Nov. 1st 1986. Do you know why this date means something ?
This was the day that Alex Kidd in Miracle World (and Alex Kidd himself) was unleashed upon the world. Today (Nov. 1st 2011) marks the 25th anniversary of Alex Kidd in Miracle World.
And to celebrate that, i decided to record the entire soundtrack of the game. The result is an EP, called "Giant Fists of Doom", which is avaiable right now, for only 2.99usd.
This was the result of over 2 months of learning, arranging and recording music for the resulting 20 minutes of aural badasscity.
I don't know much what to say about this album, this is truly an effort from me, in order to pay tribute to one of my favorite games of all time, because unlike my other favorite game which is also 25 years old, this one has music that i actually CAN play.
So, here it is, the Youtube trailer for Giant Fists of Doom :
And that's it ? Oh no, the EP features the awesome art of Lee Tatlock, be sure to check his works out. You can go here : http://l-tat.deviantart.com/ to see more of his art. What else can i say ? Well.. i think that's it.
The EP is out, the anniversary is celebrated, so that's it.
Oh yeah, there's my speed run gameplay of Mt. Eternal, after the jump.
Super Racing, is one of the rarest Sega Master System games, but one of the finest 8-bit top-scrolling racing games in existence, it's even better than some more advanced 16-bit games (Aguri Suzuki's came to mind).
Developed by Sega, Super Racing could be the missing link between Monaco GP and Super Monaco GP. It have the same top-down view of the predecessor, but already lives in the F1 universe, like SMGP. Maybe the Super in the name was a redisue from a different naming strategy ? Very little is known about this game, so it's hard to say for sure.
Released for the Sega Master System, in Japan only, not many copies were produced, probably because the developers felt that the lack of license from FOM (FOCA at time) was a deal breaker for most people. For me, it is the charm of the game. Driving a Fellari or Lotas, it's what it was all about back then.
The game supports the somewhat rare (outside of Japan and Europe) SMS Paddle controller, which is a dial controller for the D-Pad. But unlike some games (BMX Alex Kidd), it works flawlessy with regular control pad.
Featuring a bunch of track, none of which resemble their real-life counterparts in almost nothing, and having extra japanese tracks, which i'm guessing are fictional, Super Racing shines in the game engine. Fast paced, but intuitive and very fun to race, unlike many other 8-bit racers where you get bored after a race, Super Racing can have you playing the whole championship in one sitting, which is good, because the game features no save system or password system.
I don't know much about this game, but i do know that i love it, and i love the soundtrack, so for me, it's B.G.M mode always, because the Real Mode, just takes the music away for an annoying 8-bit engine sound.
Here's a video of me, playing the first 2 GPs and Practicing at MONAKO (not a typo on my part).
Turmoil, was released almost exactely 29 years ago today. It is a great little gem of the decentely sized Atari 2600 library. It's a VERY simple game, but the simple gameplay leads to hours of fun and replayablity. The graphics are really nice for the system and the controls are tight. It's one of my favorite Atari2600 games, and it isn't on almost anyone's list. Such a shame on them, really.
Still going on with the F-Zero theme. This time we have the lost Mute City from SNES, the Mute City IV, from the BS-F-Zero II for the SatelaVision add-on for the SuperFamicom. This was a Modem-cartridge, released in 1996 that gamers could download modified and exclusive versions of their favorite games, such as this one, the F-Zero II (there were BS-Fzero I too, equal to the one sold on carts), StarFox and Zelda were also slightly modified for the BS release.
Mute City 4 is a different take on Mute City I, and it's a really fun track to race.
I love F-Zero, it's one of the few games in my small SNES collection that i made a point in getting complete (with box, manual, and all paperlets and everything that comes with it). It's one of those games that i played over and over and over again, always enjoying it to the last bit of it. Amazing Mode-7 graphics, fast paced futuristic sci-fi plot, a racing game, with an absurdely wicked soundtrack. Is one of those things that one can't really not enjoy.
So, since i've been in a SNES kick, i decided to go with my favorite track from the game, Mute City (according to the manual, it was called mutant city. (Which i don't quite believe, since there's another track called Silent), but anyway, it's a great track, and i present it to you, in all 3 versions. Morning : Mute City I Afternoon : Mute City II Evening : Mute City III
Epic shooter, developed by Terry Cavanaught (from VVVVVV fame). Really fun and procedural (each play the enemies comes in different places). So you can't really memorize the games, which adds a lot to the replayability factor. It's really cool, it's free, so what's not to enjoy ?
So, i decided to carry on with that stuff i was working on the last post. I really need to focus however. I'm still working in #AS2 so i need to be focused on that. Instead of looking into #XNA or #Unity stuff.
Anyway, if you know me, you know that i HATE to rewrite code. But this time i am doing this. I was trying to keep the code extra simple, and it worked, up to the point where i want to implement some AI stuff. Now my simple code, is too simple, so i need to re-write in a more "complicated" way, but that will allow me to implement the different behaviours i am looking to implement.
I'm finally understand some stuff, like the .attachMovie property of a empty movie clip.
So i spent some good time last night, trying to make my enemy shoot towards the player. And i came up with this : As you may or not understand it is a simple function to make the enemy lock target into the player, and shoot at him, at a random rate. It adds a nice touch of AI, with only a couple of lines of code. As you can also see, it's line 585, my prediction is 4000 lines. Not bad.
It's been a while since i've done anything that is even remotely mentioning.
Lately i have been more focused into getting things done on work, than taking the time on my free time to expand and build my knowledge. However, i had this cool idea for a little game quite sometime ago, and it's been floating inside my mind for quite a while now. I don't know if i will be able to pull this off, but i think it is worth the shot anyway.
