Planet X3 Status Update - Part 3
Today. I'm gonna give you the third official, update on the progress of Planet X 3 my real-time strategy game for ms-dos computers, for. Those who are not already familiar with this I created Planet. X 2 for the Commodore 64 last. Year and then after the success of that I promise, to ported to ms-dos, machines however. This. New game is taken, on a life of its own I also, launched a Kickstarter, a few months ago and hoping to get around 500, pre-orders, or $30,000. Worth of pre-sales, and it. Ended up with. 2548. Backers, totaling, over a hundred and thirteen thousand, dollars so. In this video I want to show you not only some, of the progress that's been made since the Kickstarter, video but I also want to try to answer some of the frequently asked, questions and, one, of the most common questions I get is people, wanting to know what language I'm coding it in and what, tools I'm using so, to answer the first big question even though I've mentioned, it before I'm coding directly, in 8088, assembly, language so, this is what the source code looks like and I get a lot of people asking why I'm not coding it in basic, or C or some high-level language and the bottom line is I need the speed and efficiency to, make this work on low-end ms-dos, machines and, as, far as tools go I'm, really only using three tools one is notepad, which I write the source code in and. Then I use a compiler called a 86, to compile the code into machine language so, that's my second tool and, the third tool is DOSBox, which I use for most of the testing of course I've had to write some of my own tools which I'll talk about later for. Bug. Tracking I'm doing, it very simple, I just have another notepad, with a list of bugs that I've found when, I find a new bug I just add it to the list and then. I have a list of things that aren't bugs but just stuff I haven't finished coding, yet of, course this list keeps getting smaller over time in fact I can remove this right now as I just finished the Sentry tanks code and then. I have another list of things that are sort of backburner, however, I already finished this one as well so I'll take it off so. That's how I track bugs and what's, left to do, well. What about version control well. Every day create a folder on my server and I call it snapshot, in today's date and then I copy all of the sources of binaries into that folder and, every now and then I need to go back and look at an older source or if I really screw something up I just want to revert if subroutine back to the older version well that's how I do it nothing. Fancy no, need to use github or anything like that.
So. What am i working on now well, lately I've spent a lot of time working on path finding routines now let me demonstrate what I mean so. If I tell my builder to pick up this rock and. Then have a look at these walls over here I'm using these for testing, so if I tell it to drop the rock over here the. Builder has to be able to find its way around the obstacle, and for. Simple obstacles, like this it seems to be working so here's. A bit larger obstacle, again. It finds, its way around okay, so that's great for walls but what about other objects well, let me drop the rock over here and, again. It finds its way and this is good enough for the user control units but this same path finding routine will be used for the enemy units so it has to work without supervision. Now. I want to show you something else, pressing, f1, will bring up a little cheat or debug, menu at the moment and, what this shows is everything, that is stored in memory about the unit that you're currently controlling but, also you can use the arrow keys and scroll to other units and see all of their information as well and, if I press the G key it will take me to whatever unit that is on the map but. This isn't just limited to my units I can also look at enemy in it so if I scroll up to unit 64 which, is where the enemy units are I can. Go to that one and yeah, there's. Quite a few of those piled up here because they can't get across the water just yet I'll be fixing that soon but. This, is particularly, helpful in troubleshooting enemy. Pathfinding, for example I can watch a unit as soon as it pops out of the pyramid, it starts trying, to find its way to my base now, this. Is on a different map here this is called inferno it's kind of a wasteland, with a lot of meteor impacts, now. This guy isn't having too much trouble navigating his way through this as it's mostly open space then. I'll skip ahead a bit eventually, he, gets to a part of the map where there are a lot of obstacles at, first it looks like he can handle anything that comes his way but, eventually he, gets stuck. And the problem is the bass he's headed for is directly, to the right of him over about 20 tiles, but. There's no way through the lava without going around something quite large he's. Not smart enough to do this so. He'll just walk around this spot forever and. Eventually here, comes one of his pals and, over time a whole bunch of them will just pile up here so. How do I solve that well, a combination, of ways first of all I can try to improve the Pathfinder routine even more the. Second thing I can do is change the map to make it easier for them to find their way ultimately. Just, like with my previous game I'll wind up doing both on, the map side I'll just, start out the map editor which is a separate program I had to write that's one of those many little tools I mentioned earlier that I had to create so. I'll tell it to load the map called inferno, and here, we are so. This is where the originating, base was and, I, made a note of the coordinates where the trouble spot was so I'll just find my way over there yep. Here it is so, I'll just go to the little tile selector and pick dirt and then I'll place it here so the units can get through. So. I want to talk about another technical, challenge I faced I'm really. Thrilled with how the CGA video looks in order to try this out on some real steel my friend the UPS League geek brought over his IBM 5155. Portable, the, internal, display is monochrome, but it's still compatible with CGA graphics only, instead of four colors you get four shades of aimer but, it actually looks really good it's. Definitely, very playable like this and, despite being a four point seven seven megahertz, cpu it runs decently, fast as well in fact, seeing this is part of the joy I have of making my game work on these older systems since.
Hardly Any new ms-dos releases, have been compatible, with these machines like, since, probably the early 1990s. Anyway. This machine also has a CGA, composite, output on the back so you can connect a color monitor or television and you'll get the full 16 colors if the game supports can possible which one does and not. Only does it work but it looks fantastic. This is how it is looked on every IBM, machine I've tried bound so far it, looks great I keep, asking myself why, does so, few software titles support this mode. Well, I think I may have found part of the answer and, discovered a lot of clone machines, don't, work right for. Example my laser 128 will run the game in composite, mode but often, come up with bizarre colors, in, fact it's somewhat random because I can reboot the thing and it'll come up with a different set of colors well. Let me explain what I believe, is going on if you look at the video signal being generated by these computers, and imagine this is the pixel clock and there's, another signal in a composite video feed which is the color clock or color burst or whatever anyway. On a true IBM, CGA card these are always synced like this at every single boot so the color clock happens once every 4 pixels so, by arranging the pixels in different ways you get 16, possible, combinations creating. 16, artifact, colors the. Trouble is some machines like my laser 128 will lock these in one of four random, positions, at Buddha and you, never know which one it's going to be either and this was really frustrating, as it can make the video boot up in all sorts of weird colors and the only thing I could do was. Reboot the machine and hope for the best I had a 25%, chance of getting the right palette however. Eventually, I had an idea even, though there's no way to change the synchronization. Of the color signal from software, I do have control over the pixels right so. Let me show you what I did in. The. Last video I showed you how in standard, 4 color mode you can change the color palate between cool, and warm CGA, color palettes well. In composite, mode that menu option had no effect so what, I did was I change the code so that in composite, mode it, will shift all of the pixels on the screen over by 1 and so, if it still doesn't look right, just push it again it'll, rotate back around every 4 times but. One of the options, should fix everything so that it looks right or at least close to write my. Tandy 1000, also suffers, from a similar problem only it always starts up with the exact same wrong palette, so pressing this option twice should fix it on a Tandy, unfortunately. The Tandy just doesn't, look as good on composite no matter what the pixels are somewhat in the wrong places and I don't know why, however. I'm not terribly concerned since I support the Tandy 16-color, graphics mode, anyway so there's no need to use composite on one of these. Anyway, this does suggest at least one possible reason why CGA composite, mode was never popular as many, clones did start to appear in the early days but, at least I was able to find a way around the problem however. I had another, similar, idea I had, recently added the CGA monochrome, mode as well and while this doesn't look terribly exciting, it is still playable and where, this comes in particularly, handy is on certain, old laptops, with monochrome, LCD screens, now many of these laptops start, off with the screen being inverted, like a photo negative because, they felt that it made the text easier to read but, this could be problematic when playing games and, many machines had a special key sequence that could be used to invert the screen for games and some, required a special das program, and some, there was just nothing you could do and I, decided to make this menu option cause a negative image which would look crazy on most computers, but, on these old laptops, actually corrects it to look right and playable. So. The next thing I want to show you is another one of my tools and you've, probably seen this before I created, a towel draw program to help me design the tiles but, this program does so much more than that you can really change a lot of the behavior of the game from here for. Example each tile you can define things like, can, you drive on it can you bulldoze it can, you pick it up and move it etc also. You can define what a towel becomes, when it's destroyed by changing this attribute here in. Fact many of the bugs I find in the game aren't even in code but rather I have an attribute set incorrectly in here unfortunately it's, easy to change however.
Over, Time my, artist renault started, using his, own paint program and simply sending me the tiles as a single, set and so, what I did was I created an import feature where I could import the entire set, at once from his master image with a single keystroke and so, that's made life a lot easier but I also had to create different towel editor for every single video mode including, the two color CGA monochrome, mode as well, as the CGA composite, mode and tandy modes. Speaking. Of artwork, I wanted, to show you some of the new artwork also. Like this map called winter. This. Is just a test map but, it shows off the winter graphic style set and, what's neat about this is that each map can load a custom tile, set and it's more than just different tiles as the tiles can also have different attributes so for. Example I have snowmen, in this map which has no analogous, tile in the other maps so. This gives a lot of flexibility, to creating, new landscapes, and there's not much here in this winter map as I said it's just mostly a test map also. There's, a bit of snow on top of some of the buildings here as well and, moving, along this is another map called desert, and there. Are a lot of neat features in this tile set as well but again this, is just a test map so there's a whole lot to see here in, fact yeah, there's, the abrupt end of my stream and here's. Some minerals crammed up there and, here's. What the winter mode looks like in CGA for color mode and I. Noticed. There are a few black towels because, he tells that is not 100%, completed, for this mode and. Speaking. Of new graphics, this is probably what everybody's been waiting to see last, month I created yet another tile draw program and this one was designed for VGA graphics and, just, in time for the finished 256-color, artwork that, Renault was working on it, took me about four or five days to get the tile editor completely, converted to work with 256, color vga graphics but. The great thing is many of the screen drawing routines I had to design here were easily transferable to the game itself. Now. Before I show you the game itself I wanted to mention something else, these. Are all the different video modes I had planned to support and the first four modes are all handled, by the CGA, version, of the game even the Tandy mode and that's, because all of these modes use a 16, K video Ram configuration. So 99%. Of the code is the same there are only a few tweaks required to the code and mostly, it's just having different artwork custom-designed, for each mode however. The VGA version needed its own executable. It required quite a bit of modification of the code since the entire memory map is laid out differently and, it took a couple of weeks to get the game working in VGA mode and now. I have two entirely. Different sets, of source codes I have to keep up with fortunately. Most of the code that I'm working on now is stuff like path finding routines which really, don't deal with the video card directly so that means I can simply paste the new code into both sources for the most part so. Here's the VGA version, of the game that everyone's, been waiting to see well. It doesn't look too impressive at the menu and that's because I don't have the VG menu graphics in from my artist yet so I just converted, the CGA menu graphics for now but this is actually running a VGA mode whether it looks like it or not so. Let's start the game and, here, it is yeah. I'm pretty, proud of how it looks and I think most of the credit here goes to Renault for his awesome artwork now. There's a few things I'm willing to tell you about this version for one you may notice these pink looking areas around some of the units like my builder a tank, and especially the aliens and, that's because I'm planning to implement transparency. So what, you're seeing is sort of like looking at an unfinished special effect shot that are shot in front of a blue screen or a green screen and I simply have an edit the code yet to fill in the transparent, areas that's something the CGA version does not do it all but, I felt the VGA version probably should, so, for the moment it looks tacky but in the next update that should be fully working. Also. I do not have the graphics yet for winter and desert landscape so I imported the CGA composite, graphics into the VGA version for now so. That's. What it looks like for the moment when using maps, that depend on those graphics I'm sure I'll have the completed be Geographic, soon a lot. Of people have been asking what sort, of CPU, would be required to run the vga version, and i just haven't been able to give an answer to that because I didn't have any code written so I had no way to really know well, now.
