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A couple of friends and I made an RPGMaker game for this yearās IGMC.
If you like surreal games then you should definitely give it a try.
We have created a spin on the classic combat system where instead of different party members, each member is another part of your body. You have to fight smart, using different abilities and attacks with the parts if you want to prevail.
The game can be found here:
https://eighth-exodus.itch.io/dietotenmaske
Friend of mine made a game for the IGMC2017.
Itās got some good stuff and itās got some bad stuff, but itās really damn pretty and he did a fantastic job doing the art and sprites for this.
Might be worth a shot, if you like RPG Maker games, post-apocalyptic settings, or the idea of a single party being one characterās different limbs. Whether you like it or hate it, let āem know what you think.
On a Sunday morning in September, Typhoon Talim was flooding the western part of Japan with a torrential downpour, but at Todoroki Station in Tokyo on the other end of the country, its effects were limited to a light rain. A 20-minute ride south of the cityās famous Shibuya crossing, Todoroki is a sleepy residential station served by a single local train line. I got off the train at 9:30 a.m. and opened up my too-small cheap umbrella. Face down in Google Maps, I passed by the small cluster of fast food eateries and convenience stores by the station turnstiles. The shops gave way to the sort of Tokyo you donāt see if you donāt leave its center: Trees. Winding roads. Gas stations. A garden full of massive leafy vegetables. A driving range.
An excellent article about the work being done by Joseph Redon and the Game Preservation Society in Japan, where more families tend to throw out old technology. Redon estimates that 99% of Japanese computer software since the 80s has been destroyed.
This is critical work, and it underscores how important international, cross-cultural collaboration is to understanding gaming history. The PC-88 is almost totally unknown outside Japan, especially the long-buried games that the article talks about. We all know our own terrain ā which can be as broad as the Japanese computer market or as tiny as a fan community ā and it adds so much to share what we know with others.
A podcast episode served as a reminder of the importance of preserving Flash games and whose history they represent.
Last week, the Reply All podcast did an episode about a listener from Serbia tracking down a Flash game she bonded with a friend over that had disappeared off the web. It got me thinking again the end of Flash, throwaway media, and whose experiences are included in history.
Iām similarly worried about the fate of Homestar Runner. The Brothers Chaps have been uploading their newer toons to YouTube, and some of their older ones retroactively, but not nearly all of them (plus, while the newer toons have this hilarious shtick of a fakeĀ āYouTube Recommendationsā screen right before the easter eggs, the older ones are missing their easter eggs entirely).
On a more relevant note, it makes me happy to see things like Creeper World, Epic Battle Fantasy, and most recently Fancy Pants Adventure get sequels on Steam. At least thoseĀ are unlikely to disappear into the ether.
Thereās likely a significant number of Flash games and cartoons that kept me occupied in my youth that no longer exist. Shockwave is in dire straights, too.
Itās easy to forget now, but both plugins powered a good portion of the early web, so hereās hoping they can be preserved!
I know this doesnāt look impressive, but making RPG Maker VEE ECKS do anything is like some kind of fantastical Trial Of Cunning.
Thereās something strangely charming about how stranglingly limited the engine is (especially in the crippleware Lite version), and the ridiculous lengths you have to go to just to accomplish simple tasks. Iāve been using it off and on for about 15 years, and itās still just as primitive and jury-rigged as it ever was. Letās say that like me, you wanted a sphinx to have lip flap during (and only during) her text boxes:
- We could Show Picture, but this is more fiddly than you might imagine, and also requires several workarounds for anything even remotely complicated. If itās not going to move around a lot, weāre better off just directly implementing it into the tileset. Building the entire thing out of single-tile events is messy and wasteful, and the engine applies a four pixel offset to what it interprets as character graphics, which means if we try to cram many different frames of animation into a single sprite sheet, itāll be misaligned.
- Prepending a ! to a character sheetās filename will give the sprites the special property of being two tiles tall, as well as being perfectly aligned with the background tiles. This is intended primarily to be used with doors.
