MSXdev'06 #10: Monster Hunter

By PingPong

Paragon (1732)

23-12-2006, 17:45

A continue reset loop. What config we need to run the game?

By Thom

Champion (387)

23-12-2006, 17:50

Konami SCC in BlueMSX worked for me.

By ro

Prophet (2695)

23-12-2006, 18:02

Looks good so far! Played for 5 minutes

By Huey

Paragon (1436)

23-12-2006, 18:13

No work on OpenMSX

I thought MSXdev rules was to use a standard mapper?

By wolf_

Ambassador (5677)

23-12-2006, 18:20

works in NLMSX..

At first sight it looks quite good, music is ok. Tiles (gfx) could be more vast/varied and advanced here and there, but I think most ppl don't care about details like that!

By Huey

Paragon (1436)

23-12-2006, 18:49

Okay, switched to NLMSX now. Took me a while to find out that you can switch sound with '0' key.

@Wolf: I dont think there is a lot more room for variation in relation to the 256 posible patterns. At least the game has more variation than Shalom for example.

I do miss a bit of story before going on my quest and the spanglish is kinda anoying (not that my english is any good). But making this in less than a year..... Respect!

By Manuel

Enlighted (5675)

23-12-2006, 19:04

Works fine in openMSX!

Specify the KonamiSCC mapper to get SCC sound (switch with 0 indeed). A pity that it doesn't use SCC by default. Also a pity that the SCC sound is quite soft.

On the commandline:
openmsx -machine NLKMSX001EN_MonsterHunter.rom -romtype KonamiSCC
In Catapult:
Put the ROM in cartridge slot A. Then click the Cart A button and specify KonamiSCC in the mappertype menu. Then press Start.

OTOH: This looks FANTASTIC!

Great music as well!

In my openMSX 0.6.1+dev version openMSX autoselects a normal Konami mapper. WOrks fine, but no SCC then.

By dvik

Paragon (1517)

23-12-2006, 19:15

The game looks great

. I played a bit zelda on vba the other day and I must say you're gfx is as good

. Impressive game

By PingPong

Paragon (1732)

23-12-2006, 19:18

in bluemsx does not work. could anyone tell why?

By jltursan

Paragon (1150)

23-12-2006, 19:19

...and it's C!

By viejo_archivero

Hero (566)

23-12-2006, 19:29

Really nice game

, keep them coming!

By wolf_

Ambassador (5677)

23-12-2006, 19:36

hm .. I think I prefer PSG-only in this game.

huey: even with 256 tiles quite a bit o' variation can be done, but one has to anticipate on it while designing the game like that. But these are minor issues anyway..

By Abi

Champion (441)

23-12-2006, 19:48

super game!
But can not save without a cassette recorder

By Yukio

Paragon (1235)

23-12-2006, 19:53

Ok, tested in RuMSX ...

After a few moments :

"YOU ARE GOING TO SAVE
PRESS REC IN CASSETTE
AND PRESS FIRE ..."

By KNM

Resident (57)

23-12-2006, 20:39

Let me say...WOW!

By Manuel

Enlighted (5675)

23-12-2006, 21:26

Abi, you can use openMSX to save to tape.

When it asks for a cassette, try this:

F10 (go to the console)
type: cassetteplayer new
(a new cassette image is created, it says where it is; you might want to rename/move it later.)
and save the game.

To load: insert that cassette image again and load your game.

Note that it didn't seem to work correctly. When I saved my game at the start and loaded it later, I got in a totally wrong area of the game where I got stuck. (I hope it's not an openMSX problem, loading/saving works fine for basic programs and Metal Gear save games, so I guess it's OK.)

By KdL

Master (151)

23-12-2006, 22:13

Change screen is very fast on my LogiPatcher machines with R800 enabled!!!

Please visit: http://www.msx.org/LogiPATCHER-ROMs-1.0.newspost4017.html

By dvik

Paragon (1517)

23-12-2006, 22:43

the game works fine for me in bluemsx. Just use the Konami SCC rom mapper. Haven't tried to save the game though.

By LeandroCorreia

Paladin (684)

24-12-2006, 01:51

Works fine in MSX Advance. Just change the mapper to Konami type 5. Really impressive game, by the way!

By ARTRAG

Prophet (3033)

24-12-2006, 02:01

IMHO up to now the best game released in msx dev06 (and maybe also dev05). SCC sounds very nice, gpx is simple but of good level, the gameplay is good. Greetings!!

