First NES game (Mineshaft)

Nioreh · Post by **Nioreh** » Sun Jan 29, 2012 3:16 pm

Hi all

A couple of weeks ago I started reading up on making NES games. I don't know why, but I grew up with NES and I stumbled upon the PowerPak online and thought "I need to try this". I have previously done flash games and other small projects. I have never done much assembly, so when I found Shiru's guide on NES programming in C I was very excited. I had previously read the Nerdy Nights tutorial, and in combination there is all the info that one needs to make a small game really quickly.

I would like to share my first try at NES programming. I did all the graphics and music in NES Screen Tool and FamiTracker. The game was programmed mostly in C using Shiru's library, plus a little bit of assembly (to get the parallax scrolling to work).

It's a very simple game. It goes on until you die, and then you are presented with your score. Basic NROM 128. (Of which most is unused

) The sound effects are a little buggy (don't know why), but they do the job. Controls are left and right only. You lose life if you step on the red platforms, regain it by stepping on blue ones. Don't get crushed by the ceiling, and don't fall off the bottom.

Please try it out. Maybe it will fit on the "Action 53"

Thanx to nesdev and nintendoage for all the great threads I've read! And a special thanks to Shiru, whose font I stole and for his great C library!

Link here:
http://www.fileden.com/files/2009/12/8/ ... eShaft.nes

PS. Can I enter the 2012 compo whit this?

Denine · Post by **Denine** » Sun Jan 29, 2012 5:05 pm

Fabolous game!

I find it very entertaining.So era of NES Games written in C is about to start? 8)
As far as I know, anyone can enter with any(playable) game\program for NES.Besides, Your game is much better than my last compo entry, so they have to let you in

Post by **tepples** » Sun Jan 29, 2012 5:53 pm

Great job with the game Nioreh. I remember getting addicted to a game like this on an old probably NOAC-based handheld system I used to have.

But come A53 release, I'd like to have the source code for this so that I can combine it with other minigames in the same 32 KiB PRG bank. (They can use separate CHR banks of a CNROM if needed.) The biggest bottleneck is number of PRG ROM banks.

Denine: If it becomes nearly as easy to make an NES game as it was to make a GBA game, and people become aware of this, expect more NES games.

EDIT: This one also needs 803C:F0 to work in a multicart.

infiniteneslives · Post by **infiniteneslives** » Sun Jan 29, 2012 10:46 pm

Wow this is a pretty good game. Is there an end to it or does it just keep going?

My first couple times through I thought I might have some criticisms, but as I played a few more times I got an appreciation for how you set everything up.

I will say though that the parallax effect is pretty cool, but it kinda messed with my vision a bit after playing for 10 mins or so. My computer screen keep seeming like it was scrolling down even though it wasn't for about a minute.

Its possible this would have happened even without the parallax effect, but I'm not sure.

Looks like a great early entry to the compo IMO. And since you were able to whip it out so quickly looks like you've got time for more entries!

Shiru · Post by **Shiru** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 2:06 am

Cool! A nice little game. It is similar to TI 83's Fall Down that was implemented for NES at MiniGame Compo once (4K or something), but with more features and stuff, and better gameplay.

I'm glad that my code and article were useful.

Bregalad · Post by **Bregalad** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 5:15 am

Ah, good old falldown, we spend hours playing this during courses at college.

l_oliveira · Post by **l_oliveira** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 7:34 am

Excellent game ! I'm now a fan !

How come I never ever played the original game this is based on ?

Nioreh · Post by **Nioreh** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 8:39 am

Thanks for the great comments. The game is based on NS Shaft for the Mac, which I used to play a lot in the 90-s.

Tempy · Post by **Tempy** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 12:59 pm

Good job! Worthy entry. Got a score of 55 on my first try.

Small suggestion: You could add pickups to increase score.

snarfblam · Post by **snarfblam** » Mon Jan 30, 2012 3:36 pm

Pretty nifty.

I did notice a little bug. If you walk off a platform and immediately steer back toward it, you will land on it again. If you do it repeatedly, you can refill your life on a single blue platform (although I died a couple of times trying to do it).

Still, fun little game, and pretty good for your first game. I feel a little more encouraged about the idea of trying to make my own homebrew game some day.

Heavy Stylus · Post by **Heavy Stylus** » Wed Feb 01, 2012 3:18 pm

It's not a bug, it's a feature!

PROTIP: stepping on and off the blue platforms can refill your healthbar!

Great little game this - would love to see an improved version with perhaps a selection of different backgrounds and improved graphics (titlescreen in particular).

Might even get a cart of this made for my famicom

NESHomebrew · Post by **NESHomebrew** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 7:54 am

I came here expecting to see something Minecraft related. It's official, Mojang has corrupted my mind...

Congrats, you have gotten a lot farther than people who have been doing this for years.

Post by **tepples** » Thu Feb 02, 2012 8:22 am

WhatULive4 wrote:I came here expecting to see something Minecraft related. It's official, Mojang has corrupted my mind...

In a parallel universe, on another board, discussing a Mojang game:

WhatUAspire2 wrote:I came here expecting to see something Elder Scrolls related. It's official, Bethesda has corrupted my mind...

nesworld · Post by **nesworld** » Sat Feb 04, 2012 7:27 am

What an awesome little game, thanks a lot

aliman · Post by **aliman** » Wed Feb 08, 2012 11:37 am

really well done game;)