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Cipher Pusher: still coding!
anto80
Member #3,230
February 2003
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Hello there,

Still coding & debugging some stuff about Cipher Pusher.

The topic today is about these random flare bullets??!? I didn't code this. No idea where they come from?! Debug time
{"name":"l2Sqd4lXsxZHgndO8.gif","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/3\/b\/3b1281d10ea59b4d16fd2e600de04e39.gif","w":340,"h":202,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/3\/b\/3b1281d10ea59b4d16fd2e600de04e39"}l2Sqd4lXsxZHgndO8.gif
full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNTFQmhNvOA

Have a good day! :)

(This thread is the sequel to https://www.allegro.cc/forums/thread/616386 ( and formerly https://www.allegro.cc/forums/thread/616060 , https://www.allegro.cc/forums/thread/615908 and https://www.allegro.cc/forums/thread/615719 ) sorry for that. #ThreadAutolock

___________
Currently working on his action/puzzle game CIPHER PUSHER : Blocks/Vortexes/Seafood! Facebook - Twitter - webpage

Eric Johnson
Member #14,841
January 2013
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That's not a bug, that's a feature! ;D

Jokes aside, I've been following your Cipher Pusher posts from the shadows for a while now... looks like a fun game.

Neil Roy
Member #2,229
April 2002
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Looks good. I commented on Youtube. But I noticed you use the flare effect when you fire off the red beam, so obviously that is getting used. From the looks of it when you spawn random background stars it is using a bullet + flare, so something is out of whack. Perhaps you're looking into an array and going out of bounds in it, accessing another graphic? <shrug> It's tough to say without looking.

---
“I love you too.” - last words of Wanda Roy

anto80
Member #3,230
February 2003
avatar

Thanks a lot for your feedback guys! :)

Actually it was more a "funny-things-that-happen-when-you-code-&-debug" video than a way to ask for help! I figured it out eventually: You were right Neil, the laser flare has a position offset since it is not drawn directly at the center of the devilfish sprite (instead it is drawn at its eye) and these x,y offset variable were not initialized correctly, except in _DEBUG configuration.

Thanks Eric you your kind words. It's hard to continue on working on such a project in my spare time without losing motivation, but I'm sticking to it!

Thanks again! :)

___________
Currently working on his action/puzzle game CIPHER PUSHER : Blocks/Vortexes/Seafood! Facebook - Twitter - webpage

Rodolfo Lam
Member #16,045
August 2015

It is always interesting how, as a project increases in complexity things like this become possible. Can be very disorienting when the code you write (or at least think you write) does not match the results you see. Nice unintended feature thought!

Neil Roy
Member #2,229
April 2002
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Glad you figured it out. Nice work anyhow!

---
“I love you too.” - last words of Wanda Roy

anto80
Member #3,230
February 2003
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rlam12 said:

It is always interesting how, as a project increases in complexity things like this become possible. Can be very disorienting when the code you write (or at least think you write) does not match the results you see. Nice unintended feature thought!

So true! I have some other unintented features that will surely remain in the final code (because they are funny and they fit to the gameplay) but not his one as it is so unfair/random! :P

Here is another screenshot for today:
{"name":"bdsi7q.png","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/2\/7\/27460715802dd6e448a6b9dffea499ee.png","w":640,"h":480,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/2\/7\/27460715802dd6e448a6b9dffea499ee"}bdsi7q.png
Original size: [1]
You'll surprised to read that everything is OK in that capture!! It works exactly as intended (even if it's not a regular level...)
;)

___________
Currently working on his action/puzzle game CIPHER PUSHER : Blocks/Vortexes/Seafood! Facebook - Twitter - webpage

Gideon Weems
Member #3,925
October 2003

Aw yeah, I didn't realize Cipher Pusher had been greenlit. Congrats!

anto80
Member #3,230
February 2003
avatar

Thanks a lot! Greenlit in less than 10 days! I was so surprised and glad!

Meanwhile and after last event in May I decided to fix/rework/add so many things... That's an additional reason why it's not already available on Steam... And since this kind of game doesn't fit to be released "partly" I won't be satisfied to release an "Early access", so that's another reason why! :P

Anyway I can assure you I'm still fond of coding it. Day after day my checklist reduces and the game is one step closer to what I have in mind. That's a very encouraging feeling.
It's very important when the whole process is rather long since the smallest personal obstacle can have a strong impact on the global road to delivery...

Thanks a lot for your kind words and for your patience! :)

___________
Currently working on his action/puzzle game CIPHER PUSHER : Blocks/Vortexes/Seafood! Facebook - Twitter - webpage

Edgar Reynaldo
Major Reynaldo
May 2007
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Gideon Weems
Member #3,925
October 2003

anto80 said:

Anyway I can assure you I'm still fond of coding it. Day after day my checklist reduces and the game is one step closer to what I have in mind. That's a very encouraging feeling.

