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Cart #dambi-7 | 2022-03-09 | Code ▽ | Embed ▽ | License: CC4-BY-NC-SA
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Update 03/08

Fix: Another bugfix, hopefully for the last. Dambi wasn't showing running and sliding animation and just sliding in the idle animation since 02/27 update, this is now fixed.

Update 02/27


Fix: The player states (e.g. standing, jumping, etc.) have been rewritten to become mutually exclusive, and this helped me get the ladder to work better. e.g. unlike before, Dambi will no longer automatically latch onto ladder when she comes in contact with it while airborne, and she will simply jump past it -- unless the player presses up/down while she's airborne and is in front of the ladder.

Tweak: Dambi has a bit more acceleration now and she jumps a bit further so jumping between two-tile gap does not need to be as precise as before. Also, she'll have a decent chance jumping over two spikes at once, if the timing is precise.

Added: More graphics in the background. Looks a bit less bland.

Update 01/31


New: Added a simple memory game as a minigame. The minigame can be entered from the title screen, and clearing it gives three additional lives. The effects do not stack, and last until the player finishes the game, gets game over or resets.

I was feeling stuck with another game and decided to do something short (even by PICO standard) and added it to this game as it had appropriate sprites, made some thematic sense and more token rooms.

Update 01/23


New: Double spikes. This has two spikes put close to each other in a single 8x8 tile, and can be jumped over at once. Functionally this isn't very different from the existing single spikes.

Fix: Slight rearrange on the first level. The first obstacle in the game had two single spikes placed next to each other, which probably helped making impression that they can be jumped over at once. The first occurrence of two single spikes next to each other is now at the top level of the first stage, by which the user has a better feel for Dambi's jump distance. Hopefully.

Update 01/22


Fix: The initial release had a few issues with the ladder. Dambi couldn't jump on top of a ladder, and she would shoot upwards when she latches on to the ladder while airborne and while UP is being pressed as she'd enter climb and jump state at the same time. The state machine has been revised over the week and while it could still use some further refinement, the control should make more sense now than before.

New: The remaining lives are added as bonus to the final score. I noticed I was just rushing and ignoring the enemies in the later stages if I had enough lives to make it, and that there's not a lot of incentives to open the present box when you have enough lives already.

About


Dambi was too busy playing PICO-8 that she forgot to stock food for the winter, and she realizes it's snowing outside. Now she hurries outside to gather cheesecakes, popsicles and macarons.

It's my first platformer and is mostly a rip-off of Ponpoko (1982) by Seibu Denshi (later Seibu Kaihatsu) and published by Sigma for arcade. The game remains pretty obscure in Japan and quite unknown in the West, but for some reason it became a smash hit in Korea and it could be commonly seen in arcades up until late 80s... so I've heard, I'm not actually that old.

This game is quite easier, though. You can control Dambi while she's airborne, and she won't die when she falls from the ledge. There is a timer, but you don't die when it runs down to zero (you just don't get score bonus); and you don't have to start the stage over when you take a hit, you just blink and lose a life.

The goal is simple, collect all items to clear the stage. The contents of the present box is randomized: 60% chance of extra life and 40% chance of spawning a ghost. The equivalent item in the original Ponpoko is not randomized, some always spawn enemies and others give points. There are 10 stages in total, and would take about 10 mins to finish.

I kept the way the enemies hover back and forth ignoring the gravity. Not only that this predictability is a big part of the gameplay in the original as you'd need to time your moves, this simple pattern made it much easier to code. She can jump between gaps up to two tiles but she can't jump over enemies so she'd need to wait on the ladder to wait until they go away.

It is technically possible to jump over two spikes at the same time, but it'd be much easier to jump over one at a time, because her collision is small enough for her to stand between them.

The core physics and movement codes come largely from Nerdy Teachers' Platformer Tutorial, with my addition to handle the ladder climbing. As a result, most of the existing problems with control involve the ladder.

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Oh after reading I see, I kept on trying to jump over both spikes at once, was going to say the jump feels.. really limiting but to be honest for this type of game this is definitely what your going for. I got to maple syrup donut with 3810. Was fun besides getting used to the jumping and stuff!
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@SmellyFishstiks Thanks! I'm thinking maybe I need to add another spike type that looks like there are two spikes closer to each other in one 8x8 sprite, and can be jumped over. Then it'd become a little clearer that the two apart from each other can't be jumped over at once.

Also it just came to my mind that the first obstacle in the game is two spikes next to each other. That's a bad design.


 
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@dw817 Both Ponpoko and this game are built around the idea of avoiding enemies. The player needs to estimate how long it'd take for them to get the items on the floor and reach the next ladder as opposed to how long it'd take the enemy to come back.

To make a direct comparison, Donkey Kong is about timing the jump; Ponpoko and Dambi are about timing the run between ladders. They're different games built on different ideas.

I wouldn't mind suggestions if they make sense with the game, and I have taken many suggestions that made this and other games better. But I don't think posting on BBS means I'm requesting someone else to design the game for me.


 
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