I Know so. While the CGA version was designed to work on a four point seven seven megahertz IBM XT the, vga version has four times as much data to move around and it really requires at minimum a 286. Running at ten megahertz which is probably, fine as it's pretty rare to see VGA running on an XT Class machine anyway however. I do have a video clip here from Lauren who's one of my testers, and he has it running on an IBM ps/2, system, in this video which is a 286, running at 10 megahertz and it does work although it can be a bit sluggish at times and when. People ask why I'm not supporting, EGA or Hercules or Tandy, high-res graphics the. Main reason, is because each of those modes would, require a complete, conversion, with its own executable, and since I'm just one guy I just. Decided not to support these modes not to say that I couldn't support them in the future but certainly, not in the initial release, okay. Enough about graphics, modes let's talk about sound, and music, now in the last video I kind of put out a Help, Wanted request. To see if anybody was willing to code these sound and music routines for me and I had several people apply for the job but I ended up hiring Alex, shiru, siminoff who is a veteran. Programmer, for sound of music on a variety of different platforms and I had a decision to make about how, to support music across, multiple. Platforms, and. I wanted to support the PC speaker with its one voice and, then, the Tandy 3 voice sound system along with the ad lib which has nine voices and I wanted to be able to use essentially, the same tunes for each device, now. I knew that with advanced programming, you could get at least two, more phantom. Voices out of the PC speaker and this is done by alternating the voices quickly, to create an illusion of multiple voices so. What I decided to do was draw a line at three voices that, felt like three would be enough and this way all three supported devices would be able to play the same tunes. Plus we can use some of the extra voices on the ad-lib card for sound effects and for. The PC speaker well we'll, just have to alternate between music, or sound effects and the, Tandy is an interesting, case after, all it still has a PC speaker which Connect is a fourth voice so, we'll, probably use that for sound effects here as well and this was actually a common, design back in the day in fact Ultima, 6 uses the PC speaker for all sound effects no matter what card you have for music. So. I want to show you the tracker that alex is designed this, one, tracker supports, all three sound cards and, one thing it does for, the PC speaker though is that different tracks get a different priority over the one voice so the leftmost channel here is given the least priority and, if anything comes across on the middle then it's given a higher priority and of course the right channel gets the highest priority so.
I'll, Show you how this sounds these. Can pose one Dillo song with the tracker and okay. So. Right now you're hitting the PC speaker it's, pretty, impressive for a one voice setup. Okay. Let's listen to the Tandy three voice version. This. Sounds noticeably, better especially on sustain notes. And. Finally. Here's the a delayed version not. Bad for only using three voices. Now. All it needs to be done is to integrate the sound of music routines, into the actual source code of the game itself which I hope to happen sometime in the next month or so. Alright. And the last thing I wanted to mentioned since a lot of people have been asking, there. Were only originally. 500, box copies, of Planet X - for the Commodore 64 due. To minimum order quantities I've never ordered any more than that however, one, of the options, in the Kickstarter, was the deluxe version which comes with a copy of Planet, X - and there. Were eight hundred and thirty six people that selected this option which really surprised me well. I know I had enough pre-orders, then to go ahead and order separate, boxes for Planet X twos so. I already ordered 1,000. Boxes for Planet, X - so that means I can sell around, one hundred and sixty-three copies, to those who might have missed out on the original box copy plus, I also have more disc labels and manuals, on the way so I'll be able to sell more light copies, as well but. What. About the discs themselves oh well just today I invited some people over where we had a little disk copy party we, all set up our commodore machines and made copies of Planet X - you all eating pizza and generally. Having a good time so. Discs are ready and I, imagine we'll be doing something similar when the code is finished for Planet X three only, will have ms-dos, machines set, up instead, so. To, answer the question about when I'm going to get more Planet X - in stock well they're coming real soon hopefully, in the next week or two you'll be able to buy that again now, to, answer the next two questions which, is what. If you missed out on the Kickstarter for Planet X 3 a lot of people seem to think that was the only way to get one and I just wanted to confirm that those will be for sale after, the fact so even, if you didn't get in on the Kickstarter you'll still be able to get a copy of it so don't worry about that and of course people are wanting to know when. Planet X 3 might actually be done and that I don't know yet I'm really, kind of hoping by the end of the year, so maybe, around December, so, can't. Make any promises but that's that's the current plan so anyway that. About wraps this video up so, stick around to the next one and thanks. For watching.
2018-09-11 19:02
Not to sound rude or anything, but its been 4 months since your last 8-bit keys upload, is everything okay?
Impressive. ...Regards.
Assembly, written in Notepad. Christ almighty, it hurts all the way over here.
for some one who likes older computers your websight is less outdated computer friendly than youtube. my friends rocking Pentium 3's on there main pc would be having a real hard time getting on your website.
I really LOVE this. Learning so much about the past
7:57 I must bow down to you. Really admirable!
Oh dear, these VGA graphics are crazy!
VGA mode looks amazing, coming along nicely. Best of luck with the project.
It seems like graphics are a time sink to get right no matter what era of gaming you're at
You could probably use the extra voices on the AdLib to create a sort of Phil Spector "Wall of Sound" effect for the tracks.
Great job, David!!!
You should make it so you can drive over the snowmen, and it leaves a pile of snow-rubble where the snowman was.
Multiplayer?
Very nice. Although personally I'd at least use Notepad++ and have some syntax highlighting while coding. I find it so much easier on the eyes and one can more quickly find labels vs opcodes. Other than that I love the KISS principle, Keep It Simple and Stupid. For my own projects I actually just write my todo list on the top of the main/start source code file. And as you just copy sources to make a snapshot of the code, great and simple version control. :) - Impressed you took the time to actually make drawing tools for each mode!!! Personally I'd just make a converter that reads standard PNG's or something and converts it to whatever I need for the game. The extra flags I'd likely just have a separate config file for. I know using external artists they often prefer to use their own drawing software whenever possible and a good and fast workflow for importing/converting becomes essential. Ofc for some things like the C64 multi colour mode the artist would have to know the constraints, or the importing will fail, so sometimes I have made my own tools as well. But even those I do in Javascript as I can just publish a new version online for the artist to use whenever I need enhancements to it. Pluss Javascript is so much easier to do stuff in compared to assembly, actually to the point I am attempting to prototype a game using it before writing the actual assembly code now. As long as I dont assume too much CPU time available per frame, its fine. Anyway, great work on your project! Got Planet X2 and its a very nice game!
How Can I Get Planet X3 Early?
I understand that using git and GitHub seem like it’s too much but it has so many benefits. I would strongly recommend it for both security and usability. It may even save you some time!
Not that you are getting hacked but if you happen to have a disk fail on your computer.
This man is an artist *OF A TIME BEFORE HIM*
The work you are doing is astonishing. Truly amazing, David! I get so excited when I see a new video from you!
watched this while installing steam. Not trolling, just a semi-interesting fact.
2:13 As a professional software developer, this deeply pains and saddens me. Then again, I'm not the one writing an RTS in 8088 assembly for DOS so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You should consider trying out palette cycling effects in VGA-mode. For the high level of detail—and it does look great—some places like the rivers look too static. On a technical note, most assemblers support conditional assembly for dealing with different feature or hardware configurations. You'll have to check your assembler's manual, but there's no way you need to maintain two separate code-bases that are almost entirely the same.
I'm not even into RTS but I'll buy this one for the sick VGA version. Hoping you'll do an RPG (I know, wishful thinking) in this style a la Ultima 6. Impressive work!
The music sounds amazing to me
Uses notepad and asm to create a kickass RTS while people are using IDEs, libraries and GIT left and right nowadays and can't put out a decent mobile game... speaks volumes.
Will you be at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo this year?
Your artist is amazing (you too, but that's been obvious since the first Planet X video). These artifact CGA-compatible tiles are gorgeous.
You should write a program that moves your character continuously as soon as you hit the movement key rather than relying on key repeating.
Awesome! Congrats on raising the funds!
Is it on iOS ??????
are you using a 4th tool as a linker, or are you making .com files
Brilliant solution to the color composite problem! For your path finding problem, do classic BFS shortest path alglos not work for you? Is it because you don't have a graph data structure?
Lovely, though the version control part made me cringe a bit...
Is there going to be a pre-release digital download?
I cant program my own shit in the morning.
