Sega Dev on Vista Need Help

[kevster]

Hi All,

I have a good idea for a game for the mega drive, I have drawn the playing area and tiles in paint. It is a GTA Style top down clone.

But i have not much to very little programing knowledge did do some qbasic and little assembler at college but all forgotten.

Was wondering if any one here knows of a visual tool which you can use to create the game a la VB and then code it, or does it have to be all coded from the ground up.

I do have BasiEgaXorz and managed to make a super simple "Hello World" and "Enter Name says your Name" Program but apart from that diddly squat, all help would be very useful, many thanks

Kev :thumbsup:

[kevster]

Is going to be called either

CODE 503

or

503 Auto Theft

[raylyd]

Nice.

[kevster]

ne one know of were to start as have the art to make a quick demo of a road and moving car but no idea on how to get it drawn using the basiegaxorz ???

[raylyd]

Once i should have a look for a gameing course on makeing one i will look around and i will see what i can find as i have a dreamcast dev box i could plan a game or two even a 360 game maybe in the future.

[segaloco]

I'm not sure if you can just visually design it. I mean, if there are visual game designers for basic, I'm sure with modifications PC BASIC could be ported after creation...

[kevster]

just would like a few pointers on how to get it to display the tiles on the screen ? would be a good start

[Twimfy]

BACK THE FUCK UP!

Lol, kidding don't mean to be er...mean.

Anyway I admire your ambition.

However.

I don't want to sound condescending or patronising here but you're really going to need to start off with something really simple and work your way up to this. It's cool that you've started the graphics and even thought of a name and concept but you should try making the entire game for the PC first and see how tricky that is before even attempting this on the MD.

You're going to have to consider input output, graphics processing, sound processing, sprite manipulating and then game logic. That can be tricky enough in a simple point and click game maker never mind coding it for a system you've never programmed before.

There will be a lot of code, there's simply no escaping it. I would love it if there was a way to "port" code to the MD in the way you're suggesting it but there's not, I've looked, and looked again. There are lot's of tools which will help see here http://gendev.spritesmind.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=7 but nothing as comprehensive as you'd expect.

Don't by any means give up, my recommended course of action would be to find a tutorial which shows you how to code a simple sprite that can be manipulated by the d-pad and then work up from there, slowly learning how to substitute your own sprites in the process.

Games programming is fun but it can also be an absolute bastard too.

EDIT: There are a lot of resources for MD programming out there on the interweb but they're getting harder to find. TMEE might know the best places. Check out Eidolon's Inn too.

[kevster]

BACK THE FUCK UP!

Lol, kidding don't mean to be er...mean.

Anyway I admire your ambition.

However.

I don't want to sound condescending or patronising here but you're really going to need to start off with something really simple and work your way up to this. It's cool that you've started the graphics and even thought of a name and concept but you should try making the entire game for the PC first and see how tricky that is before even attempting this on the MD.

You're going to have to consider input output, graphics processing, sound processing, sprite manipulating and then game logic. That can be tricky enough in a simple point and click game maker never mind coding it for a system you've never programmed before.

There will be a lot of code, there's simply no escaping it. I would love it if there was a way to "port" code to the MD in the way you're suggesting it but there's not, I've looked, and looked again. There are lot's of tools which will help see here http://gendev.spritesmind.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=7 but nothing as comprehensive as you'd expect.

Don't by any means give up, my recommended course of action would be to find a tutorial which shows you how to code a simple sprite that can be manipulated by the d-pad and then work up from there, slowly learning how to substitute your own sprites in the process.

Games programming is fun but it can also be an absolute bastard too.

EDIT: There are a lot of resources for MD programming out there on the interweb but they're getting harder to find. TMEE might know the best places. Check out Eidolon's Inn too.

