The Telebugs (title screen + music)
- Lee Bee
- Dynamite Dan
- Posts: 1391
- Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 11:01 pm
- Location: Devon, England
- Contact:
The Telebugs (title screen + music)
I loved @PeteProdge's thread about games based on ITV shows but was quite surpised there were no games from the TVS region, and no game based on The Telebugs:
So how about making a fake Telebugs game by taking some old obscure game and re-branding it?
Let's take Fred's Robot, a game with a character that could pass as a Telebug:
Sure, there's only 1 robot instead of 3, but hey, most 80s tie-in games had missing characters, or gameplay that was wildly out-of-context and nothing like the actual show!
So here's my new title screen and title music:
(I can't actually make games so if anyone wanted to have a go at this then feel free! I can happily provide loads of music!)
So how about making a fake Telebugs game by taking some old obscure game and re-branding it?
Let's take Fred's Robot, a game with a character that could pass as a Telebug:
Sure, there's only 1 robot instead of 3, but hey, most 80s tie-in games had missing characters, or gameplay that was wildly out-of-context and nothing like the actual show!
So here's my new title screen and title music:
(I can't actually make games so if anyone wanted to have a go at this then feel free! I can happily provide loads of music!)
- Daveysloan
- Manic Miner
- Posts: 373
- Joined: Tue Jun 08, 2021 12:57 pm
- Contact:
Re: The Telebugs (title screen + music)
I'd be quite tempted to throw something together with AGD. Might be a bit too similar to our recent games though!...
And
And
Homepage: https://sloanysoft.wordpress.com
Games: https://sloanysoft.itch.io
Twitch: www.twitch.tv/sloanysoft
Games: https://sloanysoft.itch.io
Twitch: www.twitch.tv/sloanysoft
Re: The Telebugs (title screen + music)
Good shout. I remember the music better than I do the program. That's a great AY rendition and loader @Lee Bee.
Do the 3 characters have any differences that could form a teamwork game, where you switch between sprites as e.g multidude or bean brothers? They all fly don't they?
Do the 3 characters have any differences that could form a teamwork game, where you switch between sprites as e.g multidude or bean brothers? They all fly don't they?
I hope you do. I reckon this has legs.Daveysloan wrote: ↑Tue Jun 06, 2023 8:16 am I'd be quite tempted to throw something together with AGD.
- Lee Bee
- Dynamite Dan
- Posts: 1391
- Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 11:01 pm
- Location: Devon, England
- Contact:
Re: The Telebugs (title screen + music)
Thanks, guys. Any kind of custom-made game would be fantastic, even it's something as simple as Pong!
I'd be happy to provide a bucket-load of music & sound effects if needed, as well as more graphics. If the game has more than one of the Telebugs, I can certainly add them to the loading screen.
Useful general information about the show's premise can be found on these pages:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ ... heTelebugs
https://www.cartonionline.com/en/wordpr ... ed-series/
http://zudobug.ababcrab.com/telebugs/imgtelebugs.html
CHIP
The leader and the brains. He can make incredibly accurate calculations to predict future events. In the show this was mostly just used for basic plot exposition ("I calculate we haven't seen the last of him"). In a game maybe it could mean anything he throws would always hit its target? (Though he wouldn't likely be firing missiles at enemies since the Telebugs weren't weaponised and usually resolved problems non-violently by interacting with technology and objects.) CHIP can also "zap" other devices with his transmitter, though not to the extent that SAMANTHA can. I believe CHIP is also the most physically strong, in case lifting is needed.
SAMANTHA
Has a powerful scanner on her head to detect danger etc. Her scanner can also emit targeted energy beams and do almost anything, making her the closest thing the Telebugs had to an actual weapon. So her scanner beam could be a weapon in the game. Another obvious use for SAMANTHA would be to view a map, see round corners, etc. Or, being able to detect danger, maybe she could automatically dodge all enemies and be less vulnerable to danger?
BUG
The young cameraman of the team with a live TV camera which extends out of his head (the Telebugs don't merely fight crime but also report it for the TV station).
MIC
The small "pet", also a camera
Zudo Bug
There were a few villains, but this is probably the main one - a malfunctioning brother of the Telebugs who "was accidentally programmed for evil"!
I'd be happy to provide a bucket-load of music & sound effects if needed, as well as more graphics. If the game has more than one of the Telebugs, I can certainly add them to the loading screen.
