Relevant link

Just thought someone might be interested in this, possibly for reference or educational value. I know there have been a few Metroid-based projects for TI.

I'm a bit curious about some of the limitations with projects that use BASIC + xLib. More specifically:

 - Say you have a monochromatic tileset of 16x16 tiles. Would there be any map resolution constraints to consider?

 - Is map-looping possible? This might be most useful for RPG world maps where a player has access to a ship or transport of some kind.

 - Would it be possible to animate tiles in some fashion? (i.e., water) What kind of animation is most feasible?

 - With the sprite-routine, what sort of limitations are we looking at? How many sprites on screen at a single time?

 - Any specific constraints on the number of tiles that can be fit into a single tileset? (or total memory)

What happens if you mention bloodshed or major catastrophes in your conversation? Presto! No more sponsored links.

The events of Mâyâ center around one particular individual: Vardøger Valle Haugen - a relatively unknown engineer of the Delmire Fiefdom's military branch. The prime of his career resulted with The Duke's Syndicate, when he participated in the "Thorvald" project: A weapon of mass-destruction conceived by Vardøger himself, and co-developed by Delmire's military intelligence. The weapon was intended to indemnify the safety and stability of The Duke's Syndicate, in light of wavering political tensions after Delmire's feudal take-over; however, the duke's madness became apparent when the weapon was deployed in an act of conquest. On the fateful day of Thorvald's launch, all of Mâyâ perished in the name of Delmire's supremacy...

Bound to an emotional purgatory fashioned from his actions, Vardøger finds himself within a spiritual re-enactment of Mâyâ's history, leading up to its destruction; however, he is now faced with a duality of himself: An antagonist born of his own willful intention to create the Thorvald, and aid the duke in his conquest. Vardøger's duality speaks of a force known only as the "Abyss," which appeared beyond the stars as Mâyâ fell to its own corruption. The Abyss was willed into existence by the collective anguish of a dying world longing for release. It exists only to nullify the remains of all once-living things - their spiritual and emotional states. Unless Vardøger can seek redemption for his actions, all that remains of Mâyâ's past will collapse in on itself and cease to find absolution.



The player must guide Vardøger and his resistance faction against the fictional Duke's Syndicate as they attempt to terminate the Thorvald's launch, and spare the world from repeating a vicious cycle of destruction. Each chapter takes places across different lifetimes within the purgatory, as the characters invariably fail to prevent Mâyâ's fall. The Abyss continues to draw closer as Mâyâ only echoes its suffering with each cycle of history, and Vardøger slowly comes closer to the answers that may liberate the souls of man from their own self-destruction...

The World of Mâyâ

"Trominoes" is an idea I had for a drop-and-arrange puzzle game based around the principle of three-squared polyominoes. This is not quite a Tetris clone, but it's vaguely similar. Tetris is based around the same principle using tetrominoes, which are four-squared pieces. The objective of this game is to align three colored squares vertically, horizontally or diagonally. Unlike Tetris, you cannot clear lines. There are three different colored-squares, each appearing randomly in three-square formations:



The gray square has the most common appearance, while the white square has the second most common, and the darker square has the rarest appearance.

Play takes place on a 9x11 grid. Formations can be freely rotated in any direction. When the grid fills and obstructs the appearance of any additional formations, the player loses.

"Free" squares (in formations U and L) will break away from the rest of the formation when placed, allowing them to be arranged independently. There is also a gravity algorithm which allows orphaned squares to fall into niches when surrounding squares are cleared from the board.

If the player clears 5 squares of the same color simultaneously, (for example: in X or + patterns) then all squares of that color will be removed from the board. (mechanic borrowed from Tetris Flash) Squares that are cleared as the result of gravity-chaining will provide an accumulating score bonus.

This is something of a random discourse. If walls of text aren't really your thing, then I'm sure this will bore you to tears.

First off, this isn't intended to elicit sympathy or serve as my emotional blog, nor to cause offense to anyone or their particular system of belief. I wanted to approach this from a philosophical perspective, because it's something that inspires many of my creative works. Before I get into the heart of the subject, I want to elaborate on a few finer details about my perspective on a few things...

I do not consider myself at all religious. I was raised by a religious family within a religious environment, and abandoned those beliefs when I was a teenager. I consider myself a man of science. I try to reason in accordance with the scientific method, and through the use of critical reasoning skills. I have an analytical nature, so I have a need to examine details under a cold and stringent scope. This often leads me to reject most common conclusions and ideas, and either adopt no position on some subject or matter due to my own lack of knowledge, or to study it until I feel satisfied enough with what I've learned to form a conclusion. I tend not to think in emotional terms most of the time. It's difficult for me to approach things from intuition or feeling. I have to find some logical process in it.

