Cromozome

[PokeParadox]

Hi there, please feel free to discuss my entry here! I like feedback so please give some!

CromoZome is a genetic survival game where you eat other CromoZomes. The full details and some recent screenshots can be found on the games' wiki page

and it can be downloaded from the Competition site here: CromoZome

 

[mrsnature]

Hi there, please feel free to discuss my entry here! I like feedback so please give some!

CromoZome is a genetic survival game where you eat other CromoZomes. The full details and some recent screenshots can be found on the games' wiki page

and it can be downloaded from the Competition site here: CromoZome




I can't run it, it exits straight back to the menu when I try :unsure:

maybe it should be in the root of the sd or something?

 

[PokeParadox]

Hmm... so we're off to a good start here! OK first things first which firmware do you have?

It should work if you just extract all files and keep the directory structure.

 

[Uprising]

I had the same problem, if you are using Gmenu2X dont add the cromozone.gpe but just the cromozone file to link to the menu just like it says in the readme .

That might be whats wrong.

Will give you some feedback a bit later PokeParadox, so many entries. Need to give them some proper time

Looking good so far though, I like the lively music!

 

[mrsnature]

Lol, teach me for not reading the readme!

I'll go test now

EDIT: yes works now, sorry for worrying you

 

[Miika]

Heh, music done in AXE :lol:

 

[PokeParadox]

Phew! Glad it worked out! Yes I'm amazed by how many entries there are especially for the GP2X itself! I suspected there would be many projects entered due to the cross platform nature of the compo, but wow!

And indeed Miika, the main music was made in AXE... not specifically for the game... but I couldn't find any better music for in-game to use :S So it kinda stuck.
Hope you enjoy my live recording

EDIT: Just a note... CromoZome is by no means "finished" it's only done in the amount of time I was willing to spend on preparing it for the compo (I have a lot on atm as I'm sure a lot of us have). With that said I want to hear opinions on what's good and what's crud, so I can continue to improve it!

One thing I'm concious of is the graphics... I did most of them myself and I don't consider myself to be an artist, in the sense that, I get bored doing artwork, If anyone would like to submit revamped sprites, etc. then I will use them in game (CromoZome skin packs?)

 

[pkostrze]

I just played the latest version and am very impressed. The last version dumped me back to Gmenu everytime I reached a score of 345 points but the latest version has fixed that for me. I'm looking forward to seeing how the game evolves, if it's this cool now I can't imagine what it could become!

I'm also interested in the skin pack idea... I'd love to do some graphics for this.

 

[Uprising]

Tried it out properly this time.

It is really good, seems original to me and its addictive too!

I am however a bit confused about how you lose the game, I once got a mutation where I got lots of points but suddenly died afterwards. Does hitting the other larger cromozones destroy yours?

Also when you hit a smaller cromzone you can snatch nodes of them? I think I need a bit more info on the rules.

Great font btw.

Iam looking forward to any updates you make.

Edit:
But there is one bug that I have, whenever I quit the game (back to Gmenu2X) it freezes up. Iam on FW 2.0/

 

[jbrodack]

im not completely sure what to make of this one yet. I'm also a little confused about if you can eat part of other cromozomes and when other chromozmes can eat you. also i thought it was annoying that the game would compleltely stop whena mutation would happen.

seems like a cool idea and am looking forward to updates. just not completely sure of some of the rules how to really go about playing as far as dealing with other cromozomes

 

[PokeParadox]

Basically... anything can eat anything. The idea is supposed to be that if all your nodes are eaten by someone else then you die. One of the trickiest parts of the game to get right is how to handle the eating tests... I thought I'd got it about right in the current build but I, myself have noticed some things that I didn't expect to happen. I'll try to look into this over the weekend and give it a bit more polish!

The main problem is that too many collision tests occur depending on how you test if node is eaten. Obviously I'm trying to think of a way to test without affecting gameplay too much.

