?). If the game is limited to 8 colors it is ok, too, but I want to pick these colors for myself for my game.

Cursor keys + 2 buttons is ok.

+1 for tile map based game

Edit:
open source is ok


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#38]
Will it be allowed to use libraries besides mojo/mojo2 and brl libraries (like diddy, ignition or others)?

Any libs can be used as long as built with Monkey can be used. In the case of commercial libs like Pyro, I think that if we do decide that games should be open source then just the base game code can be provided, not Pyro.


tiresius(Posted 2015) [#39]
I need this to kick me out of my coding funk.
Someone with leadership skills + gamejam savvy please light this candle and get it started !


PixelPaladin(Posted 2015) [#40]
NES style would be a nice theme. Here are some restrictions of the NES. I think this site is also a good guideline for creating and judging NES style games.


Arabia(Posted 2015) [#41]
Looking forward to actually joining in on the jam this time as I missed the last one. I've done stuff all programming in the last 12 months, but I'd like to participate and put up whatever I can no matter how crap it might be.

Might be fun also if some are willing to live stream while they work, though this will give away what they are doing. I might do it, but beginners be warned, I'm a long way from an expert and if I do stream, don't take any of what I do as being best practice Monkey programming :)


Playniax(Posted 2015) [#42]
So when is this going anywhere? ;)


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#43]
I'm working on putting it together right now. Gonna host it on itch.io.


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#44]
Alright folks, i got a page up and running for the Monkey October 2015 Game Jam. Keep in mind its still in progress.....never ran a game jam before so bear with me :).

See it here : https://itch.io/jam/monkey-x-october-2015-nes-game-jam

With that said, the theme is going to NES - anything goes. Start date is set to be on October 17, 2015 at 12am (EST) and will run for 2 weeks until October 31, 2015 at 12am (EST). Voting will them commence until November 6 at 12am (EST).

So every one check the page and please provide me with any comments, suggestions, changes, or requests. We have until next Saturday (October 17th) before it becomes effective.

Also, lets figure out the Prizes! I'm going to put up a $50 Amazon voucher. Anyone else interested, please let me know! I believe Playniax is also offering Pyro and Igition also.

Lets get it going :) !!!!!!




Playniax(Posted 2015) [#45]
Great Neuro!

Playniax is also offering Pyro and Igition


Yup!


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#46]
Ok so being that IgnitionX and Pyro (i think..) are both actually priced more than $50, should those be the 1st prize? And, are they're separate? Not like one whole package right?


tiresius(Posted 2015) [#47]
I'm in !

It could be a "prize bag" where 1st place picks, then 2nd place, etc. Some might already have Ignition/Pyro and prefer the Amazon card. :)


therevills(Posted 2015) [#48]
Good going Neuro!

Now to think of an idea.... I know this sounds crazy but I'm thinking something about a fat plumber which goes down a drain pipe ;)


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#49]
Wow! It is actually happening! That is an awesome game jam page you created. Great job!

If you are going to add a little Sponsored By section to your page and link to the sites of the sponsors I'd like to sponsor it both in terms of helping to spread the word and contributing some prize money.

Just a simple Gar at GarsGames.com with a link on the GarsGames.com would be fantastic.

If you give me a PayPal Neuro I will send the cash over this afternoon and start working on spreading the word. People really need to get Monkey X this weekend if possible so they can start playing around with it in time to be able to make something for the jam. I'm willing to sponsor it at $50 (up to $100 just let me know what is needed based on the prizes you plan to set up). You can decide what to do with it. Divide it up for smaller prizes add it in to bigger prize whatever.


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#50]
I know this sounds crazy but I'm thinking something about a fat plumber which goes down a drain pipe ;)

That sounds like a great idea :). Now if you bring mushrooms into that equation.....

Just a simple Gar at GarsGames.com with a link on the GarsGames.com would be fantastic

Since you're gonna help sponsor, sure will do!

I'm willing to sponsor it at $50 (up to $100 just let me know what is needed based on the prizes you plan to set up). You can decide what to do with it. Divide it up for smaller prizes add it in to bigger prize whatever.

Cool! What we can do is if you send up to $75, i can do the following :

1st Place : $100 Amazon Voucher
2nd Place : Choice of either IgnitionX or Pyro
3rd Place : $25 Amazon Voucher


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#51]
NES!!! Love the theme.

How pedantic are we being with colour palette? I'm gonna try sticking to the restrictions.

Palettes / Colors

The NES has access to 64 different colors that can be used throughout the game
A total of 8 palettes can be used at once
4 palettes are used for the Background Tiles. Each palette is composed of 3 colors, plus a common single background color shared between all 4 palettes
4 palettes are used for the Sprites. Each palette is composed of 3 colors, plus transparency
Total Colors onscreen: 25 (4 palettes x 3 colors = 12 for sprites, 4 palettes x 3 colors = 12 for background tiles, 1 for background)
Palettes can be swapped on the fly (many games use this for cool fade in/out effects, etc)




therevills(Posted 2015) [#52]
How pedantic are we being with colour palette?


According to the wiki:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Entertainment_System#Technical_specifications
The system has an available color palette of 48 colors and 6 grays. Up to 25 simultaneous colors may be used without writing new values mid-frame: a background color, four sets of three tile colors and four sets of three sprite colors. The NES palette is based on NTSC rather than RGB values. A total of 64 sprites may be displayed onscreen at a given time without reloading sprites mid-screen. The standard display resolution of the NES is 256 horizontal pixels by 240 vertical pixels.


So I'm thinking about using 48 colours, 6 grays and a maximum of 64 sprites on the screen at a time.


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#53]
@Neuro sounds great. Shoot me an email (you can send a message to me on Twitter to keep it private) and I will Paypal $75 to you.

I wonder if anyone will go so far as to add the sprite flicker when more than 8 sprites are in the same row? lol

I'll start updating forum signatures to point to the Game Jam page tomorrow. Gonna sleep now.


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#54]
Shoot me an email (you can send a message to me on Twitter to keep it private)

Hmm...i tried to message you through twitter but i think you need to enable it or something. Or maybe i'm just doing it wrong?? Damn...wish we had PM capabilities here lol...

How pedantic are we being with colour palette? I'm gonna try sticking to the restrictions.

Don't need to get too strict on it. Like i suggested, keep it simple...no more than 64 colors (you probably won't even need all that many!) will be fine as long as it replicates that "NES look". People have some incredible stuff with the GameBoy Jam with just only 4 colors already :).

For example, Shovel Knight and Retro City Rampage has done a pretty good job of mimicking that NES style graphics. Hmm...i should add that as an example to the Jam page...


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#55]
@Neuro So much for sleep... you know how just 5 more minutes of dev stuff can turn into hours! lol

Anyway sorry about that. lol To prevent spam I had Twitter set to only allow people I am following or people following me to message me.

I just opened it up to everyone so you should be able to pm on Twitter now. I will lock it back down tomorrow. And now I really am going to sleep.


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#56]
Ah, ok was able to send you a message now!


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#57]
@Neuro Just read it and "you've got mail!"


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#58]
Alright, got the paypal! Add a link to your site on the bottom of the page for Sponsors - i copied the banner from your page to use for it. Lemme know if you rather use a different one!

Also made updates to the Prizes section now. We're officially :
1st - $100 Amazon Voucher
2nd - Choice of IgnitionX or Pyro
3rd - $50

Anyone else wants to sponsor the Jam, let me know soon!! Gonna continue working on the page a bit more...

We're about 1 week away (as of this post) from the start of the Jam so all the folks who are interested can help spread the word too!!!


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#59]
Ahh...made a mistake, 3rd place prize will be $25, not $50!!!!


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#60]
Graphics wise I think this is in the bag (mojo2 Canvas with Image, tiles, sprites, etc).

Is there any resources for NES style audio? Or just bfrx and PlaySound?

No plans yet, but leaning towards doing some kind of platformer.


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#61]
There's also Chiptone you can try out for it.


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#62]
@Neuro, I'm definitely gonna play with Chiptone. My kid also might like playing with it, hopefully it runs on iPad.


Arabia(Posted 2015) [#63]
Looking forward to this, hopefully I can find time to get something in.

I already know what I'm going to do, it's something I worked on about 18 months ago and never finished. I'll start from scratch though and try and change it a bit for fit the profile of the competition.

The game in question is going to be a remake, and it was a game that was ported to the NES. That's all I'll say.

I have no expectations of winning anything, but it should be fun and I'll give the full source so that hopefully others can learn, improve on or tell me how I could have done things better.


Samah(Posted 2015) [#64]
Yeah alright, count me in then. I pass on the prizes though, I'll just enter for fun.
I have some ideas already... we'll see where it takes me. :)


Arabia(Posted 2015) [#65]
I don't think there was a definite answer on how strict this is regarding NES - Is a game that uses 4 way directional + 2 buttons and a palette of less than 64 (25 max on screen at once) colours enough to qualify? Do I need to run it in the original 256 x 240 resolution as well?

I'm probably out of the normal here, but I never owned or played a NES, so graphics wise how does this apply? Do the graphics need to be kept simplistic?

Either way, I like the idea of putting myself under the pump for a week of programming to try and actually finish something, it doesn't worry me that much if my entry get's DQed on a technicality, though I would like to stick to what everyone else is doing more or less.


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#66]
Do I need to run it in the original 256 x 240 resolution as well?

Yep, should definitely be at that resolution.
I'm probably out of the normal here, but I never owned or played a NES, so graphics wise how does this apply? Do the graphics need to be kept simplistic?

Lol, well perhaps you should try out and NES game to see how it looks and feel then :). Graphics can be however you want as long as it follows the set rules of 64 colors, and running at 256 x 240. See the JAM Page for more info on this.


Samah(Posted 2015) [#67]
As far as I'm concerned, if it feels like a NES game, that's good enough.


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#68]
I'd like to work in a 320x240 resolution instead of the NES resolution, thoughts? I mean since we're not going to restrict sprites to 4 colors each presumably, which is a much more realistic expectation for the casual observer than the resolution, I don't see why a small resolution hop to match PC's old 4:3 aspect ratio would be verboten (or even something like 384x240 for a more modern 16:10 aspect ratio).

Also, does the source need to be made available? Asking because I'd like to use my framework, but parts are still closed-source.


