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CodeWalrus Website => Game, Software and Music Downloads => Games => Topic started by: 123outerme on October 15, 2015, 10:35:37 PM

Title: [TI-84+ Series Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on October 15, 2015, 10:35:37 PM
 I have decided to update the graphics and gameplay of one of my old titles, Dragonsglid! In Dragonsglid, you went around  dungeons fighting randomly spawning enemies. At the end of each dungeon, a boss enemy with a clever pun would test your strength.

Unfortunately, every dungeon was really linear and easy, with plain, open rooms, there was no backtracking in rooms or dungeons, and there were no secrets. I'm here to change all of that. Along with that, I'm introducing:
*A new extensive story (Done)
*Customizable moveset (Done)
*Interesting battle graphics (Done)
And unlike all my other projects, I won't release Sorcery of Uvutu until I'm 100% satisfied with it. So now I am.

15 years ago, the nameless One of the Prophesy made a choice that would change the future forever. Unfortunately, that change didn't last long, as his kingdom, taken first by the Dragonsglid, fell into disorder and crumbled. 15 years after the events of Dragonsglid, the One of the Prophesy lived on and had a child, who had immense potential to save those left of the Uvutians.


[spoiler=Screenshots]
(http://i.imgur.com/YP1k1BO.gif)
(http://i.imgur.com/aNVBFN7.gif)
Older Screenshots (http://imgur.com/a/uHFeH)
[/spoiler]
v1.4 uploaded!
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on October 16, 2015, 01:03:04 AM
That looks cool so far and nice improvment on the graphics. :) Will the final title be Dragonsglid: Arcane of Uvutu?

Some of the dungeon graphics are interesting, although I am confused about the 3rd on the left and the 1st on the right. Are they supposed to be small rocks or holes? Ideally, unless the floor is surrounded by plenty of holes, you should try to make the floor easier to distinguish from the walls, like for the other tilesets. The swamp one is my favorite :)


Nice to see you again, by the way. I hope you have more free time soon :)
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on October 16, 2015, 03:34:28 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on October 16, 2015, 01:03:04 AM
That looks cool so far and nice improvment on the graphics. :) Will the final title be Dragonsglid: Arcane of Uvutu?

Some of the dungeon graphics are interesting, although I am confused about the 3rd on the left and the 1st on the right. Are they supposed to be small rocks or holes? Ideally, unless the floor is surrounded by plenty of holes, you should try to make the floor easier to distinguish from the walls, like for the other tilesets. The swamp one is my favorite :)


Nice to see you again, by the way. I hope you have more free time soon :)
Actually, that's not a bad title. I might do that.
They are both supposed to be holes in the stone floor and the bricks, respectively. From the brick I'd like it to remain the same, so that it looks like it used to be a part of the floor but was cracked. I like the swamp one too, from the size that the screenshot is at. I wasn't too sure about the inner tiles but it looks great.
Right now I'm working on animations for moves in battle. Then I'll probably get to making the basics of the battle screen.
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on October 16, 2015, 09:22:17 PM
Well I added collision, a sample map, and an empty battle feature.
(http://i.imgur.com/DlR3Zqt.gif)
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: Unicorn on October 16, 2015, 09:44:32 PM
Might I ask how you did collision detection, and that sliding animation for the battle? I'm think that could be useful for me for fighting as well.
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on October 16, 2015, 09:57:51 PM
Quote from: Unicorn on October 16, 2015, 09:44:32 PM
Might I ask how you did collision detection, and that sliding animation for the battle? I'm think that could be useful for me for fighting as well.
I used something like this for collision:
real(3,2,X,Y,20,1,0,0→T             //This checks the tile the player is standing on (before it's rendered) at (X,Y) on a 20 width map stored in Str1. The ending 0,0 is the x and y offset
If (T>7 and T<16) or T=23 or T=24       // These values correspond to numbers in your tileset. 0 is the one on the very top left, 1 right below, etc.
Then
Z→X
θ→Y                                 // Z and θ hold the values of X and Y before I tried to move
End

The sliding animation?

real(0,3,4,0,1
For(W,0,160,2
real(8,2,W
End
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on October 17, 2015, 05:48:35 AM
Quote from: 123outerme on October 16, 2015, 09:22:17 PM
Well I added collision, a sample map, and an empty battle feature.
(http://i.imgur.com/DlR3Zqt.gif)
Looks good so far. For battles you should add a border to the text window and separate sections to make them look like separate windows, like old Final Fantasy games.
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on October 17, 2015, 11:40:44 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on October 17, 2015, 05:48:35 AM
Quote from: 123outerme on October 16, 2015, 09:22:17 PM
Well I added collision, a sample map, and an empty battle feature.
(http://i.imgur.com/DlR3Zqt.gif)
Looks good so far. For battles you should add a border to the text window and separate sections to make them look like separate windows, like old Final Fantasy games.
I was planning on doing that later, I just want to get the minimum viable product done first.
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on October 17, 2015, 10:37:18 PM
Ah ok cool to hear. I wonder: What is the guy sprite supposed to represent? Are you a monster in this game is this sprite a placeholder?
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on October 17, 2015, 10:55:04 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on October 17, 2015, 10:37:18 PM
Ah ok cool to hear. I wonder: What is the guy sprite supposed to represent? Are you a monster in this game is this sprite a placeholder?
The character's actually wearing a hood. Basically so you can imagine yourself as the hero. Now I've (easily) added the overworld menu, I just have to add saving and quitting, save files, and the items menu and I'll be all done with that. The battle system will also become better when I add the save file.
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on October 17, 2015, 10:56:59 PM
Ooh I see. I like the anonymous character idea to put yourself into him. I can't wait to see the menu :)
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on October 18, 2015, 08:05:21 PM
I added the title screen and the overworld menu, as well as polishing the battle menu and the dirt path sprite, which is now a stone path.
(http://i.imgur.com/xLwTHrG.gif)
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: p4nix on October 18, 2015, 09:10:42 PM
Really nice job you've done, the graphics look very good and i also like that menu selection sword :)
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on October 18, 2015, 10:36:48 PM
Quote from: p4nix on October 18, 2015, 09:10:42 PM
Really nice job you've done, the graphics look very good and i also like that menu selection sword :)
Thanks! I love the graphics as well. But I haven't shown off some of the best ones yet.
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on October 18, 2015, 10:40:46 PM
I like it so far :). Do you plan to make the title screen have some extra effects for the title so that the text is larger or something? I'm unsure how hard it would be without using sprites, though. Or you could use the remaining sprite space later for a larger title font.

Will there be battle backgrounds at the top, such as a row of tree sprites?
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on October 18, 2015, 11:50:24 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on October 18, 2015, 10:40:46 PM
I like it so far :). Do you plan to make the title screen have some extra effects for the title so that the text is larger or something? I'm unsure how hard it would be without using sprites, though. Or you could use the remaining sprite space later for a larger title font.

Will there be battle backgrounds at the top, such as a row of tree sprites?
I think it will be pretty hard to make a larger title screen, but I could try to center the text. I have 15 empty tiles left so far, after planning out all of the tiles I need, so I probably can't make a custom font. The reason it's not certain is because I have 13 sprites reserved for future use in case I need stuff I haven't thought about. Even if I could, though, I'd probably use the extra space for more content.

I have thought about battle backgrounds, and I think maybe there will be the walkable ground tiles displayed on the topmost layer, as a row like you said. I'll have to see what I can do.

Another quick note is that I'm going to take my time with this and make sure AoU (Arcane of Uvutu) is good before I fully release it. If I can, I'll probably release beta builds.
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on October 19, 2015, 03:45:04 AM
Good idea. Just don't fall into an endless project restart loop like what someone on Omni mentioned, though. E:ToR went through this and it barely even survived and I saw many projects die because of that.
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on October 19, 2015, 11:10:06 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on October 19, 2015, 03:45:04 AM
Good idea. Just don't fall into an endless project restart loop like what someone on Omni mentioned, though. E:ToR went through this and it barely even survived and I saw many projects die because of that.
Yeah, I'll try not to. It's just that some games I release in a complete but less-than-ideal state. I want to make sure I have all of the features I want before I call this project complete.
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on October 21, 2015, 11:24:26 PM
So I have made a lot of progress. The battle screens are looking really nice, I've added a stats menu (with at least one stat missing actually DX), polished up the graphics and done a ton of behind-the-scenes work.
(http://i.imgur.com/cMT2vls.gif)
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on October 22, 2015, 02:30:13 AM
Do you plan to add some magic animations in battles, like some of the ones in First Fantasy?
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on October 22, 2015, 11:01:37 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on October 22, 2015, 02:30:13 AM
Do you plan to add some magic animations in battles, like some of the ones in First Fantasy?
I have made two sets of moves, magic and melee. I haven't decided exactly how I'll use it, but ii know that you'll be able to use both.
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on October 23, 2015, 06:09:43 AM
You could do like Illusiat 13 and feed the magic routines a list of sprites and colors then do animations from those.
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on October 23, 2015, 01:59:19 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on October 23, 2015, 06:09:43 AM
You could do like Illusiat 13 and feed the magic routines a list of sprites and colors then do animations from those.
What I did is just used a few rows of sprites and just defined the ones you can currently use in your save file.  When you enter a battle, it saves your 4 moves into a list, and when you enter a direction for an attack, if it exists, it saves the corresponding value to a variable and displays the sprite.
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on October 23, 2015, 05:11:44 PM
Good move. Does it cause any slowdowns?
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on October 23, 2015, 11:56:26 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on October 23, 2015, 05:11:44 PM
Good move. Does it cause any slowdowns?
Not that I can tell, no. It's already been implemented, so you can see the speed at which it runs in the latest screenshot. I've also added the ability to create your own name, which is a lot of fun.
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on October 24, 2015, 03:05:49 AM
Bump:
I made a screenshot. Like I said, you can create your own name. Now, the enemy can actually fight back, and the battle engine supports the Speed stat, which means that if you're faster you'll show your animation and do damage first, and if the enemy's faster then vice versa. As well as that, I've added battle ending messages like "You ran away" and "You won", and stuff like that. Also, I've decided to drop having a party because that would be insane to code and probably push me over 20 KB.
(http://i.imgur.com/QHy78ql.gif)

If anyone's interested, the program is at about 6500 bytes right now.
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on October 24, 2015, 08:21:49 PM
Oh I like the name idea and I'm glad it doesn't just use the Input/Prompt commands like some of my old games. Also I am fine with no party. 1v1 RPGs can still be fun as long as they aren't too repetitive (which you are trying to fix with this game) and don't have an abusive amount of grinding to do.
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: c4ooo on October 24, 2015, 09:59:52 PM
Is there a possibility of having different attack sets for enemies? For example, for an ant you could have an attack called "stomp" and for, say a dragon you could have something like "chop of wing" (that would reduce its speed)?
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on October 25, 2015, 03:20:05 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on October 24, 2015, 08:21:49 PM
Oh I like the name idea and I'm glad it doesn't just use the Input/Prompt commands like some of my old games. Also I am fine with no party. 1v1 RPGs can still be fun as long as they aren't too repetitive (which you are trying to fix with this game) and don't have an abusive amount of grinding to do.
Yeah. My only worry is that level or money grinding will be an issue but if I play test a lot then I'll be able to fix it if it does happen.
Quote from: c4ooo on October 24, 2015, 09:59:52 PM
Is there a possibility of having different attack sets for enemies? For example, for an ant you could have an attack called "stomp" and for, say a dragon you could have something like "chop of wing" (that would reduce its speed)?
I don't think so. I have 32 attacks already, although 2 of those are the block animations. I could change the text and effects but I don't think I will. But different types of enemies have different attacks, even when you're in the same area.
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on October 26, 2015, 03:09:07 AM
I added map transition stuff, including buildings! Also reworked the tile that was previously a flower, and made it a tree. Some other small stuff too. BTW I may change the texture for the wood floor in the house.
(http://i.imgur.com/a9zS0TO.gif)
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on October 26, 2015, 03:56:39 AM
Looks better and better. I think you should make the game menu look like the battle menus for consistency purposes or maybe add a border to the game menu then make the battle menu a different color (eg blue with gray border). Also, inside houses you should add a row of wall tiles at the top like the ones in the middle with maybe some windows.
Title: Re: Arcane of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on October 29, 2015, 12:33:11 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on October 26, 2015, 03:56:39 AM
Looks better and better. I think you should make the game menu look like the battle menus for consistency purposes or maybe add a border to the game menu then make the battle menu a different color (eg blue with gray border). Also, inside houses you should add a row of wall tiles at the top like the ones in the middle with maybe some windows.
Done, and done. Thanks for the suggestions! I also changed up the wood floor texture to make it look like a wood floor and added the code to give you exp and money if you win.
(http://i.imgur.com/6p438Lf.gif)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on October 29, 2015, 04:33:25 AM
I like the new name by the way. It's clearer what the game is about now I think. Also I like the house better. You could add some tables maybe. This is coming along nicely.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on November 07, 2015, 07:45:48 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on October 29, 2015, 04:33:25 AM
I like the new name by the way. It's clearer what the game is about now I think. Also I like the house better. You could add some tables maybe. This is coming along nicely.
Thanks so much! I have so much planned, and so much already done! Here's a new screenshot showing off leveling up, the items menu, and battle backgrounds!
(http://i.imgur.com/iMpg8TV.gif)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on November 08, 2015, 04:30:31 AM
Awesome progress. I like the icons and when leveling up I like how you can increase one stat of your choice. You should make the battle background blue or gray like the sky. :)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on November 08, 2015, 02:53:56 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on November 08, 2015, 04:30:31 AM
Awesome progress. I like the icons and when leveling up I like how you can increase one stat of your choice. You should make the battle background blue or gray like the sky. :)
Thanks so much! I was actually thinking about that, and I'll have to try and see if it'll work.
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on November 10, 2015, 03:41:27 AM
As per DJ's request, I have changed the battle background for the first area. I have done lots of other things, too.
(Yes I know I post a lot of screenshots)
(http://i.imgur.com/oGocz7P.gif)
*Changed battle backround like previously stated
*Added stat points number to stats menu
*Put Back option at the top of the items menu
*Added NPC rendering and dialog. Currently only for the insides of houses but will be changed later.
*(not in the screenshot) Added bosses, although not dialog and pun yet.
*Added function to Block attack
*Changed outside house tiles

Left to do:
*Item management inside the Items menu
*Item management inside the battle menu
*The rest of the artwork
*Adding more content like maps, NPCs, etc.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on November 10, 2015, 06:55:43 AM
It looks better and better :D and closer to an RPG more and more now. Also I like the new backgrounds in battles. NOw I got an idea, but I am unsure how hard it would be to implement, but would you be able to add gradients to the sky background using line and rectangles in xLIBC? That might be a problem for very large magic spells such as lightning or comet, though, if the animation spans through the screen. I'll try to post a mockup if I can.

