How did I manage to get the slot reels* on my one-armed bandit enemy to work properly? Like so many other things on this #nes project, sheer brute force! #pixelart

(* they're not random at all. pure skill.)

New graphics are drawn and working in-game. I present the *Combat Anchor.* Gosh it's HEAVY! Drag it behind you to catch foes giving chase, then charge it up and SLAM it down in front of you for massive damage. Tricky to use, but quite powerful in the right hands. #gamedev #nes #pixelart

How to summarize this fix... ermh. For "racing the beam" reasons, dialog splits weren't quite finished before the top-of-screen split got drawn. To fix it? Add an extra invisible split that does nothing, but which gives dialog time to finish processing. Bug squashed, yes! #nes #gamedev

Added a new accessibility feature after getting some feedback from playtesters: high contrast mode! This forces the floor color to always be $0F (black) even in rooms that would otherwise be fully lit. It's also great if you just prefer that classic NES aesthetic. #accessibility #pixelart #nes

Working on the HUD for the PC build, which has to be totally rearranged. Today I got particles working! That's tricker than it sounds since the NES's 256x240 canvas is still mostly running the show. Particles cheat, and are drawn by SDL2 directly to maintain the illusion. #gamedev #nes #rust

I am pleased to report that Tactus is running, for the first time, on my real NES hardware. How exciting! ( I might be dancing around my house like a complete fool. ) Here's a recording from my unmodified US NES. #gamedev #nes #homebrew

Tactus v0.8: "Perfectly Normal Chests" is now released to my Patreons. Warp zones, one-armed bandits, evil cultists and loads of items! Also, v0.7 is now public! Check out the full changelog, there's a ton of new features in here. #gamedev #nes #chiptune

zeta0134.itch.io/tactus/devlo...

One nifty feature of my custom sound driver that I gloss over on here is the concept of variants. Each stage has "normal", "cave" and "pause" versions of the music, and I can hop between them at phrase boundaries.

Also shown: a fancy new RTA timer for speedruns :D #nes #gamedev #screenshotsunday

Check it out! Two new items for Tactus:
"Dingbat": Sound a chime when near a hidden secret
"Interrogation Beam": Preview chest contents

Also, new chest types!
Timed Chest: Defeat all enemies quickly to open
Perfectly Normal Chests: Not suspicious at all!

#gamedev #screenshotsaturday #nes

From left to right: Standard Chests, Rare/Legendary Chests, Challenge Chests, completely normal chests, nothing out of the ordinary here, no sir! #pixelart #nes

I present: the newly invented Charge-a-bulb™! This ingenious contraption harvests latent energy from the very monsters giving you trouble. Turn the tables and light your own path!* #nes #gamedev #screenshotsunday

(*The Charge-a-bulb will automatically deactivate when it detects natural light.)

Am I supposed to do two #screenshotsaturday posts on the same Saturday? Anyway, I was on a roll, so please enjoy this new footware: the Ninja Footwraps! Featuring the all-new player invulnerability, these will reliably dodge incoming attacks, provided you can keep them charged up. #nes #gamedev

Player jumps were looking a bit stiff due to a frame pacing problem, so I fixed it. Now I can switch out frames independent of the musical tempo, allowing me to squish the player sprite upon landing. This helps a ton! #pixelart #gamedev #nes

Finally wrapping up work on a fancy new enemy type for Tactus. These guys teleport around and cast the FORBIDDEN SHAPES, with various debilitating effects! Try not to get caught in the blast. Also, they glow in the dark! #gamedev #nes #pixelart

Now that the engine is in good shape, I can focus on adding new enemy types. I present: the one-armed bandit! These have a variety of rewards, including whole-room magic spells if you can line up the symbols. They're also a real pain to fight with the broadsword. :D #gamedev #nes