Samurai Lantern/Night Ninja WIP

[Dave Footitt]

Very nice!

Another vote for different keys I struggled a bit with space.

But lovely and smooth, top job

[jms2]

It's very nice to play, and it doesn't look like a BBC game at all! It's also very hard...

I guess the key choice may depend on whether you're playing on a real BBC or an emulator on a laptop. On my laptop, the spacebar is too small and too far away, but it might be fine on a Beeb.

I'd prefer * for jump and return to swoosh the sword.

[ChrisB]

New version attached. This version adds:

• An instruction screen
• The ability to redefine the controls
• Another level
• Changes to mean that you are less likely to be killed whilst off screen

NightNinjaR2.ssd

(11.75 KiB) Downloaded 70 times

[jms2]

The selectable keys are a nice improvement.

Can I make a very minor suggestion? In the game, the lanterns counter counts down, whereas when you die the total is given in terms of how many you got, not how many were left. I find this slightly confusing, in that I can never remember what my best score was. Still can't get past level 1 though, so I must be pretty bad at this game.

[fizgog]

A lot better with the user defined keys option

I found it best with z, x, Return (jump), Shift (attack) on a laptop and z, x, " (Jump), ? (Attack) on a Beeb

Also I think I prefer the way you have the lanterns were it tells you how many you have collected (I'm presuming 15 each level) so if you have collected 17 you can work out which level you reached or maybe you can fit on a level reached indicator on the front screen.

[ChrisB]

So - officially the you only achieve a "best time" when you finish the whole screen set - everything else is just an attempt. However - I'll have a look at replacing the "Best Time" with "Best Score" until that happens.

[tricky]

For competition, you might want score and time.
For a high score challenge, score would mostly work and they could make their own rules up for time when people complete the whole thing.
Did I just misunderstand the scoring - probably

[ChrisB]

Here's the latest version. This version contains 4 levels with updated graphics and "scenery" added to the levels. This may be the final set of levels.

There have been many difficulty tweaks to spawn rates and speeds of monsters. I've also slightly reduced the gravity. This should give you more time to registerif a monster has jumped or fallen. I believe it makes things slightly easier.

NightNinjaR3.ssd

(11.5 KiB) Downloaded 60 times

My current high score is 33 Lanterns although I have beaten all the levels individually. Next job is sound.

Edit: High score is now 49 (done on real hardware). I would value feedback on how hard people are finding this version.

Edit2: Managed to beat all levels - Time 251.74.

[Rob_hawk]

Hi - I had the opportunity to test (play!) the latest version for an hour or so yesterday and I think all of your fine tuning re the difficulty level has paid off. For me the game was much more enjoyable and had a better balance than before. I only managed to complete the first level on 3 occasions and gradually progressed in level 2 (18 lanterns best score) and I wasn’t left with the feeling I had on previous versions “wow I’ve only got 4 lanterns and I’m dead again”! Although still a challenge to get to level 2 it no longer felt that it was insurmountable and the urge to have another go was far greater in this version as a result.

I’m sure you’re aware but just in case… When you jump underneath a platform the main character behaves strangely in a visual way.

Looking forward to the sound being added. It’s becoming great fun.

PS - All testing on real hardware.

[ChrisB]

Thanks for the feedback. I'll definitely have a look at the jump behaviour - I hadn't actually noticed that one - I was always moving left or right.

I might also have to investigate making some difficulty levels to "broaden the appeal" - I was concerned that it might be too easy (!)

[jms2]

Seconded - I like the subtle revisions, they definitely make it more fun to play. It was just that bit too hard before, but now it's "challenging" (in a good way).

[TobyLobster]

Yes, I agree it is better. How accurate is the collision detection? That can make a difference to the difficulty level too.

[ChrisB]

The collision detection is just bounding boxes - however I've not noticed it being problematic. The area where there's less sprite is the head and if something is coming at you from above it's probably going to hit you next frame in any case.