EDIT: (http://img.codewalr.us/mockupuvutu.png)

Basically, a gradient would be drawn, then lines on top of it, so the gradient would look like old NES and Atari games. It would be done through a For loop that increments by 1, 32 or 33 each iteration, depending of your choice (32 allows for lower gradient contrasts, thus, allowing dark rooms, while 33 allows some extra gradient choices, including one with lots of gray). I added extra gradient ideas in the mockup above to give you ideas. That increment setting could be set on dungeon loading in an extra list or variable element and if set to zero then no gradient would be applied.

Make sure to backup before experimenting, though, in case. :P
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: novenary on November 10, 2015, 12:19:57 PM
Looking good so far, it's kind of sad that you can't have nice animations on the CSE, would make the game more lively. Is it possible to change movement to be one or two pixels at a time ?
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on November 10, 2015, 05:29:15 PM
Animations are actually possible by using some tricks such as switching back and forth between GRAM or drawing small stuff like lines. The screen also has hardware horizontal scrolling, 3 bits mode and inverting, which are instant.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: novenary on November 10, 2015, 05:30:11 PM
I think smooth character movement would be a nice plus on there.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on November 10, 2015, 08:16:21 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on November 10, 2015, 06:55:43 AM
It looks better and better :D and closer to an RPG more and more now. Also I like the new backgrounds in battles. NOw I got an idea, but I am unsure how hard it would be to implement, but would you be able to add gradients to the sky background using line and rectangles in xLIBC? That might be a problem for very large magic spells such as lightning or comet, though, if the animation spans through the screen. I'll try to post a mockup if I can.

EDIT: [large, impressive image]

Basically, a gradient would be drawn, then lines on top of it, so the gradient would look like old NES and Atari games. It would be done through a For loop that increments by 1, 32 or 33 each iteration, depending of your choice (32 allows for lower gradient contrasts, thus, allowing dark rooms, while 33 allows some extra gradient choices, including one with lots of gray). I added extra gradient ideas in the mockup above to give you ideas. That increment setting could be set on dungeon loading in an extra list or variable element and if set to zero then no gradient would be applied.

Make sure to backup before experimenting, though, in case. :P
That gradient looks amazing O.O I'll see if I can do that. It seems plausible but might add just a touch more loading time to initializing the battle screen. I think it'll definitely be worth it though.
Quote from: Streetwalrus on November 10, 2015, 12:19:57 PM
Looking good so far, it's kind of sad that you can't have nice animations on the CSE, would make the game more lively. Is it possible to change movement to be one or two pixels at a time ?
Unfortunately, movement can't be anything less than 8 pixel intervals. I tried 2 and 4, and both took a long time to move around.
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on November 10, 2015, 05:29:15 PM
Animations are actually possible by using some tricks such as switching back and forth between GRAM or drawing small stuff like lines. The screen also has hardware horizontal scrolling, 3 bits mode and inverting, which are instant.
I haven't heard of 3 bits mode before, what exactly is it? Also for powerful attacks (like endgame type of stuff), I think I'll have inverting colors.

Also thanks to the mods for hooking me up with a sweet sub-forum! ;D
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: novenary on November 10, 2015, 08:44:32 PM
Quote from: 123outerme on November 10, 2015, 08:16:21 PM
Unfortunately, movement can't be anything less than 8 pixel intervals. I tried 2 and 4, and both took a long time to move around.
Yeah I figured. :/

Quote from: 123outerme on November 10, 2015, 08:16:21 PM
Also thanks to the mods for hooking me up with a sweet sub-forum! ;D
You're welcome. :)
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on November 11, 2015, 03:13:24 AM
I don't think it deserved it's own 5 minute long .gif, but I started item management! So far, you can only view the item icons and names in the items menu. You can't see them in the battle menu, nor can you do stuff with them in either menu.
(http://i.imgur.com/9vYrjaf.gif)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on November 11, 2015, 06:00:47 AM
Quote from: 123outerme on November 10, 2015, 08:16:21 PM
I haven't heard of 3 bits mode before, what exactly is it? Also for powerful attacks (like endgame type of stuff), I think I'll have inverting colors.

Also thanks to the mods for hooking me up with a sweet sub-forum! ;D

No problem :) and for the 8 bits mode, I mean real(0,3,VALUE). Setting value to 1 will turn the screen into 8 colors mode (only cyan, magenta, blue, red, yellow, limegreen, black and white will be used). This can be handy for extra animations, but that mode doesn't work in emulators.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: LD Studios on November 11, 2015, 01:40:52 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/mFlL9CL.png)
/me runs
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on November 11, 2015, 05:41:59 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on November 11, 2015, 06:00:47 AM
Quote from: 123outerme on November 10, 2015, 08:16:21 PM
I haven't heard of 3 bits mode before, what exactly is it? Also for powerful attacks (like endgame type of stuff), I think I'll have inverting colors.

Also thanks to the mods for hooking me up with a sweet sub-forum! ;D

No problem :) and for the 8 bits mode, I mean real(0,3,VALUE). Setting value to 1 will turn the screen into 8 colors mode (only cyan, magenta, blue, red, yellow, limegreen, black and white will be used). This can be handy for extra animations, but that mode doesn't work in emulators.
Ok, thanks! I think it'd look really cool for certain animations but I'd have to test it strictly on-calc.
Quote from: LD Studios on November 11, 2015, 01:40:52 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/mFlL9CL.png)
/me runs
Wow, that looks really good! Could I use that? All I have to do is change the text from red to blue and it'd be perfect! Do you mind if I borrow the robed character sprite also? That also looks better than mine.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: LD Studios on November 11, 2015, 05:56:34 PM
Quote from: 123outerme on November 11, 2015, 05:41:59 PM
Quote from: LD Studios on November 11, 2015, 01:40:52 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/mFlL9CL.png)
/me runs
Wow, that looks really good! Could I use that? All I have to do is change the text from red to blue and it'd be perfect! Do you mind if I borrow the robed character sprite also? That also looks better than mine.
Feel free to use both and let me know if you want me to draw up some other sprites for this project
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on November 11, 2015, 06:13:28 PM
Quote from: LD Studios on November 11, 2015, 05:56:34 PM
Quote from: 123outerme on November 11, 2015, 05:41:59 PM
Quote from: LD Studios on November 11, 2015, 01:40:52 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/mFlL9CL.png)
/me runs
Wow, that looks really good! Could I use that? All I have to do is change the text from red to blue and it'd be perfect! Do you mind if I borrow the robed character sprite also? That also looks better than mine.
Feel free to use both and let me know if you want me to draw up some other sprites for this project
That's a very generous request, thanks! I might have some work for you in the future but I'll have to see. I'll at least just send the tileset to you and make sure it's up to your standards :)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on November 11, 2015, 11:24:24 PM
Quote from: 123outerme on November 11, 2015, 05:41:59 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on November 11, 2015, 06:00:47 AM
Quote from: 123outerme on November 10, 2015, 08:16:21 PM
I haven't heard of 3 bits mode before, what exactly is it? Also for powerful attacks (like endgame type of stuff), I think I'll have inverting colors.

Also thanks to the mods for hooking me up with a sweet sub-forum! ;D

No problem :) and for the 8 bits mode, I mean real(0,3,VALUE). Setting value to 1 will turn the screen into 8 colors mode (only cyan, magenta, blue, red, yellow, limegreen, black and white will be used). This can be handy for extra animations, but that mode doesn't work in emulators.
Ok, thanks! I think it'd look really cool for certain animations but I'd have to test it strictly on-calc.
Actually, an example of the 3 bits mode in action would be First Fantasy battle transitions, where I switch back and forth between 3 and 16 bits mode.
Quote from: LD Studios on November 11, 2015, 01:40:52 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/mFlL9CL.png)
/me runs
Looks really good LD Studios!
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on November 14, 2015, 10:46:52 PM
Unfortunately I've hit a rut. The program size is too large, so when it tries to load a map, I get an ERR; MEM. I thought that DCSE ran the program directly from ROM, but I guess it copies it to RAM. All of the features and one world are currently in place. Weighing in at just over 20k bytes, it's too bloated for its own good. I could probably remove a great chunk of it if I create one extra subprogram, but I really would rather not. If there is any solution other than that, I would prefer that one instead. I might need help optimizing, and will either edit this post or create a new one if my reply wasn't the last.

EDIT:
So, I've had to cut the ability to access your items within the battle menu. I couldn't even launch the game to test it, for one. And it was a pretty unnecessary feature that removing adds unintended depth. You'll always have to think about your HP, now.
Unfortunately, I will most likely have to cut other small features like that if I want to fit in the content that I want. As of right now, the program is 18705 bytes, including the arbitrary header bytes. It's that large, and I only have one world fully completed. And speaking of completing one full world, I will be releasing a demo version! Only the first world will be available.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on November 15, 2015, 06:00:57 AM
Unfortunately, in BASIC you have no choice but to split your games into sub-programs when they get larger. Trying to restrict yourself to just 1 sub-program will do yourself no good. The only solution for you would be to put the menu and battle code into separate programs, and perhaps the walking/map loading engine as well. That way, when the menu is running, battles don't take any RAM. That's what I had to do with Illusiat series, otherwise anything above Illusiat 9 would never have been possible.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Unicorn on November 15, 2015, 10:03:42 PM
Well this is quite amazing! I wish I could figure tile maps out and then Walrus Adventires may look half as nice. Great job outerme. I can wait to see something playable!
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on November 15, 2015, 10:06:07 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on November 15, 2015, 06:00:57 AM
Unfortunately, in BASIC you have no choice but to split your games into sub-programs when they get larger. Trying to restrict yourself to just 1 sub-program will do yourself no good. The only solution for you would be to put the menu and battle code into separate programs, and perhaps the walking/map loading engine as well. That way, when the menu is running, battles don't take any RAM. That's what I had to do with Illusiat series, otherwise anything above Illusiat 9 would never have been possible.
I'll try to keep the size down, but I may have to split them up eventually.
Quote from: Unicorn on November 15, 2015, 10:03:42 PM
Well this is quite amazing! I wish I could figure tile maps out and then Walrus Adventires may look half as nice. Great job outerme. I can wait to see something playable!
Something playable, eh? Sounds like something I can do. I've attached the download to the beta in the OP. Let me know if anything is messed up.
(http://i.imgur.com/Fpnx0tc.gif)
(The name STEVYP is in honor of my school's marching band coming to an end. My nickname was Stevie P)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Unicorn on November 15, 2015, 10:44:32 PM
Welp, I'm trying that out! :D
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on November 16, 2015, 09:50:43 PM
By the way is the top text a placeholder? Or will it say Plains Plains in the final version as well? :P
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on November 17, 2015, 07:41:39 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on November 16, 2015, 09:50:43 PM
By the way is the top text a placeholder? Or will it say Plains Plains in the final version as well? :P
It will say that in the final version, unless I come up with another name I think is better. It's supposed to be a really terrible play-on-words :P
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on November 17, 2015, 09:56:52 PM
Ah ok cuz it seemed weird IMHO. Perhaps you should make the game full screen unless you have anything relevant and easy to understand to add there. Maybe the current map location?


EDIT: @123outerme I finally tried the game and love what I see so far. My suggestions:

-There is a bug when the battle ends. The commands menu appears for half a second before the experience does
-There should be a Save and COntinue option so that we don't have to reload the game everytime we save.


Also, I notice I have Weak Armor in the items menu. Is it equipped by default?
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on November 18, 2015, 11:47:21 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on November 17, 2015, 09:56:52 PM
Ah ok cuz it seemed weird IMHO. Perhaps you should make the game full screen unless you have anything relevant and easy to understand to add there. Maybe the current map location?


EDIT: @123outerme I finally tried the game and love what I see so far. My suggestions:

-There is a bug when the battle ends. The commands menu appears for half a second before the experience does
-There should be a Save and COntinue option so that we don't have to reload the game everytime we save.


Also, I notice I have Weak Armor in the items menu. Is it equipped by default?
@DJ Omnimaga
First of all, trying to quote this on mobile, I accidentally -1'd it. Sorry about that, if you're wondering. I'll +1 it after the 8 hours are up.
*for the first bug, I am aware of it and currently looking into it. Thanks.
*I'll probably be able to, but I'll try to implement save + continue.
*For the armor thing, I have put in the code to be able to equip it but it appears it hasn't worked. I'll see what went wrong. It isn't equipped by default, you have to press 2nd when the arrow is on the armor and it should work.

Thanks for testing, I'm glad you like it! I'll be sure to deliver more of this kind of work as I progress.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on November 20, 2015, 06:26:37 AM
Actually for the downvote, @Streetwalrus could remove both it and the upvote so it won't count towards both totals, but I can understand that sometimes this accident occurs, since it's quite common. :P And I see about the armor. I actually tried 2nd out of reflex, to no avail.

By the way, do you plan to try implementing the gradient thing?
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Unicorn on November 21, 2015, 08:49:04 AM
I think the other two downvotes DJ has are from me swiping my kindle down, and hitting the button.

I still need to put this on my calc, I downloaded the zip, now to send it :P
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on November 22, 2015, 03:14:26 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on November 20, 2015, 06:26:37 AM
Actually for the downvote, @Streetwalrus could remove both it and the upvote so it won't count towards both totals, but I can understand that sometimes this accident occurs, since it's quite common. :P And I see about the armor. I actually tried 2nd out of reflex, to no avail.

