Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Scrolling Game Development Kit 1.4.0 Released

Posted by simoniker on from the shadow-of-the-beast-parallax dept.

BlueMonk writes "Hoping that 2D gaming is not dead yet, version 1.4.0 of the Scrolling Game Development Kit for Windows was released at the weekend. It helps beginners as well as more experienced developers create 2D scrolling games. Take a look at some of the games created with the kit while you're at it." It's great to see homebrew 2D game construction supported like this.

13 of 55 comments (clear)

  1. So Keen is covered, but anything else? by 2Flower · · Score: 2, Interesting

    It looks like it's ideal for simple platforming games, ala Commander Keen (although every demo screen showed very small playable sprites) or Gauntlet. NES era style, albeit with 32-bit color sprites.

    What about other 2-D scrolling style games, though? I've got a particularly keen (gag) interest in doing a Final Fight / Golden Axe style brawler, but there doesn't seem to be any 2.5D style graphical support here, just Flatland style mapping. Is there a similar project which is more applicable to brawlers?

    1. Re:So Keen is covered, but anything else? by BlueMonk · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Version 1.4.0 introduces support for larger graphics. So, while most of the existing games use small sprites, the new version supports sprites and tiles up to 128x128 pixels. Even though the maximum size prior to version 1.4.0 was 64x64, many of the games didn't make graphics that large. Hopefully 128x128 will invite the larger graphics and make more people happy with graphic sizes in general. The new version also introduces support for multiple resolutions. Previously, all games were 640x480, but now they can run in 320x240, 640x480, 800x600 or 1024x768.

    2. Re:So Keen is covered, but anything else? by BlueMonk · · Score: 3, Informative

      Oh, and in reply to the rest of your comment, the kit doesn't support a truly isometric view, but the included Wizard sample game does demonstrate a simulated kinda-isometric view. Rather than effectively offsetting the camera downwards and to one side, it only offsets it downwards. That means you can walk behind walls when your sprite is above (but partially overlapping) them on the screeen, but everything is still aligned to vertical and horizontal lines. You'll also have a problem if your sprite is tall enough to need to be in front of a particular graphic sometimes and behind it at others. (IE, walking in front of or behind the same piece of a tree trunk is not possible based purely on the position of the sprite).

      At least there are some ways to kind of kludge a semi-isometric view. But it's not quite as helpful as a true isometric engine would be. Hopefully the parallax scrolling multiple layer support makes up for part of that defficiency.

  2. Re:Linux port anyone? by LiquidCoooled · · Score: 2, Interesting

    its also visual basic. I was under the assumption that for now at least its restricted to Windoze. somebody please tell me I'm wrong though - im looking for a way over to linux, and happen to like coding in VB.

    --
    liqbase :: faster than paper
  3. Here we go again... by lightspawn · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Every time a kit like this is available, we get little gems from people who wouldn't otherwise have the time to learn the skills the kit lets you get away with not knowing - but with them we get hundreds of nearly-identical, pointless games to wade through to get to them.

    Remember pinball construction set?

    1. Re:Here we go again... by BlueMonk · · Score: 2, Informative

      Hopefully the small number of games and the 2 rating systems on the projects listing page alleviates that problem. Each project has an admin and a user rating.

  4. H.U.R.G. by sydb · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This reminds me, superficially, of H.U.R.G., an extremely restrictive games development environment for the ZX Spectrum.

    I was going to write the next Jet Set Willy, but I couldn't program (well, I knew BASIC), so I bought this thinking it would be just the ticket (I was only 10...). I can still remember the stomach-sinking disappointment when the reality displaced my golden hopes. I think it put me off the whole idea of games-authoring for life...

    I hope this is better!

    --
    Yours Sincerely, Michael.
  5. Physics by bburns · · Score: 5, Interesting

    It may just be me, but in my opinion the physics model is one of the most important features of a game. Good physics means great control, which makes all the difference between a good game and a great game.

    Take, for example, the difference in physics between Super Mario 2 and 3. Each character in Super Mario 2 had their own funky physics, like Luigi's leg-spinning jump, which was sort of the charm of the game. However, Super Mario 3 had solid physics where you could easily predict where your character was going and send the character where you wanted it to go. I think that's a big reason why Super Mario 2 is a good game and Super Mario 3 is one of the best of all time.

    Anyway, to relate this back to the article, a good side-scrolling game development kit needs a good or customizable physics model. Do many open game development kits emphasize that?

    1. Re:Physics by BlueMonk · · Score: 2, Informative

      I am glad to hear that because I think the physics model is where the most effort was put in. Sprites don't just have a single hot spot; they check all 4 corners to determine whether they are running into a solid. Sprites that follow paths don't have a pre-set exact path (although that's an option), rather they try to follow the path by altering their current velocity (indirectly) just like the player has to do. And if the kit itself doesn't give you enough control, you can set the sprite type to "scripted" and write your own script to define exactly how you want it to move.

  6. Re:Linux port anyone? by BlueMonk · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I (as the author) have long been excited about the idea of maybe just porting the runtime engine to another platform, since the runtime engine is a small percentage of the total project, and is the more important piece. Then you would at least be able to play the games accross platforms if not design them on any platform. I would probably have to drop VBScript support for the cross-platform version of the runtime, though, unless someone has implemented VBScript for other platforms.

    Unfortunately I have few of the skills and little time to take on such a project (I haven't done much Linux/Unix programming). I'd be happy to support whoever would be interested in taking it on, though.

  7. Re:Linux port anyone? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

    vbslacker is a half complete attempt to get VB working in Linux. Currently has no active maintainer (icculus is rather busy). Feel free to try and help out if you can.

  8. Re:GameBoy Advance by BlueMonk · · Score: 2, Informative

    It's open source. It can export to XML. It would be easy to create a program that exports selected pieces of data (or all of it) to practically any format you like. That could be done as a stand-alone program or even as a VBScript that runs in the IDE.

  9. Re:Crap games by BlueMonk · · Score: 3, Informative

    Did you take a look at the games with the highest staff ratings? Rolly the Purple Ball, Ethereal Peace and Chode?

    The power is there, just nobody's pushed the kit to its limits yet. It can support maps with millions of animated tiles at full speed (1 frame per monitor refresh or more).