I'm requesting 64*64 pixel backgrounds for my CaDan project, specifically one for the demo release at the time. The problem at the moment is that the current background is of a copyrighted image used without permission, and I'd at least like some sort of image where the copyright for such can be transferred or at least "borrowed" for the purpose of the image. Other than that, I just think it would be cooler if I got an image that this community produced. Just... it would sit better with me if it happened that way.

So, it's a static 64*64 image. Can be pretty much anything you want since it's just gonna be a replacement. I'd prefer *something* that could compress well with Spiffy Compress (which pretty much is almost anything), but don't let that preference restrict your artistic ability. The image should be black and white but must be displayed well as a monochrome gray background. At any rate, a cool background would be nice.

Just askin'.

Decompression has been fixed and development can continue forward as sorta planned. I know I'm gonna get some good mileage with the routine, as it lets me go ahead and compress even the more complex images. An additional image was added to the title screen, first as a demonstration of this, and ... well... just to see how the decompressing routine would meet my needs, and sure enough, it does. It's fast enough to do the job. Just a tweak and it's perfect.

Double post. See above post for edit.

While I may not make good on some of the promises (this isn't a final demo release, by the way. This is just a Christmas gift), I have been working on some optimization so I can feel comfortable adding in more stuff. So far, 200 bytes in the dev version (not seen) has been shaved off while revising the script system. More is expected.

...
Kinda confused why your ship is a puzzle frenzy block tho.

I actually sourced that one from one of my earlier games (port), "Fishy". The most recenter version included a cheat mode that made your sprite look like that, which I named "DevBlock", since I used it to test out a few things without ever having to worry about actually playing the game to encounter the problems.

Filler until he make the actual sprite i'd assume.

Actually... according to the first "storyline" I've planned out, that *is* an actual character.

New in the release presented here is the ability to choose between two characters. Really. Read the descriptions and you'll be enlightened as to how they should be played. The stats associated with them when you start the game will not actually be a reflection of how the characters will start the game when the full version is released, but it should give you somewhat of an idea. Further tweaks are needed, though.

A binary is attached to this post, which is the current state of the game. The demo version is about 90% complete at this stage.

The release after this one will finalize the demo version of the game with everything that I want in it in place. This will include varying difficulties for the Stage 0 stage, and a functioning "Results" menu so you can view your high scores, or more. The "or more" part will depend on how much space I have remaining after all is said and done.

EDIT: Edited the attachment to include a binary that I *know* is properly signed.
EDIT2: The MODE button on the calculator is the "go back" button on any of the menus. Try it out repetitively and tell me if you encounter any problems, if you want ...

Just to throw in my $0.02, Celtic III really starts to shine when you're trying to store a god-awful amount of map data. It contains some matrix to string conversions, along with the ability to read line-by-line the contents of a program. Conceivably, you could have an entire map on each line of a "data program" and use Celtic III to retrieve the information as you see fit. Of course, you'll have to store those matrices in your programs as a string (as you'd enter a matrix into the calculator)...

Though, if you start seeing unexpected behavior with any of those functions, I'll go ahead and look into the problem and (if necessary) release a revision in a relatively short order of time.

Sorry to hear that you've ditched the randomly-generated maps, though I would have to agree that the world map thing would probably suit the whole scheme a bit better. I'd think that randomly-generated maps should be reserved for bonus dungeons when the game doesn't revolve around randomly-generated everything. Keep up the good work, and let us all know of the progress you're making!

Simply stated, my hitbox was never hit, even though it looked like major stuff was flying. It explains the effect I described much earlier on how to get around the first spell, albeit cheaply. Great stuff for people who plays SHMUPs way too much.

"Legend says there's a mountain called Hourai in the East, and there's a tree that grows danmaku there. Go forth, shmupers!"

Content not completed yet. Menu system working. Download and play the game to see. Difficulty menu links to the same old same old. I guess the title screen came before the fully functioning engine. Oh, well. That was the *easy* part anyway.
Controls: 2nd=shoot, MODE=pause, DEL=bomb, Y= ... to pause. Unavailable options will appear to do nothing. Haven't coded in a "back button" for the menus yet. Try not to pause-spam. I'll code in a mechanism in a few minutes that will penalize you for trying.

Request: A background to go on the title screen. Needs to go in the "gray buffer" behind the content.

At the moment, there is *no* compression being done on any of the images. With such stringent timing that I have to conform to, I can't even begin to think of how I'd be able to do it all real-time. I've basically chewed through all the saferam buffers I could use, and I don't want to force the user to require any free RAM just to use my huge application (save for some high score data). The engine itself probably weighs in at around 6KB so that isn't a fair thing to complain about shortage of data. Still, if what I have is a stage worth of data, things are going to be looking pretty bleak when I start adding in more information.

I'll get back when I have more accurate numbers to post up. Guaranteed, though, that this will be at least a 2 page application when done. Maybe compression, should I figure out how to squeeze more saferam out of the system, might keep the beast trimmed to a two page limit.

Though... now's not the time to start worrying too greatly. I'll just have to finish up with the rest of the engine and then add in a fully functional title screen