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#69]
I'd say 256x240 is pretty core to the experience. Otherwise you're building a PC VGA mode 13h game.

And the 3/4 colors per sprite too. Otherwise it won't really "look" like a NES game. But that seems like a softer rule, as long as you stick to 25 (technically this is the on screen palette limit without hacks) or "full" 64 colors.

Like the #GBJam I entered, the 160x144 screen with 4 shades/colors is the core of the jam.


tiresius(Posted 2015) [#70]
I assume we can scale the screen 2x or 3x so at least it looks chunky but the virtual resolution is still 256x240 ?


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#71]
Yeah totally. You can use mojo2's Image Canvas at 256x240, then scale up to whatever screen resolution, 2/3/4x.


Playniax(Posted 2015) [#72]
I assume we can scale the screen 2x or 3x so at least it looks chunky but the virtual resolution is still 256x240


I could be wrong but I think it would look blurry. Currently Mojo 2 does not have the option to disable image filtering although I know Mark is looking at this after my request.


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#73]
Actually it does, asked in the mojo2 thread. The last field on the Image constructor controls what filter is used for drawing that image. 0 being "nearest neighbor" or no filtering.

Skid: bufferImage = New Image( 256, 240, 0, 0, 0 )


So in the below, you do all your 256x240 NES drawing to bufferCanvas. Then use bufferImage to draw to the "main" canvas for the screen. Tested on Mac/Win/HTML5 and works on all the platforms.




Playniax(Posted 2015) [#74]
Ah, the update was already out!

This is probably a faster method: http://www.monkey-x.com/Community/posts.php?topic=10166


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#75]
I'd say 256x240 is pretty core to the experience. Otherwise you're building a PC VGA mode 13h game.

Pretty much, this. And what Samah said. Best to try and get that "NES" feel as much as possible. Everything else is kinda....eh, do what you can :). For example, stretching it at 16:9 to fit the modern screens I think would be ok.

On another note, Game JAMs on itch.io has the ability to use the "Ludum Dare" style of voting - meaning, only participants can vote on each others work. And it can also be open to public voting also - but this can also allow for gaming the voting the system. Any preferences on how the voting should be handled? Or should i just leave it to only participants only?


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#76]
haha, allright, guys. I fully expect people to be breaking the sprite color limits left and right; the resolution limit seems like an "anti-tiger stone" that is easier for certain devs to conform to and thus can be pointed to for anyone who complains about authenticity. I am just slightly frustrated about having to design a game around an unfamiliar aspect ratio. Limitations with the assets, I can deal with. Seems like something malleable about the rules which favors certain devs over others...


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#77]
"I am just slightly frustrated about having to design a game around an unfamiliar aspect ratio."

That's the whole point of the jam haha. I love the idea of being forced into a constraint like 256x240, makes you approach game design with a fresh set of eyes.


abakobo(Posted 2015) [#78]
The jam is not visible on the https://itch.io/jams calendar!


tiresius(Posted 2015) [#79]
I'm using this to learn mojo2 so I'm glad the filtering is sorted out now ...


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#80]
The jam is not visible on the https://itch.io/jams calendar!

Ugh...that calendar is a lil whack. It use to show up but now doesn't for some odd reason.


Sledge(Posted 2015) [#81]
Worth a read: http://www.gamasutra.com/blogs/DavidDAngelo/20140625/219383/Breaking_the_NES_for_Shovel_Knight.php

EDIT: Oh and some nice footage of the machine at its limits re scrolling.

EDIT 2: More notable technical achievements; Another system overview.


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#82]
@Sledge, wow, looking at that Battletoads footage in retrospect is incredible. Amazing how they pushed the NES hardware.


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#83]
Didn't know they made Joe and Mac on the NES. Pretty impressive how they got the parallax running so well on that too.


Arabia(Posted 2015) [#84]
Sorry if this is a dumb question, trying to get my head around the 256 x 240 resolution.

Is it it enough to run the game in a 256 x 240 area of the screen by changing the CANVAS_WIDTH and CANVAS_HEIGHT? That's not really running in 256 x 240 resolution though is it? Just don't want to start working on something if I'm doing it all wrong.


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#85]
That's the whole point of the jam haha. I love the idea of being forced into a constraint like 256x240, makes you approach game design with a fresh set of eyes.


I'd love it just as much if that same constraint were applied equally to the creation of the assets instead of being a rule with no teeth. But I'm assuming it's a soft rule for the sake of coders who want to spend more time in the IDE and less time in the DAW / Photoshop / etc. I'm not about to say that I'm a purist on the matter -- more that hard and fast rules shouldn't hide behind a purist argument. The resolution constraint seems arbitrary if we're not going to enforce any of the other constraints anywhere close to equally. Just sayin'.


Sledge(Posted 2015) [#86]
A NES Trans target would put all this beyond question :D


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#87]
Since we have only less than a couple days left before the Jam starts, i've went ahead and set the voting to only participants can vote on each others entries. This is to stop folks (not saying that people will actually do it...) from potentially gaming the system for voting points. Voting will commence immediately after the the Jam ends on October 31, 2015 and run for a week until November 6, 2015. The top 3 winners will be announced on November 7th.

Also, being that we all never came to an agreement on this will make the requirements of the source code optional - as long as no executable packer is used. I'm pretty sure most of us here can figure out if the entry was built in MX or not.

JAM Page is updated. Questions, comments, changes? Let me know before we start!


tiresius(Posted 2015) [#88]
I'm excited but have no ideas, for once in my life (all my ideas have been for mobile touch games!).
First two nights will be used for learning mojo2!!


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#89]
4 hours and change till jam start... can't wait! Got my idea but have been forcing myself to focus on other things (nonsense like work).

I'm gonna try changing things up and do art first. 2D art has always been my weakest link. Hopefully being limited to 4 colors per sprite and pre-selected palette colors helps me focus better.


skid(Posted 2015) [#90]
additional theme idea for tiresius: snow balls


skid(Posted 2015) [#91]
It's 3pm here NZDT and I am confused, for 15 hours no less.


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#92]
Jam starts at midnight EST (not local). 1hr 45min from now.

There's a clock on the jam page: https://itch.io/jam/monkey-x-october-2015-nes-game-jam


therevills(Posted 2015) [#93]
For the keyboard controls can we define the standard controls for all games?

Cursor Keys = DPAD
Z = A Button
X = B Button
Enter = Start
Space = Select

So that we dont have to tell the players the controls in the game (and spoil the effect).


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#94]
I'd agree to that. Plus gamepad support.


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#95]
For the keyboard controls can we define the standard controls for all games?

Cursor Keys = DPAD
Z = A Button
X = B Button
Enter = Start
Space = Select

I likes this idea. Will update the JAM page.

BTW, 1 hour left to go! Hope everyone has got an idea....i'm still actually clueless of what to do :).


skid(Posted 2015) [#96]
I was going to suggest someone could do a mobile template for people to use featuring touch screen version of nes pad.

It could be landscape with 4:3 game display letterboxed allowing buttons and dpad on either side.


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#97]
I've been tempted to do a module/template that would do all the mojo2 setup work and share it (github). Touch/mobile controls would be a great addition too.


skid(Posted 2015) [#98]
I was going to ask about the traditional use of Select And Start buttons but then I found this which is a good read:

http://www.racketboy.com/retro/nintendo/nes/so-what-was-the-nes-select-button-for

Weapon Select it is then...


therevills(Posted 2015) [#99]
Whats the "Select" button on a XBox controller? Back doesnt make sense....

Also in MonkeyX what is JOY_MENU mapped to?


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#100]
Can we put Select on Backspace? Risk with Select=Space is often it's the first button players press if they didn't pay attention to control documentation. And if it does something then they might get stuck on that, instead of trying Z/X.


therevills(Posted 2015) [#101]
Backspace is a bit far away I think as I'm going to use it for an ingame key...

Oh and I've added Skn3 HTML5 gamepad code to my version of MonkeyX:

http://www.monkey-x.com/Community/posts.php?topic=10127


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#102]
@therevills, I don't think alot of Xbox games ever used the "Back" button. Most games relied on ABXY/shoulders. Or squeezing the analog sticks.

Genesis might have been better with Start and 3 action buttons instead. Though I still love the minimalist NES 2-button control.


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#103]
JAM ON!


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#104]
LETS DO IT!


therevills(Posted 2015) [#105]
Little class for the NES controls if anyone wants to use it:



If Controls.Up()
	player.MoveUp()
End

If Controls.Down()
	player.MoveDown()
End

If Controls.Left()
	player.MoveLeft()
End

If Controls.Up()
	player.MoveRight()
End

If Controls.AButtonHit()
	player.ShootBullet()
End



nullterm(Posted 2015) [#106]
Anyone recommend a good Win & Mac sprite/tile paint tool?

I'm using Tiled for the world.


therevills(Posted 2015) [#107]
GraphicsGale or Pyxel Edit are great pixel art tools.


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#108]
@therevills, thanks! Giving both a try.

Edit - Pyxel it is. Cleaner interface and Win & Mac, so I can work on it at home (Win) or out of the house (Mac). And from looking at a tutorial, it's exactly what I need.


therevills(Posted 2015) [#109]
:)

NES Palette:



(Which you can load into Pyxel Edit)


Samah(Posted 2015) [#110]
That Pyxel Edit website is bloody slow... only getting 20kb/sec.


MikeHart(Posted 2015) [#111]
Thanks to all who organized this jam and contributed to it. Definitely a great thing for all game developers.


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#112]
+1 for Pyxel Edit. I've been playing around with that for a few months now ...perhaps can actually put it to good use this time :).


therevills(Posted 2015) [#113]
First draft of the main character for my game:



Pretty hard using the NES palette!


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#114]
That's awesome for a NES game.


Samah(Posted 2015) [#115]
Currently looking through opengameart for some nice tilesets, then converting them to the NTSC palette. So hard to find one that converts nicely without awful dithering artifacts.


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#116]
Wish you all the best of luck.

Er... best of game dev! Because really it is all creativity, effort and skills!


therevills(Posted 2015) [#117]
Draft idle and walk animations:






Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#118]
I heard Aseprite is good for artstuff, will be attempting to learn it a bit to make some NES grafix


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#119]
Pyxel is quick to learn and although minimalist, it has exactly just what you need.


