RetroCup GP

DaMadFiddler · Post by **DaMadFiddler** » Sun Jul 30, 2006 12:56 pm

RetroRace (or RetroCup) GP.

SNES MarioKart style, with 1-4 players.

All in-game characters are 2D sprites.

The kart/character choices incorporate a range of "retro" styles, evoking everything from blocky Atari VCS-style designs to wireframes that imitate vector graphics to characters made of ASCII art to art that evokes the 16-bit era aesthetic. Perhaps a separate option for loading custom characters could be implemented as well. (Characters could be implemented script-style, like SmashGP).

The game engine could be handled in one of two ways: "Mode 7-style," with sprites and a bitmapped "ground," or through a 3D engine. If the 3D option is chosen, QuakeCart might make a convenient starting point...or TuxCart, or the StuntCar demo (assuming the source is available).

Gameplay is more or less a clone of the original MarioKart, but with a distinct retro theme and expanded multiplayer options. Possible modes (aside from the standard race) include:
- Battle Mode
- Obstacle Course
- Paint the Town Red (ground starts normal and turns the color of whoever drove over it last; person with the most "paint" at the end of a timed match wins; getting killed by another player respawns you in the middle and erases all your paint...sort of like Panel Mode in Bomberman)
- Winding Road (parallel race on narrow, twisty bridges)
- Brick Mode (play Arkanoid with your kart; try to score more points than your opponent)
- Bumper Cars
- Collection Challenge (like star battle in Mario 64 DS)

I'd be more than happy to work on sound, graphics, and course/character design for such a project, but my programming skills consist of being able to create simple text prompt applications in C++ and BASIC (read: I can't code).

Any takers?

Post by **Christuserloeser** » Mon Jul 31, 2006 3:04 pm

Sounds nice

Did you ever try out Fenix ? It's a DIV based engine with Mode7 support and it runs perfectly on Dreamcast.

Coding is supposed to be as easy as possible (no expierence/knowledge needed) and there already are a lot of games with Mode7 like graphics (e.g. Nazcatron).

I was working on a compilation with all available Dreamcast Fenix ports/games. Gotta get back to that soon.

Here's beta 2 (from a few months ago) using an outdated version of Fenix so some games do not work (but they do with a newer version):

http://www.dcevolution.net/dsdevelopmen ... DCEvo2.rar

I don't know if Chui already implemented 4 player support in Fenix, but there was a beta that had VMU support already.

Chui's site: http://chui.dcemu.co.uk/
Atari's tutorials: http://www.briandeuel.com/ (click on 'game consoles work' )

More info can be found when searching the DCEmu UK forums for "fenix".

Imerion · Post by **Imerion** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 9:24 am

Nice idea! Indeed, Fenix would work well for this type of game. I made an F-Zero like game in it a little while ago which played fine on DC. (http://www.freewebtown.com/Imerion/silv ... creen1.png) Its frozen currently, since Im working on two other projects.
Four player support is a problem though, I doubt the DC Fenix interpreter has it for the moment. But that can change.

SeGaFrEaK NL · Post by **SeGaFrEaK NL** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 1:59 pm

It would be great if it was grid based. That way you could have a Chuchu rocket! style overhead view EDIT mode. It would be a great way to make the scene explode with user made tracks and battle courses. (Think; the Micro machines '96 edit mode )

DaMadFiddler · Post by **DaMadFiddler** » Fri Aug 04, 2006 2:23 pm

Yeah, I'm all about user-moddable games. Even in the proposal I brought up scriptable characters, like SmashGP. User-moddable courses would be great too, though probably a bit more complicated to implement. My problem is that I personally can't code anything more advanced than a text menu.

Imerion · Post by **Imerion** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 11:54 am

Modding is a good idea as well.
I suppose I could do a kartracer like this, if someone else did the graphics. Not certain about map-editor, but it might work. However, it would probably turn out much better if someone else did it. Problem for me is I doubt I have time for a new project at the moment. I need to work on projects which can bring in some money. But if anyone want to try to do something like this in Fenix, I could certainly help out a bit. Like , tech-support.

