DizzyAGE

xelanoimis · Sat 11/03/2006 10:17:53

DizzyAGE is a set of tools used to create Dizzy games in the classic adventure style.
Please visit the official website: http://www.simion.co.uk/dizzyage

Features:

* Allows users to concentrate on the quality of the story and puzzles.
* Stabil and easy to use game enviroment.
* Fluent player movement, very similar to the original games.
* Easy to use map editor.
* Custom graphic tiles in Z80 or PC style, with 32bit support.
* Simple script for event responses and objects behaviour.
* Classic inventory and dialogs.
* Sound and music support, including Z80 tunes.
* Save and Load game options.
* Data packing with zip compressing.
* Game setup for install and configure.
* Documentation, tutorials and technical support.
* Additional tiles and sounds packages, available for download.
* Publish your games on the official DizzyAGE web site.
* A growing DizzyAGE community that will create great Dizzy games.

You will also find two small Dizzy games:

Enjoy them!

Chrille · Sat 11/03/2006 10:57:12

This is nice! I had several Dizzy-games on my old Atari ST.

ManicMatt · Sat 11/03/2006 15:44:34

I hated Dizzy and his set jumping distance.

I enjoyed Dizzy rapids(?)

Kinoko · Mon 13/03/2006 02:03:40

I loved Dizzy games... they infuriated me and I only ever finished one in my whole life (not through lack of trying either. Those things were either really hard, or I just sucked at them) but I loved them. Treasure Island Dizzy, if I'm remembering right, was the best, but I never finished it.

xenogia · Mon 13/03/2006 05:18:43

I remember playing them on my good old ZX Spectrum 32

Gilbert · Mon 13/03/2006 05:57:53

Fun, I never played those old codemaster games.
Being able to use vibration joypads is a fun feature for these little games!

m0ds · Mon 13/03/2006 18:24:08

Awesome to0l! I used to love playing Treasure Island and the other Dizzy games at my friends house when I was ickle. Man, they were some of the first computer games I ever played. I downloaded DizzyAGE cos I'd love to have a go. I also downloaded Mushrooms Pie but it won't run.

QuoteIRENDER: failed to create Direct3D8.
GatherCfg: adapter out of range.
APP: video loaded auto-config failed. Using forced auto-config.
GatherDef: no adapters found
APP: video auto-config failed. Using manual-config.
RENDER: failed to create Direct3D8.
RENDER: failed to create render.
APP: Render failed.
Free NULL pointer [cDizApp::Done; 100; D:\Work\Src\Game\DizApp.cpp]
cDizApp::Done < WinMain

I'm using Win 2k with an NVidia 64mb gfx card. As far as I'm aware I've got direct-draw installed, but it might be dx version 6, not 8.

ManicMatt · Mon 13/03/2006 20:47:36

Dizzy treasure Island? Me and my brother couldn't get off the very start of the game. (Until about a year later, and then we/I got stuck again/died. Memory foggy.)

That's what caused me to not play any other normal dizzy games.

Radiant · Mon 13/03/2006 23:25:36

Treasure Island is probably one of the less interesting Dizzy games. The must-plays in the series are Magic Land, Fantasy World, and Prince of the Yolk Folk. Fantastic Dizzy is also nice but it's way bigger than any of them so you'll probably need an infinite lives cheat.

Dizzy I, Crystal Kingdom and Spellbound are the other games. The arcade games (Panic, Down the Rapids, Bubble, Fast Food and Kwik Snax) don't count

Also, you should really hunt down the PC versions, since the NES and C64 ports just aren't that good (except for a certain arcade game where little chickens follow you, which had great music).

Go Code Masters!

xelanoimis · Thu 16/03/2006 21:02:16

Hello again,

DizzyAGE games (and tools) require DirectX 8.1 or above because they use 3D acceleration for fast and nice 2D graphics. GeForce2 MX or above is recommended. Older video cards have not been tested.

