Donkey Kong Forum
Related Games => DK and DKJR Remix => Topic started by: Sock Master on November 14, 2016, 05:33:57 pm
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I guess it's about time I started a thread specifically about DK Jr. Remix.
I've already been working on it a few months but up until now it has mostly been the long, long, boring stuff... creating working code, sorting all the technical stuff, framework... bug fixes... bug fixes.. bug fixes... I've stopped counting, and I've stopped even taking note of all the bugs that I fixed now. Then also fixing up the frustrating issues in the original gameplay and making the difficulty progress more smoothly and fairly.
After that was a lot of reworking to allow expanding the game. Everything in the original game was pretty much originally programmed to do exactly one thing, work exactly one way. Consider it hard-coded / hard-wired. So I set out to make it more flexible, work more like a game engine. I'm still not finished with that, but I've done a lot to make new screens possible now.
I was getting discouraged about a month ago, so I figured I had to add *one* new stage early, just to give me some kind of instant-gratification -- actual signs of progress. So the first new stage was just a new vines/snapjaws stage. Of course the blue snapjaws had no awareness of their surroundings (their motions are hard coded to follow one set of paths.) so I figured it'd be good to make a new type of snapjaw that's like a blue but with the ability to detect platforms below them and decide which way to go on their own. There's a limited set of colors I can choose from for sprites, but one choice worked and the new snapjaws are purple. I sort of think of them as something Q*bert-like... when they go down, they go either left or right at the next floor, then go down again, then left or right again.. A bit like a cross between a blue and a red snapjaw, so purple actually works.
Then it was back to fixing bugs, fixing issues, fixing limitations.. then expanding functions and features. I started adding a 2nd new stage but for every one thing I wanted to add I had to rewrite a dozen routines to allow it. So it was long again.. But I finally fit another point where yes, the stage idea is finally workable. It's not exactly what I originally had in mind, but hey, it's still pretty cool. I can move the springboard, have two of them, give the moving platforms new motions, different speeds and have more of them as well. I can give entirely new paths to the birds. I can move Mario and DK to different locations, even flip the animations so they can be on the other side of the screen. Nice. I think the fun/interesting part of the project is finally starting.
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My tiny brain is already trying to process these level layouts <popcorn>
Kreygasm
Also, it's quite a blessing that you have both the creative vision for these designs as well as the technical ability to execute them. Great stuff.
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Considering that this (presumably) won't be MAMEd for a long time, if ever, I'm now feeling really glad that I didn't sell my Junior PCB.
That baby's gonna get new life...
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Rather impressed with how quickly you are coming along with this. By the looks of things, it should be a very fun game when all is said, and done.
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Thanks guys,
I hope I can add some cool & creative things to the game. I was more worried at first because ideas just weren't coming but as the 'game engine' is being recoded to be more flexible, more inklings of ideas have started popping to mind. Hopefully some cool ideas will result.
Just today I added in the code that will allow multiple variations of the same stage, so that may add a bit of new variety too - even to the original stages.
To me it really doesn't seem like things have been coming along quickly, but yeah, all things considered it seems to be moving along even if it seems like it's an uphill battle so far.
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One more little update. I've started experimenting with variations of the Mario's Hideout stage.
So far I had been concentrating on fixing general things in the game/code, and sometimes expanding existing elements in the game.
Rather than changing existing enemy AI too much, I decided it might be good to add most of the AI changes to new variations of the original enemies. This way the orange and blue sparks keep behaving as expected, but the new dark sparks have new abilities, like being able to go up paths and also vines in some cases.
I tried to keep things consistent with the original game, so the new sparks can only go up or down paths/vines when there is a graphical marker in the stage that says they could.
It turns out pretty interesting to see them able to get to places they couldn't before. I'm still aiming to add some additional new stuff later on, but here's an in-progress screenshot.
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Things finally seem to be sailing more smoothly. The stuff I worked on earlier to make the game engine more flexible is starting to pay off - this stage was much quicker to implement because of it.