Using a higher-level language to at least build your low level code would have been able to help with your VGA/CGA versions of the game where you could easily share subroutines. You could even just write it with js and have that build your end 8088 code, I just feel like you're opening yourself up to problems with your current method of editing and even versioning code. But you know what, if it works for you that's cool, it just rubs my comp sci sensibilities the wrong way. Game looks cool though, seriously impressed with the level of compatibility with different video modes.
Wow! The VGA version looks AMAZING!!
Planet X4 for modern Windows versions? I think it could be done but for now I'd be content playing it on DOSBox or VirtualBox
I probably know the awnser to this question and its probably a no, but will you release this game on CD-rom for windows pc's running Windows 95, 98 or Windows Me
57 people can't make their way around an obstacle
I like the soundtrack.
Is Planet X2 available on GOG.com yet? :-)
Why not to make VGA version first of all tiles, and write software to find closest colors in CGA palette and to scale down the resolution if necessary? It may be easier for artist to make tile equivalents for all graphic modes.
You get very bad results with that method. I experienced myself with it years ago when I tried to write software that ran on any PC, but the CGA has so few colours that you need to create separate graphics for it.
Holy smokes!!! That sound is music to my ears! I can see me getting into this game with that music.
When is the 4k version coming out?
Please get LGR, and Techmoan to review your game when close to finished :)
As a developer myself, I really respect developers who can still code for old systems. Especially in raw assembly ! (I have tried ASM and I know what it means to code in it...) You are not only a great Youtuber but a really good developer as well. The game looks really decent and professionally mode even in it's current state. Can't wait to see the final version.
16:00 pc speakers is 1,3,3 instead of 1,2,3
hey quick question. will you be making a cd-rom version?
This reminds me of the golden era of 8-bit home computers in the UK/Europe, I was fortunate to be part of as a kid/teenager, where people thought 'I can do this and I will do this'. They immediately set about coding their own games for home computer systems and coding teenagers were capable of making a better living than most adults of that age before quite a few of them moved onto the 16-bit scene and continued with their dreams and ambitions. The home brew retro game coding is most certainly an entertaining scene for people who lived thru the original time, are deeply interested and even for the casual observant wondering why people are still playing with decades old technology.
Looking good, but you're kind of a psychopath for not using source code version control, (SVN? Git? Doesn't have to be github.) some sort of merging tool, (WinMerge?) and a highlighting code editor (Notepad++). I mean, your workflow functions, but you're just creating more difficulty for yourself. Typos are harder to spot, maintaining changes between the CGA version and the VGA version is a lot harder than it needs to be, and so on.
I like how you guys left the Adlib sounding "old school" there. Very cool.
Pizzza party!
15:09 Make different kickstarters for those adaptations (once the game is released of course) ?
Yay! I backed at the "Also get a copy of Planet X2" level and I would have been happy with disks in a bag but I'm getting a box! Again, I say YAY! Now I just need to buy a Commodore 64 and a 1541 and an old TV to play it on.
Why do old DOS games always use that shade of purple for transparency?
Looks awesome ! Your attention to detail is very impressive. I really like the AdLib soundtrack.
I only have two regrets on this project : 1 - I couldn't participate on the Kickstarter since I had just lost my job when you released it 2 - You're not supporting General Midi and both of my retro PCs have poor emulation of ADLib since they're a little too new for DOS games (Pentium 3 era machines), so I'll be limited to PC Speaker. Other than that, I'm really excited to play this game, especially since I couldn't try Planet X2. Cheers from a 20 years old Québeckers that should't be here! (Would be pretty cool to see a french version, one can dream...)
I love your channel, I love what you do. But notepad and not using GIT or any version control, ugh, hurts so bad
If only you could invent a time machine to send this game back in time...
Will u make it a pre exicutable version for ms dos box that requires a person who doesnt know how to use ms dos be able to play game ?
So cool to see behind the scenes!!!
Can you release Planet X2 for Windows 7
this looks awesome good job man !!
you sould have a downloadable file because I whant to play it but have dosbox
That will be included. You can play on DOSBox.
Using Git doesn’t necessarily mean using Github. As a software developer I can’t recommend using source control enough ;) It’s a game changer (no pun intended)
You should make a Planet X2/X3 box, like the Diablo II Battle Chest.
Please, PLEASE tell me you're making off-site backups of the source. Even if you're not using proper source control - heck, *especially* if - you need them to be resistant to floods, fires, and theft.
Amazing! I really enjoy these update videos with such a detailed walk through the process. Just amazing. Great work!
One of the few kickstarters I backed. VGA mode is looking very nice I hope to have a nice 4:3 LCD by time of release.
I'm hanging out for planet X6 on Windows Vista
VGA artwork looks amazing! The guy who's working for you is amazing.
Holy cow that bug and ToDo list is short! I also use a text file for the same sort of thing, and it's over 2000 lines long right now! And wow, end of the year maybe, that's gotta be one of the fastest Kickstarters ever.
VGA mode makes the game 10000x more visually appealing. Great work so far on the game for everyone working on it!
1:00 "even though I have mentioned it before" Why are you always so arrogant in your videos?
When my copy of Planet X2 comes with greasy finger prints, I'll know why ;p I kid, I kid!
So happy to see how well things are progressing for you with this project.
You are ghost of computers past
Respect!
This is awesome.. Do you think it would be possible to port this to Linux?
Anything can be ported, but I don't think it is very realistic: Linux does not run real mode assembler code, drawing on the X window system is something different than accessing VGA hardware directly and modern PC's don't have Adlib compatible sounds any more. Therefore a port is not very realistic. Use Dosbox to run it on Linux.
Also i can beta test if need be
For beginners game devs out there : use tools to make your games, that few hours learning them will return many times. 8bit guy does it the way he likes, but this bare-hands development is not practical these days.
I must say, those update videos are really entertaining to watch. Can't wait for part 4! :D
How does one get a copy of this?
you should make this game online and add microtransactions
Stunning! Also the PC speaker music reminds me a lot of CPC
this game looks awesome!!!
I assume this idea is already buried somewhere in the comments, but did you consider implementing A* for the pathfinding? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A*_search_algorithm -- It should be pretty robus, or rather always find a short path to the target, if one exists. It might consume some memory, though.
Fantastic work Dave. The challenge of writing a game for the breadth of configurations is amazing. Much respect.
You should try to google the A* path finding algorithm, that should solve your path finding problem.
Will there also be a Commodore Amiga (500) or (CD32) version, that system is FAR more advanced then any pc in that area? Then i will surly (and MANY other people) buy a copy from you.
BRING IT TO STEAM!
11:46 I actually thought you were going to stop at 16 colour VGA! 14:44 I don't know why seeing a PS/2 without the appropriate Model M keyboard irks me.
Душный видос. Это никому не нужно
Hello. Will you sell digital copies for us poor people who have just emulators without floppy?
Please use GitHub
It's not ms dos its miss dos
Such a cool project, makes me want to go out and buy an old PC. Sound tracks are amazing by the way, well done.
Just got home from school... *new 8-Bit-Guy vid!* OOh! *its about Planet X3!* *OOH!*
Awesome work!
Why do you say Notepad and then show TextEdit?
Will the CMS be supported? I think it's about the same as the Tandy sound?
Holy fucking Christ on a stick, you actually hired Shiru?! I just couldn't be more sold right now.
I have created a Wikia wiki for this game series at https://david-murrays-planet-x.wikia.com/wiki/David_Murray%27s_Planet_X_Wiki
You might want to add a greater deviation so that the enemies don’t move quite the same, though I don’t know if that’s possible in DOS
Should put a The Oregon Trail Easter egg in.
Thank you for subtitles!
EGA supports 640*350 with 16 colors!
In Planet X2 you can build a wall around your factory so that the enemy cant reach you but your sentries do. Same issue here. Maybe you can code enemies that way that they actually shoot things that are blocking the path. To realise that, you could make walls stronger than bushes for example. Also i like to mention that lefties like me could have some problems with the key bindings. (in Planet X2 e.g. the unit selection starts at 0 on the keyboard, annoying af). A cutomizable option is on my wishlist. And additional, i would like to see a confirm button when you blow up your tank. Because i blew my factory so many times by hitting the wrong button. All in all, i love to see your effort to make this game something great. Keep up the good work!
I'd suggest renaming that "CGA Palette" option for the other modes. Suggested names for that slot: CGA Palette Cool/Warm (RGBI mode) CGA Phase Correction 0/1/2/3 (Composite mode) Invert Colours On/Off (Monochrome mode) Also, regarding the Adlib support, limiting it to 3 channels might be easy, but you could instead make it more complex and use extra channels in Adlib mode that just don't play (or even get loaded) on other devices. Say, 1-3 are used on everything, 4-8 are only used for Adlib music, and 9 is for sound effects.
Great video.. one of the best channels on Youtube.
Why run two code bases like that? I don't see any reason why both graphic formats couldn't share the same path finding, etc.
To be honest, I think it would be great to use at least one or two more voices on the adlib for some background tunes, or harmony. I think as of now it just feels like you aren't taking full advantage of that hardware unlike how you took full advantage of the PC speaker
Is it just me or does the Tandy system sound an awful lot like the Sega Master System?
Please use git as your version control. It will allow you to view your lines of code 'back in time' line by line in many IDEs, and see when they were changed.
Yes! Finally a new video from the amazing 8-Bit guy! :)
Hey why you dont precompute a gradient heatmap that basically tells wich cell is nearest to the base. like a "Gravity vector" calculated for every cell? like a inverse flood fill.
12:52 why not simply do the pathfinding in a module, and only use the executables for color mode? If so much of the two programs are overlapping, you might as well work with modules.
I would need git, gitlab,asana,jira,Jenkins. Not David. David is done in the time that I would need just to configure Jenkins.
VGA version look awsome. I love VGA pixelated art.
I wasn't going to watch this but I couldn't stop. It was so interesting, I was surprised people still play games like this. I started playing games when they were like this, simple and full of adventure. Good job man! I always wanted to design my own game as well, perhaps I will.
The AdLib version is so good. Upload the entire thing and you'll start a cult my friend. HAIL 8-BIT
What is the model name of the Samsung CRT television?
Please backup your sources with git. It will make life sooo much easier for you, especially if you have an accident and lose the hardware.
I want the sountrack played through a YM2149 !
