Progress Thread - Twin Dragons

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FrankenGraphics
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Re: Progress Thread - Twin Dragons

Post by FrankenGraphics »

Oh, my bad. Found it!
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Broke Studio
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Re: Progress Thread - Twin Dragons

Post by Broke Studio »

WheelInventor wrote:Nice! The button press widget is a nice touch, too. I wonder if it would feel a little more natural if the powerup/red chili would move to the north-east corner instead of the north-west? Not that i think either is right or wrong; it's just something i reflected on.

Will there be a sound effect when taking out enemy objects? The plucking sound in SMB always felt satisfying.
Yeah I was thinking about changing the direction of the red pepper for the collect animation.
And yes there will be sound effects !

And as tepples explained, the widget is an FCEUX functionality.
My first game : Twin Dragons available at Broke Studio.
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Re: Progress Thread - Twin Dragons

Post by Fisher »

Seems great!!
Will you be selling copies of your game?
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Re: Progress Thread - Twin Dragons

Post by Broke Studio »

I'm trying to finish it in time for the compo for now :)
My first game : Twin Dragons available at Broke Studio.
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Re: Progress Thread - Twin Dragons

Post by Broke Studio »

Transition screens added ! The game flow is now completely working !

Image Image Image Image
My first game : Twin Dragons available at Broke Studio.
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FrankenGraphics
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Re: Progress Thread - Twin Dragons

Post by FrankenGraphics »

Using 1px weight on letters can look sufficient on emulators, and opens up for differently feeling typefaces than the ones commonly shown in nes games. However sadly, they often get illegible on real hardware, especially if it's not pure white on black. The parts that typically get scrambled the worst on hardware are the the arms of the letters (the | | in N, | in R, and so on).

If you want them hardware-proof but don't want to ruin their lightweight nature by making them bold or art-decofied, you can try drop shadowing with any available darker colour within the palette used. It can also help make the 'select' lines appear symmetrical in relation to tilesize and the options.

This is just an example; there are other ways to shade (less or more weight, direction).
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FrankenGraphics
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Re: Progress Thread - Twin Dragons

Post by FrankenGraphics »

I haven't checked how these were implemented, but i do remember the typeface for Willow was white on black, which was easy to read. However, as soon as the contrast drops, you're in the risk zone. Better try it on a few hardware setups before publishing in that case (rca,RF).
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Re: Progress Thread - Twin Dragons

Post by tepples »

Rule of thumb: Each pixel is only two-thirds of a color subcarrier cycle wide. So when you're using 1px-wide details, try to guarantee contrast by having the maximum of the dark waveform less than the minimum of the light waveform. (See NTSC video for how waveforms are generated.)

The following color combinations are known to keep 1-pixel-wide details distinct:
  • White ($20) with dark backgrounds ($0x, $11-$1C).
    A lot of my low-level NES tests, such as the FME-7 big WRAM test and the overclock test before I folded it into 240p Test Suite, use white text on medium brown ($18).
  • Black ($0F) with light backgrounds ($10, $20-$2C, $3x).
    Action 53 menu uses black text on light gray ($20), and RHDE uses black text on pale yellow ($38).
  • In a pinch, $31-$3C and $01-$0C can be paired.
    A few controls in 240p Test Suite pair pale yellow ($38) with dark blue ($02).
  • If two colors have the same or adjacent hues, you can pair $0x with $2y or $1x with $3y, such as $27 with $06 or $38 with $18.
    This violates sets max(dark) and min(light) near equal, but because the chroma doesn't change phase, edges won't be quite as distorted as if a different hue were paired with these.

EDIT: Assertion fixed
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Re: Progress Thread - Twin Dragons

Post by Myask »

maximum of the dark waveform less than the maximum of the dark waveform.
Assert failed: A ≮ A
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Re: Progress Thread - Twin Dragons

Post by Broke Studio »

Thanks for all these informations/advices.
I'll try different fonts on real hardware to see what's the more readable.
My first game : Twin Dragons available at Broke Studio.
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Re: Progress Thread - Twin Dragons

Post by Broke Studio »

Today I finally started to work on boss battle / entrance. Still a lot of work to do though ...

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My first game : Twin Dragons available at Broke Studio.
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Re: Progress Thread - Twin Dragons

Post by RogerBidon »

Impressive appearance! I love it!
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Re: Progress Thread - Twin Dragons

Post by FrankenGraphics »

That's cool! I like that you make the extra effort to mark the importance of the event via a special sequence.

Here's me nitpicking some more :wink:

It's easy to miss the dragons' expression if it starts and stops exactly at the same time as the boss appearance sequence. How would it feel either the camera shaking and face expression started second or a half prior to the boss showing up / dragon moving backwards, or, alternately the dragon's expression froze half a second after the boss sequence is complete, as to solidify the fact? Just timing details you might not want to prioritize, but anyway.

Another thing to consider: It might be better to have the camera show more of what's before the dragon than what's behind. Being too close to the right end of the screen is a common cause for frustration.
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Re: Progress Thread - Twin Dragons

Post by Broke Studio »

WheelInventor wrote:That's cool! I like that you make the extra effort to mark the importance of the event via a special sequence.

Here's me nitpicking some more :wink:

It's easy to miss the dragons' expression if it starts and stops exactly at the same time as the boss appearance sequence. How would it feel either the camera shaking and face expression started second or a half prior to the boss showing up / dragon moving backwards, or, alternately the dragon's expression froze half a second after the boss sequence is complete, as to solidify the fact? Just timing details you might not want to prioritize, but anyway.
Makes sense. As you said it may not be a priority but I'll add it to my 'things-to-do-if-I-ve-got-the-time-before-deadline' list !
WheelInventor wrote: Another thing to consider: It might be better to have the camera show more of what's before the dragon than what's behind. Being too close to the right end of the screen is a common cause for frustration.
Don't know if I'll change this for the compo, but that's actually on my TODO list :)
My first game : Twin Dragons available at Broke Studio.
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