These screenshots are still in-progress experiments so they're bound to keep changing over time, but I like the concept.
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Jesus that looks brutal! Kreygasm
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I'll try to keep the number of birds reasonably low and depending on testing I might open up the center of the middle platform or some other changes or adjustments. Maybe switch to the other type of Nitpicker since they have smaller hitboxes. I like the idea and I'm going to try to make sure it's fair.
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John,
My money is yours as soon as you're ready <gasp> with this. Love my DK Remix. Popeye next. I know, too soon. :)
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Still a long way to go, but little pieces are coming together bit by bit.
Last night I got it to handle multiple fruits in motion at once. In the original game there's a place where there are two fruits near each other and if you knock one down and move to the other, the 2nd doesn't go until the first exits the screen. I want to expand the fruits a bit to allow more than one going at a time and also able to hit enemies in other directions than just down. Also, multiple fruits may probably come into play in some sort of bonus stage when I get around to that.
I got a question, but I think there's no good answer. In the original game, the falling fruit's hitbox is affected by Jr's pose. If Jr stretches out, a falling fruit has a wider hit range. This obviously accidental in the code. But if I take that bug out, it takes away some strategy and also makes fruits unable to hit some targets... So, should I just leave that as it was, or make fruit collisions consistent?
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Removing choice and strategy is almost always a bad idea
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Wow that looks like absolute chaos! Kreygasm
Even more swearing! <gasp>
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I started working in program code to handle bonus stages and coded in the first of the bonus screens. It may still evolve as the game progresses. (Also using the word 'smash' seems inappropriate here, I'll need to use some other word to describe things hit by fruit..?)
I've also bumped up the maximum number of fruits, and in this case the umbrellas count as a different type of 'fruit' that floats upwards instead of falling down. The other cool thing is that the game can now handle any number of active fruits (falling/floating/etc..) simultaneously.
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I can't say how much this means to me as my brain child and request a few years back it's crazy to see you doing for the community, I'll be the first in line for your pcb remix. Cheers Tony
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You could say Sploosh instead of smash. I'm on board.
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Fruit smash is the common term used, sir.
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That bonus stage is pretty cool. Very nice work on the game! 8)
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I started working in program code to handle bonus stages and coded in the first of the bonus screens. It may still evolve as the game progresses. (Also using the word 'smash' seems inappropriate here, I'll need to use some other word to describe things hit by fruit..?)
I've also bumped up the maximum number of fruits, and in this case the umbrellas count as a different type of 'fruit' that floats upwards instead of falling down. The other cool thing is that the game can now handle any number of active fruits (falling/floating/etc..) simultaneously.
Looks great, John. Maybe you could use the word DROP to replace SMASH?
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I guess I'll just leave it saying SMASH in the bonus stages.
I'm starting to have more fun mixing up the stages a bit now. Again, always subject to change as things will keep evolving, but this stage adds a new color of snapjaw that's the same as the regular blue ones, but after jumping in the water it will jump back out of it - once.. and from where it went in, so you know where they'll be coming from.
The nice part is this gives Jr 3 opportunities to get a jump bonus from a passing snapjaw. Once when it's on it's way down, once when it jumps back up, and again when it falls back down again.
And there's a pie. It acts like a fruit, except when Jr kicks the pie, it travels sideways. And then arcs down once it slides off a platform.
Oh, and lots of moving platforms. The ones in the water bob around.
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I really like the snapjaw jumping out of the water idea. Looks like it's forming into something great! 8)
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Wow that board looks sick. Can't wait
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Coming on nicely sir, looking great
Exciting stuff
(https://media.giphy.com/media/3o7abnemh3dNldgi5i/giphy.gif)
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Things are looking pretty good. The latest things I'm adding seem to be working out nicely. I'm still working on bonus stages and of course, still cleaning up code.
Sometimes I feel like I've fell down a rabbit hole.. like I've found a glitch in the matrix. I don't see how the original code does not summon a portal to hell, let alone actually form a functional video game. Well, I'm onto you Universe! I may not have found the knock knock joke hidden within the digits of Pi, but I found *this* and I recognize when something does not compute.
