I Can Make That

Solar2D General Questions/Discussion
#1

I am considering making a video series examining how to replicate old-school game mechanics using modern game engines and SDKs (like Corona).

  1. Can you name that mechanic?

  2. Do you think it would be fun to do this and would you support such an effort?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pFgyCo_6ZA8&feature=youtu.be

#2

  1. “path following”

  2. yes and yes

#3

absolutely  :slight_smile:

#4

Fantastic idea:) 

  1. Yes:) 
#5

Nice effort to show what Corona is capable of.

#6

yes

#7

@Horacebury and @everyone,

What classic arcade game uses path following as shown? 

It is a frequently requested ‘how do I make it’ question.

Tip: The enemies move this way.

#8

@roaming. I am old enough to have played this game when it originally came out.

I know they use to dive in Galaxian what I don’t remember is if they use to circle in during Galaxian or the sequel Galaga. Since you are probably younger than me, I think you are probably referring to the sequel: Galaga.

#9

the pattern is reminiscent of galaga, though not how galaga would have done it - galaga was pattern-driven, very little cpu or memory needed.

fe, imagine as a starting point a “pattern language” (think: turtle graphics) where:

L means turn left by 1/32 full rotation

R means turn right by 1/32 full rotation

F means move forward at given speed

assume that multiple opcodes can be packed into a single per-frame command (comma separates them below)

then a “bump out to the right, then descend with a loop, then continue off left” might look roughly like

– go right and forward until facing downward-left

RF,RF,RF,RF,RF,

– continue down downward-left a bit

F,F,F,F,F,F,

– do a full turn-right tight (double turn speed) loop

RRF, (x16)

– again facing down-left, run last command til off screen

F,

same “script” could then be repurposed as mirrored left-hand variant with a bit-inversion for the R/L coding.

(btw, i’m not saying that’s exactly how galaga did it, but something along those lines, just fwiw)

#10

Pretty sure R-Type used one like that. 

#11

@davebollinger,

Right now that path is followed via calculations, but your ‘fixed steps’ is something I’m also considering because of the reasons you mentioned:

  • low cpu impact

  • reflection is easy

also, the discrete path approach also enables:

  • weighted addition and subtraction

  • stitching 

  • scaling

The whole thing is actually pretty fascinating to experiment on.

#12

Yes!

#13

@everyone,

This is looking like it will be a go, but before I start, let me get some additional input from you guys.

Initial Plan

I plan to:

  • Handle each topic/mechanic in a series of bite-sized (5-10 min) videos.
  • Provide one or more executable examples demonstrating topics and sub-topics.
  • Provide a final module and/or sample in some form (may cost a few $)
  • Implement as much code as possible w/o using SSK2, but if I need it I’ll use it (especially: extensions, math2d, …).

Initial Mechanics: Three

  • Galaxian/Galaga Style Pathed Enemy-Movement - Definite and what the video (above) shows.
  • Space Invaders Side-to-Side S-Enemy Movement - Pretty sure unless you guys down vote it.
  • ??? - Help me choose this.

After doing three topics, I’ll evaluate the series and see where it should go from there.

Need Your Input

I need your input on selecting the third mechanic.  It can be any game mechanic as long as it meets these criteria.

  • Must be classic arcade game enemy or player or weapon movement mechanic.
  • There must exist at least one YouTube video of the game and mechanic in action.
  • It SHOULD be well known.  

To help your brainstorming, here are some ideas the come to mind:

#14

I think to be scalable/portable then a mini-scripting language (as Dave hinted at) would be the way forward - nice and lite.

This covers most retro game types in an easy to script format.

I can see mileage in the following plugin…

local alien = plugin.init(x,y) -- WHERE TO SPAWN alien.frame = 300 -- MS BETWEEN ANIMATIONS alien.path = "FFRRFFLLFFRRFFRR" -- PATTERN alien.delay= 1000 -- SPAWN DELAY etc...
#15

I actually used to have a module in SSK that did something like that.

I’ll dig it up and add it to the discussion/series.

#16

How about combining the first example(enemy movement) with the player movement from Volfied(to make Volfied :slight_smile: )?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxuMVqkLD7o

#17

This is an excellent idea!

I am looking forward to the videos.

For the third topic, I have a few ideas:

  1. Pacman maze traversal

  2. Asteroids ship movement and firing

  3. Dig Dug

  4. A Crazy one would be NES Pro Wrestling (getting two characters to interact). Maybe your grand finale lol 

I also vote for the Centipede and Lode Runner suggestions

This could be a fantastic series and I for one would be more than happy to pay a few $ for the final module/sample to help fund this!

#18

  1. “path following”

  2. yes and yes

#19

absolutely  :slight_smile:

#20

Fantastic idea:) 

  1. Yes:)