'Twas the Winner of SPRITE JAM! 12/7-12/15

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Tue 08/12/2009 01:25:10

'Tis the season to be jolly, and what better way is there to spread Christmas cheer than by

MAKING SPRITES FOR YOUR VERY OWN CHRISTMAS TILE-BASED ACTION-PLATFORM ADVENTURE!?

That's right, kids! This week you'll be tasked with the duty of drawing at least one of each of the following:

a player character, an enemy, a power up, and a background or foreground object made up of tiles.

Additional rules:

1. While the setting must have a distinct Christmasy flavor, the genre of your game can be Sci-Fi (aliens vs. elves for example), western (Christmas Cowboys!), post-apocalyptic (santa vs. the zombies!), cyberpunk (robo-claus!) or steampunk!

2. Sprite sizes can vary, but none should be beyond 512x512 for hi-res or 128x128 for low-res.

3. All the colors of your imagination are allowed! NEAT!

4. Tile sizes for the object can be multiples of 32x32 up to a maximum size of 128x128.

5. Have fun.

BONUS!

Make as many enemies, powerups and objects and players as you like!

Design all your art for an isometric game!

Give us a background about the game, describing the story and what the player(s) goal is.

EXTRA BONUS!

Provide a mock-up game screen with the player, any enemies and powerups and tiled objects!

If enough people need more time I'll extend the competition deadline to accommodate.

Good luck and may the most interesting Christmas things win!

Wonkyth · Tue 08/12/2009 05:44:26

Damn a good one!
I hope I have time. $:-\$

cat · Tue 08/12/2009 09:09:55

I'm not sure, what a "TILE-BASED ACTION-PLATFORM ADVENTURE" is. Could you please provide a reference game or screenshot?

Wonkyth · Tue 08/12/2009 09:18:05

Erm, SuperTux?

cat · Tue 08/12/2009 10:53:45

ah, alright

Victor6 · Tue 08/12/2009 15:15:49

Since the bonus rules list ISO, I'd say something like head-over-heels \ knightlore would be a better example.

Suddenly I feel really old....

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Tue 08/12/2009 17:10:50

ISO is just an option, and don't fixate too much on 'action-platform adventure', either.

If you're really confused then have a look at something I made last year called Bluecup Dreams (note that I didn't use tiles for the backgrounds):

Scarab · Sat 12/12/2009 18:04:28

Aww man, I've got my game concept ans sprites ready, but this tiled foreground object is killing me. $:-\$ (There's no way I would have been able to do a whole background

)

I will try to get it done by the deadline.

Oh, and ProgZ, did you ever release Bluecup Dreams? It looks good and I couldn't seem to find it in the games database...

Wyz · Mon 14/12/2009 22:27:24

I've had some time today to make a entry, but not enough to make it high(er) res, so I decided to stick to NES sprites. These actually use the NES palette and some of its limitation (4 colors a tile). Now for the story...

X-nas
Santa realised it was that time of the year again and got off the couch to see how his elves were doing, only to find chaos. Not only was the whole factory obliterated, also the presents were spread across the North Pole. And even more, not a trace of his loyal helpers to be found...
In this game you play Santa and you have to collect the lost presents, try to find the elves and meanwhile figure out what on earth has happened, besides... what about those snowmen that seem to have appeared everywhere mysteriously?

The actual story:
Robotic aliens from a distant planet have landed on the North Pole to harvest resources: Large machines with tentacles that reach deep under the ice suck up water. Robots built a big base and attacked Santa's factory. They took the elves to their base. Santa armed with a shovel (which he uses to scope up ice to form snowballs) picks up presents till he reaches the base. Fighting off the robots he needs to disarm the base form the inside, find the elves and eliminate the boss. Sugarcanes gives him new energy, Christmas balls gives points. In the end he can use his centuries old magic to call on the snowmen. They together form a huge snowman that destroys the base. Well, that will do

Tileset used:

Victor6 · Tue 15/12/2009 00:25:25

Quote from: Scarab on Sat 12/12/2009 18:04:28
Aww man, I've got my game concept ans sprites ready, but this tiled foreground object is killing me.

Ditto. I lost interest at that point. I did get as far a pitting the true meaning of Christmas against the evil elf forces of Santa Von Claus though;

Crimson Wizard · Tue 15/12/2009 00:59:58

Victor6, that's fantastic! Reminds me of Metal Slug

cat · Tue 15/12/2009 08:07:30

Wow, cool graphics both of you! I started to work on something, but I won't make it in time.

Scarab · Tue 15/12/2009 13:09:32

The year is 1984.

Ollie the Elf is the star of an immensely platform game of the same name on the Atari 2600.

The premise is that one Christmas, the reindeer ate some cookies on the counter that were meant for mummy and daddy, sending them into a vicious rampage, and crashing Santa's sleigh.
Ollie must travel through the north pole and through the cities, collecting all the presents that were thrown about upon the crash, and dodging all the reindeer who are now frothing at the mouth, in order to rescue Santa and save Christmas.

1984 Ollie with enemy (Reindeer) and Power-up (Presents can raise health, make you jump higher or run faster).

Screenshot of Ollie the Elf for the Atari 2600

Twenty five years later, in 2009, Ollie has now teamed up with the beast that once tried to kill him, however, Vladimir, the evil Christmas Goblin, has used a time machine to travel back to 1984 in order to kidnap the young Ollie from the Atari 2600. Ollie and Rudolf must now travel back in time to rescue the more primitive representation of themselves... and perhaps just save Christmas one more time...

Modern day Ollie and Rudolph, With Vladimir and an 'item' box, and the Tile-Based Time Machine.

I took a fairly liberal interpretation for the "Action Platform Adventure" by breaking up the game into separately 'Action-Platform' and 'Adventure' components.

I originally started with the palette for the Atari 2600 but I think some of them might have gone astray in the process.

Peace
Scarab.

p.s. Awesome entries Wyz and Victor!

Khris · Tue 15/12/2009 17:19:37

Damn, I've only seen this today. Not sure if I needed an extension; as of the time of this post there's about 12 hours left, right?
The topic (which I did C64 style last year or two years ago) doesn't suit me that much either so I chose the SNES style and went for 16x16 RPG tiles. If that doesn't disqualify me, watch this space.

Alright, here we go:

x3, 14 + t
Santa-San, Hellcat, Chest, Tree

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens · Tue 15/12/2009 23:07:55

Hooray! Some great entries this year, but the person who went above and beyond in making their entry is

Wyz and his entry X-nas!

Wyz has therefore won and is entitled to the present of being able to host the next sprite jam. Yay!

Scarab · Wed 16/12/2009 00:54:14

Congratulations Wyz!

Wyz · Wed 16/12/2009 01:01:17

Yay! Thanks! all great entries!

The next challenge, coming up with a theme for the next sprite jam.

Victor6 · Thu 17/12/2009 11:42:18

Congrats Wyz, well deserved.

Quote from: Crimson Wizard on Tue 15/12/2009 00:59:58
Victor6, that's fantastic! Reminds me of Metal Slug

I couldn't ask for a more awesome comparison 8). Cheers CW.

Wonkyth · Thu 17/12/2009 12:57:17

Congrats Wyz!

Victor6: Damn, if I had time I'd say we made a fangame.