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Greetings,

I recently joined SMS Power because I wanted to learn to make homebrew games. The programming resources here are impressive and greatly helped my learning. The attached file is my first homebrew game; I've also included some screenshots.

Cheers,

STIR_FC

casevac000.jpg (33.13 KB)

screenshot 1

casevac002.jpg (129.29 KB)

screenshot 2

casevac003.jpg (122.79 KB)

screenshot 3

casevac sms and src.zip (239.99 KB)

ROM and source code

It's a pretty interesting concept. Nice graphics, too.

Thanks. There's a lot I'd do differently if I made it again from scratch but I suppose that's how you learn. I must say that the educational resources on SMS Power are fantastic; I had never touched assembly language before and I am surprised how easily I picked it up from tutorials and sample code. Now to plan the next project...

The missiles feel a bit cheap, when the wounded are between a structure and barbwire. Can't see a way to avoid them, while getting to them. A nice change of role, with war games though.

Thanks for the feedback. Indeed they are hard to avoid, especially with the buggy collision detection regarding impassable tiles. I will make note of your comments and make modifications if I find time to publish an update.

Regrettably, I got into that classic dilemma with three options: 1) keep developing the game at the expense of work, school and family; 2) put it on the back burner until I have more time to refine it (i.e. never); or 3) release it as is. Obviously I opted for #3.

Congrats on your first game! It is like an infantry take on Choplifter, or a non-gun spiritual relative of Rescue Mission :) I also like the very comprehensive commenting approach in your source code !

Thanks. I like to keep lots of notes since I don't trust my own memory. Too many comments really but...

Nice! I will test that on my SMS soon :)

Sweet! I'd love to know how it runs on original hardware. I really miss my SMS but regrettably my mother gave it away when I went to university in the late 90s.

Nice game, although I agree that collision detection with beackground tiles can be a bit dodgy sometimes, and it's harrd to avoid the missiles on several occasions.

From a graphic artist's point of view, one thing deserves a special mention: You succeeded in creating an 8x8 ground tile that repeats seamlessly and doesn't create unwanted patterns or straight lines when tiled. I don't know if you're aware of it, but that's actually quite a difficult thing to do. Congratulations!

Thank you for the comments. The ground tiles did change several times in order to avoid the line effect you mention.

quite original game, congratulations!
btw, the ambulance doesn’t appear when we run the game on mess emulator, i really wonder what causes that

Thank you for the feedback; I really want to start into a new game which draws on some of the feedback I've got but grad school starts in two weeks. Forgive my ignorance but mess emulator?

I just tested it on my SMS. The lower status bar has the hearts and the crosses flickering, seems like you're constantly deleting and redrawing them. Screen border is green (or is it on purpose?) and while playing I could make the ambulance disappear offscreen... don't ask me how I did it. I could hear its sound, but I could no longer see it, and the game kept on switching screens when moving.
I hope this helps :)

Sweet. Thanks for the original hardware testing data. Sadly, all of the points you identified are unintentional. Oh well, that's how we learn. I have run into some of those issues even in emulation.

STIR_FC wrote

Forgive my ignorance but mess emulator?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi_Emulator_Super_System :)

Tom wrote

STIR_FC wrote

Forgive my ignorance but mess emulator?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi_Emulator_Super_System :)

Wonderful. Thank you.

Author	Message
STIR_FC Joined: 14 Aug 2016 Posts: 27 Location: Canada	CASEVAC (was: Release of 1st homebrew game) Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 10:44 pm
STIR_FC Joined: 14 Aug 2016 Posts: 27 Location: Canada	Greetings, I recently joined SMS Power because I wanted to learn to make homebrew games. The programming resources here are impressive and greatly helped my learning. The attached file is my first homebrew game; I've also included some screenshots. Cheers, STIR_FC casevac000.jpg (33.13 KB) screenshot 1 casevac002.jpg (129.29 KB) screenshot 2 casevac003.jpg (122.79 KB) screenshot 3 casevac sms and src.zip (239.99 KB) ROM and source code

haroldoop Joined: 25 Feb 2006 Posts: 852 Location: Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil	Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 11:00 pm
	It's a pretty interesting concept. Nice graphics, too.

STIR_FC Joined: 14 Aug 2016 Posts: 27 Location: Canada	Posted: Wed Aug 17, 2016 11:08 pm
STIR_FC Joined: 14 Aug 2016 Posts: 27 Location: Canada	Thanks. There's a lot I'd do differently if I made it again from scratch but I suppose that's how you learn. I must say that the educational resources on SMS Power are fantastic; I had never touched assembly language before and I am surprised how easily I picked it up from tutorials and sample code. Now to plan the next project...