You have inspired me. I need to get to work.

Thanks!

anto80
Member #3,230
February 2003
avatar

Good Luck Gideon! And don't hesitate to show us screenshots or any progress! ;)

___________
Currently working on his action/puzzle game CIPHER PUSHER : Blocks/Vortexes/Seafood! Facebook - Twitter - webpage

Rodolfo Lam
Member #16,045
August 2015

What exactly is happening up there on that screenshot?!?! Hahahaha.

Congratulations on the Greenlit! Would really like to see this the start of a really good indie studio :D

anto80
Member #3,230
February 2003
avatar

(Sept 17th)
Aha! This screenshot came from an "additional" level where all your landmarks "may" got mixed up, and even go "spinning"... :)

Thanks a lot for your support! In any case I don't think I will start a indie studio. Please let me remind you I'm doing all this in my leisure time, and it's already really difficult to mix work life/personal life + personal projects...
I like what I do with Cipher Pusher and I like to see people playing with it at events! So much encouragement to push it to what I have in mind! :)

----

[EDIT] Sept 24th
Today's video concerns floating/dancing/pixelated monoliths.
I can assure you there's a useful (cryptic?) meaning about that! :)
-- Vid posted on Twitter --
or here on Youtube if you prefer:

video

Have a good day!

----

[EDIT] Oct 1st
Here is a new batch of ";D-bugs" screenshots because in game development things works rarely perfectly right on first try! :P
CAPT20150619173421_0005_messed_Floor.png CAPT20150621131901_0000_wrongsprite.png CAPT20150805122112_0000_temp.png CAPT20150827205448_0000_floor_Hole_Why.png
(messed floor / wrong sprite / temp?? / floor hole)
(Big images here : https://www.allegro.cc/files/download-attachment/?area=forum%20post&id=1025070)

Have a good day!

___________
Currently working on his action/puzzle game CIPHER PUSHER : Blocks/Vortexes/Seafood! Facebook - Twitter - webpage

Gideon Weems
Member #3,925
October 2003

Cool bugs. I like the exploding stone tile in the second one.

Your style seems to have a dash of Jeff Minter. Are you familiar with his games?

I need to get to work.

I did. And it was good... now back to making money. :-/

anto80
Member #3,230
February 2003
avatar

Your style seems to have a dash of Jeff Minter. Are you familiar with his games?

I have read the whole game list on his Wikipedia page and... sorry but I played none of them. :-[
My references are mostly the 16 bit era, maybe with a focus on the Sega Genesis.

However, let me remind you that 99% of the core sprites for Cipher Pusher are not made by me, but by Katinae, the artist who started the original Golbal Game Jam project with me in 2015. You may find more about her work on her webpage and/or on her DeviantArt account
Though, I code glitchy sprites and procedural graphical animations to imitate some "demoscene" visual effects. I'm very satisfied to use Allegro for that. :)

Good luck with your work.

--------

[Edit] Oct 08
Today my counters hit 5000th build so let's celebrate!!:o
{"name":"cipherpusher-build5000.gif","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/4\/1\/4190e54ead747dad2a1ec699eabd7f7b.gif","w":320,"h":220,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/4\/1\/4190e54ead747dad2a1ec699eabd7f7b"}cipherpusher-build5000.gif

--------

[Edit] Oct 15
I have calculated that unexpected glitches in graphical animations may occur if the game runs continuously 414 DAYS in a row.
That is due to the use of Int32 for integer data representation.
If I had used Int16 the limit would have been 9 minutes.
If I had used Int64 the limit would have been 4,871 billion years but the memory usage would have been doubled!
2147483648 / (60*3600*24) = 414,2522469
{"name":"calc_Sans_titre_1.png","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/4\/a\/4a2b6193a925d2e46dd5dd6998d89edd.png","w":467,"h":357,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/4\/a\/4a2b6193a925d2e46dd5dd6998d89edd"}calc_Sans_titre_1.png

___________
Currently working on his action/puzzle game CIPHER PUSHER : Blocks/Vortexes/Seafood! Facebook - Twitter - webpage

Rodolfo Lam
Member #16,045
August 2015

You know, that actually reminds me of a software bug Boeing 787 airplanes had around 2015... Not sure if they still have it.

The temporal solution engineers devised is just hilarious.

See for yourself: To keep a Boeing Dreamliner flying, reboot once every 248 days and Boeing 787 Dreamliners contain a potentially catastrophic software bug

A buffer overflow inside some internal counter causes the engines to enter fail-safe mode. I wonder how they discovered this... did they left an aircraft engine on for 248 days?

anto80
Member #3,230
February 2003
avatar

I wonder how they discovered this... did they left an aircraft engine on for 248 days?

I think that's what is called "Boundary testing" in Quality Assurance. That is, forcing a variable to carry maximum or minimum value and see what happens.