- The game still treats these as character sheets, meaning even to animate a door, you have to tell RPG maker to have the sprite face different directions. This is actually the intended usage. I canāt believe they still do things that way, because I thought that was janky even back in the days of RPG Maker 2000.
- Now what? Well, we canāt just directly command these events to change the direction theyāre facing while other things are going on. They need to be run as a Parallel Process. To do this, we need to create a conditional branch for the event controlled by a flag for this one specific purpose (or Event Page and Switch, respectively, in RPG Maker terminology). Even then, the event doesnāt like to be told what to do directly. It must be commanded with Autonomous Movement. This is normally used to allow NPCs to roam around freely.
- Repeat this two more times for the other two slices of sphinx face, and it ends up looking like this in the main event script:
Is this what it feels like when real programmers get Doom to run on a Fitbit.
If you think this is bad, imagine a game creator that features dedicated collision detectionā¦if and only if you use the default 2D coordinate system! As soon as you enter into a pseudo-3D coordinate system, you have to program in your own collision detection. Worse still, the help guide recommends using a function that requires you to check every single entity in your level in order to determine if itās hit something else.
Thatās game programming in a nutshell, doubly so when youāre using a game creator or construction kit! A lot of things are just hacks and workarounds that abuse existing systems.
I honestly thought RPG Makerās implementation of scripts was pretty elegant and powerful compared to similar programs, especially when you consider itās meant entirely for JRPGs. Using background tiles and a script to create a talking sphinx is really clever, and it makes me wonder if older games used similar techniques.
No, I agree. RPG Maker is eminently usable even if youāre not willing to learn Ruby or Java yourself, as evidenced by the fact that a dumbo like me can figure out solutions like this. But the kludgeyness is the fun of it. The fact that even as an entry-level program designed for ease of use, itās still a microcosm of programming issues that ārealā developers have to overcome in similarly ludicrous ways.
NES games did that quite frequently, as I understand it.
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I know this doesnāt look impressive, but making RPG Maker VEE ECKS do anything is like some kind of fantastical Trial Of Cunning.
Thereās something strangely charming about how stranglingly limited the engine is (especially in the crippleware Lite version), and the ridiculous lengths you have to go to just to accomplish simple tasks. Iāve been using it off and on for about 15 years, and itās still just as primitive and jury-rigged as it ever was. Letās say that like me, you wanted a sphinx to have lip flap during (and only during) her text boxes:
- We could Show Picture, but this is more fiddly than you might imagine, and also requires several workarounds for anything even remotely complicated. If itās not going to move around a lot, weāre better off just directly implementing it into the tileset. Building the entire thing out of single-tile events is messy and wasteful, and the engine applies a four pixel offset to what it interprets as character graphics, which means if we try to cram many different frames of animation into a single sprite sheet, itāll be misaligned.
- Prepending a ! to a character sheetās filename will give the sprites the special property of being two tiles tall, as well as being perfectly aligned with the background tiles. This is intended primarily to be used with doors.
- The game still treats these as character sheets, meaning even to animate a door, you have to tell RPG maker to have the sprite face different directions. This is actually the intended usage. I canāt believe they still do things that way, because I thought that was janky even back in the days of RPG Maker 2000.
- Now what? Well, we canāt just directly command these events to change the direction theyāre facing while other things are going on. They need to be run as a Parallel Process. To do this, we need to create a conditional branch for the event controlled by a flag for this one specific purpose (or Event Page and Switch, respectively, in RPG Maker terminology). Even then, the event doesnāt like to be told what to do directly. It must be commanded with Autonomous Movement. This is normally used to allow NPCs to roam around freely.
- Repeat this two more times for the other two slices of sphinx face, and it ends up looking like this in the main event script:
Is this what it feels like when real programmers get Doom to run on a Fitbit.
If you think this is bad, imagine a game creator that features dedicated collision detection...if and only if you use the default 2D coordinate system! As soon as you enter into a pseudo-3D coordinate system, you have to program in your own collision detection. Worse still, the help guide recommends using a function that requires you to check every single entity in your level in order to determine if itās hit something else.
Thatās game programming in a nutshell, doubly so when youāre using a game creator or construction kit! A lot of things are just hacks and workarounds that abuse existing systems.
