Be sure to check the change log to see what's new!
I really thought version .51 would be the last major version, but somehow I managed to scrape out every last token and add a few new features! That said, this WILL be the last major version, though I will still support the game post release.
Change log
Here is my "One Level Concept" Demake of Contra for PICO-8!
Enough about that! Let's get down to the nitty gritty...
Controls:
- Press ⬅️ to move left
- Press ➡️ to move right
- Press ⬇️ to go prone
- ❎ will make you jump
- 🅾️ will fire your weapon
More detailed controls in the spoiler...
Game Details
Known Bugs
Final Words and Thanks!
This is awesome! A very faithful demake, right down to the controls. Keep it up, champ. <3
Thank you so much, pootie! I'm honestly surprised though; I've heard more comments about the Konami code's absence than I have about the spread gun.
No, Toybox Omega, you're awesome! I'm really happy you enjoyed it.
I don’t know why but my greatest enjoyment with Pico8 comes from trying to port old games to it. It’s a fun challenge.
There is an error, and it is when I stop in one place and a million weapons appear
Haha, yeah. That isn't the only issue. Take a look at the "Known Bugs" section of the post if you're curious. The bug is due to the way items spawn in; they are set to do so at certain camera positions. If you stop at just the right position, they will spawn once every frame. I've hit the token limit, so I'm not entirely sure if I can fix it without rewriting the spawning code. If enough people ask for it I will definitely look into it, though.
indeed - code can be hugely optimized to be much more ‘content driven’.
eg using some level definition to create objects.
there is also a good deal of duplicated code...
good luck!
Oh, absolutely! This is the first game I have ever made. I didn't really have any workflow or discipline; I just knew what I wanted something to do and just added code until it happened... not sustainable, to be sure. XD
Very impressive for a first game, good job!
I think a full version of the game with all levels would be very doable with my PicoMap editor (https://www.lexaloffle.com/bbs/?tid=42848), though it would take some work. I'm thinking about making a proof-of concept demo of that at some point, along with ones for some other games. 😉
Thank you so much, JadeLombax! Ever since I finished this project, and even while I was working on it I was brainstorming how I could make the game bigger. I was toying with the idea of multiple carts, etc. I've seen your map editor, and to be honest it's the perfect solution! If I were to go down that rabbit hole, I would HAVE to rewrite the game. There is no sense (In my opinion) in leveraging the utility of your editor against my sloppy code. XD
Yeah, like I was saying, it would take a good deal of work. I now know that it's possible to fit the maps for a large game world in one cart, but to fit a complete large game everything would need to be optimized. My map compression system also takes about 650 tokens to implement at present.
I have an idea for an alternate stripped-down version that would take fewer tokens and be a bit simpler to use, with the drawback that it wouldn't hold as much, I'm estimating at least around 100 screens, vs potentially several hundred for the current version. I think this should still be enough for games like Contra and Castlevania, though. So yeah, you're not the only one that's rewriting code, but I think there will be some cool stuff possible going forward.
This is very well made and pretty accurate.
When I looked for demakes here I was hoping to find Contra and you just delivered. :)
Can I make one more comment about the Konami Code, @Turbochop ? :) No seriously you have one great Contra game here, very reminiscent of the original. Gold star work.
The enemies seem to be more than the original - spawning more like the arcade Kung Fu Master. You might examine the original:
https://youtu.be/2mWZlNOzdv8?t=10
As for the Konami Code everyone was asking about. Here is your game with it already installed, 30-lives.
I'm glad you like it @Tarik! I remember looking, and only finding Super Contra Hot, and while that game is fun, it's not quite Contra.
Thank you so much @dw817! That is high praise coming from you, and I will cherish it always!
As for the enemy spawning, I settled for a spawner on either side of the screen for a portion of the level, as opposed to pre defined spawn locations for each enemy. I did this for a few reasons: 1. I wasn't very experienced when I worked on this project so I couldn't think of how to implement it in an efficient way. The closest I could get to specific spawning were the Turrets, Capsules and the boss and none of them were very pretty. 2. I was starting to run low on tokens. You'll notice that alot of things are different or missing altogether, due to there not being enough room, either because I wasn't sure how to implement it, or because the code I had already written was needlessly inefficient.
Finally, if you check the change log you'll see that I actually dialed back the number of enemies a bit, as well as slowing them down. It was the chief complaint among testers, and honestly it really was too punishing as it was.
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