Can we get confirmation that Planet X3 will work with DOSBox, with a GNU/Linux host? It's the way I'd prefer to play it, but I can always spin up a FreeDOS VM.
Andru Jorj Isn’t Dosbox pretty much the same on every platform? It creates a virtual machine so it shouldn’t have anything to say which OS or HW you’re running. Even outside connections to HW is handled by the executable so you should be able to play PX3 on virtually every MS-DOS emulator that can handle CGA, Tandy and VGA modes. :)
great sound
I'm excited about the soundtrack. The demo was sooo good! Will it be selled separately?
Diego Lascano Yes, we will sell the soundtrack both digitally and as at least a cassette like usual. Stay tuned for details as we close in on completion of the game.
Yes yes and fick yes!!@!!!!!
Wow! This project is looking great! Well done so far. Although I didn't get in on the Kickstarter, I'll be keeping an eye out for purchase after release.
Those VGA graphics. Hot damn.
Any price range set yet?
That's a pretty sick chiptune!
> Better pathfinding A flood-fill algorithm is guaranteed to give you the best single path possible. But it's going to eat a ton of memory (basically 2x the size of the map if you use 16bit number to store the number of iterations or cost). At best it could only be used as a fall-back method. Sprinkling keypoints accross the map, and precomputing paths between them should be a viable alternative (this was still used for bots on Quake2 maps). The best part is that it can be fully automated, the game will be simply receiving some "path routing info" in addition to the map.
That is a MENTAL amount of work you're putting into this game. It's incredible. I can barely manage with a single source code and a single engine. I admire you, sir. I'll be purchasing a copy when they are available. Not a fan of Kickstarter as I don't have a credit card.
Can you not implement A* into this or is there not enough memory available to implement a complete path finding algorithm?
Love these videos!
They say that the human body and the human mind has not changed hardly at all when it comes to hardware what really changed is our software. Our ability to create fire for example or smelt metal means that we could never truly go completely back to the Stone Age. What I find interesting about this video is it is a little bit like you are a time traveler. The map drawing tool and the Tile tool is pretty much identical to the Blizzard games they can take a paintbrush and they can paint their world and they randomly places little things here and there or you can manually place things here or there. So it's like you've taken software from Modern Times back with you 25 years it makes me wonder if you could make it game something like Starcraft on the Commodore 64..... This game looks awesome by the way. the only thing I would caution you against was while watching this video I realized that the a I could not get around that crater if you blow one of them up and it creates a crater they may never be able to get to you she want to be careful about them being able to be trapped buy their own destruction
Interesting videos, but I'm wondering about one specific thing: Is there a reason why you are not doing any CALL/RET optimization? At 1:06 I see many of these CALL DRAW_STATUS_SOLAR_PANEL RET which could have been optimized into a single JMP Same thing for CALL WRITE_DECNUM/RET, etc... I can see the point of writing assembler to get as much juice as possible from the machine, I'm just not sure your assembler code is actually optimal :D Similarly, I'm wondering about the repeated CMP/JMP/CALL for each of your possible DRAW_STATUS_xxxx routines, could you not have just used a table of pointers and just jump to the right location based on AL's value?
Is 3 twice at 16:00 on purpose? If so, why?
That cover art looks awesome
Are the enemies always (or largely) path-finding to the same place? You could implement Dijkstra's algorithm in the map editor's save routine (which gives you distance to base for every tile on the map) and just pre-bake in "direction to base" with the map tiles, and then path finding is just a look-up table.
I'm glad I can still buy it now that the kickstarter is done. I'll think about it when it comes out.
wow i would like to work on a similar project woooooow i am so excited
Git would be soooo much better for managing that project...
To support different platforms I prefer "driver" mode.
Sorry, because out of topic... But can you make video about BSOD (blue screen of death) PC problem. Is it more like new or old pc hardware failure?
Great Work!
Where did part two of the series go?
Please add support for the Creative Music System it sounds like the tandy but on a Sound Blaster
that snowman
Just a question will the c64 mini works on Panasonic tv
the C64 mini will work on any HDMI capable device which is any TV from 2009 and newer and any PC Monitor from 2011 and newer
Do a rewiew of the c64 mini 60Hurts
he already reviewed the c64 mini
Your work is amazing. I can't stand waiting for a full version of the game!
Do not insert pizza into the disk drive!
Great! Looking forward new updates! Just take your time to release another great game.
The VGA graphics are looking really good :) Sega Genesis port? ;)
where is 8 bit keys????
MonetMCPE A little on the backburner right now, David has a little too much on his plate seing as this game and the main channel is the main income. But I know he has a few things in the pipeline for 8-Bit Keys, so hang in there. ;)
So I backed your game on my fathers account so I can't ask you there. Are you going to include the assembly source in the floppy for study purposes? I would love to use it to learn x86 assembly (I already know some x86 assembly but only the basics).
Impressive how a software for an obsolete system can be built on a modern machine. But just one suggestion for versioning: Try to setup an SVN-server that keeps your code. It will do the same steps like you have done manually, but saves more disk space. It's also less complicated than a Git-server, which I would recommend only when more people are working one the same code (almost) simultaneously.
It's amazing to see all the job done by only one man ! I don't have PC with MS DOS but I'll order the C-64 version
Odds of the VGA version running on a 8 or 10mhz V20 cpu? Believe they can run certain 286 code. I have a Zenith Z-150 XT clone with an 8mhz V20 swap that i'd love to try this on!!!
Tandy sound also include noise channel, isn't it?
Keep up the good work. Love the artwork!
Change “CGA Palette” to “Palette”.
I'd love to see Planet X3 on that Compaq Portable you're working on ;-)
great update I missed the Kickstarter but I have allot of faith you will succeed unlike many other much higher profile game Kickstarter's and I like the way yo keep everyone informed on the project. I am amazed by some of the work you are doing the work looks great and I love your desire to deliberately program in a low level code despite the increased difficulty on your end to allow it to be played on older less capable machines something that modern developers no longer do. I was also impressed by the CGA composite graphics (I never had a CGA look that good when I was a kid) and the work you did with the sound and music if this game had been written in the 1980s it would be up thier with games like Street fighter or the first elite game as cultural icons and milestones in the industry.
Love the shirt :D
I was rather curious as to why you were doing manual version control, but I do know Git can be quite opaque initially. (Git is separate from Github or Gitlab, and you don't need to have a remote repository) I think the amber CGA and VGA modes look miles better than the others. Thinking of VGA, when you mentioned the VGA and CGA versions sharing a lot of code, it did occur to me that some kind of build system might be appropriate. That way, you could split out the common code, and compile that seperately, so that you don't have to copy anything over yourself, and instead have the computer link the common code with the specific code as needed. Make is one I'd recommend. It's nice and simple, and quite powerful, but I don't know if it works on anything other than Linux, unfortunately.
For the PC speaker sound, I wonder if you could implement something like the RealSound routines that Access Software patented that allows the software full PWM control of the speaker for greatly improved sound quality.
is there another way to get the game for dos machines? I missed the kickstarter.
The music and VGA mode look/sound awesome!:D Keep up the good work, love what I'm seeing so far.
This is really looking awesome David.I really appreciate all the hard, detail-oriented work you guys are putting into this. :D
Really really cool!
Can you make some planet x3 t-shirts for sale?
you just copy #8bitryan
+++ Well done to this great works +++
No support for the Roland MT-32!?
I would’ve just asked Bisqwit to make the music routine. He could actually make a multi-soundcard tracker in a couple of days
I've been through age from 4,77MHz and Hercules graphics to these days. Now I have to say that I'm vastly impressed by your coding skills. I've would've never expect to hear that good sound from beeper. I was always tried to mute speaker to acceptable sound level, cause let's be honest. Sounds 99,9% of the time were absolutely horrible to listen. Also your graphics support is pretty much superior to anything I have ever seen.
Also that 'disk copy party' is so nostalgic! Apply a VHS filter and it may as well be 1985!
8088 assembly? Pfft. REAL developers need only a magnetic needle and a steady hand. Seriously though, I appreciate you describing your workflow and tools. THIS is how software used to be developed. IDE's are a modern trend as is source control. All you really need is the compiler. You resisted the urge to be 'hip' by posting your code on GitHub. The bar of entry for programming is higher than it used to be. I used to program games with basic graphics on my C64 in BASIC using only the manual. Later I had books containing games to type in and they worked on most systems (BBC Micros, Acorns, Spectrums) with only a few modifications. On modern PCs what the hell do you do, other than install an emulator? Learn OpenGL? DirectX? C#? You're almost forced to install a bloated toolchain and IDE, and there's no BASIC anymore. Really, really impressed by this whole project. People are making incredible things with Unity now but to me that's not 'real' programming at all.
https://imgur.com/gallery/hJl4KdC
That music for the game is AMAZING.
Okay so guys: your wife some fat guy some fat guy and who is this in blue shirt?
so do you watch any modern doctor who? if so what is your opinion of the 13th doctor
One thing you should really consider is pulling out the graphics code into separate source files. Then all the shared code can stay together (not necessary to copy and paste changes,) and when you want to build it you just assemble each source file into an object file and link them together to produce the final executables (this could be done with a simple batch file, for example.)
Can't you just link the common routines in instead of copy / pasting?
very interesting! I compose music using a tracker (schism tracker), eventually which output is usable for a game like yours?...mp3 or the output of the tracker? .it (impulse tracker)..Schism Tracker is a modern version of Impulse tracker.Let me know, you might like my style...:-)Very interesting video though, keep on writing!
man 8-bit guy you're a machine! Game looks great btw, hope people really enjoy it!
I wish i had money to get a Commodore and this game. Its sad theres no many retro computers in Mexico :(
Try to fix the commodore c116 with the broken keys
Ahhh... A new 8-Bit Guy video! Like a 20:00 minute Present!
David, I would discard the low-end versions because: You've already done a low-end version on the Commodore platform. You're one guy, and you should focus on one executable. VGA with 256 colors is a wonderful mid-ground between CGA and true color. And those VGA graphics look great! Use ALL the sound channels! LOL
Just a note about music implementation: Some older games (MPS Labs) I've looked at implement it as a DOS TSR program, where the main game triggers an interrupt routine every so often. This allowed a pretty simple music driver system where each driver is just its own separate COM program. I don't know what you're doing right now, but at least this method would also allow the CGA and VGA executables to share the code directly, instead of effectively having two copies of it.
