What is the definition of a good calc game?

Liazon · Post by **Liazon** » Fri 09 Dec, 2005 2:50 am

I've been wondering, what do you guys consider when judging a game as good or bad? So far I've only made one little shortgame and I plan to continue to make more short games that experiment with different algorithms and programming concepts. (After all I started off no knowing what a driver was on a comp)

The reason I ask is that I don't want to work on a big project and not learn the language (Basic, z80 ASM, 68k C). Then my game will turn out kind of bad. Well not bad, but you guys might not think it's impressive and I've just been wasting time. I don't have much time to program anyways. That turkey game I made, I only spent about 3 hrs (not including debug time) on Thanksgiving at midnight.

But all the other newbies like to make big projects first, but then again they seem to have more free time than me.

That is why I want to know what elements of a game I should focus on when I do start a big project. Then I can go about learning code and experimenting with the language to build what I need. I admit I'm no where near as good or as smart as most of you, which is why I bow to you skills, but I am determined to build a good game for at least one calc. Just one good game.

threefingeredguy · Post by **threefingeredguy** » Fri 09 Dec, 2005 2:54 am

W/e, just don't do grayscale, or I will eat your children.

kalan_vod · Post by **kalan_vod** » Fri 09 Dec, 2005 3:02 am

Why do you always put yourself down? You can do it and have.

Liazon · Post by **Liazon** » Fri 09 Dec, 2005 3:13 am

It's more that I fear repeating last year's disaster again. Before I knew these forums existed I spent 3 months programming a movement engine in UNOPTIMIZED BASIC! I was just really depressing to see how slow it was. I'd hate to see that happen all over again in ASM. It's always on my mind because I don't have a good emulator a real calc to test any of my 83+ games on.

Spengo · Post by **Spengo** » Fri 09 Dec, 2005 6:06 am

A game's fun-ness.

That's all I have to say. I know some great games with great graphics(gemini), some with no graphics(illusiat), some with no mentionable story(pheonix), and some with simple gameplay (comeon, tetris...), some that run a bit slow (desolate).

I mean, there are great games that have none of these things out there. My "other" is fun-ness.

Kerey · Post by **Kerey** » Fri 09 Dec, 2005 6:13 am

I see Spengo beat me to the punch, but good game should be fun. All the things you listed are secondary or potenially get in the way of achieving this goal.

blueskies · Post by **blueskies** » Fri 09 Dec, 2005 6:43 am

fun to play, and fun to play over and over. Some of the classic games (lotus, jezzball, tetris) you can have on your calc and play whenever, tons of times. Those are the games I love. Graphics are part of a good game, but not at all crucial.

leofox · Post by **leofox** » Fri 09 Dec, 2005 2:00 pm

Size (i have a black 83+ so it doesnt fit much), Controls and the most important one: Addictivity and fun. I might play a good looking game a few times, but if it's boring and way too big, i will delete it quickly.

kalan_vod · Post by **kalan_vod** » Fri 09 Dec, 2005 2:36 pm

First off, Desolate isn't slow you just need to find the right setting

Well I like the size to be small or at least not many files, like have 10 or more files for one game. Fast, unless it isn't made to be, and then if it isn't repeditive.

currahee · Post by **currahee** » Fri 09 Dec, 2005 3:28 pm

And that's where Crunchy comes into play.
I don't really care about factors just as long as it's fun to play. I don't like poorly made spinoffs though (ironic and hypocritical statement)

kalan_vod · Post by **kalan_vod** » Fri 09 Dec, 2005 3:51 pm

^^ haha, yeah I just remembered I don't really care if it is big as long as its fun!

Liazon · Post by **Liazon** » Sat 10 Dec, 2005 1:48 am

It still seems to me that graphics and execution speed seem important to a lot of people. FUN! of course. Why play a game that's not fun? ya can't believe i forgot about that in the poll!

currahee wrote:And that's where Crunchy comes into play.
I don't really care about factors just as long as it's fun to play. I don't like poorly made spinoffs though (ironic and hypocritical statement)

What does CrunchyOS have that MirageOS doesn't? If I can still use ION libraries on Crunchy, then I might start making nostub games instead of ION exclusive games.

note: the next game/experiment I plan to make will experiment with the idea of gravity and making your sprite jump. I think it will be one of those classic games where you try to catch falling objects. I always find them fun, but not as good as DDR (i've never played DDR, but just watching other people is intense)

CompWiz · Post by **CompWiz** » Sat 10 Dec, 2005 2:02 am

calcul831415 wrote:
currahee wrote:And that's where Crunchy comes into play.
I don't really care about factors just as long as it's fun to play. I don't like poorly made spinoffs though (ironic and hypocritical statement)
What does CrunchyOS have that MirageOS doesn't? If I can still use ION libraries on Crunchy, then I might start making nostub games instead of ION exclusive games.

not: the next game I plan will experiment with the idea of gravity and making your sprite jump. I think it will be one of those classic games where you try to catch falling objects. I always find them fun, but not as good as DDR (i've never played DDR, but just watching other people is intense)

CrunchyOS is fully ion/mirage program compatable. However, it can also run compressed programs that are only about half as the original. Also, it doesn't unarchive games when you play them. This saves your archive from wearing out, and makes it so you don't have to garbage collect as often. In fact, I don't remember the last time I had to garbage collect. It's been a while.

If a game crashes in mirageOS, this is usually what happens:
1. your RAM is cleared
2. The game you were playing is corrupted
3. You feel angry and frustrated

4. You may feel the urge to throw your calc at a hard surface, therefore making Mirage the cause of possible physical damage to your calc.

If a game crashes in CrunchyOS, this is usually what happens:
1. You see some funny text on your screen
2. When you open up Crunchy again, it tells you the temp files have been cleared
3. The program you were using is not corrupted.
4. Your RAM has not been cleared.

Also, CrunchyOS comes with a builder tool that will let you include ASM programs right in the CrunchyOS app.

Post by **Dwedit** » Sat 10 Dec, 2005 3:13 am

I'll have to disagree with that bit about the crashes. I'm sure that if a game freezes, you'll need to pull the batteries, and ram would clear. However, Crunchyos will fare much better if the game aborts to TIOS through a poweroff, Error prompt, or sudden quit.

CompWiz · Post by **CompWiz** » Sat 10 Dec, 2005 3:21 am

DWedit's CrunchyOS manual wrote:If your program fails, gives a TIOS error, or is turned off during a getkey, don't panic. Your memory is safe, since the shell features memory leak protection.
For example, the calc has been shut down with 2nd+Off while running the program Afrodance, and weird symbols have appeared on the homescreen text! Your memory is safe. The garbage text is normal, and not an indication that your memory is corrupt. The next time you start the shell, the temporary program "CruEXEC" that was created will be deleted (if the program was archived), or the Ion program will be repaired (if the program was in ram).

isn't that what this says?

MaxCoderz

What is the definition of a good calc game?

What is most important to you in a calc game? check 3

What is the definition of a good calc game?