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Author Topic: Horn of Balance  (Read 414321 times)

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Horn of Balance
« on: March 21, 2009, 12:14:36 pm »
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Oh no! Your sweet and caring grandmama has been kidnapped by the villain "Heimgartner"!
It falls upon your shoulders, as the young and excitable golem "Linden", to bravely explore a labyrinthian tomb in exchange for her safety!

How can a golem have a grandmother?
Who is this villain doing such a terrible thing?
Why is there a quirky floating skull following you around everywhere?

All will be explained in the full game, coming in the future. This is a pre-Kickstarter demo that contains one of the early-game dungeons, in order to give a taste of what it's all about: vast non-linear level design in a classic Zelda-like style. Play this if you're looking for a sense of discovery, love the classic 2D Zelda games, or want a game that's not afraid to also challenge your spacial awareness a little.

[Demo]
Download (on Itch.io): https://hornofbalance.itch.io/horn-of-balance-pre-ks-demo

[Features]
  • One full non-linear dungeon, good for roughly 1+ hour of gameplay
  • Several secret chests for added challenge and special items
  • A solid gameplay engine that feels just like the games of old
  • Modern conveniences like auto-saving, controller support and button remapping
  • A lot of love and passion put into the hero animations

   


[How to play]
Just unzip the game somewhere to start playing.
You can review the controls and settings from the starting menu, or by pressing ESC to bring up the in-game options.

[Content creators]
The following link provides several title pages for your convenience.
There is also a whole set of free to use emotes in case you feel like adding some extra streaming flavour.
Press kit (via Google drive)

[Socials]
Kickstarter - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hornofbalance/horn-of-balance
Free demo (on Itch) - https://hornofbalance.itch.io/horn-of-balance-pre-ks-demo

Discord - https://discord.gg/redHXyZ2Gc
Mastodon - https://mastodon.gamedev.place/@HornofBalance
Twitter/X - https://twitter.com/HornofBalance


  The old fangaming days 

Given the site we are on I've decided to leave up the last Zelda fangame demo I made.

Download:
Demo version: 0.25.11
File Size: 25,61 MB (Zipped)
Download (Mediafire): https://www.mediafire.com/file/reoml9ix5lwxd4d/Zelda+0+25+11.zip/file

Creator notes:
- This demo included 2 overworlds, 5 dungeons (+intro cave) and many more smaller locations.
- Shortcuts exist to access late game additions without playing through the whole game again. Calling a new file "boss1", "boss2" or "cape" will start you out at (or with) that specific content.
- While still far from complete, you CAN reach all the way until the credits screen.

Default controls*:
D - Action button (open doors / read text / grab / etc) + Confirm button (while in menus)
G - Attack button (hold and release for a full swing attack) + Cancel button (while in menus)
S - Perform run action (if you have the boots available)
R - Use item A
F - Use item B
Space - Brings up item menu
Enter - Brings up map menu
Escape - Pauses the game (can be used to exit the game)

* The controls can be personalized in the options menu at the start of the game.
* Native gamepad controls can be enabled in the options menu as well.

Back to the top
« Last Edit: Yesterday at 08:41:14 pm by Martijn dh »
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Jeod

Team Dekunutz, Doubleteam
Re: [Demo] Alttp-style game / tech demo -- No na...
« Reply #1 on: March 21, 2009, 01:01:35 pm »
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That name select background at the bottom is actually the file select background. ;)
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"You should challenge your fates. When all else fails, you can still die fighting." ~Yune
___________________________________

Zelda GBC+ Engine for Multimedia Fusion 2
  • Doubleteam Project Page
Re: [Demo] Alttp-style game / tech demo -- No na...
« Reply #2 on: March 21, 2009, 01:48:23 pm »
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Correct. The file selection screen, name selection screen and options screen have been done in a single room with one background. That way the view can move smoothly between them without interruption.

Maybe I should have mentioned this before, but this won't be a remake. Just (much like the other games on this forum) heavily based on an existing Zelda game. For instance I'm going to be working with subbosses. And I'll definitely get creative with the dungeon theme/mechanics and dungeon items.
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Re: [Demo] Alttp-style game / tech demo -- No na...
« Reply #3 on: March 21, 2009, 02:57:57 pm »
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It looks nice, but the transition between rooms could be done faster. At those moment the music hampers, like a recordplayer gets stuck on one track. I also noticed, Link being able to walk under the roots of the trees. But is this really version 0.7.2, because the content feels more like 0.2.2, but then again that is just me.

