E02 Game Engine


E02Stealth

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Jul 22, 2011
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The E02 multiplatform 2D Game Engine has been in development for some time now, and is now available for the Wiz

http://stealth.hapisan.com/E02

Two game demos are currently available:
Megaman: Triple Threat - http://stealth.hapisan.com/MMTT
Sonic the Hedgehog: Project Mettrix - http://stealth.hapisan.com/Mettrix

as well as a generic game template, and a Sonic the Hedgehog game template:
http://stealth.hapisan.com/E02/#Templates

Many other types of games are possible, as the engine is built for versatility. For any questions regarding development with E02, stop by the forum, or the IRC channel:
http://stealth.hapisan.com/Forum
irc.badnik.net #OC
 
Very cool, but I have a couple questions. Is there a way to put more than one game there at a time? The .e02 files have the same name, can the path be changed to allow this? Also, is there a way to exit the program without restarting the unit? Can in-game volume control be added?
 
I just gave this a go with the sample games on my Caanoo via Ginge and it works great! :D

(A bit of slowdown here and there in the Megaman game, and the sonic game runs really quickly, but perfectly playable!)

How easy is it to make a game with this engine? For a beginner?

Because I would love to make my own game with it!

(The only experience I have per se is with Game Maker and not much)

EDIT: Also to answer Orion4874, the game doesn't load the .e02 files (that stuff is contained within its own folder), it loads the .gdf files, which I assume link to the folder with the resources in. (As I was able to have both sample games on there at once)
And I can exit to Ginge by pushing all the buttons at once
 
Is there a way to put more than one game there at a time? The .e02 files have the same name, can the path be changed to allow this?
Each game actually goes into its own folder. You'll notice that inside each of the rar files, there is a "gdf" folder, and a folder with another name (usually a shortened version of the game name). You install by copying both of these folders directly into the E02 program folder. The game folder for each game will be unique (allowing each packed game to use the filename "game.e02"), and the gdf folder in the rar contains the only gdf file for that specific game (each of which use different names), so copying it will just place that file into your existing gdf folder

Also, is there a way to exit the program without restarting the unit
You can exit by holding L, R, Y and Menu

Can in-game volume control be added?
I'm not sure if you want to turn the volume up or down. If it's up, I haven't found a way to get the output any louder yet. The port itself (but not the newest build) was actually complete a bit ago, so I forgot what the exact problem I was having with SDL mixer was (and I'd like to ditch SDL sound in a future update; it's the only part I'm actually using). If you happen to want to turn it down, though, I might be able to manage that. Are SDL or hardware volume not at their maximum by default?

A bit of slowdown here and there in the Megaman game, and the sonic game runs really quickly, but perfectly playable!
I don't know much about Ginge, but I expect it should be that way under emulation(?), as the Megaman game is barely running at full frames natively on the Wiz at present. That's probably why it appears to run normal speed while Sonic runs out of control- the vblank method may not be working with it

How easy is it to make a game with this engine? For a beginner?
Well, it 's not like other systems like Game Maker in that it doesn't have an IDE, and there's no click-based method of working with it. All of the script work is done externally with text editors, and the Function scripting style itself is instruction-based rather than looking much like C. Setup is quite different as well. It would take some getting used to, but if you're dedicated, I don't really think it should be a problem after giving it some time.

It's probably subjective, though, so to really know, you'd have to actually look into it a little first. Check out the "Getting Started" document, which is an introduction and lead-in to all of the other documentation, and possibly this example Script Function to get a general idea, and further. Looking into the files for the Generic Game Template will also give you an idea of how things are supposed to come together

If anything seems unclear, don't hesitate to ask me about it. As I said, the forum and IRC channel are available for getting help

The only experience I have per se is with Game Maker and not much
The "not much" part may be a good thing, as you'd notice that E02 handles certain things in significantly different ways, mostly in the interest of performance

This is great stuff, Keep supporting the Wiz
Glad you're liking what you see! The Wiz should be a permanently-supported platform now, and I will certainly look into any opportunity to improve its performance, as well as keeping it up-to-date with general E02 enhancements
 
Thanks E02Stealth, I was putting both folders into the gdf folder which was causing it to not find the .e02 files so I got that sorted now. About the volume, I probably wouldn't ever need to turn the volume up any louder so I just wanted to turn it down a bit. Not that it's too loud mind you but I tend to only get my gaming time late in the evening if you know what I mean. I honestly don't know what the default volume is set at but i'm going to guess that it's at max since some programs start out very loud initially and have to be lowered accordingly.
Anyway, thanks for the tips, they really helped me out and I hope to see more from this as it has some great potential!

