/vr/ - Retro Games

[Anonymous No.968324]

Hey /vr/. Growing up, did you ever make any video games? RPG Maker, BASIC (pic related) or anything similar?
Discuss, share your stories, etc.

[Anonymous No.968342]

A few BASIC text adventures/RPGs and simple sprite based games such as aiming a penis on a pair of moving breasts.

[Anonymous No.968352]

i fucked around with all that for years and years but never finished a single game because i would always lose inspiration or run out of ideas then jump on a new project, which also never got finished.

i started with RPG Toolkit which i found on download.com when i was 9. anyone else use this? it was unbelievably slow and had a shit engine (only one sprite on the screen could move at a time) but it had its own complex scripting language for making games. the best toolkit game ever made is dark age (http://darkagegames.net/))

then i discovered ZZT (pic related) which is just fucking awesome. made a lot of shit with this too. all ASCII characters for graphics, and included a really simple level editor featuring a scripting language (ZZT-OOP). a lot of fun. check out zzt.org

i used RPG Maker 2000/2003 a lot too.

[Anonymous No.968358]

Old-fag here, In early 80's had an MSX, spectrum, commadore, and access to a BBC, games were shown in the back of magazines in "C" and were bad copies of original dot matrix printers. Many time manually entering in all the lines for say a couple of hours, typing Run and it failing due to a comma not being a full stop, cos the print out was so fucking bad and hard to read!! MSX konami cart games were pretty good, track and field was top game at arcades and I had it in 4 different types graphics nie on same as arcade. On BBC computers, on display in shops typed *TV32 enter and it would lock the keyboard and run that writing on screen, repeating it on a loop! Learned that knowing some language was going to be needed for the future!! Great days for computing back then, great board we have here.

[Anonymous No.968381]

I found a BASIC programming book at a thrift store in 1998 and remembered there was a program in Windows 3.1 that was called QBASIC, so I knew I had the software to program already. My parents never bought me any computers or anything so it was always crappy hand me downs from whoever and so I had Windows 3.1 until like fucking 1999 or 2000 or some shit. Anyway, after reading the book I created a little AI program and got an A++ for my science final in 8th grade. My teacher personally came and took me aside and told me how awesome it was and that it was better than everyone else's science projects. It made me feel great and I continued to program all sorts of shit, but mostly games. I eventually found Visual Basic through a friend and started writing hack programs with some little game examples on the side. It hasn't been but the past 5 or so years I actually started programming worthwhile game engines like platformers and stuff but I'm still stuck in Visual Basic because it's what I like. Some of you may have used my programs or read about them online.

[Anonymous No.968384]

Klik & Play

[Anonymous No.968390]

>>968384
Fuck. instant nostalgia.
>>968381
What are some programs you've written?

[Anonymous No.968418]

>>968390
Couple emulators and password crackers. With some Googling you should be able to figure out who I am.

[Anonymous No.968438]

>>968418
...you didn't write vortendo, did you?

[Anonymous No.968453]

>>968438
Nope. One was a NES emulator though.

[Anonymous No.968458]

I spent about 5 months of my life one year making a game on RPG Maker for the PSX. I had custom sprites, a storyboard written in chalk on a board, and about half the game completed. Then suddenly, that "32 memory cards in 1!" memory card I had wouldn't allow me to switch sections of it anymore, so I effectively lost a good portion of the game. On top of that, my friends at the time had no interest in playing any sort of handmade RPG by me and I didn't know how to load up a save to the internet (I think you needed a dexdrive back then or something).

With the advent of so many indie games being able to be sold via smartphone app stores and digital distribution services like steam, I'm trying to make a 2D platformer, but I'm a somewhat shitty coder. Doesn't help that I started making it for fun in Java before I started learning C++, so I guess I'll have to redo the thing if I actually ever decide to finish it.

[Anonymous No.968467]

>>968381
>>968418
>someone who has actually made something and understands programming

I'm gonna stick around for you. I know you probably won't, but it would be nice to see a dev put some of these entitled bastards in their place

A large majority of /vr/ just complains about why emulators aren't completely PERFECT and how hard old video games are.

[Anonymous No.968472]

I'm currently spending my breaks at work making a stupid little RPG with RPG Maker for gameboy translated and emulated on my phone. No idea why. It's pretty fun though.