In your case (m0ds), the reported error (IRENDER: failed to create Direct3D8) states that direct 3d 8 could not even be initialized, so as you said you probably don't have it on your system, or your drivers may have a problem.

Try to download DirectX 8.1 or 9.0 runtime from Microsoft
(http://www.microsoft.com/windows/directx/default.aspx)
or install it from any recent game that includes it on the cd.

Radiant · Thu 16/03/2006 21:25:43

Why on earth would you require such high specifications for a retro game?

m0ds · Thu 16/03/2006 21:30:02

Damn, so without Direct X 8 I won't be able to use it. That's a shame, because DX8 causes me all kinds of errors so I've banned it from even going near this PC.

Still, when I get a new PC I'll definitely come back to this and check it out

xelanoimis · Fri 17/03/2006 20:41:58

Of course the game could be programmed for a lower configuration, in fact the original games were running on Z80 machines

But since my own engine uses DirectX8, and is capable of 3D graphics and all kind of alpha blending multitexture shaders, I didn't see the reason to force myself on a lower target.

By the way, DizzyAGE engine also works with truecolor graphics, and all that's needed for a PC version, including transparences, light effects and stuff.
It can also be used for non-Dizzy games (with similar player movements).

Best regards

Radiant · Fri 17/03/2006 21:34:08

A decent reason would be that many retro gamers use low-end systems and/or emulation platforms. If you want your game to be more accessible, you should consider supporting those. For instance, Cave Story (probably the most successful retro game of 2005) runs easily on a 300 MHz machine.

m0ds · Fri 17/03/2006 21:37:13

I agree with Radiant, your supplying an engine in a format that doesn't relate to the game or compatibility of the old games. But I suppose for those with high-spec pc's it would be a bit of fun.

xelanoimis · Sat 18/03/2006 08:46:33

I also agree with you guys, the lower the system, the more people enjoying the games.
I myself have tested DizzyAGE on a Pentium2 350Mhz with GeForce2MX and it worked just fine.

It just need DirectX8.1 installed. DirectX8.1 should work with even older graphic cards. I would not dare to state that DizzyAGE will work on the first Voodoo graphic accelerators, but Geforce 1 or RivaTNT should have a chance - and that would be almost 10 years ago.

Anyway, if someone is interested to port DizzyAGE on an older hardware (or other system, like DOS maybe), I will provide the necessary source code and information

Have fun!

macon · Sat 15/09/2007 00:23:23

Hi.

Apologies for bringing up an old thread but I have created a Dizzy game using this tool and if I had started a new thread there might me many people who didn't know what I was refering to.

The DizzyAge website hosted a competition to make a game with the software. I entered because I was intrigued to see how it stood up compared to AGS. But I am not going to give you a comparison because it's not fair. Why, because of the length of time that AGS has been developed into what we know it as. DizzyAge is still relatively new and therefore and is still lacking in features that we take for granted. But it is being worked on, a beta version of the next release is currently avaialable.

I have been scripting with AGS since the DOS only days and this is on a par with the current DizzyAGE. I hope Alex has the time, motivation and fan base to make DizzyAGE become the AGS of the Dizzy community.

Anyhow, here's my game to look at if your are a Dizzy fan. I decided to go for the 16 bit look of the Atari St and Commodore Amiga versions of the series. It's called 'Excalibur Dizzy'.

Download here or get more info, screenshots etc

Thank you for your time.

Andy Mason

Stupot · Sat 15/09/2007 02:06:44

I'm glad you did bring up this old thead Macon. Otherwise I'dve never known about this.
I used to love the old Dizzy games. When I've got a 'puter that works properly I'll be giving this a go.

m0ds · Sat 15/09/2007 02:42:15

I remember giving that program a shot! It was pretty fun

Oh Dizzy!!!

Akatosh · Sat 15/09/2007 12:10:01

So that's the video game character I seem to remember from playing at the Amiga when I was four? Woo, early childhood memories!