Arcade Game Designer

[Jonathan.]

Hi guys,


as some of you may be aware, I developed a game editor for the Spectrum called Arcade Game Designer - or AGD for short.  A number of people have already put the tool to some use and produced a dozen or so games for the machine.


I've recently been working on a CPC conversion and feel it is just about in a state where I can release it for others to have a play.  There are a few bugs and sound/save/load aren't in yet, but everything else should be more or less functional.  Thanks must go to Kevin Thacker and Mauricioi Munyoz Lucero for their advice over the past few weeks.


There's a snapshot here.


The Spectrum version (which has instructions!) is available from the AGD forums.


And just to whet your appetite, some links to YouTube videos to show you what people have already done with the Spectrum version:

[db6128]

Looks fast! I wonder if it will be that quick on a CPC, due to the added overhead of masking colours onto the screen.

[mr_lou]

Looks nice.

Will the CPC version be able to load source files from ZX Spectrum games and export to a CPC game then?
In other words, will the CPC be able to relatively fast have the same games that's already been made on the ZX Spectrum version?

[Devilmarkus]

Cool project!
I appreciate that.


To those of you, who cant load compressed Type 3 snaps:

[SyX]

Great Work Jonathan!!!

It looks very promising, i'm sure that AGD CPC is going to be a success as the ZX version

PS: My name looks a little encrypted, but sure without an spanish keyboard is going to be difficult to write "Mauricio Muñoz Lucero"

[Gryzor]

Hello Jonathan!


Welcome to our forum - it's a honour to have you here


The Speccy demos look fantastic indeed. I just wish this had been released on the CPC a little earlier so people could take advantage for it for out ROM competition!

[TFM]

Looks fast! I wonder if it will be that quick on a CPC...

Sure, even faster if you like.
1. There is no scrolling of screens
2. The speed of sprites depends here on how much pixels you move them every frame.

About the snapshot (tried JavaCPC and WinCPC)
The SNA carshes here. How must the CPC Emulator be setup to work with it?
EDIT: Works in WinApe

[Devilmarkus]

Use 6128 ROMs. No extra ROMs.

[arnoldemu]

Sure, even faster if you like.
1. There is no scrolling of screens
2. The speed of sprites depends here on how much pixels you move them every frame.

About the snapshot (tried JavaCPC and WinCPC)
The SNA carshes here. How must the CPC Emulator be setup to work with it?

it is a good tool for those who can't program but who want to make games.
more games for cpc. yes please.

[TFM]

Use 6128 ROMs. No extra ROMs.

Extra ROMs can NOT be a problem, since a SNA overwrites the tables of the OS, so they are not initialized. That's not the point. 6128 ROMs is what I always use.

[Devilmarkus]

Extra ROMs can NOT be a problem, since a SNA overwrites the tables of the OS, so they are not initialized. That's not the point. 6128 ROMs is what I always use.

Good, then the SNA works ok

[Jonathan.]

Sorry, I should have stated that the snapshot was created with WinAPE.

Speed isn't going to be a problem.  I've been messing around with the sprite code and timings, and it looks like the CPC will support as many sprites as the Spectrum version at the same frame rate.

It won't be possible to load Spectrum games into the Amstrad version, or vice versa.  To convert a Spectrum game you'd have to load it into the Spectrum editor and have a look at the graphics and logic, then recreate them in the Amstrad version in another emulator.  At some point in the future there will be a PC tool capable of creating Spectrum and Amstrad games and hopefully versions for other machines too, but I want to get the CPC version sorted first.

[db6128]

Speed isn't going to be a problem.  I've been messing around with the sprite code and timings, and it looks like the CPC will support as many sprites as the Spectrum version at the same frame rate.

Great! I wasn't doubtful of your ability to program, just curious if the added overhead to address a more complex and larger screen would be noticeable.

Actually, there's a question: What will the native resolution be for this? Will it be configurable? Again, just curious!

P.S. Heh, with this particular pair of machines, people will probably be glad that direct conversion isn't possible.

[Jonathan.]

It isn't configurable, the resolution is 128 x 200.  It made most sense to do it that way.


Latest version is here, I've used a different snapshot format this time.

Let me know if you discover any problems.

[MacDeath]

speccuy ports everywhere, my eyes burns from the colour clashes. 