Cheers dude, but one step ahead of you, have been looking at spritesmind and also the inn, and playing with the basic software but so far only got a hello world thanks for the support and yeah should start with a simple sprite which i will do fortwith and shall keep you posted on the progress

:cur_sonic::thumbsup:

[Alchy]

Twimfy's right, make the game on PC first and if you actually make it through that process think about moving on to Megadrive later. If you have no real experience of programming then 68k asm is going to be quite a shock, and will almost certainly discourage you from continuing.

[retro]

Hmm, you have a lot of picture fail. One of your attached images doesn't work, and your sig image.

Nobody uses attachments here - host images somewhere else (imageshack for example) and link. ;-)

[kevster]

ok sorry

edit - in relation to people saying to start on pc would you suggest the Assembly as that is what is the heart of the 6800 or in C

[Alchy]

in relation to people saying to start on pc would you suggest the Assembly as that is what is the heart of the 6800 or in C

That question doesn't really make sense. People were telling you to learn to program on the PC first, in something like Java or C++, then tackle 68k (not 6800) asm later. If you struggle with Java or C++ there will be many people/resources that can advise you, if you struggle with the Megadrive you're pretty much on your own. It's just not a good place to start.

Are you aware of the limitations of the Megadrive? The RAM constraints alone should make you nervous.

[kevster]

i am aware of the limitations but i like a challenge, and sorry if i didn't make sense but you have answered my question will try it first in C

[Twimfy]

i am aware of the limitations but i like a challenge, and sorry if i didn't make sense but you have answered my question will try it first in C

If you're really passionate about MD coding then pick up some books/online tutorials in ASM and 68k and forget C.

It'll be a long long journey.

C will give you a better understanding of programming games in general and allow you to be very flexible with what you program for. If you start with C, programming from the MD will still be pretty complex.

It's hard work whichever way you approach it and it really comes down to dedication and how much time you have. Either way it will be very rewarding if you stick with it.

System limitations and nuances are the biggest hurdle. My main language is Objective-C Mac and iPhone specific and I rely heavily on NEXTStep to get anywhere, I'm only dedicated to it because I make a living from it. I've tried to switch to other systems and formats using what knowledge I have and the amount of stuff I have to relearn always puts me off.

Whatever you decide, let us know how you get on.

[kevster]

i will keep u all updated no probs.

but one more thing would i need at some point a flash cart to see it work on real hard ware?

[cabbage]

BasiEgaXorz is really cool, in my opinion. I was so surprised to see a BASIC compiler for MD/CD that I spent about a month fiddling with it and was able to make a funny little game. It's probably not powerful enough to make a full GTA clone like you are interested in... but maybe with extra ingenuity or a mix of basic and asm, I don't know. Anyway if you are still interested in using BasiEgaXorz, you might like to check out http://devster.proboards.com/ as they have a forum with lots of useful BEX discussion. Feel free to PM me if you need help with something specific, though I'm just a hobbyist :thumbsup:

BEX can be a great tool for rapid prototyping or just goofing around, although serious projects are probably better off being written in C or assembly (or a mixture) ...

[Twimfy]

i will keep u all updated no probs.

but one more thing would i need at some point a flash cart to see it work on real hard ware?

An emulator should be fine for 99% of your work. There are circumstances where a ROM will not work on real hardware but you'll have to ask about to find out why.

Much easier to test on an emulator too.

Although there's no excuse for not buying an Everdrive.

[Kjell]

Hi kevster,

Keep in mind that the Mega Drive does not support hardware rotation, so top-down games usually provide sprites for individual angles. For example ..



And BasiEgaXorz is fine for complex projects as well .. just make sure to tackle performance critical tasks with inline assembly.

I've attached a sample project ( source code ) illustrating how to rotate a car.

[kevster]

Hi kevster,

Keep in mind that the Mega Drive does not support hardware rotation, so top-down games usually provide sprites for individual angles. For example ..



And BasiEgaXorz is fine for complex projects as well .. just make sure to tackle performance critical tasks with inline assembly.

I've attached a sample project ( source code ) illustrating how to rotate a car.

dude WOW, but one question i know being a pain but could u add notes but WOW