7DRL: Bob and Trev: Resurrection - rec.games.roguelike.development

Message from discussion 7DRL: Bob and Trev: Resurrection
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From: Phlamethro...@gmail.com
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Subject: Re: 7DRL: Bob and Trev: Resurrection
Date: 11 Mar 2007 14:27:54 -0700
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Progress update!

On 10 Mar, 18:32, Phlamethro...@gmail.com wrote:
> So currently I'm
> trying to decide whether I should switch to a different LOS technique
> (e.g. a room gains visibility when you enter it, but remains visible
> even if you go elsewhere), or ignore the speed problem and have a go
> at crafting some assembler optimisations once the competition is
> over :)

Luckily, I came to my senses and just wrote a simpler LOS technique.
The game now effectively treats doors (and windows!) as vision
blockers, so you can only see the contents of the room you're in.
Although this code is a lot faster (and only needs updating when you
change room), it does make some of my planned features harder to
implement (e.g. the sunglasses that would reduce your visibility, but
provide protection from being blinded by bright lights).

Following some rewrites and optimisation, the code now runs at an
acceptable speed on a BBC - you can take about 2 or 3 moves per
second. Save files are now a bit smaller too, so it should be possible
to fit the game and a full save file onto a 40-track floppy :)

New features:
* level progression
* unique start and end levels to the dungeon (aka skyscraper)
* rudimentary item and monster spawning
* inventory management; take, drop, and look commands

http://www.phlamethrower.co.uk/misc2/batr2.png
http://www.phlamethrower.co.uk/misc2/batr3.png

Monster AI and combat will be the next thing on the list, after which
the game could probably be classed as, well, a game.

Unfortunately I'll soon be pushing against the memory limit of the
machine - the code is now almost 15KB in size, and runtime checks show
I only have about 1700 bytes left. Luckily there are some tricks
available for me to shrink the code. Modern versions of BASIC have a
CRUNCH command, which can remove about 3KB of wasted space, and there
are some more advanced BASIC compressors available, which can get the
current code down to under 9KB. Plus there will be more space gained
'naturally' as I remove unwanted items from the game data file.

Cheers,

- Jeffrey