Bucket Mouse
Active member
With this amazing combo module you can make games that COMBINE the Adventure and Arcade Platformer physics to make dual gameplay styles possible!
Both these images are from the same game!
It should be ready for use as I have used it in two publicly available games -- my Byte-Off demo, "Dodgeball RPG," and the sixth Allison of Astra game, "Margarita Mix." If you'd like to show your appreciation, head on over to the Allison of Astra itch.io page and snatch that game, or any of the others, for just $5.
(Keep in mind: it blends overhead and side-view gameplay, but it doesn't scroll. Scrolling is not a part of the Arcade Platformer module -- and I have not personally messed with the scrolling modules yet. Someone did manage to combine Metrovania and Adventure in a recent Byte-Off game, so it CAN be done...but I wouldn't know how just yet. Ask CrazyGroupTrio.)
Does this module take up space in the static bank? Of course it does....and that's why the "Move doLoadScreen to Bank 16" alterations by JamesNES are INCLUDED in this mod. You do not have to do it yourself! Bank 1F will have a LOT of space now.
First, download the zip file attached to this post. Then go to wherever the NESmaker folders are on your computer. Take the MOD_ArcadeAdventure file and put it in the Modules folder. Then take the MOD_ArcadeAdventure folder and put it in GameEngineData/Routines/Base4.5/Game. This is where all the other module information is stored.
Then, start a new project, select Create Blank Tilesets and use ArcadeAdventure.MOD as your starting module. Name the folder whatever you want.
When building your Player, keep in mind the needs of both modules. Give them four directions like in Adventure, but make their third Action Step for climbing, like in Platformer. Make sure they have a jump speed!
When installing the inputs, do so as normal BUT use the included alternate inputs in the zip file for individual directions and jumping. The Platformer screens will have different needs than the Adventure screens -- for example, the Jump inputs are written to not function if the Platform Screen check box is not on. Up and Down are written as disabled for Platformer, except when the player is on a ladder tile.
Speaking of the ladder tile, it's hardcoded into the NESMaker engine as #10, or #$0A. Be careful not to put anything there that might make sense in Adventure but screw things up in Platformer. Or, if you do need the tile to do something in Adventure, render it inoperable in Platformer by using this at the top of the tile script:
LDA ScreenFlags01
AND #%00000001
BEQ +
RTS
+
This also has an altered Melee Weapon input script that disables the weapon on Platformer screens. There might be a way to use melee weapons in the Platfomer module eventually but it's a big pain right now -- the weapon is not programmed to move with the character and observe gravity so it will hang in midair. Fixing this would take a while and is not something I want to bother with at the moment. But maybe you can figure it out yourself. Share with the rest of us if you do.
Now when you make your screens, turning on gravity is as easy as clicking the "Platform Physics" check box that is now under Screen Flags 2 in the Screen Details. If it's on, sprites observe gravity. If it's off, they don't.
IMPORTANT: Never mix the two modes in the same playable area -- keep the Platformer and Adventure areas separate from each other. The issue it creates is minor, but unfixable (and ends your game if it happens). Walking offscreen from an unchecked screen to a checked one will normally not cause any issue EXCEPT if the player is in mid-jump. If the player jumps offscreen and goes to an Adventure screen you wil lose control of the player sprite. Since you can't control what the player does it's best to avoid it altogether. WARPS between gravity and non-gravity areas are OK.