Google Pac-Man

Awesome.

Here's to another 30 years of chasing ghosts!

Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth

I just remembered that this game launched last year but I forgot about it. I'm finishing up my semester and I think it's time to download this game.

[Goes to download]

It's supposed to be a remake of the Gameboy game, but with updated graphics. I'd actually prefer older graphics, but Castlevania did find a nice look with 32-Bit level sprites, so I'll keep an open mind. Initial Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth thoughts in a few hours.

[Next morning]

The game appears solid enough, I only managed to beat 3 levels last night before I fell asleep. It's full-on Castlevania nostalgia trip, and the game even has an option to play with Castlevania 1-style jumping. I prefer the ability to slightly move in the air. I don't really enjoy the artificial challenge of poor controls, but Castlevania has always been an exception. The monsters don't move too fast anyway, only Medusa Heads and crap like that really present a problem.

The graphics and sound are both nice, but a little bland. It's almost like playing a watered-down Rondo of Blood. Just as I'm typing that, I realize that Rondo of Blood was, in fact, released for the VC and it's 100 points cheaper. Go buy that if you want a Castlevania game, but The Adventure ReBirth still offers a fun experience.

[A few hours later...]

I came home determined to play more Castlevania: The Adventure ReBirth, but I decided that 9 dollars for Rondo of Blood was too good an offer to pass up. So, you can get 2 really good Castlevania games for 19 bucks. That's still cheaper than some sort of collection disc they might release. You can certainly emulate Dracula X: Rondo of Blood using Magic Engine, but I've found the sound to periodically get really fuzzy. I don't own a PSP either, so that was out of the question. But having Rondo of Blood on my Wii is only a click away from Mega Man 9 and 10, and that's pretty cool.

I had to move Adventure Island: The New Beginning to the SD card to make room to download the Rondo of Blood CD Rom from the Wii Store. I hope the sound quality is nice, judging by the large file size (273 blocks!) it should be on par with The Dynastic Hero.



[and, finally]

The sound quality is fantastic, I'm also pleased to see they didn't translate the game. I prefer not knowing exactly what the characters say, but I do understand a bit of German and a little Japanese, plus I'm sure the pictures explain exactly what's happening anyway.

Rondo of Blood is hard, I remember it being easy. I must have been using save states, but the game is as fresh as ever. Super Castlevania 4 comes close, but doesn't quite measure up. Plus, despite the kawaii factor, Maria is really fun to play as. She moves like Alucard in Symphony, and is much stronger than Richter. You can unlock her in Stage 2, just get the key from the second candle after the first pit while being chased by half of the behemoth. The graphics and level design are top notch, and even though it's basically a linear platformer, you'll feel like you're exploring a large castle because of the multiple paths, secret levels, and optional secrets.

Mega Man 1 Level Edits

I made this years ago, basic level edits of Cut, Fire, Ice, Bomb, and Elec Man's stages. It's not designed to be super difficult, just different. I never finished it, and now I'm too busy to, but you can download the .ips file here. Then apply the file to a Mega Man 1 rom and these 5 levels should be changed.

Mega Man 10 Endless Attack

Above is a complete Mega Man 9 Endless Attack map. It was posted to vgmaps by Revned. Although Mega Man 9's Endless Attack was fun, it doesn't come close to Mega Man 10's. I'm eagerly awaiting the maps of MM10's Endless levels, but after playing the mode for hours I'm convinced I've seen it all. This time there are many more references to previous stages, including:

Mega Man 3: Gemini Man's blocks over water
Mega Man 4: Cossack 1
Mega Man 4: Wily 1
Mega Man 5: Wily 1
Mega Man 5: Wily 2
Mega Man 6: Blizzard Man
Mega Man 9: Plug Man's 1st block puzzle.
Mega Man 10: Sheep Man's final screen

As well as one level suspiciously similar, but not identical, to Bubble Man's stage. My record is currently 306. My MM9 record was only 175. Has anyone else been playing Endless Attack in MM9 or MM10?

In Endless Attack, you play through 42 mini-stages consisting of a platforming segment or a boss fight. After defeating 8 bosses (about 270 screens), Mega Man takes an additional point of damage from everything. After 8 more bosses, two extra points of damage and so on.