Samah(Posted 2015) [#120]
Just fixed a bug in the Diddy tilemap renderer where it would die if you imported the screen framework but didn't use the image bank for tilesets.
Also therevills, please check out the develop branch before you commit. Don't make me set the master branch as protected... XD


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#121]
Question: the rules state that "Entries must be playable on any of the following platforms : HTML5, Widows, OSX, Linux". Does that mean that both html5 and desktop targets are supported? Or does that mean only html5?


Samah(Posted 2015) [#122]
@Nobuyuki: Does that mean that both html5 and desktop targets are supported? Or does that mean only html5?

Actually that's a good point. It's a bit of an ambiguous sentence. I originally read it as "and", but maybe it's supposed to be "or".


bazmonkey(Posted 2015) [#123]
Have fun all, looks great so far.
I'm currently a college lecturer with 0 free time to do anything, so no monkeying around for me :(


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#124]
Question: the rules state that "Entries must be playable on any of the following platforms : HTML5, Widows, OSX, Linux". Does that mean that both html5 and desktop targets are supported? Or does that mean only html5?

Sorry...thought it was pretty clear. It means that the entries can be submit on any of the platforms, not strictly only one. So for example you can even submit it for HTML5 and Windows also if you feel like it. Kinda like how its done on Ludum Dare.


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#125]
Sweet, thanks.

Here's some little dudes I've made today.


Aand.... since I don't know what type of game it's going to be yet.. I just started drawing a bunch of tiles without regard to the perspective and slapped it up in a test tilemap. Here's one of the "biomes" to test how well the sets work together.




therevills(Posted 2015) [#126]
Also therevills, please check out the develop branch before you commit.

Opps! Sorry!

Here's some little dudes I've made today

Looks great!

Since I'm using a different (but not totally different) framework than Diddy for this game, last night I quickly wrote a bare bones JSON parser for the Tiled levels (when exported via JSON d'uh!).

Currently I have in place splash screen, title screen and the game screen. On the game screen the player can move around (with animations) and the Tiled test level is displayed. Now I need to add scrolling, collisions, bad guys, bullets, inventory system, sounds/music, more levels.... Good thing we have two weeks!!


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#127]
I didn't realize this game jam lasted two weeks! For some reason I was thinking it was a weekend jam like the LD.

Hmm... even with my minimal time I think I might be able to do this. And I am always working on low color retro style games anyway. Really like the NES games and the NES palette is really quite excellent.

I already spent a good amount of time Saturday and today playing around with a little Halloween style game idea just for fun.

Seems like we will all be doing dev on a game in the same time.


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#128]
@therevills: That is a fine looking animated character. Has a western cowboy / lawkeeper vibe.

@Nobuyuki: Excellent tiled scene. Great depth. The NES palette was truly a great one. There is something about the colors they chose for it that just helps to make games look good.


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#129]
Holy crap...you guys are kicking serious ass here. Everything looks great so far!!! I havent even gotten a chance to start yet :(.....


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#130]
@GarBenjamin: Hey hey, thanks! I'm glad you dig. I see you're going for a spooky theme for this jam :)
I think the darker purple tree fits better. Remember to try to keep lighter shades limited to spot color application for background elements, so that the sprites have a better chance of standing out against the background.


Just because I'm pretty hype for this, I thought I'd write a few quick tunes for my project, too. The two songs I wrote today are both kinda pastiches, but I think it serves the purpose, and I should be able to get a few of them out a day (as long as I don't burn out!)
Here's my favorite of the two (work in progress): https://s3.amazonaws.com/uploads.hipchat.com/11212/31746/ZYBcAAl8eG4moGR/catdance_wip2.mp3


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#131]
@Nobuyuki that is an excellent 8-bit tune. You did a great job on it. Yeah started making a Halloween game just for fun. I thought the game jam was only for this weekend and there was no way I'd have time to make a full game that quickly. So I just figured I'd make a little game for Halloween. Then I noticed the game jam runs two weeks which lines up with my plan. So I might join it. Either way I am having fun. Hopefully I can get a little game 3 to 4 stages done in time for a Halloween release.

Good luck with your music and game! Hoping to see more WIP screenshots here soon!! Do you have your game design finished?


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#132]
No clue on the design yet! Mulling over whether I should try going for an arcade style game or an adventure/exploration game...


Samah(Posted 2015) [#133]
I have some ideas, but I'm worried as to how hard the AI will be to implement. I may have to scale back to something simpler, given that I only have until next Tuesday to finish it, really.
Heading to Melbourne next week for PAX! :)


Playniax(Posted 2015) [#134]
If somebody is using Pyro or Ignition X for the competition (don't even know if it is allowed) just let me know if you need any help speeding up understanding the frameworks!

To all of you guys, good luck and most importantly have fun!


Arabia(Posted 2015) [#135]
@therevills - that walking dude looks cool. Not sure about the shoe/boot colours being different though? Considering I couldn't animate a walking guy to save my life, feel free to ignore me :)

Some of the graphics you guys are putting up will put me to shame. Got most of mine done, think I'll try and get a working game going and then if time permits try to polish the graphics a bit more.

I'm using autofit to scale my 256 x 240 up to a 768 x 720 canvas - hope that is the right way to go about it?


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#136]
@Arabia : I'm not big on graphics anyway. I mean sure I want them to look as good as they can but personally I always focus more on gameplay than graphics. The only thing I am doing is trying to not do my normal programmer graphics of using very bright characters and foreground objects and very dark background objects and / or a black screen (programmers do that a lot I think). That is my driving force with this one. To break the mode of how I normally choose the color scheme.

Beyond that, I also am having an artist draw a lot of the stuff for me. I'm just providing the NES palette and instructing them to use only 3 colors per character except for the farmer character I bumped that up to 4 colors for that one.

Basically, my view of keeping it retro is not staying absolutely true to those limits as far as the 4 palettes and different palettes available with other colors per 8x8 image area are concerned... and instead just keeping it low color on everything in general. Images 32x32 or smaller only get 3 colors (plus background or transparency). Images with width or height larger than 32 pixels can have 4 colors. 64 pixels can use 5 colors. I think that is a fine compromise that keeps it pretty true to the retro limitations yet also makes it so the images can look a perhaps a little better.

I drew the trees and the treeish dark shadow backdrop in my mockup. I kept the closer trees to 3 colors despite being larger images composed of multiple tiles. Graphics take a lot of time and although I enjoy working on them I just don't have time to do them all, plus the game design plus the programming by Halloween. Hiring an artist to help out saves a lot of time and makes it much more possible for me to actually complete the game.

You may be a way better artist than I am for all I know so take this with a grain of salt: in general, just draw all the images with 1 color only first just to get the shape down. Then choose a light source and that remains the same for all of the images. Use colors to bring out the forms in your drawing based on the lighting. One thing I used to do was use white or lighter shades of same color for the highlights and black or darker shades of the same colors for the shadows. Working with artists over the years I learned to use shade of the same color bumped up with some yellow (or just use yellow) for the highlights and shades of the same color mixed with some blue (or just use darker blues or purples) for the shadows. That's for sunlight. For moonlight, grays / silvers instead of yellow would probably be better.

For the resolution thing, I am just targeting either 768x720 or 512x480 with pre-scaled images. Meaning an 8x8 block will actually be a 24x24 pixel block and so forth. That is just because I see no need to be scaling it all in real-time just to simulate the lower resolution. Makes more sense to me to just make everything in the resolution to begin with then at the end pre-scale it all as needed.

For web games I'll probably go with 512x480 just because 768x720 would be pretty huge for something like Kongregate and GameJolt and I may release there in addition to my own site.

For the desktop version 768x720 window would be fine I think although I am tempted to do a prescaled stretched version 1366x768 as well to offer full screen.


Arabia(Posted 2015) [#137]
@GarBenjamin - Thanks for the input.

I'll keep the graphics as basic as they are for the moment, need to relearn so much MX because I haven't touched it in over 12 months, need as much time programming as possible at this stage.

I went with the 768x720 because I figured it is a resolution where it will fit is just about any browser window. I may time permitting, making a settings menu to allow the user to swap between 256x240, 512x480 and 768x720 and even possibly the full screen stretch like you mentioned. I'm planning at this stage and just doing the HTML5 target, though I guess making a Windows target in addition is just as easy.


Manuel(Posted 2015) [#138]
Hello Monkey X'ers

I have been reading this topic from the very beginning. It is amazing to see motivated developers looking for new challenges and to read how you guys support each other, it is very inspiring.

I am a Music Composer for Games, I am a big fan of 8 bit music and old school games like NES and SNES, I still have a NES with a bunch of my favorite games to keep playing haha.

I would like to help during this jam with the music, if anyone is interested bellow you will find a link to my sound cloud reel and contact details (take into account that my reel does not provide 8 bit music only, it is hybrid music. Still I am capable and enjoy a lot to produce 8 bit music.

https://soundcloud.com/manpelayo

CONTACT DETAILS:
+52 1 333 368 0318
elemproduction@...

I wish everyone the best luck and have fun. It looks like you already are having lots of fun from what I red.

Thanks for your time guys.

Manuel Pelayo


tiresius(Posted 2015) [#139]
Okay I have an idea for a game remake (should have hit me sooner!) so now it is getting to code it that will be the challenge!!


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#140]
This is most focus I have put on graphics for a game in years. I normally code using colored rectangles or real quick n easy placeholder graphics. However, this time I wanted to really try to make the graphics good.


therevills(Posted 2015) [#141]
@Nobuyuki - any ideas about this little issue I'm having here:

http://www.monkey-x.com/Community/posts.php?topic=10037

Original tileset:



Extruded tileset:



Just cant load the extruded one correctly into Tiled :(


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#142]
Well...i started playing some NES games yesterday to get more ideas. Thats a start....

Its kinda bad when we're 4 days into the Jam and the organizer himself still has no clue, lol.


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#143]
I play NES and other retro games nearly everyday. You may already know about it but http://www.game-oldies.com is a fantastic site for checking out games on NES, SMS, SNES, Genesis and many other platforms. Tons of inspiration to be found there. I'm not actually in the jam and just happen to have started a Halloween game Saturday morning. Looking forward to getting off work this afternoon so I can finally start on some level creation in Tiled and some MX programming.


