haroldo-ok I wanted to let you know that part 1 of our series on this fantastic tool is uploading right now. It will end up being a 4 or 5 part series.
also do you have plans for variables being able to be a visible score? i thought of a solution but the score breaks when a score is set to a variables amount
Hello there. It's been awhile. Anyway, thanks for favoriting my game. It is quite a start. Anyway, I came by to see you'll come back to this project again after a while. I've been following this project on-and-off and I think it could be possible to see through it to the end.
As a temporary workaround, refreshing the page (generally the F5 key) should force the components to update their internal state, but that's not ideal.
Hi, is there any possibility in this engine to make player 1 chase player 0? I have some good ideas for the game, but I don't know how to implement them without this feature.
Thank you so much! It seems I managed to do it—the character now follows the player. I think I’ll slowly learn your engine to make some weird little game in my free time. I believe working on an Atari-style game will help me take a break from my main project, which I’m working on daily to meet the release deadline. So this’ll be my small hobby for the next few weeks.
Love this so much, I do GB/C development so seeing Atari get some love is so nice. I wanted to check, is there a Discord or forum where people have gathered around this?
Gotcha gotcha! I wanted to check, a lot of the gb studios community is built around it so it might not be a bad idea as development gets further along!
Will there be a way to shift the pixels of a sprite off by a certain amount. As I'd like to further multiplex the way sprites can be manipulated on a horizontal scanline. And with the ability to increase the height. The possibilities could be astounding if pushed further.
Of course take your time and thank you for everything you have done. Once I'm finished with Eternal Memory I'll begin to use this next and create something to showcase the power of this awesome software.
Hello again! Well, at the moment, it's only capable of doing what bBasic's standard kernel can do, so, unfortunately, it probably won't be capable of shifting the pixels per scanline. It doesn't seem that the DPC+ kernel isn't capable of each, either.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see what awesome game you will do next. 😉 Please, keep us updated!
Will do and hey even if we don't have the ability to shift the sprites. The increased sprites height is more than enough for me to do some crazy stuff.
Converting arbitrary source code back into blocks would be notoriously difficult, but creating full screen modes for the background editor would be doable.
Suggestion: Multicolored sprites. I've noticed a lot of home-brew and some Atari 2600 games that have multicolored sprites. Like each line of the character is a different color. Example:
Notice how each line is a different color in the sprite. Maybe to import this function, there could be:
Nice, thanks! Also found another issue. I was trying to make my new game (GD2600, essentially a port of GD for the VCS) and sometimes when I just moved around the <div> placing block board, the sprites' frames were reset to default and the backgrounds auto-deleted themselves, only remaining the default background. But the code (thankfully) didn't get deleted along with everything else. But I think you should also fix this issue.
Version 0.32.1 fixes a bug where sprite/background edits where being lost if the user changed pages a fraction of a second after editing a sprite or a background.
I am writing some texts about Blockly coding and i am taking your work as one of the examples. If you like i will share the text with you. The text speak about how the blockly appears to boost the development. The text are made for a course for App Inventor and describe how the blockly works. I have here my own account. Please write me if you can.
When i end the texts I promise to send you a copy. In this texts i am trying to develop the idea of coding with blocks in ANY SYSTEM. There are blockly for Java, Python, Lua, Flutter, Micropython, also there are a lot of game engines using this "technique" as Stencil, GameMaker, Godot, etc... And YOU are in this groups. The idea of using blocks it's a great idea, giving the posibility to the people TO THINK in the code, more than (if i make a mistake in the sintaxis? where is the error... i cannot find the error!.
That's the idea.
When i end the text, I promise to send you the pdf and the ppt of the class. (I am Teacher/Developer and.... Geologist too, and many other things too like 8bit computer collector) --->a little bit of everything.
By the way, i am ZX Spectrum programmer, and i have the dream to see the blockly mode into an engine for create ZX Spectrum games.
