The Lost Treasures of Tulum, new game from Retroworks!

[Ivanzx]

Retroworks has released a new game, worth checking, like always

http://retroworks.es/php/game_en.php?id=18

Have fun this weekend!!

[Lethargeek]

wow, such a nice surprise of a good looking and addictive game (that wasn't made in basic or a game designer to boot)

[Sokurah]

(...that wasn't made in basic or a game designer to boot)

Yeah, I'm pretty tired of those too

[Alessandro]

(that wasn't made in basic or a game designer to boot)

I don't think it's an added value, there are quite a few gems around made in BASIC (pure or compiled) and with game editors. Any reference to my own titles is entirely coincidental of course

Back to the game, it is a classic one-screen ladders and platforms collect-em-up with an intriguing twist. Since you can't see what's there unless you actually walk around each level, and in some cases not even after that, you must be very careful. Nasty surprises like spikes and enemies can be everywhere, although the latter only appear in lightened areas.

On the minus side are the two separate keys for jump and up - a game design choice I never liked - and the fact that you cannot use the whip unless you throw the torch away. The whip doesn't seem to be that useful however.

In a nutshell, another quality offer from Retroworks.

A side note: the link above refers to the English version. There is a Spanish language version available here.

[Lethargeek]

(that wasn't made in basic or a game designer to boot)

I don't think it's an added value, there are quite a few gems around made in BASIC (pure or compiled) and with game editors. Any reference to my own titles is entirely coincidental of course

I have nothing against really hi-quality projects even if made in BASIC, MK engines or AGD (although xored sprites is a big putoff for me always) but i strongly disagree about the original code not having an added value. Some people can feel the code behind the gameplay. Also this is more in Spectrum tradition to have a custom(ized) engine for a new game (sometimes to the point of its gameplay and even the scenario being defined by the engine code).

[Ralf]

It's a very nice game with good graphics, sound and difficulty. Maybe not original but certainly playable.

[Alessandro]

There's no such thing as a "Spectrum tradition". More a way of coping with the extremely limited resources of the hardware, rather. Which led to bits of code being used and reused and copied and ripped off etc.

"Some people", right. For the rest - the vast majority, I presume - there's no way to "feel" code being executed or what else. They just don't care as long as they have fun. Above all, games should entice the player, regardless of how they are made. I had much more fun with, and felt much more "sucked" into, a game written in BASIC with UDG-sized graphics like Comeme El Chip or a text-only adventure made with The Quill like Resistance, than the overrated (in my opinion) but technically impressive Aliens Neoplasma.

As long as it keeps me hooked to it, I don't give a damn if it's made with BASIC, AGD, Churrera or whatever. Conversely, the Spectrum catalog is filled with a large number of plain bad games which look like being made from scratch in machine code. That is not going to be any redeeming feature

[Lethargeek]

There's no such thing as a "Spectrum tradition". More a way of coping with the extremely limited resources of the hardware, rather. Which led to bits of code being used and reused and copied and ripped off etc.

On the contrary. Game designers (not to mention BASIC), being universal tools with extra layers of abstraction, use these limited resources inefficiently "by definition". And the search for the efficiency led to the new code being invented and the old code being improved. This was the spectrum way - hardware stays the same but software keeps improving. This is why best games of late 80's don't look like best games of early 80's at all. Very much unlike those made with the same game designer, even being several years apart.

[Alessandro]

Improving from a purely coding point, maybe. And it was not a phenomenon related to the Spectrum only, but to any 8-bit home computer platform of the era. It was the establishment of a more oriented market and an organized home computer gaming industry, beyond the first years of small enterprises and wild creativity, which made possible the transition from a relatively limited business with titles made by one or two-three people, often self-taught, to an organized industry with professional authors which focused on separate aspects - code, graphics, sound etc. And since hardware had basically not changed, experienced programmers could make better use of the limited resources at their disposal. This happened for the Spectrum as well as for the C64 and the CPC, which like the Spectrum did not undergo radical hardware changes during their commercial lifespan. On the contrary, 16-bit platforms like the Amiga could count on new and/or additional hardware in their last iterations.

Inasmuch as creativity and style setting are intended, from 1987 on the market was dominated either by arcade coin-op and tie-in licences, or budget games which often relied on reused code, Code Masters and Mastertronic being prominent examples. Many of them quite good, of course. But the titles which defined Spectrum gaming as we still remember it came before that year.

But again, more efficient coding - whatever that might mean, since in the case of the Spectrum it was, in commercial, industry-produced software at least, mostly limited to the generalized use of masked sprites, which had existed since 1983 anyway, or to faster scrolling routines - did not imply, and does not imply, better or even more memorable games per se.

[Lethargeek]

Improving from a purely coding point, maybe.

as i said specifically "best games" - no, not 'from a purely coding point"

But again, more efficient coding - whatever that might mean, since in the case of the Spectrum it was, in commercial, industry-produced software at least, mostly limited to the generalized use of masked sprites, which had existed since 1983 anyway, or to faster scrolling routines - did not imply, and does not imply, better or even more memorable games per se.

no-no-no, what you call "generalized" i call "flexible"
it was all about better tradeoffs allowing a better game
i know what i'm talking about, i've seen a lot of gfx code adapting it for my emulator
game designers do not offer much (if any) freedom and precision of tradeoffs

[Juan F. Ramirez]

I can wait to download it. It seems impressive!

[Lethargeek]

i dunno if the authors will ever read this here, but i noticed a small glitch: when the sprite is falling down, the background is restored in the wrong place and jerks down too for a moment, like this:



and some sprite masks have a few unnecessary junky pixels (also mostly visible over a solid background like the door)

[Lethargeek]

I have found the cause of this bug (missing routine call). Also when exploring it, found yet another potentially fatal bug that only by a miracle doesn't corrupt or crash the game (won't be sure if it's never possible though, so worth fixing too).

These both are fixed now in the new TR-DOS release (check vtrd.in) and in my ULAX game pack snapshot. Also fixed player sprite blinking (disappearing for one frame) when it goes from jumping to falling. There's a short hitch in the animation at this moment, but i think it's still better than blinking sprite. Maybe will be able to fix this too, or the authors will in a new official version...

[Ivanzx]

I completed the game and saw no bugs, what was it exactly?

[Lethargeek]

I completed the game and saw no bugs, what was it exactly?

it's on the pic right here - the background is shifted down (the door is actually taller)
or even better, stand a bit beside the door and jump - you'll see it splitting in two

the other bug is ret when there's a forgotten data address on stack
then by luck after a few nonsense ops a conditional ret happens
but i'm not sure if it happens every time

[utopian]

I completed the game and saw no bugs, what was it exactly?

it's on the pic right here - the background is shifted down (the door is actually taller)
or even better, stand a bit beside the door and jump - you'll see it splitting in two

the other bug is ret when there's a forgotten data address on stack
then by luck after a few nonsense ops a conditional ret happens
but i'm not sure if it happens every time

Hi,

Would you mind sending me the bugfixes? I can forward them to sejuan (the game author) so we can get an updated build.

Thanks!

[Lethargeek]

ok, [mention]utopian[/mention], check your PM here tomorrow

[utopian]

@Lethargeek PM received, thanks!