Anyhoo, the latest bonus stage works really well. So well that I even had to tone it down a bit. The fruits don't score as high in the bonus stages to allow us to crank things up to 11 without making scoring bonkers. Each fruit in the bonus stages gives 100 points. The fruit smash scores go 200,400,800,1200,1600...
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Glad it's coming along the way you want it to. 8)
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Here's a couple more screenshots of bonus stages that are being toyed with. I wanted to see if I could get a little silly with the springboards and worked out a way to get 10 of them at once. For a bonus stage, why not.
And then also a 'Mario's Hideout' bonus stage. It still needs a bit of work to make the timer run out faster (because a bonus stage is supposed to be short) but the idea seems pretty good.
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I wanted to see if I could get a little silly with the springboards and worked out a way to get 10 of them at once.
Hey, Dean, I found your new favorite game! ;D ROFL Kappa
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Seeing as the AI in DKjr is largely based on DK logic, I thought it might be fun to make a screen to take advantage of that. Here the purple snapjaws more or less act out the role of barrels and the red snapjaws act like the fireballs. If a purple snapjaw goes in the oil can, it will then jump out as a red snapjaw.
To keep the red snapjaws from overrunning the screen, one of them is permanently frolicking in the oil can to take on the role of being the oil can fire.
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Seeing as the AI in DKjr is largely based on DK logic, I thought it might be fun to make a screen to take advantage of that. Here the purple snapjaws more or less act out the role of barrels and the red snapjaws act like the fireballs. If a purple snapjaw goes in the oil can, it will then jump out as a red snapjaw.
To keep the red snapjaws from overrunning the screen, one of them is permanently frolicking in the oil can to take on the role of being the oil can fire.
Wow, very smart idea indeed! Keep up the good work! 8)
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There is one thing that I found really frustrating about DKjr that I'm making a post just because I'm happy about fixing it:
DKjr > If Jr reaches out to knock a fruit and also touches an enemy in that same frame; Jr dies even though a '400' point sprite appears to confirm that Jr touched the fruit.
DKjr Remix (and DKjr Fixed) > Enemy fruit smash takes priority. The enemy gets smashed and Jr lives.
That is all
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There is one thing that I found really frustrating about DKjr that I'm making a post just because I'm happy about fixing it:
DKjr > If Jr reaches out to knock a fruit and also touches an enemy in that same frame; Jr dies even though a '400' point sprite appears to confirm that Jr touched the fruit.
DKjr Remix (and DKjr Fixed) > Enemy fruit smash takes priority. The enemy gets smashed and Jr lives.
That is all
Glad you are working on even the little things. This is definitely shaping up to be something awesome. 8)
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Glad you are working on even the little things. This is definitely shaping up to be something awesome. 8)
Yeah, I'm looking at all kinds of little details. I've changed so many little glitches that I've stopped counting. Normally I wouldn't want to modify so many things, but this game really needs it. A lot of the logic in the game was too hacky. I do try to keep things within the original intent/spirit, so I don't think most players will even notice... well, I bet they won't notice most of them when they play Jr Remix -- but I think they'll then notice more when they go back to original Jr. (You don't tend to notice when something works like it ought to. You do notice when something is amiss.)
One of the more obvious changes I made was to Jr's auto-grabbing of vines. In the original game it's impossible *not* to automatically grab/climb a vine if it's near Jr. I made it so it's possible to let go of a vine when you climb down onto a platform. And also, not auto grab a vine if he walks past one. (You can grab the vine by jumping or pressing UP.) Mostly this was to give Jr more freedom of movement.
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I'm starting to do some of the hardware integration now. We have an interesting issue to deal with because there are two different kinds of DKJr boards out there, Donkey Kong Junior and Donkey Kong JR. and the two boards have different graphics ROMs. Luckily I'm going to rig the kit to be able to detect which ROMs are on the PCB and it can then automatically display a "Remix" title screen that will work with the PCB's graphics set.
