Tim
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File: Simplicity KDD.zip (438.4 KB)
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This is version 0.2 of Simplicity DS. (I think it deserves its own thread.)

It is a remake of the original DROD: King Dugan's Dungeon, with new graphics and code.

Later versions will include other level sets.

Screenshots


*** Download ***

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[Last edited by Tim at 07-20-2008 01:01 PM]

Tim
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File: screens.png (59.1 KB)
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Jeff_Ray...
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Hey, I like what you did, but I think that you should make the controls a bit less sensitive... it makes rooms like Level 1: 6N2W a pain in the butt.

Also, you should add a notice when the levels are clear.

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coppro
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Were the datafiles actually loaded off of the AE ones (or the available 2.0 version of KDD) or did you actually remake all the holds?

Tim
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Jeff_Ray... wrote:
Hey, I like what you did, but I think that you should make the controls a bit less sensitive... it makes rooms like Level 1: 6N2W a pain in the butt.

Also, you should add a notice when the levels are clear.

I agree. I have plans to add these things in the future.

coppro wrote:
Were the datafiles actually loaded off of the AE ones (or the available 2.0 version of KDD) or did you actually remake all the holds?

A modified version of the AE KDD hold file is stored in the game file. I wrote a very simple AE hold file reader and converted all the data to my internal format.

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Sillyman
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I have a suggestion for another control scheme: ULRD are as usual, but instead of A+direction for diagonals, use ABYX, rotated diagonally from where they are on a normal control pad. Then use select to undo and start to access a button-based menu. Restart, etc can be on the touchscreen and in the pause menu.

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Monkey
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Plus, I don't have to do level 9 yay!
*mumbles about 1N and it's stupid orb puzzle*

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[Last edited by Monkey at 07-29-2008 08:11 PM]

reyll3
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I really like this program! i would say, put a level editor,some music,and controls editor, and it would be perfect!

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Stoney
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Holy cow, there is finally a DS port for this great game? Gonna try ASAP

skell
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I don't want to be a butthole here, but, even before I started playing, I know I HATE the controls. *hides in a corner to play it*

Yup, just as I thought. My brain is unfortunately too straightforward to grasp the "A" control. Though, the game looks neat.

If you are still developing it, or care enough to make a small controls change (considering my little DS-programming knowledge) which oughtn't be too hard.
Being limited to notebook without Numpad I wanted to play some 7DRLs, of which most need nothing but 8 directions, (or more, like ChessRL). So I plugged my pad, opened GlovePIE and wrote a short script to play ChessRL using joypad only.
And it works magically! I can't really understand why no one comes with this idea, when playing DROD on pad shows in discussion.

And here are its mechanics:
First you hold the direction you want to move on D-Pad, and then you hold A to move in that direction. You want to stop? Just release A. Want to change direction? Just move your thumb a little . In other words, D-Pad is your steering wheel, and A is your acceleration pedal.

If by any chance you find this way of movement to your liking, should you implement it, at least I'd find it darn great .

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[Last edited by skell at 01-29-2012 08:20 PM : Going to the keep]

Samuel
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Lemme guess, you insert that blank cartridgey thingy into the computer somehow and slap this game onto it?

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slimm tom
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No, it's not that simple.

You'll need an R4 DS card or some other brand DS homebrew card. In the card is a mini-SD slot (usually). You copy the game over to that and voila.

You can get one for around 40-50 bucks, with or without SD card. At least that's what I got it for.

EDIT: A NDS emulator will also do if you don't mind playing on your PC.

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[Last edited by slimm tom at 04-28-2009 11:16 PM]

Samuel
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Ok then, thanks slimm tom.

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Tim
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skell wrote:
Yup, just as I thought. My brain is unfortunately too straightforward to grasp the "A" control. Though, the game looks neat.

First, let me thank you for playing. Now, I understand the current scheme is hard to grasp, but it's more or less a clutch. Have you tried to control Beethro with the touchpad? I think the touchpad control would be easier for you to use.