Useful general information about the show's premise can be found on these pages:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ ... heTelebugs
https://www.cartonionline.com/en/wordpr ... ed-series/
http://zudobug.ababcrab.com/telebugs/imgtelebugs.html
Great question. I'm not exactly the biggest fan of the show, but I can offer this basic description…
CHIP
The leader and the brains. He can make incredibly accurate calculations to predict future events. In the show this was mostly just used for basic plot exposition ("I calculate we haven't seen the last of him"). In a game maybe it could mean anything he throws would always hit its target? (Though he wouldn't likely be firing missiles at enemies since the Telebugs weren't weaponised and usually resolved problems non-violently by interacting with technology and objects.) CHIP can also "zap" other devices with his transmitter, though not to the extent that SAMANTHA can. I believe CHIP is also the most physically strong, in case lifting is needed.
SAMANTHA
Has a powerful scanner on her head to detect danger etc. Her scanner can also emit targeted energy beams and do almost anything, making her the closest thing the Telebugs had to an actual weapon. So her scanner beam could be a weapon in the game. Another obvious use for SAMANTHA would be to view a map, see round corners, etc. Or, being able to detect danger, maybe she could automatically dodge all enemies and be less vulnerable to danger?
BUG
The young cameraman of the team with a live TV camera which extends out of his head (the Telebugs don't merely fight crime but also report it for the TV station).
MIC
The small "pet", also a camera
Zudo Bug
There were a few villains, but this is probably the main one - a malfunctioning brother of the Telebugs who "was accidentally programmed for evil"!
Actually, no, the Telebugs do not have legs and cannot walk!
- Lee Bee
- Dynamite Dan
- Posts: 1391
- Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 11:01 pm
- Location: Devon, England
- Contact:
Re: The Telebugs (title screen + music)
Based on the above info, I've come up with a very rough game concept. Note that this ISN'T simple, it's quite an advanced game concept. Now like I said above, ANY custom game would be good no matter how simple, this is just an "ideal", to give some ideas.
My game concept…
Basic gameplay
• The game is a side-on platform-based maze game set in mostly technological environments which perhaps could look vaguely like Dan Dare. (Could be flip-screen or scrolling, depends which works best.)
• The Telebugs characters should be roughly around 24 pixels tall, not too big, to allow for more travel and compartments around the screen.
• The Telebugs can't use their rockets indoors and can only use secondary thrusters. This means they're affected by gravity and hover slightly above the ground (basically like walking). You can briefly fly higher (like jumping) but after about 3 seconds you'll start to drop and must wait for thrust recharge which takes about 5 seconds.
• Between each level there's a brief scrolling bonus round where you're rocketing through the sky to the next location, avoiding enemies.
• The game will feature the small pet character (MIC) as a power-up. Pick up MIC and he will be like a drone who will follow you and guard you in some way. Lose a life and you lose MIC, though you can get him again later.
Narrative
• I see the game having bits of dialogue/narration here and there with speech bubbles.
• The main villain should occasionally show up to taunt you, with a brief conversation.
• On every level you get a briefing at the start, mostly narrated by CHIP who says "I calculate…" followed by whatever the danger/mission is.
• There should be quite a large TV screen in the corner of the screen (maybe 5 x 4 tiles) for showing various information at points in the game (quite like the one on Wacky Darts). This can also show "images" captured by BUG at various points. It can go in the HUD if there's room, or else appear when needed.
Enemies
• Normal gameplay will involve moving around the environments trying to find your way to the mission goal / exit. You'll need to avoid harmful creatures. Most of these are simple robots created by the main villain.
• You'll also encounter plenty of humans (some walking, some standing still) - 50% of the humans are friendly and will give you food if you approach them. But 50% of the humans are actually evil robots disguised as humans and they will attack you. Sometimes you'll be able to just avoid the humans, other times you'll find them blocking passages and will need a way of detecting which ones are real and which are fake (see below).
Characters
• You start as CHIP only. But then in level 2 your mission is to find BUG, who's been imprisoned by the villain. Similarly, by the end of level 4 you'll have rescued SAMANTHA.
• As new characters are rescued, you can then play as those characters and make use of their advantages (see below).
• Once new Telebug characters have been rescued, they can never be lost. When you lose a life, it's a team life, so you always have all three characters.
• After you've rescued the other Telebug team members, all three of them will always appear at the start of each level floating together in a group. You can very quickly switch between characters at ANY point you like, and the character you were playing with will then float on the spot.