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Looks awesome. Can't wait to try it.
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I always wanted to include a fixed version of DK Jr along with DK Jr Remix but a few issues have been bothering me about how to go about doing this.. If I made original DK Jr, fixed DK Jr and DK Jr Remix all selectable by holding the jump button down, it's going to be a little confusing which version of regular DK Jr is booted up - especially to any random passerby coming up to the cabinet.
After a lot of thought, I came to the conclusion that it would be most convenient if DK Jr Remix itself simply allowed one to play whichever version of DK Jr they'd like without having to switch games.
This means it's going to save two high score tables, one for Jr Remix and one for Classic Jr. The game is just going to cycle between them in demo mode.
I'm not sure if this is the best way to go.. During the intro sequence when Mario is pulling up DK's cage, if you push the joystick to the left - it'll play the classic Donkey Kong Jr stages and if you push the joystick to the right (or not touch the joystick) - it'll play Donkey Kong Jr Remix.
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I always wanted to include a fixed version of DK Jr along with DK Jr Remix but a few issues have been bothering me about how to go about doing this.. If I made original DK Jr, fixed DK Jr and DK Jr Remix all selectable by holding the jump button down, it's going to be a little confusing which version of regular DK Jr is booted up - especially to any random passerby coming up to the cabinet.
After a lot of thought, I came to the conclusion that it would be most convenient if DK Jr Remix itself simply allowed one to play whichever version of DK Jr they'd like without having to switch games.
This means it's going to save two high score tables, one for Jr Remix and one for Classic Jr. The game is just going to cycle between them in demo mode.
I'm not sure if this is the best way to go.. During the intro sequence when Mario is pulling up DK's cage, if you push the joystick to the left - it'll play the classic Donkey Kong Jr stages and if you push the joystick to the right (or not touch the joystick) - it'll play Donkey Kong Jr Remix.
As a huge fan of DK Remix, I would prefer consistency between the DK Remix and DK Jr. Remix. I like the Jump button switching. It works fine for DK/Remix/Deranged. Just one fan's opinion. I like how you have Luigi making an appearance.
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As a huge fan of DK Remix, I would prefer consistency between the DK Remix and DK Jr. Remix. I like the Jump button switching. It works fine for DK/Remix/Deranged. Just one fan's opinion. I like how you have Luigi making an appearance.
Using the jump button (from attract mode) to switch between DK Jr. Remix and regular DK Jr. will still work the same way as it did on the DK Remix kit. The new thing I've mulled over is that DK Jr Remix will *also* allow you to play the original DK Jr. stages/level order without needing to switch back to DK Jr.
The difference in this case will be that this version of "Classic DK Jr." will be running on the DK Jr Remix engine. It's going to include the improved control response, glitch and bug fixes, 1 million points digit, 2 digit level display, etc... that is part of DK Jr Remix. Classic will also have it's own high score table.
It'll still let you switch to the original DK Jr ROMs and play the original, unmodified DK Jr. But there will be a new version of DK Jr as part of DK Jr Remix as well. All 3 will save their own high score lists too.
It's not all actually implemented yet, I'm still working on that but that's the plan right now.
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My DK Jr cab will not be turned on until Remix is installed! Can't wait.
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I've finally posted up a video of DK Jr Remix's gameplay.
It shows most of the new screens and the current state that the game is in. I'm still tweaking stuff a bit, but it's looking and playing pretty solid.
Next time I post a video, I'll see if I can get Youtube to keep it at 60 frames per second. The downconversion to 30fps messes up the effect of the light bulb a bit - it has sparks that travel on the platforms both above and below the light bulb, but in the video it only shows about half of the effect.
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I've finally posted up a video of DK Jr Remix's gameplay.
http://youtu.be/n7mSO0jtVTQ (http://youtu.be/n7mSO0jtVTQ)
It shows most of the new screens and the current state that the game is in. I'm still tweaking stuff a bit, but it's looking and playing pretty solid.