Hi! Fun channel. I have a question though, why no TRS-80 the real deal first home PC? Would love to see a series of vids with you, getting the original basic 4 KB DRAM standard memory setup and the upgrades and add-on hardware peripherals. Get a chance to use those audio cassette tape drives and early telephone modems on camera.
You don't compile assembly code. Compiling is the process of transforming high-level programming code to assembly. Assembly code is assembled to machine code.
That's amazing. What kind of guide did you use to introduce yourself to program DOS in ASM? I'd like to learn but I don't know where to start or what to begin with. Thanks.
Hey David I notice that Planet X-2 has the “lite” verdion available. What are the differences and will a regular version come back
Will there be a version of Planet X3 that can run on current Windows systems?
Have you tried to turn off and turn on the composite output ;-) https://www.seasip.info/VintagePC/cga.html
How do I get planet X3 on a MS-DOS Virtual machine?
“No need to use git”. Riiiiiight
Jesus just use git man
Is there planned MT-32 or General MIDI versions of the music?
I love how the Tandy sounds. God that brings me back
Just a suggestion once you finish Planet X3, maybe you should go back and finish Planet X1 since you said you never finished that game.
does the 256 color VGA version of Planet X3 support the 8088 XT 9.54 MHz with 640 KB of RAM? its have a 1 MB OTI 077 VGA Card.
Hey Dave, out of curiosity what kind of path-finding are you using? I'm curious as to how fast the 8088 can solve with the usual pathfinding algorithms. The game is looking great, I'm hoping to have a bit of cash for when this is released.
Assembly? Hardcore! Much respect.
Interesting insight into how you create your games! I would still suggest using GIT to manage your source code changes. You don't have to be come an expert on it or use github. I use a program Source Tree (windows, mac etc) to maintain the git repository and it is very helpful for tracking changes between versions.
Awesome - do you need some help with the music for the Game?
Maybe you might have to create an installer so they can install it on a hard disk rather than using the floppy disk every time.
What about Sound Blaster 16 and clones?
Adlib music will work there just fine.
Assembly wins again!
ok, thank you for the explanation...I suppose my only chance is to create such a beautiful music that the game designer and coders will translate into the game out of pure love for it....:-)
No, there is simply no tracker that would support all three sound devices at once, and almost none of general purpose trackers around have any sound effects support (which is required for a game). As for composing music in BASIC, well, you would need to create a system that would allow to make music for all three devices, and output data in required format. Basically you would redo what is already has been done, a new tracker, just written in BASIC.
yes, I saw the video but I wonder if any tracker would be suitable anyway, or for exemple, if I compone music in basic, that would be even better I suppose...
it uses completely custom tracker format, the tracker is shown in the video.
People have mistakenly been calling assemblers compilers indeed. Which exactly is the reason to nitpick about it, and try to educate people to use the correct terminology and understand the differences behind them. In the old days, this was taught in university. These days not so much, so I did a blog on it a while ago, and linked to some course material that explained the difference: https://scalibq.wordpress.com/2013/02/28/assemblers-are-not-compilers/
Compiling is getting together something something, it is a general term not related to assembler, or HLE, or programming in general. You also compile music data in some trackers, for example. In programming it usually refers to tranforming (translating) some source code into an executable. Thus assemblers called compilers very often for decades, both by users and authors, and there is no need to nitpick about using this term.
In PX3 we have either three tone channels, or two tone and one noise channel, depending from current situation. I.e. while a high hat or a snare drum is playing, we have 2T+1N configuration, when there is no noise, we're back to 3T configuration. There is also hidden voice stealing to allow drum instruments to sound over regular tone channels. You can have 3T+1N channel on this sound chip, but it limits you to just three possible noise pitches, which isn't much flexible and makes it difficult to create interesting drum sounds (games that doing this only use high and low pitched noise bursts as drums, as heard ever so often on Master System).
+shiru8bit oh, it means we have three tone channels without any noise OR just two tone channel and noise channel? IDK about this, thanks
Yes, technically Tandy's chip has 4 channels - three for tone, one for noise. However, there is some quirks in the chip that only allow to utilize full potential of the tone channel in trade for the third tone channel (it shares common frequency divider). So there is in fact 3 Tandy channels in PX3.
That would only turn PC Speaker into a crude DAC (no need for patents, btw, that's a common sense design). But to feed DAC with something you need processing power, and whole power of 8086 at 4.77 MHz is barely enough to get something comparable to Tandy's sound chip, or a simple 3-4 channel MOD-like player (so you'll need lots of RAM too, or very basic chiptune-like instruments). In other words, that's not suitable for target system, it only makes sense with 386 onwards (providing enough sound quality and spare time to run game itself), thus this technique only get some real usage when 386 became common system.
The problem is not just with extra code per channel, but with the Adlib being slow. The chip requires a good deal of delay between register writes.
shiru8bit - Hmm. Fair point. Copying the extra channels' commands to the card (assuming the music is converted to commands ahead of time, like ID Software's IMF files) would require additional MOV instructions (more if it's being converted on-the-fly), and that could be a problem if the target is only 4.77 MHz. The 256KB RAM limitation is probably the real killer, though. Using 6 channels of Adlib note data would double the memory requirements of the 3-channel approach, and taking 16KB instead of 8KB for a track might be too much to fit in at run-time. Though, I suppose that could be an optional extra if the machine has enough RAM. Kind of like how Terminal Velocity has the option to use high-resolution textures if your computer has at least 16MB of RAM.
Extra Adlib channels require quite some extra CPU time (target is 4.77 MHz) and extra RAM/storage room (target is 256K RAM, 360K floppy).
It has exactly the same sound chip as in Master System.
Good solution, but I guess RAM is major limiting factor there.
Who would've known notepad is the ultimate IDE and Bug reporting tool.
You made $100,000? I'd be in another country..
Wow! That tune was awsume! That will make ALL the difference with the game.
Can you plz port this to the Nintendo switch
Why not setup a home GIT server?
Hello, there i leave you the like
Hey dude make on for the Atari st
Yo David i have a question can you run bioshock on a 2008 macbook plz make a video on it
Can you please do a Brother WP-80
I really enjoyed this video with all the steps, goals and musics in the end. Sadly my coding ability is limited and not made too much progress yet but this is inspiring and hopefully I can make later a similar game.
1:50 browing LOL
i thought he ran a poll on which platform
Suggestion for the source code management. Why don't you make the shared code act as a library?
From the artistry of the coding, artwork, and sound to the organization, all very impressive!
will there be a digital release for those who want to play it, but don't have an ms-dos machine?
I would argue that a modern C compiler would make more efficient 8088 assembly than any human could
Please name a modern C compiler for 8088.
The footage from the pizza copyparty had me giggling. Not so sure about disk hygiene though. This project is really amazing, the amount of skill and dedication put into it is exceptional. Seeing how it grows over time is intriguing, I hope it gets all the success it deserves!
This game is already more finished than 95% of the stuff on Steam!
quite the project, looks great so far.
getting some serious dune 2 vibes from this
I don't want greasy pizza floppies :)
Maybe change the option "CGA Palette" to just "Change Palette"
SS Gaming By copying the files of any DOS game into a defined set of folders on your PC, then telling virtual machine where to look for these files. Just read the instructions in i.e. Dosbox manual. :)
Yikes.
Technomancer00 That’s up to David to decide. I would think not because it would require just about as much work as we have put into it this far and more because he would need to program almost everything from scratch preferably to use prodtected mode to take advantage of the upper memory, and a lot of other stuff I don’t know the details of. Just look at Dune2 - Westwood was around 14 people working on this for what I believe is two years.
Would there ever be a "special edition" that includes MT-32 and full Sound Blaster versions of the music?
Technomancer00 Not implemented due to HW limitations (machine structure and memory), but most of us are composing on the MT-32 and/or Adlib and making scaled versions accordingly. The ingame music will be PC speaker, Tandy and Adlib (3 voice only as described in the video). The cassette and digital download will contain most if not all the music we create (that we deem suitable and good enough for release). :)
Sae Mu Right now we’re five musicians assigned to doing work on this one, so there isn’t room for any more unfortunately this time. :)
Richard Head That is kinda true, but if you go back a couple of videos, he talks about why. And the main reason is that he wanted to see what’s possible to get out of these low level platforms since nobody has done anything remotely interesting on them. «Everybody» has already done marvellous games for 286 and above and that’s with sizeable professional game companies funding. David is alone on these things with the help of a few others like described. He also has a Youtube channel to run so if he was to take upon himself to program something huge like Warcraft2, Dune 2 and similar games, he would have to employ more people on a regular basis and work for an extensive period. It’s not optimal in my book. :)
Alex Nunes The lite version is only a manual, a floppy disk and a digital download whereas the boxed version comes in a box(!) with a manual, floppy disk and the sound track on cassette (as well as a digital download).
What shiru8bit said.
matt myers The remaining boxes and lite versions will be sold after all the kickstarters have been distributed. It should be a substantial amount left of deluxe, standard and lite versions avaliable. Just stay tuned and follow his channel and website for updates. As of now we’re not sure when everything will be ready. David and Renaud is working on the game and graphics, The music team and I are working on composing and I am waiting for material from Renaud and David to start the process of making the manual and box art plus the cassette designs. We’re looking at Christmas, maybe early next year - no promises yet. ;)
Benjamin Brady It’s just not feasible on the forementioned hardware platform. But the digital download and cassette will contain music from Adlib and MT-32. :)
Why don't you code it in English?
Man I hope this gets a switch port
Thank you for these videos. You motivated me to fix my 486 motherboard that was getting a keyboard error. Battery acid had corroded traces. Ran a new wired trace under the board between two points and am back in business.
Its OK that you are not uploading as much. Your dont just do YouTube, your a everyday person with a everyday life! You need time to do what you want, and time to make videos when your are just doing YouTube!