I honestly thought RPG Makerās implementation of scripts was pretty elegant and powerful compared to similar programs, especially when you consider itās meant entirely for JRPGs. Using background tiles and a script to create a talking sphinx is really clever, and it makes me wonder if older games used similar techniques.
The Museum of ZZT website is dedicated towards the curation and preservation of ZZT worlds made by budding game developers. Explore over 25 years of indie gaming history.
Cross-posting this from a blog post yesterdayā¦
Over the last year, Dr. Dos has built up @worldsofzzt, a social media project to explore the massive, influential volume of custom content for the 1991 game ZZT. The gameās level editor and its community were, for a certain generation, a first easy gateway into game design. ZZTās influence reached wide ā but quietly. Now 26 years removed from the gameās release (and the follow-ups like Super ZZT and MegaZeux), fan-made levels have been difficult to rediscover.
Dr. Dosās Museum of ZZT, the culmination of Worlds of ZZT project, is one hell of an answer to that problem! The Museum goes far beyond any other collection of user-created game content. In addition to play each level pack in-browser (thanks to Internet Archive contributions from Obscuritory friend Duncan Cross), Dr. Dosās tools allow you to dig through the gamesā files to look at their individual scenes in detail. No other project in this scope comes close to the care put into here. Dr. Dos also regularly writes āCloser Lookā articles about specific ZZT worlds, adding a much-welcome guide to the unique and representative items in a collection that easily couldāve just been a big file dump.
(The site also offers bulk downloads and, importantly, an understanding that users may want to opt out of having their old ZZT levels re-shared or at least publicly associated with their name.)
Amateur games and add-ons like ZZT worlds are among the games most in need of more attention (and preservation energy). The Museum of ZZT is the high watermark for what can be done to break those types of games out and show why theyāre special. It goes above and beyond simply being a repository or a list of files. And itās worth noting that this is entirely a fan-run operation. I canāt wait to see the next generation of enthusiastic fans this could inspire, both for ZZT and for other amateur game communities. What could be next? Browseable StarCraft maps? A way to visit settings from the old BYOND online game engine?
Huge kudos! Start exploring with the Random ZZT World link.
ZZT is one of the progenitors of modern indie gaming and is also a fine example of a DOS-era construction kit. Give this a look if youāre interested in early user generated content for games!
Unfortunately, I was not able to submit my game because I couldnāt figure out how to compile an executable in DIV DX. However, be sure to check out the submissions that did make it, which include a platformer made in Microsoft Excel and a DOS based Sudoku game!
As soon as I figure out how to compile an executable, Iāll upload what I had so you can play around with it.
Figured out what the problem was: the ācompileā feature in DIV DX doesnāt seem to do...anything! Instead, you need to make an installation, which doesnāt create an installation, per se, but a self contained executable instead. Itās also rather picky about output folders when you do this!
I have the version intended for the Jam compiled, but Iāve decided to work on a ācompleteā version of the game as it was supposed to be before time ran out.
Unfortunately, I was not able to submit my game because I couldnāt figure out how to compile an executable in DIV DX. However, be sure to check out the submissions that did make it, which include a platformer made in Microsoft Excel and a DOS based Sudoku game!
As soon as I figure out how to compile an executable, Iāll upload what I had so you can play around with it.
Year of Release: 1998
Publisher: Hammer Technologies
OS: Multiplatform
Genre: Multiple
Existing Game: No
Scripting Language: Proprietary (DIV Language)
Status: In Development
Community: Active
New or Old: Old
URL: DIV Arena
Released in 1998 by Spanish company Hammer Technologies, DIV Games Studio and its successors can best be described as a transitional fossil between older construction kits and modern game development IDEs. But that's not the only thing that makes this kit unusual!
Let's start with the interface: unlike older kits, which typically have self contained menus and tools, and modern panel-based game development IDEs, DIV's acts more like a self contained OS:
(A clean DIV desktop. It won't stay that way for long!)