Sorry, had to tell this.
This said, those games looks quite good, fast and so on, also nice to have AY sound on those Speccy128/+2/+3.


Such tool would be great on CPC.
No scrolling, not sure it will be too slow on CPC if the sprites routines are well implemented.

[sigh]

Looks like a great piece of software. So is it not possible to scroll the screen?

[db6128]

It isn't configurable, the resolution is 128 x 200.  It made most sense to do it that way.

I presume you mean 128×200 in MODE 0. Now, why does that make most sense? What would make the most sense, if you must use a 64-byte wide screen – which has a lot of its own advantages and greatly simplifies things, hence why I use it – is 128×256, so then you wouldn't be wasting the other 56 lines' worth of memory scattered throughout the 16 kB. I mean, sure, you could store stuff there, but it's hard to organise. With 128×200, you're getting some of the benefits but not taking full advantage of all the available memory within the 16 kB map.

[Jonathan.]

AGD isn't designed to scroll and works with static screens only.  There's nothing to stop you animating things in the background though.

128x200 in mode 0 makes most sense firstly for the reason you mentioned - a 64-byte line is simpler and makes for faster code.  It's 200 pixels high because that's a very common screen height.  The first version is there to make conversions between the 2 big Z80 machines as straightforward as possible.  I want somebody who has used the Spectrum version to be able to instantly pick up the Amstrad program and start using it, and vice versa.

Ultimately, the aim is to produce a GUI cross-platform PC development tool which can develop games across a number of different 8-bit formats, and the first version of the CPC engine will have to fit in with that.  Incidentally, the Spectrum side of that tool is already out and it won't be long before the CPC is added to it.

When that's all done I'll look into creating specialist versions for both machines.  I'm well aware that they can each do things the other can't.

[EgoTrip]

I've had a play around with this, its very impressive, thanks for working on this.


Once the finished version is released I will work on a game. Will you be able to include your own stuff with it, for example, music composed in a different package?

[sigh]

AGD isn't designed to scroll and works with static screens only.  There's nothing to stop you animating things in the background though.

128x200 in mode 0 makes most sense firstly for the reason you mentioned - a 64-byte line is simpler and makes for faster code.  It's 200 pixels high because that's a very common screen height.  The first version is there to make conversions between the 2 big Z80 machines as straightforward as possible.  I want somebody who has used the Spectrum version to be able to instantly pick up the Amstrad program and start using it, and vice versa.

So is it safe to say that you cant do 128x200 in mode 1?

[arnoldemu]

So is it safe to say that you cant do 128x200 in mode 1?

I believe Jonathan may do a mode 1 version later, and then it would be 320x200.

[db6128]

256, surely, if he wants to retain the advantages of 64-byte lines?

Anyway, 128×anything in mode 1 would make no sense.

The first version is there to make conversions between the 2 big Z80 machines as straightforward as possible.

Easier said than done with a two-fold difference in resolution; I presume you are prioritising number of colours rather than horizontal resolution, but that's not "as straightforward as possible".

[arnoldemu]

256, surely, if he wants to retain the advantages of 64-byte lines?

Anyway, 128×anything in mode 1 would make no sense.
Easier said than done with a two-fold difference in resolution; I presume you are prioritising number of colours rather than horizontal resolution, but that's not "as straightforward as possible".

don't forget Jonathan is much more familiar with the Spectrum than the CPC.

When he means "as straighforward as possible", it means in terms of core z80 code, and that the number of differences are limited to work out screen coordinates and finding the next line down, reading the keyboard and reading/writing files.
A lot is re-usable, and drawing sprites is about 90% the same.

So mode 0 version first then I am anticipating a mode 1 version to follow.

Behind AGD is already a thriving forum, instructions and existing games on the Spectrum.
This can all be used to help others to make games for CPC, or for them to remake the Spectrum games on the CPC.

[sigh]

I believe Jonathan may do a mode 1 version later, and then it would be 320x200.

Sounds good. It would be great to have a dedicated option to also increase the mode 0 at the same time if possible. Scrolling would of course be asking for too much

Well...if this arcade game designer doesn't require any programming, then maybe even someone like me could knock up a quick demo of something:)

[EgoTrip]

Well, it does require some scripting, but its quite simple enough for even me to pick up.


Mode 1 would be a good addition.