So hasn't pathfinding been pretty much solved with A*? Are you using the A-Star algorithm, or are you trying to write your own?
10:20 do I detect a Fallout style TARDIS easter egg?
Interesting project! I like the old school source control. $100,000! Wow incredible!
+Anders Enger Jensen nice, i'll check it out
Renán .Mascorro Sort of, the lite version will be with manual and floppy disk and digital download link. It’s worth it though, we’ll be putting just as much work on this manual as PX2 and more. :)
Sae Mu Right now we’re five musicians assigned to doing work on this one, so there isn’t room for any more unfortunately this time. But thank you for your offer. :)
PrivateCheeselaw You can play the game in Dosbox or any other virtual machine with MS-DOS on a modern machine. No need to get the real deal if it’s hard to get hold of one. :)
David, is your friend, the Obsolete Geek, still making videos? Will he be making any appearances in your future videos?
zx port?
what is that tracker? and does it have a common format for all 3 sound devices? if there isnt one this could be a good cross platform playback format too. if there is no player yet then the playback routine from the game could also be used for a stand alone music player.
I really hope I can buy it after the kickstarter on a 5in...
will you port X3 to C64? (more like X2 with updated graphics?)
Congrats on the massive number of kickstart signups. PS Add a Random landscape with a save fucntion.
is 8 bit keys dead?
am i the only one who like pc speaker best for music
damn YT unsubscribed me two weeks ago...
Wow cool!
There are no modern efficient 8086 assemblers. Segmentation is a bitch to higher level languages
And sounds amazing. :P With only three voices, too!
Lockie L I can help you somewhat. First lookup an x86 real mode tutorial and get an understanding of the adressing and memory segmentation. Then install notepad++, NASM and DOSBox. And just try something really simple: draw a line, play a note or run a countdown. You should always have an list of 8086 instructions open in a Tab together with www.stanislav.com/helppc , which contains a lot of BIOS and DOS calls and just google anything you don’t know
buttguy I doubt he is using any cpu specific instructions, so I think you’ll be fine if your V20 is fast enough
there is python. it's preinstalled on every linux distro and all you need to write programs is a default text editor. you can start coding on a fresh linux mint install with 4 clicks
So, I've seen a couple of your videos concerning Planet X2 & X3; and today, I managed to find all of them to watch them, and see how the games were. And, I had a thought, which is, will you sell a boxed set, of all 3 games? This would certainly be fun to have, and many of the bigger companies tend to do this regularly with their more popular ones. I know this is a small group, but, certainly something to keep in mind? Also, I would love to see you do something like a Planet X4, but on the Windows 9x platforms. This should allow you to get a lot more graphics, sound, and other neat little features and functions. Possibly even 3D graphics, but, again, small group, I know 3D would be a lot. Honestly, the 2D is rather good to look at, and I feel is just so much better for a lot of games, than 3D. However, I would most certainly love to see the continuing updates to this project, and to even be able to play it later. Would most certainly buy it, and I most definitely need to buy PX2. :)
i had a ida for you i would love to see whats inside a spirit box how dos it work ?
can we have a link to some of alexs work?
there is xonsh. it replaces the default bash or sh shell with one based on python. if you dont use a gui then it is right there after boot, just like with the c64.
You're all missing the point. I'm not going to reply anymore.
There’s qb64 a windows port of quick basic
Still not as easy as BASIC. You boot a C64 and it's right there at the command prompt. No text editor, no clicks, no software install at all. The keyboard even has symbols on it for all the built in graphical characters.
k but how to download for free
Watched this video a couple of times now. Very talented dude, impressive and the insides, how it was made (problems how to deal with it), is a pleasure to watch. Do you know how many time/hours you spend to program the game? It is good to show others how many effort and time it needs to create a product such like this. Programming is like building a house however normally, when programming, nobody sees the progress to achieve the end result. This is an execellent example.
i have an idea for your pc speaker dilema.... you could use computer generated sound over 1 tone, and cleverly program 3 voice, however, what if you leave the voice channel open and play the theme music over a sample, 8bit, 11khz or so, it'll sound much better and i know youd have to write the conversion or read thru, however, i believe youd benefit much more so than you would, maybe an option for those that dont want to hear sampled music?
I'm not even an 8bit kinda guy, but I love watching your videos for some reason.
Hi, mate! Thanks for the awesome video, as always. I have a question... I want to buy a vintage keyboard capable of playing square, sawtooth and triangle waves, with all possible features. Would you recommend me PSS-390, PSR-36, PSS-570 or another one? Thanks!!!
More Cassette videos Please !!!
it must be an exciting experience to make and publish your own game for computers. It's very inspirating ͡ಥ ͜ʖ ͡ಥ
Music is incredible. Art is fantastic. Coding skills are through the roof. GOG.com release please, I'd buy it day one from there.
That's a custom tracker made specifically for this game. It kind of have common format for all devices, but to get best result you have to arrange music for each device specifically. If you opt for a fallback solution, it will provide less interesting results (although it is possible too). I.e. if you play Adlib version on Speaker or vice versa, it will work with more or less acceptable results, but if you do arrangements for Adlib and Speaker specifically, it gives major quality boost (music demos shown in the video done this way, three versions of the same song).
We are ready for a new Dune game. Imagine a new Total War Dune.
Writing an RTS in assembly, in Notepad? wow, I feel so dumb right now. I know nothing.
Disk-copying pizza party sounds like my kinda party!
This is an amazing accomplishment considering that you're writing all of this in assembly. Any chance that you're going to be implementing unit movement tweening and pixel by pixel screen scrolling? If not- what are the obstacles preventing this?
When Planet X3 will be released, there will be modern Windows port (Like GZDoom for Doom, EDuke32 for DN3D) or Steam, GOG release?
6:37 Laser XT*
The winter map is beautiful... Just that would make me purchase the game!
MIDI support?
Really tempted to get it and X2 too. Still need to get another C64 as mine was given away many years ago and all I have left is the Ultima 1-3 collection, not knowing if the floppies are still working. I wonder how X3 will run under Windows XP using VDMSound as I was running Might & Magic: World of Xeen natively but the music sounded a bit slower. Still amazed that DOS games are running natively on a Phenom II x6 from 2010.
2018 Making a PRO Dos game with real Floppy, boxes, etc... sounds great ! Congratulations
hello sir. you are my hero of coding! i had a question. may you please answer this question... so how is the first software written? with another software yet? so electricity runs in active part of motherboard. then electron movement happens. in other side we have human literatures of numbers and alphabets. so where exactly these are connected and converted to each other? maybe with help of compiler? but how is that compiler itself written? i hope to help me. thanks alot.
Hey the 8bitguy! You've been an inspiration for me to restore old console. I have some of my videos on my channel. Please check them out.
Any chance to get this Music Tracker with game release for private music making? It would be awesome :-D
Triangle oscillator isn't a common thing on synthesizers before they got late into VA era. Not even CZ-101 or Poly 800 or Alpha Juno had it. Your better bet is Roland JP 8000/8080 or microKORG, if you really need triangle, but that's not a toy or semi-pro range anymore.
5:43 four shades of amber sounds like a p0rn. =) 19:07 would never let anyone use my c64 gear together with pizza or drinks. we had a guy we called fat-finger becase everywhere he touched there would be a greasy thumb mark.
I actually think the music sounds better in Tandy mode than in Adlib. I do like that your disk copying machine seems to run on pizza.
I want to get my hands on X2 for the c64 soon :-D
redo this game for modern systems and release it on steam xD
can you make a tutorial on how to code pong or tic tac toe? pls
Tandy sounds like PSG from Master System.
I REALLY like your attitude and the way you’re taking further your projects. I always thought that the machines from the 80s/90s had more to say, for they really teach us to be efficient in order to achieve whatever objective has been set. Also...it’s strange, but you make me want to really learn to code! I hope you and your team succeed in the best way possible, you’ve got a new fan. :)
you can use git without using github. You really really should consider it
When you are done with this, you should port a version to the Atari Jaguar and do a Kickstarter as it has a whole lot of collectors and loyal fans. :-)
Ugh, i only have a w10 pc and i dont know how to emulate dos well, what should i do?
I have to say that I kinda disagree with the decision to use only 3 voices (plus percussion) on the Adlib. The tracker could be coded to support all of the Adlib's 9 voices (or 6 voices with percussion mode enabled). And the songs could be composed so that the main melody lies on the first 3 channels which will play on PC Speaker and Tandy, and the other channels are used for extra elements such as background pads or extra notes for chords, that will only play on the Adlib. This way, you can use the Adlib to its full capabilities and still be able to use the same soundtrack for the Tandy and PC Speaker without conversion. Also, please consider having 64 volume levels so that your Adlib instruments don't sound too coarse :P You can always bitshift them later for the Tandy's sound chip.
Cool but why is the snow blue in cga mode
Love the choice of A86 for the assembler! That soundtrack is kill --especially on Tandy.
Will these games be available fo purchase download? For the people who does not own a old PC, I'm sure emulators is an option.
So.. in case of these snapshots... You are doing exactly what git is doing, but quite harder
16:00 numbering of pc phantom speaker is wrong.
I'd just make the aliens like the worm things in that KevinBacon film, so when they get stuck they just do a burrowing animation and pop up at the nearest dirt tile on the right path... their molehills would provide a clue for the player to find where they spawn...
Probably gonna see Epic Games buying Planet X4's dev rights and making X4 in the Unreal Engine.
Fantastic It would be great to see a version of planet X for vintage Macs! and maybe in the far future a version for Windows Xp machines when they become "vintage".
You don't need github if you just want local "backups" of older sourcecode. You can use git locally, no servers needed. When you do want it remote at some point... Well, just add a remote, push the code, and presto. Git is made to be useful, not to be distracting.
So stoked for this to come out! Great work so far, David!
How did I miss this video!! Watching with some toast and coffee.
Both cga modes > all other
Serious question, I know you use a usb floppy drive on your mac, but how did you get it to work? El capitan and above doesn't support floppies and it looks like you are running at least el capitan.
PX3KER looks like a bit of fun to use.
Paste the code.. the SW engineer in me shudders.. Lovely video.
That's because the same chip used in both systems.
