Clean-Up Crew

A place where you can keep others updated about your NES-related projects through screenshots, videos or information in general.

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Drag
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Clean-Up Crew

Post by Drag »

I've started on a thousand projects both on the NES and in C++ for the PC, but nothing got anywhere and I think it's because I'd never share anything when I worked on it, so I didn't have any kind of proof of progress, leading to no motivation.

This is probably going to be another project that I start and never finish, but this time, I'm making a thread on the off-chance that constantly posting about progress, no matter how minor, might help.

My new project is a 1P and 2P co-op arcade-style game called Clean-Up Crew. Sorry for another static-screen homebrew project, but not every game can be a multi-directional scrolling platformer. :P

You're given a building, and in the building is a bunch of stuff that needs to be cleaned up. For example, trash on the floor that you need to sweep up, garbage cans that spit out enemies (which you need to whack with your broom and then close the trash can with a lid). Some buildings can have different tasks, for example, windows that need wiping, floors that need mopping, some kind of gimmick that needs to be satisfied, some kind of gimmick way to clean up, etc.

The tone of the game is just hijinks, you're two doofus guys who are hired when there's literally no alternative, the game won't take itself seriously, you can hit each other with your tools (accidentally or on purpose), and there's no overarching storyline or anything, it's just hey here's a 2P game we can play alright cool.

Order of business #1 is some art I drew to visualize this idea, which is attached. Anything in this thread is fair game for constructive criticism, as well as feedback. I'm sometimes arrogant, but even if I think I know everything, I still want to improve at what I do.

I also finished walking animations for the character, I'll post those when I'm done poking at them. Pixel art, especially animations, is a lot of poking until stuff looks right.

Some names for the two player characters would be nice... I got this game idea while I was bored at work, and the original names I came up with were "Pipi" and "Pupu". Pipi & Pupu's Clean-Up Crew. Although I got a kick out of that, some different names would probably be better. :P
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Drag
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Re: Clean-Up Crew

Post by Drag »

Here's the walking animations I mentioned. The side facing sprite, I'm happy with. The front and back facing sprites still look kinda weird (particularly the head, the body's fine), so I'll be poking at them in the future.
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cleanup_vwalk.gif
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cleanup_walk.gif
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Drew Sebastino
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Re: Clean-Up Crew

Post by Drew Sebastino »

I think the main problem is the head wobbling.
Drag
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Re: Clean-Up Crew

Post by Drag »

The way it flips back and forth, or the way it just moves left and right? The idea is that he's comically chunky so he waddles, but maybe the body doesn't waddle enough to make the head movements make sense?
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Drew Sebastino
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Re: Clean-Up Crew

Post by Drew Sebastino »

It's the way his head shifts horizontally. His body isn't even moving that much, just his head.
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thefox
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Re: Clean-Up Crew

Post by thefox »

Looks like a fun little project. Looking forward to progress updates.
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Drag
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Re: Clean-Up Crew

Post by Drag »

It's a step closer. The main thing I was unhappy about was the fact that the face didn't look like the side view. Still needs some work though.
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Jedi QuestMaster
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Re: Clean-Up Crew

Post by Jedi QuestMaster »

This is so cool! :D
Drag wrote:You're given a building, and in the building is a bunch of stuff that needs to be cleaned up. For example, trash on the floor that you need to sweep up, garbage cans that spit out enemies (which you need to whack with your broom and then close the trash can with a lid). Some buildings can have different tasks, for example, windows that need wiping, floors that need mopping, some kind of gimmick that needs to be satisfied, some kind of gimmick way to clean up, etc.
Will there be any rakes involved in this? :roll:
http://st.depositphotos.com/1014674/339 ... a-rake.jpg

I think it would be cool to have to pick up the cleaning supplies (broom, mop, dustpan). And walking automatically pushes whatever trash is on the floor. One player could grab the dustpan, or just leave it in the corner and sweep the trash over to it. Characters slide over puddles of water. Mopping water over the stairs creates a falling hazard. :lol:

This is probably complicating things, but have you considered adding a recycling component to this? For example, aluminum cans on the ground: you can throw them in the trash without penalty, but tossing them in the recycling bin awards bonus points.

