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General Category => Games => Topic started by: keith56 on 02:10, 02 July 17

Title: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 02:10, 02 July 17
I've reached a bit of a milestone today, so I thought I'd do a bit of a announcement!

All the levels are now complete - this means all the shared 'core' game code is pretty much done (with 79 bytes of free memory!), all the level graphics are finished,  all the boss battles are programmed!
This means I'm now able to pretty confidently tell you what IS in the game, not what I HOPE will be in there!

In 'celebration' of this milestone, I have set up the official website for the new game!  Right now there's just some 'teaser' content on there to give google something to link to - and so people who haven't played  EP1 know the staggering stupidity that they're in for! but please take a look, and maybe you'll get a laugh out of it!

http://www.chibiakumas.com/ep2/
and in Japanese:
http://www.chibiakuma.com/ep2/

the game will be DEFINATELY be released in 2017 - and I expect it to be relased in a couple of months - I had aimed for a July release, and I've not been slacking, but I don't want to rush and release something that is not as good as it could have been - I have been working like crazy on this game, and want to see it released as the best thing I can do.

Finally I know people will want screenshots and videos and the like - and I will release all that kind of stuff over the coming weeks/months, but please wait a little longer - and I will explain why...
I still have *months* of hard work to do on this game, I have worked hours a day, at least 9 days out of 10, the whole year on this game (EP2 is based on the code from EP1 - when EP1 was finished, I just kept on coding without stopping)
The tough thing about coding a game of this scale is not coming up with an idea, it's not drawing the graphic or even writing the code - the tough bit is keeping working at it, and keeping motivation when it get boring, or when there are problems, or when it seems no one gives a sh*t... and right now I need to keep it all the 'magic' secret so there's no chance my motivation will run out before the last stretch and the finish line is in sight

From here on I will work on the game music (Unique on all 5 levels), the Intro/Cutscenes and other incidental graphics (Bigger and Far more than EP1) - and test the thing like crazy (Much more to test now the game supports 1 or 2 players ), so I'm not done yet, but I'm hoping all the seemingly 'impossible' stuff is now done!
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: villain on 10:47, 02 July 17
Quote from: keith56 on 02:10, 02 July 17
I have worked hours a day, at least 9 days out of 10, the whole year on this game (EP2 is based on the code from EP1 - when EP1 was finished, I just kept on coding without stopping)

You are crazy, but in a very likeable way. :-) I don't have enough thumbs to show. I still wonder where one could find so much spare time.
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: genesis8 on 13:21, 02 July 17
Quote from: keith56 on 02:10, 02 July 17
From here on I will work on the game music (Unique on all 5 levels), the Intro/Cutscenes and other incidental graphics (Bigger and Far more than EP1) - and test the thing like crazy (Much more to test now the game supports 1 or 2 players ), so I'm not done yet, but I'm hoping all the seemingly 'impossible' stuff is now done!


Subliminal hint : I can do some testing, and if well payed, I wont release screenshots and videos.


P.S. : forgot about the payment, I can do it for free, I am a nice guy (almost).


P.P.S. : I posted on my web site, just quoting the source and the text as I am lazy (not so, I had to translate it in french though).
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 09:54, 04 July 17
Thanks for the offer, but it's quicker if I do the testing myself, I know the code better than anyone, so I can spot and fix a problem faster than if someone else tested for me.

When I'm testing on emulators I do most of the play through at 4x speed, so I play through many times quickly to can check for crashes.

I pretty much have a full compliment of CPC's over here now (464, 6128, 6128+) so I'm good for real hardware testing too.

Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 09:16, 08 July 17
I've been working on the gameplay options this week, so I'll take the opportunity to update people on the new finished features of Episode 2!

1. TotO's Multiplay is supported for 2 player controls without Keyclash problems - each joystick supports up to 3 fire buttons, but you can use a combination of Multiplay and keys if you only have 1/2 fire button joysticks.

2. EP1 had an 'easy' mode for bullet hell haters... but it's improved in EP2 - Easy now reduces the enemy fire rate, AND the size of the enemy fire bursts.

3. there are two configuration modes for 2 player 'continues'
        A - Co-Existance: Both players share one continue stock - so you need your 'sibling' to stay alive!
        B - Brood Reduction: Both players have a separate continue stock, as powerups are limited, and the game is harder with 2 players - it's in your interest to get all the powerups for yourself, and leave your 'sibling' to die!

3. Secret new mode! - The last level has a different gameplay mechanic to the first 4 levels - as a bonus, once you complete the game - you can replay the game entirely in 'special mode'


Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 04:54, 15 July 17
Ok, Here's another update for the week!

I've been working out the dialog for the cartoon sequences in the game, and it seems I'm going to have to draw up about 4x the cartoon frames as I did for EP1, so it's going to be  busy over the next few weeks... I've also been working on the new music files (each level in the new game has different music now)

Well anyway, to give you all something to look at I've taken a break from developing to make a little teaser video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HX_eTjhMi90

it shows the new ingame dialog... known as 'interactive insults' - as the characters mostly whine and argue with each other! also the new 2 player plus sprites, and how drones affect the two players.

Note the improved backgrounds in the new game! I had wanted a full tile array, but the speed drop was too great, so I've settled for this repeating 32pixel tile - which does not cause much slowdown, and looks a lot better than ep1's gradient backgrounds

I'm going to do a Lets Play video of Epsiode 1 soon... if anyone has any questions about the games they would like answering, please let me know, and I will try to answer them in the Vid!

Thanks for following my progress!
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: tjohnson on 10:52, 15 July 17
Looks great, how many colours have you got displayed onscreen at the same time there?
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 23:13, 15 July 17
The background is Mode 1 = 4 colors , 2 of those colors are changed 3 times during the raster update, giving a total of 8 onscreen colors in the background

The character sprites and icons are all plus sprites, so 15 colors total - of course the game still works on non plus systems
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: Sykobee (Briggsy) on 10:10, 18 July 17
It is looking good, I like the colour changes and repeating background.
I count 22 sprites? I guess you reset the heart and power? sprites to repeat them for the P2 area?


