mr287cc
Deep Blooper
Posts: 5
Homebrew skills: a little bit
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Post by mr287cc on Nov 30, 2020 14:51:08 GMT
This initiative is an excellent one! I just have a few questions: - What emulator are you using? I like Mednafen, but I don't really like its debugging tools. - What about the music, did you use the original NES engine (+ improvements) or develop your one from scratch? Recently I was looking for something compact and fast for playing music, but I couldn't find anything on the web except for an unfinished dmf (Deflemask tracker) music player.
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artial
Deep Blooper
Posts: 25
Homebrew skills: Make it work
Fave PCE Shooter: Superstar soldier
Currently Playing: Micro Mages
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Post by artial on Nov 30, 2020 20:23:19 GMT
This initiative is an excellent one! I just have a few questions: - What emulator are you using? I like Mednafen, but I don't really like its debugging tools. - What about the music, did you use the original NES engine (+ improvements) or develop your one from scratch? Recently I was looking for something compact and fast for playing music, but I couldn't find anything on the web except for an unfinished dmf (Deflemask tracker) music player. mednafen too, I didn't find anything else to "debug". Maybe MAME debugger should be given a go. For now yes, it's reproducing the NES sound engine. Have a look at Squirrel, HuSIC, HuZak - I haven't used any yet.
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Post by gredler on Nov 30, 2020 20:32:42 GMT
Right now the only option for HuC is Squirrel - there are no alternatives besides mml piped through Squirrel for HuC
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mr287cc
Deep Blooper
Posts: 5
Homebrew skills: a little bit
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Post by mr287cc on Dec 1, 2020 23:55:14 GMT
This initiative is an excellent one! I just have a few questions: - What emulator are you using? I like Mednafen, but I don't really like its debugging tools. - What about the music, did you use the original NES engine (+ improvements) or develop your one from scratch? Recently I was looking for something compact and fast for playing music, but I couldn't find anything on the web except for an unfinished dmf (Deflemask tracker) music player. mednafen too, I didn't find anything else to "debug". Maybe MAME debugger should be given a go. For now yes, it's reproducing the NES sound engine. Have a look at Squirrel, HuSIC, HuZak - I haven't used any yet. Nah, the MAME's debugger is extremely simple and uncomfortable. In fact, Mednafen is not so bad, but I am spoiled by Mesen and fceux, where any console's resources are visible for you. As for the music, we'll be waiting for that mooz's release, and maybe soon we'll be able to enjoy the Deflemask tracks on the PCE. I will also try to complete my dump packer/player, which is less demanding on performance than mml/dmf players. Well, good luck porting, if you need any help with the NES, ask me anytime, I really love this console.
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Post by spenoza on Dec 8, 2020 20:41:33 GMT
Right now the only option for HuC is Squirrel - there are no alternatives besides mml piped through Squirrel for HuC One thing that might not make Squirrel ideal for a HuCard project, specifically, depending on your view of copyright and open code and whatnot, is that Squirrel basically uses the audio engine from the CD BIOS. For CD titles, that code is already there in the BIOS on the System Card and thus isn't an issue. But for a HuCard title, it means including copyrighted code from Hudson (the audio engine) in your HuCard release. Konami has shown NO interest whatsoever in cracking down on copyright infringement (PCEWorks, anyone?), but if you're big on keeping a project clean, you may have to find an alternative. It might be worth poking Elmer a bit to see if he has any interest at all in revisiting his work and sharing it with your music person. Obviously it's completely up to Elmer what he is and isn't interested in sharing or doing, and others haven't necessarily had good results going that route. But it's worth pointing out, at least.
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Post by gredler on Dec 8, 2020 23:49:13 GMT
Right now the only option for HuC is Squirrel - there are no alternatives besides mml piped through Squirrel for HuC ... But it's worth pointing out, at least. I was only pointing out what is available right now. Who knows what the future holds, and what might spark the release of alternatives, but for what is currently available to the public, HuC + Squirrel is the only 'off the shelf' option available without additional tool development regardless of any red tape. If there is anything anyone else has that plugs into HuC like Squirrel does I'd love to see it.
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Post by spenoza on Dec 8, 2020 23:58:50 GMT
Yes, we know. That doesn’t change the fact that Squirrel is not an option for a “clean” HuCard project. Honestly, you might be better off just writing your own damn engine the way some people get around here.
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Post by DarkKobold on Dec 9, 2020 17:23:37 GMT
Yes, we know. That doesn’t change the fact that Squirrel is not an option for a “clean” HuCard project. Honestly, you might be better off just writing your own damn engine the way some people get around here.
