Dr.robotnik (the video game) for the sega genesis

[sega16]

EDIT: this version is old goto the bottom of page 3 to find out more

Sega 16 presents a new demo that is sure to blow your mind away presenting the newest sega genesis game.All though this is a one level boss demo expect a lot more latter
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACZxO0TEGIo
Features:
FMV video playback (unfortunately uncompressed)
character ai (sonic)
Pcm music 3:1 adpcm (tadpcm)
Custom smps tunes(sega genesis music)
Great graphics (for the sega genesis)
Screen shots:
http://img94.imageshack.us/img94/7839/robotnikhitsonic.png
http://img545.imageshack.us/img545/1303/pressstart.png
http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/1340/segalogo.png
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/7154/bettermenu.png
Download:
http://depositfiles.com/en/files/hs0r2gk1p
Also don't forget to checkout this on the basiegazorx forum
http://devster.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=basiegaxorz&action=display&thread=687

[Jadty]

I'm sorry man, I don't know how much time and effort it took for you to make this, but it is awful.

[oldskool]

I think it's a good start. Better than I could have ever done.

[Anonymouse]

I think its pretty impressive that hes got it working. The game might not be good but its a start. Keep at. It has potential :-)

[Mr Smith]

Wow! That was tosh to play.
The idea, however, is brilliant and I hope that was the start of what will surely evolve into something really awesome. Sonic 1 sprites would be extremely awesome. Good luck with the rest of the project :ok:

[sega16]

I'm sorry man, I don't know how much time and effort it took for you to make this, but it is awful.
This is only the first version.The reason I posted it was to see what need to be improved on not just "this is awful".I personally think this is a great start to my project and I spent alot of time on the sonic ai.

[Oerg866]

Custom smps tunes(sega genesis music)

Can everyone please stop abusing SMPS for horrible shit? I mean jesus it's even violating copyright right there.

I mean, BasiEgaXorz -- The toilet -- in reverse. Whole bunch of shit and nightmares comes out of it.

[sega16]

Custom smps tunes(sega genesis music)

Can everyone please stop abusing SMPS for horrible shit? I mean jesus it's even violating copyright right there.

I mean, BasiEgaXorz -- The toilet -- in reverse. Whole bunch of shit and nightmares comes out of it.
I don't know anyone else who used smps in a non-sonic game.Also did you even listen to the music?I personally think you can not say something is shit without trying/listing to it.Also Basiegaxorz is good if you use it properly.It is not about what you use to program a game but how you use it.

[lumclaw]

It's genesis color limitations at work. Redrawn graphics to cut down the dithered look would take significant effort.

[N.Saibot]

The idea is cool, but the actual fight seems kind of broken, since you can't see how Sonic dodges the
giant ball - he just zips from one side of the screen to the other without any animation at all.

Also just standing at 1/3 of the screen makes you win. That's a problem with the sonic AI I guess, he
just keeps running into the ball if Robotnik hovers there.

I won't comment on the title screen, since it's obviously a placeholder : D
And the sprites ingame are kind of inconsistant with the intro.

[Jorge Nuno]

Im going to say something about this "game".. thing, I probably shouldn't because the post may sound rude or whatever..


First of all the "FMV".. ahem decent framerate, but the active video area is rather tiny (and thus not really Full Motion), and the frames could have benefitted from less dithering. You should check our FMV we did for MDEM (should be a topic of it on page 2 or 3). It's uncompressed like yours, but it fills almost the entire viewable area, and doesn't glitch on random frames. Also robotnik voice is really shitty.

The music is pure ear-rape. Im sorry man, I can't stand it, and yes you should avoid using SMPS.

The game menu looks like crap. The same pattern repeated over and over while the options themselves are difficult to read is just a nono.

The instructions have a poor choice of colors, and could look less boring (text scrolling or some sort of animation, maybe?)

In actual game, the ball the ship has has a completely wrong swinging animation, just look at sonic1 GHz act3 boss and compare them (Im sure this is where you got the idea from). Also the sonic "AI" is a complete joke: he just teleports around, and doesnt animate properly. The actual "fight" could have some fancy effects too, I dunno. Again in MDEM we did a sonic prank in our demo called Straight Line Zone, maybe you could check it out (Its the very last part). On the other hand the BG looks like crap too, its just a mountain sticking out a pile of grass... what the hell man.