By nerlaska

Expert (104)

24-12-2006, 07:40

Thank you for your positive comments. Thank you.
Really to make this game has been a considerable effort for our part. In my case, is my first incursion in MSX world and i have attempted to make a "good" game for all the MSX community .. i know is not the game that i would want .. because a lot of work of this game is in my harddrive waiting for the 256Kb ROM version for that i would want to say that next year we would want to publish this new ROM of course out of Dev competition and any competition .. only the Full ROM without the limitation of 128Kb.
By other way, i'm sorry about english translation, really, my english is not very good like you can see

.. but .. i want that the most MSX users can play this game. For 256Kb ROM i hope that the translation will be perfect.
And finally. I have attempted to be MSX compatible 100% .. really .. i have tested this game in my MSX 8020 (my MSX computer from 1988), and a friend told me about game works fine in MSX-2 8280 and MSX Turbo R.
The game supports joystick in Port1 but i have no joystick original for MSX yet!!! i have buy one on Ebay but i'm pendent of receiving it. Then i suppose that joystick works but i have no tested .. for it .. and for compatibility .. i have published ROM in Dev this weekend, for try to find the most number of bugs and errors from MSX community.

Thank you another time for all MSX people! and Merry Christmas!

By ro

Prophet (2695)

24-12-2006, 09:42

for peeps who use BlueMSX:

Don't double click the ROM to start emulation, but run Blue instead. Then click the "insert cartridge" option to select the file and, more important, the cart type. Set to Konami SCC. That'll do it.

This game sure looks and sounds good. Gameplay seems okay, haven't really tested it. The music is "hard" but fair. SCC really takes it up a notch. Although I'm a BIG fan of PSG music, SCC sounds smoother. SFX, hmm yeah. Next time less obvious Hinotori ripping, eh! (and I do detect some MOG sfx too). Oh well, thaz prolly my own mistake, should not have released those. I'm sure yer using SEE

GFX, the gamefield is ok. The characters etc are brilliant. Good work!

Bring it on!

By nerlaska

Expert (104)

24-12-2006, 10:31

Thank you .. but .. what's is SEE? i don't know about it or i don't understand what's do you mean, sorry

By GhostwriterP

Champion (369)

24-12-2006, 10:48

Well... nice game. Only, one thing, next time I would like to see the cursor move once I press the key and not once I release it!

By Yukio

Paragon (1235)

24-12-2006, 10:51

Well, nice game ...

The works for MSX games could be amazing!

By wolf_

Ambassador (5677)

24-12-2006, 11:08

SEE: Sound Effects Editor, it's like a tracker for sound registers.

By Huey

Paragon (1436)

24-12-2006, 12:22

I've seen some more now of the game and the other area gfx are very good too. They instantly change the mood of the game.

I have some problems with saving but overal good game!

By Manuel

Enlighted (5675)

24-12-2006, 14:02

nerlaska: how did you test the saving and loading? THere seem to be some problems with it.

Please test this on a real MSX, or an emulator like openMSX that doesn't use CAS images for saving, which don't involve tape timing. (Thanks to BiFi for checking that out.)

By nerlaska

Expert (104)

24-12-2006, 15:56

Yes .. Save/Load have been tested in BlueMSX only!! .. sorry .. i have no cassete in my MSX-1 and i can imagine that problems will occurs!

..
I use BIOS Tape functions .. InputOn [ Read Byte ] InputOff .. and for save .. OutputOn [ Read Byte ] OutputOff
Really .. this game was thought for use SRAM inside a cartridge .. but .. for Dev .. Casette was the only way .. but i have assumed that with emulators no problem for saving.
Some tutorial or document for Load/Save in a real MSX? thanks.

By nerlaska

Expert (104)

24-12-2006, 16:19

Ghostwriter! you are right

.. your wish has been conceived

By Vampier

Paragon (1211)

24-12-2006, 19:04

I got one word for the game "WOW!!!" you guys did a great job here!

I'm working on getting the entries in the rom database so that you guys will have the easy of runnin the roms.

By LeandroCorreia

Paladin (684)

24-12-2006, 21:58

Any hopes of seeing an updated version with password saving?

By msd

Paladin (744)

25-12-2006, 00:33

Or disksaving?

By nerlaska

Expert (104)

25-12-2006, 05:37

Ohh .. i'm sorry

.. Password is inviable .. i store many bytes and password will be very very long .. and .. i have no enough space in 128Kb .. are full!!! totally full!
About Disk save .. i don't know how to do it .. really. Not without MSXDOS and without DISKROM. Maybe like GameMaster 2 works but .. i don't know how to do it. Is a pendent task.
Really this game was thought for 256Kb and SRAM use. Many work has been placed in my harddrive .. more characters, more story, boss animations, more music, etc. Maybe next year we can produce this entire ROM and i can find more info for saving in a Disk.

By dvik

Paragon (1517)

25-12-2006, 07:46

@nerlaska, What compiler (read you're writing most in c), gfx tools and other dev tools are you using? This game is really great and I'm looking forward to the 256kB version.

