From 2389af7ee595158f31ed93926615aa11652f0b8b Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Christine Dodrill Date: Mon, 28 Dec 2020 15:49:05 -0500 Subject: [PATCH] Create mara-sh0rk-of-justice-2020-12-28.markdown (#286) --- .../mara-sh0rk-of-justice-2020-12-28.markdown | 51 +++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 51 insertions(+) create mode 100644 blog/mara-sh0rk-of-justice-2020-12-28.markdown diff --git a/blog/mara-sh0rk-of-justice-2020-12-28.markdown b/blog/mara-sh0rk-of-justice-2020-12-28.markdown new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f448268 --- /dev/null +++ b/blog/mara-sh0rk-of-justice-2020-12-28.markdown @@ -0,0 +1,51 @@ +--- +title: "Mara: Sh0rk of Justice: Version 1.0.0 Released" +date: 2020-12-28 +tags: + - gameboy + - gbstudio + - indiedev +--- + +# Mara: Sh0rk of Justice: Version 1.0.0 Released + +Over the long weekend I found out about a program called [GB Studio](https://www.gbstudio.dev). +It's a simple drag-and-drop interface that you can use to make homebrew games for the +[Nintendo Game Boy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy). I was intrigued and I had +some time, so I set out to make a little top-down adventure game. After a few days of +tinkering I came up with an idea and created Mara: Sh0rk of Justice. + +[You made a game about me? :D](conversation://Mara/hacker) + +> Guide Mara through the spooky dungeon in order to find all of its secrets. Seek out +> the secrets of the spooks! Defeat the evil mage! Solve the puzzles! Find the items +> of power! It's up you to save us all, Mara! + +You can play it in an ` + +## Things I Learned + +Game development is hard. Even with tools that help you do it, there's a limit to how +much you can get done at once. Everything links together. You really need to test +things both in isolation and as a cohesive whole. + +I cannot compose music to save my life. I used free-to-use music assets from the +[GB Studio Community Assets](https://github.com/DeerTears/GB-Studio-Community-Assets) +pack to make this game. I think I managed to get everything acceptable. + +GB Studio is rather inflexible. It feels like it's there to really help you get +started from a template. Even though you can make the whole game from inside GB +Studio, I probably should have ejected the engine to source code so I could +customize some things like the jump button being weird in platforming sections. + +Pixel art is an art of its own. I used a lot of free to use assets from itch.io for +the tileset and a few NPC's. The rest was created myself using +[Aseprite](https://www.aseprite.org). Getting Mara's walking animation to a point +that I thought was acceptable was a chore. I found a nice compromise though. + +--- + +Overall I'm happy with the result as a whole. Try it out, see how you like it and +please do let me know what I can improve on for the future.