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

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Controlling an LED from a Raspberry Pi

Whilst fleshing out ideas for my new ZX Spectrum game, I’ve also found some time to work with my Raspberry Pi. A while ago I bought a breakout board kit for the Pi. This was easily constructed so I needed to then test it. The board connects via the i2c bus and exposes several ports that can be used as inputs or outputs. The controller chip only costs about a £1 so if things went wrong it is a lot cheaper to buy a new chip than it is a new Pi. By default the Pi has the i2c support turned off. This can be enabled by commenting out the i2c line in the blacklist file. A few supporting files need to be download and then it’s ready to work. I adapted some Python code and wired up a LED and resistor to my breadboard. I could then switch the LED on and off from the command line. This isn’t exactly rocket science but it proves that everything is installed correctly and I that can still solder properly. The next step is to look at controlling my amateur radio kit remotely. Here are some pictures of the board and a screen shot of the Python program. I am still using VNC to connect to the Pi so I can program from the comfort of my lounge.