MaxCoderz

Well yes, they will use the calcs keypad and not require you to move arrows.

The reason it was like that in the original is because i wanted to make it like a GB game, ie; like on a console that only has a few buttons.

In other news i thought a lot of progress was lost since i couldnt find my usb drive that had all the latest work on it. After a 3 day extensive search i finally found it, backed up in 2 different places now ... phew! .

Sweet, glad that you were able to find the backup! And yes we all dreamed about it being on a hand held console, but calcs are better!

So the keypad will use the actual number keys on the calc now? If so, that'll be much better! ^_^

Well most of the annoying coding is done. Graphics, objects, text, compression and stuff. Just need to implement weapons and then i can tackle the task of decking out the map and loading it with enemies/items/puzzles and stuff. No new screenies yet however .

Sounds fab. Which compression algorithm did you choose for text in the end?

Wow, this has moved along rather quickly! I hope you keep full steam ahead!

Using huffman for the text and probably puCrunch for mapdata/sprites etc.

I was wondering. The "engine" you wrote now for the desolate re-write. Are you thinking of using it for a sequel aswell?

Yeah, well mostly. All the object handling and such will be reused. The sequel however will be smooth scrolling, so the mapper will be replaced. Thats only a small part of the code but it will require me to re-add camera control. And ill also have to stop being lazy and mod the sprite routine so it clips ... but thats only a minor addition.

I did some clean up and some optimisations so there is now a small fps gain .

... i just had an idea for another optimisation, thanks kv! .

And i just found a collision bug :\ ... but i do know the cause of it.

It is going fast... One day I want to do that.

Oooh. Good to hear i'm useful for something, hehe

Glad that this re-write up will be aiding the future of Desolate 2

I layed out the entire tilemap today at work in my spare time. PuCrunch compresses it over 70%!

I am impressed .

Speaking of tilemaps, I kept thinking about drawing out an entire tilemap of Desolate when I was first introduced to it. Good thing I didn't, it would've been a big waste of time. I'm just really impressed with Desolate, it looks like a lot of hard work and complex methods were implemented.

I hope to be able to program that well someday... sooner than not.

Well thankfully this incarnation is a lot cleaner and sensible than the original code wise. Im sure it still has its 's though .

Ill most likely be releasing the source with this one for those interested.