Isostasy Demo : Sidescrolling MetroidVania

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gravelstudios
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Isostasy Demo : Sidescrolling MetroidVania

Post by gravelstudios »

Here's the first public look at the game I've been working on for 3.5 years. Introducing "Isostasy"

http://www.gravelstudios.com/IsostasyDemo.nes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fR8TOMINV10

The full game is almost completely done. This demo omits the last 2 zones of the game. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. Thank you!

Edit: just clicking the link doesn't seem to download the game. copy the link and paste it into a browser tab and that seems to work (at least for me).
Another Edit: OK, I figured out how to add attachments. I also found and corrected a bug already (sigh).
Another edit: Added some Screenshots.
Another edit: Added link to Youtube video.
Attachments
IsostasyDemo_003.png
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IsostasyDemo_002.png
IsostasyDemo_002.png (8.79 KiB) Viewed 135120 times
IsostasyDemo_001.png
IsostasyDemo_001.png (8.14 KiB) Viewed 135120 times
IsostasyDemo_000.png
IsostasyDemo_000.png (4 KiB) Viewed 135120 times
IsostasyDemo.nes
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Last edited by gravelstudios on Sat Jun 18, 2022 10:05 am, edited 2 times in total.
calima
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Re: Isostasy Demo : Sidescrolling MetroidVania

Post by calima »

Please attach some screenies to announcements like this, grabs more attention.
Dacicus
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Re: Isostasy Demo : Sidescrolling MetroidVania

Post by Dacicus »

Nice work! I've reached the Plains level and like the graphics and music so far. Probably missed some upgrades, though. The enemies are soaking up tons of bullets at this point. There was a guy that talked about using different weapons against different enemies, but I only have the starting gun and the TNT, AFAICT.

I did get graphical glitches when dying sometimes in FCEUX 2.2.3, but they're not happening in Mesen 0.9.9, so I assume it's an emulation error in FCEUX.
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qbradq
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Re: Isostasy Demo : Sidescrolling MetroidVania

Post by qbradq »

I played this on keyboard last night at work. Great work on the graphics and sound! I really think you should add a few screenshots or a gif to the original post.

Regarding the gameplay I thought the basics were good, especially the variable-height jump. Nice touch. It took me forever to figure out that I could walk while ducked down though. I didn't get very far, but I think that was more due to me using a keyboard than anything else.
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gravelstudios
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Re: Isostasy Demo : Sidescrolling MetroidVania

Post by gravelstudios »

Dacicus wrote: Thu Jun 16, 2022 10:17 am Nice work! I've reached the Plains level and like the graphics and music so far. Probably missed some upgrades, though. The enemies are soaking up tons of bullets at this point. There was a guy that talked about using different weapons against different enemies, but I only have the starting gun and the TNT, AFAICT.

I did get graphical glitches when dying sometimes in FCEUX 2.2.3, but they're not happening in Mesen 0.9.9, so I assume it's an emulation error in FCEUX.
I'd recommend backtracking and exploring more. you've almost certainly missed a few things. the game will let you go forward underpowered if you choose to, but as you've noticed the enemies at about the Plains zone become damage sponges unless you have some power ups.

I'm curious what the glitch you're referring to looks like. I've only tested it in Mesen, and on an actual NES, with no issues.
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gravelstudios
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Re: Isostasy Demo : Sidescrolling MetroidVania

Post by gravelstudios »

more screenshots.
Attachments
IsostasyDemo_008.png
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IsostasyDemo_007.png
IsostasyDemo_007.png (7.14 KiB) Viewed 135114 times
IsostasyDemo_006.png
IsostasyDemo_006.png (4.62 KiB) Viewed 135114 times
IsostasyDemo_005.png
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IsostasyDemo_004.png
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Dacicus
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Re: Isostasy Demo : Sidescrolling MetroidVania

Post by Dacicus »

gravelstudios wrote: Fri Jun 17, 2022 7:13 amI'm curious what the glitch you're referring to looks like. I've only tested it in Mesen, and on an actual NES, with no issues.
Some seemingly random graphics appear for about one frame right before the character dies and again as the dead character falls off of the screen. I'll try to attach an example. I only noticed this happening starting around the time of the boss fight with the thing that has freezing breath.
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gravelstudios
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Re: Isostasy Demo : Sidescrolling MetroidVania

Post by gravelstudios »

Huh, that is very strange. You're right, it happens in FCEUX, but not MESEN. I'll keep looking at it. Thanks!
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Re: Isostasy Demo : Sidescrolling MetroidVania

Post by gravelstudios »

Dacicus wrote: Fri Jun 17, 2022 5:47 pm
gravelstudios wrote: Fri Jun 17, 2022 7:13 amI'm curious what the glitch you're referring to looks like. I've only tested it in Mesen, and on an actual NES, with no issues.
Some seemingly random graphics appear for about one frame right before the character dies and again as the dead character falls off of the screen. I'll try to attach an example. I only noticed this happening starting around the time of the boss fight with the thing that has freezing breath.
I figured it out. in my routine that changes the music, I was accidentally writing to $4014, initiating OAMDMA transfer.

when I change music tracks, I write 0 to all the audio registers in a loop, starting at $4013 and going down to $4000. I was accidentally using an LDX $13 instead of LDX #$13 before my loop.

Thanks a bunch for catching that! I don't think I noticed it because on real hardware it would only affect a small portion of the screen, but how FXEUX renders the screen makes it much more obvious.