Manuel(Posted 2015) [#144]
Hello Here is a list of my favorite NES games if someone is looking for inspiration, most of them are adventure or puzzle games.

Mario Bros
Legend Of Zelda
Legend Of Zelda II
Megaman (all of them)
Contra
Metroid
Tecmo Super Bowl
Kirby's Adventure
Ninja Gaiden
Castelvania I and II
Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles I and II (Great music on this games)
Duck Hunt
Excitebike
Metal Gear
Adventures of Lolo I, II and III (Simple and super entertaining puzzle game)
Paperboy
Donkey Kong
Ice climber
Adventure Island
Karate Kid
Jaws
Top Gun

Hope this helps;)


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#145]
I always thought Astyanax was one of the best looking NES games :




Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#146]
@therevills: I've attempted to help you out on the thread for TileExtruder. Please check there.
---
I think I might be spending too much time on graphics and music, and not enough on code! Whew, I'd better get an MVP done or else I'll have nothing solid to show but shiny stuff, haha.

Today, I spent a while working on the "overworld" / main theme music. It's not done yet, but it's pretty close, I think! Please check it out and let me know what you guys think:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/1417196/v2a.it (link subject to disappear or be replaced once the final's ready!)

I ended up getting carried away and doing a Follin-esque thing after about a minute in... If you're a fan of that style, I'm sure you'll have tons of fun :)
My first time toying around with that style.


Arabia(Posted 2015) [#147]
I know I'm spending too much time on graphics after I said I wouldn't. I get the weekends to code, brain to hurts too much to do it after work - so I better try and get the gfx done by the weekend. Touch wood the actual implementation of the game isn't overly complex once I start coding. I was going to keep it simple, but it just looked awful. I might be another one with some semi shiny stuff also and little to no game play.


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#148]
Work has been a big pain in the butt last few days, hopefully I'm ahead of it now and can get back to jamming.


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#149]
Getting back into sprites/tiles, found this and might be of use. NES colors based on gradients and spectrum.




tiresius(Posted 2015) [#150]
Thanks nullterm that's exactly what I needed !!!


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#151]
Me too! I was staring at the standard 16x4 hardware palette, but doesn't really show gradients or color relationships very well.



so much better:




Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#152]



GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#153]
Hope you jammers are making great progress!

I finally have a first stage created in Tiled and displaying in Monkey X. Well the first screen worth of it anyway. No scrolling yet. Tonight will add the player and focus on getting him moving around and interacting with the stage.

If I can get the player implemented tonight then I have the weekend to focus on adding enemies and you know some actual gameplay foundation. Might only have one long stage ready for my Halloween release Depends on time.

@Nobuyuki that is an awesome 3d spinning head! Kind of reminds me of the non-rotating heads in Gradius.


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#154]
Good luck Gar! Yeah, it's a moai head :)
Incredibly difficult to make it obvious what it was in 16px.

I'd love to see what therevills has done with the tile loader to work with json. I'm going to be using tiled as well, but am slightly concerned with making sure all the maps "blend" seamlessly without spending endless time tweaking them. Hopefully that won't be too difficult to sort out. It would actually be perfect if I didn't have to faff about with XML for it, because I could just write a tool to make new rooms based on existing map templates and just generate them (with stitch points) as needed without having to dig into specs... If only it were that easy to serialize/deserialize a tiled compliant map with the existing XML libs!


therevills(Posted 2015) [#155]
I'd love to see what therevills has done with the tile loader to work with json.


It is very much bared bones and WIP, but here it is:




nullterm(Posted 2015) [#156]
Back into the swing, figuring out art, which is 100x more of a challenge for me than any and all code heh

I like the 12x12 head, but if I get time I'm gonna bump it up to 14x14 or so. Want a more 'toon look with proportionally bigger head.






Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#157]
@therevills: haha, damn...... I was expecting it to be an extension of TileMapReader.

@nullterm: Volleyball of some kind? Looks really interesting!
---
I really wanna show all the loot sprites I did today, but I think I might spoil the surprise for some people, so.... if anyone wants to see, it's over on my Twitter ;)

Why not check out this save pedestal instead?



Neuro(Posted 2015) [#158]
@nullterm - wows those some serious retro NES graphics going on there!

And that screenshot interestingly reminded me that I can actually be doing my work on my MacBook Pro here instead of the Win8.1 VM, lol....so much smoother....


tiresius(Posted 2015) [#159]
So far behind it will be a miracle if I finish something up in time. :( Well, got to keep trying!


Samah(Posted 2015) [#160]
I have discovered that making a convincing random dungeon generator is much harder than I expected. Most of the grid-based and bsp tree methods just feel wrong to me. I went for a maze generator instead.
Now to fill the rooms with chests, monsters, and traps!


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#161]
Looks like there are some very interesting games in the works! Very cool to see all of the different screenshots and little glimpses of art and code.

I made great progress tonight. I already had the Tiled map loading and rendering so tonight I focused on adding the player and getting all of the base control and movement implemented. Tomorrow, I will implement player shooting and the screen scrolling. As soon as I can get the player in fully interacting with the tiled stage and able to journey through it all the foundation will be set. Then it is just a matter of implementing the enemies and objectives one by one. I'd really like to get the bulk of that complete by the end of this weekend so I can spend my work nights next week through Thursday adding a Title screen, options, sound FX, music and of course tweaking all of the game play. This has been a fun project so far. Monkey X is definitely an excellent choice for rapid 2D game development!


therevills(Posted 2015) [#162]
@therevills: haha, damn...... I was expecting it to be an extension of TileMapReader.

LOL! This is a super simple version :) Samah was talking about adding another Loader to Diddy...

Heres a GIF of my game so far... not much happening yet, but its got the NES feel about it:




nullterm(Posted 2015) [#163]
@therevills, wicked! That looks like a NES game alright. : )


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#164]
[duplicate post]


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#165]
@therevills: "Is that you, John Wayne? Is this me?" ;)


Manuel(Posted 2015) [#166]
Wow! I am impressed with how far you guys are getting with your games! all of them looks very interesting and I am intrigued know the gameplay.

Nobuyuki Great job on the moai head looks awesome!
therevills You are getting very far. Your game totally has the NES vibe and looks like it will be a fun game to play.

I have been always impressed by the skills of developers to code a story into a visual and interactive game.

Best of luck to you all on your games.

Remember if any of you would like original 8 bit music on their games shoot me an e-mail I'll be more than glad to help out. Since I am a big fan of video games as a Composer is the way I can participate on Jams, since I have no knowledge on coding and game developing.

Manuel Pelayo
elemproduction@...


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#167]
@therevills - That's awesome!! For some odd reason, i thought of Rick Grimes (The Walking Dead) right away lol


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#168]
I hit my goal for today. Got the player and stage scrolling control systems all implemented and tweaked graphics a bit here and there. At 19 colors on-screen now.
No enemies in yet but most of the enemies will use existing colors anyway. Thinking I can come in around 24 total on-screen maybe.

Spent so much time tweaking the player control to feel right and created 3 separate stage scrolling systems until I arrived at this one. Kind of burnt out on it at this point so am glad these bits are done. I'm going to take the rest of the night off and watch Halloween movies.

Anyway, here is where I am at. I love retro games and Holiday games so am very motivated to do this as best as I can in the bit of time left. Just need to nail the game play. That is the most important of all.

Of course, it all looks jumpy with very coarse scrolling in the gif but in reality it is smooth as silk. The white rectangle around the player is because I forgot to turn off my collision box outlining code before making the gif video. I find it extremely helpful to show the collision boxes during development.

Alright, you all have a great night and keep on pushing forward!! I am shutting down.



Ferdi(Posted 2015) [#169]
Looking good, I am loving all the screenshots, looks very NES.
---
I am very late to the party. Got something working over the weekend. Hopefully can do bit here and there after work. It feels off right now, I think the sword is too small, need bigger sword. Doesn't look very NES like either, I think need a background.




Playniax(Posted 2015) [#170]
I really like the vibe here guys! Keep it up!


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#171]
I created a collage of some of my favorite NES games purely from a graphics and just "interesting scene" perspective this morning.

There were many games on the NES that had really good graphics (not necessarily good gameplay but they looked good). Particularly impressive when you consider all of these have less than 20 colors on-screen during the screenshot. Of course, we also have to keep in mind these were made by pro artists at places such as Konami.

Also they weren't creating these games in 2 weeks or less. lol That is a HUGE difference. They could spend 1 hour drawing one tile. 8 to 12 hours drawing and animating one character. Can't do that when you need to do the entire game yourself in a very short period of time. Still we can strive for the best we can do!

Anyway, I thought this might be good to show what kind of graphics quality the NES could do and also might just give someone an idea or two.

And now it is time for me to start work adding enemies.




therevills(Posted 2015) [#172]
i thought of Rick Grimes (The Walking Dead) right away lol

Shhhhhhhh!! ;)


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#173]
Me (starting upper left) being chased around by an AI sprite (a few bugs to work out). Gonna be a mashup between Mario Bros and Dodgeball. The AI pathfinding for being able to jump platform to platform was quite the fun challenge. : )




GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#174]
@nullterm that is looking excellent. You did a great job on the enemy AI and the game in general just looks like a cool concept.

I am just getting started on enemy work finally. Had company today and have about an hour before the WWE Hell In A Cell PPV starts and friends coming over for that too. Gonna do as much as I can!

I noticed the ball has a good behavior as well. Not sure where you are going with it. Reminds me of some kind of Super Dodgeball game. Very interesting. Never seen one played out like a platformer before.


therevills(Posted 2015) [#175]
@nullterm - the AI looks great!


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#176]
@Gar - awesome collage!!!! There's something about the NES aesthetics thats just so pleasing to look at :). Attack of the Killer tomatoes...gonna have to check it out now!


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#177]
@Neuro glad you like it. I agree completely about the NES game presentation. I think a lot of it (besides the skills of those artists) is the NES palette. The colors they chose for it are very game oriented. I actually use it for various little projects.

Hope everyone is doing well on their GameJam projects!

