Iron Sphere Mapping Tool

Here is a screen shot of the mapping tool I wrote in C#. It converted the data file from the Z80 version of the game. Now it saves the data as a json file which is easily read in by the Python code.

Iron Sphere for the PC ?

Here is my first blog post of 2016. I had planned to spend the year playing games rather than writing them. Of course that was never going to happen but for a change it's not a ZX Spectrum game. Well it's not written in Z80. As I decided to learn Python, what better way than by writing a game using it? But what to write? It didn't take long for me to decide to rewrite one of my early games, Iron Sphere. Where as the original was a flip screen game, my PC version would be a fully scrolling game. I extracted the original game data and converted it in to a json file. This is loaded in to the game along with other data files that describe the graphics and their functionality. This makes the game very data driven and should allow modifications to be made without the need for code changes. When this is finished, I may well rewrite it again using Unity (the game engine not the dependency injection framework). Here is a screenshot of the game. I'll upload a short video at some point to show the movement.

 

 

Free Download of the Infeasible Game

The Infeasible Game can be downloaded here: One Drive

 

Run this on a ZX Spectrum emulator set to emulate a 128k version for in-game music. It's free so why wait.

The Infeasible Game - Ready for release.

My new ZX Spectrum game is now ready and is shared on the internet. I have only given the details to Cronosoft for the moment. This will be a free download for everyone to enjoy. I had planned to release it almost a year ago for Christmas 2014. As always, things didn't go to plan and then I moved house. After dealing with a few bugs it is now in a state where I am happy to let the public play it. As far as I can tell there are no show-stopper bugs but if any get reported I'll update the game on the share. Keep watching for more news soon.

The Infeasible Game - Level editor

Here is a picture of the tool I use to create the levels. I produced it quickly so the tiles on the main grid are letters rather than the actual tile images. If I can be bothered I'll fix this but at the moment the tool is fine for creating and editing the levels.

The level data is output in a format I can past into my assembler. One byte is used for each tile. This byte holds the type of tile, its vertical position and whether there are other tiles in the same column. It also holds some other details that I'll be keeping to myself :)

The tool is a winform application written using C#.

The infeasible game - new for 2015

I've almost finished another game for the ZX Spectrum. This will be two games in twelve months. A first for me. It is based on "The Impossible Game" which can be played on mobile devices and PC. I decided the Spectrum needed a version so I created "The Infeasible Game". Here is a short video taken from the first level (the easy bit). It is also running at "easy" speed. Give it a go on infeasible speed if you want a challenge.

 

 

ShapeShifter now available to buy

ShapeShifter is now available to buy from Cronosoft: http://cronosoft.orgfree.com/ I received my copy a few days ago and will be adding it to my growing collection. If you want to try before you buy there is a playable demo here: http://1drv.ms/UIuGYo

 

 

ShapeShifter Demo Available

A demo of my new puzzle game, called ShapeShifter, is now available for the ZX Spectrum. The full game will be available to buy from Cronosoft this summer. The demo release has eight puzzles to complete. The full game has one hundred. The demo is a tap file and should run on most Spectrum emulators running in 48k mode. It may work in other modes but I have not tested these. The file can be downloaded from here: http://1drv.ms/UIuGYo

Here is my new Spectrum game

Here is a screen dump of my new ZX Spectrum game. A demo will be available in a week or so and the full game will be sold through the Cronosoft website. I'll be posting a short video soon, so keep watching.

New touchscreen monitor

Just what every office needs. A new touchscreen monitor is being lifted into position. Thought at one point we were going to run out of staff to lift the beast.

Another tool to help make my new Spectrum game

My game development is progressing well, with the “TODO” list quickly getting smaller. I have one important function to write that I know will take some time. For now I have put that to one side and concentrated on getting the rest of the game finished. One feature of the game is the various text messages that need to be shown between levels etc. As I am using a cut down list of characters it was easier to create a tool to convert them. It was about an hour’s work to create the conversion tool shown below. It has a few more features than are really needed but it seemed like a good time to add them. No need to get out the calculator to work out the screen and attribute addresses. In the next few days I will pass the game to my tester. I can then start on the last big function and look to fix and bugs the appear during testing. The final chunk of work will just be the polishing and the replacement of the placeholder graphics.