It's good you are keeping it compatible on all systems. I would have been tempted by the Plus smooth scroll!
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: VincentGR on 20:25, 18 July 17
Arcade quality!!!
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: Arnaud on 20:49, 18 July 17
Quite as good ! I like the idea of a transparent "HUD".
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: Morri on 02:15, 19 July 17
Looks to be shaping up quite nicely. I don't know how you manage to have so much happening on the screen at one time. 2 player, enemy movement and ALL THOSE BULLETS!!! Very well done and I can't wait to give it a try.

While I don't have any specific questions for your Youtube lets play, I would just like to hear you talk about development in terms of the tools you used, for graphics, sound and code.
I also make games for the CPC, mainly BASIC - as that was my level when I owned my original 6128 and it's what gives me the most nostalgia, so I like to use tools that are compatible with BASIC. i.e. Sprites Alive (RSX extensions), CPCBASIC3 (compiler) etc...
Also the challenges these tools presented and how you got around any problems.

Much appreciated and keep up the good work.

EDIT: I thought of something else... I would love to hear the story of how a CPC'er made there way to Japan. If you have any good stories around that, I would love to hear.  :)
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: SRS on 08:48, 19 July 17
And you are absolutely sure this is running on a cpc ? (ah, its a Plus ...!)

It looks like a SEGA Console game to me. Great !
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: CraigsBar on 13:02, 21 July 17
Seriously looking forward to this.

Sent from my ONEPLUS 3t using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 14:46, 21 July 17
Thanks for the replies.
Yes this version is running on a PLUS, but it works on regular 6128 too... only the player and HUD sprites are different... the backgrounds are all regular CPC
It also works on a 464... but the enemy sprite animation is inferior... the gameplay will be the same however.

Morri... questions noted. will be answered in the video

I've been working on the cartoon cutscenes this week, which has been killing my motivation, because I'm not a good artist... and making it look like it wasn't drawn by a 5 year old takes time... but it's coming slowly.

yes Sykobee, 22 sprites onscreen, I move the HUD sprites half way down the screen... that' why the Life & Smartbomb sprites are flipped for Player2 !
In case you've not guessed, Player 2 is usually a different character! The Dual Chibiko game you see here is only for 64k systems (not enough memory for a second set of sprites)...
I'll be announcing the new characters soon, there are two playable characters (Chibiko and her brother) and 3 rival characters.

The game can be played in 3 modes... Chibiko only... Chibiko and 'Brother' ... and 'Brother' only...
The three configurations all have the same basic plot, but the dialog,jokes  and cutscense are different! It seemed like a good idea at the time... but it means I'm having to do more cartoon graphics, dialog and testing!

The game also has secret 'Achievements'... in each level there's something special you can do (it varies wildly each level), that will unlock an 'achievement'... which lets you view a full screen 'poster' from the title menu, with some info about the characters backstory! (another reason why the cartoon art is taking so much work)
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: Sykobee (Briggsy) on 14:55, 21 July 17
Sounds good - nice to have additional depth in the gameplay such as secrets that unlock stuff.
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: CraigsBar on 16:02, 21 July 17
Console games have arrived on the cpc.
[emoji16]
Awesome!

Sent from my ONEPLUS 3t using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: Xifos on 16:56, 21 July 17
I find it impressive, that you're doing several versions of your game for each cpc model.
(following their different capabilities, memory, hardware sprites when available...)
Does it work on gx4000 too ?

And multiplexing hardware sprites (even if they keep the same pattern), i find it interesting.
:)
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: Maniac on 17:00, 21 July 17
Sounds great and a lot of work/effort! First good looked great, looking forward to this one even if bullet hell isnt my thing!!
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: ASiC on 21:56, 21 July 17
The amount of detail you put into this is astounding!
Never seen this before on 8 bit apart from some MSX games.


Thank you and please keep going strong  :D
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: tjohnson on 07:35, 22 July 17
At times the whole screen seems filled with bullets and no way to dodge them, im not really sure why i lose lives at times and not others.    I would prefer chibi to move at full speed when firing rather than the pedestrian pace, maybe a difficulty mode could allow that.

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: AxelStone on 08:43, 22 July 17
Yeah it seems really a MSX game, really a nice work!  ;)
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: pelrun on 08:49, 22 July 17
Quote from: tjohnson on 07:35, 22 July 17
At times the whole screen seems filled with bullets and no way to dodge them, im not really sure why i lose lives at times and not others.


The trick with bullet hell games is that your character hitbox is only a tiny area in the centre of the sprite, not the whole sprite. Learning where the hitbox is and how to accurately squeeze it through tiny gaps is part of the challenge. It's also why movement speed slows down whilst shooting - you need the slower speed to precisely position yourself. Check out the player guide at http://www.chibiakumas.com/guide/ which explains this in more detail.
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: tjohnson on 11:25, 22 July 17

Quote from: pelrun on 08:49, 22 July 17

The trick with bullet hell games is that your character hitbox is only a tiny area in the centre of the sprite, not the whole sprite. Learning where the hitbox is and how to accurately squeeze it through tiny gaps is part of the challenge. It's also why movement speed slows down whilst shooting - you need the slower speed to precisely position yourself. Check out the player guide at http://www.chibiakumas.com/guide/ (http://www.chibiakumas.com/guide/) which explains this in more detail.


Cheers, I didn't actually see the guide on the website.  I have seen a lets play mentioned a few times, where is that?
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: sigh on 13:45, 24 July 17
I was playing this yesterday, but I really do need to get myself a joystick/joypad. It's a fun game and very difficult which give it that Cave/Raizing game feeling.
What I feel is missing is the ability to hold down the fire button to slowdown the movement of the sprite. This would help immensely in dodging the bullets.
Also - a personal opinion is that I feel that the main sprite is far too big. Even though I'm watching the hitbox on the sprite, the giant sprite surrounding it makes the play are feel very small.


Anyway - this a nice game to play! I would like to see some more variation of bullet patterns in the next one too if possible:)
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: ivarf on 16:28, 25 July 17
A CPC developer in Japan, that's great!  :D

Have moved to Japan in later years or are you genuinely Japanese? What's your story with retro computers and the Amstrad CPC? How and when did you get started?
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: pelrun on 06:58, 26 July 17
Quote from: sigh on 13:45, 24 July 17
What I feel is missing is the ability to hold down the fire button to slowdown the movement of the sprite. This would help immensely in dodging the bullets.


