Finally an update!

It has been a long time since I updated this blog, but now I am back at working on Winterheart. From now on I will be updating this blog once again every two weeks.

So what has been slowing me down? 

Well, when I started this project I was confident that SDL would provide me everything I needed to make a danmaku-game from scratch, however soon I ran into memory issues that prevented me from making my visions of this game true. Of course I tried my best optimizing both the code and the external files (mostly images), but that didn't help at all.

Finally I got too frustrated and started working on smaller games (e.g. Perfect Youmu) hoping that I could solve the problems by starting from clean slate. As you have noticed, that lead to nothing...

So what is different this time?

I have moved from using SDL with C# to using SFML with C++ and now things are looking really promising. For instance I have successfully programmed a test that spawns 10,000 independently rotating bullets), something I could only dream about when using SDL (I actually need only 1200 bullets, but rotating even a single bullet real-time in SDL is nearly impossible as it consumes lots of memory). All this is thanks to the fact that SFML uses hardware acceleration where as SDL uses software acceleration.

Anyway, now the memory problems are all tackled so I can finally return working on this project...

And now for something completely different... Here is the updated mainframe for Winterheart:

 

Perfect Youmu...

Long time, no update...

Lately I have been working on few things and now
I got something done! Perfect Youmu: Download here.

Simple "endless"-style game where your missing is to travel as far
as you can. Instead of shooting bullets, you can reflect your
opponents bullets.

Winterheart

Hehe... Long time no update. Well, I have been more active in Twitter so updating this blog has become rather rare.

Currently I am working on the C# version of the Winterheart and development has gone so well that the demo should be out soon.

C# Engine progress

C# engine is progressing well and it will be soon completed.
Here is a picture of a new feature I added to the engine:



You can also follow me on twitter.

Project update.

Switched from CoolBasic to C#. I am now using SDL wrapper known as SdlDotNet.

Even though this means some extra work - there is lots of advantages: More stuff can be drawn to screen without drop in FPS - also transparency can be done via alpha-channel... And the most important advantage: No more mysterious MAVs (Memory Access Violation) - every single error can be easily traced.

Long time no update.

So now it is time for a new update. Currently I am working on sprites and graphics as the game-engine itself is nearly done. I have set myself a goal that I could finish a three level long demo before the end of February.

Well thats it for today. Next time I hope I have something more concrete to show.

Merry Christmas!

Here is a simple engine demo. Contains first 240 seconds of the first level. I hope you all Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Winterheart restarted

Now when I have finished the Voile Invaders Special edition - I have restarted the Winterheart. Engine is now nearly finished and only bossfights and levels need to be done (similar situation as the last time?). Good news is that the engine is now faster and simplier thus making the progress faster.

From this day onwards - I will be posting updates daily. Let's hope that we can finish the game this time.

Returning of Winterheart

Now that the Voile Invaders is complete, it is time to return back to the Winterheart... I have already started making new graphics since the old ones were rather bad. There should be a next major update this sunday.

Voile Invaders 1.03a patch

Here is the download link for the patch...

Final release of Voile...

Okay, tomorrow I will post the last version of Voile Invader (1.3a)

that fixes hopefully all the glitches encountered in the previous version:

Changes to the versions 1.2e-f:

• Fixed the permanently shattered bookshelves,
• Bonus items are spawned in the normal levels only when enemy is killed,
• In boss levels bonus items spawn randomly.
• Added flushing for keybuffer between intermission so player can't skip those screens.
• Improved the bonus bombs/lives-system a bit.

09.09.09

So the fatefull day has come... Well, as promised, I'll post a demo of the Voile Invaders after I get from school (the game itself is nearly finished, it only lacks boss fights and then its done. I decided to post the demo so I could get some feedback about what should be fixed or done better)...

And here is the download link for Voile Invaders-demo.

Mima...

Here is two different versions of Mima... Another one is for the Winterheart and to another were made for the Touhou AlterDawn...

Coding update

Okay, I have added the secondary characters to the engine - also the first two levels have found their final form... I also managed to reduce the loading time to a bit...

