The DogCast - NES Homebrew and Game Design: Recent Episodes
Sly Dog Studios
Getting soggy outside and having problems playing modern games in the Bryant household is ranted on a bit, because being soggy is a pain in the rear. The minigames for Black Box Challenge are talked about, and the last level music from Sly Dog Studios' previous NES release, The Rise of Amondus, is featured.
Over the weekend we went and had some oriental grub, and also ordered a Fat Albert DVD set that I just got in the mail. Dev talk is centered around the Y*width+x formula that I finally learned how to utilize thanks to people at #nesdev, which will make it possible to make larger levels in games.
I talk about how tough it has been lately to find time to record The DogCast with no one else around; mainly the kiddos. There is a bit of remakes of games talk, including the likes of Bionic Commando Rearmed and what I have been playing lately, Double Dragon Neon. Buying the Pac-Man game that is dubbed 'something something' DX is talked about, and there is a visit from the conscience angels Dan and Dan-O. Dev news doesn't include anything NES related, but a bit of discussion about the new site redesign and why it looks like it does. The tune for today is Happy Go Lucky, which was written while at the site Battle of the Bits.
The first five or so minutes talk about how easy it is to get caught up in the "glory" of being recognized by a small amount of people. Dev talk includes talk about the final product of the homebrew championship cart and the release of the K.Y.F.F. ROM. I also talk about the cart of Snail Maze Game I got in the mail from Taco. There is a memory lane about the purchase of Castlevania 3. There was no Tip of the Day or tune to listen to, because I am still working out the kinks of doing this again. Working out the volume of things too, so the sound during memory lane is kinda lousy.
I talk a bit about how I have been getting more into wanting to program. There are also mentions of 1 More Castle, and the overwhelming point of the podcast is reserved for NintendoAge.com, as they are the ones that saved my family and gave us a route for a new roof over our head. We are forever indebted to them, and we thank them SO MUCH.
Wanna hear complaining about busted headphones and piss smelling bathrooms? You can get that here! Updates on the puzzle game, AI in Tic Tac Toe, and a bit of the game Shawn is designing get mentioned. Donkey Kong gets discussed as I saw a really cool tips video. The featured song is called Evil Stormy Night.
I got a book for cheap... yay! You wouldn’t care what book it is, honestly. Housework was a hinderance today, so nothing got done. I talk about what changes I might make to the palette program, and mention an MMC3 game someone else is working on. I noticed a few interesting comments about the NES version of Ninja Gaiden 3 and the trilogy in general, and have a few thoughts on that. Finally, there is a memory lane about a night I spent at my mom’s apartment when I was a kid, bearing my NES.
Since the Internet was out at my house yesterday, there was no DogCast. Some virtual console games were purchased, which is talked about, along with a cheap John Wayne DVD set. As an aside, I just noticed I forgot to make the cursor change colors between 1st and 2nd players on TTT (will get it later). I talk about playing Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, which leads into a short memory segment about that game.
Hoping everyone had a good Easter, I talk about some of the things we did on Sunday. Tic Tac Toe 2-player is finished, and a tool for the puzzle game is mentioned. A talk about how the NES game of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is nothing like the book, and some neat things in a couple of books that I have read are brought up.
A bit about the Rocky movies is talked about, with some mention of them being better than the Star Wars films. A little (very) about dev is talked about, as there were a lot of distractions during the daytime on this day. The awesomeness of the waterfall race on Contra gets discussed.
Apparently, Electronic Arts is the worst company in America, or something. Link below. While the cats were going crazy, dev news entails more Tic Tac Toe updates, along with minor puzzle game and secret game talk (i.e. not much about those two). The show finishes off with a trip down memory lane involving Tetris.
Working hard at work since this week brings Good Friday, and I have to be done with everything on Thursday. I talk about the kids going to their doctor appointments today and me getting one little thing done dev-wise. Shawn has gotten some more graphics done for the game he is designing, however. The fact that Mark Hamill talked about NES on Twitter some months ago is brought up. The Twitter post in question is embedded below. Also, general wonderings about the new Ninja Gaiden 3 getting bad reviews.
Feeling like Netflix gets a bum rap from some people, I talk about some of the good stuff available on it that I like to watch. A few items of dev stuff for Tic Tac Toe gets mentioned. To finish off the podcast, the Google Maps Dragon Warrior look is brought up. It looks like it is no longer active, unfortunately.
The DogCast comes back once again! Thanks to everyone and the kind words while Gavin was in the hospital. That is talked about briefly, as well as what I did while I was also sick. Tic Tac Toe for the 3-in-1 2p Pak is mentioned along with the music for it, and two other Sly Dog Studios projects that are in the works as well. John from Nessylum Games released a demo for Assimilate, which I urge everyone to check out. A new segment called "Tip" of the Day makes its first showing!
The biggest part of being sick is fully over, though my youngest seems to have gotten sick now. I talk about !Clik! being done on the 3-in-1 2p Pak, and touch on some of the key points in the video that was uploaded. Tic Tac Toe is the next one being worked on, and where it is at right now is discussed. A project that I wanted to work on for my wife got underway, preliminarily yesterday, but the big part of design started today. Lastly, a Minecraft video of awesomeness is brought up.
Talk about how absolutely normal and average the day is mentioned in a sentence or so. Lots of dev updates, including palette animations and sound for Clik on the 3-in-1 2p Pak. I talk about an article on Kotaku which is about a six-year-old kid with terminal cancer, and how the Everquest community rallied together to make something special for him.