Are you sure it's not there? We were literally talking about this feature in the last few posts, and it's explicitly mentioned in the player guide.
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 09:06, 26 July 17
Quote from: sigh on 13:45, 24 July 17
What I feel is missing is the ability to hold down the fire button to slowdown the movement of the sprite. This would help immensely in dodging the bullets.
Holding down the firebutton should slow down your character - also any drones should move closer to your character, reducing fire spread - please check your joystick/control settings, it sounds like you have autofire enabled!

Quote from: ivarf on 16:28, 25 July 17
Have moved to Japan in later years or are you genuinely Japanese? What's your story with retro computers and the Amstrad CPC? How and when did you get started?
No, I was born in England, I started learning Japanese about 15 years ago as a hobby, and moved to Japan about 5 years ago.
The CPC is pretty much unheard of in Japan (ironic, considering I believe it was manufactured here)... someone told me that Chibi Akumas was the first CPC game 'made in japan'
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: ivarf on 16:25, 27 July 17

Quote from: keith56 on 09:06, 26 July 17
No, I was born in England, I started learning Japanese about 15 years ago as a hobby, and moved to Japan about 5 years ago.
The CPC is pretty much unheard of in Japan (ironic, considering I believe it was manufactured here)... someone told me that Chibi Akumas was the first CPC game 'made in japan'


Probably the first CPC game made outside Europe, except a few made in Egypt and published by Amsoft.
So how is life in Japan?
I think the CPCs was made in Korea.


I read somewhere else that doing graphics isn't your favorite thing, maybe someone here can do it for you?
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: Morri on 02:27, 28 July 17
Quote from: ivarf on 16:25, 27 July 17
Probably the first CPC game made outside Europe, except a few made in Egypt and published by Amsoft.
So how is life in Japan?

Don't forget all of the Australian and New Zealand productions!! :P
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 06:58, 28 July 17
Quote from: ivarf on 16:25, 27 July 17
So how is life in Japan?
I read somewhere else that doing graphics isn't your favorite thing, maybe someone here can do it for you?

Life in Japan suits me pretty well! I don't have any plans to go back to the UK anyway.
The language barrier is always tough... I can read Japanese OK, but I'm about 4x slower than a native... the bigger problem is I have a lot of trouble with being understood, as I speak Japanese with an english accent.. so even if what I'm saying is right, I often get blank or confused looks... which hits the confidence pretty hard.

It wouldn't really help getting someone else involved... on a small gaming project, your chances of sucess are only as good as your least enthusiastic participant... and adding more people will just cause more delays and problems... also the graphics I am currently doing are character art for the dialog... which will explain the plot, and develop the characters... this is my story that I want to tell, I already know what I want each of the characters to be, and how they should react to what's going on... if someone else did the artwork then it would start to change to be something different.

*** Weekly Update! ***
Not much to report unfortunately... not to say things aren't going well! I've pretty much finished all 80 of the cutscene pictures... I'll spend the weekend doing some polishing, and I will start programming up the code to show the images and text next week...

I'm using a new compressor this time, last time I used a 'Sprite Compiler' which was aimed for display speed, but didn't reduce file size well (if at all).. I'm using a new RLE compressor I wrote this time, which gives about 50% size reduction for this kind of art... unfortunately, keeping the game working on 64k systems means I can't use any extra ram banks during the cut-sequences.

The compressor outputs assembler data, and I'm also going to add some new functions to the compressor, so it can automatically write some of the 'display code' itself - which will help if I need to make last minute changes later!

Finally, I'll point you to this tweet that Polyplay posted yesterday! please take a look!
https://twitter.com/polyplay_xyz/status/890479911844106240
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: tjohnson on 23:01, 01 August 17
Hey keith good news on the update fo episode 2.

I finished episode 1 tonight, played on genuine 1980s hardware.  Great game and for some reason much more enjoyable when played on a real CPC.
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: ASiC on 11:42, 02 August 17
Can't wait to bring my CPC hardware over here!
Nothing comes even close to the real thing  :D
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 12:51, 04 August 17
Quote from: tjohnson on 23:01, 01 August 17
I finished episode 1 tonight, played on genuine 1980s hardware.  Great game and for some reason much more enjoyable when played on a real CPC.
Glad you liked it! I always find a bit of 'analog distortion' makes the retrogames look better! but I have to admit I do all my development on Winape, and only do final testing on the real hardware.

*** Weekly Update! ***
Artwork has taken longer than expected, I thought I was pretty much done last weekend, but bits and bobs kept cropping up... I will start coding the introduction sequence this weekend, and I plan to make the code move inteligent than last time, so hopefully the debugging and testing will be easier than episode 1!

well, as I have very little to say, I think it's about time I introduced the 2nd Akuma! Bochan!
Bochan is a ghoul, and was ressurrected after his timely(?!) death by his sister Chibiko... and now they're both causing trouble in the town of Nikoyama!

Some more details and stuff here...
http://www.chibiakumas.com/ep2/characters/ (http://www.chibiakumas.com/ep2/characters/)

There are some more 'chibi' characters coming... but these are the only two playable 'akuma' characters... please note that 64k users will only get 'dual chibiko' mode, as your systems have too little memory for all the extra sprites!

And remember! the game has different dialog and cutscenes  for the following game modes:
1. 1 player Chibiko only
2. 1 player Bochan only
3. 2 player Chibiko and Bochan
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: tjohnson on 13:03, 04 August 17
Quote from: keith56 on 12:51, 04 August 17
Glad you liked it! I always find a bit of 'analog distortion' makes the retrogames look better! but I have to admit I do all my development on Winape, and only do final testing on the real hardware.

*** Weekly Update! ***
Artwork has taken longer than expected, I thought I was pretty much done last weekend, but bits and bobs kept cropping up... I will start coding the introduction sequence this weekend, and I plan to make the code move inteligent than last time, so hopefully the debugging and testing will be easier than episode 1!

well, as I have very little to say, I think it's about time I introduced the 2nd Akuma! Bochan!
Bochan is a ghoul, and was ressurrected after his timely(?!) death by his sister Chibiko... and now they're both causing trouble in the town of Nikoyama!