Post by **Christuserloeser** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 12:48 pm

Christuserloeser wrote:Chui's site: http://chui.dcemu.co.uk/

Hm, he doesn't have anything Fenix for download atm, but different versions can be found here, look for the latest release which also should feature the latest stable version: http://dreamcast.dcemu.co.uk/fenix.php

DaMadFiddler · Post by **DaMadFiddler** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 3:04 pm

Imerion wrote:Modding is a good idea as well.
I suppose I could do a kartracer like this, if someone else did the graphics. Not certain about map-editor, but it might work. However, it would probably turn out much better if someone else did it. Problem for me is I doubt I have time for a new project at the moment. I need to work on projects which can bring in some money. But if anyone want to try to do something like this in Fenix, I could certainly help out a bit. Like , tech-support.

Blast you and your teases!

I'd be more than happy to supply art, music and sounds, if someone else would actually step up and write the game engine. I might even be able to do level design, provided it were implemented in such a way that they weren't too hard to create.

Imerion · Post by **Imerion** » Sat Aug 05, 2006 4:38 pm

Well, I like the idea. Ill look into it. It would be fun to make a game when someone else is creating the graphics. Because Im not very good at that myself.

I will do some tests checking whetever it will work in Fenix and how hard it will be. If the results are good I can probably do the programming.
There are a few things which I especially need to check, for example, if Fenix can use many Mode 7-fields at once. (Otherwise splitscreen might be impossible) Or if there is a workaround. For the moment 4 players is impossible as well, because I don't think its implemented at all. But if these things are solved the rest should be possible to do as well. But as I said, ill look into it. Ill post again when I have some results.

Imerion · Post by **Imerion** » Fri Sep 01, 2006 10:05 am

Sorry for not returning to you later. It seems this would not be possible to do in Fenix. The current version can only handle one M7-field at the same time, so any multiplayerfunctions would be impossible to implement. Better look for someone who knows C. Or it could be a 2d-game instead, something like Micro Machines. But that wouldn't be the same thing...

Post by **Christuserloeser** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 11:22 am

Wouldn't it be possible to easily implement support for four M7-fields at once in Fenix, I mean for the guys working on the engine. Maybe they'll take requests ?

Edit: I am sure Chui will be happy to port a newer Fenix built to Dreamcast. Interest in FenixDC has been very low that's why he abandoned it in 2005. Only four games were ever specially made for the Dreamcast port, all other games are ports from GP32.

Imerion · Post by **Imerion** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 5:11 pm

Wouldn't it be possible to easily implement support for four M7-fields at once in Fenix, I mean for the guys working on the engine. Maybe they'll take requests ?

Perhaps. The developers of Fenix are currently working on an all new version, but I guess it will still take some time before its done. But when it is done, that feature will probably be there. On PC, there are a few additional libraries for Fenix, one which uses Irrlich for 3d for example. Porting that library for the DC version of Fenix would be fantastic, but I doubt it would be easy or perhaps not even possible. So I guess its better to wait for the new version.

Edit: I am sure Chui will be happy to port a newer Fenix built to Dreamcast. Interest in FenixDC has been very low that's why he abandoned it in 2005. Only four games were ever specially made for the Dreamcast port, all other games are ports from GP32.

True, its sad so few used it. For my previous three games (of which only two is yet released, the third was submitted to the last Dream On Contest) I made them with the DC in mind and ported them to GP2X afterwards. Im currently working on two new Fenix-games for DC. But there aren't many others who use it. Hopefully it will change if a new version is released.

Darksaviour69 · Post by **Darksaviour69** » Fri Sep 08, 2006 5:14 pm

a good fenix source
http://atari.vg-network.com/dcfenix.html