Mega Man 10 DLC

Bass and 1 Special Stage will become available for download on April 5. Endless Level and 2 Special Stages will be available April 26.

Click here to read the details on the DLC.

But what's really interesting is that the screenshot show new weapons being used by Mega Man--in normal mode (at least there are no timers). How will these stages be implemented? What about these 3 weapons?

Luckily, hackers found the weapons, but implementation is sketchy at best. The weapons are the Mirror B., S. Crusher, and B. Cracker. Here is a video demonstrating the weapons.

After searching through youtube videos and forum posts, I can confirm a few more things about the DLC. Bass fuses with Treble, and can fly around and fire 3-shot bursts like the Magma Bazooka. You can buy shock guards with Bass, and Treble adapters to act like Eddie and Beat. Reggae runs his shop.

Endless Mode continues to be shrouded in mystery.

Cave Story Wii Launch Party

Today is finally the day. We've been "covering" Cave Story since November 16, 2008, and now, finally, one can purchase it online.

In case you aren't familiar with Cave Story, you can check out my review of the free PC version.

The Wii version costs 1200 points. Some people think this is too much, however, remember a few things:

1. Nintendo decides the price of all WiiWare software.
2. The game includes all of the "DLC," so you won't have to shell out any more cash.
3. The game includes updated audiovisuals.

The download should be available around 11:00 a.m. Central time. Without launching into another meta-review, this is all the info I have.

Anyone else downloading the game?

The Game of Life: New Spaceship

The Game of Life is a cellular automaton developed by John Horton Conway in 1970. It consists of a grid, in which each grid square can be either alive or dead. The "game" proceeds in turns, in which each square is calculated to be either alive or dead based upon its neighbors. Conway's rules are as follows:

1. If a living cell has fewer than 2 (live) neighbors, it dies.
2. If a cell has 4 neighbors (or more) it dies.
3. If a living cell has 2 or 3 live neighbors, it survives the round.
4. If an empty cell has exactly 3 neighbors, a cell is created.

From these simple rules, great complexity can be generated. Conway's Game is even Turing complete, meaning that it is possible to build a computer inside of a (very large) Game of Life simulation using logic gates and "gliders."

Gliders and spaceships are special constructions in the Game of Life, which, typically, keep their general shape and move in a direction over time. Today, I believe, I discovered a new one.

I was using a extremely complex pre-programmed pattern and tossing random gliders at it. This spaceship emerged, and I luckily saved it.

This "spaceship" is more properly known as a "rake" because of how it sends out gliders while also moving forward. The cool think about this one, however, is that it sends out TWO streams of gliders at perpendicular angles, producing a V-shape. If it hasn't been discovered before, I think it should be called a "V-rake." I have not seen anything like this online, especially in a pattern so small. Some very cool patterns are able to be generated from these things, and I hope that, if this discovery is original, that the cellular automaton community benefits from it.

Here is one giant battleship I made using only the V-rake.



If interested, you should download Golly, the best cellular automaton simulator I have ever seen. Just reproduce the first picture in the program and have fun! Golly also comes with some samples impressive creations that will, I promise, blow your mind.

Because I'm not sure if this discovery is, in fact, novel, this post could either be a terrible introduction to cellular automata or a significant mathematical find-- the suspense is killing me.



After experimenting a little, I modified this raker/spaceship into a "puffer" or "steamer" which is a shapeship that, unlike a raker, leaves a messy trail of debris behind it. Pictures below.

Your World of Text: RPG Town

An RPG-style Town drawn on the main page (X:6, Y:6) of yourworldoftext.com. You can edit it if you want, expand it, or mutate it. If anything interesting happens to the town, I will update this post.

Update:



The first visitor enhanced the town with some roguelike denizens and merchandise.



But then it was destroyed. City moved to X:20, Y:-10.

Update 2:

COMPUTER

COMPUTER is an ANSII ZZT game. You are the INTRUDER.EXE and your mission is to hack through a giant bio-computer. You begin your quest in the system's BIOS, and you break through the system defenses and disable the Motherboard and CPU. Prepare for surreal computer-themed action adventure!

ZZT is a 1991 game designed by by Tim Sweeney. However, the game also comes with a built-in game creation engine, allowing users the ability to make games and quests easily. COMPUTER represents my first attempt at a ZZT game, but I hope that people enjoy it.