So, i started a new project folder on my desktop. As per last time, i will use Flash and AS2, but i hope this is the last time doing so, as i plan on moving to bigger and better engines afterwards. However, before i lose this idea, i decided to use what i know how to use. So, AS2 it is.
I started the project folder and started to gather the ideas. A simple and elegant way to organize the ideas is a .txt file. There i organize all the assests i might need for the project (sprites, frames of animation, music, etc), code samples and engine ideas, story bits, character names and design ideas. That was about.... 2 weeks ago, i think. Last night, i started the FLA project, and started coding. About.. 400 lines of AS2 later, i have the skeleton done. Nothing fancy yet, need to work on a small sample of the graphics before moving to anything else. This, will be quite a ambicious effort from me, especially since i'll be doing pretty much everything by myself. #foreveralone And i do not have much time to invest into this. There is not set release date, and no information on what it might turn out to be. It's not something THAT revolutionary, but it's something that i couldn't find one with exactly the same concept idea. So, i may have some trouble implementing some of the stuff. Hopefully it won't be too much of a drag. At least i know i like to work on small projects like these. Especially when i learn so much about it. I don't remember much of my geometry classes, so i had to google some radian functions in order to make the player move like i wanted to.
That is out of the way, so, i need to move on the interface, the player needs to be able to control the main character, and that's where this come from :
It's a simple mouse aim and lock system, that can be whipped up in less than 10 minutes, if done right, and not for the first time. I lost a little bit more of time, but it is optimized enough. Even though this is the test code, and the final code won't use the "onEnterFrame" events, since it will be a class, loaded into the main _root.timeline.
Anyway, i may update this with some more information on this project. Or not. I don't know if it will ever leave the project state. Only time will tell.
Lucasarts is the videogame company that belongs to George Lucas, the mastermind behind the #starwars saga. And it's from his company that comes this excellent game, which takes places in the same universe, however the plot starts between episodes III and IV. (And it was released before the Prequels). X-Wing, developed for PC (DOS) systems and released by Lucasarts in 1992, is the first of the Star Wars space simulators. The game is one of the last of what i call "pre-historic 3D", in the same vein as Stunts (which i already covered here) and Out of This World. So, you can't expect mind-blowing graphics in X-Wing, however the team that developed the game, made sure that everything else about it was top-notch, and this attention to detail sure shines in several places in the game.
The games mixes the 3D graphics with bitmap rendering of the ship's cockpit, which is where you'll spend most of your time looking at it. Cleverly rendered MIDI soundtrack and good digital sampled sound effects helps making the immersion into the game even easier, especially with the digitally sampled voices that appears every now and then.
But it is in the simulation aspect, the gameplay, that's where X-Wing really shines. Using the same premisses behind Flight Simulator, you have to learn how to operate one of the 3 starfighters available in the game. X-Wing, Y-Wing and A-Wing, where the X-Wing is the avarage fighter, not as fast as the A-Wing and not as powerful as the Y-Wing. The physics engine of the game is really good, the controls are responsive, and you never feel like you're stuck. With a steady and fluid framerate, X-Wing plays as good as any "real" simulator. I have no idea if flying an X-Wing would be this easy, but the game sure make you feel lost in space sometimes. With huge battlefields, you can easily be REALLY far away from the targets. One downside, to me, is that the controls are exactely the same for all 3 ships. However, they are immersive enough, with you having to control the radars, multi-view displays, power management, shield management, engine thrust, s-foils open or close, and still dogfight your way around the space, battling TIE Fighters, Star Destroyers, and even the infamous Death Star.
With varied and in-depth missions, you may see yourself stuck in situations where blasting everything is not an option, and recognize or just protect ships being the primary goals of several missions. Some missions can take up to 20 minutes, and given the vast sea of stars to travelling in, you will really feel like you are a part of the Rebel Alliance.
One of my favorite aspects of the game, is the interface, the game start with you boarding in the Flagship Independence, and each room there leads to a different aspect of the game, the Pilot Proving Grounds, which is the training facilities, where you can learn in a safe enviroment to control your fighter. The historical missions, where you can relive old battles of the past in the game, and the Tour of Duty, which is similar to a "career mode". The game have 3 Tours, each taking place in a variety of places, such as the space around Tatoonie or Alderaan and some unseen system as the Senex system. With beautiful cutscenes linking each ship or part of the game, you will really feel immersed into the game. Long mission briefings and de-briefs are available, and as the plot unveis itself, you will find right in the middle of classic Star Wars universe battles, including the famous Death Star battle near Yavin.
The game is not easy, however, it is not impossible, especially on the missions where your single objective is survive and kill everything in site. You will fear the Star Destroyers though, as they can make quite a impact on your ship. You have to be careful not to crash on the enemy fighters or even their debris, as you blast them and pieces can harm your ship. With an detailed damage model, you can lose one, some or all your lasers, have your torpedoes bay jammed, radar inoperative, power management fail, shields that stop recharging, engine or hyperdrive failures and lose your R2-D2 unit.
The in-depth of the game, is the best aspect, and as such and common at the time, the game came with a 30 page "Flight Manual", all dressed like an official Rebel Alliance document, with blueprints of the ships, technical data, and how to play and be a better pilot.
This is one of those cases, where you can find yourself lost for our, sailing through the stars of a galaxy far, far away...
The video below shows the intro of the game, and one of the Historical Missions (X-Wing Mission 2 : Wingmen are important).
I did this song for DoD, and despite having to take severe shortcuts due to the limited time to work on it, i am pleased with the result. So i decided to post it here. It's not something i do everyday, but i even included voice clips. And unlike most songs i do, this one doesn't feature in the majority my trusty M2, it's just my old Samick and the power of the Dimarzio HS-2. Great little pickup, sing like a few.
Back to Top