Oh yeah before I forget. The sound effect for walking on stairs sounds really weird. But keep up the good work and I look forward to see you finish the dungeon.
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Re: [Demo] Alttp-style game / tech demo -- No na...
« Reply #4 on: March 21, 2009, 03:32:15 pm »
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Thanks for the reply.

Somebody made the same remark on the transitions on a different forum and I'm glad you did the same. It means my work to fix it is meaningfull. I'm guessing the problem occurs only on some computers. Would you mind me sending you a link to a newer demo in a couple of days? To check if my solution works on your end.

The roots of the trees are a result of my laziness with the outside area. The outside area will be completely redone when the dungeon is finished, so I didn't put a lot of time in it. I've already moved the movement borders in the next demo.

Please don't get hung up on the numbers. It's my second attempt at a first game so in the beginning a lot of stuff has been redone as I learned more. Also, when I finish the first dungeon I'll consider that version 1, since that's my immediate goal for now. That may not be accurate for the whole, but that's something for later.

Could you give me a little bit more information about the music with the stairs? I'm guessing you don't mean the stairs in between the rooms. Did it sound out of sync? Was the sound incorrect? Or was it maybe something else?
« Last Edit: March 21, 2009, 03:39:01 pm by Martijn dh »
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Re: [Demo] Alttp-style game / tech demo -- No na...
« Reply #5 on: March 21, 2009, 04:07:58 pm »
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This demo shows promise. The engine has a solid feel to it. The enemy AI is very close or spot on in it's behavior. Link's movement and collisions are done in detail. For it being your second attempt it's commendable!

As for bugs, I also experienced the same slow down when transitioning. I don't know how it was done, but maybe checking the vertical sync check box in the Global Game Settings might help if it wasn't done. When I pressed the map button, I was able to hear the dungeon map open sound but it didn't show visually, when I was outside the dungeon. I know this option is probably not done all the way, but when changing Link's suit colors to the last one, his facing gets stuck in one position.

Overall it's nicely done, and will spawn an excellent game if it continues in the direction it is currently going.
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  • Pyxosoft
Re: [Demo] Alttp-style game / tech demo -- No na...
« Reply #6 on: March 21, 2009, 06:17:59 pm »
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Quote from: Martijn dh on March 21, 2009, 03:32:15 pm
Thanks for the reply.

Somebody made the same remark on the transitions on a different forum and I'm glad you did the same. It means my work to fix it is meaningfull. I'm guessing the problem occurs only on some computers. Would you mind me sending you a link to a newer demo in a couple of days? To check if my solution works on your end.

Off course, I'd love to.

Quote from: Martijn dh on March 21, 2009, 03:32:15 pm
The roots of the trees are a result of my laziness with the outside area. The outside area will be completely redone when the dungeon is finished, so I didn't put a lot of time in it. I've already moved the movement borders in the next demo.

If you draw the tree (trunks) on the background and put the tree tops on the foreground, you won't have this problem. In other words the Z depth of the trunks and the tops have to be different and Link has to be in between them.

Quote from: Martijn dh on March 21, 2009, 03:32:15 pm
Could you give me a little bit more information about the music with the stairs? I'm guessing you don't mean the stairs in between the rooms. Did it sound out of sync? Was the sound incorrect? Or was it maybe something else?

It is not that is out of sync, but more that it just doesn't sound like stairs. It sounds more like someone quickly trying to clean a dirt road with a straw broom.
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Re: [Demo] Alttp-style game / tech demo -- No na...
« Reply #7 on: March 21, 2009, 06:58:52 pm »
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Xfixium:
Excellent response. I'm glad you liked it.
The function you found isn't really part of the game. I use that for testing.
The problems with the transitions are probably because every room in the game is an actual separate room in gamemaker. So you have the illusion that all rooms are connected and the bare minimum of objects/background is active at one time. It seemed fine, but clearly isn't so I'm now recreating the entire dungeon in a single room. So far the gamespeed isn't suffering (on my computer at least).