As seen above, everything exists upon a "desktop", with all kit features being accessed from floating tool menus and windows. The interface itself is fully customizable, allowing the user to customize elements such as the menu colors, syntax highlighting, font size, and even the desktop background itself. The unusual interface is a bit daunting at first. There's no real way to organize the windows, and most of the program features are hidden under a mess of submenus. Once you get used to the menus and learn where every feature is located, however, it quickly becomes second nature.
As an added bonus, closing out the program saves your current session, which you can return to at any time. This also saves which windows were open, the size and position of your windows, and even which page you were last on in the help system. Handy!
(See what I mean?)
DIV also contains everything you need to make a game within the kit itself. Starting with assets, a full graphic editor is included, with all the niceties you'd expect from a basic, DOS era graphics editor. Also included are a font generator for creating custom fonts, an explosion generator that creates procedural explosions on the fly, and a basic sound editor. If that wasn't enough, later versions of DIV would also add a sprite generator, although this doesn't seem to work in current builds of DIV DX, so I can't say what it does.
The games themselves are programmed within a tool window inside of the kit. While this isn't particularly unusual, it does have a quick compile feature. By hitting F10, you can quickly launch your game from the program menu. Given your games are basically the code you type in yourself, this makes testing much easier than contemporary kits. There's also a fully featured debugger, which I haven't messed around with yet, and syntax highlighting.
But wait, there's more!
(On the left: A game running in Mode7. On the right: Mode8.)
DIV has native support for SNES style "Mode7" scaling effects. Initiating the effect is pretty easy, and setting up a camera controller process to manipulate it is even easier. Ever wanted to make an authentic Mario Kart clone, or a classic JRPG overworld? DIV's likely your best choice! DIV 2 would later add "Mode8", which allowed budding game designers to design their own sector-based 2.5D Doom clones. Sadly, while Mode8 is supported in DIV DX, games utilizing it can sometimes suffer from rendering errors.
These features on their own are nice enough, but what makes DIV really stand out from its peers, and even modern kits and IDEs, is the fully integrated help system.
(Saving you money on your phone & internet bill since 1998.]
Accessed by hitting F1, the help system gives you in-depth information on all the various programming functions available, as well as program shortcuts and a quick reference glossary. Where DIV differs with its help system is what you can do with this information. Nestled within most of the help articles are sample programs. By simply clicking on the sample program, DIV will pop-up a handy program window where you can quickly test the code out yourself, and even make modifications to it if you so desire.
Can't figure out what an obscure function does? Odds are good there's a sample program in the help system that makes use of it! And if there isn't, there's a handful of tutorial programs and even complete games to poke around in. In an age of wikis and instant, mobile internet access, this may not seem impressive, but consider this: DIV launched back when 56k modems were considered bleeding edge. The help system documented every feature and function available, saving legacy users the hassle of logging onto the internet in hopes of getting an answer.
All these features and functionality raise an important question: why isn't DIV more well known? Certainly, I would have killed for similar functionality from other kits around this time, as would many others. Competitive products, such as BlitzBasic and DarkBasic, were also modestly popular. Then you factor in the solid "Mode7" and "Mode8" rendering effects, and further questions are raised.
Of course, maybe the issue is one of perspective. Many of the resources, games, and videos I found while doing research on DIV were in Spanish. It even has its own entry on Spanish Wikipedia. This makes sense when you consider that Hammer Technologies was a Spanish studio. It also enjoyed some success in other European countries, such as Germany. So while it might not be well known today, it certainly found an audience.
DIV is open source and available for download from the DIV Arena website as DIV DX. DIV DX is still in active development as of August 2017, so keep in mind that bugs may exist. DIV DX is mostly backwards compatible, too, meaning legacy programs can be compiled with it. A small, but active community also still exists, and many DIV games can be played in a browser (see links below). If you'd rather try an older version, DIV 2 can be run in your browser via DOSBox!
Final Verdict: DIV DX is a fine choice if you're looking for a retro modern construction kit! Just keep in mind there may be bugs if you use the latest version, and there are some features that may turn off users looking for a modern development environment.