Normally critical software must be tested including a wide range of test types (which are not limited to boundary testing) before being validated for "industrial" use.

If I go back to my topic about Cipher Pusher development progress, there's something I figured out recently I'd like to share with you:

- Most Saturdays I post some progress (screenshots / GIFs / ...) about features being implemented.

- I post here on Allegro.cc :) , and on the game's Facebook page, Twitter, and sometimes on some selected Facebook groups (not ALL gamedev groups. It is important not to be considered as spam)

- On Facebook I usually get 1 or 2 likes (sometimes a comment). On Twitter this varies between 2 and 4 RT (mostly by bots), and between 4 and 10 likes.

- Last week on this group I posted about this hypothetical case of boundary testing when the game runs 414 days in a row. And I got a lot more comments/reactions/advices... This is interesting because the game itself (gameplay, visuals, ...) doesn't really earn attention, but the possibility of having a "hidden" glitch or bug (which doesn't even cause a crash) make people comment a lot more. (Frankly most software and games development teams don't (can't?) do boundary testing as this is very time-consuming and it won't prevent other critical bugs or crashs to occur. (Moreover I believe funny graphical glitches must be kept in any game, if they don't disturb the gameplay, and if they fit to the game ambiance; and that's my case))

- Because it's about general core development, and not about game feature, probably 99% of these people won't play the game when it will be released. So there's nothing to do with building an audience.

What do you think? ???

-------------

[edit] Oct 29

Quote:

What do you think? ???

Well the question stays open. :P

Anyway here's the pic of the week.
A pumpkin head because of Halloween quota
{"name":"Pumpkin_CAPT20161027194047_0002_copy.png","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/a\/8\/a812c119fe5bb2afd1428b253e5fd515.png","w":640,"h":552,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/a\/8\/a812c119fe5bb2afd1428b253e5fd515"}Pumpkin_CAPT20161027194047_0002_copy.png

___________
Currently working on his action/puzzle game CIPHER PUSHER : Blocks/Vortexes/Seafood! Facebook - Twitter - webpage

MiquelFire
Member #3,110
January 2003
avatar

That's from Cipher Pusher right?

---
Febreze (and other air fresheners actually) is just below perfumes/colognes, and that's just below dead skunks in terms of smells that offend my nose.
MiquelFire.red
If anyone is of the opinion that there is no systemic racism in America, they're either blind, stupid, or racist too. ~Edgar Reynaldo

anto80
Member #3,230
February 2003
avatar

That's from Cipher Pusher right?

Yes! Absolutely!
Here's enclosed the original pic.
610605

___________
Currently working on his action/puzzle game CIPHER PUSHER : Blocks/Vortexes/Seafood! Facebook - Twitter - webpage

Edgar Reynaldo
Major Reynaldo
May 2007
avatar

anto80
Member #3,230
February 2003
avatar

Today's screenshot is about item gallery work in progress. There are still lots of placeholders.

{"name":"Inventory_Cipher_Pusher_Snapshot5.png","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/b\/7\/b7376a472cb05b2f4cecafaadda231f2.png","w":384,"h":353,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/b\/7\/b7376a472cb05b2f4cecafaadda231f2"}Inventory_Cipher_Pusher_Snapshot5.png

By the way, thanks to everyone whose replies prevent this thread from being locked! :P

___________
Currently working on his action/puzzle game CIPHER PUSHER : Blocks/Vortexes/Seafood! Facebook - Twitter - webpage

Felix-The-Ghost
Member #9,729
April 2008
avatar

:o ooh, what do those do? :)

==========================
<--- The ghost with the most!
---------------------------
[Website] [Youtube]

anto80
Member #3,230
February 2003
avatar

ooh, what do those do?

These are
- gems (money maybe? :) ),
- life up bonuses,
- powerups,
- features unlocks
- game progress markers
- puzzle sub parts

For example in today's screenshot:
vid_170_125_wow-cleaner-overpowered-cipherpusher.gif
This small cleaner item is way OVERPOWERED! (and currently being debugged) :P

[Edit] Nov 19th
Screenshot of the day is about more "alien jargon" (?!?) and lava area
Have a good day! :)
{"name":"Lava_Alien_Jargon_Encoding_Cipher_Pusher.png","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/9\/f\/9f6f519238b2aad139358fa701b791e3.png","w":640,"h":414,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/9\/f\/9f6f519238b2aad139358fa701b791e3"}Lava_Alien_Jargon_Encoding_Cipher_Pusher.png

___________
Currently working on his action/puzzle game CIPHER PUSHER : Blocks/Vortexes/Seafood! Facebook - Twitter - webpage

Felix-The-Ghost
Member #9,729
April 2008
avatar

That lava looks sexy. Not sure how hard it'd be but maybe try adding texture like bubbles/dots.

==========================
<--- The ghost with the most!
---------------------------
[Website] [Youtube]

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