Then some other news...

Remember the idea of making PC-98 style touhou game? Well, one of my friends started working on it and asked me to do some sprites (Took a few hours to "rip" the original palette Zun used). Here is an example of my artwork for that game (Kanakos lower frames is for the "invicibility"-mode)...

Game (Touhou AlterDawn) is continuety for the events of Phantasmagoria of Dim. Dream and takes places during the events of Lotus Land Story... The game presents Ruukota and Asakura Rikako as playable characters, both with two different shooting types (e.g. Ruukotos Offensive-type and Rikakos Granedier-type)...

Update...

Okay, another new update (I am really good naming these blogposts). After thinking awhile, I though that I include the coupling-system in the demo (it doesn't really need that much of a work) along with few other features that were introduced in the guidelines for this game...

I'll be posting some new screenshots and concept art soon.

Teaser and update

Lo- and Hi-res combination of Daiyousei and Cirno...

I originally were going to use the lo-res ones but then again

I wanted to add more details...

Then some real updates... 

Due some familybusiness - I were unable to work on this project

as much as I wanted... Now as that thing has been taken care off -

I have more time to work on this so I am especting to finish the 

demo within the next two months...

Another update

I've spend most of the week trying to figure ways to make the backgrounds look more 

3D:ish. It would be easy if I just could apply some sort of fading effect to the game... 

Unfortunately CoolBasic doesn't support loading half-transperent pictures but CoolBasic 

does have a function for making pictures tranparent; This function though is rather 

heavy and easily drops the FPS down to 20 so it is no use.

Well, luckily I came up with a simple solution... Dithering. By creating darker dithered

version of the original background - I could simulate the fading effect... Heh, also fog 

and clouds can be simulated by using dithered images... Here is small youtube-video 

demonstrating the effect (it still needs some work though):

Aside that I have drawn some new cut-ins and redrawn some of the boss-sprites... 

I also added section "latest coding changes" where I will add the list of coding changes 

after it is finished.

Then some sneak-peaks... Second level "Border space" will be rather nostalgic as it will 

serve as my tribute for the original PC-98 games (lots of familiar event there) and here 

is part of the dialogue between Cirno and Marisa:

C: Stop right there... This is the farthest you get.

M: Could we play some other time? I am kind of busy...

C: Do not underestimate me witch... I am a reborn fairy now.

M: Meaning you are weaker than before?

C: Hey, was that an insult? Now you have it!

I added it here so I could get some feedback (I know I am horrible writer).

Progress speeding up...

Next week is theoritically the last week of school in this semester so I have more time after that to work on Winterheart... Currently all dialogues and endings are written and added to the engine.

Still need to work with the levels though.

And now for something completely different...

After long brainstorming session with my old friend - we came up for the idea of my next game... The game will be similar to the Etrian Odyssey by Atlus (current working name: Gensokyo Odyssey)... Instead of mapping the Yggdrasil labyrinth, players will be mapping Bamboo thicked, Forest of Magic and other vast areas of Gensokyo. 

Even the players classes will be altered to fit the Touhou theme... Instead of Landknechts and troubadours - player can select from Inabas, Mikos, Magicians, Youkais (Skills learned will determine wether youkai will become ghost, vampire, poltergeist or something else) and many others...

Also I have already written concepts for the guilds and shops... But currently I am working on Winterheart so Gensokyo Odyssey will wait until Winterheart is ready. 

Small fixes and graphical update

Okay... Again a small update. 

After going through the source, I noticed that it totally lacked a function to count bonuses received after beating a level... Also I noticed that I had forgotten to add continues to the game (so basically player had three lives and after they lost them - Game over)... 

Well, now those things are taken care of...

And now for the real update. Started making cut-ins for the beginnings of the levels... Here is one of the prototypes:

Huge update

Thanks to the help I received from the CoolBasic-forum -  I rewrote the whole engine. 

Old source loaded each frame for the game as a separate object - new code loads only one object containing all the frames for each instance (e.g. player-object contains all frames for all four different characters)...

 Result: reduced the amount of code to a half of the original - also game loads faster now.