Last Phantasy!
Last Phantasy is the title for a game engine that I worked on a few months ago.
I started out using Mode-13h because this
graphics mode is very simple to program
in. Also, I already had a library of nice Mode-13h graphics
functions that I had written for other games so Mode-13h seemed
like the obvious choice. However, I soon realized that redrawing
the entire video screen every frame (which is required for
scrolling in Mode-13h) just takes too long on even a 486, and
copying a virtual screen (a.k.a. double buffer) to video memory
takes even longer. As a solution to this problem, I started
working on a Mode-X graphics library.
After about three weeks of working in my spare time (which I
don't have much of), the graphics library is finished! Overall
I am very pleased with the performance of the new Mode-X engine,
but one thing worries me. If a Pentium computer becomes standard,
and it probably will be by the time I finish a game, I won't
even need Mode-X! In fact, I think Mode-13h will make a
comeback in popularity because all of
your drawing is simple and can be done in system memory which is
ultra fast on Pentium computers. In the end, I may switch back
to Mode-13h, but for now Mode-X is still the ticket to high
performance.
Music
I also have a new music/sound engine to accompany my graphics
engine. I have been using Midpak for music and my own sound code
for sound FX, but Midpak costs $500 for shareware use and it
sounds like crap to boot (it uses FM synthesis to reproduce MIDI
instruments). This new engine is called Bells Whistles and Sound
Boards, and it uses the various MOD formats for music. Needless
to say, it sounds way better than Midpak, and it even comes with
a setup program! On top of that it only costs $50 to use it in
shareware! The only bad thing about this sound library is
the fact that it is a bit slow. It causes my 70 frames/second
(actually much faster without locking the frame rate)
scrolling to chunk up a bit in DOS and chunk up a lot in Windows.
I am considering writing my own MOD player so I won't have to deal
with this problem. I know it is possible because Jazz Jackrabbit
and Epic Pinball use excellent sound systems which don't cause the
screen movement to jerk. For now though, this sound system is the
best thing going. I must thank
Kris Schnee
for telling me about it
because I would still be using crappy music with no setup program
if he had not recommended BWSB to me. By the way, the song that
comes with this demo was written by me for my game Vampire Hunt.
It doesn't really fit the mood of Last Phantasy, but it's better
than nothing (maybe). It was really just a quick fix that I finished
in an hour because I made Vampire Hunt as a school project, and the
deadline was coming up fast so don't expect Mozart. Surprisingly
though, the tune does tend to grow on you...
Map Changing
This version of Last Phantasy has map changing implemented. Although
there are only two maps right now, the program supports literally
hundreds of different maps, and each map can have up to 128 different
graphic tiles (I can allow even more if necessary, but I think 128
is sufficient). I hate to blow my own horn, but this engine is
so good that all map changing, loading, etc is handled in such a way
that the program doesn't even need to be changed as maps are added
or modified. All I have to do is make sure that all of the filenames
of data and graphics files are recognized by the program. It's
almost eerie the way it works... Anyway, you may download the
demo below. I warn you though, I am not a good artist or screen
designer! The programming aspect of game creation is the part
that I enjoy.
Map Editor
Recently, I created a simple map editor so I could create screens
for Last Phantasy. It is included with the zip file below.
Download Last Phantasy demo (with editor)
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