By the way, do you plan to try implementing the gradient thing?
Yeah, then let Street do that. Yeah, I need to figure out the problem with the armor.
And if I can get the gradient algorithm into a decent size, yes, I think I'll do it.
Quote from: Unicorn on November 21, 2015, 08:49:04 AM
I think the other two downvotes DJ has are from me swiping my kindle down, and hitting the button.

I still need to put this on my calc, I downloaded the zip, now to send it :P
Cool! Thanks for trying it, when you get the chance.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on November 22, 2015, 06:19:55 AM
The gradient is just a matter of a For loop and a line/rectangle command I think, or perhaps two.
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on December 01, 2015, 01:50:16 AM
Beta version 0.2b is out now! I've updated the original post to contain the download. Unfortunately, @DJ Omnimaga , it was not convenient to create a Save+Continue feature. It was plausible, but my attempts failed. I may re-attempt such a feature in the future. Here are a list of changes from version 0.1b:
*Minor color changes of grass textures for overworld and battle background/sky
*Speed and size optimizations
*Removed small glitch that made options menu appear a split second before battle ending text displayed
*Added progress bar to the blue "Saving" screen
*Added functionality to armor. Now a usable item that ups HP based on the power of the armor
*Changed Doors CSE icon to more closely resemble the new character sprite made by LD Studios
*Small functionality tweaks

Here's a screenshot:
(http://i.imgur.com/3DwrMyO.gif)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on December 01, 2015, 08:25:17 AM
Thanks for the update. I like the new changes and this is getting along nicely. By the way, I notice that the gradient is drawn gradually. Have you gotten any luck using xLIBC's "double-buffering" abilities to counter that? Or is it because the other half of the LCD is still being used by the overworld map even when battles are underway? Also, will the armor have multiple uses as an item or is it discarded instantly?

I also still think that the top of the screen should show more useful info such as the real location and your nick, or stats. :P

Keep up the nice work :)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on December 01, 2015, 09:48:10 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on December 01, 2015, 08:25:17 AM
Thanks for the update. I like the new changes and this is getting along nicely. By the way, I notice that the gradient is drawn gradually. Have you gotten any luck using xLIBC's "double-buffering" abilities to counter that? Or is it because the other half of the LCD is still being used by the overworld map even when battles are underway? Also, will the armor have multiple uses as an item or is it discarded instantly?

I also still think that the top of the screen should show more useful info such as the real location and your nick, or stats. :P

Keep up the nice work :)
I use xLIBC's double buffering all the time. I use the rectangle command to draw the gradient, so that may be the reason for the slowdown. The armor will discard instantly and give you HP points. I might put Lv x in the HUD, to replace player name. But I like that the location name at the top. If I have to, I'll move that to the overworld menu.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on December 02, 2015, 05:55:15 AM
Ah I thought double-buffering wasn't used because the gradient seemed to be drawn gradually rather than instantly following a small delay. The speed is still fine IMHO.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on December 02, 2015, 08:25:20 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on December 02, 2015, 05:55:15 AM
Ah I thought double-buffering wasn't used because the gradient seemed to be drawn gradually rather than instantly following a small delay. The speed is still fine IMHO.
I just remembered why that is. Instead of drawing all the lines at once and updated the buffer, I drew each line and then updated. I can change that now, it's not hard at all.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: c4ooo on December 02, 2015, 08:29:20 PM
Quote from: 123outerme on December 02, 2015, 08:25:20 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on December 02, 2015, 05:55:15 AM
Ah I thought double-buffering wasn't used because the gradient seemed to be drawn gradually rather than instantly following a small delay. The speed is still fine IMHO.
I just remembered why that is. Instead of drawing all the lines at once and updated the buffer, I drew each line and then updated. I can change that now, it's not hard at all.
If you use double buffering, you could do what i suggested on cemetech ;)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on December 02, 2015, 09:44:40 PM
Quote from: c4ooo on December 02, 2015, 08:29:20 PM
Quote from: 123outerme on December 02, 2015, 08:25:20 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on December 02, 2015, 05:55:15 AM
Ah I thought double-buffering wasn't used because the gradient seemed to be drawn gradually rather than instantly following a small delay. The speed is still fine IMHO.
I just remembered why that is. Instead of drawing all the lines at once and updated the buffer, I drew each line and then updated. I can change that now, it's not hard at all.
If you use double buffering, you could do what i suggested on cemetech ;)
I see how it could work. The character still moves in multiples of 8 to make redrawing easier, but along a set path per the coordinates that you clicked on. I don't think I'll do it, however. I'm not looking for a point-and-click style, although that's not a bad option for an RPG. Thanks for the suggestion!

Also, I uploaded 0.3b with not too many changes. No screenshot this time since none of the changes require one.

*Fixed minor lag in battle background gradient drawing as per @DJ Omnimaga  's request
*Changed method of storage for map data from program (inside the main program) to a separate Appvar. This will allow me to keep the game to one program and allow me to make almost too many maps.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on December 03, 2015, 01:10:07 AM
YEah I think tile by tile movement (moving by multiples of 8) is better for hybrid BASIC games. Otherwise, I can't imagine how slow movement would be with the more complex collision detection.

I'm not sure if I am fan of the point and click idea. It would work better for a TI-Nspire or HP Prime game. Most RPGs with such graphical style use d-pad movement anyway.

Have you done more dungeons and areas so far by the way?
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on December 03, 2015, 01:18:35 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on December 03, 2015, 01:10:07 AM
YEah I think tile by tile movement (moving by multiples of 8 ) is better for hybrid BASIC games. Otherwise, I can't imagine how slow movement would be with the more complex collision detection.

I'm not sure if I am fan of the point and click idea. It would work better for a TI-Nspire or HP Prime game. Most RPGs with such graphical style use d-pad movement anyway.

Have you done more dungeons and areas so far by the way?
Yes I have, actually.
(http://i.imgur.com/yFBuTS0.png)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on December 03, 2015, 01:28:31 AM
Those dark red plants look like they are just ready to eat you alive O.O

This looks nice actually :P. Something that would be cool when the game is done is if someone made a walkthrough with a full map of the game.

Also an idea I had for the top of the screen would be to like STEVO @ DRAGON'S DEN, assuming the @ symbol is available with xLIBCE.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on December 03, 2015, 01:49:47 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on December 03, 2015, 01:28:31 AM
Those dark red plants look like they are just ready to eat you alive O.O

This looks nice actually :P. Something that would be cool when the game is done is if someone made a walkthrough with a full map of the game.

Also an idea I had for the top of the screen would be to like STEVO @ DRAGON'S DEN, assuming the @ symbol is available with xLIBCE.
Thanks! Actually those aren't plants, they're just the pattern in the cooled lava :P
I plan on combining all of the maps in the game into 1 huge picture or 8 smaller ones.
And I don't think I could do that, because IIRC real(6,0..., the text call (you probably know that though) doesn't do symbols. They just display as garbage.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on December 03, 2015, 06:19:07 PM
Oh I see now. Isn't cooled lava dark gray normally, though? Or is the red color due to being a very large area with lava causing the entire area to have a red hue overall?

And I see. I guess you could show STEVO AT DRAGON DEN or something, but that won't leave much space for text.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on December 03, 2015, 09:14:30 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on December 03, 2015, 06:19:07 PM
Oh I see now. Isn't cooled lava dark gray normally, though? Or is the red color due to being a very large area with lava causing the entire area to have a red hue overall?

And I see. I guess you could show STEVO AT DRAGON DEN or something, but that won't leave much space for text.
Yeah, that last one. And also if it was dark gray idk if maps would look as good. I guess, but I'm probably moving the STEVO and replacing it with LVL 1 or 50/50 or something.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on December 03, 2015, 10:23:37 PM
By the way, I wonder how large enemies can be? Will the final boss be 8*8?
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on December 04, 2015, 12:36:03 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on December 03, 2015, 10:23:37 PM
By the way, I wonder how large enemies can be? Will the final boss be 8*8?
I only intend to use one sprite slot per enemy, but I can use multiple sprites if I absolutely must. Although, I haven't even designed most of the bosses yet.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on December 04, 2015, 03:53:36 AM
Ah ok I was wondering, since peerhaps if the game is long, having every single enemy, including the bosses, only take 1 slot, might make the game a bit boring near the end. But it depends, since a lot can be done in 8x8 with 256 colors.
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on December 06, 2015, 03:47:18 AM
I've hit another size issue. I just can't have the scope of the game I want. I either have way fewer maps per world or just release it now how it is. I've completed two worlds and their bosses so far. I'll give you the choice. Just know that the quality will be lower and the game will feel more rushed if I have fewer maps, but if I release it as it is now it'll feel as if it was just cut off suddenly. I'm sorry to have to do this but it's the only way. I've even put a ton of the code into a subprogram. I just can't do it all. I'm also thinking about handing it over to someone else, so if you would like to take the reins of this project, just PM me.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on December 06, 2015, 04:03:27 AM
Could you explain what are the size issues you have encountered? Did you run out of RAM? I'm thinking you might be doing something wrong, because ROL3 had 6 times more dungeons and used even more outdated Archive libs, yet it still managed to fit.

I wouldn't mind seeing a game with fewer features. I think magic spells should be generic, as in, flashing between 3 bits and 8 bits mode, inverting the LCD, and there are possibly ways to reduce code size or improve program management.

I think this project can survive in some ways given its lower lenght compared to some of the 84+ BASIC RPGs out there (Illusiat, ROL, Reuben, etc), and you have an even bigger advantage with the fact your entire sprite data can be archived at any time.

I would say post the 8xp files, but make a new topic in the programming help section about running out of RAM in large xLIB games. But I hope you don't give up, especially that people can help
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on December 06, 2015, 03:33:18 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on December 06, 2015, 04:03:27 AM
Could you explain what are the size issues you have encountered? Did you run out of RAM? I'm thinking you might be doing something wrong, because ROL3 had 6 times more dungeons and used even more outdated Archive libs, yet it still managed to fit.

I wouldn't mind seeing a game with fewer features. I think magic spells should be generic, as in, flashing between 3 bits and 8 bits mode, inverting the LCD, and there are possibly ways to reduce code size or improve program management.

I think this project can survive in some ways given its lower lenght compared to some of the 84+ BASIC RPGs out there (Illusiat, ROL, Reuben, etc), and you have an even bigger advantage with the fact your entire sprite data can be archived at any time.

I would say post the 8xp files, but make a new topic in the programming help section about running out of RAM in large xLIB games. But I hope you don't give up, especially that people can help
I'm running out of RAM, yes. But I think the problem lies in that when loading a map, it has to copy the Appvar I'm using into RAM. These are pretty big, 600 bytes each. And since I copy them out of the Appvar and into Str9, then store it into Str1, it doubles the size. What I think I need to do is put the map loading code in the subprogram, load the map to Str1, and delete Str9. Since whenever it crashes, it always crashes there. If you would like to take a look at the code and try to find other causes, I will send you the most recent build.
Edit: So that workaround worked, but the question is for how long. I have one 250 or so byte subprogram which holds the map loading code. This gives at least 10000 more bytes of map data to work with. That would probably be enough for 3 or 4 more worlds. So I'll have to cut down on the number of maps each world uses by a few, but that'll give enough room to complete the project, hopefully.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on December 06, 2015, 06:12:56 PM
Oh I forgot that maps were much larger than on monochrome calcs by that margin. I'm sure there are ways around it. A calc RPG cannot be smaller than 10-12 files for those reasons, most of the time.

Adding extra worlds shoudln't permanently take RAM normally.
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: c4ooo on December 06, 2015, 06:19:17 PM
The maps are stored as tilemaps, right? :P
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on December 06, 2015, 06:47:48 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on December 06, 2015, 06:12:56 PM
Oh I forgot that maps were much larger than on monochrome calcs by that margin. I'm sure there are ways around it. A calc RPG cannot be smaller than 10-12 files for those reasons, most of the time.

Adding extra worlds shoudln't permanently take RAM normally.
The Appvar I use to store map data has to be loaded into RAM temporarily to be accessed, and that's where the crash occurs. 10k bytes of that +14k bytes of the main program loaded and I easily excel 21k bytes. That's why I load the map in a seperate subprogram now, so that instead of 14k bytes of a program loaded it's just ~250 bytes. But that only gives me about 20k bytes total for the map data Appvar. I will have to cut a few maps, about 1-2 each for each world. That means about 6-7 maps for the first world, when there was 8 in the demo.
Quote from: c4ooo on December 06, 2015, 06:19:17 PM
The maps are stored as tilemaps, right? :P
Yeah, they are.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on December 07, 2015, 05:03:44 AM
You have to split your map appvar into multiple ones. Metroid II and Reuben series used about 20 different sub-programs for map data each. Also I think the map appvar should be split as well, because Celtic II CSE had issues reading appvars larger than 4-8 KB IIRC.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on December 08, 2015, 01:55:18 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on December 07, 2015, 05:03:44 AM
You have to split your map appvar into multiple ones. Metroid II and Reuben series used about 20 different sub-programs for map data each. Also I think the map appvar should be split as well, because Celtic II CSE had issues reading appvars larger than 4-8 KB IIRC.
They seem to be working so far, but I'll have to see where that goes. Thanks for the input! Now, I'm starting on the third world.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on December 08, 2015, 09:08:45 AM
Personally, I try to pre-emptively fix memory issues when I start, then once I am done I merge sub-programs back when I can, but that's just me I guess. Hopefully your memory problems will remain in the past now and you can add more worlds. The trick is to make sure that everything is data, so that when you add extra worlds, it doesn't increase RAM requirements considerably.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on December 11, 2015, 12:43:34 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on December 08, 2015, 09:08:45 AM
Personally, I try to pre-emptively fix memory issues when I start, then once I am done I merge sub-programs back when I can, but that's just me I guess. Hopefully your memory problems will remain in the past now and you can add more worlds. The trick is to make sure that everything is data, so that when you add extra worlds, it doesn't increase RAM requirements considerably.
In hindsight, I should've realized the amount of space such a project would take up. Although personally, I prefer the air to make modifications such as subprograms as necessary, to prevent confusing of where everything is. The program can be named to say what it is, but the program can't have a name longer than 8 characters, so if I can't fit two descriptions I'll have to go hunting for it.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on December 11, 2015, 05:39:07 AM
I know that my programming skills were absolute crap in 2001-03, but the following might still be a good reference. Here is the approximate file size of my past calculator RPGs, excluding temporary files and Omnicalc/xLIB/DCS:

First, the minimal graphic or ASCII art ones.
-Illusiat: 5 KB
-Illusiat 2: 6 KB
-Illusiat 3: 10 KB
-Illusiat 4: 18 KB
-Illusiat 6: 17 KB (Nemesiat takes 16)
-Illusiat 7: 22 KB
-Illusiat 8: 18 KB
-Illusiat 9: 26 KB
-Illusiat 10: 32 KB
-Illusiat 11: 35 KB
-Illusiat 12: 78 KB
-Illusiat 13: 135 KB (was projected to take 150)
-Mana Force: 18 KB (would have taken 15 with proper coding)
-Mana Force 2: 58 KB
-Mystique: 45 KB
-The Reign of Legends: 80 KB
-The Reign of Legends 2: 95 KB
-Zelda: Dark Link Quest: 125 KB
-First Fantasy: Mana Force: 27 KB (the remake of Mana Force, over 75 KB with DCSE8)

And now here are the most graphical RPGs (that relies only on sprites)
-The Reign of Legends 3: 120 KB
-Reuben Quest: Ev Awakening: 60 KB (grayscale. Close to 80 KB with Omnicalc or 110 with DCS7)
-Reuben Quest: The Lost Mirror: 100 KB (grayscale. Close to 120 KB with Omnicalc or 150 with DCS7)

If you have played those games, then this should give you an idea of how large a monochrome game can get. Since in your case you have a larger screen, then your maps are inevitably much larger, so they take much more space. Add to that graphics data which is over 8 times larger than on monochrome calcs and the fact you can't use 8xi files for map collision detection with pxl-test (like in older Illusiat games and ROL series), so your map data is much larger.