• At several points throughout each level you will encounter teleporters - activate these and your two other team members will be summoned to your current location. These are kind of like "save points", meaning you only need to get ONE Telebug through each bit of any level, knowing you'll be able to summon the other two as you progress.
• The end of every level always has a teleporter right near the exit, allowing you to summon your team mates. At which point, all three Telebugs will automatically exit together.
Advantages of each character
CHIP
1) CHIP can interface with computer panels and "crack security codes" to open doors etc.
2) CHIP is the strongest so he can carry heavy objects which the others can't carry. "This object is too heavy for me to lift", says SAMANTHA. (The game will always give you clues what to do)
3) CHIP can precisely calculate how to aim for any target, even a moving target, so you can use a cross-hair to target things to throw at, whether it's throwing something at a robot or hitting a switch.
SAMANTHA
1) SAMANTHA can send out a pulse from her scanner which disables all the robots on the screen. This weapon takes quite a while to recharge.
2) SAMANTHA can remotely control large machinery, such as moving a truck
3) When you play as SAMANTHA you can see the true nature of humans - real or robots.
4) SAMANTHA can see secret passages or fake walls
5) SAMANTHA lets you view a map of the level.
BUG
1) BUG is the smallest so can go through smaller passages
2) BUG is the lightest so can fly to a higher point before needing to touch down and recharge thrusters
3) Robot enemies hate being filmed by BUG so when his camera is out, they will freeze and turn away from you.
Level structure
• Structurally, the game is split into around 5 "worlds" (each with a main robot villain to defeat), each world having maybe 2-4 sub-levels.
• The mission for each individual level will be either fixing broken stuff and/or releasing someone who's been captured, and escaping the level. Practically this means you have to throw levers to open doors, release things, move things into place, also picking up objects to help you repair things that were broken.
• At the end of each WORLD, you face the main villain/boss of that world. This takes place in a single-screen room with all 3 Telebugs present. In order to defeat each boss you'll need to use combinations of three things:
1) Use Samantha's scanner to stun the enemy
2) Use CHIP's targeting to throw things at him or her
3) Plus a hit won't be successful unless BUG is filming the action, meaning BUG needs to be facing the villain. When the villain is "in shot" this will be confirmed in the TV screen in the corner.
Just some ideas!
My game concept…
Basic gameplay
• The game is a side-on platform-based maze game set in mostly technological environments which perhaps could look vaguely like Dan Dare. (Could be flip-screen or scrolling, depends which works best.)
• The Telebugs characters should be roughly around 24 pixels tall, not too big, to allow for more travel and compartments around the screen.
• The Telebugs can't use their rockets indoors and can only use secondary thrusters. This means they're affected by gravity and hover slightly above the ground (basically like walking). You can briefly fly higher (like jumping) but after about 3 seconds you'll start to drop and must wait for thrust recharge which takes about 5 seconds.
• Between each level there's a brief scrolling bonus round where you're rocketing through the sky to the next location, avoiding enemies.
• The game will feature the small pet character (MIC) as a power-up. Pick up MIC and he will be like a drone who will follow you and guard you in some way. Lose a life and you lose MIC, though you can get him again later.
Narrative
• I see the game having bits of dialogue/narration here and there with speech bubbles.
• The main villain should occasionally show up to taunt you, with a brief conversation.
• On every level you get a briefing at the start, mostly narrated by CHIP who says "I calculate…" followed by whatever the danger/mission is.
• There should be quite a large TV screen in the corner of the screen (maybe 5 x 4 tiles) for showing various information at points in the game (quite like the one on Wacky Darts). This can also show "images" captured by BUG at various points. It can go in the HUD if there's room, or else appear when needed.
Enemies
• Normal gameplay will involve moving around the environments trying to find your way to the mission goal / exit. You'll need to avoid harmful creatures. Most of these are simple robots created by the main villain.
• You'll also encounter plenty of humans (some walking, some standing still) - 50% of the humans are friendly and will give you food if you approach them. But 50% of the humans are actually evil robots disguised as humans and they will attack you. Sometimes you'll be able to just avoid the humans, other times you'll find them blocking passages and will need a way of detecting which ones are real and which are fake (see below).
Characters
• You start as CHIP only. But then in level 2 your mission is to find BUG, who's been imprisoned by the villain. Similarly, by the end of level 4 you'll have rescued SAMANTHA.