Next time I post a video, I'll see if I can get Youtube to keep it at 60 frames per second. The downconversion to 30fps messes up the effect of the light bulb a bit - it has sparks that travel on the platforms both above and below the light bulb, but in the video it only shows about half of the effect.
Wow, this is really good. Fantastic job! 8)
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Looks awesome John! Great work
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Looks great thus far!
I have a suggestion for the first level. Make the vines to the right of the "bridge" shorter to prevent someone from being able to jump up to them... add a vine to the middle above the bridge. That forces people to go all the way to the left to jump up then work their way back right.
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If you take my prior suggestion, perhaps you might want to take this one too? If you do shorten those vines to the right... if possible... make the "bridge" a spring board... you could then either springboard across to the LEFT... normally... OR you could springboard to the left then SUPER spring board back to the right to catch the shortened vines at the right...
Just another thought...
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Looks great thus far!
I have a suggestion for the first level. Make the vines to the right of the "bridge" shorter to prevent someone from being able to jump up to them... add a vine to the middle above the bridge. That forces people to go all the way to the left to jump up then work their way back right.
A number of the new screen designs actually started out having longer paths to complete the stages, but over time - after playing them over and over, I ended up shortening the paths, tweaking things here and there.
I wanted to make sure it didn't feel like an obstacle course - being forced to go a certain way. So it ended up with the player having a choice - you could go the long way if you really want to use that extra fruit, but you're not forced to.
There is one thing, though.. Like DK Remix, it's possible to make the stages vary slightly when they repeat. I could make a few of them slightly different the 2nd/3rd time you see them in the game. I actually ran out of ROM space, so that's putting a bit of a limit on how much I can change things in the game now.
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Hey, John. Do you plan to offer a trainer/pace mode in this kit? Love it on DK Remix.
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Delusional Arcade made a video this morning covering the screenshots of Donkey Kong Junior Remix answering some questions and asking some of his own. He also explains how BOTH our Remix games will be at Zapcon this year!
So very exciting!
Thank you so much for your video!
https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=EVqR5wC2wJo (https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=EVqR5wC2wJo)
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Hey, John. Do you plan to offer a trainer/pace mode in this kit? Love it on DK Remix.
There's no plan to create a DK Junior trainer/pace mode at the moment. I've been so overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done with the DKjr Remix project that I hadn't even considered it yet.
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Delusional Arcade made a video this morning covering the screenshots of Donkey Kong Junior Remix answering some questions and asking some of his own. He also explains how BOTH our Remix games will be at Zapcon this year!
So very exciting!
Thank you so much for your video!
http://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=EVqR5wC2wJo (http://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=EVqR5wC2wJo)
No problem Nina!
I'm sure I'll have many more in the future. You guys may want to subscribe now so you won't miss them. Zapcon 5 here I come!
Jason
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Delusional Arcade made a video this morning covering the screenshots of Donkey Kong Junior Remix answering some questions and asking some of his own. He also explains how BOTH our Remix games will be at Zapcon this year!
So very exciting!
Thank you so much for your video!
https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=EVqR5wC2wJo (https://www.youtube.com/shared?ci=EVqR5wC2wJo)
No problem Nina!
I'm sure I'll have many more in the future. You guys may want to subscribe now so you won't miss them. Zapcon 5 here I come!
Jason
Welcome to the forum Jason :)
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Got some artwork samples from Jason (he is bringing the donor DK Junior machine to Zapcon 5 for the remix kit to be installed). Enjoy!
Jason
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Well, I guess it's about time to announce that DK Jr Remix will release in a few days.
Anyone who's interested in a kit, please send me an email at donkeykongremix@gmail.com. Just let me know what country to ship to and I'll work out the rate.
Thanks everyone!
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but of course i want and i dont even have a DKJr yet :D
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PM sent.
Will definitely be fun to see people playing this soon! Great effort John as always.
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Oh yes sir! I'm in for some of this!