Also, if finding programs in the program menu is a serious issue, then I think Celtic2CSE libs have tools to copy a program into an appvar and vice-versa, but I never figured out how to use it. Otherwise, another trick is to use Doors CSE browser, where only lauch programs have custom icons and are thus easier to find.
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on December 12, 2015, 07:11:40 PM
Thanks DJ. I think it'll work out fine. And the size of Sorcery of Uvutu 0.3b, in the .zip is about equal to Illusiat 7 somehow O.O  I think the whole package on-calc will take anywhere from 40-50 KB. My build is at 38 KB total right now. And I've completed the third world, so the first three worlds are done.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on December 14, 2015, 03:12:45 AM
Not bad, I can't wait for the next version and screenshots. :)

By the way, have you tried implementing my gradients from the code I shared the other day?
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on December 14, 2015, 09:15:43 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on December 14, 2015, 03:12:45 AM
Not bad, I can't wait for the next version and screenshots. :)

By the way, have you tried implementing my gradients from the code I shared the other day?
Not yet. I noticed something I would be concerned about with one of the themes, but I don't remember what it was. And speaking of, what does the input mean, and how can I create my own color combinations?
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on December 16, 2015, 07:53:43 AM
Do you mean the Input command? And to implement your own gradient color by color you would need to use a list.

Otherwise you can just experiment with the values (the part before decimals)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on December 17, 2015, 12:10:56 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on December 16, 2015, 07:53:43 AM
Do you mean the Input command? And to implement your own gradient color by color you would need to use a list.

Otherwise you can just experiment with the values (the part before decimals)
I mean the A variable. So I'll just experiment with the values, and of course I'll credit you if I do use it.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on December 19, 2015, 07:43:46 PM
Ideally thr trick is to experiment in trial and error fashion. Try to change the number before the decimal. Many values will give you good gradients.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on December 28, 2015, 10:10:39 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on December 19, 2015, 07:43:46 PM
Ideally thr trick is to experiment in trial and error fashion. Try to change the number before the decimal. Many values will give you good gradients.
Thanks DJ, I'll work on that.
For now, I'm ready to open closed beta! I've lost some steam with Project M, life stuff, and other things, along with the game being time-consuming to test. I'll put up a beta discussion and all that junk in a few minutes.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on December 28, 2015, 11:53:54 PM
Glad to see this back into action. :)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on December 29, 2015, 03:04:00 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on December 28, 2015, 11:53:54 PM
Glad to see this back into action. :)
Thanks! It was kinda in development limbo; every time I thought about making more maps and adding more content, I put it off a little. This should help reinvigorate it.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on December 29, 2015, 08:48:44 PM
Do you still plan to add more rooms, btw?
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on December 29, 2015, 10:41:31 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on December 29, 2015, 08:48:44 PM
Do you still plan to add more rooms, btw?
Yeah, I plan to add 8 worlds, each with about 7 rooms. I'll try to add more for the last world if I can. But that'll take up 2 Appvars, so either I have to edit my loading code a bit to figure it out or try to squeeze it all in one Appvar.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on December 29, 2015, 10:49:50 PM
I'M ok with 2 appvars. I definitively need to investigate one day about why map data grows this large, though.

Is there a world map, by the way? I didn't get very far in the beta because of the ERR:SYNTAX bug when leveling up. Also, I was using a real calculator, which has a sticky down arrow button problem.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on December 30, 2015, 03:29:32 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on December 29, 2015, 10:49:50 PM
I'M ok with 2 appvars. I definitively need to investigate one day about why map data grows this large, though.

Is there a world map, by the way? I didn't get very far in the beta because of the ERR:SYNTAX bug when leveling up. Also, I was using a real calculator, which has a sticky down arrow button problem.
I'll post the reply in the beta discussion.
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on January 22, 2016, 02:15:15 AM
Quote123outerme   I'm back peeps, well sorta
123outerme   by that I mean I'm going to bed now but I've been testing Sorcery of Uvutu a little on real hardware (although it was an inferior build I played on just to pass the time) and I've got some work to do
123outerme   But also I'm expecting a really exciting shipment, a battle-grade lightsaber (from UltraSabers, if you care enough) to come in tomorrow so I'll probably never show my face again
123outerme   So thanks for reading my life story and I'll probably never see any of you again. Good night San Diego, drive safely!
This.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 22, 2016, 03:38:20 AM
Wait, do you mean you are quitting calculators and CodeWalrus completely @123outerme ? I hope not. Either way I hope you have fun with your lightsaber and that you stick around regardless. D:
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on January 22, 2016, 11:44:25 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on January 22, 2016, 03:38:20 AM
Wait, do you mean you are quitting calculators and CodeWalrus completely @123outerme ? I hope not. Either way I hope you have fun with your lightsaber and that you stick around regardless. D:
No, sorry. I was joking that I'd get so into my lightsaber that I'd never visit again. I'm sticking around, like I said I have work to do.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 22, 2016, 04:52:14 PM
Okay, phew. You scared me last night >.< (I know people left that way before for stuff like LDS church missions or Quigibo when he started working for Leap Motion)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on February 16, 2016, 04:09:40 AM
/me wonders if @123outerme made any new progress on this, such as new worlds?
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on February 16, 2016, 05:13:13 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on February 16, 2016, 04:09:40 AM
/me wonders if @123outerme made any new progress on this, such as new worlds?
I will continue making new worlds, but I intend to fix the bugs I made before I make more content. I'd be sort of like certain PC developers if I focused on the downloadable Content before I actually made the game playable. Also, I'm going to rewrite the code to get a Save + Continue feature because I too agree that it would be immensely useful to have.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on February 16, 2016, 05:33:15 PM
Paid DLC? O.O

Just kidding (lots of companies abuse those >.<). As for the bugs, so far they seemed mostly re-appearing chests after a while when switching worlds and restarting, combined with game balance issues. There was also the error when exiting the menu after accessing the item menu. Other than that I couldn't find anything weird.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on February 16, 2016, 05:37:10 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on February 16, 2016, 05:33:15 PM
Paid DLC? O.O

Just kidding (lots of companies abuse those >.<). As for the bugs, so far they seemed mostly re-appearing chests after a while when switching worlds and restarting, combined with game balance issues. There was also the error when exiting the menu after accessing the item menu. Other than that I couldn't find anything weird.
Thanks for the report! I'll be absolutely sure I squash every one of those bugs. After that, I'll probably add more story stuff like requiring backtracking, like you requested. After that, I'll work on maps. I want to polish my game before I dump content on it.
(And btw., the DLC thing was making fun of the terrible Arkham Knight PC port, Evolve which was a failure, and so on)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on February 16, 2016, 06:19:04 PM
Yeah I know about those DLCs and stuff. Some people hate them because some companies just release their games unfinished or with limited content nowadays, so that people pay for extra content later and I am 100% sure that some companies tried to make people pay for bug fixes via DLC before. I'm glad this isn't a common practice in the calculator scene >.<

And yeah, my backtracking idea was because I saw an unreachable island in World 2, which could be a nice spot for when you complete previous worlds, not to mention your worlds use so few tiles that you could perhaps make a fake lava tile that you can walk on that looks identical to real lava. That could either be World 8 (with World 7 being the final world) or an extra world if you have extra space. But yeah fixing the bugs would be better first :P
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on February 16, 2016, 07:46:58 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on February 16, 2016, 06:19:04 PM
Yeah I know about those DLCs and stuff. Some people hate them because some companies just release their games unfinished or with limited content nowadays, so that people pay for extra content later and I am 100% sure that some companies tried to make people pay for bug fixes via DLC before. I'm glad this isn't a common practice in the calculator scene >.<

And yeah, my backtracking idea was because I saw an unreachable island in World 2, which could be a nice spot for when you complete previous worlds, not to mention your worlds use so few tiles that you could perhaps make a fake lava tile that you can walk on that looks identical to real lava. That could either be World 8 (with World 7 being the final world) or an extra world if you have extra space. But yeah fixing the bugs would be better first :P
The only issue remaining is the balance. All known bugs have been permanently squashed. The balance will take me a little longer to work out, as I have to play through the game and figure out how to modify all the algorithms. As well as that, to balance things out further, I'll add bonus upgrade points, given randomly, and more upgrade points the higher the level you are. Hopefully this will fix the problem that increasing attack doesn't do all that much later, and it takes a high speed to beat enemies. I'll also try to fix both those problems from their source as well as adding this fix.

Imagine if TI implemented oCP (on-Calc Purchases) - "Pay $0.99 to calculate this math problem, or pay $19.99 for Premium Edition, with no ads and no charges!"
And then if the calc gaming scene got a hold of this - "Pay $0.99 to continue playing Portal Prelude!" My point, it would suck.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on February 16, 2016, 08:28:32 PM
From what I recall from the last beta, here are the main issues I encountered:

-It was impossible to tell if the latest mediafire link you were sending was actually an update. I don't even know if the latest version was really the latest, as a result. So it might be better in the future to make a new Mediafire link on every update to avoid confusion. Or maybe make it an open beta so more people can test.

-When your attack or skills were increased, there was barely any difference in the amount of damage they caused. This basically rendered any attack/skill upgrade useless. Also there was no elemental weakness or stuff like that for each move.

-Maybe speed should determine the percentage of chances that enemy attack first on each turn rather than the entire battle, so that when you have a speed of 10 but the enemy has a speed of 11, he sometimes attack first and other times last, not first all the time.

-I don't think bonus points should be awarded randomly, else the game will be entirely luck-based. I think you should do like Illusiat 8, where every stat is upgraded on level up, but you can give an extra point to something of your liking. Super Mario RPG worked like that. Or you can keep the current Illusiat 7 system.


-Or you could redo the entire formula system from scratch and use something like Illusiat series. For example, attack damage could be LV*10, then each skill could have its own attack/elemental power, so if for example flare has an attack multiplier of 1.1 against regular enemies and 0.6 against enemies strong against fire, then it would do LV*10*1.1 damage against non-fire enemies and LV*10*0.6 against fire enemies. And when you upgrade fire to the next spell, its damage multiplier could be 1.6, then the next upgrade 2.1, and so on. And there could be a final set of moves available in a secret area that makes everything so that the damage multiplier is 10.1 :P (9999 damage at level 99, but then using xLIB uservars would be impossible since they can only range from -9999 to 9999)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on February 19, 2016, 03:01:38 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on February 16, 2016, 08:28:32 PM
From what I recall from the last beta, here are the main issues I encountered:

-It was impossible to tell if the latest mediafire link you were sending was actually an update. I don't even know if the latest version was really the latest, as a result. So it might be better in the future to make a new Mediafire link on every update to avoid confusion. Or maybe make it an open beta so more people can test.

-When your attack or skills were increased, there was barely any difference in the amount of damage they caused. This basically rendered any attack/skill upgrade useless. Also there was no elemental weakness or stuff like that for each move.

-Maybe speed should determine the percentage of chances that enemy attack first on each turn rather than the entire battle, so that when you have a speed of 10 but the enemy has a speed of 11, he sometimes attack first and other times last, not first all the time.

-I don't think bonus points should be awarded randomly, else the game will be entirely luck-based. I think you should do like Illusiat 8, where every stat is upgraded on level up, but you can give an extra point to something of your liking. Super Mario RPG worked like that. Or you can keep the current Illusiat 7 system.


-Or you could redo the entire formula system from scratch and use something like Illusiat series. For example, attack damage could be LV*10, then each skill could have its own attack/elemental power, so if for example flare has an attack multiplier of 1.1 against regular enemies and 0.6 against enemies strong against fire, then it would do LV*10*1.1 damage against non-fire enemies and LV*10*0.6 against fire enemies. And when you upgrade fire to the next spell, its damage multiplier could be 1.6, then the next upgrade 2.1, and so on. And there could be a final set of moves available in a secret area that makes everything so that the damage multiplier is 10.1 :P (9999 damage at level 99, but then using xLIB uservars would be impossible since they can only range from -9999 to 9999)

- That should be easy, I can do that from now on, I'll probably make files 0.51, 0.52 instead of 0.5. I may or may not include this numbering in the program itself, possibly only in the file name. Though, that should be enough.

- I can fix this. I'm working on it now. And as well, elemental weaknesses shouldn't be too hard.

- I can try make the difference in speed contribute to a random chance of you going first each turn, if your speed is close to the enemy's. I may not be able to do this, though. If not, I'll probably have another way to balance this problem out.

