Tag:
retro games
- Weave through a randomly generated landscape in Mark Vanstone’s homage to the classic arcade game Scramble. Konami’s Scramble In the early eighties, arcades and sports halls rang with the sound of a multitude of video games. Because home computers hadn’t yet made it into most households, the only option for the avid video gamer was … Continue reading →
- Making player and computer-controlled cars race round a track isn’t as hard as it sounds. Mark Vanstone explains all. From Gran Trak 10 to Super Sprint Decades before the advent of more realistic racing games such as Sega Rally or Gran Turismo, Atari produced a string of popular arcade racers, beginning with Gran Trak 10 in … Continue reading →
- Raspberry Pi’s own Rik Cross shows you how to hit enemies with your mouse pointer as they move around the screen. Clicky Clicky Bang Bang Shooting galleries have always been a part of gaming, from the Seeburg Ray-O-Lite in the 1930s to the light gun video games of the past 40 years. Nintendo’s Duck Hunt … Continue reading →
- Raspberry Pi’s Rik Cross shows you how to create game states, and rules for moving between them. The continue screen, while much less common now, was a staple feature of arcade games, providing an opportunity (for a small fee) to reanimate the game’s hero and to pick up where they left off. Continue Screens Games … Continue reading →
- You too can recreate the techniques behind a pioneering 3D maze game in Python. Mark Vanstone explains how. 3D Monster Maze While 3D games have become more and more realistic, some may forget that 3D games on home computers started in the mists of time on machines like the Sinclair ZX81. One such pioneering game … Continue reading →
- Learn how to create your own obedient lemmings that follow any path put in front of them. Raspberry Pi’s own Rik Cross explains how. Lemmings Lemmings is a puzzle-platformer, created at DMA Design, and first became available for the Amiga in 1991. The aim is to guide a number of small lemming sprites to safety, … Continue reading →
- Learn how to create game objects that follow the path of the main player sprite. Raspberry Pi’s own Rik Cross explains all. Gradius First released by Konami in 1985, Gradius pushed the boundaries of the shoot-’em-up genre with its varied level design, dramatic boss fights, and innovative power-up system. One of the most memorable of … Continue reading →
- Isometric graphics give 2D games the illusion of depth. Mark Vanstone explains how to make an isometric game map of your own. Isometric projection Most early arcade games were 2D, but in 1982, a new dimension emerged: isometric projection. The first isometric game to hit arcades was Sega’s pseudo-3D shooter, Zaxxon. The eye-catching format soon … Continue reading →
- Effective animation gave Donkey Kong barrels of personality. Raspberry Pi’s own Rik Cross explains how to create a similar walk cycle. Donkey Kong wasn’t the first game to feature an animated character who could walk and jump, but on its release in 1981, it certainly had more personality than the games that came before it. … Continue reading →
- Unparalleled depth in a 2D game: PyGame Zero extraordinaire Daniel Pope shows you how to recreate a zooming starfield effect straight out of the eighties arcade classic Gyruss. The crowded, noisy realm of eighties amusement arcades presented something of a challenge for developers of the time: how can you make your game stand out from … Continue reading →