• As new characters are rescued, you can then play as those characters and make use of their advantages (see below).
• Once new Telebug characters have been rescued, they can never be lost. When you lose a life, it's a team life, so you always have all three characters.
• After you've rescued the other Telebug team members, all three of them will always appear at the start of each level floating together in a group. You can very quickly switch between characters at ANY point you like, and the character you were playing with will then float on the spot.
• At several points throughout each level you will encounter teleporters - activate these and your two other team members will be summoned to your current location. These are kind of like "save points", meaning you only need to get ONE Telebug through each bit of any level, knowing you'll be able to summon the other two as you progress.
• The end of every level always has a teleporter right near the exit, allowing you to summon your team mates. At which point, all three Telebugs will automatically exit together.
Advantages of each character
CHIP
1) CHIP can interface with computer panels and "crack security codes" to open doors etc.
2) CHIP is the strongest so he can carry heavy objects which the others can't carry. "This object is too heavy for me to lift", says SAMANTHA. (The game will always give you clues what to do)
3) CHIP can precisely calculate how to aim for any target, even a moving target, so you can use a cross-hair to target things to throw at, whether it's throwing something at a robot or hitting a switch.
SAMANTHA
1) SAMANTHA can send out a pulse from her scanner which disables all the robots on the screen. This weapon takes quite a while to recharge.
2) SAMANTHA can remotely control large machinery, such as moving a truck
3) When you play as SAMANTHA you can see the true nature of humans - real or robots.
4) SAMANTHA can see secret passages or fake walls
5) SAMANTHA lets you view a map of the level.
BUG
1) BUG is the smallest so can go through smaller passages
2) BUG is the lightest so can fly to a higher point before needing to touch down and recharge thrusters
3) Robot enemies hate being filmed by BUG so when his camera is out, they will freeze and turn away from you.
Level structure
• Structurally, the game is split into around 5 "worlds" (each with a main robot villain to defeat), each world having maybe 2-4 sub-levels.
• The mission for each individual level will be either fixing broken stuff and/or releasing someone who's been captured, and escaping the level. Practically this means you have to throw levers to open doors, release things, move things into place, also picking up objects to help you repair things that were broken.
• At the end of each WORLD, you face the main villain/boss of that world. This takes place in a single-screen room with all 3 Telebugs present. In order to defeat each boss you'll need to use combinations of three things:
1) Use Samantha's scanner to stun the enemy
2) Use CHIP's targeting to throw things at him or her
3) Plus a hit won't be successful unless BUG is filming the action, meaning BUG needs to be facing the villain. When the villain is "in shot" this will be confirmed in the TV screen in the corner.
Just some ideas!
Re: The Telebugs (title screen + music)
Interesting. So, it is like Lost vikings without vikings but with characters I never heard of
The real work would be to create the levels.
The real work would be to create the levels.
Proud owner of Didaktik M
- Lee Bee
- Dynamite Dan
- Posts: 1391
- Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 11:01 pm
- Location: Devon, England
- Contact:
Re: The Telebugs (title screen + music)
LOL yeah I guess it is!
Indeed, it would take a lot of care and planning to make satisfying puzzles with a good learning curve. I'd be happy to design all the levels and script it out, as well as providing all the graphics and music. The only thing I don't want to get into is the coding side.
But my game idea is merely a suggestion, I'd settle for something incredibly simple
- Lee Bee
- Dynamite Dan
- Posts: 1391
- Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 11:01 pm
- Location: Devon, England
- Contact:
Re: The Telebugs (title screen + music)
Another detail I'd add to the game would be to make it an origin story loosely based on the cartoon:
So the game starts with an intro sequence inside the professor's treehouse showing the Telebugs first being unveiled and activated. We're then introduced to each character, before they fly out the top of the frame.
We then go to the scrolling 'bonus round' which comes before each level. This is a 2D cityscape, something roughly like one of these games:
In these bonus rounds, we see the 3 Telebugs (quite small) flying out of the previous building and making their way to the next destination. You can switch between the three characters, with the other two tagging along behind you.
Switch to the CHIP character and you can fly and shoot enemies.
Switch to SAMANTHA and she scans to see which direction the destination building is. The scan takes 3 seconds then an arrow appears on the TV screen pointing left or right. Just try not to get hit while you're scanning!
