My 10 (+1) Ideas for NESMaker Version 4.1

DanielT1985

Member
(Most of the choices in this list refer to the Platformula Module in NESMaker 4.0.11) This list will revolve around logical and possible additions to NESMaker. Some of these might be possible already in NESMaker while some aren't. Call me greedy, but I want to make sure that NESMaker's promise of "Letting you make any type of NES Game you want and exceeding limits and not being given off the feeling that the program is limiting" was kept and put to the test.



1. Adding Volume Control & Effects Control To Instruments In Famitracker

We sadly can't use the volume and effects part of a channel in NESMaker. There might be something with the way Famitracker is made that makes that impossible, but who knows.



2. More Enemy & Object Movements

There seems to be quite a few blank slots in the Movement options when making a Monster or object. So maybe there can be some additions to make the movement diverse, especially for making bosses.



3. Cheat Code Making

Someone has made a code that gives you the ability to make the Konami Code work in games, but I think it would be neat to have that as its own given addition to NESMaker.



4. Opening/Ending Cut-scene Screens

CutterCross, Creator of NESMaker's The Tower of Turmoil, has made this possible in his own coding, so I'm gonna take some examples from him and another NES game that goes by the name, Super Mario Bros. 3 Mix, a hack of SMB3.
I would love the ability to make an opening and ending cut-scene for my game, to make it seem more complete, much like a real NES Game. I have thought of some ways to work around it, but there has to be one thing or another
stopping me from making that possible.



5. Passwords

People are already making some complex games in NESMaker, and I have a feeling they might need to give people some shortcuts because these games don't have a save option, so I was wondering if there was the ability to let people
have passwords for whatever is done at that certain time the password was made. I wanted to make a game that has about 8-10 levels, and after that, the player would have to go to a final level to beat the game. Let's say I got 5
coins, gotten 1 key from the 3rd level (P.S. I am making the game give you the ability to pick any level you want.) What if I can have a password that saves where I was exactly left off, so when I implement it, it shows my 5 gems
and the key I got from the 3rd level. IDK how complex that could be, but who knows, and it makes me curious to see what the team is having to go through when making Mystic Searches/Origins (I forgot which is which.)



6. After-Game Abilities

This might be a spoiler for those who haven't beaten Super Mario Bros. 3 and its most popular hack, Super Mario Bros. 3 Mix.

If you beat Mario 3, and go through the credits, You are given 30 P-Wings for you to play with. And when you beat the hack, Super Mario Bros. 3 Mix, you get comet stars, like in Super Mario Galaxy, for you to beat. What if NESMaker lets you give the player
something special for beating your game, I.E. a bunch of lives, a special power-up, new objectives, invincibility, etc. I have a feeling that could be possible.



7. Control-Altering Screens/Tiles

This one might already be possible in 4.0.11, but Still. I would like a screen option and tile that will change the way you control the character. Like having a screen that slows the Jump speed to make the controls more
space-like for a space area, and ones that make the controls feel like you're in water. This would be perfect if you're making a game that has multiple levels. Speaking of which.



8. Map Screen Options

I would like the ability to make a whole map area that will have a selection of levels, like in Super Mario Bros. 3 and Angry Video Game Nerd Adventures. And maybe like AVGN adventures, if you beat all the levels in that
map, you unlock the final level to beat the game. That might be to excessive, but it would be still neat to add to the game.



9. Mini-game Screens

Again, this might be impossible, but I want to add it to the list anyway. I would like the addition of Screens that have a mini-game setup that you are able to decorate and change in any way you like.
That way, this will let some creators add a bonus area to their game that will make the game-play for their game longer. Anything from a slot machine to a claw machine like in Kirby or the 1-Up and Bowser shooting
Mini-games that were in New Super Mario Bros. U.



10. Scrolling

This one was already mentioned so many times. It's like NESMaker's version of Slopes being in Super Mario Maker. Scrolling is a very important key to platforming games. So I was wondering if there could be an option that will let
you select which screens will scroll over to which, and possibly the ability to have vertical scrolling areas like in World 1-1 of Super Mario Bros. 2. That way the game won't scroll constantly and it will stop any time. Now
I have read a lot about it and from what I can tell, in order to get scrolling working, The New 8-Bit Heroes team might need to make a whole new engine in order to get scrolling working, but I have a feeling that right now,
with whatever engine that NESMaker is using, that scrolling screens could be possible, and could go so far as to be a screen option in the Screen Info menu.



(BONUS) Level Organizing Area

For those like me who are making a game that has multiple areas, it might end up getting confusing. So maybe NESMaker can have an area where you add the name of that level, and you can select in the Overworld and
Underworld maps which ones are for that level. This isn't for the game itself, this is just so the programming of an NESMaker platforming game can be made easier.
 

chronosv2

New member
I'll answer these suggestions in order.