But yeah I think you released this too early, it should have more polish.

[Oerg866]

I don't know anyone else who used smps in a non-sonic game.Also did you even listen to the music?I personally think you can not say something is shit without trying/listing to it.Also Basiegaxorz is good if you use it properly.It is not about what you use to program a game but how you use it.

Yeah Sega used SMPS in a lot of non-sonic games.

I did listen to the music and turned it off immediatly because MY EARS WTF.

1. don't make crappy imports.
2. if you do, at least compose the music yourself.

This makes me wish i never had made xm3smps/oerg public in the first place.

Also assembly ALWAYS is better than a HLL like BASIC or C. Get your facts right.

[sasuke]

Not bad for a start. :)

Some suggestions:

As others have said, menus are difficult to read. The font does not contrast from the background that much. I would suggest either putting a border around the menu items, or moving the Sonic '06 Eggman/ Jamie Hyneman pattern on the top and bottom, choosing a dark font color, and making sure all the text is in the middle where the pattern is bright.

Probably my biggest critique of the music is that some of the conversions do not sync their channels well, especially the "Sandstorm" cover.

I think you could also reset to the title screen when the game is over, and fix the crash when you try to play an unused PCM sound in the sound test.

Bugs aside, I think this game has potential. Keep up the good work.

[Anonymouse]

Ok here is the reality of the game. It isnt very good but I think its a great achievement.If you spend sometime fine tuning the graphics and game physics/animation then you are on to something nice. Everything is there, you have sound, video, menus, ai and animation. My first degree is in Computer Arts and I have experience working on computer games. I wish I had this programming knowledge because id be able to put my artist skills to use!

Keep up the good work. Something will come of it :-)

Greetings from Scotland

[evildragon]

I'm just confused as to why a MythBuster is on the titlescreen.

Are you saying Sonic is a myth?

[Oerg866]

Anonymouse:

Play a decent game on the MD

Play this again

Be ashamed of what you just said :P

(No offense intended ;))

Cheers!

[sega16]

Yeah Sega used SMPS in a lot of non-sonic games.

I did listen to the music and turned it off immediatly because MY EARS WTF.

1. don't make crappy imports.
2. if you do, at least compose the music yourself.

This makes me wish i never had made xm3smps/oerg public in the first place.

Also assembly ALWAYS is better than a HLL like BASIC or C. Get your facts right.
I already knew that assembly is faster than c or basic,When I said "It is not about what you use to program a game but how you use it." I meant that you could still make a good game in c or basic if you know how to use it.
Also I can clearly see you don't like the music,but I relay don't seem to hear any thing that is an ear rape so, could you please provide an example of good music.Everyone like different music.Also I think version 2 will be alot better.Planned features:
3d special stage
improved sonic ai
move levels
Currently added features:
fixed menu:
http://img706.imageshack.us/img706/4003/fixedmenu.png
tile compression
more soundtracks

[evildragon]

Actually, I listened to the youtube video you had up, and I just couldn't make heads or tails over what song it was.. I only recognized one tune and that was it..

Sorry, the music wasn't that good.

[Oerg866]

I meant that you could still make a good game in c or basic if you know how to use it.

Except that you clearly don't and this is not a good game. Not even mediocre.


provide an example of good music

You're kidding, right?

Play Thunderforce, Herzog Zwei, Gunstar Heroes, Sonic 1-3K, Streets of Rage

If you want recent music, listen Tmee's or my tunes.

Oh well.

[Mr Smith]

My God, some of the criticisms here are needlessly harsh and should really be balanced up with the potential such a project has. If this was the finished version then there should be deserved abuse, but, since this is the first attempt, simply the concept of being able to play as Robotnik is awesome enough!

[Zebbe]

Well said, Mr Smith. That's how you give feedback!

I think this first attempt had quite good presentation and an interesting concept. It will be nice to see how it develops.