One notion I have rejected is that of free will. I don't believe that individuals can solely govern their own choices and actions. This level of freedom would completely defy logic, as is implies itself to be independent of causal influence. i.e., I don't eat because I choose to eat - I eat because I am hungry. Hunger is the causal influence driving my decision-making process. Were it not for the need to consume food in order to survive, the thought of consumption would never enter into my mind as a random desire. As such, I equally believe that people cannot be held responsible for their actions - whether morally, legally, philosophically, or however else. Each action is driven by some influence, or accumulation thereof.

If the world were duplicated, and the circumstances of your life were repeated in this duplicate world in perfect detail, how would the choices in your life between worlds A and B compare? Would and could your duplicate self make different choices in lieu of every circumstance and detail being the same? I don't believe so. Perhaps that implies some random logic. Even in technology, there is no such thing as computational randomness. The generation of a "random" integer depends on a formula, as well as existing conditions. The outcome can be determined by examining those conditions, and how their influence does, in fact, create a predetermined outcome. For all intent and purpose, there is the illusion of having generated a random value.

When you examine behavioral psychology, you see equally influential patterns. For instance: There are clear causes of mental illness, whether environmental or chemical. Understanding the patterns behind these illnesses is necessary in order to treat them. When you examine criminal psychology, these patterns are more or less the same. There is a history of mental illness; depression, schizophrenia; childhood abuse, etc. We can often, accurately, conclude that these are the catalysts that drive people to criminal behavior; yet we also uphold the notion of personal responsibility for one's actions within the appeal to justice. In the U.S., we even go as far as to enforce capital punishment for particularly heinous crimes.

This brings me to the origin of "evil." Evil is often defined as the intention to bring harm to others, either as a means of personal gratification, or for one's own lack of moral and empathic cohesion. Some people might also define evil as anything that does not adhere to their own values or beliefs. "Evil" is, naturally, relative to one's perspective and opinion. Throughout my life, I have dealt with many people whom I would consider "evil," but I do not believe in evil in the classical sense of moral absolutes, or black-and-white extremes.

As a child, both of my parents were physically and emotionally abusive. For the longest time, I did not understand why. At first, I always assured myself that it wasn't my fault, and both of them were simply evil and misguided people. Later on in life, I struggled to maintain my confidence and self-esteem in light of bullying throughout school years. I developed a severe mistrust of other people, leading me to the belief that all human life was without value or purpose. I spent years in withdrawal, because I felt certain that other people would try to harm me if didn't maintain a certain distance from them. There was a time when anger, regret, shame and frustration had consummated into such a powerful force that I could have been compelled to harm other people without any remorse for my actions. I often had violent thought about mutilation, torture and suicide. I was completely imprisoned by these emotions, and incapable of acting competently.

The only thing that spared me from spiraling further into depression was, in fact, my analytical nature. At some point, I had a gradual revelation about moral absolutes, and relativism. I slowly abandoned every belief and conception I had about my life, human nature and the totality of existence in general. I came to believe that this life was void of any distinct purpose, and that nothing any person has done or expressed possessed any concrete value. For a time, it was depressing; but the emptiness gradually became a liberation from all oppressive emotion - like a black hole, drawing everything into its event horizon. The emotions and perceptions that hindered me in everyday aspects of life slowly wore-off, as I no longer believed in the values I once placed in everyday things. For instance: It was difficult for me to pursue a project or an interest, for fear of failure and humiliation. Because I had been so discouraged by the events and circumstances of my life, I had not possessed confidence in myself or my abilities. By stepping back and looking at a situation without attaching any value to it, I was able to approach it without hindering myself. I came to learn that the values and emotions I attached to objects, people and myself were the only real cause of my torment. With time, I began to reject the values and emotions that other people directed at me, as well. By not internalizing these things, I could not become a prisoner within my own mind.

This is what I have come to know as evil: The negative forces that exist within our own minds. When negative emotions come into our lives, they can easily spin out of control. Before we know it, these emotions have completely enslaved us, and begin driving us toward destructive behaviors. In my creative works, I refer to this force as "The Abyss." It is a nebulous gorge of negative thoughts and emotions whose depth is defined only by the limits of the minds it exists within. Those who are drawn into the belly of The Abyss must look beyond its influence, or meet an assured destruction. The Abyss is the origin of all evil things, and it so shall exist as long as it can perpetuate itself through human action. Each negative action influences the next, allowing The Abyss to expand and spread throughout the hearts of mankind. In my stories, this is the governing force of all evil characters.

I believe there is also a central good that exists and perpetuates itself in the same manner; but its influence is much weaker. Only by some predestined force or influence can a person overcome The Abyss and envelope themselves in good. Because both forces exist within us simultaneously, there is no absolute path of good or evil. It is a war that is indefinitely fought within us, until we arrive at the end of this existence with either force in greater quantity. In my creative works, even the good characters struggle to overcome the forces that attempt to draw them closer toward The Abyss: Vengeance, personal loss, doubt, regret, the desire for power... Some characters succumb to these influences, and quickly find themselves dying at the hands of their former comrades.