Time is quickly running out and since I'm targeting a release in time for Halloween (ideally Friday afternoon) of my latest (and first "real") Monkey X game I am taking a half day off work Wednesday just to focus on it. Hoping those extra hours gives me enough time to meet my deadline.


arawkins(Posted 2015) [#178]
Ok I figure I have made it far enough along on my entry to share its progress. I wasn't sure if I was going to have time to get a game ready for this but I think I'm going to at least manage something really basic. I'm trying to make a very simple Dragon Warrior/Quest clone. Here's a few screens:

Title Screen:


World Map:


Battle Screen:


I'm using some pre-made sprites from opengameart:
http://opengameart.org/content/dawnlike-16x16-universal-rogue-like-tileset-v10
http://opengameart.org/content/tiny-16-basic

I'm not sure if they are "NES accurate" palettes, but they feel Dragon Warrior-ey enough for me :)

So far I've managed to get a title screen -> world map -> battle screen loop going. Using Ignition X and Tiled as well, both of which are helping a lot. Hopefully I will get a simple battle routine going before the deadline, and maybe some form of character upgrade.


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#179]


The physics, enemy AI, and map stitching aren't in yet, but they're oh-so-close!


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#180]
Holy crap...you guys got some awesome stuff going on there!!!! I'm still struggling with my platform code....

@arawkins - the tilesets are fine! And I still remember that icon pic of the all those folks waiting in line in Japan just to buy Dragon Warrior 3 from that very first Nintendo Power issue!!!!

@Nobuyuki - wow, thats some nice screen transitions you got going on!!!


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#181]
More AI work, this time beefed up logic and 3v3 style gameplay. Having fun chasing the AI around the level... and also getting chased!




Playniax(Posted 2015) [#182]
Cool stuff!


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#183]
It's awesome to see all of these different games come to life. A very nice variety so different from each other.


Samah(Posted 2015) [#184]
I may have to pull out, guys, I'm currently on holidays in Melbourne with friends and I won't have time to finish it. :(
I might look at finishing later, but not in time for the Jam.


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#185]
@Samah Enjoy your break! Always nice to have some time off to just relax and have fun.

I am now off work for the rest of the day and will be focusing on my Halloween game. I'm not in the jam (so maybe shouldn't even be posting here I dunno) but it kind of feels like it because I am pushing hard to get this thing done in time for a Halloween release. Probably will have only one stage. That's okay because I will pick it up again next year and add more to it. Alright time to jump back into it!


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#186]
Ugh, a priori collision detection's kicking my butt. I thought I could use diddy's CheckCollision with tilemaps to perform all of my collision detection using 1 detector, but there's some conflicts which caused my character to go all nuts. I am reminded that I haven't tried to make a platform game since I had collision detection handled for me back in my MMF days. Anyway, I rewrote the collision twice already due to glitches, and this time around I'm gonna try going for a "6 detector" system and hopefully it'll be good. Kinda sad that this delay's probably gonna force me to seriously scale back the content for the competition version, if I can get an MVP in at all :(

It might just be easier to implement a posteriori collision detection, and "fix" an object's location after it's been moved, but I normally dislike doing that because of its potential for bugs as well. Hmm....


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#187]
Given it's a jam, I say go with the option that gets you working on other stuff sooner. Then if you have time, come back and cleanup your collision issues or switch back to priori after the rest of the game is up & running.


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#188]
@Nobuyuki Hey I've made many platform game engines over the years and came up with a few methods and one that I mainly use for platformers in particular.
Basically using raycasts and using simple overlapping rect checks.

For raycasts, character moves right shoot out rays starting from the top of the character to the right and looping down by the height of a tile each iteration.
So, if tiles are 16wx16h for example and character is say 16wx32h you'd just shoot out 3 ray casts to the right of the character:
First at top of character. Second at top of character + 16. Third at top of character + 15 (+16 would put the ray 1 pixel below the character so you check and in that case just use the bottom of the character). The problem I found with this is simply the number of ray casts that need to be cast out and the direction of them all depending on the motion of the object. It ends up getting messy for no real benefit.

A simpler way is just to use overlapping rects. If character is moving to the right you scan the map to the right of the character. For each of those you have a rect of position and size. If a map cell contains an object that blocks movement you can process it. From the map cell you know its position. And you know the width and height. So now you can use this information to perform an overlapping rectangle check to determine if the new position results in a collision.

And the best way of all (that I came up with anyway) is to just combine those two methods to prevent missed collisions on high-speed objects.
This gives the benefit of only needing to do one cast. However instead of doing a ray cast you are actually doing a box cast.

To do this you just step through the distance to be moved this frame in increments of no more than 1 tile width at a time.
So if the object is moving right 8 pixels just do one check for the overlapping rect. Because 8 pixels is less than the width of a tile.
If the object is moving 18 pixels this frame we see that is multiple tiles worth of distance (18/16 = 2 tiles should be checked) so we break the move down into multiple steps. In this case two steps each moving 9 pixels (18 / 2).

This may be the kind of thing you are already doing. Just wanted to throw it out in case you had not tried this technique.


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#189]
@GarBenjamin: I'm using diddy's CheckCollision() method, which is a point raycast (presumably to AABB). It's an a-priori check I'm doing on both the horizontal, then vertical axis. I've managed to solve most of the problems in this current iteration, however I'm still hitting a weird bug where sometimes the character will think an edge is a ceiling, or ends up in the ceiling for over a frame if it's at the edge of a platform, creating a visible "twitch" as he's pushed out of the ceiling. Obviously, that last case should never happen.

I might just try pure AABB posteriori collision, or do the step-through method you mentioned using Bresenham's line algorithm to sweep the box. Thanks for the advice, fellas.


therevills(Posted 2015) [#190]
Basically using raycasts and using simple overlapping rect checks.

Check the Diddy example Platformer on how I used it here:

https://github.com/swoolcock/diddy-examples/blob/master/src/Platformer/gameobjects.monkey#L112

The CheckCollision within the Tile module uses ray casting:

https://github.com/swoolcock/diddy/blob/master/src/diddy/tile/renderer.monkey#L483

Demo here:
http://www.monkey-x.com/Community/posts.php?topic=7295&app_id=47


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#191]
My brain is fried. Pushed hard on this game today actually got 8 hours in. Of course that was only because I took some time off work.

Graphics take so freaking long. Anyway, I got a good amount of actual game-play stuff done and then focused on the status bar.
Got the graphics completed and the functionality implemented for score, ammo and so forth.

Inching closer. I have hope that I can still get this done by Friday night.

Anywhere, this is the result of busting my arse for the past 12 days. ;)



I'm using a 320 x 240 resolution just so it will be dead easy to go full screen and just end up with a stretched display. Although mainly I just plan on releasing this as a web game on Kongregate and so forth.

23 colors in the screenshot above. I think the whole game should be about 25 on screen at one time.


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#192]
FINALLY got a posteriori collision detection working. YAY. I guess next up is coding a few enemy AI bot patterns.


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#193]
I may have to pull out, guys, I'm currently on holidays in Melbourne with friends and I won't have time to finish it. :(
I might look at finishing later, but not in time for the Jam.

@samah - Its alright if you don't finish it, you can still submit it in whatever status its in. That way you'll at least be able to vote also. Just wait until you see how absurdly incomplete my entry will be :).


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#194]
Lol...with a couple days left to go...was I ever gonna get something done??? Say hello to the Raider :




nullterm(Posted 2015) [#195]
Nice! Wish I had your sprite skills


arawkins(Posted 2015) [#196]
Does anyone have any tips on submitting a desktop build, or which files to include from the build folder? I haven't ever distributed a desktop game before. This is my build folder:



Should I just put all of this stuff into a zip file? I have access to Windows, OSX and Linux so could potentially build the game on any of the three? I will likely also include an html5 version so it's not a huge deal, but I definitely prefer playing the desktop build of my game :)

Also on the Jam page, I am curious about this:


executable packers are not allowed and will be disqualified!



Is this referring to packaging the game with an installer?

Also if anyone is looking for some sounds to fill out their game, I found some good stuff here:
http://littlerobotsoundfactory.com/
http://www.contralogic.com/256-nes-samples/


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#197]
Project.build/glwf3/xcode/build/Debug/MonkeyGame.app
(Debug or Release depending on options)
Should be something like that. You want the MonkeyGame.app file, and likely rename it to whatever.


arawkins(Posted 2015) [#198]
@nullterm Awesome, thanks. So is that just the os x build? Should I include builds for Windows, or linux?


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#199]
Yeah, just Mac. You need to build on Windows and upload that separate build for Win users to play (and vote!).


arawkins(Posted 2015) [#200]
Ok, cool. I guess I will just put up a few different builds so people can choose from what they prefer.

Looking forward to finally uploading my game. Been staying up way too late this week working on it :)


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#201]
That's the best part of a jam ; )

I'll probably be up late tonight finishing. Tomorrow I won't have time for anything other than small tweaks. Maybe a few more levels.


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#202]
Is this referring to packaging the game with an installer?

Using an Installer is fine, thats just referring to packing the entire game into an executable. Reason being is for us to validate that the submission was built using MonkeyX.


arawkins(Posted 2015) [#203]
@nullterm - Doesn't the jam end today? The page says it ends a 9pm. Or can we continue tweaking after the deadline?

@neuro - Ah, ok, thanks, that makes sense.


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#204]
Oh man.....i just realized that it is actually ending tonight :-o!!!! For some odd reason, i had it in my head that we had until Saturday night.
If this is unanimous...we can extend it *one* day until Sunday at 12:00am EST to give people all of Saturday to add finishing touches and wrap things up. Otherwise...its serious crunch time...


arawkins(Posted 2015) [#205]
Well, it doesn't matter to me, I am going to be busy tomorrow with Halloween stuff so won't really have a chance to work on it. I will probably submit today regardless.


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#206]
Hah well that solves that then. Yeap today is deadline.


arawkins(Posted 2015) [#207]
Looking back in this thread, the original post says Oct 31 12AM EST as the end time (by which I mean it looks an awful lot like midnight tomorrow if you just glance at it). I think it would be fair to extend it if that's what everyone wants.


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#208]
It sure does. Hell, it even confused me. Next time i won't do that 12am mess anymore. Too confusing. My apologies everyone....

I'm gonna extend the deadline to October 31, 11:59pm EST.


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#209]
I'm sorry, does it end in a few hours? Because if so....... I have nothing but a debug screen to show <:D

But I'm fine with submitting it as-is if that's what you guys want!