Welcome to the community BTW!!! :D
 
that project looks really cool. whilst i've not had any time to actually playtest anything, the screenshots of the games look really good. and if it helps getting more homebrew on the wiz, it's great! :)
 
OT
Please could you build a native Pandora version ?
This looks very nice to have also on Pandora.
/OT
 
OT
Please could you build a native Pandora version ?
This looks very nice to have also on Pandora.
/OT
I'd like to, but I can't effectively support platforms I don't own. I am taking donations for new hardware, which, in my current situation, is my only means of acquiring any. If you'd like to contribute and/or know others who would, I could add the Pandora to the list. I understand that there are at least two issues with that, though; The Pandora is pretty expensive, so there would either need to be a lot of contributors or a few very generous ones, and I think that it's actually not even in production for the moment?

If circumstances permit me to get ahold of one, I'll certainly attempt the port and post about any results here
 
E02Stealth said:
OT
Please could you build a native Pandora version ?
This looks very nice to have also on Pandora.
/OT
I'd like to, but I can't effectively support platforms I don't own. I am taking donations for new hardware, which, in my current situation, is my only means of acquiring any. If you'd like to contribute and/or know others who would, I could add the Pandora to the list. I understand that there are at least two issues with that, though; The Pandora is pretty expensive, so there would either need to be a lot of contributors or a few very generous ones, and I think that it's actually not even in production for the moment?

If circumstances permit me to get ahold of one, I'll certainly attempt the port and post about any results here
Looks like Kazuki made a Pandora port through Ginge:
http://dl.openhandhelds.org/cgi-bin/pandora.cgi?0,0,0,0,35,433
 
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Esn said:
Looks like Kazuki made a Pandora port through Ginge:
http://dl.openhandhelds.org/cgi-bin/pandora.cgi?0,0,0,0,35,433

Um. I appreciate the enthusiasm, but please don't do that. I don't know how well this works, and I can't support it. If anything goes wrong, I can't do much about it, and I don't really want to deal with something like that coming back to me over something I didn't do myself

According to the comments, even Kazuki isn't testing it

I mean, if any one person wants to try running it under emulation, that's their deal, but please don't start promoting it as a real solution like this. And certainly, please don't start calling it a "port". I'd say it's "confusing", but it's just an absolute untruth- this is not a pandora-native build, it's some sort of emulation
 
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E02Stealth, its great software, and it works. If there are problems, I fully expect the community to address any support issues you have. If you don't want to have it on the platform, running for fans of the engine, thats totally understood; but please realize that the effort to put it into Ginge is done because, actually, it works.

EDIT: in hindsight, I should add: with all due respect. Its just that E02 is so bloody wonderful, and having it on Pandora is a real treat.
 
torpor said:
[...]actually, it works.[...]

That's actually one of the problems with this. It's my feeling that more people are more likely to assume that Ginge "just works", and that any issues that come up are purely E02-related. notaz himself actually said that he is aware that it's entirely possible that not everything works, because he can't/hasn't thoroughly tested it himself, and developed it with only one particular piece of software in mind:

http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?/topic/55980-ginge/

notaz said:
GINGE - Ginge Is Not GP2X Emulator - is an application that runs some GP2X and Wiz software on Pandora. Yes it now includes some Wiz support, but that part is not much tested, done mainly for pcsx4all.

We've already seen in this thread that someone using Ginge on the Caanoo has commented on the frame rate running out of control whenever it got the chance, which must be due to Ginge not supporting Wiz vsync in exactly the same manner as a real Wiz, because when running on the Wiz, the game runs at no greater than 60fps

I'd also like to respond to this:

torpor said:
[...]If you don't want to have it on the platform, running for fans of the engine, thats totally understood[...]