I consider myself lucky to have been spared from spiraling further into these influences; but I also feel I should be in the debt of other people whose circumstances prevent them from overcoming them. I could have been born into their circumstances, and repeated the same mistakes they've made. Any of us could have. This is the nature of causal existence. For this reason, I find it difficult to see the logic in justice or vengeance. This is, in fact, a strong theme in Escheron. Maya's family is ruthlessly slaughtered to further the military power of a neighboring kingdom, and her desire to pursue vengeance only draws her further into a prison fashioned by her own negative emotions. In the end, what can Maya achieve by trying to surmount hate and destruction with more hate and destruction? Without realizing it, she has been seeing the world from the perspective of evil all along.

This sums-up my thoughts on the nature of evil, personal responsibility and the direction of life in general. (as well as some backstory for my creativity)

Whence things have their origin,
Thence also their destruction happens,
According to necessity;
For they give to each other justice and recompense
For their injustice
In conformity with the ordinance of Time.

I have been working on some ideas for a prequel to Shadow over Ragnoth. The story takes place several centuries before the game's events, and details the War of Heaven, along with mankind's struggle to claim the gods' abandoned power for themselves. You assume the role of Anaximander: A knight in the historic kingdom of Osgoth. This is a solo adventure, only featuring one playable character. (akin to game's like Dragon's Quest) The battle sequences are done in a similar style as Shining Force, or Fire Emblem. You're tasked with exploring an area of map with a limited movement scheme, and engage in turn-based battle sequences with targets on the map. There will either be a primary objective, (such as defeating a boss) or you will face a random encounter where you must defeat all present enemies. (or escape)



Anaximander's abilities aren't necessarily limited to that of a classical knight archetype. He'll gain spells throughout the course of the game, and be able to find equipment that will grant him passive abilities. (such as a random chance to counterattack when struck by an enemy)

Battles will feature short animations between character and enemy interactions. This might be a two-frame animation of Anaximander swinging his sword, for instance. There will also be some kind of spell animation, whether it consists of just a couple of frames, or some spell effects that simply flash on the screen. There won't be any need for masking, as the character and enemies will have their own reserved space; and any effects that are super-imposed on top of them would be large enough to cover most of the graphic, anyway. I don't want to do anything extremely fancy and technically-pressing. This is intended to be a fairly short and straightforward explanation of events prior to Shadow over Ragnoth, to set the stage for the game's history.

Status engine-wise, I wanted to go with something much more simple. There will only be a handful of basic statistics, and their ranges won't span very high. I haven't decided on character growth, but I may go with a traditional experience level system. There won't be things like elemental modifiers, per se. I wanted to do something where certain suits of armor would provide protection against specific spells, or allow enemies to have this protection as part of their natural defense. (likewise for the converse)

Platform-wise, I thought it might be interesting to give TI-86 a try. Bearing in mind its technical limitations, I thought a monochromatic game with just a handful of assets might be easier to fit into memory.

I was recently replaying Final Fantasy Legend III for GameBoy, and one thing that struck me as odd is how your party appears to be at a low level toward the end of the game. In preparation for the final battle, you only need to be level 35-40. Trying to grind beyond that point is time-consuming, as the enemies you encounter in this area give you the most experience out of any enemy in the game -- which isn't a lot. Most character statistics seem to max-out around level 50 or so, but you can apparently level as high as 99. My question is: What is the incentive? Why even permit the player to raise their level to such extremes when both: A) It's not necessary, and B) There is nothing left to challenge you. (such as an optional super boss) This is something that irks me about some RPGs, as I tend to be a perfectionist. I just have to complete everything, raise every character to max level, etc. before I can be done with the game.

I did some more research and experimentation, and as it turns out, your statistics actually increase beyond the max values that are displayed on the status screen. Character HP and MP are indicated as high as 999, while base statistics are indicated as high as 99. After raising my level to 70 and taking substantial damage from enemies, I noticed my HP wasn't decreasing. Apparently, it's somewhere around 2,000 at this point. I'm guessing there's a global 16-bit integer for both character and enemy HP / MP, and an 8-bit integer for base statistics.

I've noticed other RPGs will have similar leveling patterns. The party might be around level 50 by the end of the game, but there is no incentive to push yourself any further than that; and trying to do so would require a ridiculous amount of grinding. Makes you wonder why the developers didn't just cap the experience level max at a lower number. At least the player could feel like they've accomplished something by hitting the maximum.

Oh, well. Guess I'll have to set my emulation speed to +1,000% and auto-battle everything in sight. I may reach level 99... eventually.