[Oerg866]

Quick question though (after that i'm gonna shut up for real)

Did you guys throw out every MD game all of a sudden?

How low have we become to have standards like these? I mean come on.

Even crazy bus is better than this :p

[Mr Smith]

It's the first stage of a project not the final one, it needs a lot of work and I'm sure the author is aware of this. Nobody is comparing it with a finished Mega Drive title, I imagine even the Streets of Rage: Remake sucked at such an early stage, but now it's like an orgasm Mega Drive style.

[Jorge Nuno]

Ok, lets be a little more fair and compare to other game alphas..


Remember Tavern RPG? Thats right Pier Solar's former name. Now the game is out, but back in 2005 or 6 (don't remember exactly) the only thing that existed was a concept walking engine made by Fonzie. It featured a map with some NPC characters and a player character which could walk and talk to the other guys much the same way you do in the final game. Did it sucked? yes it did. Did it had placeholder art/text? you bet. But that is a good example of a concept engine, featuring basic functionality and core features of the game (walking/animation/interfaces).



Let's see another example.

Project MD?
Mind Status = Blown
READY.

Doesn't need an introduction really.

[Kamahl]

The IDEA behind this game is freaking awesome.
It must be made. Being able to place traps, robots and stuff on a level to try and stop sonic and then face him in an awesome boss battle WOULD BE FREAKING GREATNESS.

[Jorge Nuno]

The idea could be put into a fun strategy game: Defeat the hedgehog! But from this... I really don't know.

[Sik]

Let's see another example.

Project MD?
Mind Status = Blown
READY.

Doesn't need an introduction really.This wasn't even remotely early in development though... Probably the earliest ROMs in pmdold.zip would make more sense to check against.

[Jorge Nuno]

This wasn't even remotely early in development though... Probably the earliest ROMs in pmdold.zip would make more sense to check against.
Yes but it was the first version you made a forum release.

[N.Saibot]

The IDEA behind this game is freaking awesome.
It must be made. Being able to place traps, robots and stuff on a level to try and stop sonic and then face him in an awesome boss battle WOULD BE FREAKING GREATNESS.

Part of the game should be like a strategy: you get a more or less premade
environment and a number of enemies, then you just place them (with some
restrictions of course, like not too many enemies in one place). If Sonic survives: you
have to fight him with a predefined machine in a boss battle. The higher the level, the
more enemies you can place there, you also unlock stronger badniks and better
machines for boss fights.

The culmination of the game: a multiplayer mode, where one player plays as Robotnik,
the other one as Sonic! Imagine the amount of pwnage, if you, as Robotnik, manage
to defeat the other player very early in the game, while still having very simple
badniks and easy environment! Or if you can truly outsmart another person in the
boss battle, not just a CPU with predefined moving paterns.

[Kamahl]

Part of the game should be like a strategy: you get a more or less premade
environment and a number of enemies, then you just place them (with some
restrictions of course, like not too many enemies in one place). If Sonic survives: you
have to fight him with a predefined machine in a boss battle. The higher the level, the
more enemies you can place there, you also unlock stronger badniks and better
machines for boss fights.

The culmination of the game: a multiplayer mode, where one player plays as Robotnik,
the other one as Sonic! Imagine the amount of pwnage, if you, as Robotnik, manage
to defeat the other player very early in the game, while still having very simple
badniks and easy environment! Or if you can truly outsmart another person in the
boss battle, not just a CPU with predefined moving paterns.

Pretty much my idea, it would be GRAND.

[Sik]

Yes but it was the first version you made a forum release.But not the first time the game was publicly shown. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grKezet5wuo)

But even then it's a bad example. Look how the game was already doing four simultaneous layers parallax. Did any other MD game ever do it actually? In any case the game already was quite advanced, 5 levels were done =/

[sega16]

Part of the game should be like a strategy: you get a more or less premade
environment and a number of enemies, then you just place them (with some
restrictions of course, like not too many enemies in one place). If Sonic survives: you
have to fight him with a predefined machine in a boss battle. The higher the level, the
more enemies you can place there, you also unlock stronger badniks and better
machines for boss fights.