Orlan Rod Joined: 28 May 2015 Posts: 118	Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2016 1:24 am
Orlan Rod Joined: 28 May 2015 Posts: 118	The missiles feel a bit cheap, when the wounded are between a structure and barbwire. Can't see a way to avoid them, while getting to them. A nice change of role, with war games though.

STIR_FC Joined: 14 Aug 2016 Posts: 27 Location: Canada	Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2016 1:32 am
STIR_FC Joined: 14 Aug 2016 Posts: 27 Location: Canada	Thanks for the feedback. Indeed they are hard to avoid, especially with the buggy collision detection regarding impassable tiles. I will make note of your comments and make modifications if I find time to publish an update. Regrettably, I got into that classic dilemma with three options: 1) keep developing the game at the expense of work, school and family; 2) put it on the back burner until I have more time to refine it (i.e. never); or 3) release it as is. Obviously I opted for #3.

hang-on Joined: 23 Mar 2013 Posts: 611 Location: Copenhagen, Denmark	Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2016 9:06 am
	Congrats on your first game! It is like an infantry take on Choplifter, or a non-gun spiritual relative of Rescue Mission :) I also like the very comprehensive commenting approach in your source code !

STIR_FC Joined: 14 Aug 2016 Posts: 27 Location: Canada	Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2016 11:33 am
STIR_FC Joined: 14 Aug 2016 Posts: 27 Location: Canada	Thanks. I like to keep lots of notes since I don't trust my own memory. Too many comments really but...

sverx Joined: 05 Sep 2013 Posts: 3586 Location: Stockholm, Sweden	Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2016 11:59 am
	Nice! I will test that on my SMS soon :)

STIR_FC Joined: 14 Aug 2016 Posts: 27 Location: Canada	Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2016 12:09 pm
STIR_FC Joined: 14 Aug 2016 Posts: 27 Location: Canada	Sweet! I'd love to know how it runs on original hardware. I really miss my SMS but regrettably my mother gave it away when I went to university in the late 90s.

Kagesan Joined: 01 Feb 2014 Posts: 823	Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 7:06 am
Kagesan Joined: 01 Feb 2014 Posts: 823	Nice game, although I agree that collision detection with beackground tiles can be a bit dodgy sometimes, and it's harrd to avoid the missiles on several occasions. From a graphic artist's point of view, one thing deserves a special mention: You succeeded in creating an 8x8 ground tile that repeats seamlessly and doesn't create unwanted patterns or straight lines when tiled. I don't know if you're aware of it, but that's actually quite a difficult thing to do. Congratulations!

STIR_FC Joined: 14 Aug 2016 Posts: 27 Location: Canada	Posted: Sun Aug 21, 2016 11:21 am
STIR_FC Joined: 14 Aug 2016 Posts: 27 Location: Canada	Thank you for the comments. The ground tiles did change several times in order to avoid the line effect you mention.

nitrofurano Joined: 01 Aug 2012 Posts: 318 Location: Porto, Portugal	Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 7:58 pm
	quite original game, congratulations! btw, the ambulance doesn’t appear when we run the game on mess emulator, i really wonder what causes that

STIR_FC Joined: 14 Aug 2016 Posts: 27 Location: Canada	Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 8:18 pm
STIR_FC Joined: 14 Aug 2016 Posts: 27 Location: Canada	Thank you for the feedback; I really want to start into a new game which draws on some of the feedback I've got but grad school starts in two weeks. Forgive my ignorance but mess emulator?

sverx Joined: 05 Sep 2013 Posts: 3586 Location: Stockholm, Sweden	Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 9:50 pm
	I just tested it on my SMS. The lower status bar has the hearts and the crosses flickering, seems like you're constantly deleting and redrawing them. Screen border is green (or is it on purpose?) and while playing I could make the ambulance disappear offscreen... don't ask me how I did it. I could hear its sound, but I could no longer see it, and the game kept on switching screens when moving. I hope this helps :)

STIR_FC Joined: 14 Aug 2016 Posts: 27 Location: Canada	Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 9:56 pm
STIR_FC Joined: 14 Aug 2016 Posts: 27 Location: Canada	Sweet. Thanks for the original hardware testing data. Sadly, all of the points you identified are unintentional. Oh well, that's how we learn. I have run into some of those issues even in emulation.

Tom Joined: 16 May 2002 Posts: 1347 Location: italy	Posted: Wed Aug 24, 2016 11:19 pm
Tom Joined: 16 May 2002 Posts: 1347 Location: italy	STIR_FC wrote Forgive my ignorance but mess emulator? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi_Emulator_Super_System :)

STIR_FC Joined: 14 Aug 2016 Posts: 27 Location: Canada	Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2016 12:07 am
STIR_FC Joined: 14 Aug 2016 Posts: 27 Location: Canada	Tom wrote STIR_FC wrote Forgive my ignorance but mess emulator? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi_Emulator_Super_System :) Wonderful. Thank you.

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