If you already have ZZT on your computer, then you can simply download the .ZZT file.

Otherwise, I have created a ZZT package, which you can download here. This .zip includes all the usual ZZT release, plus my game, computer.zzt. Make sure you select COMPUTER, under worlds, to play the game. After you're done, enjoy the other classic original ZZT adventures!

MEGA MAN 10 REVIEW

No doubt a Mega Man 10 rom has already leaked its way on to the Internet, but perhaps not. Meanwhile, I'm waiting for the release of Mega Man 10 tomorrow. Well, actually I'm not really waiting I'm just blogging. Right now it is Sunday night. I wanted to post about the game soon after release, so I started the entry early in order to save myself time in the morning.

Mega Man 9 generated a lot of traffic on 8-Bit City, and no doubt a few of you readers first discovered this place while searching for that game. That's the reason I started this post with an anecdote about the Mega Man 10 rom download. To generate hits on google. Don't be cynical, it's very exciting.

Because let's be honest, we all know that Mega Man 10 is going to be a fun game. It will also be a cheap game. I can only imagine that young readers would be experiencing Mega Man for the first time, although many people might not be aware of its release. The Mega Man series has always been a favorite of mine, and with full faith I can say that Mega Man 10 is a good game. If, by chance, Mega Man 10 is terrible, I can always edit this post tomorrow night.



Besides, Capcom has already released the bosses, some stages, the weapons, etc. etc. What's left to review? Should we go through the motions of describing things? Of pretending to care? Maybe if I waited until the game was released to review it, then there would be actual content in the review. You might be expecting nothing at this points, and that's the conclusion I've come to as well, which only proves that we are so far on the same page and can move on to the conclusion.



In the world of Internet journalism, hits represent something more important than money; they represent the power of your information. I've looked into the future to write this review! So what if I didn't play the game, I declare it almost perfect. Intelligent, inspiring, and shining slightly less brightly than Mega Man 9. Is this description not accurate? Is it not accurate enough? Nothing could top the excitement of MM9, because it pioneered the 8- and 16-Bit re-release chains of the last two years. The review is logical and accurate!

Mega Man 10 Launch on Monday

As you go about your weekend, remember vividly what the world was like because in 4 days the universe will be completely changed.

We shall later recall both the past and the next few days as slightly-less vibrant than our future world in which Mega Man 10 assumes its rightful place on our Wii Channel screens.

Ascending NetHack

After playing NetHack the entire weekend, I have finally ascended. My Dwarven Valkyrie joins the ranks of demi-gods and -goddesses. The road was long, and, in a way my journey actually began two years ago when I first discovered NetHack and became completely captivated with its ASCII graphics and technical superiority.

The quest was difficult, the monsters were brutal, and the instant death hazards were abundant. For two years I knew I had to beat this game, but for two years I only managed to kill off dozens of noble would-be heroes. This morning I was on level 46 of Gehennom, and a Master Mind Flayer wiped my memory. I lost all hope of ascending. However, after a few minutes I realized that I would push on, despite the odds. I returned to the first level of the game, remapping all of the levels, and carving a direct path down to the Inner Sanctum. When I returned to scene of my memory loss, I was more powerful and better prepared for future dangers.

The second major obstacle manifested on the elemental planes. I had no means of detecting the portals. Haphazardly, I stumbled about and easily found 3 of the portals.


Finally, I was on the Astral Plane, the legendary final level. Using wands of teleportion, I carved a path through the monsters to the first altar. It was unaligned. Using the remaining teleport charges, I reached the second altar, and my fears were once again realized: the altar was unaligned. However, my hit points never dropped to a dangerous level and my confidence was increasing. Adrenaline flooded my nervous system. I had no more wands of teleport, so my only option was to cut a bloody swath the to the final altar.

The amulet sacrificed, the game was over. I had ascended.

Check out the dumplog of my ascension, complete with ending stats, items, and screenshot.

The Atomic Knight Beta 4.0

I've made some small changes to The Atomic Knight, the viral (not really), free, open-source, ASCII, DOS, arcade adventure game!

Here's what you'll be downloading!