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#210]
No you have a whole day plus change now. Extension to end of the 31st, EST.


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#211]
I'm about 95% of the way done at this point. Just need to actually implement the main goal of the game, the game won screen and the title screen.
Then it's playtesting and tweaking, adding sounds and possibly some music. Fortunately, I playtest things to death while developing so it is in quite good shape already. I'm sure there are bits to improve here and there though. Always are. WHEW! What a freaking intense 13 days it has been.
I want to get everything completed tonight. Then tomorrow I can do one final round of tweaking and polishing. And then... finally... release it to the world.


Manuel(Posted 2015) [#212]
Last day! looking forward to see what you guys came up with. Based on your posts I am excited about some of them.

It was awesome to be part of the jam as a Composer for one of you guys, I incorporated the NES rules to the music production process in order to stay true to the jam it was a nice challenge to achieve in some night work!. Thank you @Neuro for reaching out and letting me help, I enjoyed being part of the jam in the way I am able to contribute to video games. I hope the music is useful for your game.

Good luck to you all on your submissions, looking forward to hear the winners.


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#213]
Reached the 98% point I'd guess. Should be able to wrap this up in another 3 to 4 hours. For now out to eat with my girl. Needed a break. As much as I like games and enjoy game dev I am looking forward to getting this project "done". Next year I'll revisit it and spend another two weeks just building it out. Didn't have time to realize the full potential this time around.


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#214]
I'm working on an animation system for sprites, although I have some concern still that by the time release hour comes, I'll have people wandering around empty rooms, since I never finished abstracting direct input from impulses so that enemy AI could be programmed. Sorry if that's the case! However, at least there's a decent sized map to wander around in right now. Some areas are inaccessible without console commands, though :(

Edit: Oh! I also made up some sound effects. But again, they're not in yet, and I'm not sure if I'll have time to put them all in by deadline......


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#215]
@Nobuyuki sounds like you went for an epic scale within the context of the time-frame. lol
Looking forward to checking it out!

I've got my enemies in and done. Just need to do the finishing bits sounds, title, game won scene etc. I got burnt out last night and went to sleep ealier than planned.


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#216]
@GarBenjamin: I got a little bit overhyped at the beginning, but the nice part is that it feels like I can take this and turn it into a really nice little game, maybe even a commercial side-project. I don't imagine the AI is much more difficult to come up with, and map design is annoying, but Tiled's been a real time-saver. I have a whole bunch of assets, and not a whole lot of in-game content right now. (Whoops -- that's usually the opposite of how these things are done, but "code stuff" is how I usually get paid, so I don't usually get to do assets.) I got to have fun with this project, though! :)

Also I made this as an excuse to help buff out some extra code to re-use in a current project which I'm getting paid for, so woot. Either way, it's a nice bonus. I really should participate in more jams in the future.


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#217]
Well time is counting down. And less than 2 hours left to go...and its not looking too good for me. I probably won't have anything more than just a dude running around in a level lol.... Really wish i could of done more. Good luck to everyone else though :)!


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#218]
So far 5 submission!!!!


Soap(Posted 2015) [#219]
Submissions due in
36
minutes


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#220]
Where do I submit?

Nevermind, sorted. Man, I forgot it was EST. Was in the middle of writing the sprite animation classes when I ran out of time. Had to submit with a placeholder dude and no enemies. Damn!

I might end up continuing to work on the game throughout the voting period, although I know it's probably against the rules to actually update it before the voting period's over. So, I hope you guys like whatever's there!


And, my apologies if I got anyone hopes up ;D

Feel free to thumb through the assets that are in there, haha...


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#221]
I present to you my 2 week Halloween Game created with Monkey X.




You can play it in your web browser right on my website here.

Unfortunately, there is only one short stage. It would be fairly easy to make it at least two to three times as long so I might do that tomorrow and upload a version 2.
But for my two weeks this is it. You can lose the game. You can win the game.

I wasn't actually in the jam I just wanted to make a Halloween game and wondered how much I could accomplish in two weeks.

So, the controls are different. I used my standard multiple key controls so people who like WASD can use those and the action keys that best go along with them. And people who like Arrow keys (me) can use those and the keys that go along with them.

Anyway, I hope you guys like it. I am happy with it.


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#222]
Where do I submit?

Submit on the Jam Page : http://itch.io/jam/monkey-x-october-2015-nes-game-jam

Ugh...looks like i won't be making it...


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#223]
@Neuro: just submit what you have!


itch.io, I signed up in haste. I hope I chose the proper username. Do people who start small teams usually publish games under their username anyway? Hmm....


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#224]
And its over!!!!! Big thanks to all those who managed to get your entries in on time (unlike me...)!!!!! We have a total of 7 entries and they all look great!!!!

Voting now begins!!!!!! For those of you who participated, the polls are now open. So play play play and winners will be announced on Saturday Nov 7th.


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#225]
When can the rest of us play the games?! Hopefully tomorrow? :)


Soap(Posted 2015) [#226]
You can play them RIGHT NOW some of them are browser only, some you have to download

https://itch.io/jam/monkey-x-october-2015-nes-game-jam


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#227]
Mac and Win versions up, I was out all day so had to install remote desktop software so I could build and submit my Windows version remotely haha

Might upload a HTML5 version if I can find the energy tonight and it's kosher.

Wanted to do more, just no time/energy. I'd love to make it into a full on game if I can find a pixel artist.


therevills(Posted 2015) [#228]
Only just managed to submit my entry... good luck everyone!

I uploaded a HTML version... can I upload a Windows version too? If so, how? Found it :)


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#229]
Oh cool! Just checked the page and yes I see them. This is AWESOME! Gonna check them all out now.


Soap(Posted 2015) [#230]
Check to see if you can edit the project on itch to upload bins...


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#231]
HAH! I knew it, it was Rick Grimes :-D!!!!!!!


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#232]
They are all very cool in their own way. They all have more to them than it first seemed. Great job guys!


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#233]
initial observations:

PixelPaladin's game: Epic Fox seems to be a mostly complete game demo on here right now. Nice platform engine. I wasn't able to manage to get it to glitch out, although I didn't try too hard. I had a number of audio glitches with the sound FX dropping out, only to "pop" back on again whenever the level changed. Drop-outs usually occurred when going in a door or dying. Got all 4 items, didn't know what to do next. Neat though :)

nullterm's game: Battle Dodgeball looks cool as heck, but I couldn't figure out how to get my guy to fire the ball! The other dudes continue to play after I die, it seems. Not sure what to do there. Are the keys different from the default? Also, the debug log file dumped 135kb of data onto my SSD, directly into the app folder. Bad debug log! How did you even break free of "monkey://internal/" ?

ferdi's game: Every guy wants to wield a big sword. I like the shield toggle, it makes it look like I'm using a pogo stick, hahaha. This game was a real button masher, and I mean that in a good way. My final score was 4556, and I got to Wave 28. The invisible enemies at Wave 20 were annoying! Nice touch, though. Love the sprite graphics, very minimalist. I'd have chosen some different sounds, however. Square beeps remind me of a very early 80s or late 70s arcade game, and came out loud on my speakers.

therevills's game: I wanna say it's a clear use of Diddy here with the transition effects. Almost reminds me of an early 90s PC game, in a way, thanks in part to the cutscenes. I found it easier to run through all of the stages rather than risk getting eaten up by zombies after my bullets ran out. SOUND OFF LIKE YOU GOT A PAIR. (Or at least a big sword, like in ferdi's game). Solid demo.

NickFleming's game (who is this on the forums?): Space Pilot is definitely fun for a little while, and the idea of having a shop definitely extends the gameplay value, but I'm afraid the pacing is too slow for my tastes, and I got bored of it rather quickly. I also didn't like the hitscan weapon you get by default at first, but I got used to it. The mini-galaga guy enemies are pretty annoying! I "almost" got enough money to buy a new ship, but didn't bother to grind safely enough and ended up getting exploded. The only other thing I can think to mention is that the player ship doesn't stand out very well against the gray background structures and this can be distracting. Music and SFX are allright but very PC-esque, saws and squares.

arawkins' game: I'm assuming that all of the sounds, gfx and music are royalty-free stuff, so I'll mostly try to concentrate on the gameplay and presentation. That being said, I'm totally gonna nitpick and point out that this game totally blows away the color limitations of the NES. It still feels plenty 8-bit though, maybe more like a TG16 game (technically an 8-bit system with a 16-bit GPU), or an MSX2 game. This is probably my favorite game of the bunch. I spent the last hour grinding up to level 25 or so and defeating the 4 dragons, one at a time. White, Black, Gold and Red, in that order. Demons and Cyclops were good gold sinks. I haven't felt a good somatic response to a grinding game in a while, so good job on this. Very clearly inspired by Dragon Warrior, right down to the "almost dying right away" part. I slowly was able to conquer the entire map, and felt a clear progression throughout. Well done.

Will somebody please teach me how to use itch.io so I can submit ratings properly? :)


Ferdi(Posted 2015) [#234]
@Nobuyuki

Thanks for the comments.

Did you beat the boss in Epic Fox? Took me like 20 tries before I beat it. Fun boss battle. I wont spoil it for you.

In Dodgeball, press spacebar to throw the ball. I find Quad to be the easiest level, because you can hide and then jump and throw at the other team.

In Attack of the Dead, you can switch to a knife (spacebar to swap weapon) so it is like my sword =)

If you go to the game page in the top right hand corner you will see a grey "Rate Submission for Monkey X October 2015 NES Game Jam" button.

Hope it helps.


Playniax(Posted 2015) [#235]
Some great entries guys!


Paul - Taiphoz(Posted 2015) [#236]
HAHAH.. Holy shit guys.. all of those games are brilliant well done all.... :) So wish I had taken part..


PixelPaladin(Posted 2015) [#237]
@Nobuyuki: It seems that the audio gliches in EpicFox only occur in the web app. The compiled apps are fine - they also run more fluid. maybe this is because I used all 32 chanels. Are there any audio restrictions in html5 apps?
NickFleming's game (who is this on the forums?)
Nick is a newly recruited monkey programmer :) - btw: he also did the music for EpicFox.


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#238]
@pixelPaladin

I seem to remember having issues with html5 audio if I used more than 5 channels, I think it was. That is purely anecdotal. If there's a Windows version available to download, I might give it a shot today. I really wish there was an option available to disable that pixel shader, I forgot to mention that in my initial thoughts -- I don't like it much at all! Completely detracts from the graphics.