Further Reading:
Complete DIV Games
WIP DIV Games
Remakes made in DIV
MikeDX's JavaScript Playground
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Now that the jam has begun, itās time I reveal which kit/engine Iāll be using:
DIV, or more specifically, DIV DX, the open source successor to DIV 1 and 2, is my choice for the jam. I chose this kit because it has a lot of attractive modern features while still maintaining a retro feel. Itās also not super well known, making it a perfect candidate for the jam.
I will post more information on DIV and the game I will be designing for the jam over the next few days. If youāve joined the jam alongside me, let me know! Iād love to see what you guys design.
Gentle reminder that the Broken Engine Jam starts this week! If you havenāt signed up yet, but are interested in doing so, please do! Iāve chosen my engine/kit, and I will write about my experiences working with it after the jam.
Also worth noting is that itch.io has a blog post dedicated to game dev tools that you might find handy if you decide to get into jams or game development yourself. While itās focused on Ludum Dare, the tools should be handy no matter what you decide to do.
I have run out of PC Gaming ads to post. There will be no more updates to this Tumblr.
The Museum of PC Gaming AdsĀ began when I was staring at a hip-deep pile of (American) PC Gamer magazines that Iād collected from March 1996 through December 2001 as a teenager. I wanted to throw them out, but I couldnāt bring myself to just toss away so many memories. I was tempted to scan them all:Ā old PC Gamer magazines are strangely hard to find on the Internet. But that would have taken far too long, especially with the crappy scanner I had at the time.
Flipping through my magazines, I noticed that while the articles had aged poorly ā so many gushing previews for crap games ā the ads were still interesting and funny. Back when I read PC Gamer religiously, I was annoyed by all the ads. Now they were far more fun to read than the rest of the magazine. Often the worst games had produced great ads. While you could find some of them at the CGW Museum, the scan quality was fairly poor. I thought I could present a comprehensive and higher-quality collection of PC gaming ads. Following in the footsteps of the many other console video game ad Tumblrs, I went ahead and started this Tumblr.
At one point, I was thinking of trying to get other PC gaming magazines to expand this Tumblr into an actualĀ āmuseumā collection so I wouldnāt run out of ads. Turns out scanning, cropping, and (occasionally) photo editing is extremely time consuming. Iām pretty busy these days, too busy to even play any games ā I still havenāt played the 2016Ā Doom yet! I definitely have no time to be making this Tumblr any more ambitious than it already has been.
I hope everyone who has been following this Tumblr has enjoyed it in its 2.5 year run. If youāve just found it, keep scrolling. There are a lot of old ads here.
@oldpcgads recently ended their three years on Tumblr. Scroll back through their blog for a ton of interesting and unusual ads from PC gaming magazines, most with links to pages on MobyGames so you can explore more. This is/was a terrific resource, and itāll be missed!
Gentle reminder that the Broken Engine Jam starts this week! If you havenāt signed up yet, but are interested in doing so, please do! Iāve chosen my engine/kit, and I will write about my experiences working with it after the jam.
Also worth noting is that itch.io has a blog post dedicated to game dev tools that you might find handy if you decide to get into jams or game development yourself. While itās focused on Ludum Dare, the tools should be handy no matter what you decide to do.
This is from Seneless Violence by Pangea Software, which later made Macintosh games like Power Pete/Mighty Mike and Nanosaur. Surprising to see how publicly they decided to burn bridges with the game publishing world. Saying your game is 1000 times better than all other games isā¦ bold.
Boppinā has a similar message hidden in it, which leads me to believe that if the game youāre playing has a message like this hidden in it, odds are good the game isnāt very good, or itās very weird and impenetrable.
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The first week (and a bit) of the Awful Summer Jam 2017 is going well. The theme this year is Bootlegs so Iām working on a weird hybrid of Doom and Wild Guns\Cabal
Thanks to a tip from @obscuritory, Iāve just learned that itch.io is hosting their very own Broken Engine Jam! The idea is to make a game using the most obscure, outdated, or outright broken construction kit you can. Naturally, yours truly will be entering.
The jam begins August 17th, 2017, and runs through August 20th. Let me know if you join the Jam!
vaporwave
2087
blakekathryn
origamiaround
jacobvanloon
turnnoffyourmind
kaledo-art
