Soko Banana - A Puzzle Game

marp

Member
Since the crunch for getting Soko Banana ready for the Byte Off! competition we have continued working hard on the game. We have decided to try a Kickstarter to fund the creation of a physical version, because that would be a dream come through. If this sound interesting please check out the link below. However, we will be releasing a version of the game here on the forums too, of course, the game wouldn't exist without this community. Our plan is also to release the puzzle module for NESMaker that we are making for the game, available for download with a nice little tutorial explaining how it was done (this is a couple of months in the future, lots of coding still left).

There are also an updated demo (since Byte Off!) that can be downloaded, with some more scenes and mechanics.

soko_screenshots.gif

nesmaker_soko_box.png

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/flipforfate/soko-banana-an-8-bit-puzzle-game
View attachment sokobanana_demo.nes.zip
 

marp

Member
Somehow I can't get the URLs to work as they should? Don't now what I'm doing wrong. :?
 

RichardMartens

New member
Just a bug report, and a couple quick suggestions.
On level 1-4 if you push the bottom crate left it goes through the wall, then warps around the other side.
sokobanana_demo-2.pngsokobanana_demo-3.pngsokobanana_demo-4.png
The other thing is you should be able to go to the next screen by pushing ether START or A-Button.
At least in my opinion it should be that way as a Standards thing. Because some games use the Start button for things like this (Also starting the game, Hence "Press Start" text)
But as games progressed the A and B buttons were used for A - Start or make a selection or go forward (or down) in the User Interface Tree, and B was used go Back (Up) or cancel a selection.
A and B toke over the function of Select and Start Buttons
So as a "Standard" it seems to be a good Idea to make the Start Button and the A Button do the same thing in a menu or text box or text screen, situation.

The other little thing is, are you going to add a "Pause" into the game play section? I know technically speaking it does not need one as your game has no timer. You could even add info or a level hint that pops up when the pause is hit.
 

Dirk

Member
Really love your game and backed it!
One thing I saw: When there are 4 crates in one line the player will turn invisible, because you hit the sprite limit per scan line. I don't know if you plan a flicker routine or if there is one available already. Maybe you could change a crate into a background tile unless it gets pushed. Then it becomes a sprite until it stops moving again. Meanwhile the tile where the crate used to be gets changed to a background tile. Maybe too complicated.
 

marp

Member
RichardMartens said:
Just a bug report, and a couple quick suggestions.

Are you crazy, breaking the game with a crate like that?! ;)
Actually a big thank you, I really appreciate you reporting the bug. Keep 'em coming. =)

Your suggestions to are really good too, and I would say that it is the way it will work in the final game. I was a little lazy not implementing anything for the a/b-buttons on the result or map screens for the demo.

My partner making the game also wanted a pause screen, so maybe I have to budge on my believe it's not necessary. Perhaps the music should pause too, so you can answer the phone or what not without chip music in the background.

Again, we really appreciate posts like this, that will make our final game as polished as it should.
 

marp

Member
Dirk said:
Really love your game and backed it!
One thing I saw: When there are 4 grates in one line the player will turn invisible, because you hit the sprite limit per scan line. I don't know if you plan a flicker routine or if there is one available already. Maybe you could change a grate into a background tile unless it gets pushed. Then it becomes a sprite until it stops moving again. Meanwhile the tile where the grate used to be gets changed to a background tile. Maybe too complicated.

Thank you so much for the pledge! =)

Yes, we are working on a solution for that 8 sprite in a scanline problem. We haven't settled on a solution yet, but both flickering routine and tile solution have been on the table. The problem with both of them are that our crates are 1 sprite higher than a tile. So with the simpliest flicker routine the z-ordering get messed up, so have to do a better one. With the tile-solution we probably have to make the crate only 1 tile heigh (2 sprites instead of 3) and will lose some of the depth effect. Because replacing multiple tiles will need too many variations of tiles to fit in memory or keep track of. But we have some other solutions we are testing too, so we will solve it in some way for the final product.
 

Dirk

Member
Cool, that's good news. I'm looking forward to your solution.

Maaaan, I'm contemplating to buy an additional copy of the not limited version, but my budget!!!

Well, if I ever make a kickstarter campaign I'll surely add limited editions too XD
 

Woogz

Member
Just finished the demo, and it was pretty fun! I really like the pixel art and attention to detail when it comes to the sprites and animations. Can't wait to see the finished product on a cartridge. :)
 
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