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Hello,
I am not sure if this is the proper thread to post tech support/potential bug reports? I purchased/installed a DKJr kit this afternoon... and I've noticed one behavior I'm curious about...
My Remix "Classic" high score is higher than my regular Remix score... why does the higher Remix "Classic" score always display at top... even when I am playing a regular Remix game? I figured the high score for each game should display hence I'm reporting this as a potential bug?
Also, it should be the Remix high score displayed during attract, not the classic high score IMHO ... being it's the Remix gameplay that is being shown during attract... but again that's just IMHO and not necessarily a bug.
:)
I've only had a chance t play a couple games thus far, but thus far I've been impressed (as expected really).
:)
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It displays whichever score is the overall highest, whether it's from classic or remixed mode at the top of the screen.
Both modes do have their individual high score tables to keep track of which score is highest for each mode. (The high score table alternates between the two during attract.)
During development it had seemed like an odd choice to have the score on the top keep changing depending on context, especially when it's possible to actually start a two player game with both players players choosing different modes for their game.
In the end it simply came down to choosing this way over the other way.
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Is what it is. Not a "deal breaker" by any stretch, but a bit confusing.
EDIT: In light of the fact that each player can choose their path (CLASSIC/REMIX) during a 2 player game... is there a way to disable the CLASSIC game by chance?
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In light of the fact that each player can choose their path (CLASSIC/REMIX) during a 2 player game... is there a way to disable the CLASSIC game by chance?
There is no setting to disable the Classic game mode option in Jr Remix.
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I had a blast playing this at Brofest. Next to Armored Car it was my favorite game in the tourney. <stirpot>
Thanks for bringing it to the community. Awesome job.
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Brofest was fun. It was great to see people playing the game for the first time and watch them pick up strategies and improve on their 2nd, 3rd, etc.. times playing.
K.O. last year was great too. It was different because it was often casual players walking up to the cabinet and trying it out for the first time. I tried to keep what people liked about DK Remix, where they might have difficulty, etc.. in mind when making DK Jr Remix. It'll be interesting to see reactions from casual players at some point.
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I'd really like to play this but don't have a DK Jr cabinet. I've searched all around with no luck. Did Sock Master ever release a demo rom like he did w/ DK Remix? thanks
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I'd really like to play this but don't have a DK Jr cabinet. I've searched all around with no luck. Did Sock Master ever release a demo rom like he did w/ DK Remix? thanks
Hi Mutt, John never made a demo of Junior Remix
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:'( sad but thanks for the quick response. I guess I'll just have to wait till I find a deal on a cabinet. it looks very nice.
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:'( sad but thanks for the quick response. I guess I'll just have to wait till I find a deal on a cabinet. it looks very nice.
If you have a DK cab, you only need a DK Jr pcb and the remix kit. It is a direct swap into a DK cab (wiring and controls all the same)
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So you make this fangame by dissecting Nintendo?s rom and intellectual property. Tease us all with Pictures and videos of it and come to find out you are trying to make money off it? Make the rom available for free or gtfo. I can?t believe Nintendo hasn?t sued your pants off. I?m out of here. Even <Billy> would think this is sketchy.
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So you make this fangame by dissecting Nintendo?s rom and intellectual property. Tease us all with Pictures and videos of it and come to find out you are trying to make money off it? Make the rom available for free or gtfo. I can?t believe Nintendo hasn?t sued your pants off. I?m out of here. Even <Billy> would think this is sketchy.
You're welcome to make your own fan game and do that or gtfo.
If you owned a Donkey Kong Junior cabinet, it's perfectly legal to buy a mod kit for it. There's nothing sketchy about that.
It's abusive people like you who make creators wonder why they should bother.
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Mcrowell75 lmao. You actually have to buy a nintendo cabinet also to play it. But u would be fine playing a free room on mame lol. Sock put shit loads of time into these games. You have to one the rom to play Remix make sense probably not lol. Keep doing what you're doing Sock people with a problem can piss off.