PyWeek - 8ball

[ pymike @ 19:52 ] BubbMan 2 DX

It's finally out! Download and view all the changes here:

http://pygame.org/project/1114/

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[ pymike @ 01:49 ] Follow up on critiques

Well, the placings aren't up yet, but I think I placed around third or fourth. Congrats to everyone, it was a fun and enjoyable compo, and I enjoyed playing all your games. :)

Now I'm going to do what I did last time, and reply to the comments that touched on important points. Most of the replies are on negative/critical comments.

(Rating: 1-1-1-DQ) It hasn't been made within the week, its a modification of the author's game. Excellent Super Mario copy, by the way.

What? It was not a modification of the original BubbMan, and was completely coded from scratch this PyWeek. The only similarity is that it used the same character. And how is it a Super Mario copy? Did you even play Super Mario Bros? This is the only rating that really ticked me, and felt totally out of line.

Music was ripped without the authors' permission. This is suprising because it seems there's effort put to every other part of the game. No originality here, just another platformer. Too hard for me though, didn't solve the first level.

The authors' contact details were not up to date (all the links were dead), so either they don't care if people use it, or they no longer exist. Sorry for the difficulty.

Well... I do not really think this game was programmed with Pyweek's theme on mind. It's just -another- platformer, and indeed it's the second part of a game from the same programmer: (http://pymike.pynguins.com/?page=games) It is absolutelly true that it is brilliant. In fact, it clones classic Mario's playability (even texts are exactly on the same place). It works perfectly. The engine looks fantastic. But I feel that one of the main points in Pyweek is adjusting to its theme and creating new games with that constraint, not just creating new maps and color schemes for an old game (or so it seems). I'm sorry!

On the contrary, I was focusing heavily on the theme. Would the game be the same if you weren't being chased off a crazed old man's lawn? No, it wouldn't. The theme adds the level of intensity and difficulty that the game needed, and rather separates it from other generic platformers. And again, someone's referencing the original BubbMan - as I said earlier, it's a light sequel to the original game. The gameplay and code is totally different, just in case you didn't bother to try it before comparing. ;) Why is it so bad to re-use characters?

I'll send you a bill for the damage done to my left index and middle fingers.

LOL, sorry about that! I chose the X/Y control scheme since you frequently need to shoot and jump simultaneously - having the buttons close together felt the sharpest.

Absolutely amazing production, of course! Outstanding job! It's pretty fun, but often it feels like memorizing a sequence of moves and remembering when exactly to hit buttons, rather than using your skill and cunning. I think this is a problem with a lot of platformers, though. I would have liked to see more variety in the actions. You took the time to implement wall jumping, and it never gets used for anything except for a single move: zig-zagging left then right. Still, it's great. Keep it up!

Thank you! And yes, true to NES platforming, it's largely based on pattern memorization - this makes it more fun to do speed running. I wish I could've incorporated the wall jumping more into the gameplay, but using it too much slowed down the pace.

At first, my impression was rather negative, due to the sometimes ridiculous difficulty. But since it was so well made, I decided to play for a little more, and a little after that, and now I actually enjoy the difficulty. I suggest you keep working on this, and add more levels, cause this is the most fun platformer I've played in a while.

Thank you! I am continuing work on this. :)

So, to sum it up, a lot of people found it too hard. Apparently my innovation suffered because it was a platformer. Why? Platformers have won several PyWeeks. Honestly, I felt I'd do rather well in innovation this time. Apparently platformers are now unwise to create for PyWeeks, since they're automatically rated down, despite the author's efforts to create an innovative experience - so do not expect any more from me. :)

Anyway, it was an awesome compo. I had a lot of fun, and the community was great. Thanks again Richard, for creating PyWeek!

Oh yes, and to ye that enjoyed it - there are more levels and a special new time attack feature coming soon!