Also, the fade in/out looks rather rough in FXEUX. this is because I use the color de-emphasis bits to darken the screen in between adding or subtracting $10 from each palette entry. On real hardware this creates a nice halfway point between luminance values, but FCEUX doesn't seem to handle color de-emphasis accurately.

Edit: Here's the rom where the bug is fixed:
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Pokun
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Re: Isostasy Demo : Sidescrolling MetroidVania

Post by Pokun »

Oh there is much to love about this one! The physics, the controls, the scrolling, the parallax backgrounds, the enemies, the bosses, the automatic mapping, the level design, the sound and the graphics all hold pretty high standards. If there is something to criticize it would be that the main character is a bit uninspired (is it a vegetable?) and the clouds also looks strange to me.

I played on Mesen using an 8bitdo Pro 2 (great USB joypad BTW) and I find nothing to complain about with the controls. I figured out quickly that you could crouch into narrow spaces. Ducking otherwise seems pretty useless though, it hardly makes you any shorter at all so you can't dodge high-flying enemy attacks nor does it let you shoot short enemies. But I guess those are deliberate design choices and not something that has to be one way or the other.

gravelstudios wrote: Sat Jun 18, 2022 6:49 am Thanks a bunch for catching that! I don't think I noticed it because on real hardware it would only affect a small portion of the screen, but how FXEUX renders the screen makes it much more obvious.
Heh that reminds me of a bug in a homebrew I made years ago that showed up in FCEux but not in more accurate emulators nor on real hardware. I guess testing your homebrew on multiple emulators, even older and less accurate ones is a good idea.
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gravelstudios
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Re: Isostasy Demo : Sidescrolling MetroidVania

Post by gravelstudios »

Pokun wrote: Sat Jun 18, 2022 11:39 am Oh there is much to love about this one! The physics, the controls, the scrolling, the parallax backgrounds, the enemies, the bosses, the automatic mapping, the level design, the sound and the graphics all hold pretty high standards. If there is something to criticize it would be that the main character is a bit uninspired (is it a vegetable?) and the clouds also looks strange to me.

I played on Mesen using an 8bitdo Pro 2 (great USB joypad BTW) and I find nothing to complain about with the controls. I figured out quickly that you could crouch into narrow spaces. Ducking otherwise seems pretty useless though, it hardly makes you any shorter at all so you can't dodge high-flying enemy attacks nor does it let you shoot short enemies. But I guess those are deliberate design choices and not something that has to be one way or the other.

gravelstudios wrote: Sat Jun 18, 2022 6:49 am Thanks a bunch for catching that! I don't think I noticed it because on real hardware it would only affect a small portion of the screen, but how FXEUX renders the screen makes it much more obvious.
Heh that reminds me of a bug in a homebrew I made years ago that showed up in FCEux but not in more accurate emulators nor on real hardware. I guess testing your homebrew on multiple emulators, even older and less accurate ones is a good idea.
Thank you for your kind words! I really appreciate it.

regarding the simplicity of the character design. I don't really think of myself as a very good artist or graphic designer, so I tried to keep the main character simple and "manageable" from an artistic standpoint. I didn't want my reach to exceed my grasp, as it were. it was originally supposed to be a lima bean, but I mostly abandoned that idea and let it just be a green blob of some sort.

The clouds are based on an image that popped into my head of globby clouds that looked like big white spheroid shapes in the sky. Imagine a lava lamp. it was a weird creative decision and people who saw it as a work in progress often asked about them, but I like them and don't intend to change them.

I could definitely use ducking more creatively. I may go back and change some enemy placements specifically to be dodged by ducking. Depending on the weapon, ducking can help you to shoot certain enemies, but it's not a well thought out or used mechanic my any means.
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qbradq
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Re: Isostasy Demo : Sidescrolling MetroidVania

Post by qbradq »

I like the clouds :)
Dacicus
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Re: Isostasy Demo : Sidescrolling MetroidVania

Post by Dacicus »

gravelstudios wrote: Fri Jun 17, 2022 7:13 amI'd recommend backtracking and exploring more. you've almost certainly missed a few things.
I did this in the updated demo and found several items that make the later areas easier. However, I seem to have ended up in a softlock situation while exploring the Marine area. The password is ps7p3v0n 3m3rk3hu 90sioeln 2s7g12bf. I can post screenshots or a savestate from FCEUX, if you want.
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gravelstudios
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Re: Isostasy Demo : Sidescrolling MetroidVania

Post by gravelstudios »

Dacicus wrote: Tue Jun 21, 2022 9:05 am
gravelstudios wrote: Fri Jun 17, 2022 7:13 amI'd recommend backtracking and exploring more. you've almost certainly missed a few things.
I did this in the updated demo and found several items that make the later areas easier. However, I seem to have ended up in a softlock situation while exploring the Marine area. The password is ps7p3v0n 3m3rk3hu 90sioeln 2s7g12bf. I can post screenshots or a savestate from FCEUX, if you want.
Oh wow! how did you get down there? I didn't think it would be possible to get to that location without the lily pads (the item that negates water's effect on movement). do you remember the path you took to get to that room?
Dacicus
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Re: Isostasy Demo : Sidescrolling MetroidVania

Post by Dacicus »

I took the entrance from the Tundra. You need some health upgrades in order to survive getting through a section with two sets of floor tiles that cause damage, but I didn't do anything special otherwise.
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