Final Dragon

My First Game Boy Advance Game

Final Dragon…

• Is a role playing game

• Was developed only for the Game Boy Advance platform

• Uses 2-D graphics

• Uses .s3m music and sounds

• Was written in C++

• Was tested on actual Game Boy Advance Hardware

Graphics

• Graphics are tied strongly to hardware

• The Game boy Advance uses only 2-D graphics system

• Most graphics modes use a tile-based system supported by hardware

Metamap Decoding

• Final Dragon uses a metamap tiling algorithm

• Metamaps are maps that represent larger tiles than hardware supports

• To the left we see 16 by 16 pixel metatiles

Metamap Decoding

• The gameboy advance uses 8 by 8 pixel tiles

• Final Dragon uses the metamap decoder to create an array of 8 by 8 pixel tiles for use in hardware

Metamap Decoding

• The 8 by 8 pixel map is sent to hardware along with a tileset and palette

• Each eight-bit integer value in the map represents an 8 by 8 pixel tile in the tileset

• Each tile in the tileset contains 64 eight-bit integer values each representing a palette entry

Benefits of Metamap Decoding

• Metamaps take up one fourth the space of regular maps plus a small amount for the metamap lookup table

• Metamaps are used extensively in game logic and collision detection

• Game modifications are made simpler by bringing the graphic data and game logic data into one file

Sound

• Sound is implemented using .s3m files

• .s3m files are Scream Tracker files

• Tracker files can be thought of as midis that use wavs for instruments

• Each .s3m file can include up to 16 channels or wavs

• .s3m files are very small compared to sound files of similar quality

Benefits/Disadvantages

• Easy to implement using Krawall open source solution

• Most .s3m are free to download and use

• Includes both music and wavs for sound effects

• Hard to find good .s3ms

• Making you own .s3ms is a long and tedious task

• Hard to understand and use .s3ms for a beginner programmer for the Game Boy Advance

Game Structure

• Very basic HP/MP system

• Uses two types of magic, attack and heal

• Attack magic is significantly stronger than regular attacks

• Heal magic heals about half of your hitpoints

• The MP cost for heal and attack stays constant as the MP increases

Plot

• The Gnome King asks you to save their kingdom from the Blue Dragon

• You venture forth to retrieve the crystals from dungeons to gain access to the Blue Dragons cave

• You defeat the Blue Dragon

• You win

Tools Used

• Visual HAM 2.8

• Krawall API

• ModPlug

• Mappy

• PaintShop Pro

• XG-Flash

Program Screenshots

Challenges Overcome

• Learning the Game Boy Advance hardware

• Finding a toolkit

• Learning how to incorporate tilebased graphics and sprites

• Learning how to include music and sound on the Game Boy Advance platform

• Time constraints

Future Upgrades

• More dungeons

• Deeper plot

• Better Graphics

• A whole new character development system

• More monsters and a different battle interface

• More spells and items

What have I learned?

• Platform specific programs are challenging and more difficult to program

• How to properly implement metamaps

• How to use and create .s3m Scream Tracker files

• Roleplaying games take a lot of time and effort to create

• My next game will be a puzzle game

Questions