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[ pymike @ 05:42 ] BubbMan 2 Wishlist

After PyWeek judging is over, I'll be releasing a new version of BubbMan 2 - the De Luxe treatment. Here's what I've got done so far:

• Fixed the bug where it sometimes display different times on the game screen and end screen
• Fixed a few tiling bugs, so the game looks prettier now
• Springs have new artwork
• Water jumping is now a "hardcore" feature instead of a bug (I cleaned it up)
• Fixed the bug when you skip the intro while the mower engine is playing
• Now if you hit a spring while sliding, you bounce instead of sliding under it

Is there anything you'd like to see in the final version? I'll be adding two or three more levels, plus tweaking the boss.

And no, you can't try the new version until after PyWeek. ;)

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[ pymike @ 20:25 ] BubbMan 2 - Video Walkthrough(s)

I uploaded video walkthroughs of levels 1-5 for BubbMan 2, due to the insane difficulty. I'll upload the boss later, if you need it :)

Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Level 5

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[ pymike @ 17:29 ] BubbMan 2 - Bugfix

Well, BubbMan was BuggMan till a few minutes ago - I uploaded a new release that fixes a file handling bug. Thanks to DR0ID for catching it.

http://media.pyweek.org/dl/8/8ball/BubbMan2-v1.2.zip

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[ pymike @ 05:16 ] Postmortem

Well, for the third time in a row, I've entered both a solo and team entry. I didn't do much in the team entry this time, though - mainly just the animation code and art. It was mostly RB[0], so congrats to him for a job well done.

BubbMan 2 is definitely my most complete PyWeek entry. I think my biggest achievement was making it excruciatingly difficult without killing the desire to continue playing. I'm exceedingly pleased with it, and most people are enjoying it, so enormous satisfaction here.

AND I AM SO D@MN SICK OF MAKING PLATFORMERS! Seriously, this will probably be my last platformer for a couple years. (In python, anyway) Next PyWeek I plan to focus on the team entry, and make a little solo on the side. BubbMan 2 was a ton of work and a good coup de grace, so you can probably only expect little arcade-y games from me in my solos hereafter.

All in all it was a great week. The community is awesome and is growing as fast as ever. I'd like to give Richard a big thank you for organizing this competition.

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[ pymike @ 02:41 ] BubbMan 2 - Your best times

Because time attacking is fun and all that, I'm posting some times for you to beat in BubbMan 2. If you beat a time, post it here!

• Level 1: 19.2s
• Level 2: 13.8s
• Level 3: 17.4s
• Level 4: 18.0s
• Level 5: 34.1s
• Level 6: 21.5s

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[ pymike @ 15:30 ] Day 7 - Final Entry Uploaded

http://media.pyweek.org/dl/8/8ball/BubbMan2-v1.1.zip

I've uploaded a final entry, though it still doesn't have the intro. Hopefully I'll get it in some time today, but the rest of the game is very much complete. Five levels of insanity, skill, speed, and a final boss level.

EDIT: Added the intro, I'm done!!

Good luck to everyone, there's some awesome entries I'm eagerly waiting to play :)

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[ pymike @ 23:51 ] Night of Day 6

Hurrah! I got the ending cutscene + credits + boss in! All that's left to do is 4 more levels, the energy bar, tutorial, and perhaps an opening cutscene.

No screenie, have to leave soon for my bro's b-ball game, so I'll see you all later.

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[ pymike @ 17:09 ] Giant lawn mowers! Chasing you! Nowai!

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[ pymike @ 01:11 ] End of Day 5 - Excellent Progress

I've got all the UI done today, except for the options which I will try to do later on tonight. Besides the UI, I've created the level progression system, the end level display (which is totally awesome), progress saving, and even cooler still, best time saving - one of my favorite features. I also made a few graphical tweaks and changes.

Todo for tomorrow:

• The giant lawn mower that chases you
• The energy meter - yes you'll have to worry about your energy amidst all the madness
• An airplane that drops bombs on you
• Ending credits/cutscene
• Opening cutscene
• More levels

Download current W.I.P.