1. I believe that's a limitation of the GGSound engine. You can set instrument volumes and make instruments that mimic some of the effects to get around this. It'd take a lot of time and effort to swap sound engines. Maybe someone in the community will wire up a different sound engine, but as it stands that's what we've got.

2.I believe in 4.1.0 we're going to be able to write our own AIs and enemy code. Not 100% sure on that though.

3. NESMaker is designed to be very general purpose. Cheat codes take up space that could be used for something else. Having it as a user code submission is the best way so that people can make that trade-off decision on their own.

4. A lot of these suggestions come down to not being appropriate for general purpose. Community submissions are intended to fill in some of the blanks. Heck, my code submissions are part of that mentality. :)

5. Saves are supported, just not implemented yet. If someone figured out the code for writing saves to memory we could have no need for passwords.

6. The only thing preventing this from working is input checking during the win screen to restart the game. It wouldn't be possible in the input editor but I think you could pretty easily do this in ASM.

7. This could probably be done with user variables, which currently exist. Someone would just need to figure out how to code it.

8. This could also be figured out by the user-base. A map screen doesn't seem like it'd be that difficult to implement on its own, but a lot of us are waiting for 4.1.0 so we don't end up reinventing the wheel multiple times.

9. This is another one that needs to be user-made. Minigames can be so varied that it'd be difficult for the NESMaker team to hit every facet people might want to make.

10. Horizontal scrolling is already in the works for 4.1.0. Vertical might be eventually gut it takes more work to get running than horizontal. As it stands right now though, scrolling is going to disable the HUD unless someone can program Sprite 0 Hit timing for the scrolling system.

B. You can set up Screen Groups in the Project menu. Then in the overworld or underworld maps you can right-click a screen, click "Set Comment" and set the screen group. It'll have a colored border so you can keep track of your levels/areas.

There are a lot of creative ideas here. The only real "issue" as it were is that NESMaker as a whole is being developed to be as supportive as many things as possible, so it needs to be kept general purpose. Since they'll likely be implementing bugfixes and working on modules for a while, the community is expected to (and is trying to) fill in the gaps. I've already got a number of things I plan on trying to implement myself, and most of the code I write will be public domain for anyone to use. I'll keep some of these ideas in mind for after 4.1.0 hits. :)
 

DanielT1985

Member
chronosv2 said:
I'll answer these suggestions in order.

1. I believe that's a limitation of the GGSound engine. You can set instrument volumes and make instruments that mimic some of the effects to get around this. It'd take a lot of time and effort to swap sound engines. Maybe someone in the community will wire up a different sound engine, but as it stands that's what we've got.

2.I believe in 4.1.0 we're going to be able to write our own AIs and enemy code. Not 100% sure on that though.

3. NESMaker is designed to be very general purpose. Cheat codes take up space that could be used for something else. Having it as a user code submission is the best way so that people can make that trade-off decision on their own.

4. A lot of these suggestions come down to not being appropriate for general purpose. Community submissions are intended to fill in some of the blanks. Heck, my code submissions are part of that mentality. :)

5. Saves are supported, just not implemented yet. If someone figured out the code for writing saves to memory we could have no need for passwords.

6. The only thing preventing this from working is input checking during the win screen to restart the game. It wouldn't be possible in the input editor but I think you could pretty easily do this in ASM.

7. This could probably be done with user variables, which currently exist. Someone would just need to figure out how to code it.

8. This could also be figured out by the user-base. A map screen doesn't seem like it'd be that difficult to implement on its own, but a lot of us are waiting for 4.1.0 so we don't end up reinventing the wheel multiple times.

9. This is another one that needs to be user-made. Minigames can be so varied that it'd be difficult for the NESMaker team to hit every facet people might want to make.

10. Horizontal scrolling is already in the works for 4.1.0. Vertical might be eventually gut it takes more work to get running than horizontal. As it stands right now though, scrolling is going to disable the HUD unless someone can program Sprite 0 Hit timing for the scrolling system.

B. You can set up Screen Groups in the Project menu. Then in the overworld or underworld maps you can right-click a screen, click "Set Comment" and set the screen group. It'll have a colored border so you can keep track of your levels/areas.

There are a lot of creative ideas here. The only real "issue" as it were is that NESMaker as a whole is being developed to be as supportive as many things as possible, so it needs to be kept general purpose. Since they'll likely be implementing bugfixes and working on modules for a while, the community is expected to (and is trying to) fill in the gaps. I've already got a number of things I plan on trying to implement myself, and most of the code I write will be public domain for anyone to use. I'll keep some of these ideas in mind for after 4.1.0 hits. :)

Alrighty. Thanks for the info. :)
 
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