The culmination of the game: a multiplayer mode, where one player plays as Robotnik,
the other one as Sonic! Imagine the amount of pwnage, if you, as Robotnik, manage
to defeat the other player very early in the game, while still having very simple
badniks and easy environment! Or if you can truly outsmart another person in the
boss battle, not just a CPU with predefined moving paterns.
That is A GREAT idea! Especially the multilayer mode.

[sega16]

If anyone was wondering how robotnik is going it is going good I have forgot to work on it for awhile but I remembered it abit ago and made alot of improvements
1.Written in c instead of basiegaxorz due to the need for more complex math
2. Way better sonic ai with acceleration and sonic-like stopping and no more one pixel per frame stuff real speed
3. better pcm music
4. better menus (easy to read)
5. robotnik's ship also has acceleration and does not just move one pixel (same as sonic
6. It is impossible to just stand in one place and kill sonic (must move)
Here is a video of it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u3SvC6LGxo4
Lets not make this like last one (as in bad gameplay) and give and suggestions to improve upon so I end up with a great game
Download link: Note this is only a demo more levels and a special stage to come
http://www.mediafire.com/?r2o5ngrihgbga5f
Edit: fixed post I noticed a few bad mistakes. I must have benn tired or something

[Phantar]

Why did you choose the final chain link to move Robotnik's ball and chain from side to side? It looks so awkward - if you chose the center of the ball instead, the flow of movement would appear more natural...

[Jorge Nuno]

Hi there Mr. Robotnik, it's been a while eh? :p

Let's start then:

Swinging ball animation oddness as Phantar said.. The rest of the scene is also lacking animation as well, maybe make Dr's mustache waving up/down and something more to sonic.

Sonic/Dr. are lacking inertia, they are just changing direction repeatedly. (Good luck turning around a real airborne object quickly like that :V)

The music is muffled :|

Don't restrict the arena to 1 static screen, the game could use some horizontal scrolling.

The text is still hard to read. Not that it's important to gameplay but yeah..

EDIT:
http://www.sega-16.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4521&stc=1

Looks like glitch-sonic is holding a glass of water :p

[sega16]

Hi there Mr. Robotnik, it's been a while eh? :p

Let's start then:

Swinging ball animation oddness as Phantar said.. The rest of the scene is also lacking animation as well, maybe make Dr's mustache waving up/down and something more to sonic.

Sonic/Dr. are lacking inertia, they are just changing direction repeatedly. (Good luck turning around a real airborne object quickly like that :V)

The music is muffled :|

Don't restrict the arena to 1 static screen, the game could use some horizontal scrolling.

The text is still hard to read. Not that it's important to gameplay but yeah..

EDIT:
http://www.sega-16.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=4521&stc=1

Looks like glitch-sonic is holding a glass of water :p
Sonic does have inertia (he stops) but when he gets close to robotnik's ball he can switch directions even if stooping because robotnik's ball has what I call "wind" it blows sonic away when I did not have this it was way to easy to beat sonic and you could just hit him by sitting there in robotnik's ship which made the game pointless and boring.Also thanks for the idea to add inertia to robotnik's ship should make the game more fun by adding a challenge
You are right I should add scrolling but in this level it relay does not make since next level will more than likely be based on egg viper from sonic adventure also one more plan is to add jumping for sonic and with sonic.h technology it should be somewhat easy (it is just a sin lockup table or maybe I could add 1 to both the x and the y position and subtract from the y once sonic meets max height what do you people think circular jump or triangle jump? And by the way if anyone was wondering what sonic.h does for me it lets me do stuff that involves sonic just by calling the function for example:


move_sonic_left();



update_sonic();// should be called on vblank on every frame

So about the music it relay does not sound muffled at all to me It is 22khz adpcm (it is from the sgdk library)
And speaking about text and just the game in general play this version and play the old basiegaxorz version you will see a huge improvement (I know I did and in fact after playing the c version I realized how much the old one sucked)
I will try different colors but at least it is better also I will work on the chain animation still a huge improvement over the last one.
It appears that the glass of water glitch is caused by the proper tiles not being loaded until next frame.