Finally I could get my hands on the boxed X2 :) And it seems like the new stock is almost gone too. People keep buying this gem. I missed the kickstarter but I hope I can order the X3 as well before it gets out of stock. I’m so happy to see things are working out for and you may end up being a profitable software developer company. I would love to see some fan edition boxed copy of X1. Actually I find fun to play with it... :)
Great , great work. What about Amiga mode?
Nevermind
Oh yeah, this is before i used doxbox, i already have some dos games that run with it and ive been trying to find full games., in think i might delete this comment
Run it in dosbox. You can even drag and drop a DOS exe to dosbox and it should start automaticly then
I've never seen so many 5 inch floppies outside a locker room.
You could possibly make a system in which you release updates every six months which can be added to the base executable. Possibly also a modding framework which allows developers to make extra features, or just allow mods to be inserted into the code without making the framework yourself.
LOOKS AWESOME on the amber IBM.
For the HGC, you can just convert the CGA monochrome artwork! C’mon!
Have you considered publishing this on GOG once the kickstarter is done?
ANd tHeN NExT we wiLL MAKe A PLanET X4 FOr fLaSH
Multiplayer on this would be beauty
you should use notepad++ its better then regular notepad and it has assembly as one of the language you can choose
codes in intel 8088 assembly uses apple
Can you sell the game on Steam?
Can you sell the game on Steam? (EDIT: Deleted duplicated comment created by a YouTube bug.)
2:32 I hate to be that one guy, but what is the music that starts here?
Steam,realistic,remake
Talk about retromasterwork at progress,
planet x2 with a little bit of pizza fat
Back in the day did the major publishers have mass produce disk writing equipment? If so I wonder where those are today!
My proposal for your pathfinding routine: Every path could be quantified into linked lines from coordinate too coordinate. On map loading if map has no paths pre-roll pathfinding jerking coordinates build up around to get several possible paths. Select 3-5 shortest paths and save them intoto arrays for bots to execute. On encounters use usual behaviour (come closer to attack) and return back to nearest path. Otherwise ai can build up to be overcomplicated for lil 4.7mhz machine Just a proposal, you know
without a doubt everytime i watch any of your videos i find my self know nothing about computer even when i'm skilled with 12 years of experience and have very similar interest Great job as always ! Keep it up
8-bit Guy: -Writes everything in assembler -Uses Notepad... NOTE-fucking-PAD! -Does bug tracking and todo list in simple plain text file. -Manually saves copy of entire source code for version control. -Actually finishes games. Me: -Spends months deciding on what programming language, version control system, text editor, IDE and tools to use -Reads dozens of articles, tutorials, books and forum posts on fancy programming techniques, patterns, APIs, frameworks and libraries. -Still hasn't written a single line of code. (LOL!)
hey can i get planet x3 on a zip format so i can extract them and play myself because my ibm broke
музыка tandy мне как-то больше понравилась, несмотря на то, что adlib имеет эффекты скважности.
I assume it's from the PX2 cassette tape
Being on an IBM PC is an obstacle that is preventing this
Wow! I have a lot of admiration for your hard work this project! (As a professional software developer, I gotta admit, I’d sooner eat a floppy disk than give up my text editor and source control tools...)
it looks so cool in all of the video modes, even in the incorrect ones the art is quintessentially good
why dont u just allow the editor to be able to embed paths
Oh man this is the first ive seen of this. This brings me back, i love it.
Amazing work, do you think you may run into copyright issues with Egosoft?
if you send this tracker to me - i can compose some tracks for you. my email is : yanlipavsky@gmail.com
Notepad for writing code?
Planet X4 -- Windows/Mac/GNU Linux machines?
for pathfinding use A* (A-star) algoritm. For large maps, you can modify A* with supernodes. I used it, worked for very large maps very fast. Even you can find how big should be supernodes to be most efective. I my case it was 3 or 4. Maps was 3000x3000 or more.
Codding games using assembler in 2018 sounds really weird. 8-bit guy is a complete geek =)
Notepad++
Truly an incredible game, and clearly very well thought out. Also love this inside look. I'll be first in line.
I have know idea what you are talking about half the time! But I love it....
So what's next? Planet X4 for DirectX3 on Windows 95?
Nice! New viewer so I didn't know about this.
Seeing all this come together makes me all the more curious how well an Atari 8 bit micro could pull this off. Guess it's just one of those things the mind does huh. XD Certainly with the upgrades around nowadays X3's VGA version would run on that. (After all, if you shove a VBXE and Rapidus into one you've got a 20 mhz 16 bit CPU, 35+ megabytes of RAM and a graphics chip that can output 1024 colours at 320x240) But what can an unmodified system do? 4 colour CGA-like modes are the main graphics capabilities of the system without any tricks, though I recently realised you could get a 4096 colour mode out of it if you accept the equivalent of a 64x64 resolution. (but good luck not running out of RAM - 64k doesn't stretch very far when you start doing things like that with your graphics.) I guess in the end X3 is too demanding for an unmodified Atari. It can go some way, but there's just too much going on. X2... Is almost certainly viable, but it's designed incorrectly and would need an overhaul. (by incorrectly I simply mean it's design is optimised for the strengths of the c64, while the Atari has different strengths and a few weaknesses that make c64-like arrangements a bit problematic at times.) Ah well. It's all a bit of a thought experiment anyway. I have projects of my own to mess around with. For one thing, trying to see if I really can get 4096 colour mode on an atari - and whether the tricks required for that are viable in a game in any way.. XD
Huh. I thought the reason CGA composite mode went out of fashion was that actual CGA adapters were becoming obsolete... Games of the late 80's and early 90's often still supported CGA, but the devs themselves didn't use CGA cards. EGA and VGA are 'backwards compatible'... Except... Only with CGA's RGB mode, not Composite. So if you try and test a CGA program on EGA, VGA (or later) hardware, you'd be forgiven for thinking composite mode doesn't exist. I thought THAT was the reason for it, but if CGA composite mode behaves inconsistently, that would explain a few things too. I mean, you get similar (but more consistent) problems with other old systems that relied on artifacting colours. NTSC games for the Atari 8 bit systems frequently used artifact colours, but when converted to PAL this no longer works, and the result looks weird. (then again, as with a number of systems, the NTSC and PAL palettes are technically incompatible anyway...) Colour on old systems can be exceptionally weird sometimes...
I am a junior developer and I can't even imagine all the work you've done including writing your own tools. Amazing!
This looks awesome! The VGA graphics are beautiful as well!
19:23 Yay! Every so often, I binge-watch a bunch of your videos, kind of at random, based on what is suggested on the side. So only today did I learn about your Planet X2 game (which looked pretty cool), and then immediately after learned you were working on Planet X3 (which looked even cooler), aaaand then also that I missed it's Kickstarter... :P
If only eBay sellers didn’t charge 1-3 hundred dollars to ship the computer to my house
5:27 The game looks great in these amber tone colours! :)
AAA titles selling characters and maps as DLC, 8-bit guy gonna be selling graphics modes as DLC lmao
+mawthecringelord thx
This is just ... WOW
game looks good i am thinking buying it when you done it
what happens when my old ms-dos has 512 colors does it make it more colorful
You’re a genius!
are you going to be able to do randomized enemy bases? That would massively improve replay-ability.
I'm really impressed by the progress you've made on this. It makes me want to work harder on my own game projects!
I kind of like the fact that it changes color every time. It's like a little surprise, or maybe you're on a different planet from last time. It's like a nice little bonus where you could be like "oh man I better build more XYZs or I'll run out like that time I was on red planet. But let's also use that strategy I used on blue planet." etc
I think you should put planet x3 on github that way people can test it so that they can tell problems and inform you
AkBKukU Showed how to connect 2 Monitors to a DOS PC, could you try to Integrate That Into Your Game, where it would scroll on both monitors or do 2 Player which would be really cool and unique to your game because most games don't do that.
Please include the map editor with the game like hammer in cs or the elder scrolls construction kit
Man, I've always seen you as a boss, but you're certainly a boss' boss.
Dang. That demo track is really good. Will it be in the buyable soundtrack?
where you buy all your cool t-shirts :-)
1:17 Not that there's anything wrong with using pure Assembly, but I believe that C supports inline assembly. This gives you a lot more flexibility, allowing you to write chunks of the game in portable and easy to read C, while dropping to pure assembly for speed sensitive routines.
Your videos make me feel so good, I don't know why. Great work. :)
VGA graphics looks fantastic!
will we be able to get the soundtrack for separate listening from the game at some point as well?
I remember playing Battle Isle Matches via Mail against Friends. Will we ever see an "online" Option?
So, will there be a Planet X4? If so I was hoping to see 64 bit polyginal graphics. That'd be cool
Got an old sony portege 286 sx 50 mhz running win 98lite, would that work ?
@The 8-Bit Guy An Amiga/ST version (sharing same core code) could use 320X200 16/32 Colour graphics and an Amiga AGA/Falcon could use the 256 Colour graphics. The main core code could also be used on a 68K Mac port!! just saying 68000 code could cover a whole bunch of systems with crossover of manuals, tapes, boxes to make the production cost less and cover more. Another thought just crossed my mind, the Amiga could then play X1-X3 through emulation, and then play a native X4!!!!
Where does one find that tracker?
I think he forgot to support 4k resolution. :P Just imagine those glorious pixels in 4k!. damn.
Cga monochrome with an orange gas plasma
i love your channel, but what really grabbed my eye was the box art for this game. who did it, and do they have an Instagram, Twitter, etc.?
This is so cool. I am pretty excited about this. I am keeping a eye out so when orders are live i will be able to snag a copy.
The VGA version looks like a pixelized phone game but that's not a bad thing, that means it look like it has quality :)
Path finding is very important and I am glad you talked about it. I know a major update which made Minecraft more interesting was the pathfinding update back in a much earlier version. I remember doom having very simple pathfinding and the demons did get stuck a lot. But one thing they seem to have added was a random movement process to try to get them "unstuck". Bacteria do a "run" and "tumble" process. Here they run in a straight line for a direction, then randomly select a new direction (with a slight bias to where they want to go) and do another run. Eventually, although slow as backtracking is part of the possibilities, they can make it past any obstacle if it is possible to even pass.