Niek:
In the demo I'll send you you'll see I'm already making a lot of use of depths. Still, thank you for your willingness to help. I can see if the timing of the sounds can be improved, but other than that there's little I can do.
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Re: [Demo] Alttp-style game / tech demo -- No na...
« Reply #8 on: March 21, 2009, 09:31:49 pm »
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Nice job making this engine. Works really well.
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Re: [Demo] Alttp-style game / tech demo -- No na...
« Reply #9 on: March 21, 2009, 10:27:56 pm »
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Martijn, if your worried about gamespeed and the amount of resources in CPU. There is a function in Gamemaker, that disables all the instances outside a certain boundary (most of the time the view with a margin).
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Re: [Demo] Alttp-style game / tech demo -- No na...
« Reply #10 on: March 21, 2009, 11:57:08 pm »
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Niek: Yes, I stumbled across that function some time ago.
Except during transitions only the instances in the current room are active. I thought about limiting this to the view but that has downsides. An enemy who is (just) outside of the view should still be able to act. For instance a guard shouldn't stop running after you if you don't see him. The guards movement is determined by it's interaction with the walls etc, so in the end all the instances in the room are vital.
Currently the entire dungeon room is 2560x3840 (divided in areas of 320x320 or multiples of that). The gamespeed is 30 f/s. So far this only drops during the transitions (slightly), while playing movies/music and after starting the game several times. Maybe there is still something to be won in the handling of graphics/sound/data, but that's just thinking out loud. First I want to check how the game acts normally.

Kremling: Thanks!
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Re: [Demo] Alttp-style game / tech demo -- No na...
« Reply #11 on: March 22, 2009, 02:41:56 pm »
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Pretty good engine so far, good job. Although once I got to the room with the flying floor tiles I go this error.

Code: [Select]
___________________________________________
ERROR in
action number 1
of Collision Event with object Dummy W8 H48 - 199
for object obj_Flying_Tile:

Error in code at line 3:
   instance_create(x-6,y-6,obj_Broken);

at position 26: Unknown variable obj_Broken

Other than that everything's alright. And slow down doesn't occur when changing rooms either.
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  • https://colbydude.com
Re: [Demo] Alttp-style game / tech demo -- No na...
« Reply #12 on: March 22, 2009, 02:54:13 pm »
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Good of you to show the message. I'm assuming this is an error that occurs every time a flying tile hits a wall. That would mean the demo was incomplete and it has already been fixed for the next demo. If I am wrong in my assumption, please let me know.

Thanks for your comments.
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Re: [Demo] Alttp-style game / tech demo -- No na...
« Reply #13 on: March 22, 2009, 09:22:14 pm »
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Quote from: Martijn dh on March 22, 2009, 02:54:13 pm
Good of you to show the message. I'm assuming this is an error that occurs every time a flying tile hits a wall. That would mean the demo was incomplete and it has already been fixed for the next demo. If I am wrong in my assumption, please let me know.

Thanks for your comments.

Can't remember exactly, but I believe it was whenever it hit Link, but I could be wrong. I also was wearing the Blue tunic while doing this, if that matters at all.
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  • https://colbydude.com
Re: [Demo] Alttp-style game / tech demo -- No na...
« Reply #14 on: April 04, 2009, 05:07:10 pm »
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First of all some news on my progress. I found a new job, am starting another education and am looking for an new apartment. Needless to say I'm a little preoccupied with these things and free time is scarce. Expect a new demo no sooner then the end of the next month. I'm still working on it, but only after the rest has been done.

Now that that's out of the way. I have a question about your preference as a player. Should the contents of pots (and other container) be predetermined or should they (sometimes) be selected randomly? And with random I mean considering the items Link has already collected. So no arrows without a bow etc. Obviously special occasions like a boss fight requires predetermined contents. I hate to get an arrow when the boss demands bombs etc.

Think about it for a second. Predetermining means predictability but strategic placing. Random can be used to only get needed items, which may come of as unrealistic.
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Re: [Demo] Alttp-style game / tech demo -- No na...
« Reply #15 on: April 10, 2009, 09:05:30 pm »
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I'm looking for one or two testers who can give me some good constructive feedback. I'm interested in comments on glitches (if you can find any), dungeon design and framerate performance. Anybody willing?

Currently I've got a demo with four rooms (that you can access). You can check the first post for an added list of things I've done since the last demo. Obviously these include the thing I am looking to get tested. PB me or post a reply and I'll send you a link and more info.
« Last Edit: April 11, 2009, 10:51:44 am by Martijn dh »
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Re: [Demo] Alttp-style game / tech demo -- No na...
« Reply #16 on: April 17, 2009, 05:24:19 pm »
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Well, that didn't work. Fine. Ive posted my progress as demo 0.8 in the startingpost.