- I don't mean random bonus points whenever, I meant more like on level up, you have a chance of getting an extra bonus point. This is how many RPGs and games with leveling systems handle their stats. Well, you don't have upgrade points as an intermediate, you just have straight up stat increases, but games like Pokemon and Fire Emblem have random chances to upgrade certain stats. This is sorta what I'm going for as well. It feels great to get an extra bonus point, and every time you replay the game, you won't be at exactly the same point when you're "going through the motions" and playing the game.

- I've thought about redoing the formula system, and honestly I think all I have to do is tweak my current system, and then it'd be fine I think.

Thanks for spending so much time testing the game and writing these posts! I think it's fair to say that at this point, all I'm doing is coding what you tell me to do :P
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on February 20, 2016, 06:01:07 AM
I got your new version via PM, but I don't have time to test it right now.

Good idea about the versioning actually. Just as long as I know I am downloading the right file and that you are not sending outdated links :P. As for the random enemy attack first thing, if you did it it would be more like Final Fantasy on the NES I think. And I see about bonus points. I was worried you wanted to make it a bit like in FFII where if you didn't get a stat increase, nothing else increased, so it was entirely luck-based and you could remain stuck at low stats for like 100 battles if you were not lucky. A random bonus point on top of full increases would definitively be fine. As for formulas you can always check the code of my old RPGs for some ideas.

And lol no problem. I can't wait to see this game come into fruitionwalrition. :3=

Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on February 24, 2016, 10:02:43 PM
What you see here is the newest screenshot, with many features suggested by the testers who work with me. Not many tiles, if any, have changed since the last screenshot. Most of what changed is internal work, such as a small chance that you can attack first, even if you don't outspeed the enemy (and the opposite is also true). This isn't demonstrated in the screenshot, but it's an example.
(http://i.imgur.com/Z97cCZ5.gif)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on February 24, 2016, 10:11:10 PM
I like the new HP boxes actually. Do you still plan to add the gradient thing I posted once?

Also if the engine can be re-used in other games, it would be cool if there was a sequel/prequel or remake of Dragonsglid that had shops and the ability to equip one or two item for use in battles.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on February 24, 2016, 10:24:18 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on February 24, 2016, 10:11:10 PM
I like the new HP boxes actually. Do you still plan to add the gradient thing I posted once?

Also if the engine can be re-used in other games, it would be cool if there was a sequel/prequel or remake of Dragonsglid that had shops and the ability to equip one or two item for use in battles.
I like them too. I have the program on my computer, in a directory in my SoU folder, but I have yet to play around with it and find all the gradients I need.

Most of the engine is re-usable. The only thing isn't is chest and locations, NPCs (for the most part, there'll still be one in every house), and things like item and enemy names. Other than that, you could add your own maps and tiles (as long as you use a format), and you'd basically have another game. I actually had the idea of remaking that Terrors game I made, probably modifying the story and what-not. But mostly I think the energy sword would be fun to implement into a game.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on February 27, 2016, 05:11:58 PM
Yeah that would be a cool idea, and maybe a Dragonsglid remake. Also if you do a sequel to this game then it would be cool if all areas were linked together by another. For example, you could start in a prison or something, exit, then end up in a forest with an house hidden there to heal you and with a boss at the end, then afterwards you end up in a village with more forest that links to various dungeons (north, south, southwest, etc) or areas. So the game would be one big map like Illusiat 13.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on February 27, 2016, 06:35:06 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on February 27, 2016, 05:11:58 PM
Yeah that would be a cool idea, and maybe a Dragonsglid remake. Also if you do a sequel to this game then it would be cool if all areas were linked together by another. For example, you could start in a prison or something, exit, then end up in a forest with an house hidden there to heal you and with a boss at the end, then afterwards you end up in a village with more forest that links to various dungeons (north, south, southwest, etc) or areas. So the game would be one big map like Illusiat 13.
That's a really cool idea! As soon as I reach the edge of a world (because worlds right now can be a max of 9x9) and try to go onwards, I can just wrap the world number over. Although I think after this I'll try out some other genres with xLIBC.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on February 28, 2016, 04:55:48 AM
Wrapping the world would be a good idea actually, although you would need to make sure to maximize the use of each map to not waste space. And yeah other game genres would be nice as well, especially that on the 84+CE games will most likely run much faster, thus, allowing more possibilities.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on March 01, 2016, 01:14:29 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on February 28, 2016, 04:55:48 AM
Wrapping the world would be a good idea actually, although you would need to make sure to maximize the use of each map to not waste space. And yeah other game genres would be nice as well, especially that on the 84+CE games will most likely run much faster, thus, allowing more possibilities.
Yeah, I think that I want to move on to a certain Nintendo fighter as my next project (or at least attempt it). I already have some ideas, but none for a working camera, so far. Possibly just a scrolling camera using code similar to the "pseudo-3D" thing I showed/talked about that once. And on the topic of the CE, I don't think I'll get one. If my CSE breaks, I'll try to get another one if I can find it. But if I can't get one without spending more than MSRP or buying a used one, I'll get a CE and hope Doors CE becomes fully compatible with Doors CSE.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on March 01, 2016, 03:54:31 AM
Could you link to that pseudo 3D thing? I forgot what it was. And I see about the CE, I hope you reconsider at one point but I could understand if you don't get one.

As for a Nintendo fighter, do you mean a beat-em-up or something like Punch Out?
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on March 10, 2016, 07:15:50 PM
On a side note, has there been any new map progress on Uvutu? (I also split the Smash Bros/scrolling talk into a new topic https://codewalr.us/index.php?topic=1200.0 )
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on March 10, 2016, 09:45:37 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on March 10, 2016, 07:15:50 PM
On a side note, has there been any new map progress on Uvutu? (I also split the Smash Bros/scrolling talk into a new topic https://codewalr.us/index.php?topic=1200.0 )
(Thanks!)
Yes, I've completed all of World 4. I just have to fix some bugs, and I'll send it out.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on March 11, 2016, 07:18:04 AM
Cool to hear. I am curious about how it will be like. :)

By the way, is the world size still fixed to 8 maps each?
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on March 11, 2016, 07:55:46 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on March 11, 2016, 07:18:04 AM
Cool to hear. I am curious about how it will be like. :)

By the way, is the world size still fixed to 8 maps each?
It was never "fixed" to 8 maps, I just wanted there to not be too many maps for balance and size issues. Since I'm using 2 map AppVars, I can store more data, and theoretically, I can have more maps. Although I still want to keep it to 2 AppVars, but for World 8 (and a possible secret World 9) I might need to have 3. We'll see. And I'll fix those bugs, since I figured them out while I was on my calc AFK, and send it out.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on March 11, 2016, 08:23:09 PM
(http://i.imgur.com/0tKIFJ4.gif)
Here's a new gif of weaknesses and upgraded attack animations! The yellow flash indicates that you've used a move that the enemy is weak to. Instead of just guesswork, the NPCs will also hint to/tell you the enemies' weaknesses. On top of this, NPCs will also offer other helpful advice (especially in the first dungeon) and and offer to upgrade your attacks. (Although that last one was always present)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on March 12, 2016, 02:46:13 AM
I like the flash idea. Also, I have a suggestion that might be coming late, but I think each village should have an extra house where a character gives game advice and explaisn how the game work, kinda like in Final Fantasy VI. In later areas, the person could explain more advanced stuff, like you did above.

Also I still hope for magic animations that are larger than 8x8 at some point later in the game. :)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on March 12, 2016, 03:53:50 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on March 12, 2016, 02:46:13 AM
I like the flash idea. Also, I have a suggestion that might be coming late, but I think each village should have an extra house where a character gives game advice and explaisn how the game work, kinda like in Final Fantasy VI. In later areas, the person could explain more advanced stuff, like you did above.

Also I still hope for magic animations that are larger than 8x8 at some point later in the game. :)
Thanks! I have the game advice already implemented, but it's primarily in the first world (obviously as an optional "tutorial").
As for the magic animations, I will attempt to make the more powerful moves take up more than 1 sprite slot, but this is only if I have enough space in the tileset.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on March 12, 2016, 04:30:19 AM
If the dialog is very long for the tutorial, you could ask the player if he wants to read it with a choice box.
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dudeman313 on March 12, 2016, 05:21:09 AM
As long as you can speed up the text. The disablility to do so can be a real pain in some games.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on March 12, 2016, 08:46:18 PM
Yeah, especially Ocarina of Time. >.<
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dudeman313 on March 12, 2016, 10:08:02 PM
Or, if you played it, squidgetx's Ash:Phoenix Demo that had a beautiful (but terribly slow  <_<) intro.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on March 13, 2016, 02:29:05 AM
I haven't played that game in years, so I don't really remember. X.x I really should do it again at some point.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on March 13, 2016, 09:12:34 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on March 12, 2016, 04:30:19 AM
If the dialog is very long for the tutorial, you could ask the player if he wants to read it with a choice box.
Well, there's no "intro" or "tutorial" really. I was comparing the advice that all of the NPCs in Plain Plains delivers to a tutorial. So if you didn't want to hear any of it, you could walk out of the town without being stopped. But if you did, you could visit all the NPCs and receive help.
Speaking of (nothing?), how has the testing gone?
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on August 27, 2016, 08:26:57 PM
Let's get a little sneak peek into what you'll be seeing in the 5th world.
(http://i.imgur.com/8NWhvYJ.png)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on August 28, 2016, 02:16:41 PM
Lol at the police name XD, but nice to see this updated. :) You could add more buildings around :)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on August 28, 2016, 02:39:10 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on August 28, 2016, 02:16:41 PM
Lol at the police name XD, but nice to see this updated. :) You could add more buildings around :)
The police name was because of a name my friends call me, Policelee. I didn't have enough space to fit that, obviously :P
Yeah, I was thinking about adding another move upgrader to the world. Once I get a feel for how the world actually is, I'll probably make that call.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on August 29, 2016, 06:11:31 AM
Oh I see lol. I hope they don't call you like that due to trying to discipline them XD. And yeah that could be an idea, or to make it less repetitive you could make it so the final upgrades can only be obtained once all other upgrades were acquired, which would unlock secret bosses in each world that gives each move.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on August 31, 2016, 02:47:46 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on August 29, 2016, 06:11:31 AM
Oh I see lol. I hope they don't call you like that due to trying to discipline them XD. And yeah that could be an idea, or to make it less repetitive you could make it so the final upgrades can only be obtained once all other upgrades were acquired, which would unlock secret bosses in each world that gives each move.
No, they call me that because it's part of my last name. That would actually be a pretty great idea for the final moves or something. I just thought about if all move upgraders could upgrade any move, or at least maybe the latter ones. I'll have to think if that could be done.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on August 31, 2016, 04:54:50 PM
Don't forget to have a water tile that can be walked on, but looks identical to regular water tiles, for the secret island thing that can only be reached later in the game. Maybe it could be reached once you got all upgrades except the last ones?

That said, if the game has more than 4 different skills then you would need to make it so that the island gets unlocked once you have 4 moves equipped and fully upgraded rather than having every single move in the game.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on August 31, 2016, 06:40:10 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on August 31, 2016, 04:54:50 PM
Don't forget to have a water tile that can be walked on, but looks identical to regular water tiles, for the secret island thing that can only be reached later in the game. Maybe it could be reached once you got all upgrades except the last ones?

That said, if the game has more than 4 different skills then you would need to make it so that the island gets unlocked once you have 4 moves equipped and fully upgraded rather than having every single move in the game.
The game actually has 16 different moves (and the upgraded variation of 14 of them). I'll probably add a way to get to a secret area. If I do it with a water tile, for example, I'll make that tile slightly different so you can actually find the secret, although it'll be hard.
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on November 16, 2016, 09:57:33 PM
Unfortunately, I'm experiencing a bit of a burnout with this project. Probably unrelatedly, with games in general. I know I've learned a lot from this project, and I don't mean for this to be a cry for attention, but I'm thinking it's time to take what I've learned and move on. I'll get to work on the last 2 worlds, but by then I might not have enough steam to make the experience any more than it already is for 2 more worlds. Meaning probably no sidequests, no auto-battle mode, no 9th world. I just don't have the energy with this project to try to make it any more engaging than it already is, which I fear is little. I'm going to take what I learn here and use it to make better projects on the CSE, and possibly the CE too, if I decide to get one.
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: tr1p1ea on November 16, 2016, 10:43:25 PM
Don't feel bad, I've done this with heaps of projects, but importantly it's great that you have learned heaps and that can help you in the future.

UVUTU is an amazing project and whatever capacity you can release it in will be great! :).
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on November 16, 2016, 11:10:11 PM
Quote from: 123outerme on November 16, 2016, 09:57:33 PM
Unfortunately, I'm experiencing a bit of a burnout with this project. Probably unrelatedly, with games in general. I know I've learned a lot from this project, and I don't mean for this to be a cry for attention, but I'm thinking it's time to take what I've learned and move on. I'll get to work on the last 2 worlds, but by then I might not have enough steam to make the experience any more than it already is for 2 more worlds. Meaning probably no sidequests, no auto-battle mode, no 9th world. I just don't have the energy with this project to try to make it any more engaging than it already is, which I fear is little. I'm going to take what I learn here and use it to make better projects on the CSE, and possibly the CE too, if I decide to get one.
I think it's fine. I already liked it how it was. An extra world or two would be enough, since that's what you originally planned, and for this style of RPG you want to avoid making it too long. Another thing is that it could be the beginning of a new calc RPG series and you could call it Dragonsglid II: Sorcery of Uvutu? It would be interesting if you made a third RPG as we could see the evolution of your games :) (like with Illusiat I guess).