Super Impressive
can I purchase PLanetx2 just digital download ??
Why you don't use Notepad ++?
I really love the music composed with the Tandy PC speaker! I hope that will be composing into a full track!
In in this early stage, VGA graphics looks fantastic.
16:56
TextEdit? Ow. You should at least look into using BBedit. If you're using one of your old Macs to code on, you can even get older versions of BBedit for it.
I was thinking that you could develop an interupt drive routine to make pwm audio out the pc speaker like the game mean streets...and other access software titles.
Feels weird to be so hyped for a DOS game in 2018.
My personal idea towards solving the pathfinding issue is to use waypoints. The pathfinding can move around small obstacles but doesn't understand large obstacles, so it could instead of pathfinding directly to the object it wants to go to, it could instead pathfind to a waypoint that it knows is on the way. You could make a small list of these waypoints and then change the pathfinding to seek out the waypoint when it needs to go in a certain direction around a large object.
GOG! GOG! PUT IT ON GOG!
13:22 WHY IS THE BACKGROUND TUNE GIVING ME SO MUCH NOSTALGIA?!
Hi, if you would like to release it with multiple languages, I can translate it to Hungarian. But you need different charset.
Next probably is Mac. Don't number it anymore. Call it "Planet X4: Monolisation because if ya doing the mac a job, ya better get it done right!
After the Kickstarter raised $113k which is enough to support my household for 5 years, he could have just buzzed off and took the next year or two off to work on the game. As that isn't the case since he still releases videos regularly, you can tell he genuinely loves making content. You can also tell due to him being one of the few youtubers that don't go through an existential crisis every 6 months
It's good to look into the process. Also it's cool to see that the old systems still get some love.
How about a Planet X3 ported to the Tandy COCO 3?? You would have at least 128-512K of RAM plus high end graphics that you could code in Machine Language.
Can you make one for windows 10 or 7 please?
Here is an idea: try to find some friends who are willing to help you make on games that have a similar style to the Planet X series, maybe create a game studio while you're at it. I am sure there are alot of people who would love something that would be remeniscent of the good old days. Look at Oldschool Runescape for example, that game is very successful and it was a back up of the classic rpg from 2007. Emulating is also a very popular thing, alot of people who emulate old games alot could become very loyal fans to your possible game studio.
I know it's not needed, but have you looked at HacknPlan? I love it.
Can it work on an Original IBM PC?
I don't even have a c-64 and I'm thinking about buying a copy, just because the artwork and boxing was so elegant. I'll probably buy the ms dos version, just because, thanks to you, I've started programming in qb4.5 and Asic again (after 12 years). I can't believe how much I've forgotten but I'm finding it enjoyable, just getting a mouse to work under QB4.5.
Never seen anything like this in my life. He asks his audience to choose a target platform for a game, then he learns 8086 assembly + the PC XT architecture + whatever is needed and makes it.
Next he’s gonna make Planet X4 with mid 90s pc graphics then planet x5 will have graphics from 2006 then planet x6 will have modern graphics
Use dijstra(?
That's the guy, whose "When it's done" you can count on!
Spoilers: My milk
That's not Notepad. Notepad is a Windows application. The default text editor on Macs is called Textedit.
Great video and great work! Although as a QA Engineer i'm pleading, please get a test case tool or bug tracking tool. There are some cheap/free systems out there and will make your life so much easier when it comes to QA. Trust me! ;) Good job anyways though!
Midi sound please
Only one question: Where did you get so many floppy disks? These were empty unformatted?
Interesting that you're doing it in asm. I think if I were taking on this project, I would build it in C first, and then hand optimize the hotspots in assembly, but that would depend a bit on how good the available compilers were. I wonder if anyone has built an 8088 backend for LLVM, and if so, how well it optimizes. Also I *super* recommend that you grab git, and use it instead of this snapshot scheme. I know it seems like a pain if you haven't used it before, but I promise it will be worth it within two weeks.
OMG that test music with different sound outputs, is that gonna be included in the game? Sounds amazing
+daishi5571 Make it work, make it right, make it fast. I have little doubt that hand-tuned asm is faster than what a compiler will generate on an old system like this, but that doesn't mean that every facet of the software needs to be written in asm. The time you save by writing 90% of it in C is time you can use to make the 10% that really matters even faster.
Have you ever compared code from C to asm. The wasted resources in C are massive when you start to compare. That's fine (I guess) if you have memory and CPU power to spare but he is building this for an 8088 as low as 4.7MHz with minimal memory and from what I have seen so far it looks good for a PC of that era. C is great for portability but as an efficient language it is rather lacking.
+daishi5571 , no the COCO 3 was gifted with a very powerful GIMIE Chip which provided a new world of hi-res graphics the COCO 1 and 2 just didn't have. Alot of people now have been pulling out every possible trick from the GIMIE chip to produce games that look every much as good as the NES.
6809 processor so requiring a total re-code and for a very small market. Also I don't remember the Coco 3 getting any enhanced graphics over Coco 1&2.
Do another one of these
Quick question: Why did you only use 3 of the voices for the AdLib track?
Dude you are crazily good at programming
+Chris Cromwell 2MB on an 8 Bit system lol. Does anything really use the 512K?? the amount of bank switching is massive.
+daishi5571, not to mention that same GIMIE Chip also provided the COCO 3 the ability to have 512K of RAM for the first time.
+Chris Cromwell Ah ha I just looked that up it's a bit interesting, looks like it was a chip designed to lower the chip count and add a few new functions but was cut back from it's initial design . Up to 640 x 255 in 16 colours and a bucket load of new text modes. I find this stuff interesting as I use to program and design hardware for the Dragon which was very similar to the Coco. My last project was a CPU upgrade 68B09 or maybe the 6309 (undecided at the time and I see some ppl have done that to the Coco) more memory and an upgraded graphics system. Unfortunately the guy I was working with had a brain aneurysm and I didn't feel right about finishing the project without him. I sold my Dragon not long after that :-(
For future - use git!
Why don’t you use the extra voices on the AdLib chip to create supporting voices?
Did you use the A* algorithm for pathfinding? It's efficient, easy to implement, and guaranteed to find a path to the destination provided one exists. It's widely used in RTSes to route units to automatically move to the commanded location. You may wish to consider using a programmer's editor. I swear by Emacs, but even Notepad++ will come in handier than plain Notepad will. Maybe it's not such a big deal for plain ASM.
tile editor reminds me so much of RPG maker
Good lord....Notepad? Do yourself a favor and upgrade to at least Notepad++.
anyone watching this in 2019?
Depending on how much memory or compute you have available, we used to solve those path finding issues with either waypoints (baked into the map), or A* (or automatically generated waypoints using A*, e.g. they're compiled into the maps ahead of time, automatically).
5:27 i love how this looks
Dude if you're doing this in assembly then transparency is easy, just read the color you're about to draw and jump over drawing that pixel if it's your transparent color (magenta).
I love these news games for retro systems. The technology moved so fast, there was no way we had time to explore all the possibilities of each system. I really hope to see more new games for old systems in the future. This type of video game design is a budding art form. Interactive art. Look at the Petscop sensation. A game in which you have no weapons or enemies, goal or plot, yet a game mysterious and complex enough to keep people coming back to watch it. It may be for the PlayStation, but I'm happy with any home brew game. I think it's so cool to see what people come up with who aren't pressured to "make a hit game" and "get in in stores before Christmas." That corporate conservatism prefers sticking to a mold instead of taking risks and following the imagination. Dream on, all ye gamers and game-makers! The RAM's the limit!
Someone make a time machine and send him back to the 1980s so we can have these games back then
Liam Bogur no
Pizza party? Haven't been in one of those since the early 90's.
emal
how to get Planet X2 and 1 tell me. to the 8 bit guy
Those VGA graphics remind me of the advance wars series on the GBA, nice and shiny and a good balance between real and toon.
Does it have micro-transactions ? :D
Where can I purchase a digital copy of Planet x3?
Will there be online multiplayer?
vga? vga?! VGA?! VGA! VVVVGGGAAA!!!
Every single time I watch this video I'm impressed. :)
Will this game ever receive a download release if we don't have the hardware to load the game?
So a Saturday I went to a computer museum and I came across a Compaq Portable (I forgot which one) and it ran Planet X3.
Man! This is looking really great
Anyone remember a little dos game called DOOM? lol I've made several mods for it and it's updated version, ZDOOM. I won't put the link here, but if you visit my page, you'll see some examples, and some game files you can download and play. Old school games aren't just for collecting but are a great way to get into coding. And my game mods are all free. No kickstarter required! lol
I actually have a use for a DOS Emulator now. I threw away a questionable USB floppy drive many years ago. Would its be possible to get this on non-magnetic storage in the future?
So hyped for this to come out! Downloaded dosbox just to play this. I was gonna buy a Commadore 64 mini just to play but they are to expensive just for a game. Hyped to play!
VGA version looks great.
I want a loop of the music. please make this come with the game itself, like with planet x2. maybe even here on youtube.
17:05 GREAT Music,
How did you learn to code dos games, can you link to the tutorial you used?
you said 8088 asm 8088 is only a 8 bit bus version of 8086 for cost reduction and other reason. so you should of said 8086 assembler ?
Why U NO sell this game on GoG?
You should include multiplayer over null modem serial cables as an expansion pack for like $5-15 or just add it to Planet X4
9:39 I can't believe the things you make your game run on XD
VGA version looks like it could have come out on steam.
Lego battles except 100x better
You could use local git reposotory instead of directories. It's simple, just type "git init" to initialize repository and now you can add your commits. It's good option because you can connect that local repository to a remote repository in the future and keep your changes history. It's also very handy to check what changed when a new bug was found.
Pretty cool David. Back in the mid-80s I was fascinated with Assembler but never really learned it. I did a small test program in it I believe on the C64 and it turned out cool. It was just a demo and wish I still had the source code. All it did was switch the background color really fast so stripes would move up the screen. I saw it in some game as it was loading and wanted to see if I could create it. I guess I did.
Maybe the second channel where You can upload more details about a game, maybe some examples of Your code or any other more in-depth details ...would be mice :)