If you notice, I said the exact opposite in response to the person who asked for a native port. It's not that I don't want it to run on the Pandora; I just don't want non-native builds being run on the Pandora to be promoted as a real solution. I would love to add the Pandora to the list of supported platforms as much as anything else, BUT, I don't own one and won't be able to obtain one in the near future, therefore, I cannot perform testing. I don't develop for platforms I can't personally test. I've tried it; it doesn't work well at all

I got nowhere trying to coordinate with someone else for testing the PSP version, and had to wait until I got my own. When I finally got my Wiz and began this port, I was quickly reminded of how little straightforwardness there actually is in actually creating a respectable working build for another new platform. It was a battle, and not something that can be won when you can't perform your own tests and have to rely on other people to take the time to perform thousands of tests for minute code changes, and to trust them to tell you absolutely EVERYTHING you need to know about what's actually going wrong at runtime. Sometimes you don't even know what you're looking for when you're performing your own tests, but you're a lot more likely to find it that way

I have also found that different platforms will frequently show symptoms of bugs in even platform-independent code that other platforms do not. I've had this happen with E02 under, at the very least, Linux, the Wii, and most recently, with the Wiz itself. It may sound like an argument in favor of a more aggressive multiplatform effort, but these are problems that I cannot see if I do not own the platform in question, and given the way bugs are actually reported to me, there is a possibility that I won't even realize that the problem is my own fault, or can only be reproduced "reliably" on that one platform. In either case, there's a high likelihood that I can't correct such a problem simply because I can't reproduce it. For the most-part, any effort expended in trying would be a total waste, and I'd have to end up giving up and waiting until some other new feature changes the program in just the right way to make the problem present itself on other platforms anyway. This is also an issue I actually have experience with

That's all aside from the fact that trying to track down a bug "in E02" that actually turns out to be an issue with Ginge (or any other emulation or compatibility environment) would be an even greater waste of time

There's a real problem in that this is bound to cause confusion. If it's actually promoted, it will get to the point where people aren't even paying attention to the fact that this is running under a "compatibility layer" rather than being a native build. More and more, the non-native Pandora build would become "representative" of the functionality and support of the actual native builds, and that's not something I want. Even if Ginge were to actually run E02 entirely without functional flaw, there are still other issues. Ginge no doubt causes overhead, leading to overall reduced performance, which you would find as games become more complex (slowdown becomes more likely, whereas the same game running under a native Pandora build of E02 would possibly run at full speed). As it is, I don't even know how Ginge responds to the fact that E02 wants to set the Wiz processor to run at 750MHz. The Pandora also has many more input buttons than the Wiz, that the Wiz version of E02 does not recognize; a native build would allow every one of them to be used. Furthermore, the Pandora also has built-in Wi-Fi, which the Wiz does not. Similarly to other platforms with Wi-Fi or other internet connectivity, a native Pandora build would include the automatic updates and in-program game downloads feature. Last, but not least, it's not likely that anyone maintaining these repackaged builds would strictly adhere to my own updates schedule, which is erratic enough already. For all the reasons stated above, I will not be maintaining such a package

I take this engine very seriously, and I want to see it finally being taken seriously by people that will actually build something with it. Although it's free for non-profit development, I do also want it to be used commercially. I have to operate in whatever manner I feel is best for my goals, and I don't want E02 or myself to be judged based on anything other than what comes directly from me

A bit long-winded, but that's the deal :p
 
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Okay, I fully agree with your position. Is there anything I can do to help you get the port to Pandora done? I can test, help you build, answer any questions you might have ..
 
New to v11.09.18:

Keywords/Expressions - Replace certain Math and Conditional Commands with a friendlier expression syntax; use variables/values right in the expression

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It's certainly possible, but the source is not available.
It's necessary to ask directly the author for the port.

Author's quotation:
If you would like to support E02 development, user support, and/or multiplatform growth, visit the donations page to find out how!
 
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