Sorry to hear you are burnt out about this project, though. Don't feel bad, though. Good luck for your future projects and this one :)
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on January 07, 2017, 06:44:31 PM
Since I have literally nothing to do today (except homework :banghead: ) I think I'll work on some of this. I've started work on world 6, the Under City. One thing that I hope to add soon will be a decent story or at least a driving motive. Due to the way I've set things up so far (planning on reworking the engine somewhat, though) the only way I can tell a story would be through the townspeople, which mostly only occur in each town. Hopefully when I rework the engine I can make townspeople outside of buildings, signs, pieces of paper, etc. trigger a dialogue (at least), meaning more chances to add to the story. For now, just townspeople and soon to be the New Game screen.
Most likely, I will release version 1.0 with the engine I have now, and rerelease the reworked version as v2.0, or by adding "Reworked", "Remastered", or something like that to the title.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 07, 2017, 10:43:51 PM
Under City seems interesting and mysterious :P. I would say to leave the game as in for now, add the final chapters and release it, then make a major overhaul (or maybe a prequel/sequel?). The style reminds me a bit of Dragon Warrior or Zelda NES in the way that you must explore and talk to NPCs but without triggering events. In future versions or remakes events would be a big addition, though, since they can allow you to add plot twists and such things. Switches would also be a nice addition. Good luck!
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on January 09, 2017, 09:25:38 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on January 07, 2017, 10:43:51 PM
Under City seems interesting and mysterious :P. I would say to leave the game as in for now, add the final chapters and release it, then make a major overhaul (or maybe a prequel/sequel?). The style reminds me a bit of Dragon Warrior or Zelda NES in the way that you must explore and talk to NPCs but without triggering events. In future versions or remakes events would be a big addition, though, since they can allow you to add plot twists and such things. Switches would also be a nice addition. Good luck!
Yeah, I had a good idea with this "darkness" tile, and I think it turned out really great. Looks pretty nice on actual hardware. So yeah, I will update the engine once I've finished all the maps. Not a huge task; if I could do nothing but make maps nonstop, I'd probably have it finished in a couple days. But, we always have to eat, us people.
I'm getting excitedly close. I think it only just hit me that this is my game, that I made from scratch (of course with all the help of you who posted here), and it's in the same development phase as stuff like Yooka-Laylee are in right now: late beta, approaching Release Candidate stage.
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on January 10, 2017, 09:14:22 PM
Project update: For those of you who are testers, I sent out the latest build that fixed a lot of bugs. You got the PM explaining it.

For those who are just browsing, I'm about 90% done with the project. I have worlds 1-7 completely finished (have to do some testing to know if they're all working but I have no reason to suspect they aren't), all sprites, enemies, etc. are all completed, and all game systems are fully functioning and balanced. All I have left to do is create World 8, add the necessary assets, add a satisfying ending screen, add an intriguing "New File information dump" screen, and do a test playthrough. After I release the game, I will release various data such as move explanations, world maps (these include tons of spoilers, so I'd look at these at your own risk), etc.

Given the time I have available to me due to semester exams approaching, lots of homework to do (for some reason), and various other life stuff, I aim to release it next week, with a possible release time this weekend. I'm very excited for release, feedback, and traffic my game will be getting at that time, since it won't be locked into private beta anymore. This is the largest project I've ever taken up. It's taken me the longest to develop, the most art to create (actually it was the first time I actually made art for a game), the most depth I've ever had in a title, etc. I'm very proud of it, and it seems that sort of quality, to me, that would feel right at home on the NES. Of course, the memory limitation and 8x8 pixel graphics help that feel too.  :P
And don't worry, post-launch sentimental posts are coming. You have been warned. I will say "thanks" or some varation of that word at least 340945690 times.
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: p4nix on January 10, 2017, 09:17:59 PM
Quote from: 123outerme on January 10, 2017, 09:14:22 PM
I will say "thanks" or some varation of that word at least 340945690 times.

I will count on that. Besides that, good luck with the missing 10%, keep rocking! ;)
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on January 10, 2017, 09:20:54 PM
Quote from: p4nix on January 10, 2017, 09:17:59 PM
Quote from: 123outerme on January 10, 2017, 09:14:22 PM
I will say "thanks" or some varation of that word at least 340945690 times.

I will count on that. Besides that, good luck with the missing 10%, keep rocking! ;)
Thanks! I definitely will. As the 90% implies, most of the extremely hard work is far, far behind me already.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 11, 2017, 07:32:52 AM
I'm sure a bunch of people (assuming we still have CSE owners around) would like to try this game. Glad it is nearing completion :). I will try the latest version as soon as I find time (where I am not half-asleep, that is). Hopefully you can manage to finish the game before school becomes too demanding.

Also after the game is done, I hope to eventually see a CE version of Doors CSE, as the game audience would shoot up instantly (although I think the scrolling transition before battles might look different?).


:3=
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on January 11, 2017, 07:39:22 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on January 11, 2017, 07:32:52 AM
I'm sure a bunch of people (assuming we still have CSE owners around) would like to try this game. Glad it is nearing completion :). I will try the latest version as soon as I find time (where I am not half-asleep, that is). Hopefully you can manage to finish the game before school becomes too demanding.

Also after the game is done, I hope to eventually see a CE version of Doors CSE, as the game audience would shoot up instantly (although I think the scrolling transition before battles might look different?).


:3=
For the CE version, I'd probably release it without the scrolling transition.
Unfortunately, I think the game's size has gotten too large again. I'm presented with 4 options: Optimize it myself, ask/get someone else to help, go the easy route and delete the DCSE icon, or give up (obviously the 4th one isn't going to happen; I'm so close). Not quite sure which one to do yet. For testing purposes, I'll probably just delete the DCSE icon, but I'll try to figure out another way. I've already tried using a launcher, but the way the game handles even the main menu screen means that it just exits upon selecting an option.

UPDATE:
Problem solved. Thanks to DJ Omnimaga, kotu, and c4ooo, I've fixed the problem and even reduced the number of files needed! Unfortunately, though, talking to a regular townsperson (aka has no function other than dialogue) has a 2-3 second delay from the bubble popping up (immediately after pressing 2nd) to the text appearing. It's either that, or the game won't run. I had to do what I had to do.
Edit to the update: Nevermind. I just put the strings in a new AppVar, in the beginning lines, and it's only about a half-second delay. But I removed one of the data AppVars, essentially.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 12, 2017, 03:23:09 AM
Yeah the thing is: Never put your text/map/enemy data inside the main program. It has to remain archived at any time and when you need it, you copy the data you need to RAM. Also battle files must be archived when you're not in a battle, menu must be archived when not in it, the title screen and intro must be archived when not used and the walking engine must be archvied when inside the menu or battle. As for speed issues such data searching might cause, splitting it into multiple sub-programs or If/Then/Return/End blocks usually helps. Glad you got it solved. I downloaded the game now and I will try later (from scratch, so I can see the changes and stuff)


EDIT: Bug reports D:

1: Weird, when I leveled up the first time, after allocating 1 pt to speed, the next text window said "..NUMSTNG" O.O or something. I also noticed it also says that when I talk to the upgrade guy after I already upgraded.
2: Also another issue is that the main character now flickers non-stop, which didn't happen before.
3: Also I noticed a bug when saving+continuing: If you warp to a different world just before saving, it won't teleport so you'll appear on the wrong map.
4: I get ERR:INVALID DIMENSION when picking the treasure chest just after the second boss (in the Dragon's Den)
5: When you reload your game from last save, the items you picked up after you saved are not reset back to their previous state. For example, that treasure chest that gave me a DIM error is now gone and this is what I see in the item menu:

(http://i.imgur.com/cecThEh.png)

6: It seems I can no longer find any new skills and the 2nd upgrade guy also says NUMSTNG. And it seems I can no longer open any treasure chests either now. ALl of them give me a DIM error
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on January 12, 2017, 01:29:02 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on January 12, 2017, 03:23:09 AM
EDIT: Bug reports D:

1: Weird, when I leveled up the first time, after allocating 1 pt to speed, the next text window said "..NUMSTNG" O.O or something. I also noticed it also says that when I talk to the upgrade guy after I already upgraded.
2: Also another issue is that the main character now flickers non-stop, which didn't happen before.
3: Also I noticed a bug when saving+continuing: If you warp to a different world just before saving, it won't teleport so you'll appear on the wrong map.
4: I get ERR:INVALID DIMENSION when picking the treasure chest just after the second boss (in the Dragon's Den)
5: When you reload your game from last save, the items you picked up after you saved are not reset back to their previous state. For example, that treasure chest that gave me a DIM error is now gone and this is what I see in the item menu:

(http://i.imgur.com/cecThEh.png)

6: It seems I can no longer find any new skills and the 2nd upgrade guy also says NUMSTNG. And it seems I can no longer open any treasure chests either now. ALl of them give me a DIM error
Thanks for the advice! As for the bugs:
1. I just checked and it looks like I fixed that on my build. I think I already updated the zip file, so I would say download it again. Sorry for the confusion, I had just sent so many builds,  and I didn't want to send another one just after 0.92.
2. Is this on the emulator? I've noticed the emulator flickers a lot, but on calc on my build, it's fine for me. If you keep seeing this, let me know where and when.
3. I'll keep testing this and send out a fix soon, thanks.
4. This was another error I believe I already fixed. If you still have this after redownloading, let me knot
5. That's because it saves the item and removes the chest from the world, and it's not meant to crash. Once 4 is fixed, this will be too.
6. I believe I already fixed this issue too, but I'll keep testing. Edit: Nope. On mobile atm, will fix later
Sorry about the confusion again. Right after I sent out the build, I wanted to do a play through, then saw and fixed all these errors. You must have downloaded before I was finished. That was mismanagement on my part.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 12, 2017, 05:24:55 PM
About 5, aren't chest states supposed to be reset when you reload your saved game?
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on January 12, 2017, 07:50:33 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on January 12, 2017, 05:24:55 PM
About 5, aren't chest states supposed to be reset when you reload your saved game?
It doesn't reset since I knew there was no way to reset the item gained from the chest (since the only place I can store the new item is directly on the save file), so I figured the only way to stop people On-breaking and farming for items in chests, was to remove the chest from the world after the item was collected. In the system where it isn't supposed to crash, this should be seamless and not cause issues, since even if you On-break the game (unless it's timed perfectly), nothing will happen except your previous save file magically has the item, and chest is removed.

Anyways, fixed both issues now. I'll send another 0.92 build out now.
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on January 13, 2017, 09:35:03 PM
I haven't updated with a screenshot in a while so I figured I'd do it after changing the status bar to something a little more useful:

(http://i.imgur.com/yElWFWi.gif)

That's right, it's got health there now (Thanks to a year-old request of DJ Omnimaga's)! And when your health gets to >=30%, the normal yellow color will turn red to signify you need healing. On top of that, I demonstrated some of the older stuff again such as talking to NPCs, the menu, and saving.

Update:
Another screenshot! This time, I've implemented the "intro exposition dump". Let me know if you like the color of the background and text.
(http://i.imgur.com/IATnAvL.gif)
(Hidden not really hidden message somewhere in there [hint: the name])
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 14, 2017, 12:10:38 AM
Oooh I like the changes and additions. Having the HP displayed will be very handy :)

As for chests was the decision to not store collected items inside save files due to lack of RAM?
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on January 14, 2017, 12:33:12 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on January 14, 2017, 12:10:38 AM
Oooh I like the changes and additions. Having the HP displayed will be very handy :)

As for chests was the decision to not store collected items inside save files due to lack of RAM?
I thought so too. Having the HP immediately visible instead of only in the Stats screen will probably make people more vigilant of their health, reducing unfair deaths, I would assume.

As for the chests, I store the collected items only and straight to the save file, nowhere else. This is because storing it straight to the save file saves a lot of RAM; creating and using a custom list just for that one purpose was decidedly not worth it. I think this because it would add extra time to the saving screen and be more restrictive on the limit of how big the game files in RAM can be. If someone is playing the game I designed (aka no crashes, errors, or glitches), then this design choice wouldn't be noticed.
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: 123outerme on January 14, 2017, 06:08:30 PM
It's been a long ride, but I've finally gotten to Release Candidate stage! Together, with me and the people who generously donated their time to helping me test my game, I've gotten Sorcery of Uvutu to the final stage of the game development cycle. If I really needed/wanted to, I would be perfectly okay releasing the game as is. However, I prefer to wait for my testers to report their feedback and assure the quality of this product I've made. I'm so glad to have made it here!
(And no, this is not the touchy-feely post yet, that'll come when I release :P )
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 14, 2017, 06:57:07 PM
Gonna try tuesday ^.^
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] [Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on January 15, 2017, 12:04:00 AM
I am extremely glad to be announcing; Sorcery of Uvutu is finally released! I am completely done with everything; gameplay, mechanics, graphics, and the experience! Thank you to my testers for making my life easier. It wouldn't have made it this far without them. Even if you only tested for a short time, your contributions still mattered. Thank you to everyone who has posted in my topics, your support, kind words, and suggestions mean the world to me. As such, I am proud to present my newest, most ambitious, and most refined title, Sorcery of Uvutu!

You can find the download in the original post.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 15, 2017, 05:43:17 PM
Wait you managed to fix all the bugs already? O.O Anyway I'm amazed to see this coming out, as this has been one of the RPGs I've been looking forward for the CSE since a year or two and it's also the first graphical RPG to come out on that calculator. I am busy right now so I can't play it yet but I hope to be able to try it tuesday.

I can't wait for other games from you in the future and your other projects :)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on January 15, 2017, 05:52:38 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on January 15, 2017, 05:43:17 PM
Wait you managed to fix all the bugs already? O.O Anyway I'm amazed to see this coming out, as this has been one of the RPGs I've been looking forward for the CSE since a year or two and it's also the first graphical RPG to come out on that calculator. I am busy right now so I can't play it yet but I hope to be able to try it tuesday.

I can't wait for other games from you in the future and your other projects :)
Yeah, I did do an entire play through of the game to ensure every bug was crushed (except for 2 that I missed in the last private build, but that I fixed for 1.0).
And thanks, I'm looking forward to working on other projects I have in mind our those I've already started! Except today, I'm probably gonna take a break. :P
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 17, 2017, 12:00:18 AM
I might have gotten a bug, but I'm unsure if it's related to the game or the emulator, because I got a Syntax error on If M=8.2 or something, which looks fine ???. This happened after the 2nd screen (I leveled up just before)


EDIT Nevermind (for now). I just realized that my WabbitEmu ROM was OS 4.0, which seems to have issues with Doors CSE 8. I upgraded to 4.2 and the problem seems to have gone away.