Oh yes, I also have the story up on the entry page. Cheers all!

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[ pymike @ 17:36 ] Mid Day 5 - UI nearly done

At the middle of Day 5, I've finished the main menu and world map. I still have options to do, but that can wait.

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[ pymike @ 00:17 ] Nearly the end of day 4, more progress

Well, today I got in:

• Fish and frog baddies
• Water tiles
• Spikes
• The snow world
• Die animation

It's getting close to crunch time. I still have to implement a world map, menus, level saving, the guy that chases you in a giant lawn mower, a volcano level, and some other stuff. Anyway, here's a screenie for you.



Download W.I.P: http://media.pyweek.org/dl/8/8ball/BubbMan2-v0.2.zip

I'm going to reward my progress with a John Wayne movie... Good luck all!

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[ pymike @ 03:09 ] End of Day 3, lots of progress

Day 3's over, and I got done:

• Rock throwing
• An incredibly efficient Baddie class, along with 3 different baddies
• Powerups/fruit
• Music and sound effects

I'm really pleased with this so far. I've got a lot to do, but I think I'll finish! Here's a screenie for y'all:

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[ pymike @ 16:58 ] Mid Day 3 Video Update

I got rock-throwing and a nice Baddie class in this morning, and people were asking for a video, so here it is:

http://pymike.pynguins.com/downloads/bubbman2-shooting.mpeg

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[ pymike @ 17:34 ] Video progress

Here's a playthrough of the test level for my solo, BubbMan 2.

http://pymike.pynguins.com/downloads/bubbman2.mpeg

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[ pymike @ 16:17 ] Can haz wall jumping!

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[ pymike @ 00:02 ] More eye candy

I've added clouds and layered backgrounds. It all looks pretty sweet in motion.

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[ pymike @ 21:56 ] Progress

Well, RB[0]'s hacking away, so I'm taking advantage of the free time to work on my solo. I already have the physics and collisions done, along with the camera, animation and tiling. Still a long way from being done, but things are looking great!

Download Current Progress

Progress Screenie:

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[ pymike @ 17:48 ] Woo, I'm gold!

I'll be doing a solo AND a team entry, for the third time in a row! Our team entry will be a killer cool strategy game, and my solo will yet again be a platformer.

I'm going for Adventure Island-type gameplay, but much more exciting and fast-paced. I've been animating for the past 20 minutes, and I already have the hero (retrogamelib mascot Bubbman) running like all get out!




I'm still fiddling with the story, but basically you somehow are in the middle of nowhere, and an old tinkerer sends all types of robots and machines after you while screaming "Get off my lawn!" (Don't worry, the story will develop along the way). Levels will be timed and extremely hectic. In addition to wall-jumping, you'll be able to throw rocks at gophers, robots, etc. I also plan to incorporate all kinds of moving platforms, since I've never really had them before.

I'm pumped to go. Good luck to everyone!

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[ pymike @ 20:33 ] NESGameLib

NESGameLib is a library for creating NES and GameBoy style games, developed by me and saluk. It features:

• Automatic screen scaling support
• Synced keyboard/gamepad support
• A font module with authentic NES and GameBoy fonts
• Dialog boxes for displaying dialog
• Menus
• A camera module
• A gameobject module for easily adding and removing objects from groups
• A geometry module with polygon collisions and response, using the Separating Axis Theorem
• A resource loading module, for quickly loading and caching images, sounds, and music

It also has a documentation in HTML format; please let us know if it's lacking anything.

GoogleCode Project Page
Download (236 kb)

Screenshot

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[ pymike @ 00:45 ] Getting psyched

Woo, PyWeek time again! I registered a solo entry, but I'm not sure if I'll do that or a team yet. Last time around I did somewhat better in my solo, but it's more fun working with one or two other people.

Anyway, we'll see how it goes. Oh, and on a side-note, if anyone wants to do a warmup, we're having a PyDay on the 14th of this month.

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