Some more details and stuff here...
http://www.chibiakumas.com/ep2/characters/ (http://www.chibiakumas.com/ep2/characters/)

There are some more 'chibi' characters coming... but these are the only two playable 'akuma' characters... please note that 64k users will only get 'dual chibiko' mode, as your systems have too little memory for all the extra sprites!

And remember! the game has different dialog and cutscenes  for the following game modes:
1. 1 player Chibiko only
2. 1 player Bochan only
3. 2 player Chibiko and Bochan
I've only played it on my original c p c 6128 hardware  not the full plus experience yet other than winape but enjoyed it alot after better understanding the game.  looking forward to episode 2 now. 

I can certainly understand using winape fir general development as it's much more convenient.

I intend to make up a dedicated disk of the game using your labels.

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: sigh on 21:23, 06 August 17
I was playing Chibi 1 again today. I'm really rubbish at this game for some reason :picard: !

I love bullet hell shooters, and did okayish on games like Battle Garegga and Dodonpachi on my Sega Saturn along with Ketsui on my PS3/360, but Chibi is absolutely destroying me! I really need to play this on actual CPC instead of my laptop. :)
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 15:33, 11 August 17
Quote from: sigh on 21:23, 06 August 17
I love bullet hell shooters, and did okayish on games like Battle Garegga and Dodonpachi on my Sega Saturn along with Ketsui on my PS3/360, but Chibi is absolutely destroying me! I really need to play this on actual CPC instead of my laptop. :)

There were some technical/personal skill limitations with regard to the coding which mean the collision detection & frame rate is not as good as other comparable games...
I wanted the bullets to move very fast across the screen, but witm my programming ability on a z80 it was impossible to increase the frame rate, so instead I have to move the bullets multiple units across the screen each frame - this means that sometimes a bullet can literally go through the player, and can make the collision detection feel a bit random - increasing the hitzone of the main character would have rendered the 'weaving while firing' unusable, as the player would have being hit by things that were some distance away.

It's hardly ideal, but as I said, I could not make the game as fast and furious as I wanted without this trade off. it would have also been nice to have the bullets have some kind of 'glow' making them bigger and more clear, but with the same hitzone which may have made them more visible, but all screen drawing slows things down, so it was not an option.

--------------------

Weekly update!

I've pretty much finished the introduction sequence, and am now coding up the 'cutscene before the last battle'... The new 'dialog script' code I wrote is making it a lot easier than last time, and the 'half width' font I have now is making things easier...

In Chibi ep1 the cutscenes were actually 'levels' and each line of text was coded with a 'event time' like an enemy coming onscreeen... yeah it was a bad way of doing things, but it worked with relatively little text...

The 'pre-final battle' cutscene in Ep1 was one image, with about 4 lines of text from 'Chibiko' and 'the necromancer'... the new one has 30 images and a ton of dialog - the main problem I'm having is not actually the graphics (the new code automatically does all the loading and the display), but writing the text.

As I've previously mentioned, the new has a lot more characters than the last, and I'm trying to get across the personalities of the characters, explain the plot while keeping everything as short as possible so there's a chance anyone will actually read it, without making things so short the sound badly written, and trying to balance the jokes between 'ridiculous' and 'downright offensive'... I hope it's clear to people that the 'Chibi Akumas' game is an intentionally ludicrous parody, and that when I have scenes of extreme violence and bad language and baseless aggression that far from endorsing that kind of behavior, I am turning it into something absurd that hopefully no-one could take seriously or consider acceptable...

I really struggle with this last point these days (it was a big concern when I released the first game), as we seem to be simultaneously in a world where Ultraviolent media like GTA and 'SAW movies' are seen as completely acceptable and widely enjoyed, but someone saying the vaguely wrong thing on twitter causes them to be a target for mass trolling and abuse...

Early in the development of Chibi Akumas, I did consider making the game 'family friendly'... but if I had started down that road I would have had to remove all religious references (Crucifixes , references to hell/heaven etc), and creepy Gothic horror imagery (skulls, dismembered bodies etc)... and I would have just ended up with an 8 bit version of 'magical chase'*, and I wanted to create something different, and much darker in style because I feel those kind of games have been done enough, and there is nothing more worth doing there...

*(Yeah, I know the PC engine is technically 8 bit - so what)
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: tjohnson on 16:58, 11 August 17
Quote from: keith56 on 15:33, 11 August 17
There were some technical/personal skill limitations with regard to the coding which mean the collision detection & frame rate is not as good as other comparable games...
I wanted the bullets to move very fast across the screen, but witm my programming ability on a z80 it was impossible to increase the frame rate, so instead I have to move the bullets multiple units across the screen each frame - this means that sometimes a bullet can literally go through the player, and can make the collision detection feel a bit random - increasing the hitzone of the main character would have rendered the 'weaving while firing' unusable, as the player would have being hit by things that were some distance away.

It's hardly ideal, but as I said, I could not make the game as fast and furious as I wanted without this trade off. it would have also been nice to have the bullets have some kind of 'glow' making them bigger and more clear, but with the same hitzone which may have made them more visible, but all screen drawing slows things down, so it was not an option.

--------------------

Weekly update!

I've pretty much finished the introduction sequence, and am now coding up the 'cutscene before the last battle'... The new 'dialog script' code I wrote is making it a lot easier than last time, and the 'half width' font I have now is making things easier...

In Chibi ep1 the cutscenes were actually 'levels' and each line of text was coded with a 'event time' like an enemy coming onscreeen... yeah it was a bad way of doing things, but it worked with relatively little text...

The 'pre-final battle' cutscene in Ep1 was one image, with about 4 lines of text from 'Chibiko' and 'the necromancer'... the new one has 30 images and a ton of dialog - the main problem I'm having is not actually the graphics (the new code automatically does all the loading and the display), but writing the text.

