What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Show us what you're working on, (preferably with screenshots).
Ralf
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Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by Ralf »

Very nice graphics Moroz. Good work with colours, shadows, bright and non bright. I wish I could draw like that ;)
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moroz1999
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Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by moroz1999 »

Thanks guys! That's indeed heavily influenced by Laser Squad, because the original Cell 3326 uses a really similar style, and I wanted to keep it.
Anybody can draw like that. When I started working on game graphics for Crystal Kingdom Dizzy Remake, I was only able to adapt what I saw on Amiga's version, and I didn't do it perfectly.
One of the earliest mockups of CKD:
Image

The key to the constant progress of skills was a countless trial and error. For example, this is how I did the ladders for CKD Remake:
Image
Only one of them made it into the game, because I wasn't happy with the rest of them. And that's how everything was done, I just spend a lot of time on working on tiny details.
In total, CKD Remake took about 800-1000 hours of working on graphics. Then Wonderful Dizzy took about 300-400 hours (I wasn't alone this time :)), and Cell 3326 took about 50-80 hours to make (114 tiles currently, not a large project).
I think anybody who spends ~1000 hours of working on graphics will achieve the similar result, if not better.
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djnzx48
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Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by djnzx48 »

Thanks for showing those graphics examples, they're really quite inspiring.
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Joefish
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Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by Joefish »

Those attribute screens reminded me of an idea. Drawing screens with just a fixed character set of standard shapes, with attributes, and compressing loads and loads of them. Then adding clickable and changeable areas to the pictures, links from one scene to another, and a set of state variables that can affect the links. And making a whole Myst-type adventure like that.
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Joefish
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Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by Joefish »

Another idea was to take the Fairlight layout idea to an extreme to make a purely graphical adventure. Draw scenes with lines and fills and repeatable tiled images, so you get more natural outdoor landscapes, though still with that similar slightly overhead viewpoint. But do away entirely with the isometric aspect of moveable objects and compass controls, and just freely wander around the space available. Maybe use an engine that does the 'fills' temporarily in memory as a solid pixel mask, before applying the texture, and so just hang on to the last 'fill' mask to dictate where the player can move.

Similarly to the Myst idea above, you could simply place (visible or invisible) markers on the ground that act as triggers to move to another scene, or interact with a fixed object (e.g. talk to an NPC, unlock a door).

Instead of object manipulation in 3D, it would be an adventure of collecting and using objects. And maybe all the objects would be found in treasure chests, and can't be dropped, so you don't have to worry about in-game representations.
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chip-fork
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Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by chip-fork »

I like the look of your ATTR animations. I've been looking at something similar, but I didn't use background chars like that. It gives it a haywire appearance that adds to it. It sounds like you're busy, but if you ever found time to submit a demo to this year's Woot Tape Magazine it would be very welcome.
Thanks R-Tape
I like the shimmering. I also tried characters that are split in the middle which effectively doubles the resolution either horizontally or vertically. Whilst still only updating colour information.
It might be cutting it bit fine for this years tape. it's somehow November already! but I shall have a think about what I can come up with. Maybe next year if not. Thanks for the invite though.
ixn
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Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by ixn »

I'm currently working on a fast compression routine, but at the current rate I'm going it will be another two years before it gets finished.

I also have some ideas for a sequel to ld-snake...
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Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by ZxSpence »

Two projects across four platforms so it's taking an age and I have so little time.

1. An arcade adventure based on a sci fi universe and presently dodgy enemy AI.

2. A multiplayer exploration game based on RS232 or TCP/IP connections between two or more computers with the gamestate held on GCP for the full massively multiplayer experience or a single RPI (up to 8 players) or RPI acting as a bridge.

1 is pretty much done bar decent graphics and debugging. Rewritten in C for portability with a few critical routines in assembly (using a script to plot the sprites as procedures from bitmaps, does the heavy lifting for me on all platforms).

2 is currently QL and Amiga (68k project) and very WIP but the server is written, tested, but Speccy version planned and I'm mainly reusing the code I wrote for 1 although not sure what interfaces to support - originally thought spectranet and zx networking from interface 1. More interested in 2. Hitting some serious bottlenecks on the QL with the baud rate during PoC phase so I need a Hermes chip.... apparently.