Switch to BUG (who is smaller and lighter) and you can fly high up in the clouds to collect power-ups
So the game starts with an intro sequence inside the professor's treehouse showing the Telebugs first being unveiled and activated. We're then introduced to each character, before they fly out the top of the frame.
We then go to the scrolling 'bonus round' which comes before each level. This is a 2D cityscape, something roughly like one of these games:
In these bonus rounds, we see the 3 Telebugs (quite small) flying out of the previous building and making their way to the next destination. You can switch between the three characters, with the other two tagging along behind you.
Switch to the CHIP character and you can fly and shoot enemies.
Switch to SAMANTHA and she scans to see which direction the destination building is. The scan takes 3 seconds then an arrow appears on the TV screen pointing left or right. Just try not to get hit while you're scanning!
Switch to BUG (who is smaller and lighter) and you can fly high up in the clouds to collect power-ups
Re: The Telebugs (title screen + music)
So I watched first 11 episodes. Well, capabilities of Telebugs are pretty much arbitrary, beams, scanning and calculation are basically 'deus ex machina', TV Tropes confirms my observation https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/ ... heTelebugs .
That is perhaps good thing, as it is hard to break canon, on other side, the specialization of characters is somewhat elusive. In 'Hijack Hijacker', MIC went into shoot-out with evil mastermind punk armed by 'something like futuristic laser gun' and won.
Zudo's chaotic evil mentality is just lovely. And there is quite strong ensemble of evil characters: Baron Bullybyte, his sister Magna (who has strong affinity to beam guns) and the evil computer. So so far good.
Another good thing there are (so far) three distinctive locations: professor's pirotesque house, tv corporate tower and the evil black monolith, home of baron.
But I'm not sure what kind of playability you can expect from adaption to game. Flying section is sure bet, I think, Telebugs fly a lot and it would be miss to do not employ "All systems - go telesonic" phrase.
Otherwise, show is mix beam/sonic/laser shooting and using completely arbitrary object.
Btw. Third stage of Savage is something I could imagine as part of in-house gameplay.
That is perhaps good thing, as it is hard to break canon, on other side, the specialization of characters is somewhat elusive. In 'Hijack Hijacker', MIC went into shoot-out with evil mastermind punk armed by 'something like futuristic laser gun' and won.
Zudo's chaotic evil mentality is just lovely. And there is quite strong ensemble of evil characters: Baron Bullybyte, his sister Magna (who has strong affinity to beam guns) and the evil computer. So so far good.
Another good thing there are (so far) three distinctive locations: professor's pirotesque house, tv corporate tower and the evil black monolith, home of baron.
But I'm not sure what kind of playability you can expect from adaption to game. Flying section is sure bet, I think, Telebugs fly a lot and it would be miss to do not employ "All systems - go telesonic" phrase.
Otherwise, show is mix beam/sonic/laser shooting and using completely arbitrary object.
Btw. Third stage of Savage is something I could imagine as part of in-house gameplay.
Proud owner of Didaktik M
- Lee Bee
- Dynamite Dan
- Posts: 1391
- Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 11:01 pm
- Location: Devon, England
- Contact:
Re: The Telebugs (title screen + music)
Interesting observations! I do like the design of the Telebugs, and the overall high-tech theme lends itself well to a videogame. But I'm not claiming this was some great TV show. It's really about familiarity.
This programme was on TV every day at tea time for so many years, and anyone growing up in the UK in the 80s will remember this programme, or at least its two distinctive theme tunes which were constantly playing in the late 80s.
SAMANTHA even became a real-life TV presenter at one point!
So however good or bad the show may have been, it's irreversibly etched into the recesses of our memories, with the characters being like familiar family members we haven't seen for years. Put simply, it's pure nostalgia.
Anyway, regardless of how good the actual show was, a spinoff game could be wonderful fun.
This programme was on TV every day at tea time for so many years, and anyone growing up in the UK in the 80s will remember this programme, or at least its two distinctive theme tunes which were constantly playing in the late 80s.
SAMANTHA even became a real-life TV presenter at one point!
So however good or bad the show may have been, it's irreversibly etched into the recesses of our memories, with the characters being like familiar family members we haven't seen for years. Put simply, it's pure nostalgia.
Anyway, regardless of how good the actual show was, a spinoff game could be wonderful fun.
- PeteProdge
- Bugaboo
- Posts: 3634
- Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:03 am
Re: The Telebugs (title screen + music)
Yeah, with all those specialist skills for each character, it's that kind of Bash Street Kids/Scooby Doo/Spice Girls set-up.