Also, I got lost somehow after dying and responding in an unfamiliar place and couldn't find the boss. Now that I know there is a boss, I'd like to try to be able to beat the game.


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#239]
Nobuyuki, space bar to throw. Forgot to put in game, it is on the itch page.


PixelPaladin(Posted 2015) [#240]
@Nobuyuki
Thank you for the feedback. I will try to get the audio glitches fixed.
I added the crt shader to get visually nearer to the nes - but it is true that it detracts from the game graphics. To make a more neutral judgement of the game graphics possible I uploaded a second version of the game with a simple neares neighbor filter (I made no changes to the game code so this should be fine). I implemented the nes layers and palette system to get realistic nes style graphics and I want a neutral judgement.


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#241]
@Nobuyuki

I have tried downloading your game a few times. Each time my virus shield blocks it: Threat Name: Gen:Variant.Adware.Kazy.410233
You may want to run a virus scan on your system just in case and if found & cleaned reupload the game file.


Soap(Posted 2015) [#242]
Most likely false positive. You should submit the files to whatever scanner you use so they can clear it.


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#243]
that's weird. I am actually concerned about what would cause that. Let's see what it looks like on VirusTotal: https://www.virustotal.com/en/file/4df9ac02c77d1d8a1815eb28cb66281941f573e2fb77d0606f7c69ffc28fc7a3/analysis/

8 positives out of 55... But if you look at its DLL imports, it doesn't import anything outside of the usual MonkeyX imports. I think it might be a false positive, as well. But I don't know what might trigger it. Did any of the other games trigger it?


Manuel(Posted 2015) [#244]
Great job on the games guys. I enjoyed playing them and the graphics are awesome in all of them!


arawkins(Posted 2015) [#245]
@Nobuyuki thank you for the impressions, I'm glad you enjoyed the game :) My own experiences playing these games were filled with nostalgia. Many of them reminded me of some memory of childhood or a game I played a long time ago, which was really awesome. Space Pilot in particular reminded me of one of the first games I can ever remember playing, Cosmic Avenger for the Colecovision:



My dad bought that game for my brother and I when I was 5. I'm sure it had quite a bit to do with me becoming a game developer.

Attack of the Dead reminded me a little bit of Fester's Quest or Zombie's Ate my neighbors (yeah I realize the latter was a 16 bit title but still!)




A great NES feel and lots of fun. To me, all that was missing was a shotgun to clear out the clumps!

Spelunkid reminded me of Metroid and Blaster Master:



I look forward to seeing whatever this game becomes, it was fun just to explore around the maps.

Gar your game gave me that ghosts and goblins feeling, right down to the nightmarish difficulty ;)



The game has a great NES feel. I didn't get a chance to check if your game has gamepad support, but I think it would really be suited to it.

Epic Fox was great and felt like a throwback to games like Mario 3 and Kirby




I liked the CRT effect and the controls felt really nice. Again I really wanted to play this with a gamepad but mine wasn't working with it (played the desktop version).

Battle Dodgeball was probably the most original of the bunch for me. It was the one game that felt like a NES game I never got the chance to play. Unique gameplay and cool A.I.. I had a friend over for the weekend who actually plays in a dodgeball league and he was excited to see his favorite sport represented as a NES game. It tooks us some time to work out how to play but once we did it was really impressive. Would love to see a hotseat/splitscreen implementation of this!

The Sword definitely felt like the most accessible of the bunch. Even my daughter, who is quite young, was able to grab the gamepad and start playing. Again that took me back to the old days where anyone could just pick up the controller and take a crack at whatever game we brought home from the rental store.

And of course my own game came from a place of nostalgia as well:



I've always wanted to try to make a simple RPG and this jam finally gave me the push. I learned a lot about Ignition and also structuring a turn based game. I'm hoping to be able to take this start and spin it into a more fleshed out experience in the future.

This turned out to be a really cool experience that I got a lot more out of than I bargained for. Great job everyone!


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#246]
@arawkins thanks for taking the time to check out my game and give feedback even though it wasn't in the jam. Yeah that is a common problem with difficulty. I intentionally made it easier 3 different times. I can go through it all never get hit and win the game but when we dev we play-test hundreds of times at least plus we know how everything behaves. It does have joypad support but those functions do not seem to work in html5 builds.


arawkins(Posted 2015) [#247]

@arawkins thanks for taking the time to check out my game and give feedback even though it wasn't in the jam. Yeah that is a common problem with difficulty. I intentionally made it easier 3 different times. I can go through it all never get hit and win the game but when we dev we play-test hundreds of times at least plus we know how everything behaves.



Yeah, I know exactly what you mean. I didn't mean it as a complaint btw, I liked the challenge :)

Re: gamepads, it looks like the newest build 86a has officially added support for them in html5:
http://www.monkey-x.com/Community/posts.php?topic=10182


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#248]
Thanks. Is this something only for the Pro versions? No worries if it is. I have basically decided to stick with Monkey X so will buy Pro this week sometime. At this point I have proven to myself it is an excellent RGD tool. Guess I won't bother getting back to my HaxeFlixel and Unity tests for 2D after all.

This might not be the most appropriate time to mention this but I just wanted to say that developing in Monkey X has been a real joy. In contrast to when I was working on 2D games in Unity... with Monkey X everything seems logical and I never feel like I am wasting time battling the system. Instead Monkey X just lets me focus on what I want to do and never gets in my way. It doesn't try to be the end all be all doing unnecessary things for me. It just does what it needs and says it will do and no more. What a breath of fresh air!


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#249]
@Gar - i was able to try your game and it definitely has that NES vibe to it. But holy sh*t, its hard! I ran out of bullets after taking out all those spiders so I couldn't kill those pumpkin bat thingys!!


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#250]
@Neuro thanks. LOL So... it definitely is like an old school game! Those suckers were HARD.


tiresius(Posted 2015) [#251]
The entries look great and just like what can happen in a well-themed jam, are all very different!
I am bummed that I did not get any traction on my idea: Space Taxi (C64) remake NES-style). I think I have developed major burnout for coding. :/

GarBenjamin you should have entered the jam it looks like it would have fit well.


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#252]
Yeah Gar, why didn't you enter it in? (aside the fact that you actually help sponsored it lol)


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#253]
@tiresius @Neuro:

Well... two reasons. First, I helped to sponsor and promote it. Second, I just wanted to make a Halloween game and wasn't entirely sure if I wanted to actually bust my arse to finish it in time. If I was in the jam I would have felt that I had to. Of course, I ended up frying my brain pushing madly and finished it in time anyway. lol

It was a great little project but I was working as fast as I could every day. I am sure the same is true for most of you. I'll be enjoying a relaxed week after this.

I think the jam was a great success and am very glad to see the excellent entries. It should have brought some more well-deserved attention to Monkey X as well. That is another big reason I made my Halloween game. I really like holiday themed games. I like retro games. And I think Monkey X is an excellent framework for programmers. Yet I think a lot of people don't know about it. Hopefully we all helped to change that at least a little bit these past two weeks.


PixelPaladin(Posted 2015) [#254]
I played all jam games – so here is my feedback:

Attack of the Dead is short but well done. The first time I just run threw the game, then I noticed that I also had a knife – so killed all all zombies. It is one of the few games that actually has got a story :)

Battle Dodgeball looks nes-ish. I tested all levels and like the first one the most. It is a cool idea that you can watch the game until one team has won if you got hit early. An optional skip button would be nice but I also never found the skip button in the real world. Edit: Found it! You can press backspace to switch between players.

The Sword is really cool but in my opinion it has one big problem: it is highly addictive. I played it many times and my highest score is 9962 points.

SpacePilot has got a really cool music theme - it fits in very well. Sometimes there could be a little bit more color contrast but it is not a big problem. I defeated the boss and got 20255 points.

Spelunkid has very authentic nes graphics and sounds. Even if it is not finished yet, I explored the complete game world. I hope that it will be finished since I like platformers (especially if they are combined with rpg elements).

4 Dragons is really fun to play. The graphics is not really nes like (more like snes) but the gameplay is definitely one of the best. I played until level 27 and defeated all the dragons. The Platino showed up two times but I could not defeat it – so I have to kill it at an other time.

Farmer Gar definitely looks and plays great – it should have been in the jam, too. It really feels like a nes game and it is really hard, so I have not finished playing it yet, but I will try to do so.


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#255]
There's a (rather poorly documentated) feature (on the the itch.io page) to use Select/Backspace to change players. Should make it automatic after being eliminated.


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#256]
I plan on playing the games more this week since I can now relax once again. They are all good fun games. And I agree Attack of the Dead reminds me of Rick and The Walking Dead. It kind of felt like playing an adventure game for some reason. Especially after walking a few levels worth and reaching a forest IIRC.

Space Pilot was pretty cool I thought. I really like shmups and there was a very nice enemy variety. Still need to check out a few of them.

Oh and I am now a real Monkey Xer. Just bought Monkey X Pro + Ignition X bundle. I already bought the Jungle IDE a while back. So now I'll be ready to rock n roll in a week or two when I start work on my Christmas game. :)


therevills(Posted 2015) [#257]
I enjoyed playing all the games! It was a great theme and because of the limits in palette and resolution my programmer art doesnt look out of place :)

Since The Walking Dead is currently my fav TV show at the moment, I thought how would they have created an 8-bit game based on it. It was a toss up between a platformer or a double dragon type of game.

Here is a list of my TO-DOs which didnt make it into the game:
* Inventory System (I wanted a window based on where you could equip armor, select weapons and use medkits etc)
* More collectible items
* More weapons (shotgun, crossbow, 2x4 etc)
* Larger/More levels
* Different type of Zeds
* Human enemies
* Start/Stop sections of levels, forcing you to Clear (;)) before you can move on
* NPCs

But of course tempus fugit...

Big thanks to Neuro for setting up the jam and everyone who took part, it was a blast :)


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#258]
Indeed, props to Neuro for taking the ball and running with it! Was a ton of fun this jam.


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#259]
So who are the winners of the goodies? Has it been announced and I missed it or is the judging still going on?


