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Re: Retro Game Builder (make your own snes games)

Posted: Thu Jun 11, 2020 5:17 pm
by Erockbrox
I like the idea of being able to make your games without code, but I think it would be a good idea to also give the developers the option to code directly in ASM. Like you can pick which method you want.

Also make it really easy and intuitive to make stuff. I think the program should come with resources right out of the box. There should be tiles that are solid, that hurt the player and basic sprites or enemy types already coded. It should be drag and drop when it comes to putting resources into your level. There should be some tutorial game examples to build off of and some standard graphics that come bundled with the program. Add in some generic music and sound effects that the developer can use. There should be a high compatibility with resources. In other words resources should be easy to share between developers. If one user creates a checkpoint tile then uploads it to a website then another developer should be able to download it and use it in their game too. This way you don't have to keep reinventing the wheel with resources.

With NESmkaer it took me 1 hour just to figure out how to make a solid block interact with the player. That is too difficult. Making a tile solid or to have some other property should be easy, just a few clicks. NESmaker is very technical and hard to use. If you don't read/watch tutorials you will never know how to make a game. They had like 2,500 people buy the program, but the number of completed games is very small.

On the RGB website allow users to upload stuff like resources and have a message board for help. It should be fun and easy to use Retro Game Builder and you should be able to make something without reading tons of tutorials. Have some pre-made assets that come with the program so that you don't have to create 100% everything from scratch, but also allow the ability to create tons of new stuff if the developer wants it.

Re: Retro Game Builder (make your own snes games)

Posted: Fri Jun 12, 2020 5:10 pm
by Nikku4211
Erockbrox wrote: Thu Jun 11, 2020 5:17 pm I like the idea of being able to make your games without code, but I think it would be a good idea to also give the developers the option to code directly in ASM. Like you can pick which method you want.
While this is a good idea, if you wanted to code ASM, you might as well just edit the ASM files using Notepad++ and compile them separately rather than using Retro Game Builder for the actual coding part.
Erockbrox wrote: Thu Jun 11, 2020 5:17 pm Also make it really easy and intuitive to make stuff. I think the program should come with resources right out of the box. There should be tiles that are solid, that hurt the player and basic sprites or enemy types already coded. It should be drag and drop when it comes to putting resources into your level.
This should go without saying.
Erockbrox wrote: Thu Jun 11, 2020 5:17 pm There should be some tutorial game examples to build off of and some standard graphics that come bundled with the program. Add in some generic music and sound effects that the developer can use.
We already have OpenGameArt for potential placeholder graphics.

As for sound effects, there are plenty of sites that host royalty-free sound effects, way too many to list.

And who's going to spend time making SPC700-compatible music to use as a placeholder? It's not like we're going to get Kevin Macleod on our team in order to make some sample .SPC tracks. How is the sound engine even going to be?
Erockbrox wrote: Thu Jun 11, 2020 5:17 pm With NESmkaer it took me 1 hour just to figure out how to make a solid block interact with the player. That is too difficult. Making a tile solid or to have some other property should be easy, just a few clicks. NESmaker is very technical and hard to use. If you don't read/watch tutorials you will never know how to make a game. They had like 2,500 people buy the program, but the number of completed games is very small.
I agree. If it takes an entire hour to make a solid block, you might as well just write boilerplate code for it directly in ASM.

Re: Retro Game Builder (make your own snes games)

Posted: Sat Jun 20, 2020 3:34 pm
by Erockbrox
Also give an option for MSU-1 support.

It wouldn't work on a regular cartridge, but it would work with an SD2SNES cart or compatible emulator.

In other words, you can use the regular SNES sound chip, but allow an option for MSU-1 for the SD2SNES cart to play CD-quality audio as an option.

Re: Retro Game Builder (make your own snes games)

Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2020 8:52 pm
by Erockbrox
When you make RGB don't just make a program that creates SNES games. Create your program and then create a full blown game with it to show off what it can do, but keep the game limited to 1 MB then allow the user base to expand the ROM to 4 MB and build their own games off all of the existing resources.

So don't just make the development software, also make an awesome game to go along with it and people can use all of those assets and resources in the game to make their own games.

And bundle the game with the software as a bonus. So you get the software, you get the game and you get to use all the resources in the game to build upon to use if you wish in your own games.

It's a WIN WIN!

Re: Retro Game Builder (make your own snes games)

Posted: Sun Jun 21, 2020 11:17 pm
by creaothceann
Erockbrox wrote: Sun Jun 21, 2020 8:52 pm So don't just make the development software, also make an awesome game to go along with it
At some point he has to actually release something...

Re: Retro Game Builder (make your own snes games)

Posted: Tue Jun 23, 2020 11:22 am
by Nikku4211
Erockbrox wrote: Sun Jun 21, 2020 8:52 pm When you make RGB don't just make a program that creates SNES games. Create your program and then create a full blown game with it to show off what it can do, but keep the game limited to 1 MB then allow the user base to expand the ROM to 4 MB and build their own games off all of the existing resources.

So don't just make the development software, also make an awesome game to go along with it and people can use all of those assets and resources in the game to make their own games.
Yeah, time to add 2 more years into the development cycle of the entire application just to make the bonus game.

Re: Retro Game Builder (make your own snes games)

Posted: Thu Jun 25, 2020 12:15 am
by Erockbrox
The game can always come later as the program develops further. But its a good idea to show off what the software can do. Plus gives another reason to support the project.

Re: Retro Game Builder (make your own snes games)

Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2020 8:33 pm
by Nikku4211
Erockbrox wrote: Thu Jun 25, 2020 12:15 am The game can always come later as the program develops further. But its a good idea to show off what the software can do. Plus gives another reason to support the project.
Ah, I see. Though if the program develops further and gets more and more features, if the example game is already finished, it won't show off much, because it would have been made in an older version without those later version features.

Re: Retro Game Builder (make your own snes games)

Posted: Sat Oct 10, 2020 1:01 am
by Erockbrox
So according to the latest youtube video update the Kickstarter for this will launch October 23rd of this month.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dENPa3CVpiY

Re: Retro Game Builder (make your own snes games)

Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2020 7:14 am
by poorstudenthobbyist

Re: Retro Game Builder (make your own snes games)

Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2020 8:33 am
by Nikku4211
poorstudenthobbyist wrote: Fri Oct 23, 2020 7:14 am The Kickstarter is live!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/an ... s-visually
I wish I had the money to pledge for the Kickstarter... TwT

Re: Retro Game Builder (make your own snes games)

Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2020 8:35 am
by poorstudenthobbyist
I'm not running the Kickstarter, but I am helping! :D
I don't think I have the skills or bandwidth to make the software work! Haha

Re: Retro Game Builder (make your own snes games)

Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2020 10:17 am
by Erockbrox

Re: Retro Game Builder (make your own snes games)

Posted: Fri Oct 23, 2020 10:17 am
by turboxray
poorstudenthobbyist wrote: Fri Oct 23, 2020 7:14 am The Kickstarter is live!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/an ... s-visually
LMAO the goal is '68000'. No very SNES like.

Re: Retro Game Builder (make your own snes games)

Posted: Mon Oct 26, 2020 2:23 am
by calima
The current projection at kicktraq says it's not going to make it, and I agree, looks very much like so.