As I've previously mentioned, the new has a lot more characters than the last, and I'm trying to get across the personalities of the characters, explain the plot while keeping everything as short as possible so there's a chance anyone will actually read it, without making things so short the sound badly written, and trying to balance the jokes between 'ridiculous' and 'downright offensive'... I hope it's clear to people that the 'Chibi Akumas' game is an intentionally ludicrous parody, and that when I have scenes of extreme violence and bad language and baseless aggression that far from endorsing that kind of behavior, I am turning it into something absurd that hopefully no-one could take seriously or consider acceptable...

I really struggle with this last point these days (it was a big concern when I released the first game), as we seem to be simultaneously in a world where Ultraviolent media like GTA and 'SAW movies' are seen as completely acceptable and widely enjoyed, but someone saying the vaguely wrong thing on twitter causes them to be a target for mass trolling and abuse...

Early in the development of Chibi Akumas, I did consider making the game 'family friendly'... but if I had started down that road I would have had to remove all religious references (Crucifixes , references to hell/heaven etc), and creepy Gothic horror imagery (skulls, dismembered bodies etc)... and I would have just ended up with an 8 bit version of 'magical chase'*, and I wanted to create something different, and much darker in style because I feel those kind of games have been done enough, and there is nothing more worth doing there...

*(Yeah, I know the PC engine is technically 8 bit - so what)
Apart from the odd rude word i didn't think any of it was offensive.

Sent from my E5823 using Tapatalk

Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: Puresox on 18:37, 11 August 17

Quote from: keith56 on 15:33, 11 August 17
There were some technical/personal skill limitations with regard to the coding which mean the collision detection & frame rate is not as good as other comparable games...
I wanted the bullets to move very fast across the screen, but witm my programming ability on a z80 it was impossible to increase the frame rate, so instead I have to move the bullets multiple units across the screen each frame - this means that sometimes a bullet can literally go through the player, and can make the collision detection feel a bit random - increasing the hitzone of the main character would have rendered the 'weaving while firing' unusable, as the player would have being hit by things that were some distance away.

It's hardly ideal, but as I said, I could not make the game as fast and furious as I wanted without this trade off. it would have also been nice to have the bullets have some kind of 'glow' making them bigger and more clear, but with the same hitzone which may have made them more visible, but all screen drawing slows things down, so it was not an option.

--------------------

Weekly update!

I've pretty much finished the introduction sequence, and am now coding up the 'cutscene before the last battle'... The new 'dialog script' code I wrote is making it a lot easier than last time, and the 'half width' font I have now is making things easier...

In Chibi ep1 the cutscenes were actually 'levels' and each line of text was coded with a 'event time' like an enemy coming onscreeen... yeah it was a bad way of doing things, but it worked with relatively little text...

The 'pre-final battle' cutscene in Ep1 was one image, with about 4 lines of text from 'Chibiko' and 'the necromancer'... the new one has 30 images and a ton of dialog - the main problem I'm having is not actually the graphics (the new code automatically does all the loading and the display), but writing the text.

As I've previously mentioned, the new has a lot more characters than the last, and I'm trying to get across the personalities of the characters, explain the plot while keeping everything as short as possible so there's a chance anyone will actually read it, without making things so short the sound badly written, and trying to balance the jokes between 'ridiculous' and 'downright offensive'... I hope it's clear to people that the 'Chibi Akumas' game is an intentionally ludicrous parody, and that when I have scenes of extreme violence and bad language and baseless aggression that far from endorsing that kind of behavior, I am turning it into something absurd that hopefully no-one could take seriously or consider acceptable...

I really struggle with this last point these days (it was a big concern when I released the first game), as we seem to be simultaneously in a world where Ultraviolent media like GTA and 'SAW movies' are seen as completely acceptable and widely enjoyed, but someone saying the vaguely wrong thing on twitter causes them to be a target for mass trolling and abuse...

Early in the development of Chibi Akumas, I did consider making the game 'family friendly'... but if I had started down that road I would have had to remove all religious references (Crucifixes , references to hell/heaven etc), and creepy Gothic horror imagery (skulls, dismembered bodies etc)... and I would have just ended up with an 8 bit version of 'magical chase'*, and I wanted to create something different, and much darker in style because I feel those kind of games have been done enough, and there is nothing more worth doing there...

*(Yeah, I know the PC engine is technically 8 bit - so what)
great breakdown of game issues
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: Maniac on 09:30, 12 August 17
Always great to hear progress and how things have been approached. Look forward to seeing the results.
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: Gryzor on 07:22, 17 August 17
I suck at bullet hell shooters (best I've ever done was to finish Raiden :D ) and so I'm not a huge fan of the genre, but as with the first title, this one's one I'm looking forward to...
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 12:28, 18 August 17
Thanks for all the positive feedback, it really means a lot, as we're rapidly approaching the 9 months of development point, and it's keeping motivation that's the tough bit at this stage!

Weekly update!

Working on the end sequence... I'm hoping to have it finished this weekend, so I'm a bit ahead of schedule – once the endsequence is done, I still need to do the music, graphics like the 'game over' and Loading screens, get the final music in, finish off the ingame dialog, and test the whole thing... and then when it's tested, I need to compress all the files, and work out how it's all going to fit on 180k disks so theres plenty left to do!

I'm working on the cutscenes in the evenings, the music at work in my lunch hour, and I'm doing research on the planned MSX port before work in the mornings – so this should give some idea just how much work this is taking me.

Anyways time for an announcement!

Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation will be released Halloween 2017!

no matter what it takes, the game will be released for October 31st this year even if it kills me!

In celebration of this, I have made (rather quickly – I've got to get back to programming!) a teaser poster!

Enjoy!
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: Sykobee (Briggsy) on 12:53, 18 August 17
Great work! I hope you squeeze it onto a single disc!
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: ervin on 14:26, 18 August 17
Quote from: keith56 on 12:28, 18 August 17
Thanks for all the positive feedback, it really means a lot, as we're rapidly approaching the 9 months of development point, and it's keeping motivation that's the tough bit at this stage!

Weekly update!

Working on the end sequence... I'm hoping to have it finished this weekend, so I'm a bit ahead of schedule – once the endsequence is done, I still need to do the music, graphics like the 'game over' and Loading screens, get the final music in, finish off the ingame dialog, and test the whole thing... and then when it's tested, I need to compress all the files, and work out how it's all going to fit on 180k disks so theres plenty left to do!

