Nesdemia - game about covid

A place where you can keep others updated about your NES-related projects through screenshots, videos or information in general.

Moderator: Moderators

User avatar
RJM
Posts: 55
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2020 11:56 am
Location: Rzeszów, Poland

Nesdemia - game about covid

Post by RJM »

Hello all.

It's my first post on this forum, but I've been reading you for quite some time now and I've found many useful advices - big thanks to all of you!

When the whole lockdown happened I started this little side project called Nesdemia ( it's a working title ): https://github.com/RomekRJM/nesdemia. I would like to release it in the future for free, but with optional donations to covid relief charities.

It's my very first NES game and I'm also quite new to assembly programming in general, but I have couple years of experience programming in Python and Java.
Idea here is that you're a little leukocyte trying to defend your host from coronaviruses.
You can use different powerups to avoid / kill viruses. Each level brings slightly different objectives,
which you need to complete in a given time.
You also need to gather pills, which you would be later able to exchange for upgrades to your leucocyte ( not implemented yet! ).

I got it to a short playable 5 level demo stage: https://github.com/RomekRJM/nesdemia/bl ... sdemia.nes.

Image

Image

Image

I'm looking for talented people to help with graphics and musics. For now I'm thinking about nice game logo and an in game music theme. I will credit you in the game and I can pay you for contribution.

I'm trying to progress every week, but being working father of 3 little kids means that I don't have much free time left :)

Best regards,
Roman
rox_midge
Posts: 91
Joined: Mon Sep 19, 2005 11:51 am

Re: Nesdemia - game about covid

Post by rox_midge »

Not a bad little game. Ironically, I couldn't even get past the first level when playing on the "18 year old swimmer" difficulty, but wound up beating the game on the "65 year old smoker" difficulty.

The health seems to persist between levels, but you lose the powerups, which makes it a lot more difficult. The weapon-style pills also seem like they don't spawn very often at all, which (combined with the speed of the smart viruses) makes survival quite challenging.
User avatar
RJM
Posts: 55
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2020 11:56 am
Location: Rzeszów, Poland

Re: Nesdemia - game about covid

Post by RJM »

Thanks for playing the game rox_midge! I'm very happy to see you've completed it :beer:
Game obviously lacks balance, but I want to focus on it later on. For now I want to add more content.

As you saw difficulty level doesn't matter right now, it does not affect the game.
This is an old concept, that I had added into the game and realized it didn't make much sense.
I'll remove it from the menu completely in the future.

My idea for power ups is to increase spawning frequency, when player buys luck upgrade.
Adding the shop in between levels, where you can buy things for pills is next on my todo list.
sdm2
Posts: 46
Joined: Wed Feb 05, 2020 12:59 pm
Location: Poland

Re: Nesdemia - game about covid

Post by sdm2 »

Trzymam kciuki za kolejne projekty na NES. Mam nadzieję będą następne? ;)
tepples
Posts: 22708
Joined: Sun Sep 19, 2004 11:12 pm
Location: NE Indiana, USA (NTSC)
Contact:

Re: Nesdemia - game about covid

Post by tepples »

Translated from Polish by Google:

I keep my fingers crossed for the next NES projects. I hope there will be more?
User avatar
RJM
Posts: 55
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2020 11:56 am
Location: Rzeszów, Poland

Re: Nesdemia - game about covid

Post by RJM »

Thanks, but I first want to finish this one ;). Btw. I'm also Polish :)
aiko1125
Posts: 3
Joined: Wed Aug 12, 2020 3:00 pm

Re: Nesdemia - game about covid

Post by aiko1125 »

This is the most strange idea for a game, that somehow works splendidly!
My scheme for world domination has faild!
User avatar
Bregalad
Posts: 8056
Joined: Fri Nov 12, 2004 2:49 pm
Location: Divonne-les-bains, France

Re: Nesdemia - game about covid

Post by Bregalad »

Oh, I was expecting a game where you are a covid-infected person and your goal is to infect as many other people as possible.
Someone in the universe HAD to made such a game, right ?
User avatar
IRSUP2a03
Posts: 25
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2018 12:38 pm
Location: Dr. Light's Lab, Unknown

Re: Nesdemia - game about covid

Post by IRSUP2a03 »