[Anonymous No.968478]

>>968472
Tell us more

[Anonymous No.968480]

>>968472
there's an rpg maker on the game boy?

[Anonymous No.968486]

>>968458
RPG Maker for the PSX really was the shit, I'm sorry you had to lose all your work like that.

[Anonymous No.968501]

>>968467
Actually, on the contrary, /vr/ has been added to my bookmarks toolbar and I have been posting here a lot. I have been posting some of the more technical things in the emulator, ROM hacking, and other various threads. Especially about what you're talking about such as the difficulty in emulating different pieces of hardware and programming. I've thought about doing a discussion thread where people can ask any retro gaming/emulation questions and I'll answer them, maybe in the coming days. Mostly because I see people using outdated emulators or spreading false information and recommending terrible programs. By no means am I dogging anyone, but I think this board has great intentions and could use a little push in the right direction.

I don't read any other board here but I used to frequent /wg/ but I have such a massive hoard of awesome wallpapers I don't really go anymore.

[Anonymous No.968513]

>>968486
Yeah, shit sucked, man. You know how when you were little, you always thought you wanted to make a game just like your favorite? Well, I loved RPGs, my first game was Final Fantasy 1 for the NES when I was only 3 years old, and I managed to beat it at age 6 without understanding a damn thing about the story past saving the princess from Garland. When I found out there was going to be a game that let you make your own RPG, I was excited as hell, actually ordered it off the internet since no local store sold it around here. Had to visit a neighbor to do so since we didn't own a computer yet.

I know I was little and my story probably sucked, my balance for bosses and equipment was probably horrible, and my choice in pallet was certainly abysmal, but I'll be damned if I didn't put a piece of myself into that game. All I wanted was to make an RPG that people would like, and sadly, it never saw the light of day.

[Anonymous No.968514]

>>968478

You are the middle manager at the king's docks, responsible for delivering foodstuff and supplies to the rest of the kingdom. One day you and several underlings are sent to deliver invoices to outlying boonies. You are summarily kidnapped by pirates, fall in love with the pirate princess, and join to rebel against the king for unfair food distribution practices and GMO over-reliance.

>>968480
Yes. It's really shitty and hard to figure out.

[Anonymous No.968515]

>>968514

Or MMO (magically modified organisms) as it were

[Anonymous No.969271]

For a while, I had been making a Mega Man engine in Flash/ActionScript. Overall it works pretty well. I do not find the programming to be that challenging, it is the actual game design that is the hard part. I've never made more than a few small maps. I've never even tried to make my own sprites.

Perhaps one day I'll get it together.

[Anonymous No.969417]

>>969271
Im the opposite. I recently had an idea for a game and started designing sprites and textures and animations for it but I have no idea how to program anything. I'm worried once I try to learn it will be too difficult and I'll give up. How did you learn? Can you recommend any guides?

[Anonymous No.969424]

Anybody here used Klik & Play?

[Anonymous No.969461]

I made several games in QBasic, among them a generic shoot 'em up and a Star Wars-themed one where you controlled an X-wing. The graphics were made using lines and circles but it still had an animation when you locked the wings in attack position. Wish I had a screenshot.

I'm currently making games in GameMaker and it's going very well.

[Anonymous No.969470]

>>969424
I used the games factory, it's basically the same right?

[Anonymous No.969484]

>>969470
Kind of, except Games Factory allows for proper scrolling and grouped events.

[Anonymous No.969494]

I made some stupid little games in Basic, and I used to code on calculators for my friends so they could play blackjack or numguess or whatever else I ended up making. I remember that some guys would borrow my calculator for a whole physics period to play them.

I think what really got me started was ACS. Simple and yet it offered a lot of room. When it came to the pre-existing adventures I made sure to strip the "kill waterless" crap out of the deserts, or at least moderate it, because it was an unfair mechanic.

Gotta go back to the Fertile Crescent one of these days.

[Anonymous No.969916]

>>968458
>>968513

I know that feel. Back then I was really excited that one of the fabled RPG Maker games was actually getting translated. No one sold it locally so my brother ordered it online for me.

I had tons of ideas but no dexdrive so I had little ambition to complete a game knowing no one but me would play it.