I'm working on the cutscenes in the evenings, the music at work in my lunch hour, and I'm doing research on the planned MSX port before work in the mornings – so this should give some idea just how much work this is taking me.

Anyways time for an announcement!

Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation will be released Halloween 2017!

no matter what it takes, the game will be released for October 31st this year even if it kills me!

In celebration of this, I have made (rather quickly – I've got to get back to programming!) a teaser poster!

Enjoy!

This is an absolutely mighty effort!
I can't wait to play this game!
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: Maniac on 14:55, 18 August 17
Excellent stuff! Keep going!
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 00:51, 26 August 17
Weekly update!

I've been working this week on getting the final level music into the game, recompiling the levels and checking everything still works!

I wrote the levels one per month in order - so level 1 was finished around March, and hasn't been tested since - as the 'game core' has been changed and improved the whole time - the original code needs to be rechecked... now, the levels access the 'core' via it's jump block, so changes to the core should not matter, but sometimes things go wrong!

some of the boss battles have needed bug fixes...
if you shot the level 2 boss during the intro it would go off screen never to return!
and I found a spot where you could attack the level 3 boss, and it would be unable to fight back!

I've also had to do some extra music code for the boss battles - the music changes when the fight starts, on 128k both music files are held in ram, but 64k doesn't have the memory - so it has to be loaded from disk... 64k users causin' trouble again!

I'll be working on the last of the graphics touches this weekend, finishing of the title graphic, loading & game over screens etc - once they are done, I can finish the code that accompanies them, and the real testing can start!

--------
Useless trivia!
Please take a look at the two pictures of Chibiko below!
In one Chibiko's eyes are white and look normal, in the other they are black and 'inverted'... in Chibi Akumas, human characters have white eyes, and unDead ones have inverted eyes - So now you know!

The reason this came about is my main characters face was white - so making the eyes black made her easier to draw at low resolution, but it's actually made for a good distinguishing factor between the characters!
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: ervin on 02:11, 26 August 17
I still can't believe that a game like this is happening for our beloved CPC.
Can't wait!
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 10:29, 29 August 17
Quote from: Sykobee (Briggsy) on 12:53, 18 August 17
Great work! I hope you squeeze it onto a single disc!

It MAY fit on one 720k disk image, but it certainly won't be one 3 inch disk!

I'm hoping it will take 4 sides of 3 inch disks (so 2 double sided 3 inchers), and that's only thanks to roudoudou's superb lz48 cruncher...
http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/programming/lz48-cruncherdecruncher/msg136046/#msg136046

it's unnavoidable, taking advantage of 256k systems means a lot of extra data!
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: ASiC on 11:21, 29 August 17
Quote from: keith56 on 10:29, 29 August 17
It MAY fit on one 720k disk image, but it certainly won't be one 3 inch disk!

I'm hoping it will take 4 sides of 3 inch disks (so 2 double sided 3 inchers), and that's only thanks to roudoudou's superb lz48 cruncher...
http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/programming/lz48-cruncherdecruncher/msg136046/#msg136046 (http://www.cpcwiki.eu/forum/programming/lz48-cruncherdecruncher/msg136046/#msg136046)

it's unnavoidable, taking advantage of 256k systems means a lot of extra data!


Will you be using some sort of trackloader or just a plain file loader?
/me thinks of M4 instant loading  ;D
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 12:25, 29 August 17
Quote from: ASiC on 11:21, 29 August 17
Will you be using some sort of trackloader or just a plain file loader?
/me thinks of M4 instant loading  ;D
its a plain file loader, it a slightly reworked version of the one in Episode 1 - so yes, it should work on the M4, and be instant... I've not tested Ep2 on the M4, but Ep1 worked (and boy - was it fast!), and I expect EP2 will as well, it works with the AmsDos/ParaDos bios, not around it.
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 11:05, 01 September 17
Weekly Update!
Things are coming together nicely... the last of the graphics are in (the gameover screens, new loading screen etc), the new music files are hopefully done - unless one starts annoying me and I decide to redo it!

Dialog is looking good, but I'll keep tweaking it until release. I played the game all the way through for the first time this week - I usually start the game from the level I'm testing - but there's always the risk Level X will cause a bug in level X+1... a small bug occured - the player credits changed for no apparent reason, so I need to look into what happened there - but there were no crashes, and the game was playable - so there's no major problems there! I'm testing on an emulator for now - because I can run the game at 200% speed for quicker testing (and with a dualshock controller - so I can play as both players at once!), but once I'm reasonably happy everything is OK, I'll move onto real hardware.

Sooo, anyway, here is the new Teaser poster... this time with the Full Story! I'll be posting details of new characters on twitter and the website over the next week - so stay tuned!

Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: ervin on 11:36, 01 September 17
Quote from: keith56 on 11:05, 01 September 17
Weekly Update!
Things are coming together nicely... the last of the graphics are in (the gameover screens, new loading screen etc), the new music files are hopefully done - unless one starts annoying me and I decide to redo it!

Dialog is looking good, but I'll keep tweaking it until release. I played the game all the way through for the first time this week - I usually start the game from the level I'm testing - but there's always the risk Level X will cause a bug in level X+1... a small bug occured - the player credits changed for no apparent reason, so I need to look into what happened there - but there were no crashes, and the game was playable - so there's no major problems there! I'm testing on an emulator for now - because I can run the game at 200% speed for quicker testing (and with a dualshock controller - so I can play as both players at once!), but once I'm reasonably happy everything is OK, I'll move onto real hardware.

Sooo, anyway, here is the new Teaser poster... this time with the Full Story! I'll be posting details of new characters on twitter and the website over the next week - so stay tuned!

Hmmm, playing as 2 players at once sounds fun!
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 12:09, 08 September 17
So here's the weekly update!
So, a lot of emulator testing, debugging and the like!

