Snowball battle (homebrew Nintendo DS game)

2007-01-17T02:29:00.000-08:00

DSameGame update 2.0(beta) released!

I have updated DSameGame to version 2.0. This version basically brings a new interface to the existing SameGame based on menus.

The main changes from the previous version are:

New graphical game environment based on menus
Basic sound added
User selectable game tile set
Configuration menu operational

In the long term I plan to add more minigames as the SameGame to the program

Get the game here

2006-10-12T01:33:00.000-07:00

DSameGame update 1.1(beta) released!

I have added a small update to DSameGame by including a user selectable difficulty level (easy/normal/hard). The difficulty is based on the amount of tile colors in the board: the more colors the harder the game is.

Get the game here
Get the source code here

2006-10-11T01:22:00.000-07:00

DSameGame

First game I create in C/PAlib! It is a basic yet operational implementation of SameGame, a simple puzzle game that came built it in my old phone and was very useful in waiting/queueing situations. The main goal here was to get used to the new programing enviroment (devkitPro / C / PAlib) and I have to say that I succeeded since I only took two day to program it.

Regarding the game, you can find an extensive game description of SameGame at Wikipedia . In short: You have a rectangular playing screen initially filled with colored blocks. By choosing adjoined blocks of the same color you can remove them from the screen and the usual gravity action takes place. You can play with two main objectives in mind:

To connect the blocks of a kind as many as possible (to make a big score).
To remove all the blocks in the screen (usually resulting in considerable bonus).

Here comes a screenshot of the current version of the game:

Game available here. Source code available here

2006-10-09T14:48:00.000-07:00

Bye bye LUA! Hello C!

The lack of updates/fixes in DSLua has blocked the DS homebrew projects I was working on. Waruwaru, the author of DSLua, seems to be neither available (since May!) nor has released the source code so somebody else could carry on with the project. It is a pity, since I like DSlua but... it is time to move on...

So, I have decided to take a shortcut and directly develop in C with the PAlib. It is a new environment to learn but after a few days it seems I am getting used :) This will give me access to parts of the PAlib DSlua did not use yet such as the WiFi or 3D graphics. I expect to release my first test C based DS homebrew project in the next days

2006-08-03T06:11:00.000-07:00

Struggle with DSLua sprites

Regarding the new RPG/hack'n slash game I am working one, here comes a small update:

- I have created the 3D models for some enemies (wolf / skeletons), generated the renders and created the sprite bitmaps. Also new animations for the wizard main character have been created.

- I am having a lot of headaches with DSLua trying to use the new sprites. It seems DSLua has some internal problems managing sprites or just too little memory allocated for them. Any case, the result is that when I try so show new sprites on screen (say the new enemies), the old ones get either corrupted or simply disappear. I have played some tricks to clean memory but even having improved the problem is still there.

- Some basic player functions (health / magic / heartbeat) have been implemented.

Whenever I suceed fixing the sprite issue, and some basic player versus enemy fight is in place I will release the first public beta (I hope soon)

2006-07-17T05:58:00.000-07:00

New game early alpha screenshot

As mentioned in my previous post I am currently working in a new DS homebrew game. A lot in this game is still to be defined so i cannot tell much since it can change anytime. A few elements more or less defined currently are:

Thematic: medieval phantasy (not quite original though, but quite a lot of fans out there...)
Gameplay: somewhere between hack'n slack and RPG
Artwork: I will create the game artwork (whether drawings or 3D models) as oposite to borrowing from other sources (as was the case of Snowball battle game). This would be extra work on top of the programming but also a challenge and game freedom
View: prerendered models in isometric perspective

Here comes the first screenshots of the game still in alpha develpment stage (splash screen + ingame).

Currently game menus are operational and the hero can walk on the scrolling map. I will add some real playable elements before releasing the first public beta

2006-06-26T01:52:00.000-07:00

Donations and some news

I have included a PayPal button on the right of the page as you can see. Please use it if you want to do a donation to support this DS homebrew development (to replace my lost homebrew development kit, DS+M3, in the first place).

The development of the Snowball game is a bit on hold due to the (current) lack of development kit but mainly because i am waiting for DSLua author (Waruwaru) to add WiFi capabilities to the system. That will provide funnier multiplayer experience. Any case, some game updates are in the way.

Besides of that I am starting the development of a new DSLua game. This will be a longer, level based game. It is still in an early development stage, but i hope i will post some alpha screenshots in the next weeks. Stay tunned!

2006-06-19T03:11:00.000-07:00

Bad news

I have lost my backpack in a motorway restaurant somewhere in Germany. My Nintendo DS and the M3 development kit where there. Up to now, there are are no signs whoever found it has tried to return it (my ipod was also there, so i guess someone had anticipated Christmas...)

Luckily, I had a copy of the Snowball game development files in my PC, but without real hardware to test in, further progress in the game development will be quite slow... I will try to get a new Nintendo DS and M3, but this no doubt will require time and (sigh!) money.