By Vampier

Paragon (1211)

25-12-2006, 09:16

add this info to your softwaredb.xml

	<software>
		<title xml:lang="en">Monster Hunter (English)</title>
		<system>MSX</system>
		<company>Nerlaska</company>
		<year>2006</year>
		<country>ES</country>
		<dump>
			<original value="false"/>
			<megarom>
				<type>KonamiSCC</type>
				<hash algo="sha1">aa6055ba0e433aa9c93df4444783cacb9628a7e2</hash>
				<remark>
					<text>MSXDEV06</text>
				</remark>
			</megarom>
		</dump>
	</software>
	<software>
		<title xml:lang="en">Monster Hunter (Espaniol)</title>
		<system>MSX</system>
		<company>Nerlaska</company>
		<year>2006</year>
		<country>ES</country>
		<dump>
			<original value="false"/>
			<megarom>
				<type>KonamiSCC</type>
				<hash algo="sha1">7b8015f919c8dd95db683f3f3d0799cf7ef1bc22</hash>
				<remark>
					<text>MSXDEV06</text>
				</remark>
			</megarom>
		</dump>
	</software>

just look at the file structure and it will become clear where to put it.

MAKE A BACK-UP OF OF THE SOFTWAREDB.XML FILE!!

i'll try to release the XML file in a seperate release from openMSX and bluemsx.

By ARTRAG

Prophet (3033)

25-12-2006, 09:31

@nerlaska, do you use compression for gpx and maps?

By wolf_

Ambassador (5677)

25-12-2006, 10:58

Not too sure about that, the rom compresses from 128kb to 77kb (WinRAR), so quite a bit o' repetitive content is in there (like maps).

By jltursan

Paragon (1150)

25-12-2006, 13:00

He's using SDCC with lots of add-ons by himself

By Manuel

Enlighted (5675)

25-12-2006, 15:36

Nerlaska: why can't you support disk saving with the diskROM? It's all standard disk BIOS routines. Should be OK, I think.

About saving to tape: use openMSX to see what happens on a real MSX. The timing is important: the tape is running at a constant velocity, so you have to take care of the timing when you do those BIOS calls.

I'm afraid that it's a bit hard to play this game without being able to save...

By wolf_

Ambassador (5677)

25-12-2006, 17:04

savestates :-)

By dvik

Paragon (1517)

25-12-2006, 21:00

@jltursan: What c compiler is best for MSX1 development. I've used SDCC for other targets and a tiny bit of hitech c for MSX.

By jltursan

Paragon (1150)

26-12-2006, 00:24

Right now I believe that SDCC is the most MSX oriented, it runs fairly well and his development is very active. IIRC in one of the last CALL MSX was a very interesting article by AVelino Herrera talking about it. Right now I'm waiting for more detailed info about the script language developed by Nerlaska as a help tool to assist him in MSX specific tasks.

By nerlaska

Expert (104)

26-12-2006, 06:16

About DISKROM .. mmm .. i'll take a look. But i'm not sure of be a easy task.

About compression. All is compressed (Graphics, music and maps) less the code.

About C compiler. I have used SDCC, i think is a very good compiler, free and constantly updated. The problem for this Z80 compiler is the not support for MegaROMS .. then you need to make .. the incredible for do it! but .. works very easy for 16 & 32 Kb ROMS.

By Manuel

Enlighted (5675)

26-12-2006, 11:49

nerlaska: you can use some info from the DOS2 manuals, they still contain the BDOS/DOS1 functions for backwards compatibility: http://map.tni.nl/resources/dos2_functioncalls.php
If you want to be DOS1 compatible, don't use the stuff marked NEW.

By Manuel

Enlighted (5675)

26-12-2006, 13:48

And check the info about FCB's here:

http://map.tni.nl/resources/dos2_environment.php

And for clarity: if you want your tape routines to work, just make sure the timing for reading is exactly the same as the timing for writing. Then you know the bytes are on the tape at the right moment when you read them back.

By doraemonppc

Expert (128)

26-12-2006, 15:59

I can only say WOW!
Great game Nerlaska!

Well, now some problems: Im playing it on a turbo r of course withoute cassete drive.
If I try to save to the cassete, it seems to have a bug with music, because it says that i dont cave casete, but the amazing music stops.
And the second problem.... The manual says that supports sram, no? How I can use it instead of casette? I conected my old Panasoft fmpak with sram to save the game progress but the game only offers the possibility to save the state to the ajsdhgfasdguatgrrrrrr casette that i dont have.

Thanks Nerlaska, dop and all the people that make that game a reality.

PD:Sorry for my bad english

By wolf_

Ambassador (5677)

26-12-2006, 16:05

No-one needs to worry about English, as long as we understand the meaning of it, no one bothers when things are not up to Shakespearian grades.