Not everyone had positive memories of the Telebugs, the guest on this podcast episode absolutely loathes them...
https://timworthington.org/2022/04/05/l ... al-killer/
At the time, being a computer/technology-obsessed eleven-year-old television-addicted kid who never owned a computer, I was obsessed with them. I did a rewatch of a few episodes last year, and the spectacularly logic-defying depiction of technology winds me up (yeah, I know, it's a cartoon, you gotta expect these things).
Er, the Spectrum hook to all of this? My best friend would invite me over and he was a hardcore Sinclair fanboy, letting me play on his 48K, with attached printer (and even owned the Sinclair portable TV). We'd watch Telebugs every time it was on Children's ITV. Just about anything with computers in it would impress me, like HTV's long-forgotten Video & Chips.
Reheated Pixels - a combination of retrogaming, comedy and factual musing, is here!
New video: Nine ZX Spectrum magazine controversies - How Crash, Your Sinclair and Sinclair User managed to offend the world!
New video: Nine ZX Spectrum magazine controversies - How Crash, Your Sinclair and Sinclair User managed to offend the world!
Re: The Telebugs (title screen + music)
Well, I quite like the show, as said above, the setting and mood is so 80ish. Or perhaps, just super optimistic about technology, like older StarTrek (before Voyager and DS9).
What I'm saying, I don't see particular game genre in it. I found interesting Arcadia line as she is transfering enemies from arcade games to real world.
As fan service, the plot of game should probably cover Baron, Magna And Zudo ("Evil OK" is another priceless phrase).
I found interesting trilogy 'Monster Mash' + 'Castle Creepers' + 'Frankeheims Monsters', because there is single location (castle), clear goal (save profesor), lot of enemies (monsters) that are zapped ruthlesly by Telebugs, genius villain with accent and big beam gun on ramparts. Unfortunately, there are only first two episodes on YT, so I don't know how it ended. Also it is significant departure from first season.
So I might be interested in coding the game as long it will not be super ambitious and keep spirit of limited budget of show. So 48k+AY, two gameplay sections: flying sections + [something].
What I'm saying, I don't see particular game genre in it. I found interesting Arcadia line as she is transfering enemies from arcade games to real world.
As fan service, the plot of game should probably cover Baron, Magna And Zudo ("Evil OK" is another priceless phrase).
I found interesting trilogy 'Monster Mash' + 'Castle Creepers' + 'Frankeheims Monsters', because there is single location (castle), clear goal (save profesor), lot of enemies (monsters) that are zapped ruthlesly by Telebugs, genius villain with accent and big beam gun on ramparts. Unfortunately, there are only first two episodes on YT, so I don't know how it ended. Also it is significant departure from first season.
So I might be interested in coding the game as long it will not be super ambitious and keep spirit of limited budget of show. So 48k+AY, two gameplay sections: flying sections + [something].
Proud owner of Didaktik M
- Lee Bee
- Dynamite Dan
- Posts: 1391
- Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 11:01 pm
- Location: Devon, England
- Contact:
Re: The Telebugs (title screen + music)
Thanks guys, great comments and trivia
Catmeows, thanks for your interest in coding I totally understand that you wouldn't want it to be anything too ambitious. If we were to proceed then I think the best course of action would be to build an extremely simple working game - just a quick game with 1 level. Perhaps no enemies, just flying around the screen. If this were successful, it could be released as it was, or we could keep adding more detail and levels and building upon it, knowing that we could stop at any point if we got bored.
There's also @Daveysloan who expressed a possible interest in "throwing something together in AGD". Not sure how keen he is? Just an idea but what if both Dave and Catmeows each produced VERY simple games, and the two games were somehow combined into one? Or maybe that would be too complicated.
Catmeows, thanks for your interest in coding I totally understand that you wouldn't want it to be anything too ambitious. If we were to proceed then I think the best course of action would be to build an extremely simple working game - just a quick game with 1 level. Perhaps no enemies, just flying around the screen. If this were successful, it could be released as it was, or we could keep adding more detail and levels and building upon it, knowing that we could stop at any point if we got bored.
There's also @Daveysloan who expressed a possible interest in "throwing something together in AGD". Not sure how keen he is? Just an idea but what if both Dave and Catmeows each produced VERY simple games, and the two games were somehow combined into one? Or maybe that would be too complicated.