The continue problem was just a display issue, 03 continues should show as 3, but a bug was causing 203 continues to show as 23.. doh!
Also fixed a crash if the player was in the top corner when talking - the text would render offscreen and corrupt the game code!
a bug in the compiled backgrounds during the last boss on 64k systems has been fixed too - 64k has no compiled backgrounds but it is supposed to show a black background (128k has 3, 256k has about 20)

Other general fixes, fixed some cosmetic sprite glitches - I've also started 'upgrading' the Episode 1 levels - the new game-engine is 99% backward compatible with the old one - so there will be a re-release of the old game - with 2 player support a bit of extra speed, nicer backgrounds and some other bits - I'm aiming for around Xmas or new year for that one. I'm thinking it should be called 'Chibi Akumas - Resurrection' or 'Chibi akumas V1.666'  but if anyone has any wittier titles - please suggest them!!!

I'm hoping to do some 'real hardware' testing this weekend - testing the new game all the way through takes a lot of time - the new game is much bigger than the old one - there are more levels, and they are longer - level 5 in episode 2 is about 4x the length (and about 2x the enemy type count) of level 1 of episode 1.

I uploaded the 'developer lets play' of the first game this week, posted on the other thread, if you have time, please take a look...
https://youtu.be/N1cIBoufwsw (https://youtu.be/N1cIBoufwsw)
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: tjohnson on 18:08, 08 September 17
Great video, watched about half of it so far.  I'm tinkering around in ASM but its not exactly coming naturally to me, so interested in any tips you have?
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 12:58, 09 September 17
I just made this little Gif to show the 3 difficulty modes in the new game - they existed in the old game too - but 'easy' mode works better in epsiode 2, as it reduces the fire spread as well as speed.

Note, though I doubt anyone will be crazy enough to play it 'Difficult' mode may not actually have more bullets in places - as the 255 onscreen bullet limit will stop enemies firing!
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 00:01, 14 September 17
As I know everyone loves animated gifs, I've done one of the first level 2 player gameplay!
feel free to redistribute it as you wish!
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: ervin on 01:56, 14 September 17
Quote from: keith56 on 00:01, 14 September 17
As I know everyone loves animated gifs, I've done one of the first level 2 player gameplay!
feel free to redistribute it as you wish!

I don't know how you managed to achieve such a great frame rate.
Very impressive indeed!
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 10:41, 15 September 17
Testing went OK last weekend, although my 6128+ developed a hardware failure, which wasted a lot of my time.

I've spent much of this week compressing the game files down for release, the game will be released as 4 180k amsdos compatible images - I will do larger images for Parados users later, but having multiple versions out there makes my troubleshooting and rebuilding harder, so I will only do the other version once I'm happy the bugs are out.
The game uses Roudoudou's excellent LZ48 compressor, without which the game would probably be 8 disks!

Polyplay are now selling a Chibi Akumas poster! I'm hoping they will do a physical release of the game later, but I'm sure that will depend on how many posters are sold, so please consider buying one!
https://www.polyplay.xyz/Poster-Chibi-Akumas_1

I've been posting character cards on Twitter - but in case you missed that, you can see them all on the Chibi Akuma(s) website:
http://www.chibiakumas.com/ep2/characters/

The game itself has a more detailed 'bio' and full-screen poster of each character - but you'll have to find all 5 of the unlockable achievements to see them!

Finally, What the heck! there's 6 weeks to go, so I will reveal the final title graphic!
Here's the raster switched version from the game, and an 'enhanced color' preview poster you can use on your windows wallpaper if you're insane or something!

Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 22:31, 21 September 17

Weekly update!


It's been a busy week - and I'm hoping now the only coding changes will be happening from now on are debugging!


I've added a new feature... the first time you play the game an 'age verification' system will run (based on the one in the leisure suit larry games)- which asks you questions to prove you're mature enough to play the game - it may not be entirely serious!... this was an idea I had months ago, but I wasn't sure would make it into the game - well it did!


I've made a last minute change to the bullet code - and slowed down the default bullet speed by 1/3rd... the game was too hard on the last levels! the old game speed is still available in 'Hyper Akuma' difficulty mode... but I think people will prefer this new mode - as it makes weaving between the bullets more possible, and makes the game feel more fair.


The ChibiAkumas website now has a countdown timer! when it reaches zero on Halloween morning Japan time the download links will be revealed! So no matter what, the game IS coming out on time!... and don't think you can nick the links from the HTML source, it's server side!  >:(
The timer is here:
http://www.chibiakumas.com/ep2/

Here's another AniGif... this time the Level 1 boss...
It's called (drumroll)... the Trojan Bunny Combat Tank!


This was supposed to be based on the Monty Python 'Trojan Rabbit' and the 'over tall' tanks that Metal Slug often has - I wanted to really push the new sprite capabilities with the biggest and best sprite I could!
The tank sprite has 2 damage stages (the first it is intact, the second shown here, shows the internal gears), and the caterpillar tracks have 4 frames of animation - this is far more sprite data than the original game was capable of... even on 64k Chibi Akumas Ep2 has more memory available to sprite data than the last game (1 bank, about 12k) - and on 128k it has a total of 4 sprite banks, allowing up to around 40k of sprite data.


The game is nearly done! and will be released in a few weeks!
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: ervin on 04:25, 22 September 17
Looking great!
All those new features sound like fun too - this seems as if it be one of the most "complete" shooters ever released on the CPC, if you know what I mean.
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: Maniac on 06:50, 22 September 17
This is looking superb! Even though bullet hell is not really my thing I'm looking forward to this.
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: remax on 10:34, 22 September 17
Really impressive !
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 11:35, 22 September 17
Quote from: ervin on 04:25, 22 September 17
this seems as if it be one of the most "complete" shooters ever released on the CPC, if you know what I mean.
Did I mention there's a big secret feature on level 5? well there is... a BIG SECRET FEATURE! (I'm not telling what it is!  :P :P ) - I'm not talking about the 256k support either!

Quote from: Maniac on 06:50, 22 September 17
This is looking superb! Even though bullet hell is not really my thing I'm looking forward to this.
See the AniGif below... Here's the game in 'easy mode' - it reduces the fire rate, and fire spread, does this look more to your taste?
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: ervin on 12:22, 22 September 17
Quote from: keith56 on 11:35, 22 September 17
Did I mention there's a big secret feature on level 5? well there is... a BIG SECRET FEATURE! (I'm not telling what it is!  :P :P ) - I'm not talking about the 256k support either!
See the AniGif below... Here's the game in 'easy mode' - it reduces the fire rate, and fire spread, does this look more to your taste?

