Cat Hero - W.I.P (Work in progress)

[mikusz3]

My first game on NESMaker I'm currently working on right now.
Cat Hero

A "Puss in Boots" fairytale like adventure, where the story is simple - beat down monsters and get the treasure.
Right now, I'm making this game with help of tutorials, but because I want the game to be a bit bigger (but not too big), it may take me a year or so to finish it.

Currently, the demo isn't available because it still needs the work - even if I'm a college student that also needs to focus on education.

Oh yeah, the game is supposed to be a classic Mario-like platformer, but you can attack monsters with sword.

The pictures attached are the concept works, snapshot of a first W.I.P Project demo and two labels for the pirated Famiclone cartridges.
Yes, "GRAPHIC DESIGN IS MY PASSION" XD

 

[dale_coop]

Oh nice. I like cat games !

 

[mikusz3]

Update:
Since my old laptop's gone and my project as well with it, I had to start the project from scratch.
I will refollow the tutorials and hopefully try to finish this game before my 24th birthday.

 

[dale_coop]

I can't say this enough. It's important to make backups of your NESmaker projects.
As soon as you've finished a NESmaker session, made significant progress and feel you shouldn't lose it (I do this every 2 days):
- right-click on your NESmaker folder -> send to "Compressed (zip) folder".
- right-click on the generated zip file -> rename to NESmaker_<MyProject>_2023-08-21.zip (today's date).
- right-click on the renamed zip file -> send to USB key or external hard disk (or your Cloud backup solution).

If you don't want to backup the entier NESmaker folder (because it's quite big), at least, here the files you MUST backup:
- your project .MST file (usually in the "Projects" folder)
- the GraphicAssets folder (which contains all the graphics for your project)
- the GameEngineData folder (which contains all the scripts used for your project)

 

[mikusz3]

The game is almost done, I think it requires some polishing and some music and sounds.
The prototype file is in the attached files.
If you have any feedback about this game, feel free to reply.

 

[Amune138]

The game is almost done, I think it requires some polishing and some music and sounds.
The prototype file is in the attached files.
If you have any feedback about this game, feel free to reply.

i tried out your game. was fun. reminds me of mega man.

 

[mikusz3]

i tried out your game. was fun. reminds me of mega man.

Thanks for the feedback. However I'd like to hear out your criticism as well - I mean, which parts of the game do you think should be improved and what code should I implement?

 

[Amune138]

Thanks for the feedback. However I'd like to hear out your criticism as well - I mean, which parts of the game do you think should be improved and what code should I implement?

tried it out some more...
i think more animation on the cat would help [hard to tell he is walking]
might get less lag with limited projectiles on screen
maybe less health on some of the normal enemies
in the monkey room there was a blank platform
weird things happen in the scorpion room [hard to tell what was going on in that room, couldnt get past it with save states]

 

[mikusz3]

might get less lag with limited projectiles on screen

Okay, managed to do that.

Simply when on Projectile_scrolling_SuperAmmo, I had to type between the +shootThing and TXA this code:

CountObjects #%00000100 ; Check if object is player weapon
CMP #2
BNE sureShootProjectile
    JMP +canNotShoot
    sureShootProjectile:

in the monkey room there was a blank platform

Firstly, the monkey you were talking about is supposed to be yeti. the blank platforms can also happen when fighting Basilisk and the dragon. The reason for it is because the tile checkpoint uses the blank tile after you reach the checkpoint tile. I don't know if I'll be able to fix this, but I will try to do something about it.

i think more animation on the cat would help [hard to tell he is walking]

Yeah, now that I think about it, he doesn't look much like he's walking... However I used up the space for the death and win animation. I will consider delete the unused objects and use the empty place for the walk animation. If I'll get to it, that is.

maybe less health on some of the normal enemies

List of monsters dying in hits:

Slime x1
Spider x3
Snowman x5
Frog x5 (but it is rather recommended to walk over him or jump after him)
Slug x1
Scorpion x3

weird things happen in the scorpion room [hard to tell what was going on in that room, couldnt get past it with save states]

Can you share the screenshot of that happening? This would be useful.

 

[dale_coop]

The reason for it is because the tile checkpoint uses the blank tile after you reach the checkpoint tile. I don't know if I'll be able to fix this, but I will try to do something about it.

When the checkpoint is activated, it is replaced by the first tile of your background tileset. Just draw a tile that has the same color as your background on that level, as the first tile of your tilset.

 

[Amune138]

Okay, managed to do that.

Simply when on Projectile_scrolling_SuperAmmo, I had to type between the +shootThing and TXA this code:

CountObjects #%00000100 ; Check if object is player weapon
CMP #2
BNE sureShootProjectile
    JMP +canNotShoot
    sureShootProjectile:

Firstly, the monkey you were talking about is supposed to be yeti. the blank platforms can also happen when fighting Basilisk and the dragon. The reason for it is because the tile checkpoint uses the blank tile after you reach the checkpoint tile. I don't know if I'll be able to fix this, but I will try to do something about it.


Yeah, now that I think about it, he doesn't look much like he's walking... However I used up the space for the death and win animation. I will consider delete the unused objects and use the empty place for the walk animation. If I'll get to it, that is.

List of monsters dying in hits:

Slime x1
Spider x3
Snowman x5
Frog x5 (but it is rather recommended to walk over him or jump after him)
Slug x1
Scorpion x3


Can you share the screenshot of that happening? This would be useful.

View: https://youtu.be/-8QREjVz4eI
here is a quick vid

 

[mikusz3]

The soundtrack done by talented musician @kevin81 . You can listen to it via the NES Emulator that supports NSF files.

 

[mikusz3]

Yet another prototype is released. Feedback is still needed and appreciated.

 

[mikusz3]

Also trying to make a manual/instruction booklet for the game using this PSD file, however I need some help with it.

 

[JamesNES]

I like the music, very cute.

I'd suggest making the boss rooms not scroll until the boss is dead, so you can't just run past them and kill them by screening them off.

There needs to be a cooldown on taking damage after getting hit, I was instantly dying if an enemy walked into me.

I also ran into a bunch of classic NES Maker scrolling bugs, like invisible walls and stuff, there are a lot of threads on the forum about them you should check out.

Keep at it! Making NES games is super satisfying and fun. Don't hesitate to dive into code and mess around.

 

[Jonny]

Nesmaker scrolling is sooo last week Honestly though, I wouldn't dismiss the idea of single screen for a first project. That's the mistake I made. You could end up fighting with the scrolling engine and/or positioning tiles just to get around the problems. There are of course some great example of scrolling NM games but they've either changed the scrolling routines extensively or worked around the problems.