Haha, your physics made me laugh out loud. Great progress; keep up the good work. Do the white surfaces indicate portal-able surfaces, as in the original computer game?

Yes, those are the wall types where portals can be created. Physics won't be too hard to implement, as I already have it set up, it just needs to be fine tuned. It would be nice if flying was possible though.

Whooooa! I was thinking of the NGame too! In a way, that game faced the same challenges. (Interacting with the map surfaces)

At the risk of slightly derailing Mateo's thread, have you seen that we're working on that?

Yes, indeed I have. And it is looking great!

Here's another update: Currently firing of portals is set up, and also bumps the portals so that they line up correctly with the walls. Still have to make movement through portals possible, which could prove to be a challenge, but once that is done, then physics will happen, and after that, boxes and doors and many other items. Here we go!

I will probably change the graphics as well in order to make it look more professional; does anyone have any ideas on what could be improved graphically? By the way, this is at full resolution, so anything is technically possible.

Screenshot:


EDIT: Just for kicks, here it is without the internal delay loop.

hmm it would look nice if the portals was animated like the original. And haha that last screenie xD

Well, it is now looking like movement through portals is going to take a little longer than I thought. I have the basics coded already, and it does movement through portals while displaying only the visible portion, but the thing that stinks is how physics for the Y is 2x as much as the X. That shouldn't be too much of a problem, because I can just shift the bits right, but it is just yet another thing to worry about. Screen shots coming soon!

BTW: What could make the graphics look a lot better? APotato, I took your advice, and I must say it looks rather nice.

Okay, time to optimize!

Well, here we go: Movement through portals is pretty much there, I just have to make sure that it is offset by the correct amount when changing portals. Also, I need to draw the second sprite, which shouldn't be too much of an issue because the offset is already stored. Here's a screenshot -- Don't worry that the portals and shooting flicker at times; that is due to the framerate of the gif.



BTW: What could make the graphics look a lot better?

I feel like it might look a little better if the legs were more proportionate to the arms/body. As it is it looks like you're some really strange alien creature with massive legs.

Other than that, maybe if it was possible to do a sort of splash particle effect when a portal lands. (Not like true particles, just a few sprite frames that animate over a short amount of time)

Why can't you use the sprite that you originally created?

To be honest I like the sprite as is. It's becoming almost a signature of puzzle platformers for the z80 series. This program is loooking pretty darn good. I'd say to make it look better you should add some variety to the background i.e. add your occassional observation room and such. Other than that you should really try to keep the graphics as minimal as possible because that really adds to the testing atmosphere.
If you are struggling with portal physics and stuff, you should ask Builderboy, I'm sure he'll be more than willing to help out with problems

I'm glad you're trying to recreate this program, and wish you well. I loved Portal Prelude for the 83+! And, it is looking great so far!

*Bump* Has this project gone dormant, or is this still being worked on? Have been waiting for this to become playable (in terms of comparing this to the monochrome version).

Nope, this project is still being worked on, I just had to pause for a little bit as college finals are coming up, among other things. Sorry about the delay, but you know. Priorities.

EDIT: My current goal is to have a beta version with a few levels and objects completed by the 20th of December. A long time to be sure, but then again, this is not snake.

EDIT2: By the way, the original monochrome version took almost 3 years to fully complete, and that was in Axe...

EDIT3: Because I really would like to focus attention on this, I will probably be forgoing this winter's contest. Oh well.

EDIT4: Black brackgroud? Good/Bad?

Why do his legs disappear sometimes?

No rush; we're just excited to see how fun this game is looking and anxious to give it a try ourselves.

The black background is nice, if stark: is it possible to let levels specify the background color?

Because it's a side view, and he's standing with his legs together.

Yes, I haven't bothered to completely design some of the finer points yet, but that it pretty easy to implement



Yes, it is quite easy to specify the color by just storing a single byte in the level data. Add another byte to specify the color of the character as well... In fact, I could probably do BCD and just make it possible to store both in a single byte.

The black background is cool. Can you do sprites instead of solid tiles? I can try to make some sprites if it's possible. I think it looks pretty good, I kinda liked the smooth look of the old screen shots (and the smooth portals).

Just out of curiosity what's the level draw time in the latest version?

So far it can draw in about half a second or so; but I am considering making a fading and scrolling routine where you will not even notice this effect. I am still considering what would look the best in general; we shall see what happens.

In the terms of sprites, what are you considering? Animations are certainly doable if needed, and can be drawn normally as the screen is full sized, not at half resolution at the moment. Thanks in advance!

I've been working some sprites, 7x7 with a good bit of contrast between the colors. How many colors can you display with it (the calculator)? A list of a textures would be good. I'll have a preview of them by the end of the day (some gifs probably).