- Now it's a DOS application! Hurrah! It should run a little better and be much easier to emulated in Linux. DOSBox should now work with The Atomic Knight.
- Changed the 8Laser, it is now much more powerful.
- Changed the default settings to improve game balance.
- I've included the source code, so go crazy.
- Added an ending for those who can master the game!

Enjoy, and let me know what you think!

Head over to the download page to download The Atomic Knight Beta 4.0.

If you run a DOS game download site, or something similar, feel free to host The Atomic Knight. The only thing I ask is that you check back for updates to the game and host the latest version!

I also changed the URL for all the Postmodern Software downloads.

Play Rogue Online Now!

The original UNIX Rogue is now available for play online, free. Rogue is the game that started the cascade of number-driven ASCII worlds over the past 30 years. Michael Toy and Glenn Wichman programmed the game in C, using the then-new curses.h library. They were university students at the time, and Rogue was distributed across university and public networks over the next 30 years as free, open-source software. The creators retain copyright despite open-sourcing their creation.

A new website has appeared: rlgallery.org, the Roguelike Gallery. Currently the site hosts 2 versions of Rogue, with plans to expand. The website hosts the scores of all the players, including online leaderboards and game replays. You can watch others in real-time as they explore the Dungeons of Doom.



Simply SSH to rlgallery.org. You probably need to use a terminal emulator, and I recommend PuTTY, a free Telnet/SSH client. The username is "rodney" and the password is "yendor".

If you have no idea what I'm talking about, Telnet and SHH are text-based internet protocols. They are Pre-Web technology, but are still very fun and easy to use.

I encourage all readers to give Rogue a try and set some high scores on rlgallery.org!

Postmodern Software Download Page

Filedropper was not a reliable way to host The Atomic Knight. I created a free Google Site to host public downloads. This page should host future downloads (Star Quest? That's my next project to finish).

http://sites.google.com/site/8bitcity/

Everyone should be able to download The Atomic Knight Beta 3.0. I've included the source code, feel free to read it or improve it.

The Atomic Knight Beta 3.0 Release!!!

Yes, a brand-new release of The Atomic Knight, the new trendy underground ASCII arcade adventure game I created!

New features include:

-Badass color options to suit any and all tastes!
-New intuitive interface
-Options Menu (also at death screen!)
-Color Menu (also at death screen!)
-Quit option
-Fixed a bug which caused the Game Over screen to get skipped
-Powerups (4,8,X) now give 500k points
-Trolls now give 1000+(0-99999) points

FREE ASCII GAME DOWNLOAD!

Download The Atomic Knight Beta 3.0

With the release of Beta 3.0, I can look back on the last two weeks of development. What began as a simple project in QBASIC a month ago (with the A walking around) I shifted the focus to C++ about 10 days ago. Sitting alone in an abandoned classroom, I programmed the concept that would become the Atomic Knight in 2 hours on my laptop.

Over the last week my free time has been divided between reading Emerson, Thoreau, and The Atomic Knight. Enjoy the game! Use your imagination!

Sonic 4 Annouced

In the midst of new ASCII game releases, another small software company is returning to its roots. Sega just announced Sonic 4, and it looks similar to the Genesis games with a bit of Sonic Rush polish. Personally I would have preferred 16-bit graphics, but hopefully Sega will do good with this game.

I'd also like to humbly point out that the "retro revival" trend was predicted by myself in 2008 with the release of Mega Man 9. Since then, Nintendo, Konami, Capcom, Sega, and others have released new additions to classic franchises in the classic style.

But if these games are still too advanced, I know a nice ASCII game you could play.

The Atomic Knight

The Atomic Knight is an ASCII adventure/arcade game. The world is randomly generated. Trolls are attacking the city, you must escape! Kill Trolls with your Atomic Energy Missiles (IJKL) and move with WASD.

This is a beta release, but it's the first game I've finished, so enjoy!

[2.4.2010 Download Link Removed, please download the current version!]

This includes the readme. The .exe is a 32-bit windows console application, and is best experienced in full screen. The game runs at 80 characters wide, 24 tall. Theoretically it could be ported to Telnet.

NOTE: This is a BETA release. New versions should be uploaded regularly for a few weeks. I am currently almost finished with Beta 2.0 which will change up the gameplay a little, so check back soon!



Screenshot are from the Beta 1.0 version, and, yes, the game looks different.