Yes, a penis cloud was sighted, and I talk about how I was promptly informed about it. One of the drawbacks about being a janitor is discussed; seeing what was thrown away. NES development discusses how much I got done today, which was quite a bit, all within the game !Clik! From defining sprites to randomizing the virus locations. I take a trip down memory lane and talk about the local bowling alley, Lincoln Lanes.
Not waking up until the afternoon put a damper on things, but seeing the Snail Maze Game mentioned at NES World made the day. I talk about a game called Driar that I saw while over there, and talk more about how much dev got done here at Sly Dog Studios today. Finally, variants of games that collectors like to purchase is brought into question, as I don't really understand it.
The show starts off with talk about how nice of a day it was, and also pissing on gnats (yup). Dev talk includes working on sprite definitions for the 3-in-1 2p Pak, some tiles getting drawn up, and a venture into getting secret controller codes to work properly. The end of the podcast talks about the disappointment of Chasing Ghosts, which may have been a let down because of the awesome that was Ecstasy of Order.
I talk about how awesome the weekend was, as the wife and I got away from the kids for a couple of hours and watched a live band. I also got to play some games for once, which was a blast. Hit detection not feeling like there is a "hit" is talked about, and there is an interview with Kevin Hanley of KHAN Games.
The label for Snail Maze Game is finished now, so be sure to thank Kevin Hanley of KHAN Games! There is talk about what was done on the 3-in-1 2p Pak today, which included changing files around and creating metatiles (which need to be created again... dern it). Some quick thoughts about a phone convo with Shaun today, and finished off the podcast talking about NES Tips getting uploaded to Blip.
Apparently there is a Hulk Hogan sex tape out there somewhere, and it has me hurling just thinking about it! I talk about how Elusion is going to have to be redesigned from the top down, and discuss a multicart of the smaller games that I started in 2010, as influenced from a comment on one of the DogCast posts.
I talk about helping someone push their car, and move on to discuss my thoughts about the release of the Snail Maze Game and to clarify what I was talking about on yesterday's DogCast. I talk about the release of the source code for the Snail Maze Game and how tedious commenting code can be. The show is polished off with a trip down memory lane involving the NES game The Little Mermaid.
Tonight's DogCast is extremely short. I ended up being too tired to even think, but talked a bit about releasing the Snail Maze Game and commenting the source. Some general statements about loading each screen for Elusion of the Dead is mentioned. That is all. Bed time for this here freak!
The Youtuber known as HIKAKIN is brought up in some thoughts about beat-boxers. The main focus with the podcast today is about the completed game, and how that worked out. It finishes off with a quick mention of how music on some games, while not great on their own, might be perfect for the game it was applied to.
Thoughts about programmers not being able to get the actual experience of regular gamers when playing games for the first time is discussed... and the dog goes nuts downstairs. More updates on the game that is most likely going to be finished this weekend, and a trip down memory lane that involves the most popular arcade that once existed around here, the Jolly Jester.
I talk about a downed power line on the way to work and pop in the garbage. Dev talk involves what I did today, and that the game is VERY close to being finished. The podcast closes out with a mention of a guy proposing to his girl with Metroid.
A couple of ninja movies got purchased for cheap, so I mention those along with pondering on a sign about common sense from work. A quick update on the small game and some talk about Elusion of the Dead. The podcast finishes up with a segment of memory lane that follows up on the Karnov one from last time.
A very normal day at work, but combined with a productive day of dev. Background collision and other neat-o things got accomplished. Some thoughts about being called a nerd for playing NES back in the day are talked about, and how those people that said that play them now. Is it because modern games are easier?
A little about the weekend is brought up, along with the fact that my social life is drastically different than it was 10 years ago. In dev talk, sprite zero hit has been successfully implemented thanks to some much needed help. We take a trip down memory lane and talk a bit about 'homegames'.
The state income tax check came in the mail today, but it somehow got lost and took away development time. Even the time that there was ended up being lackluster for dev. A bit of talk about what is going wrong with the sprite zero hit for the status bar, and also some perspective is put forth on the pricing of new-gen games. A new segment is introduced called Mega Man Boss Voices.
With a full belly, this DogCast covers the progress on the homebrew champion cart, and what was accomplished on the tiny game being worked on. Assimilate gets a mention, which is a new NES homebrew game brought to you by John of Nessylum Games. We take a trip down memory lane with the first time I ran into Karnov. And yes Star Wars fans, get over it; Lucas will change stuff. Oh well.
There's a quick rant about boogers, drawings and man tampons happening here. After you're done being sick, you can listen to what progress was made today on the small game that is being started. Lastly, there is talk about Valentine's Day at the household, along with some general wonderings about social network gaming. That final point is going to have to be expanded on at a later time, because those things are AWFUL!
On today's DogCast, a bit of family and work matters get mentioned briefly. Dev talk includes things that are left to do on Golgo 13 and trying to get back into code that hasn't been looked at in awhile. The Homebrew World Championship cart is discussed, and a bit about trying to get back into the groove with a small game to code. Finally, a few thoughts on how to bring back the character of Wart into the mainstream canon of the Mario series.
This is the first recording of The DogCast! The reason behind the podcast is explained, and why I feel it is needed. The Golgo 13 title screen music is unmasked for the port of the SG-1000 game, and a back story about Bionic Commando is told. Damned bionic arm. Damn it! Well, maybe not.