Please be so kind as to leave a comment after playing. I'd appreciate user input. Also be sure to mention any and all glitches, should you come across any. Thanks in advance.

It may not show for everybody, but A LOT has been improved. The entire dungeon has been redone to smooth out room-to-room transitions. Right now about 25% of dungeon is finished. Obviously (most) of the transitions have also been redone. I'm still working on some transitions in between floors like the dwindelstairs, of which you'll see the result in the next demo. Finally I made it so that everything present in the game has a depth_scale in order to create the illusion of multiple depths (like in the original). These three things have been a lot of work and if you can't see that....thank you. I'll take it as a compliment that everything looks just right. XD

Other things I've added in this demo:
-Made some changes to movement on the stairs
-Perfected the interaction of your sword/shield vs flying tiles etc.
-Added bubbles/balls/cannonballs/something??
-Added rupees, hearts etc to collect from containers (=pots)
-You can now jump from ledges.

Oh, and before I forget. No flying tiles (can be accessed) in this demo. Sorry, but I'm still working on the rooms you need to get to them. I'll make sure you can play with them again next time.

-----------------------------------------

Update:
There are plenty of downloads, but no replies. Too bad. I could really use some player feedback.

Anyway. This weekend I redid the 360 sword swing, worked some more on movement through grass/water and added the ability to poke walls with your sword (see screenshot).



Also I've been trying to improve the dungeon. Check out the screenshot below. How does new situation (lower half) stand against the old situation (upper half)?
« Last Edit: April 26, 2009, 02:11:09 pm by Martijn dh »
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A Storm in the Desert

Eternal Triangle
Re: [Demo] Alttp-style game / tech demo -- No na...
« Reply #17 on: April 29, 2009, 06:05:28 am »
  • Wear the Deku Sprout Smile :]
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I'll download and have a test play of this later on, but the tiling change you've shown looks a great improvement over the original.
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Surely you can do it!
Believe in your strengths...Believe...
        -Happy Mask Salesman
Re: [Demo] Alttp-style game / tech demo -- No na...
« Reply #18 on: May 03, 2009, 11:24:42 am »
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And I'm done for the weekend. For like the first time in months I did everything I set out to do. Feels good.

A new demo will take a while (I want it to at least include picking stuff up and one or two more enemies before I post it) so just screenshots this time.

Guess what three things where added recently


Start of the 360 degree sword swing + some more changes visible
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Goodnight

Once and future Captain
Re: [Demo] Alttp-style game / tech demo -- No na...
« Reply #19 on: May 05, 2009, 01:56:41 am »
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Wow, this demo has a lot of potential. Good to see somebody who knows how to use Game Maker a little beyond its basic built-in features. Very impressive work so far!

By the way, you may know me under a different name. ;) I don't check these boards much anymore and didn't know you were on here!

I did encounter some bugs on the name-select screen... something to do with a Link_Status variable when a button was pressed. I'll try to recreate it and give you the exact text. And I have two notes about the room transitions, which are quite well done. 1) I once got stuck in a loop that moved me back and forth between two rooms about 8 times, so you may want to have the transition end by "projecting" Link out an additional pixel. 2) I see you've taken the advice of disabling instances that are in other rooms, however if you want to keep this more true to the LTTP engine, then any hearts/rupees laying around should be destroyed once you exit the room. Pots (and enemies) tend to respawn themselves too in LTTP; I'm not sure if that happens as soon as you re-enter the room, or after you've been through a few other rooms.

As far as those tile & statue comparisons, the newer ones are very cool but I think both types have their place, all depending on the level design! Either way, the first ones could use recolouring so they don't look like live enemies, but I'd keep their type of position in places where you're about to enter a dangerous room and want to put some valuable pots at the top of the stairs.

Oh and, they're named "Cannon Balls" because that was the name found in an enemy FAQ at GameFAQs which had data ripped straight out of the game. Also, señor HelpTheWretched updated sword-spin attack sound (there are 2 sounds that play at once) and encourages users to edit sounds to their liking, ie. to alter the volume if one is difficult to hear.


PS. One more bit of advice I just remembered: perhaps you should enlarge the object mask of the pots. It seems a bit too easy to "corner-cut" around them - you almost need to be dead-centre to walk in and pick them up.
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