I did make one complete "game" which was basically 5 screens long and about a Lv 50 Hero and his Lv 1 Mage sidekick killing a robot in a cave to get the herbs needed to cure their elf friend.

I did managed to make the intro dungeon to some horribly generic rpg type game about needing to find a sword of light and sword of darkness or some shit like that.

Among the stuff I never managed to work on, I had a whole set of games planed out where the main mechanic and story line centered around using gems the enemies dropped to learn summon spells and power up equipment. It was supposed to be very similar to SMT with demons and shit.

Loosely tied to that I tried to make a game about a space bounty hunter type guy who hunted Space Krakens.

Finally, I also tried to make a action/puzzle type game about a Sasquatch that had to avoid living jellyrolls to get back to his snowy mountain.

[Anonymous No.970928]

Fucking loved zzt. Also did adventure construction set on dos, klik n play, tgf, rpg maker 95 a bit later, rm2k a bit after that. Planning on making little games for the ouya when it gets here.

[Anonymous No.971438]

>>970928
My nigga. Klik'n'play master race.

[Anonymous No.971470]

I made 2 flash games and submitted them to Newgrounds.

I won't link though because I was such a faggot back then and haven't bothered to update anything in so many years.

[Anonymous No.971484]

I chose the god-awful "video game design" topic for my high school senior project ages ago, used RPG Maker 2003, and somehow got away with it. It was a demonstration of a custom battle system using events to simulate an action RPG, though the teachers at the presentation seemed far more impressed that I managed to hook my laptop to a projector.

I've been messing around with the newest version lately, it's pretty fun to play around in and I'm planning on using my current project to beef up my art portfolio.

[Anonymous No.971737]

>>971470
shut up and give a link already

[Anonymous No.971957]

Oh god, I made so many bad RPGs with RM2k

>tfw A Blurred Line will never be finished

[Anonymous No.971962]

I remember reading about an RPG Maker for Super Famicom in an old issue of Nintendo Power. I told myself I'd create my own games when I grew up.

Now I'm a lawyer ._.

[Anonymous No.972018]

>>971962
Can't you sue someone into making games for you?

[Category !.Jb7KRfgJg No.972020]

I cut my teeth making funny little games in qbasic - best was a little moon base management sim. Then moved onto visual basic (which I disliked for games, but found awesome for quick gui apps). Messed around with ZZT and Dark Basic, then real life caught up with me and got it off the loop with programming. Finally getting back to it age like 7/8 years, learning python and starting to romhack. Romhacking is going quicker than the python, surprisingly

[Anonymous No.972031]

>>968324
>RPG Maker
>retro
nope
>inb4 "but there were versions for MSX/Win 95/Win 98"
yeah, but the thing is no one in the western world used those versions, it didn't become popular in the west until the advent of widespride non-dailup connections, which would have been the early 2000s

[Anonymous No.972042]

I started doing games using Rpg Maker 2k3 when I was a kid, then later I jumped to The Game Factory, and Multimedia Fusion Dev 2. I still use it from time to time, but I mainly try to make my own games using C or C# nowadays. Also, I use Unity for 3d games.

I made a shitton of games in my lifetime, but only finished a bunch. And I think the only one I ever put online is a small Megaman clone on Newgrounds. Here's a link if you wanna try it, but it's full of inside jokes so don't complain that you don't understand anything: http://www.newgrounds.com/portal/view/596134

[Anonymous No.972048]

I made a digital mother's day card in QBasic
also made some game where you would run over people in basic on my Aquarius, pissed my mom off so bad when she found it.

[Anonymous No.972051]

fuck off
none of those things are retro

[Anonymous No.972056]

>>972042
none of those things are retro
fuck off

[Anonymous No.972058]

>>972018
I wish I could, but Minnesota has no statutes against not making games.

[Anonymous No.972060]

>>972042
why now matter how many times I shoot nothing dies?

[Anonymous No.972064]

>>972042
just so you know, in your megaman clone, the amount of shots it takes to kill enemies is set way too high and makes the game more difficult than it should be

[Anonymous No.972065]

>>972042
Oh and also I tried making a few NES hombrews a while back. Learning a low-level language like assembly is really hard stuff!

>>972056
>pic related

>>972058
Unrelated question : as a lawer, what do you think of the Phoenix Wright games?
Also, have you tried to make games recently?