IF YOU CAN.... THIS COULD BE A GREAT IDEA FOR MAKE A NEW ENGINE FOR DEVELOPING GAMES FOR ZX SPECTRUM. Write me if i can collaborate with the project. (i have several ZX Spectrums) CZ Spectrum 48k, Sinclair Spectrum 2000, TK85 (Microdigital). ----> I have many other 8bits computers too, but is not important. Again. Thank you for replying and let me know IF YOU REALLY PLAN TO DO IT, I PROMISE TO HELP IN ANY OF MY POSIBILITIES. (Sorry for my english, i am Spanish talker).
hi how to create a seperate "title screen"/game over screen? I see on collide it can go there but not sure how to make one.. is it a special type o background??
Hello! On the "Event" section, there are the "Change state" and "On ..." components; in order to call the gameover screen, you would change the state to "Game over", and then, thenengine will fire the "Gameover start" event, then start loopi g the "Game over update" event
i was making my game and I placed an empty () x () math block to make a sprite's speed go negative. when I placed the block, the program completely crashed, and I am now not able to use it :< maybe try making so that the emulator only runs when it is told to, not when it detects any sort of click or change
ok, thanks! also, seems that because i left the tool alone for a while after crashing, it deleted the entire code. i think you should keep that in, but maybe make so that when you open the tool it will make a backup file, make you download your old progress without the () x () or a block that potentially crash the tool, and then you can resume from there. Maybe there could also be a detector for potential crashes that won't run the project but gives the person a warning.
Yes, you have to set width and height for the ball, and then control its X/Y positions to make it move around. One of the examples shows how to bounce a ball around.
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haroldo-ok
I wanted to let you know that part 1 of our series on this fantastic tool is uploading right now. It will end up being a 4 or 5 part series.
Awesome video, many thanks! 😃
Can you add more buttons into the input feature like the turbo fire, reset game, and game select
Yes, support for the console switches is planned for the future:
https://github.com/haroldo-ok/vcs-game-maker/issues/8
do you have a date for the add ins? this gives no information at all
Sorry, no deadlines predicted. 😁
also do you have plans for variables being able to be a visible score? i thought of a solution but the score breaks when a score is set to a variables amount
Currently, it's using Batari Basic's own built-in score feature.
One thing that would be very cool and helpful would be to be able to add text labels to the workspace in actions so one can label blocks of code.
How easy would it be to have a random number? I'd like to set up random movement for Player 1. I want to try and have him move and shoot at random.
Ah. never mind. I found the random number under Input. Time to experiment.
Hello, dude! I was curious to make Atari games like this!
It will be so cool if this is available on MacOS too!
Thanks! The browser-based version should work on MacOS, though I haven't tested that.
Try clicking on the "Run tool" button, to see how it goes:
https://haroldo-ok.itch.io/vcs-game-maker
Hello there. It's been awhile. Anyway, thanks for favoriting my game. It is quite a start. Anyway, I came by to see you'll come back to this project again after a while. I've been following this project on-and-off and I think it could be possible to see through it to the end.
By the way, have you checked out Dasher on the AtariAge forums? If not, then here. Enjoy. <3
Nice project!
Yeah, but I'm here to talk about your VCS Game Maker project. It's been a couple weeks since the last update
My car game is mediocre compared to Maximus' "Dasher" anyway.
I seem to be having an issue where the Background blocks wont let me select a different background. Am I missing something?
Sometimes, there are some pending bugs where updating something in one screen do not always immediately update on another:
This bug is similar, but not the same: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/vcs-game-maker/issues/17
I opened an issue for this specific bug: https://github.com/haroldo-ok/vcs-game-maker/issues/143
As a temporary workaround, refreshing the page (generally the F5 key) should force the components to update their internal state, but that's not ideal.
This is amazing. I'm enjoying playing with it. I do some retro game dev. I'd love to do a video of this for our youtube if you'd be ok with that.
Yes, that would be awesome! 😁
haroldo how do you put music sounds into the maker and make it a music, there’s no wait button :(
(btw I’m not in github)
Hello, for now there's no support for music, but it should be implemented in the future:
https://github.com/haroldo-ok/vcs-game-maker/issues/46
Hi, is there any possibility in this engine to make player 1 chase player 0? I have some good ideas for the game, but I don't know how to implement them without this feature.