And here are its mechanics:
First you hold the direction you want to move on D-Pad, and then you hold A to move in that direction. You want to stop? Just release A. Want to change direction? Just move your thumb a little . In other words, D-Pad is your steering wheel, and A is your acceleration pedal.

If by any chance you find this way of movement to your liking, should you implement it, at least I'd find it darn great .

I am having a bit of a problem to visualise this using your description. Care to explain it a bit more?

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Sillyman
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I understood it perfectly... basically, to get rid of the problem with not being able to push left and down at exactly the same time, the game only steps when you push A, rather than the moment you push a direction.

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Briareos
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Sillyman wrote:
I understood it perfectly... basically, to get rid of the problem with not being able to push left and down at exactly the same time, the game only steps when you push A, rather than the moment you push a direction.

I'd go a bit further and highlight the square Beethro would step to, then step when A is pressed. Pressing A with the D-pad centered would execute a wait.

Heh - how about an iPod port? Use the clickwheel to select a direction and click to step, click the wheel on the left or right to turn, click up to wait and down to undo, or something...

np: Dakota Suite - Things We Lost Along The Way (The End Of Trying)

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skell
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Tim wrote:
I am having a bit of a problem to visualise this using your description. Care to explain it a bit more?

*hits his head hard* As usual my chaotic way of writing (and thinking) prevents me from forming my thoughts completely and understandably.
What Sillyman wrote is what I thought, but in a form understandable for average or extraordinary non-Skell beings.
Anyway, being the forgetful jerk I usually am I obviously forgot to put some more constructive criticism in my last post.

I just played it for extended period of time (which makes it quadrant, as I still haven't had my morning coffee - literally and firefoxly - yet) and can have a better view at it.
Aside from the movement which I already stated I also run into another problem - too quick reactions of shoulder keys (and others too, but only shoulders make a problem). When getting through these 4 alcoves of roaches in first Level, most notably last three, I got eaten several times because rotation repeated itself before I managed to let go of the shoulder key (and to think I once was able to go through MagnaTrick's songs in Stepmania at A and AA). Perhaps making it similar to O/Ses would be better. Ie:
KeyHit->Wait->RepeatingKeyHitting
So once you push the button there is a ~0.5 second long period of time before it starts repeating?

And that basically is all the bad sides I could've spotted. You did insanely good job copying the Whole AE engine into DS. I looked into the latter levels and honestly, taking into consideration the puny 67 mHz (or even 100 when joined with the other Arm which I am not sure is used in slot-1 stuff) that is awesome! As far as I remember, DS has Sprite limit so I am willing to bet ten bucks (at least I would if I had them) that you had to do all the stuff with backgrounds-tiles which in turns should be slower to update graphically. Although I noticed that the room with lots of arrows in first level was slowing down when compared to others, so either my bg-tiles theory is in pieces, or DS engine works a little different than I thought.

Now, if you tell me that you actually have a script to convert AE holds with no need to do any manual labor, I shall declare you my Guru of the Month .

EDIT: Time for some shameless self-advertisement, if you have a joypad you can try that control scheme by using the script I wrote and out in this topic.

Ah, and I believe I forgot to mention my experiences from using the stylus for controls. It isn't as bad as I would expect it to be, but on the other side I can't act fast enough to not get frustrated, though after a while I would probably get used to it.

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[Last edited by skell at 05-01-2009 09:28 AM]

Tim
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skell wrote:
Aside from the movement which I already stated I also run into another problem - too quick reactions of shoulder keys (and others too, but only shoulders make a problem). [...] Perhaps making it similar to O/Ses would be better. Ie:
KeyHit->Wait->RepeatingKeyHitting
So once you push the button there is a ~0.5 second long period of time before it starts repeating?

I've noticed that problem as well, naturally. The fact is that the current version doesn't have any delays. It's just that walking is much slower than turning because there are more things that needed to be checked. (It also tells you that the engine is actually quite slow, but it's hardly noticable )

Now, if you tell me that you actually have a script to convert AE holds with no need to do any manual labor, I shall declare you my Guru of the Month .