>>972060
I takes 4 hits to kill most enemies.

[Anonymous No.972068]

>>972064
Well I wanted to make the game NES-hard so I made the enemies hard to kill. Would it be better with 1 or 2 shots only?

[Anonymous No.972070]

>>972065
>I takes 4 hits to kill most enemies.
yes and that is too much, considering the speed that the enemies move and the fact that you are using a keyboard rather than a gamepad, which means that the speed at which you can react will be slower

[Anonymous No.972072]

>>972065
I think the Ace Attorney games are great, I've played them all except AAI2. Very inaccurate of course, but I wish my court sessions were half as excited as the ones in the games. Haven't made any games recently because this job takes up 99% of my time. The amount of paperwork is insane.

[Anonymous No.972082]

>>972070
Hm, I see. Oh well, it was an old game made in 24 hours, not anything serious.

>>972072
Aw, damn. Oh well, I hope at least you got the time to play some vidya between trials.

[Anonymous No.972086]

>>972068
but the original megaman games accomplished making the games hard in ways other then the amount of shots needed, most enemies were killed with one or two shots

[Anonymous No.972090]

>>972082
ah, ok, from the intro it did seem that it was made for some sort of competition, and with that in mind, it isn't bad

[Anonymous No.972096]

>>972082
>it was an old game
http://thelocklegion.com/community/1310-lock-legion-is-a-year-old/
it can't be THAT old

[Anonymous No.972097]

>>972072
>Very inaccurate of course
It's based on the Japanese legal system, so that's why.

[Anonymous No.972104]

>>972031
It's on a system released before the cut-off; whether or not the average /vr/tuafighter used it at the time is meaningless.

[Anonymous No.972123]

>>972097
no, it's not even accurate at all to the Japanese legal system either, there was an interview with one of the creators of the games that said that to prep for making the game they sat in on some trials, found them extremely boring and not suitable to base a game on, threw out everything they learned, and just did their vision of an exciting court room

[Anonymous No.972125]

>>972072
Have you ever channeled a spirit during a trial?

[Anonymous No.972129]

>>972125
Even if it was possible, testimony from ghosts would not be admissible in court, since you lose your US citizenship when you die. Fun fact.

[Anonymous No.972131]

>>972104
but the versions most commonly used are not those versions, they are more recent versions

[Anonymous No.972134]

>>972129
What happens if you fake your death?

[Anonymous No.972136]

>>972129
>since you lose your US citizenship when you die.
no wonder all those ghosts are always angry. A petition should be made to give the ghost of america the right to vote which was wrongfully taken from that when they died

[Anonymous No.972138]

>>972131
>most commonly used
Also, the PS1 game (read: the one people were talking about) is technically before the cut-off.

[Anonymous No.972143]

>>972138
For that matter, note how /literally no one/ is complaining except for this guy.

[Anonymous No.972150]

>>972125
>>972129
>Ask stupid question
>Get interesting response
Damn, you don't see that everyday. And we're on 4chan, on top of that.

[Anonymous No.972157]

>>972150
The smaller a board, the better the quality.

[Anonymous No.972161]

>>972129
So that's why you have those guys always prepping for the zombie apocalypse on /k/

The undead are unamerican.

[Anonymous No.972169]

>>972134
I'm actually not sure. I'd guess that you would just be treated as a non-citizen, since the US citizen version of you is dead. Although I'm not sure why you'd be testifying in court if you were pretending to be dead...

[Anonymous No.972170]

>>972161
ZOMBIES ARE COMMIES
YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST

[Anonymous No.972172]

>>972170
>red AND dead

[Anonymous No.972176]

>>972157
But /cgl/ is awful

[Anonymous No.972192]

>>972176
/cgl/ was kinda decent when it first started, I got a few makeup and trapping guides from there back in the day, but then because of some high profile con it got more popular for a very short period of time and for some reason when the shot of popularity died out only the morons remained

[Anonymous No.972225]

>>969494
I used to mess around with those calculators and got pretty good at making rpg games on them. Sadly there were so much looping that if you wanted to add a feature it was close to impossible to do in a timely matter.

It did teach me how powerful and possibly fun math can be when it come to games. I find games that use simple formulas for limitations far more impressive then those that put a hard cap.