Arc of valtana 8-bit wars [code a game competition 8]

[MrmediamanX]

Title: Arc of valtana.
8bit System: Commodore64
Tools: Blitz3d,Fragmotion,paint.net,MS paint,SpritePad,Beepbox.
EXTRAS: NONE
Platform:windows
LINK: https://mrmediamanx.itch.io/arc-of-valtana

Controls:
MOVE:A,D
BLOCK: S
ATTACK/FIRE 1: E
JUMP/FIRE 2: SPACEBAR
ENTER_DOOR: W
AT THE MAIN MENU PRESS [F1] TO RECONFIGURE KEY BINDINGS.

;--------------------------------------;
STORY
;--------------------------------------;
While at a local Xerra's Tavern, our hero Valtana is celebrating another well deserved victory with only
the finest of ale's ... till a hooded stranger whispers with a light tone well passing by ...
"you the great knight, the proud warrior, the stoic fighter,the cunning elf"
... "only you can take on such a monumental task of this undertaking" ...
just as the stranger leaves she turn's back to Valtana making eye contact and
whispers ... "come find me if you are willing to heed my call"...."i'll be waiting for you brave elf ... Valtana".

Far to drunk to proceed Valtana retires at a local inn. upon waking he remembers though vaguely of the
stranger from the night before.
"who was that girl from last night" he ponders ...
"wait I recall her saying something about a job maybe?"
"out of the frying pan into the fire so to speak"... he states with such enthusiasm.
With a new found vigour and energy, he proceeds to seek her out and gather the information
needed for his new quest.
and so the Arc of Valtana's story begin's.
;--------------------------------------;
The game will be a 2d adventure/rpg-ish platformer with action elements similar to wonder boy in monsterland/dragons trap.
The chosen 8bit system im rolling with is the commodore 64 due to familiarity.
;--------------------------------------;
Dev Changes:
*Cheat passwords are now located in hidden doors within each level ... always on a flat surface but may require jumping.
*2 Endings.
*Title screen redone/simplified to fit the C64 theme.
;--------------------------------------;

[Matty]

I like the look of this..might be one I'd play even though I'm not entering the comp.

[MrmediamanX]

Currently reworking all current sprites to fit with in the sprite 4 color limit.
I'll be adding a [PC mode] which has the game running at 35-ish fps as opposed to the default [C64 mode] which run's at around 20 to 25-ish FPS, along with that i'll be adding a password screen to keep in theme with old skool ness-ness, so no saving unfortunately.
If I have enough time I'll also add high color sprite's for the [PC mode] as the game's total size is a minor 2.4MB with everything in it optimized to hell and back ... thank goodness for low bit rate audio and tiny sprite sheets.

most of the core stuff is done, just needing to do a bit of R&D[research and development]
here's a few extra art bits from the current state of progress.

[MrmediamanX]

finally got around to adding the title,shop and password screens. I've added a few cheat password's which will be located on scrolls hidden about the level.

next up is the actual story and music theme's. so far I've done 2 track's using a single channel method for the limited tech feel.
the other 2 channels are used for sounds in some case's cut each other out if the play back exceeds 3 sfx playing at once.

[Xerra]

Sounds like you're almost finished already! You've still got 8 weeks, right?

I was going to question the colours being from the base palette only as the images look so good but, on close inspection, I need to just be quiet, as it just looks like it can't be only 16 colours. Well done.

[MrmediamanX]

Sounds like you're almost finished already! You've still got 8 weeks, right?

I was going to question the colours being from the base palette only as the images look so good but, on close inspection, I need to just be quiet, as it just looks like it can't be only 16 colours. Well done.

Thanks man, just as we speak i've added the rest of the shops and characters,sorted out the story,added a few extra enemies and bosses,built 10 area's, going for 15 in total ... 20 if i'm lucky,composed the shop/dungeon/castle/ending themes, tweaked a lot of the older sprite work .... i'm pretty sure i'm missing something.

The first screen shot used a test high color place holder palette replaced in the latter screen.
Hey if it's cool would it be ok to cameo you as one of the shop owners? ... most likely the alcohol shop.

Totally true, my work flow and pipeline are all sorts of OCD level's of organised.   

[Xerra]

Hey if it's cool would it be ok to camio you as one of the shop owners? ... most likely the alcohol shop.

Alcohol shop! FUCK YEAH! Just make sure there's some Carlsberg cans in the picture :-)

[MrmediamanX]

Done-skee ... I went with the splash screen method which can utilize more then 4 color's just to add detail.
pixels may be a little off.

[Derron]

slash screen method?

So you mean you draw two images - one a bit offset to the other resulting in more colors?
For now it looks as if you pasted different "styles" (2px-wide and 1px-wide) sprites (bricks vs vendor/cans).


Vendor dude looks trustworthy - would by any "X" labeled bottle from him ;-)

bye
Ron

[MrmediamanX]

slash screen method?

So you mean you draw two images - one a bit offset to the other resulting in more colors?
For now it looks as if you pasted different "styles" (2px-wide and 1px-wide) sprites (bricks vs vendor/cans).


Vendor dude looks trustworthy - would by any "X" labeled bottle from him ;-)

more or less ... just multi layered ... akin to the usual C64 demo scene art.

Sprite pad+ is all sort's of finicky ... I'll still need go through some of the sprite work, I think i'll just use MS paint,less hassle.
SP+ either half size's or not depending on the quantity of sprites drawn....squashing em basically for some weird reason.

...Yep,the X refers Xerra's beer and brew label.   

[Xerra]

Done-skee ... I went with the slash screen method which can utilize more that 4 color's just to add detail.
pixels may be a little off.

I love it :-)

[3DzForMe]

Alcohol shop! FUCK YEAH! Just make sure there's some Carlsberg cans in the picture :-)

Get some HobGoblin in and I'll visit the booze shoppe

[MrmediamanX]

Reworked a few things, weapons and shields have degradation now due to each one having a perk applied to it.
example:
The steel sword increase's attack to OP standards, while the steel shield defects enemy shots.
The gold sword cause's coin drop when attacking an enemy, while the gold shield cause coin drop for blocking an enemy shot.
The green sword allows for player projectiles, while the green shield blocks and also shoots projectiles.
The Blue sword will either shoot a blue projectile which will seek out and collect hidden gold or act as a clear screen attack, while the blue Shield will show all hidden gold within the screen while blocking and maybe refill health for each enemy shot that's blocked. 
all weapons revert back to the default bronze[looks like wood] sword and shield once depleted. 

The X bottle also acts as an extra life ... limited only to 1, but auto refills health to max upon "technical" death. preventing the player from returning to the check point and losing gold in the process.

Iv'e actually got nothing to do now, so i'm just tweaking things until go time.

[Qube]

Looking great

[MrmediamanX]

Looking great

Thanks man ... hopefully the colors are ok, it's the only thing I keep racking my brain on to "insane" degrees.
It just looks to colorful for what it should look like, even though the sprite's use 4 colors and your c64 pallet.
unless I cut the colors down to 2 or 3 per sprite or something ... it'll be a ton of work, which I think I don't have time for.