Updating the tool for my games levels

I found some time to update the program that I will use to design my game levels. I fixed a few small bugs and added some new features. The status bar now shows the currently selected shape name and the total number of shapes used. I have also added a print option that will print a giant map of all the levels defined in a text file. I have expanded the raw data comment so that the grid can be resized and redrawn if I need to edit a previous design. Once all the levels have been added to a text file, it is loaded and the levels spread out in a user defined grid pattern. This is then saved as a bitmap. As far as I can tell, this application now does everything I need it to do. I’ll start designing some easy levels to start with and then some more difficult ones. Here is an image of the latest application.

Tooling for my new Spectrum game

My Spectrum game is coming along nicely but I have got to a point where I need to start adding levels. I needed a tool to help me create the standing data so I spent a few hours with Visual Studio writing an application in c#. Nothing over the top, just a couple of grid views and minimal code. It actually works rather well allowing me to build up a level and then creating the data statements ready to past straight into the TommyGun IDE. Here is a picture of the latest version of the tool. Having used it a bit I realised I need to add a couple of other features. I am also working on a separate class for the tool that will take all the level data and create one huge bitmap image of all the levels. I can now create some test levels and concentrate on writing the next chunk of Z80.

My new office

One of the causes of delay in writing my game is due to moving offices. I used to spend my lunch breaks working on the code but the last few weeks have been spend packing the company into boxes. But that is now over and I’m working in a nice new office overlooking Stansted Airport. Great if you want to watch aircraft land and take off all day but crap if you want to go for a walk and not breath in kerosene. Here are a couple of pictures of where I work and the view from the window.

 

The airport

 

My desk

 

Update on my new Spectrum game

Development of my new Spectrum game is going well. I am developing the code in small manageable sections and so far I’ve not had any problems. The next thing to do is work on the collision detection followed by some code to reposition dropped shapes. I am nearly in a position where I will need to create an editor to design around 100 screens. I had hoped to get the game out for Christmas but various things have got in the way so it should be ready in the first quarter of 2014. For now, here is a screen shot of the game. Can you tell what type of game it’ll be? The area to the left and bottom of the screen will contain the score and other in-game info. I’m looking for some help in this area. If you are interested in designing some Spectrum graphics then let me know.

Work started on my next Spectrum game

After a brief blood test followed by the unbelievable pain of removing the associated plaster, it’s time to enjoy my day off. What better way to while away the hours than listening to Absolute 80s on DAB whilst programming my next ZX Spectrum game. For this task I’m using the TommyGun IDE, Pasmo assembler and SpecEmu emulator. It’s almost like I had turned the clock back 30 years apart from the lack of blood, greying hair, bills, mortgage….. Oh bugger…..

 

 

Pascal version of Cavern Fighter on the Raspberry PI

After several hours making changes to my original Delphi code, I have now recompiled my Cavern Fighter PC game to run on the Raspberry PI. Using Free Pascal and the Lazarus IDE I finally got it running. At the moment the frame rate is a little slow and it has no sound. I’ll either get the Linux files for Bass or look to use the SDL library to play the background tunes and spot effects. For those who don’t know, I wrote this game back in 2004 for a Retro Game competition. It is based on a ZX Spectrum game of the same name.

 

Here is a picture of it running in the debugger via a VNC link.

 

Here is a picture of the original Spectrum version.

LED Counter in Python on the Pi

Just a quick post to show a video clip of my Raspberry Pi controlling a seven segment LED via the Pi's GPIO port. I plan to extract the code into a reusable library. One possible use will be to display status / error codes whilst controlling other devices. Must stop playing with hardware and get back to the software.

DevWeek 2013

Well it’s that time of year again, they seem to fly by these days. I’ll be off to DevWeek again soon. I’m booked in for the three day’s so looking forward to some interesting sessions. I get to travel into London by train so that’ll give me forty minutes of thinking time for new programming projects. I can finally see some light at the end of the tunnel with all the work I’m doing at home at the moment. In about a month’s time I should be able to concentrate on some game programming. I need to get started with some proof of concept ideas I have for my new Spectrum game. I’ll release more details once I’ve got enough code to produce a video or demo. If anyone reading this is going to DevWeek and wants to talk Z80 then let me know.

From one LED to seven

Another weekend and another hour spent with my Raspberry Pi. After a rummage about in my junk box I located a seven segment LED. Annoyingly the device was too small to span the gap on my breadboard. About ten minutes later I had fabricated a suitable socket. Once the Pi was fired up I wrote a quick bit of Python to check that I could control all the segments. As you can see from the photograph, this was a success. Next Sunday’s coding session will be to allow me to pass in a number via the command line and have the device display the correct number.