With the addition of sound (still WIP) I have noticed that it is possible to "hit" and be killed by the same monster so the next version will side with the player. I've also been investigating have three different difficulty levels that related to adjusted spawn rates. I'll need some title screen rework (which is due in any case) to display this.

[Rob_hawk]

I might also have to investigate making some difficulty levels to "broaden the appeal" - I was concerned that it might be too easy (!)

I think having some difficulty levels would be a great idea. It’ll also extend the life of the game beyond a couple of completions.

[ChrisB]

Here's the latest update. New with this release:

• Added some sound. I have some tweaks that I want to add with channel allocation and some more sounds. Press f0 to change volume
• Added difficulty levels (Press f1 at the title screen to change). High scores are per difficulty level.
• Because of the above f0 and f1 are no longer available as defined keys.
• Re-arranged title screen. Again there are a few more tweaks that I'd like to add.
• Corrected "jump" behaviour when below a block.
• Prevented player dying at the same time as killing a monster.

The difficulty levels only change the spawn rates for the monsters but this makes quite a difference to how easy a particular screen is to complete.

NightNinjaR4.ssd

(12 KiB) Downloaded 39 times

[Rob_hawk]

This is great Chris and it’s becoming really very playable indeed. With each revision not only are there improvements technically but it also becomes more addictive to play. The sound has made a huge difference and is pretty easy on the ear a well so well done on this front. The option to dampen the sound is a welcome addition as well.

The difficulty levels at first play seem to be different enough from each other to make a real difference and the title screen is coming together nicely. The jump behaviour is a great fix so I hope that wasn’t too much trouble!

One thing I noticed today. Sometimes you get a “double ghost” situation where two are displayed at almost identical positions on screen. When this happens they appear in white so although not an expert I guess some kind of EOR thing going on? Out of curiosity and learning on my side it would be good to know why this happens.

Great work and I look forward to the next revision.

Regards - Rob

[lurkio]

Finally completed the first screen -- on Easy level!

Sound is perfect and feels like it was always there!

Great work!

[ChrisB]

Thanks for the comments.

@Rob Yes - the monsters are plotted using eor. As mentioned above the colours are chosen so at least some of the background doesn't change how they appear but when the align they will disappear. I wasn't sure if I wanted to address this - although with a bit of code reorganisation I have a little memory to play with so I might look to make them not spawn over the top of each other.

[Rob_hawk]

Yes - the monsters are plotted using eor.

Thanks for confirming that Chris. I think the monsters not being able to spawn in the same position could be a good solution if there are no other implications.

[ChrisB]

Time for another release. This one is probably suitable as a "Beta" designation and is dangerously close to release.

Due to finding some code that I had left lying around that wasn't used I've got some space to add some quality of life improvements.

Changes in this version:

• Crunched Loader.
• Added "pings" when you change volume or level on the main screen.
• Improved the responsiveness of the main screen when changing difficulties.
• Added a "Win" tune.
• Added colours to the menu/idle screen.
• Added a shake/wobble when killing a monster (the original does this as well).
• Added a Jump sound - see below.

There seems to be an issue with the version of Beebem that I'm using in that the jump sound doesn't sound the same as on real hardware. On Beebem there is just white noise where as the real hardware is more modulated.

Lastly I haven't changed the spawn behaviour - I did attempt a fix but it didn't seem to make that much difference.

Let me know what you think!

NightNinjaR5.ssd

(11.75 KiB) Downloaded 50 times

[Rob_hawk]

This is great Chris and it’s becoming really very playable indeed. With each revision not only are there improvements technically but it also becomes more addictive to play. The sound has made a huge difference and is pretty easy on the ear a well so well done on this front. The option to dampen the sound is a welcome addition as well.

The difficulty levels at first play seem to be different enough from each other to make a real difference and the title screen is coming together nicely. The jump behaviour is a great fix so I hope that wasn’t too much trouble!

One thing I noticed today. Sometimes you get a “double ghost” situation where two are displayed at almost identical positions on screen. When this happens they appear in white so although not an expert I guess some kind of EOR thing going on? Out of curiosity it would be good to know why this is.