The current engine can actually convert holds since the hold file is stored inside the game file. The only reason I didn't do it in this version was that file handling is a bit underdeveloped on the DS. There's no such thing as the current directory, so either I have to ask people to put files in the root directory, or I end up with explaining people how to set up everying in a seperate directory. There's also the problem of where to put the save files if I don't want to end up with another set of files in a directory. And I would need to add extra screens to select which hold file to load. That's something I still need to think about...

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AtkinsSJ
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Tim wrote:
The current engine can actually convert holds since the hold file is stored inside the game file. The only reason I didn't do it in this version was that file handling is a bit underdeveloped on the DS. There's no such thing as the current directory, so either I have to ask people to put files in the root directory, or I end up with explaining people how to set up everying in a seperate directory. There's also the problem of where to put the save files if I don't want to end up with another set of files in a directory. And I would need to add extra screens to select which hold file to load. That's something I still need to think about...

A lot of DS homebrew things have specific places where certain files must go. I think as long as you document it, most people who have a homebrew card are going to be fine.

I'd have though root/simplicity/holds and root/simplicity/saves would be fine, and not conflict with anything.

Samuel
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I've played through a bit of it and i like it!
I used the Emmulator: iDeaS.
The thing is it is considerably slow. Is this the emulator or is the game actually slow?

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I believe in everything until it's
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aren't as real as the here and now?
John Lennon

skell
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Samuel wrote:
I've played through a bit of it and i like it!
I used the Emmulator: iDeaS.
The thing is it is considerably slow. Is this the emulator or is the game actually slow?

Most probably emulator. Maybe the game is not as quick as PC version, but usually it is fast enough to not be really noticeable, at least I haven't noticed it much.

I suggest you to try no$gba, it should be faster.

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Vike91
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How do i port this to my Nintendo DSi?

Or is it even possible?

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[Last edited by Vike91 at 05-14-2009 07:21 AM]

NiroZ
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Vike91 wrote:
How do i port this to my Nintendo DSi?

Or is it even possible?

Do you have a homebrew ds chip yes, as a DS is just a DSI with less functionality.

Vike91
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Is this possible with SD card?

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NiroZ
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If you can fit your sd card into your DSI, yes. But I doubt you could without specialised equipment.

Vike91
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NiroZ wrote:
If you can fit your sd card into your DSI, yes. But I doubt you could without specialised equipment.

If NiroZ dodn't know, the new DSi has a SD reader.

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skell
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Vike91 wrote:
If NiroZ dodn't know, the new DSi has a SD reader.

As far as I recall, it is MicroSD. And besides, the data cards are only to store things like photos or recorded voices, perhaps similar stuff. In order to run .nds files you need a special Cartridge (I *THINK*, not I AM SURE). Wiki article about homebrews.

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[Last edited by skell at 05-14-2009 04:18 PM]

Gutter
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Acekard 2 work both on DS and DSi. I use one on my DS, I never tested it on the DSi, but reports from other dev say that they work (unlike the R4 and most other flash cart)

Yes, they can be used to play commercial game, but we are all honest people around here, right?

skell
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Gutter wrote:
Acekard 2 work both on DS and DSi. I use one on my DS, I never tested it on the DSi, but reports from other dev say that they work (unlike the R4 and most other flash cart)

I am not sure if you are responding to what I said, but if yes, then I guess I meant that you can't use the DSi's built-in MicroSD slot to open homebrew, but I am just guessing here.

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Gutter
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Yes, you can use the SD-slot, but the scope of the work necessary to use them is probably outside the skill level/interest of the users of this forum, who just wanna try DROD. (Last I checked, it required a save game exploit)

The problem on the DSi though is that it has a programmable firmware, which the DS doesn't have, meaning that flash cards could be rendered useless at anytime, and flash card manufacturer are notoriously bad at support (being illegal Chinese shops amd whatsnot). That's why I don't buy a DSi... Having to track down another DS to test my little sucky code isn't worth it.

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[Last edited by Gutter at 06-30-2009 11:43 PM]