Hello.
Yes, it's possible with the existing blocks:
Thank you so much! It seems I managed to do it—the character now follows the player. I think I’ll slowly learn your engine to make some weird little game in my free time. I believe working on an Atari-style game will help me take a break from my main project, which I’m working on daily to meet the release deadline. So this’ll be my small hobby for the next few weeks.
Nice! I hope the tool proves useful.
You know what would be cool? That the second player doesn't have to be there automatically and a button to make a new project.
Good Ideas! I opened issues on the project page to remind me later:
But do keep in mind, that on the Atari 2600, the second player is often used as an enemy.
The download version is only 0.30.0 Can you please make the 0.32.1 version downloadable?
Okay, I will generate a new downloadable distribution later.
OK, created Win32 distribution for version 0.32.1:
https://haroldo-ok.itch.io/vcs-game-maker/devlog/945779/created-windows-distribu...
Awesome thanks
You're welcome.
Love this so much, I do GB/C development so seeing Atari get some love is so nice. I wanted to check, is there a Discord or forum where people have gathered around this?
It's always cool to meet other retrodev enthusiasts! 😉
Well, the closest thing would be the AtariAge forums:
https://forums.atariage.com/topic/323059-vcs-game-maker-generate-bbasic-code-with-a-visual-tool/page/5/
Gotcha gotcha! I wanted to check, a lot of the gb studios community is built around it so it might not be a bad idea as development gets further along!
keep on crushing it <3
Thanks! 😉
What if you add TIA Tracker for the music to give a background music for it.
We need a music for it!
Yes, that's kinda planned for the future:
https://github.com/haroldo-ok/vcs-game-maker/issues/65
YEAAAAA
Will there be a way to shift the pixels of a sprite off by a certain amount. As I'd like to further multiplex the way sprites can be manipulated on a horizontal scanline. And with the ability to increase the height. The possibilities could be astounding if pushed further.
Of course take your time and thank you for everything you have done. Once I'm finished with Eternal Memory I'll begin to use this next and create something to showcase the power of this awesome software.
Hello again! Well, at the moment, it's only capable of doing what bBasic's standard kernel can do, so, unfortunately, it probably won't be capable of shifting the pixels per scanline. It doesn't seem that the DPC+ kernel isn't capable of each, either.
Anyway, it will be interesting to see what awesome game you will do next. 😉
Please, keep us updated!
Will do and hey even if we don't have the ability to shift the sprites. The increased sprites height is more than enough for me to do some crazy stuff.
Sorry for snail salt comment i made a few months back
Yes, it's royalty-free! 🙂
i can publish game?
Yes, you can, it's royalty-free. 🙂
i have idea, make it so you can switch from block editing to text editing, and why dosent the background editor take up the whole screen?
Hello,
Converting arbitrary source code back into blocks would be notoriously difficult, but creating full screen modes for the background editor would be doable.
https://github.com/haroldo-ok/vcs-game-maker/issues/136
pretty dang good 2600 game maker, I wish there was a hexadecimal like famitracker music maker.
Thanks; that's kinda planned for future implementation:
https://github.com/haroldo-ok/vcs-game-maker/issues/65
Suggestion: Multicolored sprites. I've noticed a lot of home-brew and some Atari 2600 games that have multicolored sprites. Like each line of the character is a different color. Example:
Notice how each line is a different color in the sprite. Maybe to import this function, there could be:
Yeah, when DPC+ support gets implemented, it will have support for multicolored sprites
Nice, thanks! Also found another issue. I was trying to make my new game (GD2600, essentially a port of GD for the VCS) and sometimes when I just moved around the <div> placing block board, the sprites' frames were reset to default and the backgrounds auto-deleted themselves, only remaining the default background. But the code (thankfully) didn't get deleted along with everything else. But I think you should also fix this issue.
Thanks for the bug report.