As I have a full time job in software and a young family I fear both are destined to amuse just me. But I still have hope!

Loads of other half finished software just to amuse the kids. All music free unfortunately because I don't have the first clue how to do that yet. Love the journey, not fussed enough about the destination.
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Ivanzx
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Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by Ivanzx »

ZxSpence wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2019 9:05 pm Two projects across four platforms so it's taking an age and I have so little time.

1. An arcade adventure based on a sci fi universe and presently dodgy enemy AI.


1 is pretty much done bar decent graphics and debugging. Rewritten in C for portability with a few critical routines in assembly (using a script to plot the sprites as procedures from bitmaps, does the heavy lifting for me on all platforms).


As I have a full time job in software and a young family I fear both are destined to amuse just me. But I still have hope!

Loads of other half finished software just to amuse the kids. All music free unfortunately because I don't have the first clue how to do that yet. Love the journey, not fussed enough about the destination.
Any screenshots to feed the hype¿¿ :)

Do you have any website where all those projects can be seen?

Thanks :)
ZxSpence
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Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by ZxSpence »

No hype, not massive on self promotion. When something gets finished it gets released.

I think 2 will get finished first, we shall see. Pretty clear in what I wrote that it's difficult to be a completer finisher.

If I give up, I'll make the GitHub repos public.
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Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by Hank Scorpio »

ixn wrote: Wed Nov 06, 2019 2:04 am I'm currently working on a fast compression routine, but at the current rate I'm going it will be another two years before it gets finished.
A bit ironic that. :D
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Morkin
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Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by Morkin »

That's OK, it'll be like that print routine by Dr Beep where the longer it took, the smaller it got.. ;)
My Speccy site: thirdharmoniser.com
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Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by Alone Coder »

Port of Everlasting Summer (Бесконечное лето) for Russian Spectrum clones. This is a graphic novel in USSR+anime mixed setting, initially made by anonymous authors for PC.
The project is held by Demige under NedoOS. I wrote the card minigame for day 2. Day 3 is under construction.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfG88CfyxTA
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Cgonzalez
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Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by Cgonzalez »

I'm working on this
Image

Is called refused, I hope I can finish it soon!
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PeterJ
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Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by PeterJ »

Looks impressive [mention]Cgonzalez[/mention]
+3code

Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by +3code »

I was working on a PAWS sci-fi adventure with ULA+ graphics:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1GWIwEy ... sp=sharing

And too in a text adventure developed with Hisoft Pascal. But I stoped it and in moment I am making experiments mainly with CharAde.
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majikeyric
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Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by majikeyric »

TGGS for Speccy

Image
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Cgonzalez
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Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by Cgonzalez »

Image

Find the differences!

This is also another project, that I've started re-coded again...using another project that is a C framework for Nirvana & Standard Modes...
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UltraNarwhal
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Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by UltraNarwhal »

Duckstroma.
Currently trying to finish before end of July for ZX Spectrum/MSX and Amiga/NES versions at later point.
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ketmar
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Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by ketmar »

UltraRex. yep, you prolly guessed it right. i have little hope to finish even a playable demo, but hey, the topic is not asking about "projects you're going to finish", right? ;-)

p.s.: no, no fancy multicolor there. but i hope to have some other gimmicks.
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R-Tape
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Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by R-Tape »

ketmar wrote: Wed Jul 01, 2020 8:09 pm UltraRex. yep, you prolly guessed it right.
What's UltraRex? Is it distinct from RexNext? :shock:
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ketmar
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Re: What are your current ZX Spectrum projects/games that you are working on?

Post by ketmar »

R-Tape wrote: Wed Jul 01, 2020 8:23 pm
ketmar wrote: Wed Jul 01, 2020 8:09 pm UltraRex. yep, you prolly guessed it right.
What's UltraRex? Is it distinct from RexNext? :shock:
of course! only 3 common letters -- almost completely different thing!

i am pretty sure that we need more Rex games!
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