I'd really like to see this project take off.
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Re: Clean-Up Crew

Post by Drag »

Thanks. :D

You do pick up the cleaning supplies, so you have to pick up the broom to sweep stuff off the floor, and you have to put the broom down and pick up a trash can lid if you want to lid the trash cans (one at a time). I was thinking of having all the supplies be in one or more broom closets placed throughout the stages.

The slippery water and the recycling are nice ideas, I'll hang onto them. Thank you. :D
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Re: Clean-Up Crew

Post by Drag »

I've been working on the character design and drawing/refining animations.
cleanup_light.gif
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Guess what one of your objectives might be!

I think I settled on the player names too, Bruce for the blue guy, and Roy for the red guy. I've also been planning the control scheme; it'd be nice if this could run on a Famicom, but controller 2 doesn't have start and select buttons. This is important because this is a 1P or 2P game, where a second player can jump in whenever, and one of the players can gameover out, just like an arcade game. In 1P mode, the player can hold two items, and you toggle between them. In 2P mode, each player gets one item. 2P -> 1P mode, the leaving player's item goes to the remaining player, and in 1P -> 2P mode, the player's inactive item goes to the joining player.

The problem is that the select button was going to be how you toggle between your items in 1P mode, and that's not suitable for the second famicom controller.

The current draft for controls is that the A button is your "item" button, and the B button is a context-sensitive button for grabbing and pushing things, and other non-dpad interactions with the environment. When you're not standing in front of something that reacts to the B button, the B button will toggle between your items instead. This might end up feeling better than pressing the select button anyway.

In addition, the start button was going to be how you join, but the game can check for both start and A. The game can still check both controllers for a start button press in order to pause. I'm not as worried about P2 not being able to pause without using an expansion port controller.

Speaking of which, a common complaint I've heard is when games don't check for expansion port controllers on the Famicom. That's a simple OR between bits 0 and 1 when you read from either controller port, right? Total Famicom support is probably not that important, but the bonus points would be nice still. :P
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NovaSquirrel
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Re: Clean-Up Crew

Post by NovaSquirrel »

Drag wrote:Speaking of which, a common complaint I've heard is when games don't check for expansion port controllers on the Famicom. That's a simple OR between bits 0 and 1 when you read from either controller port, right?
The wiki has example code that takes care of that with an AND and CMP.

I'm happy to see more two-player games, and I like the 80s arcade feel and I think the NES/Famicom is a really good platform for those kinds of games, especially with the VS System existing.

As far as full Famicom support goes, I think it's worth trying to find a control scheme that works because at least within the nesdev community there seems to be a lot of people who prefer to play on Famicom.
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Drew Sebastino
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Re: Clean-Up Crew

Post by Drew Sebastino »

NovaSquirrel wrote:there seems to be a lot of people who prefer to play on Famicom.
Really? I'd like to be a little further than three feet from my TV. :lol:

Anyway finding controls for both is easy. On the famicom, you could make only 1st player able to pause the game and for select on the second controller, you blow into the microphone. Toggling items isn't exactly the most urgent thing ever, so it might work. I'm not sure how sensitive the mic is though.
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Jarhmander
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Re: Clean-Up Crew

Post by Jarhmander »

Espozo wrote:
NovaSquirrel wrote:there seems to be a lot of people who prefer to play on Famicom.
Really? I'd like to be a little further than three feet from my TV. :lol:
Actually, it's 3 feet from your famicom; with long enough wires you can be more than 3 feet away of your TV, and your console is close to you. Not a bad design: you can reset and switch games and not move from your couch :P
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Joe
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Re: Clean-Up Crew

Post by Joe »

Couch? How about kotatsu? It seems like the most obvious place to put a Famicom, if you ask me.
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Jarhmander
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Re: Clean-Up Crew

Post by Jarhmander »

Joe wrote:Couch? How about kotatsu? It seems like the most obvious place to put a Famicom, if you ask me.
Ok, ok, I had a perspective closer of my reality, not the Japanese one, even though you're right, a Famicom's place is on a kotatsu.
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