Re: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] Scrolling Platform Games (was: Loki)

[Michael <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

> Just download snes9x and a couple of roms.  The emulator is nearly perfect.  
> It should be playable on pretty much anything above a P-100.

Actually Jenni may have a SNES in our storage somewhere but it'd probably
be easier/cheaper to buy a new one than go all the way to Columbia. I
never had my own NES/SNES during that time period so it pleases me to hook
such things up now that I can afford them. ;)

> You could do something like this in Mario 3 on the Nintendo.  It was pretty 
> cool - if you crouched in one particular spot for long enough, you could run 
> to the end of the level behind the scenery bypassing all the enemies.

Now that you mention it I sorta kinda remember that. Maybe that's where I
got the idea. I was also considering including an optional feature to
include maps between levels in the way some of the Mario games did. To me
that seems more interesting than just fading from one level to the next.

> And also the fact that it is very difficult to develop 3D engines.  It 
> becomes almost like making movies - lots of money and very talented 
> programmers are needed to create just the engine, and the gameplay does not 
> receive nearly as much attention.  Games which try to focus on gameplay are 
> either released half-baked or become vaporware (like Duke Nukem Forever).

Are they really that more difficult than the scrolling platforms were to
write at that time? 3D engines are pretty well understood concepts now
days and the hardware is largely abstracted so that most game designers no
longer even have to do much in the way of cool hacks to get the needed
features. Hell they don't even do much that's interesting with the
engines. Platform games etc had interesting concepts like areas that had
different gravitational rules, mirror worlds, etc. I've seen few such
features yet translated to 3D shooters. Hell I'd love to see Commander
Keen 3D. That pogo stick would be pretty cool in 3D I think. They said
that CK3D was being worked on so maybe I'll get to see it yet. :)

> Black and White was pretty good, but there are very few games of this
> kind.

I find it odd that experienced gamers don't try games such as this more
and when they do they don't play long enough to really grasp it. Myself I
long ago got bored of running around just shooting bad guys. At least
games like Final Fantasy and Civ are pretty flexible in what you can do
even if the basic design is fairly canned.

> Yep.  I agree.  I loved the old Epic stuff.  Does anyone else remember
> Captain Comic, by the way?  That was an awesome game.  Also stuff like
> Prince of Persia or the shareware stuff like Commander Keen or the
> Epic adventures.  I also liked Jazz Jackrabbit.  Finally, there was an
> awesome viking game (The Lost Vikings, I think), which had really neat
> gameplay (there are 3 different vikings which can do different things,
> and you take turns controlling them).  Heck, you want to do a remake
> of that game?  It had some really neat strategy elements that you
> don't normally find in that type of games.

Captain Comic, Jill of the Jungle, etc. I do think Jazz Jackrabbit was one
of the coolest games ever made and I absolutely loved the Christmas
expansion they gave away. I think that was some of the most fun I've had
with a game.

I want to create a generic engine first before working on any specific
games but if there were special features in that game it might be good to
list them so I'll remember to include them.

I was considering a Jazz Jackrabbit sort of game about an ongoing joke I
have online with some friends.. where one Bunny is a James Bond type 
secret agent and another is a Bunny modeled after Q. I was thinking of
having it so in single player games the player could pick which they
wanted to be or trade off or on multi-player games each would be played by
one of the players. With the energy and fun of Jazz mixed with some secret
agent jokes. Sort of Austin Powers with Bunnies. ;)

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