Perhaps I could make a neat little intro tune, or title screen.
I'M A DUDE! - Ed
User avatar
RJM
Posts: 55
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2020 11:56 am
Location: Rzeszów, Poland

Re: Nesdemia - game about covid

Post by RJM »

Hello.
I haven't log in for quite a while, but I kept on working on the game.
You can check the most recent build here: https://github.com/RomekRJM/nesdemia/bl ... sdemia.nes .
This is the list of the features, I've added since my last post:

1. In-game shop, where you can buy attributes, like:
- luck - increases the probability of a random power-up
- attack - when you activate your aggressive mode, it'll last longer
- speed - under implementation, will make the player faster
Since it's under development you'll start with enough money to buy them all and check
2. In-game & main menu music using GGSound. Tracks were composed by [@H6899] - big thanks to him for the contribution.
(Being a total noob, I must say this was the single most challenging task. There is absolutely no way I would have done that w/o GGSound ).
3. Save/Load game functionality using passphrases
4. Palette swapping, which allowed me to have nicer menus
5. Movie like credits & mission objective screen.
6. Bugfixes ( improved collision detection, fixed gfx artifacts, fully visible viewport on a real TVs ).

My goal right now is to polish the Nesdemia add more levels and work on general game balance.
I'd really like to finish it, preferably in January, which is achievable, as I'm not going to add more mechanics.
I was thinking about selling a single cart with the game and donating the money to the Covid relief organization.
Later I'll publish the game for free.

Btw. can you think of a better name for the game? I'm afraid Nintendo might not be happy with associating their product with the pandemic.
Last edited by RJM on Thu Dec 10, 2020 12:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
RJM
Posts: 55
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2020 11:56 am
Location: Rzeszów, Poland

Re: Nesdemia - game about covid

Post by RJM »

IRSUP2a03 wrote: Thu Aug 20, 2020 6:38 pm Perhaps I could make a neat little intro tune, or title screen.
Definitely! The title screen is exactly something that I'm missing. I would be really glad to work with you and I can pay you for your contributions.
I'll PM you with more details.

I must say, that I'm very happy seeing how friendly and helpful community NesDev is. You guys rock!
User avatar
RJM
Posts: 55
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2020 11:56 am
Location: Rzeszów, Poland

Re: Nesdemia - game about covid

Post by RJM »

Bregalad wrote: Thu Aug 13, 2020 2:10 pm Oh, I was expecting a game where you are a covid-infected person and your goal is to infect as many other people as possible.
Someone in the universe HAD to made such a game, right ?
Have you tried https://store.steampowered.com/app/2466 ... c_Evolved/?
You'll love it :D
RetHunter
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri Dec 25, 2020 8:06 am
Location: UA Ukraine, Dnipro

Re: Nesdemia - game about covid

Post by RetHunter »

How do you see the title screen?
Is this option suitable? Do you use mirroring?
nesdemia.png
nesdemia.png (6.68 KiB) Viewed 7602 times
Another mouth:
nesdemia2.png
nesdemia2.png (6.67 KiB) Viewed 7602 times
Sprites for colouring:
[attachment=0]nesdemia_parts.png[/attachment
Attachments
nesdemia_parts.png
nesdemia_parts.png (12.71 KiB) Viewed 7602 times
User avatar
RJM
Posts: 55
Joined: Mon Jul 27, 2020 11:56 am
Location: Rzeszów, Poland

Re: Nesdemia - game about covid

Post by RJM »

Wow!!!
I'm absolutely loving your work. This is awesome.
I'd need to sit down tomorrow and see if it's doable, as I don't use mirroring. I'll pm you tomorrow. I'd definitely want to use your work for the cartridge front.
Cheers!
RetHunter
Posts: 13
Joined: Fri Dec 25, 2020 8:06 am
Location: UA Ukraine, Dnipro

Re: Nesdemia - game about covid

Post by RetHunter »

Something similar is better for stick to the cartridge. Here is the version for the Famicom cartridge. I'll make a NES version later.
Nesdemia.png
Original picture (9000x4500 pixels):
NESDemia - Frame 0.png
Version from the old magazine:
Nesdemia_old.jpg
Everything is drawn in vectors. So it's easy to edit.
Yoyr logo :D :
RJM_logo.png
RJM_logo.png (13.88 KiB) Viewed 7333 times
Post Reply