I think currently the game will stay smooth on the 2X with around 100 CromoZomes... this depends on how many nodes the CromoZomes have also. The slowdowns occur when there are a large number of CromoZomes in a clump.

One thing I have noticed which I'm not sure how to prevent is sometimes you can spawn a CromoZome and be killed by it straight away... The rule of thumb to live in this game is to keep your CromoZome long and to avoid confrontation if you are small!

Uprising: I don't think this is a bug... make sure the Wrapper option is enabled on GMenu2X.

I thought it was annoying that the game would compleltely stop whena mutation would happen.

Hmmm Yes I can see it may be annoying... I wasn't sure the best way to handle these events, so any ideas? I will say that when a mutation happens it runs through ALL the CromoZomes and ALL the nodes of each CromoZome and randomly changes each node colour... and my random number generator uses a divide for selection... so there would probably be a noticeable pause even without the deliberate pause...


I hope this helps to enjoy the game more. Hope I can get an update out soon!

 

[jbrodack]

thanks for explaining things. im still not clear on one thing. if your head tries to eat another tail will you always be able to eat it. what happens when the head of 2 chromozoms collide.

also the mutation thing seemed to happen a couple times soon after another when it would happen. maybe try to make it a more rare event and have some nice graphic that appears when it happens. also maybe an option to disable mutation would be nice.

it seems the graphics could use some improving and some extra style. maybe ive been spoiled by some other entries like alex's and ruckage's.

the ideas for this are cool but kind of like the fishball game it hasn't seemed to completely come together for me yet.

still looking forward to updates.

 

[PokeParadox]

If you are going after a tail of a CromoZome, you should be able to eat segments from it... this is not always the case currently, due to efforts to reduce collision tests. Hopefully I can come to some resolution.

When two head collide, the first one to be tested will be the one that eats... so you just have to be lucky! It's one of the hardest parts of the game to get right, as I've said.

The problem with mutation is that it doesn't reduce the number of CromoZomes... so the trigger to activate it will happen quite quickly. It's clearly another thing that needs sorting, maybe I can kill off some CromoZomes when a mutation happens and increase the trigger by more... I'll think about it.

As for the GFX, I'll try to setup a skin system, or you are free to modify the current GFX. I'm not sure I can personally improve the sprites much myself... I may have a go, but I do not consider myself to be an artist...

Also... The source is available on request. Just email me if you want it. I will put it online at some point, but I'm quite busy currently.

I may not reply straight away since I have no net connection at home currently, so please be patiant.

 

[Uprising]

I should of known about the wrapper thanks!

I guess you could just check collisions for the head of a cromozone and the tail of one.
Or nodes of the same type.

Also when two heads collide, you can do a check for which is the longest/most balanced cromozone.

Just some thoughts, it would mean that you coudnt just take any node away from another cromozone though.

 

[PokeParadox]

Indeed, these are some of the things that are checked in the current build. I do think I've managed to come up with some thing that works though. I check collisions node by node between the attacker's head and the potential CromoZome that will be eaten and then as soon as one node is found to be eaten, stop testing for that snake on that uipdate cycle! It works really well... but unfortunately currently crashes due to array boundaries.

I will work on it when I have time, but an update for release may be a while away since I have resit courseworks to concentrate on (Deadline 1st Aug...)

 

[PokeParadox]

OK! I have some progress! I have managed to figure out what was causing my slowdowns... it seems I accidentally changed the background to use a software surface! >_>

I have a collision algorithm that seems to work well and allows snakes to get very very long... This means that you can get to around 50 or so CromoZomes on screen... but they are longer than in the GBAX release!

I also changed the mutation and plague events to display a small animation, rather than freeze the display.

I have to get ready for work right NOW, so expect a release in about 8 hrs... or tomorrow, depending on how late I get home.

I still welcome any ideas on how to make this game better. I also wouldn't mind if someone were inclined to redo some of the GFX for it (Ruckage? ) given full credit of course (in my funky credits screen )