By Ivan

Scribe (1354)

26-12-2006, 16:19

No-one needs to worry about English, as long as we understand the meaning of it, no one bothers when things are not up to Shakespearian grades.

Just remember the English texts of Metal Gear 1 (RC750) and other Konami in game messages like 'Congraturations'

By nerlaska

Expert (104)

26-12-2006, 17:17

About SRAM .. well .. support SRAM inside a cartridge with SRAM .. but is a special cartridge like Konami SCC but with SRAM.

About Cassette...
Yes .. music stops bug .. it has been solved.
And .. OpenMSX bug? .. well .. i have seen that CBIOS maybe works wrong? with Tape Bios routines, could be? seems to enable C Carry Flag after BIOS call and in BlueMSX (MSX-1 Normal ROM) .. no Carry Flag occurs and save the info ok. Why BlueMSX BIOS works ok .. and CBIOS tell me error?

By hap

Paragon (1101)

26-12-2006, 18:23

Nice game!

Some unimportant nitpicking:
- Why is it disallowed to talk to a villager or read a sign more than once per screen?

- Could you recheck the borders? eg. from the start go north,west, then north from the leftmost position, and you're standing on a tree.
- The character is facing south after every screen transition. Facing the way you were walking to would be better.
- If you walk right past a sign, the character will read it. It would be nicer if it would only be read if you'd bump into the sign.
- It would be nice, if you're bumping against the edge of an object, the character would step a few pixels aside, and just continue walking. Check similar games to see what I mean (eg. Legend of Zelda on the NES, Golden Axe Warrior on the MasterSystem).

By wolf_

Ambassador (5677)

26-12-2006, 18:49

Check similar games to see what I mean (eg. Legend of Zelda on the NES, Golden Axe Warrior on the MasterSystem).

Closer to home: Dragon Slayer 6 !

By nerlaska

Expert (104)

26-12-2006, 19:14

joneman .. thank you. I will attempt to consider the most of your comments.

By Manuel

Enlighted (5675)

27-12-2006, 12:43

Nerlaska: using an external SRAM like the one in the PAC and FM-PAC could also be a nice option!

About openMSX: I only tested with regular BIOS ROMs, and it indeed doesn't work there, probably because of the different timing between saving and loading.

I have not tested with C-BIOS. But C-BIOS has not implemented the tape I/O routines yet, anyway.

By NYYRIKKI

Prophet (2220)

27-12-2006, 15:27

Yes .. Save/Load have been tested in BlueMSX only!! .. sorry .. i have no cassete in my MSX-1 and i can imagine that problems will occurs! ..
I use BIOS Tape functions .. InputOn [ Read Byte ] InputOff .. and for save .. OutputOn [ Read Byte ] OutputOff

Reading and writing to/from tape is very time accurate because there is no UART or any similar hardware to take care of timing. Timing is made with CPU. Also you need to know that tape does not start and stop spinning right away, but needs some time. This is why you need to use headers to get the timing right. (I think there is a BIOS routine to write long or short header)

Using disk drive is not that hard. I think that it is enough to populate H.STKE hook (#FEDA) in initialization routine to jump to your program start and then return from init. After that you should be able to use disk drive as usual.

By nerlaska

Expert (104)

27-12-2006, 16:53

Ok ... then .. could be i have solved Tape problem .. i need to test in a Real MSX .. but .. now .. timing load == timing save.
if CBIOS doesn't support tape .. i can imagine what's my problem in OpenMSX

About DISKROM .. yes .. i could initialized it but .. some kind of new problems appear i need to solve because strange things occur in the game

.. maybe DISKROM gets RAM? and i have less RAM for operating?

By jltursan

Paragon (1150)

27-12-2006, 19:40

Indeed, if you initialize the diskrom you've less RAM at your disposal. IIRC in DOS1 you have RAM till HIMEM, in DOS2, I'm not sure; but you'll have free RAM till HIMEM or maybe even HIMSAV.

By NYYRIKKI

Prophet (2220)

28-12-2006, 06:53

I would say, that if you want to use disk drive, try to stay under #D800
In DOS2 there is some more TPA memory available because some parts of OS is under mapper.

By Manuel

Enlighted (5675)

28-12-2006, 13:25

nerlaska: does it work in openMSX now with an original BIOS?

For those who need a workaround (thanks BiFi): after saving in openMSX, convert the created/saved WAV file to a CAS file (tools are on the web); then you can load your game, using that CAS file. In the conversion process all timing info gets lost, so then it suddenly works... Does not help for real MSX of course.

By NYYRIKKI

Prophet (2220)

28-12-2006, 14:09

About cassette usage, headers & stuff read "2. CASSETTE INTERFACE" from here.

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