Great work and I look forward to the next revision.

Regards - Rob

[Rob_hawk]

[*]Added a shake/wobble when killing a monster (the original does this as well).
[*]Added a Jump sound - see below.

Great to see the next iteration Chris. I’ve just had a quick 20 minutes and after being initially nervous about the screen shake when killing a monster it’s actually pretty easy on the eye and adds to the overall game IMO. The jump sound on a real Model B sounds okay to me and would be missed if it was not present so another good addition.

One small sound related issue of note (no pun intended!):

- When you die on the first level there’s a sound effect. On all other levels the sound effect is not currently present and you are just returned to the menu screen.

Looking back at release 1 it’s amazing how far this has come. Have a great weekend.

Regards - Rob

[ChrisB]

Thanks for the feedback.

- When you die on the first level there’s a sound effect. On all other levels the sound effect is not currently present and you are just returned to the menu screen.

Did you get to the second screen pressing "escape"? Once you do that your progress/score is disregarded and it exits to the menu rather than the "dead" screen so that's why there's no sound. However - it won't be hard to add. I'll see how it "feels".

[Rob_hawk]

Hi Chris,

Yes spot on I was testing the levels at times using the escape key so that actually makes perfect sense now thinking about it!

Have a good weekend.

Regards - Rob

[chrisn]

The game is looking really good!

One thing I noticed when trying out NightNinjaR5.ssd on my Beeb... It has PiTubeDirect installed, and when I load the game it gets as far as showing the blue background, then the cassette relay clicks and the game hangs. After a Ctrl+Break the Tube 6502 co-processor is now enabled. I have the PiTubeDirect configured to disable the co-processor by default (I always manually enable it with *FX151). Version R4 was OK, so I wonder what may have changed?

[ChrisB]

That's interesting. I have a pitube so will give it a try. There is another version coming so I'll see if I can investigate. Your configuration is that the tube is connected but "disabled" (*FX 151,230,14)? when you load the game?

I've disabled most interrupts and have an RTI at &d00 so I'm surprised there's interaction there.

As to strange things happening after restart - that doesn't surprise me. I'm using all of the RAM with no regard for what was there previously. CTRL BREAK does not clear out everything so whatever random bytes are left in the OS workspace may have interesting and unusual effects...

[chrisn]

Your configuration is that the tube is connected but "disabled" (*FX 151,230,14)? when you load the game?

Yes, it's disabled via the config.txt file on the SD card. I also just found that if I play version R4, then Ctrl+Break, then run R5, it works fine.

[ChrisB]

I've not recreated the issue with my pitube - but in experimenting I believe I've found it. Another one of those "amazed it ever worked" issues and embarrassingly the same sort of uninitialised zero page bug that cause strange thing to happen on Wordle...

As such here's the next beta version. Thanks to some more code and data reorganisation and rationalisation found some more space so here are the changes:

• Fixed a bug to do with uninitialised zero page data causing hang on load. This bug was introduced by trying to speed up the screen redraw when changing difficulty levels.
• Prevented the "ping" sound playing on entering the main menu if the volume is changed mid game.
• Added some small sprites to the dead and win screens.
• Changed the wobble on killing a monster to start larger and decay slightly.
• Mitigated an issue where the game would crash if you were killed whilst partially off the top of the screen. It is still possible to force this issue by jumping so the player sprite is off the top of the screen and pressing escape to move to the next level. The game will then hang on return to the main menu. Suggested workaround - don't do that!
• Increased monster speed and spawn rate on level four to make it slightly harder to distinguish it from previous levels. (No groaning at the back please).

As always feedback about issues or comments on gameplay etc. are appreciated. I think that this version is very close to being final - but I said that last time as well....

NightNinjaR6.ssd

(11.75 KiB) Downloaded 39 times

[chrisn]

Thanks ChrisB, that has fixed it!

[lovebug]

Amazing work well done