It's just over 10 years since I released Alien Breed IV, but there were a few things that I wasn't really happy with about it.

So, I'm now in the middle of making ALIEN BREED 5, which if all goes to plan, will finally be an AB game that I can be satisfied with

AB5 will be for the TI-83 / TI-83+ calculators.

Here is a list of planned improvements that AB5 will feature over previous installments. Not all are definite yet, but I'm determined to fulfil as many of them as possible:

• Mission objectives/text displayed before each level (already implemented)
• Better weapon variation, both functionally & graphically. AB5 has a flamethrower! (already implemented)
• Bigger levels. Currently planned at up to 60x48 tiles, as opposed to 32x32 in previous version (implemented but may need to be reduced if memory issues arise)
• Dynamic passcodes that will store your progress including ammo supplies, weapons, etc. In the previous version if you used a passcode, it only saved your level number, so you would start on a later level with basic weapons, which made it hard (still to be programmed, but will be definite)
• At least two difficulty levels, "normal" & "tough" for more of a challenge (still to be programmed, but will be definite)
• Enemy triggers will work more similar to how they did in the Team 17 Amiga versions, ie. triggers don't deactivate after spawning an enemy, they trigger each time the screen edge scrolls over the trigger point (still to be programmed, but I can't see it being a problem)
• A couple of extra enemy types. The initial release will most likely have the same enemies from the previous installment, but other types will be ready for additional levels down the track - this is a story thing (not programmed yet)
• Intex consoles (computers) have been reprogrammed to work more similar to the original Team 17 game, printing text the old terminal way (like the text in the teaser program, albeit printing the lines much faster) (already implemented)
• Graphics touched up in various ways. I found AB4 had too many random wall & floor variations that just made the screen look cluttered, so this time I've gone for the "less is more" approach to make things clearer. Also things such as power domes, intex consoles & alien eggs have been redrawn: power domes are now 16x16 as opposed to 8x8; intex consoles are 16x8; alien eggs are 16x16 (already implemented)
• Fire doors have been reprogrammed so that they don't automatically close when you walk through them. This was one of my biggest pet peeves in the past installments, which was really just lazy programming on my part. They are now activated to close by pressing [ALPHA] when facing them (already implemented)
• During boss fights, the screen will scroll so that the player is towards the bottom of the screen at all times so that it's easier to see the boss coming at you (not yet programmed, but shouldn't be a problem)
• When the player is hurt or picks up first aid kits, a health bar will temporarily appear at the left of the screen (not yet programmed but should be fine)

There are also a couple of other ideas from the original Team 17 games that I'm hoping to implement, although they're only concepts in my head at this point, so I won't bother bringing them up as I'm yet to attempt coding them whilst jugging with limited RAM.

I'll post a demo video soon showing some stuff that's already programmed I'll also be posting updates on my web site, http://www.jvti.org.

If your program is too big then you could use a FlashApp, just to tell you.

If your program is too big then you could use a FlashApp, just to tell you.

Yeah that is a fall back option, but so far it's looking ok. There's also the option of doing some code swapping if need be

I'm curious, apart from the doors automatically closing, what weren't you satisfied with about ABIV? That game was awesome and together with Dying Eyes (and Bubble Bobble) will always hold a special place in the z80 section of my heart

There were quite a few things:

• The levels in ABIV being limited to 32x32 tiles, it was just too hard for me to do the levels I wanted to do.
• No mission text/objectives was displayed for levels in-game, which is rectified in AB5.
• Passcodes were almost pointless, for the reasons I listed in my original post.
• The random wall/floor graphics were very cluttered. I've simplified this in AB5 and also added new tiles that are much clearer, as well as drawing closer to the original Team 17 games.

It's great to hear that you enjoyed ABIV Rest assured, there are no major features that were in ABIV that I'm "taking out" of the game for AB5, with the exception of no level editor being released for AB5.

Hey James, nice to see you here.
Good luck with this.

Good luck with this! It is looking nice so far!

Better than Alien Breed IV?

Anyway, that sounds really awesome. It's amazing you're still actively working on calculator games after so long, and it's great!

How far along is it? From reading the list in the OP it seems like you've already implemented most of the stuff you wanted to add. Can't wait to see how this turns out.

Quote from: JamesV on June 23, 2012, 08:36:32 am

AB5 will be for the TI-83 / TI-83+ calculators.

happy

I guess it's a fair way along, although I haven't programmed anything to do with enemies yet, but I'm literally about to get started on that. I've also still got to code all the level file handling, bosses, and some trivial things like high scores, etc.

Here is a shot of some of what the game does so far.



This clip shows the 5 weapons. 3 are returning from ABIV, but the starting weapon (Machine Gun) and the most powerful weapon (Flamethrower) are new.

The Intex consoles now operate more similar to the original Team 17 game in terms of display. The option to view your mission objectives is now included (they also show at the start of the level). Also I've reprogrammed the radar scanner to make the player marker easier to spot

After that, you see the player walk onto a new surface. In the original games, parts of some levels had "trench" type paths, that were like exposed electrical flooring that wasn't covered up by finished tiled flooring. You can walk in these trench type paths, but once you fall into one, the only way out is via a ramp.

Finally, this clip shows that fire doors no longer close automatically when walking through them as previously mentioned - they are now activated by the [ALPHA] key.

The only other things to note in this clip are the new tiles for the Intex consoles, as well as the larger power domes.

ooh =0
does the flame-thrower have any limitations on its range?

ooh =0
does the flame-thrower have any limitations on its range?

It doesn't have any range limit at the moment, except that it obviously stops when it hits a wall. It functions very similar to how it did in the Team 17 original, in that you can only have a set number of "bullets" in action at once.

Depending on game performance, I might make it so that the "bullets" or flames become inactive if they get further than say 8 or 16 pixels off screen, which would effectively give them a limited range. Once I've got the enemies coded and running around I'll play around with it all until it feels right