Contra Is Almost Done

[Bryan Thomas]

Well guys I just finished level 4 and now I have levels 1-5 all done. I must say they look awesome. Every frame has a theme. For example level 3 was a cavern. My favorite level out of them all so far is level 3. It is the most unique and realistic looking frame out of them all.

But me and andrew have big plans for level 6. We plan to make it resemble a dungeon/castle. Which fits perfectly into a classic last level theme . We have been thinking about this level for a long time and we want to make sure that the level is perfectly designed. This means that level 6 will most likely be the longest level to make. But its worth the wait.

But as Contra comes to being finished I am torn between two possibilities.
1. I can finish contra and release it as a platform/action game with no story
2. I can add a story to contra to pull in the reader a bit more and deapen the gameplay.

Adding a storyline would not be to hard, all I would need is a string and some dialogue code, and thats it. The story would not be to in depth just a story so the player has a bit more purpose to play the game.

So the question is, should I add a storyline to contra? or leave it as is?



Heres a sample of level 4

[Darth Android]

no storyline. it will make it easier to make the levels

[Spyderbyte]

No storyline. I rarely pay attention to those anyway. :D

Spyderbyte

[b__]

I usually pay attention to storylines, but not on calculator games (they usually have stupid story lines).

[Arcane Wizard]

Unless it's a really indepth RPG don't bother with a story of more than 2 sentences. Something along the lines of "there's bad guys, you kill them." will do the trick. : )

[DarkerLine]

If someone makes their own level, could you make it so they could add a storyline in the form of a short message every level or so?

[Arcane Wizard]

You'll just get "you have to kill all the baddies" or "whoop some a, yo!" all the time.

[DarkerLine]

Why? A short message would be fun.

[Jedd]

Hmm, I think it should have a small story line, but not as in-depth as an RPG. Do something simple like in most arcade games (even Mario---rescue the princess). So at the beginning you could say something stupid like "you have been chosen to (insert goal here)..." or something like that. Then when you get through all the levels, it says something like "you have completed your mission! Now the land of (something) is free from the (somethings)!" You get the idea.

-J

[Bryan Thomas]

Well thats exactly what I was thinking Jedd. My whole idea was to have it that your brother was kidnapped by some evil dude and you have to save him and kill the enemy. It would be simple, but also true to original contra b/c is contra 2 players it was supposed to be you and your brother.

I dont know what Im going to do just yet, but I cant wait till I get the level editor done, as I think of it right now, I realize that a full level editor wont take to much time to make. All I need to do is alter my current frame editor a bit, and It should be done. It really is a cool utility. After I made the editor, it like tripled my level making, and is the reason contra is being released as early as it is. who knows, hopefully Ill finish the level editor intime for the main release

But I will keep you guys updated on what I plan to do. But thanks for your input on those subjects.

[Bryan Thomas]

Hey Guys,

I have finished level 6 and I must say it looks AWESOME!! I cant show you the level b/c I want it to be a surprise and I do not wanna spoil the level. I have decided to add a story. But dont worry Its not gonna be throughout the whole game, just when you create a new game and when u defeat the final boss. The story is actually written now and I like the way it turned out. Im now going with a whole zelda type deal, where the person has to make a game and insert initials. That way when you save a game it will be on your own guy. Im also adding a quicksave feature that will save ur progress but will not update ur main file, just incase u make a huge mistake when playing. Its gonna be awesome

All I have to do now is work on a final boss and finish level editor, but all seems like its going well and I should be able to make the September 6th deadline.

[Calvin#1]

Dude, I can't wait to play Contra!!! It's BASIC right? Even though it's a BASIC game it is still really awesome! I hope you release it soon.

BTW, some new screenies might be nice!

[Bryan Thomas]

Yeah its BASIC, pure BASIC. No ASM utilities at alll YAY!

Im glad your looking forward to it, I recently got a bad review for the demo at calcgames.org it really ticked my off seeing as how the guy who rated it is a complete noob I guess people dont understand that the AI is not exactly easy to program. The AI supports up to unlimited enemies. Meaning 50 nmes on a screen, would run the same speed as 1 nme on a screen. Its really cool, and without it contra would not be fast at all. But they act as if its poor AI. !!!UMMMM unlimited enemy support that doesnt effect speed is poor AI!!!! Sorry lol it just kinda makes me mad how people say stuff like that. I could easily make the AI extrememly powerful, but they would always beat you, so I have a
randint(1-5) for the AI. If I lower it the AI gets stronger. But seriously the AI would be to powerful if it was always checked in a loop SO BOOOYAH!!

and since u asked nicely heres some random screenshots (cant show u level 6, its a surprise )











What ya think?

[Arcane Wizard]

The boss looks like an administrator-with-a-cane-for-a-body-from-hell.. I like it.

[Calvin#1]

*drool* Very nice Bryan! Contra sure will be one awesome BASIC game! That's really cool how your AI is programmed and the fact that you are using no ASM utils is really awesome too!

[Bryan Thomas]

[ISUCK]

That looks AWESOME... I just wish you didn't set up a release date and torment us