Re: The Telebugs (title screen + music)
Ok, I will try to do flying part, nothing elaborated for now.
Proud owner of Didaktik M
Re: The Telebugs (title screen + music)
First test: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1STKjkl ... sp=sharing
EDIT: Use '1' and '2' for scrolling.
EDIT: Use '1' and '2' for scrolling.
Proud owner of Didaktik M
Re: The Telebugs (title screen + music)
I have added parallax: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wwqVbt ... sp=sharing
Proud owner of Didaktik M
- Lee Bee
- Dynamite Dan
- Posts: 1391
- Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 11:01 pm
- Location: Devon, England
- Contact:
Re: The Telebugs (title screen + music)
Hey that's great! This is off to a great start!
Re: The Telebugs (title screen + music)
So, for now:
I have very simple tile engine:
+it supports up to 256 tiles
+by manipulating tiles between frames I can animate tiles, that is however done by special code for each group of animated tiles, so I can do parallax, animate flags etc, but I would limit animation to few groups of tiles
+it draws directly to screen, so there is a glitch at 13th line, that is penalty for not using backbuffer but it saves memory
+I can make it wide as much I want and tall as much I want, though it is not possible to be faster than ULA and there will be always glitch. I was hoping 14 character lines could be fast enough but it is not.
+since it is tile based, adding some sprites should be easy but sprites will be character based.
+I can add masked sprites easily but their movement will be still in step of 8 pixels in any direction.
So its kind of sandbox I can use to play with game elements. What exactly I should implement is unclear.
I will start with adding sprite 2 chars tall and 3 chars wide.
Should it be masked and city line will be just decoration ? Or should buildings act as obstacle ? Should avatar shoot ? And what kind of projectiles it should use. Telebugs use beams, not bullets.
What are your thoughts ?
I have very simple tile engine:
+it supports up to 256 tiles
+by manipulating tiles between frames I can animate tiles, that is however done by special code for each group of animated tiles, so I can do parallax, animate flags etc, but I would limit animation to few groups of tiles
+it draws directly to screen, so there is a glitch at 13th line, that is penalty for not using backbuffer but it saves memory
+I can make it wide as much I want and tall as much I want, though it is not possible to be faster than ULA and there will be always glitch. I was hoping 14 character lines could be fast enough but it is not.
+since it is tile based, adding some sprites should be easy but sprites will be character based.
+I can add masked sprites easily but their movement will be still in step of 8 pixels in any direction.
So its kind of sandbox I can use to play with game elements. What exactly I should implement is unclear.
I will start with adding sprite 2 chars tall and 3 chars wide.
Should it be masked and city line will be just decoration ? Or should buildings act as obstacle ? Should avatar shoot ? And what kind of projectiles it should use. Telebugs use beams, not bullets.
What are your thoughts ?
Proud owner of Didaktik M
- Lee Bee
- Dynamite Dan
- Posts: 1391
- Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 11:01 pm
- Location: Devon, England
- Contact:
Re: The Telebugs (title screen + music)
Thanks for your update and questions! I will answer shortly. In the mean time, based on your preliminary game, I made this very rough background frame:
This is only rough, and I'm sure all these details will change as the game develops, but it's a starting point. Perhaps the white parts can change colour depending on which Telebug you're playing as?
I've also drawn some sprites but it's only a suggestion, and still rough.
This is only rough, and I'm sure all these details will change as the game develops, but it's a starting point. Perhaps the white parts can change colour depending on which Telebug you're playing as?
I've also drawn some sprites but it's only a suggestion, and still rough.
- Lee Bee
- Dynamite Dan
- Posts: 1391
- Joined: Sat Nov 16, 2019 11:01 pm
- Location: Devon, England
- Contact:
Re: The Telebugs (title screen + music)
What came to my mind was a forward 'pulse' of energy. Something like this: (I've slowed this down so you can see the frames of animation)
Good question!
If there's possibly going to be another section to the game then the Telebugs would need to land on buildings so they can go inside. Therefore I would prefer that buildings are physical, and they can collide with the side of buildings (maybe explode! lol).
Here's an idea…
Could you put the dark buildings in the background and have less lights. Then have bigger, brighter buildings in the foreground? Maybe even parallax? Something like this?
Note that I made some suggested changes to the graphics, like different stars and clouds. It's all just suggestions!
It would be ideal if the Telebugs could move smoothly (I don't care about colour clash). But if it has to be tile-by-tile then that will do.