The 8-Bit Encounter - My Open-World 2D Game Demo

[Xornand]

Hello,

I’ve been recently working on a 2D game engine for Open-World adventure games. The core feature of the engine (and de facto its “selling point”) is the ability to program it with XML and Lua alone. The engine is still in its early Alpha version and there are yet a lot of things to be added (such as a proper interface, battle and inventory system, as well as trading).

That being said, I have decided to create a simple demo game in order to test the features that are already implemented. The game is called The 8-Bit Encounter and it presents a simple (and quite honestly, kind of lame) story set on a fictional island. The player’s objective is to move around the world, explore different locations and talk to NPCs while progressing through a simple quest. Note that the story itself is not of much relevance, as it was created purely as an excuse to test various features of the engine in the state it is right now.

I think sharing the game here could give me an opportunity to receive some broader feedback, while (hopefully) providing at least a couple of minutes of that nostalgic 2D RPG-like experience to those playing it. Therefore, if you find my project interesting enough to try it out, I’d appreciate some feedback on just about anything related to the technical aspects of the game (and thus the engine itself).

Thank you for your time and attention.


Alpha 0.3.1

(Changelog between 0.2 and 0.3.1)

• [FIXED] Collision detection wasn't sometimes accurate enough
• [FIXED] Velocity for diagonal movement was too fast
• [ADDED] Controller support
• [ADDED] Day and night cycle
• [ADDED] "Interriors" with specific lighting can now be defined in the map editor
• [ADDED] Cutscene mode for in-game scripted events (while in the mode, the dialogues can be skipped by pressing Enter)
• [ADDED] Music fading functionality
• [ADDED] In-game message boxes
• [ADDED] In-game dialog boxes
• [ADDED] Interactive menus
• [ADDED] Multi-line dialogues
• [ADDED] Splashscreen
• [ADDED] "Action Button"
• [ADDED] Various adjustments to the tech demo

► DOWNLOAD INSTALLER ◄

OR DOWNLOAD .ZIP (REQUIRES VC++ 2013 REDISTRIBUTABLES)

[Deathbeam]

I expected something else from your game title. This is not 8-bit at all, you should call it retro or something, but 8-bit is really bad choice for name.

[MadMartin]

I think the title is fitting. The screens show 256 color palettes --> 8bit 

[eXpl0it3r]

Looks really great! I hope to try it later today.
Did you create all the art yourself?

I expected something else from your game title. This is not 8-bit at all, you should call it retro or something, but 8-bit is really bad choice for name.

And what do you "define" as 8-bit then?

Though I wonder about the title, does "8-bit" has any relevance to the game other than pixel art? There isn't then a different title for the actual game, might be a bit more appropriate.

[Deathbeam]

Looks really great! I hope to try it later today.
Did you create all the art yourself?

I expected something else from your game title. This is not 8-bit at all, you should call it retro or something, but 8-bit is really bad choice for name.

And what do you "define" as 8-bit then?

Though I wonder about the title, does "8-bit" has any relevance to the game other than pixel art? There isn't then a different title for the actual game, might be a bit more appropriate.

In my corrupted mind, 8bit is looking like this:


But yes, it is 8bit, sorry, I was a bit stoned

[Xornand]

I certainly appreciate your dedication to keeping the game's title adequate to the contents it presents. That being said, this game is more like a tech demo and the title is not necessarily of much importance here - if, however, you can't stand it for some reason, you're free to modify it in the configuration file in the resources folder

Looks really great! I hope to try it later today.
Did you create all the art yourself?

Thanks. The art used in the game comes from various sources on the Internet (I did modify the colors a bit though), so kudos to the artists who decided to release their work under the CC license.

[Grimshaw]

I am trying your game, please avoid installers for simple stuff... I don't think its the best way to share your projects :p

Still, pretty amazing stuff! I loved how everything is polished and comes well together, this could be a nice game if you keep going

[Rhimlock]

Thanks. The art used in the game comes from various sources on the Internet (I did modify the colors a bit though), so kudos to the artists who decided to release their work under the CC license.

I don't want to be picky, but at least the caracters are part of the Liberated Pixel Cup at OpenGameArt.org
http://opengameart.org/content/lpc-medieval-fantasy-character-sprites
And the Creator marked them as CC-BY-SA license, so you should name the Author accordingly.

[Xornand]

I am trying your game, please avoid installers for simple stuff... I don't think its the best way to share your projects :p

Still, pretty amazing stuff! I loved how everything is polished and comes well together, this could be a nice game if you keep going

Thanks, appreciating good words.

The installer is there to provide people with redistributables for VS 2013 (in case they don't have it). Other than that, it just unpacks the game to the desktop.

I don't want to be picky, but at least the caracters are part of the Liberated Pixel Cup at OpenGameArt.org
http://opengameart.org/content/lpc-medieval-fantasy-character-sprites
And the Creator marked them as CC-BY-SA license, so you should name the Author accordingly.

Sure, the credits.txt file in the game's directory links to the appropriate websites.

[Xornand]

Alpha 0.3

A new version of the engine (along with the updated The 8-Bit Encounter) has been released!

Changelog (between 0.2 and 0.3)

• [FIXED] Collision detection wasn't sometimes accurate enough
• [FIXED] Velocity for diagonal movement was too fast
• [ADDED] Day and night cycle
• [ADDED] "Interriors" with specific lighting can now be defined in the map editor
• [ADDED] Cutscene mode for in-game scripted events (while in the mode, the dialogues can be skipped by pressing Enter)
• [ADDED] Music fading functionality
• [ADDED] In-game message boxes
• [ADDED] In-game dialog boxes
• [ADDED] Interactive menus
• [ADDED] Multi-line dialogues
• [ADDED] Splashscreen
• [ADDED] Various adjustments to the tech demo

For new screenshots and download links, see the opening post.

[zsbzsb]

This looks good (haven't had time to try it myself). 

But I just wanted to stop by and say that you can include the required runtime dlls next to your executable (just like the SFML dlls). Then the user won't be forced to use your installer or manually install the redistributable. 

[Xornand]

I know, that's how I was doing it initially for internal testing. However, when it comes to public distribution, I prefer the other approach because I'd like to keep my game directory clean and simple (keeping the amount of .dll files to a minimum). Releasing the redistributables as packages is also the recommended way because it enables auto-updating.

[Xafi]

I want source :S

[Clockwork]

Is there a particular reason that the music fades whenever you collide with something?  It got pretty irritating after a little bit, but I'm not sure if it's a glitch or you did that on purpose.

[Xornand]

I want source :S

Not planning on releasing the source anytime soon. Although, I will release the .lua source for the demo level once I agree on the final scripting API (which will hopefully happen with the next major version).

Is there a particular reason that the music fades whenever you collide with something?  It got pretty irritating after a little bit, but I'm not sure if it's a glitch or you did that on purpose.

Does it fade? Normally you should just hear the "bump" sound. The music is untouched code-wise. If possible, could you attach a short recording of when it happens?