Said as if that's a trivially easy thing for a HuC user to do.
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Post by spenoza on Dec 9, 2020 19:58:02 GMT
Yes, we know. That doesn’t change the fact that Squirrel is not an option for a “clean” HuCard project. Honestly, you might be better off just writing your own damn engine the way some people get around here.
Said as if that's a trivially easy thing for a HuC user to do.
It's not easy at all, but if copyrighted code is off-limits for your project (and it might not be, it's up to each developer or development team to make that decision), it might be easier than convincing others to revive long-dormant projects.
I get the feeling people might think I'm dumping on Squirrel, here, and I'm not. I'm just noting a consideration that might be important to some developers. That's all.
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esteban
Gun-headed
GOMOLA SPEED or GO HOME.
Posts: 94
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Post by esteban on Dec 10, 2020 1:29:35 GMT
JOKING: I see nothing wrong with a HuCARD and CD release of this promising port. SERIOUSLY, though, this looks fantastic.
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Post by spenoza on May 27, 2021 15:56:43 GMT
Being a game and apps C/C# developer since 1999, I wanted to experiment assembler and homebrew dev on my favorite system (coregrafx bought in France Nov 1990). I contacted Morphcat games 2 months ago and pretty quick got their source code to start porting the neat 2019 homebrew Micro Mages from NES to PCE. Kickstarter MicromagesI will try to post regular updates about the progression. So far - set up the ca65 project (found a recent branch that supports the ZP at $2000) since the NES games was assembled with ca65. - game is working (up to 4p) - sprites are translated from the NES OAM to PCE SATB at run time (lots of lost space due to 8*8px NES sprites being stored centered in 16*16px PCE sprites) - Vertical scrolling is done through a RAM buffer of the nametable (best way I found to deal with wrapping the 60 CHR rows of the NES with the 64 rows on PCE), rows being copied to VRAM with a moving offset. to come - sound emulation ( I have 0 knowledge of low level sound wish me luck ) - improvements over the NES - find a way to produce hucards. For easy improvements I was thinking - using 16 colors palettes for the tiles and sprites rather than 4 - improved music - adding atmospheric effects like foreground clouds, or a background color gradient for the sky. Suggestions - ideas for the port would be very welcome! Hi Artial, I was wondering if you had any progress to share with us. Some MicroMages conversation comes up periodically in another group I'm a member of, and folks rave about just how tight and enjoyable a game it is, especially given the resource constraints. Admittedly, the PCE sort of ruins the whole "what can we do in such a tight set of restrictions" thing, but I agree that the game seems well-designed enough to hold up in almost any environment. I know there's a lot of enthusiasm for this project and I'm hopeful you still have the time and information available to make progress on it. Good luck!
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 27, 2021 16:41:05 GMT
For anyone waiting for this, Spacegulls is another great homebrew done by the same developers as Micro Mages. It's Mega Man meets Joust and it is really fun. Best of all, you can download it for free. morphcatgames.itch.io/spacegullsIt's short, so hopefully Morphcat Games turns it into a full game in the future, as they have something as special as Micro Mages in my opinion.
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Post by supercom32 on Dec 9, 2021 7:12:22 GMT
I guess this project has been stalled? I was really hoping to see this game ported to the PC-Engine!
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artial
Deep Blooper
Posts: 25
Homebrew skills: Make it work
Fave PCE Shooter: Superstar soldier
Currently Playing: Micro Mages
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Post by artial on May 23, 2022 7:24:34 GMT
Hi Artial, I was wondering if you had any progress to share with us. Some MicroMages conversation comes up periodically in another group I'm a member of, and folks rave about just how tight and enjoyable a game it is, especially given the resource constraints. Admittedly, the PCE sort of ruins the whole "what can we do in such a tight set of restrictions" thing, but I agree that the game seems well-designed enough to hold up in almost any environment. I know there's a lot of enthusiasm for this project and I'm hopeful you still have the time and information available to make progress on it. Good luck! Hi The port was finished in Dec 2020. Since then I have been waiting for updated graphics, as the Morphcat artist felt we needed to take advantage of the PCE capabilities. Easier said than done for an ultra optimized game, so this will not happen. Now, for the PCE versin to ship, I need to find how to make HuCards.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on May 24, 2022 20:03:20 GMT
If you can, I would find it interesting if you could post examples of some of this art. Even as a NES game, Micro Mages looks better than some Turbografx games with its minimalist art style.
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