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#260]
Judging should still be going on right now and will finished Friday night(Nov 6th). Winners will be announced on Saturday Nov 7th and the prizes will be distributed out by me and I guess...Playniax since he owns the keys for Pyro and Ignition.

Damn...wish i started the project on time (like everyone else) and got something in so i could of voted too :).


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#261]
Indeed, props to Neuro for taking the ball and running with it! Was a ton of fun this jam.


Lol, i'm actually quite intrigued at the interests and participation of the Jam. Watching it happen and interaction between all the folks here was definitely enjoyable. Bigger props to all who actually participated though. The entries all looked great!

Also, I'd be happy to organized the next one too when everyone is fully rested :). Next time around...i'm definitely *NOT* gonna wait until 2 days before the Jam ends before i actually start something :).


MikeHart(Posted 2015) [#262]
Next time around...i'm definitely *NOT* gonna wait until 2 days before the Jam ends before i actually start something :).


That was some serious crunch time you put yourself in it.

Congrats to all the particicpants. Your entries look great. I will try to join the next one too.


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#263]
Next year I will join one of them. My next project is my Christmas game. Last year I rushed to complete it in 50 hours. This year I am starting on the game design this weekend and development next week. Gonna take this one slow and steady for a change.


Ferdi(Posted 2015) [#264]
Jupiter Hadley made a video playing all our NES jam games.

https://youtu.be/0h_RjMz8zU8

Always nice to see someone else playing your game.


Playniax(Posted 2015) [#265]
Great video! I am impressed with the entries. Congrats!


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#266]
Hey thats really cool!!! Wonder how he she found us :)?




muddy_shoes(Posted 2015) [#267]
>Wonder how he found us

Jupiter is a woman. She kind of specialises in finding and doing quick Let's Plays of obscure Indie jam games.


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#268]
Jupiter is a woman.

Eh..i thought she was just a kid doing the playthroughs lol..


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#269]
@Neuro same here. I've watched some of her videos in the past and honestly thought this was a very young boy. Like a 12 year old or younger. This explains why she speaks well and sounds brighter than a young boy typically does.


nullterm(Posted 2015) [#270]
Just finish rating all the games. I'm so last minute. Good luck everyone! Results in a couple hours.


tiresius(Posted 2015) [#271]
I'm American this sounds exactly like a young woman to me. :)
And that is super cool, watching a stranger play your game.

Now I REALLY wish I followed through with the compo.


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#272]
@tiresius I'm American too. I think mainly I just figured it was a young boy because a lot of very young lads these days are on Youtube and into gaming (and basically anything & everything else too) and generally they sound (to me) about the same as a girl. lol


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#273]
@tiresius I'm American too. I think mainly I just figured it was a young boy because a lot of very young lads these days are on Youtube and into gaming (and basically anything & everything else too) and generally they sound (to me) about the same as a girl. lol


PixelPaladin(Posted 2015) [#274]
So the nes jam is over and we all saw a lot of good games. Jupiter Hadley did a nice job creating the compilation video – it is well done. I am also thankful to everyone for voting for my game. Thank you all!


therevills(Posted 2015) [#275]
Congrats to the winners :)

I had great fun creating my game and playing the others!


arawkins(Posted 2015) [#276]
Yep, me too. Thanks for the votes on my game, I'm glad you guys enjoyed it :)


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#277]
Well well...guess its about that time but being that I screwed up the timings again (go figure) looks likes we got all our winners!!

So 1st Place prize $100 Amazon Voucher goes too...
Epic Fox by PixelPaladin !!!


And the 2nd Place prize choice of either Pyro or Ignition X goes too..
4Dragons by arawkins !!!


Finally, 3rd Place prize of $25 Amazon Voucher goes too...
Battle Dodgeball by nullterm !!!


And for the rest of the folks :
- Attack of the Dead by therevils
- SpelunKid by nobuyuki
- The Sword by Digiraze
- Space Pilot by Nick Fleming

BIG CONGRATS to you guys for participating in our little Game Jam!!!!

Also, special thanks to GarBenjamin and Playniax for sponsoring!!!

***All winners have been contacted so that prizes can be distributed.

@arawkins - i can't locate your contact info so I sent you a tweet! Contact me back soon so that Playniax can get your prize! Ok got it!

Well its been fun guys! Hope this 3 week session was exciting for all of you as it was for me. I quite happy with the results of our little Game JAM and will see you all at the next one!!! I have something in mind already.... ;)


tiresius(Posted 2015) [#278]
Excellent job everyone !!


Playniax(Posted 2015) [#279]
Congrats everyone!

@arawkins: Your Pyro license should be in you email. Enjoy!


Ferdi(Posted 2015) [#280]
Congrats to the winners. Love playing all entries games.

@Neuro Thank you for being an AWESOME host! And I would have love to play your game.

@GarBenjamin and @Playniax Thank you for being sponsors.

I will definitely join the next Monkey Jam. Always fun.


Paul - Taiphoz(Posted 2015) [#281]
Nice work all... loved the effect in epic fox, really well done.


degac(Posted 2015) [#282]
Congratulation to all.
Epic Fox is really nice.


MikeHart(Posted 2015) [#283]
Congratulations to all the winners and participants.


Manuel(Posted 2015) [#284]
Great job everyone on their games! congratulations to the winners I enjoyed a lot playing all of them, great grafics also in all the games very creative and detailed.


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#285]
Congrats!


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#286]
Hey that's cool the judging is done and the awards have been made. It was great to have a small part in this event. Excellent work and the variety is so good it is almost hard to imagine it is random. I know it was but I mean it is a bit surprising we didn't see multiple shmups or platformers that were fairly close to each other.

Do we know if there are any new people here trying Monkey X as a result of hearing about it through this jam?
At any rate it seemed to bring a little more life into these forums. That is always a great thing! :)
Have you guys ever done a forum community game where several people all join together and make a stage or whatever?

Been working on the concept for my Christmas game today and know what I want to do now.
Also I just finished the overall palette the game will use. A modified NES palette sorta like the Amiga. Remember the Amiga having that half-bright mode that doubled the on-screen colors from 32 to 64? I doubled the NES colors in a similar way with basically half-bright versions of the palette. Hopefully with 112 total colors to work with and 4 to 6 colors per object the artists will be able to make something that looks "better" & still very retro. Alright time to get back at it!


DruggedBunny(Posted 2015) [#287]
Some really cool stuff there... but I did love the fantastic Epic Fox shaders and graphics on the whole!


Nobuyuki(Posted 2015) [#288]
Have you guys ever done a forum community game where several people all join together and make a stage or whatever?


You know of WarioWare? I have heard of jams in the past where people would all contribute to a minigame collection like this. The stipulation is that the "code template" must be adhered to so that the main program can load up the minigame as a submodule, feeding it things like the "heartbeat" (game's tempo) and delta time reference, and calling its update and render routines. The module does its part by sending back success or failure states, which makes the game switch to the next one. After doing this at random a few times, the process repeats at a faster speed until it's game over :)


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#289]
Do we know if there are any new people here trying Monkey X as a result of hearing about it through this jam?

I think only Mark can tell us if there was a spike in Monkey-X downloads from the Jam. I'm sure more folks have now become aware of Monkey-X now because of it.

Have you guys ever done a forum community game where several people all join together and make a stage or whatever?

I'm pretty sure a while back...like the very first Monkey-X Jam (was still called just plain monkey back then) we had here involved a lot of people submitting very small quick games that was suppose to be incorporated into a full game "package" or something. Can't remember if we actually completed that or not.


tiresius(Posted 2015) [#290]
We did it back in 2012.

http://www.monkey-x.com/Community/posts.php?topic=7479


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#291]
@tiresius That game is awesome! First time I saw it. Good ole school type of fun with very well done updates such as the particle FX and alien behavior.
Tough at first few plays they destroyed me quick. Finally got the hang of it (when I realized the big green particles were actually destroying me!!) and got 1427 points.

You all did a fantastic job on the game.


tiresius(Posted 2015) [#292]
Hi GarBenjamin based on our comment it sounds like you just played the first game. The Summer 2012 thing (not really a competition) was to make a bunch of games using diddy framework and have a single launcher for all of them. With Touch input. So there are really 12 games there... :)


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#293]
@tiresius Yep I only played that cool Space Invaders style game. I will check it out again tonight so I can try the others. Thanks!


Gerry Quinn(Posted 2015) [#294]
Well done, guys - will check them out when I get a chance!


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#295]
@tiresius how many points or waves do you need to clear on the first game to make it to the second game? I made it to 3,248 points this last time.

Or is there some way to select the games? I pressed every key on my keyboard as best as I could tell and nothing moved the game selection icon.


therevills(Posted 2015) [#296]
Or is there some way to select the games?

Use the mouse Luke ;)

Click/Drag on the list on the main menu screen...


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#297]
I did try clicking on them and that did nothing. I'd have never thought of clicking and dragging the list. lol Thanks! It works and wow there are a lot more games in there than I expected.


Paul - Taiphoz(Posted 2015) [#298]
Glad you guys like that, My intention at the time or I should say after it was done was to update it and go through and plug in all of the bannana's examples into it , given the project uses diddy and the other stuff does not I figured that I could make the left side as is with monkey and the right side display part out of html/css and an Iframe and then selection the game on the left would load it into the iframe on the right but I never got around to actually trying it.

Also glad you guys liked my take on space invaders there were some other people working on really cool stuff that never made it in which is a shame.

I'm old enough that I used to waste a load of 10p coins on Space Invaders. Centipede and galaga in my local Fish 'n Chipshop which also had, packman, yi ar Kung-fu or how ever it was spelt and some other really nice classic's, oh happy days. :)

Where i got my love for shooters :)


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#299]
Note, that even back in 2012 i failed to complete anything lol....




GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#300]
@Neuro: what is the last game you completed?


Neuro(Posted 2015) [#301]
@Neuro: what is the last game you completed?

LOL...with so many started, i guess only 3 of my games that i would consider that are kinda "complete" :

- Tevada Trigger - my first experiment game using Monkey
- Tesseract HyperGunner - well...this is kinda complete...
- Star Fighter Max - this an oldie from back in the early BlitzMax days.


GarBenjamin(Posted 2015) [#302]
@Neuro some interesting looking stuff. Particularly liked Tesseract HyperGunner. You have some interesting game ideas!