Okay, I opened the issue to look on that later:
https://github.com/haroldo-ok/vcs-game-maker/issues/135
Okay, one more bug squashed.
Version 0.32.1 fixes a bug where sprite/background edits where being lost if the user changed pages a fraction of a second after editing a sprite or a background.
So this is essentially like Scratch?
Its not the same thing, but it has similarities
Hello Haroldo.
I am writing some texts about Blockly coding and i am taking your work as one of the examples. If you like i will share the text with you. The text speak about how the blockly appears to boost the development. The text are made for a course for App Inventor and describe how the blockly works. I have here my own account. Please write me if you can.
Seems like an interesting idea! Please, go ahead! 😉
Thank you Haroldo-ok for the quick reply.
When i end the texts I promise to send you a copy. In this texts i am trying to develop the idea of coding with blocks in ANY SYSTEM. There are blockly for Java, Python, Lua, Flutter, Micropython, also there are a lot of game engines using this "technique" as Stencil, GameMaker, Godot, etc... And YOU are in this groups. The idea of using blocks it's a great idea, giving the posibility to the people TO THINK in the code, more than (if i make a mistake in the sintaxis? where is the error... i cannot find the error!.
That's the idea.
When i end the text, I promise to send you the pdf and the ppt of the class. (I am Teacher/Developer and.... Geologist too, and many other things too like 8bit computer collector) --->a little bit of everything.
By the way, i am ZX Spectrum programmer, and i have the dream to see the blockly mode into an engine for create ZX Spectrum games.
Again, Thank you for replying so soon.
Many thanks! Sounds like a cool idea! 😉
BTW, there are a few block-based programming languages that generate C code; they could be adapted to support the ZX Spectrum
HAROLDO! I AM YOUR FAN NOW!.
IF YOU CAN.... THIS COULD BE A GREAT IDEA FOR MAKE A NEW ENGINE FOR DEVELOPING GAMES FOR ZX SPECTRUM. Write me if i can collaborate with the project. (i have several ZX Spectrums) CZ Spectrum 48k, Sinclair Spectrum 2000, TK85 (Microdigital). ----> I have many other 8bits computers too, but is not important. Again. Thank you for replying and let me know IF YOU REALLY PLAN TO DO IT, I PROMISE TO HELP IN ANY OF MY POSIBILITIES. (Sorry for my english, i am Spanish talker).
Thanks! I'll take the offer into consideration! 👍
Finna
hi how to create a seperate "title screen"/game over screen? I see on collide it can go there but not sure how to make one.. is it a special type o background??
Hello! On the "Event" section, there are the "Change state" and "On ..." components; in order to call the gameover screen, you would change the state to "Game over", and then, thenengine will fire the "Gameover start" event, then start loopi g the "Game over update" event
Here's a more elaborate example. where the game starts on a title screen, until you press a button:
Event.example.vcsgm.zip
thank you that will help!
i was making my game and I placed an empty () x () math block to make a sprite's speed go negative. when I placed the block, the program completely crashed, and I am now not able to use it :< maybe try making so that the emulator only runs when it is told to, not when it detects any sort of click or change
Okay, I opened two issues to look at that later:
https://github.com/haroldo-ok/vcs-game-maker/issues/132
https://github.com/haroldo-ok/vcs-game-maker/issues/133
ok, thanks! also, seems that because i left the tool alone for a while after crashing, it deleted the entire code. i think you should keep that in, but maybe make so that when you open the tool it will make a backup file, make you download your old progress without the () x () or a block that potentially crash the tool, and then you can resume from there. Maybe there could also be a detector for potential crashes that won't run the project but gives the person a warning.
this is so cool! but I have an idea for the Event category:
And what if, in the background category, there was:
And my last idea, for the sprites category:
If possible, could you add these? Thanks ^_^
Nice ideas 😉
how dose the ball function work? i am trying to make a sprite into a ball so it can bounce around the screen is it possible?
Yes, you have to set width and height for the ball, and then control its X/Y positions to make it move around. One of the examples shows how to bounce a ball around.