2006-05-14T09:47:00.000-07:00

Version v1.4 released

Finally the game starts getting a friendly commercial-like look!
Main improvements from previous version are:

Great graphics update and removal of all text: splash screen, animated menus, results screen
New game mode added: time limited match

Download the game here

2006-05-03T12:59:00.000-07:00

Version v1.3 released

Since the new DS LUA (v0.5) supports music, lets use it! Main improvements from previous version are:

Added intro/game music
Sound/Music can be turned on/off
Cleverer NPCs (npc against the wall bug removed)

Download the game (outdated link)

2006-04-28T11:11:00.000-07:00

Version v1.2 released

More sugar... same cake! Main improvements from previous version are:

Added snowball crash sound
Added top screen background
Player1/2/npc throws balls in diagonal
Npc moves/dodges in diagonal

Download the game (outdated link)

2006-04-26T14:31:00.000-07:00

Version v1.1 released

Main improvements from previous version are:

Two human players can play in the same DS
Game level can be selected in game menu

Download the game (outdated link)

Play with a friend!

2006-04-26T00:37:00.000-07:00

First beta release (v1.0)

After solving a particularly annoying bug that chrashed the program everytime a NPC tried to throw a snowball, here comes the first public beta of the game. It features:

Snowball battle of one human player versus three DS controlled NPCs
Basic game menu

Download the game (outdated link)

2006-04-25T04:41:00.000-07:00

Early development screenshots

After some days of development, some basic game milestones have been reached:

Human controls of player 1 (and player 2)
NDS controls NPC players (player 2, 3 and 4)
Snowballs can be thrown by human players, collission detected and score updated

Here come some early screenshots (note: some colors are wrongly displayed in Dualis but work fine in the real console)

2006-04-25T04:28:00.000-07:00

My rules to speed this game development

Focus on develop the code
Reuse existing resources (graphics, music)

(I should write it on a post-it and attach it to the computer screen...)

2006-04-24T14:20:00.000-07:00

Just for the fun of doing it, i will create my own DS homebrew game and then release the source code to anybody interested. I do not know if it will be of any value or if anyone will play it but it will be an experience to develop it. So, this is the plan:

The constraints

Mean and lean: I am not a big game producer, so i do not have great resources to create a game (budget, time, skills). The game therefore will have to remain simple but stand to the main esence: to be fun to play
Full game: i do not plan to create a "proof of concept" piece of software but a fully operational game. This includes all game production phases and game elements
Original game: I will not deny i could absorb ideas from other games, but the intention is not to create a "clone of game X" or a "port of game X"

The ingredients

Development hardware: Nintendo DS game console + M3 adapter
Development software: DS LUA language (interpreted programming language: easy to program and to port)
Development software: Dualis (PC emulator for Nintendo DS: accelerates a lot the software development and testing. A "must" tool)

The game

The idea is to create a snowball fight game

DS homebrew? Why not?

2006-04-24T13:33:00.000-07:00

Time ago i bought a Nintendo DS console. Why? Well, honestly i do not why since i do not fullfille at all the typical console game player profile and i am not fanboy at all. Maybe some forgotten memories of the fun i had long time ago with some Nintendo "game & watch" games. Who knowns? Any way, the fact remain that i had played some games, but never went beyond the casual gamer type of person. Somehow i had the feeling that the games i was seeing laying on the shops shelves where not very variated, nothing really fresh or exciting (becoming old? maybe...).

Commercial games are elaborated products, well finished, but i was missing the spawn of ideas of previous times when, for instance, 8-bit machines ruled the home entertainament world. At that time, the easy access to game production produced a huge quantity of games. I admit most of them were poorly implemented or just clones of some well known game formula, but from such big production a few jewels were produced. It is well known that after the game industry moved from hobby to the big industry it currently is, more money is involved in a game creation. That allows to create bigger, most sophisticated games (for bigger, more sophisticated game consoles...) but also lead to reduce investment risk by sticking to success-proof formula. That of course left some corpses (well, barely alive you could say...) behind: experimentation, creativity and orginality. I do not blame them, since they just try to protect their investments as anybody will. I thought then, that somewhere out there were still some hobby programers free from the industry constraints, but i realized current console machines are not meant to be open machines. Once again, the hardware company that created them wants to make money by a tight control of the commercial games since they receive a fee everytime one is sold. End of the road.

Then i discovered the homebrew community

It seem that some people out there with tons of talent have found the way to open the commercial game machines and thus offering everybody interested the possibility to create home made games. A lot of reverse engineering and a great effort! The possibility of creating homebrew games could bring originality back to games since hobby programmers are not tied hands as the commercial game producer companies. I know most of the homebrew software out there follows the "i am able to clone that game i like so much", but this is just one of the possibilities. It is now up to any programmer out there to create new and original games!

PS: If i was a commercial game producer, i would pay attention to the homebrew community. They could find there some talented programers and fresh ideas.