Oh go on... what's the BIG SECRET FEATURE?!?!
Eh?
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: XeNoMoRPH on 14:31, 22 September 17
impossible to avoid so many shots  :o :o :o
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: Maniac on 07:56, 23 September 17
Quote from: keith56 on 11:35, 22 September 17
Did I mention there's a big secret feature on level 5? well there is... a BIG SECRET FEATURE! (I'm not telling what it is!  :P :P ) - I'm not talking about the 256k support either!
See the AniGif below... Here's the game in 'easy mode' - it reduces the fire rate, and fire spread, does this look more to your taste?
That's probably more my thing but I will try it in the 'normal' mode!
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 12:29, 25 September 17
I'll take this opportunity to explain how TotO's MultiPlay works in Chibi Akumas Episode 2, as it does not work the same as the normal joystick and keys.

Chibi Akumas Episode 2 supports simulatious 2 player play - and each player can move in 4 directions, and has 3 firebuttons - one for FireLeft, one for FireRight, and one for smartbomb...

The default keys for player 1 are cursor keys for Up, Down Left and Right... i for fire Left and o for fire right... [return] is Smart Bomb , and P is pause

The default keys for player 2 are W, S, A, D for Up, Down Left and Right... v for fire Left and b for fire right... [space] is Smart Bomb , and P is pause

These keys have been chosen to avoid Keyclash, You can use one or two standard joysticks, and configure the controls however you wish using the Redefine option

In addition there is a special option which uses a hardware upgrade by TotO called 'MultiPlay' This is an external controler which supports two 3 button Joysticks and is not suceptable to KeyClash

Chibi Akumas supports this device for 2 players, however there are some limitations (due to memory limitations in the game engine, and the fact I think very few people will use this device!!)

To switch Multiplay support on go to the 'settings menu' and change the 'Use TotO MultiPlay' setting to 'On'

Please note - the Game Engine does not reconfigure until a Level Reload, so the multiplay connected joystick will not work until the game starts, after that it will work during gameplay, and when you return to the main menu.

Joystick 1 always controls Chibiko
Joystick 2 always controls Bochan

Fire 1 is FireRight
Fire 2 is FireLeft
Fire 3 is Smartbomb

Multiplay Joysticks don't work in the same way as the keyboard & internal joystick - for this reason It is not possible to redefine MultiPlay buttons, however it is possible to swap Fire1 and Fire2 - so if Fire1 is to the left of Fire2 you can orientate them correctly!

To swap the fire buttons go to the 'Configre Settings' and change the 'Use TotO MultiPlay' setting to 'On+SwapFires'

If your Joystick only has 1 or 2 fires you can still use key controls, so use the Multiplay Joystick, and use some keys for firing!
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: keith56 on 13:18, 01 October 17
Weekly update!

This may be the last weekly update, because hopefully the game is done!  I just finished testing on my (real) Amstrad 6128 - I played the game all the way through without problem, I did 6128 Plus with Xmem and Multiplay last week, and I will do 464 next week!

I'm hoping there are no bugs left and the game is finished! I'm afraid you're still going to have to wait though, as I'm sticking to the 'Halloween' Release date! that mean's the game will come out in 29 Days!

The latest build has been uploaded to the website, and the download links will automatically go live at midnight on the 30'th Japan time, so you'll be able to download it Halloween morning UK time if you want!

I have a little trailer video I'll be releasing in a week or so, to try to build up some excitement!

I've currently shifted my priority to porting the first game to the MSX and Spectrum - which I'll be posting about elsewhere! if you're interested, please keep an eye on the msx.org forum, and worldofspectrum... as well as my twitter-feed and the Chibi Akumas website!

I've not finished on the CPC though! Quite the opposite!  I can't do any more work on the CPC version of the game engine without having to redo all my testing, so I'm working on other things in this 'lull'

Once Episode 2 is released and bugfree - I'll start upgrading Episode 1 to the new game engine - so it will gain 2 player, new game modes, better backgrounds... and hopefully a new super-special feature that even Episode 2 does not have!!! - I'm not telling what it is yet! watch my twitter feed over the coming months to find out more!
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: jesusdelmas on 21:53, 01 October 17
Quote from: keith56 on 13:18, 01 October 17
Weekly update!

This may be the last weekly update, because hopefully the game is done!  I just finished testing on my (real) Amstrad 6128 - I played the game all the way through without problem, I did 6128 Plus with Xmem and Multiplay last week, and I will do 464 next week!

I'm hoping there are no bugs left and the game is finished! I'm afraid you're still going to have to wait though, as I'm sticking to the 'Halloween' Release date! that mean's the game will come out in 29 Days!

The latest build has been uploaded to the website, and the download links will automatically go live at midnight on the 30'th Japan time, so you'll be able to download it Halloween morning UK time if you want!

I have a little trailer video I'll be releasing in a week or so, to try to build up some excitement!

I've currently shifted my priority to porting the first game to the MSX and Spectrum - which I'll be posting about elsewhere! if you're interested, please keep an eye on the msx.org forum, and worldofspectrum... as well as my twitter-feed and the Chibi Akumas website!

I've not finished on the CPC though! Quite the opposite!  I can't do any more work on the CPC version of the game engine without having to redo all my testing, so I'm working on other things in this 'lull'

Once Episode 2 is released and bugfree - I'll start upgrading Episode 1 to the new game engine - so it will gain 2 player, new game modes, better backgrounds... and hopefully a new super-special feature that even Episode 2 does not have!!! - I'm not telling what it is yet! watch my twitter feed over the coming months to find out more!


Awesome!!!! Cant wait to play it :D
Title: Re: Chibi Akumas Episode 2: Confrontation! - a little 'chibi' update
Post by: grouik1er on 12:56, 12 December 17
Quote from: keith56 on 10:41, 15 September 17
Polyplay are now selling a Chibi Akumas poster! I'm hoping they will do a physical release of the game later, but I'm sure that will depend on how many posters are sold, so please consider buying one!


Done, nice A3 poster.
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