EDIT: OMG that easter egg in the Upper City *.*

EDIT: Now that I have beaten the game (nice game by the way. While it's simple overall in terms of story content, I liked how many attacks there were and the worlds were fun to explore) I got some suggestions:

I think the game enemy balance is fine (the leveing up is fast but the enemies remains hard enough to give challenge), I think it's another story for bosses. I ran into one or two that were pretty challenging, but I don't think the final boss should have 70-ish HP and die in 3 hits. At least this one final foe should probably last longer, even if it means making his attack power lower to accomodate the lack of healing in battle. It would definitively be fun if the final battle lasted a good 5 minutes or so, although I understand this might not be possible since you can't heal yourself lol.


Also I love those graphics, especially later in the game. They kinda reminds me some NES games but at lower resolution.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on January 17, 2017, 02:28:24 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on January 17, 2017, 12:00:18 AM
I might have gotten a bug, but I'm unsure if it's related to the game or the emulator, because I got a Syntax error on If M=8.2 or something, which looks fine ???. This happened after the 2nd screen (I leveled up just before)


EDIT Nevermind (for now). I just realized that my WabbitEmu ROM was OS 4.0, which seems to have issues with Doors CSE 8. I upgraded to 4.2 and the problem seems to have gone away.


EDIT: OMG that easter egg in the Upper City *.*

EDIT: Now that I have beaten the game (nice game by the way. While it's simple overall in terms of story content, I liked how many attacks there were and the worlds were fun to explore) I got some suggestions:

I think the game enemy balance is fine (the leveing up is fast but the enemies remains hard enough to give challenge), I think it's another story for bosses. I ran into one or two that were pretty challenging, but I don't think the final boss should have 70-ish HP and die in 3 hits. At least this one final foe should probably last longer, even if it means making his attack power lower to accomodate the lack of healing in battle. It would definitively be fun if the final battle lasted a good 5 minutes or so, although I understand this might not be possible since you can't heal yourself lol.


Also I love those graphics, especially later in the game. They kinda reminds me some NES games but at lower resolution.
Thank you so much for the feedback! I've fixed the balance issue you described, now magically appears a changelog:
[spoiler=Changelog v1.1]
*Made saving a little faster (the downtime at the end, when the bar is full, is a lot shorter now)
*Tweaked the health of the final boss (+40 health, specifically)
*Fixed issue with pressing New Game, and it automatically selects Yes, Delete Save when holding 2nd
[/spoiler]
I've already updated the OP.
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!) [Hybrid BASIC]
Post by: p2 on January 17, 2017, 06:45:44 AM
I'm really REALLY happy to see another project that big become true! :)
I sadly dont have a CE myself, but I'm still glad to see new aweome games ^.^
I really hope that mentioned easteregg is a walrus  9_9
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on January 17, 2017, 02:48:35 PM
Quote from: p2 on January 17, 2017, 06:45:44 AM
I'm really REALLY happy to see another project that big become true! :)
I sadly dont have a CE myself, but I'm still glad to see new aweome games ^.^
I really hope that mentioned easteregg is a walrus  9_9
Thank you so much! It's okay if you don't have a CE anyways, it can't run on that until Doors CE becomes a thing  (don't get me wrong, I understand the project takes time). But until then, CSE users have the monopoly on this game.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 17, 2017, 11:25:27 PM
Actually @p2 this game is for the TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition (often nicknamed CSE), not the TI-84 Plus CE :P, but yeah you would need one anyway.

As for a CE version, it's hard to decide whether it's better to wait for DCE9 or port the game to a different lib right away, because there's no timetable for when DCE9 will be out.

I'll retry a playthrough of the game with 1.1 since I noticed I had missed one area in Under City <_<
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on January 18, 2017, 02:27:16 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on January 17, 2017, 11:25:27 PM
Actually @p2 this game is for the TI-84 Plus C Silver Edition (often nicknamed CSE), not the TI-84 Plus CE :P, but yeah you would need one anyway.

As for a CE version, it's hard to decide whether it's better to wait for DCE9 or port the game to a different lib right away, because there's no timetable for when DCE9 will be out.

I'll retry a playthrough of the game with 1.1 since I noticed I had missed one area in Under City <_<
Oh yeah, that area. I probably should've made that tile difference easier to spot. If I ever upload a 1.2 or 2.0, I'll be sure to fix that part.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 18, 2017, 04:40:33 AM
I still couldn't find out the different tiles in the final map in the screenshots of the maps lol. I'll have to look harder.

Also I did some calculations earlier and Uvutu has 57 screens total, but if you multiply how many tiles there are per screen then divide by 12*8 (96), then you get the equivalent of 166 TI-83 Plus RPG maps and if you divide by 16*8 (128), then you get the equivalent of 124 Illusiat maps. Reuben Quest explorable area is thus smaller :P. Granted, this would mean that First Fantasy explorable area is 8 times larger than Uvutu, but First Fantasy random enemy encounter is much slower and maps are much more simple than your game so that might not count. :P
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on January 18, 2017, 03:00:09 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on January 18, 2017, 04:40:33 AM
I still couldn't find out the different tiles in the final map in the screenshots of the maps lol. I'll have to look harder.

Also I did some calculations earlier and Uvutu has 57 screens total, but if you multiply how many tiles there are per screen then divide by 12*8 (96), then you get the equivalent of 166 TI-83 Plus RPG maps and if you divide by 16*8 (128), then you get the equivalent of 124 Illusiat maps. Reuben Quest explorable area is thus smaller :P. Granted, this would mean that First Fantasy explorable area is 8 times larger than Uvutu, but First Fantasy random enemy encounter is much slower and maps are much more simple than your game so that might not count. :P
That's some interesting statistics! And definitely felt like I made more maps than 57 X.X
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!) [Hybrid BASIC]
Post by: p2 on January 18, 2017, 03:34:33 PM
finally after all that stupid tile drawing you feel like "yaay, finally I come to map making, that will be fun!!" but after some hours you realize that'S even worse than the drawing part  :ninja:
there should be a free service where you can send in your tiles and a drawing of how the map should look like + how big and they make it for you....  O.O
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on January 18, 2017, 06:38:40 PM
Quote from: p2 on January 18, 2017, 03:34:33 PM
finally after all that stupid tile drawing you feel like "yaay, finally I come to map making, that will be fun!!" but after some hours you realize that'S even worse than the drawing part  :ninja:
there should be a free service where you can send in your tiles and a drawing of how the map should look like + how big and they make it for you....  O.O
Strangely, I actually enjoyed drawing the tiles, but the maps was by far the worst. I mean, Tokens makes the process 400x easier, but still.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 18, 2017, 08:17:58 PM
I personally just used RPG Maker 2003 map editor, replaced the tileset with plain colored tiles, took a screenshot, resized pic to ensure that sprites are 8x8, then imported the bmp into Mappy map editor then switched back to the real tiles. @tr1p1ea made a tool that lets you convert Mappy data to xLIBC format but I don't know if he released it on ticalc.org . You can also use Mappy directly but it's buggy and unreliable (for example, there's only 1 level of Undo). I haven't tried TokenIDE map editor much. Is it reliable?

As for tiles, if you ever update the game, now that I saw your tile pic, I have suggestions for future versions (or a sequel if it uses a similar engine):
-Reduce the amount of different tiles per skills so that each skill sprite can be re-used by two different skills. The second tier skills could simply make multiple copies of the sprite appear at random locations around the enemy for a larger magic animation.
-Make certain skill animations just alternate between 3 bits and 16 bits mode or flash/change the hue of the battle screen in different orders depending of the spell. This would reduce the amount of tiles used even further.
-Use the tile slots that you just freed up for extra world tiles (such as diagonal beach/river corner tiles to smoothen maps around rivers, sea and lava) and maybe even house furnitures. I guess cliff tiles could be used too but it seems you went for a Final Fantasy 1 or Dragon Warrior style so I don't think they would fit well.
-If you still have space left, you could maybe even use extra tiles for an intro background image made of tree sprites and stuff (or sky). The intro could have a darker sky with white text appearing 3 lines at a time and the ending could have a daytime sky color.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on January 18, 2017, 08:26:16 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on January 18, 2017, 08:17:58 PM
I personally just used RPG Maker 2003 map editor, replaced the tileset with plain colored tiles, took a screenshot, resized pic to ensure that sprites are 8x8, then imported the bmp into Mappy map editor then switched back to the real tiles. @tr1p1ea made a tool that lets you convert Mappy data to xLIBC format but I don't know if he released it on ticalc.org . You can also use Mappy directly but it's buggy and unreliable (for example, there's only 1 level of Undo). I haven't tried TokenIDE map editor much. Is it reliable?

As for tiles, if you ever update the game, now that I saw your tile pic, I have suggestions for future versions (or a sequel if it uses a similar engine):
-Reduce the amount of different tiles per skills so that each skill sprite can be re-used by two different skills. The second tier skills could simply make multiple copies of the sprite appear at random locations around the enemy for a larger magic animation.
-Make certain skill animations just alternate between 3 bits and 16 bits mode or flash/change the hue of the battle screen in different orders depending of the spell. This would reduce the amount of tiles used even further.
-Use the tile slots that you just freed up for extra world tiles (such as diagonal beach/river corner tiles to smoothen maps around rivers, sea and lava) and maybe even house furnitures. I guess cliff tiles could be used too but it seems you went for a Final Fantasy 1 or Dragon Warrior style so I don't think they would fit well.
-If you still have space left, you could maybe even use extra tiles for an intro background image made of tree sprites and stuff (or sky). The intro could have a darker sky with white text appearing 3 lines at a time and the ending could have a daytime sky color.
The xLIBC Map Editor in Tokens is really reliable, actually. It used to be a little worse when you could only place one tile at a time (now you can assign two tiles to the mouse buttons), but it's still really good. It can undo all the way back to file open, has every tile in the tileset available to place, and you can directly Insert the hex, save it as a .png, or both (which is what I do). On top of that, you have the same tools as the tilemap editor, like line, filled/unfilled circle or rectangle, pattern (my personal favorite), etc.

I actually really should experiment with 3bit mode more, I think it would make the magic attacks (like my favorite one, Volt) a lot better. I still have some empty tiles left, so I can add more details like that. I was actually planning on adding a table to the house, but unfortunately never got around to it. And yeah, while I'm doing those things, I can make the intro "exposition dump" a lot more epic as well. Thanks for the ideas, I'll probably start getting to work on them today!
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 18, 2017, 08:33:08 PM
Can you place tiles while holding down the mouse buttons or do you have to click repeatedly? That was my issue with certain map editors before and I prefer if you can hold mouse buttons down. That way I don't need to buy a new mouse after each dungeon is drawn <_<

As for 3 bit mode, the only issue is that this will cause the HUD/UI to flash as well:

(https://img.codewalr.us/3bits.gif)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on January 18, 2017, 08:43:03 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on January 18, 2017, 08:33:08 PM
Can you place tiles while holding down the mouse buttons or do you have to click repeatedly? That was my issue with certain map editors before and I prefer if you can hold mouse buttons down. That way I don't need to buy a new mouse after each dungeon is drawn <_<

As for 3 bit mode, the only issue is that this will cause the HUD/UI to flash as well:

(https://img.codewalr.us/3bits.gif)
Lol, you can hold the mouse button down with the Tokens map editor. And yeah, I thought of that too, but that's the way the old Pokemon had it; Screen shake would affect the text box as well as everything else. I actually like the way that works.
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!) [Hybrid BASIC]
Post by: 123outerme on January 19, 2017, 02:02:38 AM
Well, since I had several suggestions and I decided I had nothing to do today, I've uploaded v1.2 with 99% aesthetic changes.
[spoiler=Changelog v1.2]
*Added color invert to some magic attacks and one physical attack
*Added more flair to intro and outro text walls
*Changed game ending to Save + Continuing, not Save + Quitting
*Removed requirement for SOUVUTUS to be in RAM; this protects against RAM clears, and makes it easier to install
*Added chair sprites to every house to make it more lively and less plain
*Slightly changed some sprites
*Behind-the-scenes work to give the user more of a "RAM buffer"; users need slightly less RAM in order to run and not crash the game
[/spoiler]
I've uploaded it to the original post.
Here's a screenshot:
(http://i.imgur.com/YP1k1BO.gif)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 20, 2017, 12:48:33 AM
I made a Youtube video of the first world :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReL4d0wgimw
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on January 20, 2017, 03:17:57 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on January 20, 2017, 12:48:33 AM
I made a Youtube video of the first world :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ReL4d0wgimw
Thank you so much, DJ! I really appreciate all the publicity and support you've been giving this project.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 20, 2017, 05:00:32 AM
I like RPGs, especially japanese-style ones (eg not Dark Souls, Borderlands, Diablo), plus I think elaborate projects like this deserve some recognition or publicity. Thankfully I was in the mood to make a video so it happened. Hopefully I can make videos of some of the other recent releases that lack one in the near future :)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on January 21, 2017, 02:28:59 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on January 20, 2017, 05:00:32 AM
I like RPGs, especially japanese-style ones (eg not Dark Souls, Borderlands, Diablo), plus I think elaborate projects like this deserve some recognition or publicity. Thankfully I was in the mood to make a video so it happened. Hopefully I can make videos of some of the other recent releases that lack one in the near future :)
Yeah, I really like JRPGs as well (hence why I made one)
Also lol, someone in the comments just said "I saw an ape man in the woods"
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 21, 2017, 07:00:09 PM
Yeah I noticed lol. Also I liked the puns that each boss said in reference to the world they are in by the way
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on January 21, 2017, 08:24:36 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on January 21, 2017, 07:00:09 PM
Yeah I noticed lol. Also I liked the puns that each boss said in reference to the world they are in by the way
Yeah, that was one of the things I wanted to bring back from Dragonsglid when I was planning to remake it. I think it turned out nice, adds a lot of character.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 23, 2017, 02:52:32 AM
I forgot if I asked this already, but for the walking engine, do you have the game so that event tiles are detected from inside the walking loop? I always found it was faster to only check if the tile is solid or not in the main loop and if it's solid then I make the game exit the loop completely and do stuff outside (eg checking if the solid tile was an event). I do the same when the menu key is pressed. This makes walking faster.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on January 23, 2017, 03:12:04 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on January 23, 2017, 02:52:32 AM
I forgot if I asked this already, but for the walking engine, do you have the game so that event tiles are detected from inside the walking loop? I always found it was faster to only check if the tile is solid or not in the main loop and if it's solid then I make the game exit the loop completely and do stuff outside (eg checking if the solid tile was an event). I do the same when the menu key is pressed. This makes walking faster.
I have done this. I've included all of the walking code, and that's it. Unfortunately, if I make a new loop that doesn't include these things, the game is basically behind one keypress at all times. It's a really interesting phenomenon acutally :P
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on January 23, 2017, 03:19:55 AM
Ah I see now. Also do you redraw the entire map every frame?
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!) [Hybrid BASIC]
Post by: p2 on January 23, 2017, 09:45:42 AM
If so you should change it to only draw changes from moving around and animated tiles as well as changes like disappearing text boxes :)
The speed boost is really incredible (realized it myself after implementing that in WalrusKingdom).  :thumbsup:
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on January 23, 2017, 02:44:11 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on January 23, 2017, 03:19:55 AM
Ah I see now. Also do you redraw the entire map every frame?
I don't, actually. What's in the main loop is approximately as follows:

Repeat [until you break out of the Overworld code]
Repeat [if a key is pressed]
[Get a keypress]
[Move the character if an arrow key is pressed]
End
[Check for a collision]
[Check if a battle should start]
[Check for moving between maps, entering a house, or obtaining an item]
End

All of the procedures at the end of the loop range from fairly - extremely expensive, yet vital. I've tried optimizations, but nothing seems to work. That, I assume, is the main cause of the slower walk speed, compared to the rest of the game's responsiveness. But that's okay, I mean at least the speed is tolerable! :)

Quote from: p2 on January 23, 2017, 09:45:42 AM
If so you should change it to only draw changes from moving around and animated tiles as well as changes like disappearing text boxes :)
The speed boost is really incredible (realized it myself after implementing that in WalrusKingdom).  :thumbsup:
I actually don't have animated tiles. I'm sure that would slow the game down by a ton if I implemented them.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on February 03, 2017, 05:26:29 AM
Yeah,I agree that the speed is fine. The only problem would be if leveling up took ages, like in early betas, but that has been fixed. Not that it's really a problem if leveling up is slow, since most old RPGs were grind fests, but nowadays people seem to prefer JRPGs where just rushing through dungeons without escaping any battle nor skipping treasure chests is just enough to beat the final boss.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on February 04, 2017, 04:14:36 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on February 03, 2017, 05:26:29 AM
Yeah,I agree that the speed is fine. The only problem would be if leveling up took ages, like in early betas, but that has been fixed. Not that it's really a problem if leveling up is slow, since most old RPGs were grind fests, but nowadays people seem to prefer JRPGs where just rushing through dungeons without escaping any battle nor skipping treasure chests is just enough to beat the final boss.
It kinda feels like I stumbled across the perfect game balance, like you described; enough exp and HP to get through a dungeon in one run, if you were clever or conserved your potions well. I agree that grindfests are now seen as a negative feature in a game, but I know that when JRPGs first started, they got their hours per game waaaay up there by adding a ton of grinding to do. Back then, when everyone was enamored with just being able to move around a map, this was okay. The modern gaming scene has already learned to ropes of what a game can do, and now they're looking for more depth with less boring time of basically watching the game be played.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on February 04, 2017, 09:42:28 PM
Yeah, I also noticed that many newer RPGs are shorter. People tend to prefer games that are not overly long, but have a lot of bonus dungeons. I think Final Fantasy XV has 8 bonus dungeons O.O
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on February 07, 2017, 09:50:24 PM
So I might have found a new bug: Sometimes, it will say my inventory is full when entering a new room and taking the treasure chest, even if I only have 1-3 items in it. Opening the item menu then trying again fixes it it seems.

Also I finally beat the super boss in the Upper City (the one leading to the easter egg). During my first playthrough I think I died in one hit or something lol.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on February 07, 2017, 10:58:41 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on February 07, 2017, 09:50:24 PM
So I might have found a new bug: Sometimes, it will say my inventory is full when entering a new room and taking the treasure chest, even if I only have 1-3 items in it. Opening the item menu then trying again fixes it it seems.

Also I finally beat the super boss in the Upper City (the one leading to the easter egg). During my first playthrough I think I died in one hit or something lol.
Yeah, I've noticed that too, and I can't trace it at all. If you just try to pick up the chest again it'll give it to you. Not sure, but it could be an xLIBC thing.

Also good! Technically, that boss is the same difficulty as the final boss (since I used the same enemy index, which is the number used to determine sprite to display, HP to give, and damage to deal). The fact that you encounter him one entire dungeon early means that as far as the player is concerned, it's even harder to beat him than the final boss. But, the item in the room behind him is such a valuable one (the ultimate melee move), it had to be guarded pretty well.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on February 07, 2017, 11:56:18 PM
Yeah true. One weird thing though was how that boss said the same text as the 7th boss :P. Maybe you could make that boss unlock another even harder boss replacing the final boss with twice as much HP and causing twice as much damage. Also I noticed another thing: Is it me or did upgrades stopped working? If I talk to a NPC offering me to upgrade one of my moves and choose yes, it seems to act as if I chose no. I'm unsure, though.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on February 08, 2017, 12:47:31 AM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on February 07, 2017, 11:56:18 PM
Yeah true. One weird thing though was how that boss said the same text as the 7th boss :P. Maybe you could make that boss unlock another even harder boss replacing the final boss with twice as much HP and causing twice as much damage. Also I noticed another thing: Is it me or did upgrades stopped working? If I talk to a NPC offering me to upgrade one of my moves and choose yes, it seems to act as if I chose no. I'm unsure, though.
I think I had it set to display the same text for both bosses in World 7, but it's pretty likely that I messed it up slightly, so that the alternate W7 boss reads his W8 text. I can change that. Also, I think I discovered your problem: I forgot to add the move upgraders that are in W8 to the list of houses that trigger the code to upgrade a move. If you're experiencing this elsewhere, I can look into that.

Also, a change concerning CSE users and soon-to-be 84+ users: I've added the ability to auto-Archive and de-Archive your save file, to protect it against RAM clears! The procedure to set this up is explained in the readme, but for anyone browsing I'll explain it here. As of V1.3, Pressing and holding the STO> button (right above ON) while the saving screen is up (aka the saving bar is filling) will bring you to a menu asking if you want to auto-archive your save file. To auto-archive, select YES in the menu. To de-activate it or to not activate it in the first place, select NO in the menu. Here is a screenshot of this:
(https://img.ourl.ca/archiveSave.gif)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on February 11, 2017, 07:01:31 PM
For the move upgrades, IIRC all moves from world 3 to 8 were broken, but I would need to try again to make sure. Also nice to see saves archiving :D
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on February 11, 2017, 08:09:51 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on February 11, 2017, 07:01:31 PM
For the move upgrades, IIRC all moves from world 3 to 8 were broken, but I would need to try again to make sure. Also nice to see saves archiving :D
Got it, fixed! I just sent out v1.3, so if you would like to download that, please see the original post! Changelog this time is in the .zip, you'll see it.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on February 11, 2017, 08:28:20 PM
Cool, I'll download it soon.  :D
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on March 09, 2017, 05:26:49 AM
Congrats on the ticalc.org news article @123outerme by the way. I was wondering if they still featured CSE games but I'm glad they do. :)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on March 10, 2017, 11:30:31 PM
Quote from: DJ Omnimaga on March 09, 2017, 05:26:49 AM
Congrats on the ticalc.org news article @123outerme by the way. I was wondering if they still featured CSE games but I'm glad they do. :)
I was starting to wonder about them covering CSE stuff as well, since I emailed them when I released v1.0 back in January. Nevertheless, I am thoroughly pleased to hear that they covered my product of love, blood, sweat, and tears, and I'm hoping that a monochrome z80 version will also impact the community as much as the CSE release did.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on March 11, 2017, 12:05:44 AM
Yeah, my concern was mostly the fact the calc is discontinued and the fact Critor is the news editor. While he does an awesome job at it, on TI-Planet he almost exclusively posts about stuff for calcs sold in France nowadays, and as a result, Reuben Quest 3 did not get a news there, nor any other monochrome ASM game in a while. So I was worried that the same would happen on ticalc.org. It would be their choice, I guess, but if I was news editor I would definitively news about stuff for any calc, even the TI-81. :P
Title: Re: [TI-84+CSE] Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!) [Hybrid BASIC]
Post by: 123outerme on June 30, 2017, 07:42:20 PM
The port is FINALLY finished!! You can download either in the topic OP, or in the main, stickied topic if you want both versions. I've uploaded Sorcery v1.4!
[spoiler=Changelog for CSE version]*Minor optimizations
*Increasing speed of walking quite a bit
*Fixed crash when talking to the move upgrader outside of Town in W8
*Fixed issue where regular enemies on the boss screen of W8 had much higher HP
[/spoiler]
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on July 01, 2017, 04:24:53 PM
Awesome!  I will give it a try when I get a chance. Good job 123outerme ^^
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on July 02, 2017, 05:20:02 PM
Quote from: xlibman on July 01, 2017, 04:24:53 PM
Awesome!  I will give it a try when I get a chance. Good job 123outerme ^^
Thanks so much! Yeah, I'm sure you'll love to give it a try. Despite the smaller, inherently less-detailed tiles (full color vs b/w), I managed to fit in all of the little secrets on the map screens, especially that one you loved in W7. That was really hard, but I think it turned out well.

Of course, I had to take my creative liberties throughout the game to make it more functional, and less of a straight map rip, but I did it for the best, and golly gosh darn it, it's my game. :P
Title: Re: [TI-84+ Series Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on August 16, 2017, 04:12:39 PM
[spoiler=Huge Image](http://i.imgur.com/kkEWrO8.png)[/spoiler]
Using Sorcery of Uvutu assets (although they're upscaled here), I've made a breakthrough with C; I can actually make this image move around!
Learning SDL right now, I'm using 2D assets and a default Code::Blocks bmp to test my progress. That's it. That's all I've gotten. No tile collision, no battles, no nothing. Just. walking. around. Really boring, but I'm actually really excited, because the fun part comes next: actually fleshing out this engine. For now, I'm going to continue with more SDL stuff, but I may make this into a game if I have not much else to do.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on August 17, 2017, 03:52:51 PM
Sorcery of Uvutu PC or sequel? O.O
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on August 17, 2017, 08:30:54 PM
Quote from: xlibman on August 17, 2017, 03:52:51 PM
Sorcery of Uvutu PC or sequel? O.O
I was thinking port first, then probably sequel if I can stomach it. I hope that I create another great mapmaking tool, since so far, in this upcoming screenshot (which I'm gonna make a whole new topic about) I blend CSE tiles with monochrome map storage. That decision will probably make it harder to port maps from the CSE (since I have to copy every tile by hand instead of winging it).

(http://i.imgur.com/UV5YGBQ.gif)
Screenshot courtesy of the Windows 10 Xbox app, so all my Xbox friends can see what a huge nerd I am.

I tell you, the hardest part was figuring out how to make a file reader read my map storage format. I spent a good 1.5 or 2 hours putting it together so it can read maps out of a txt file, and it can't even read multiple lines yet! It's some crazy code right now, and if anyone wants to see the code stuff I'm most proud of doing, feel free to ask. I also show off the text box I'll probably use (although I'll add borders and stuff later) and TI's (copyrighted?) font. I also added a % to the font (not that I needed it here, it was for another project), so technically? it's my font (probably not).
Title: Re: [TI-84+ Series Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: c4ooo on August 18, 2017, 04:23:52 PM
Read tilemaps byte by byte. Its more efficient and not at all hard, as long as you know how to open a file.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on August 18, 2017, 04:27:39 PM
Quote from: c4ooo on August 18, 2017, 04:23:52 PM
Read tilemaps byte by byte. Its more efficient and not at all hard, as long as you know how to open a file.
Honestly if I could figure how to read the xLIBC hex map format (which I assume each byte is just each tile in a row, "returning" after 20 tiles), that's what I'd go for. If I were to put
a plaintext hex string in a .bin file, would it be able to be read? Or would I have to translate the hex to binary?
Title: Re: [TI-84+ Series Hybrid BASIC] Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: c4ooo on August 18, 2017, 09:33:09 PM
It doesn't matter what extension you use, it matters how you parse it. So if you have a map as a plain text of hexedicimals, you can't just read it as a binary file, and would have to translate it. Unfortunately do to a currently broken laptop I can't share any code, but I can say that using raw binary data might actually be easier, but reading a plain text of hexedicimals isn't hard either, especially if your maps are already in that format :)
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on August 18, 2017, 09:35:06 PM
Quote from: c4ooo on August 18, 2017, 09:33:09 PM
It doesn't matter what extension you use, it matters how you parse it. So if you have a map as a plain text of hexedicimals, you can't just read it as a binary file, and would have to translate it. Unfortunately do to a currently broken laptop I can't share any code, but I can say that using raw binary data might actually be easier, but reading a plain text of hexedicimals isn't hard either, especially if your maps are already in that format :)

That's what I recently did, just used a plain text file full of the hexadecimals. What I could do is write a program to translate the plaintext into binary, but for now I don't need the headache that is writing file I/O code for the tilemap loader for the 3rd time.
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: Dream of Omnimaga on August 19, 2017, 04:32:08 PM
If you use the Xbox app, does it mean you couldmake the game Xbox compatible?
Title: Re: Sorcery of Uvutu (Released!)
Post by: 123outerme on August 19, 2017, 04:36:57 PM
Quote from: xlibman on August 19, 2017, 04:32:08 PM
If you use the Xbox app, does it mean you couldmake the game Xbox compatible?
I'm honestly not entirely sure what it means. I know that I can add controller support (which if I do port to Xbox or other consoles, I'm obviously gonna do), but basically when I made the screenshots, I had to add the window as a game I wanted to record, so I'm pretty sure it's only recognized as a game for screen capture purposes. Who knows though, I'll dig deeper into that at some point