In my last blog post, I stated that I was learning how to make Sega Genesis games. Well, this weekend, I've created one...sort of.
My goal is to make a role playing game on the Genesis, much like that of Phantasy Star or Final Fantasy, or if you're into the homebrew/collecting scene, Pier Solar.
Since that is above my experience at the moment, I decided to go for something a little easier, but just as fun and addicting. The game? Hangman. I know, it's nothing
spectacular, but there isn't a version of it on the Genesis/Megadrive, so why not? So far I've received some very positive reception of the game, especially from the
person beta testing it for me on the actual Genesis hardware. So far, everything works great. Puzzles are being randomly selected (whereas through emulation, it doesn't
generate as random as one would think), the controls are working great, and the graphics are displaying correctly.
I'm planning on a January 1st, 2011 for the first new homebrew release on the Sega Genesis, so hopefully I can finish the game up and polish the graphics a little bit
before then (I'm horrible with pixel graphics at the moment). I've already begun talking with a couple of guys for production of the physical cartridge, case, labels, and
graphics, so the first production run is already in the works. I'm glad to have met such great people over at the Nintendo Age/Sega Age community. More information will be
available within the next week or 2 on my other site: www.airwalkstudios.com (as well as a complete overhaul of the site).
Now I'll give an actual status update of the game, and the development throughout the weekend. I can't remember if I had started the project Friday night, or Saturday morning,
but the start time of the project doesn't matter much. First, I drew up the fonts (which will be redone after the final beta test goes out), and started working on the game engine.
Not programming a game since 1998 or 1999 (a Final Fantasy clone in qbasic no less!), I wasn't sure where to begin after the font was done. I made a mockup phrase for the game
to start up the main engine and the playing field, so to speak, of the game. The engine was working as a quick test, and then I had the offer to have it tested on real hardware.
The hardware tested well, so I went back to coding up the main engine, creating randomly chosen phrases (only 12 at the moment), and then started working on the graphics. The graphics
aren't anything special, as I've mentioned that I'm not a great pixel artist, but they serve well for the game. I went on to create some functions to make the game run more smooth, and
added in the Airwalk Studios splash screen, as well as the game menu to select the mode and view the credits. All that's left to do is finish the game engine, add in the scoring, and
add in more phrases.
That's all for now
