EDIT 8/27/2018

Updated the title of the thread to point out Nebs 'n Debs is currently Kickstarting until 9/20! Head on over to https://www.kickstarter.com/proje... to peruse the pledge levels.

EDIT 2/15/2017 New build attached with following bug fixes:

* Levels 2 and 3 should no longer contain visual artifacts and camera jitterriness.
* Fixed issue where dash counters would sometimes get out of sync with Deb's actual dash-ability.

EDIT: Attached new pics and a ROM. Please play it and let me know what you think! Submitted this to the 2016 NESDEV compo!

I often post status updates to my twitter profile: https://twitter.com/cacciatc..., but it is about time I created an update thread here as well! Nes & Debs is an NROM platformer. I am currently developing a prequel/demo to be submitted to the NESDEV 2016 compo. I hope to have a full lengh game ready to play in late spring of 2017.

Our heroine Debs crash-landed on an alien planet. Not long after while exploring the planet she bumps into an intergalatic octupus and the two are now stuck together. Having a cantankerous octupus stuck to your head isn't all bad, 'cause now Debs has the power to warp through space, enemies, and powerups. With the help of Nebs, the octupus, Debs seeks out the parts needed to repair her ship and return home. It won't be easy though, the planet is crawling with drones left by the planet's former inhabitants; drones who are no longer content with their menial tasks...

Looks cool! Inspired by mega man?

Thanks  . Definitely, some MM influence with the environments; although, Debs won't be able to shoot any lemons and less CHR so the backgrounds will be less elaborate.

Very happy to see this Chris  !

The backgrounds are simple and clean, and look nice. The sprite is cute. If you are going to fully design the game by yourself, I mean, code, draw graphics, compose music, ... , I think that it is a pretty ambitious task also limiting the scope to what an NROM can handle. I suppose you'll have horizontal scrolling, probably continuous (I mean, not limited to just the 512 px of the two nametables), and this is pretty challenging to be done with only 32kB of NROM memory I think. Not a fan of platform games, never attempted to make one myself, but I think the task is more complex than what it looks like. Best luck with this project!

Cool!  

Keep us informed!

Thanks @SoleGoose and @neodolphino   Yep, @user it definitely can get complex. I have scrolling working (you can click the orig. img attachment to see an animated GIF) and I am using a level format similar to SMB1 to conserve ROM.

Love your work on Twitter. Thank you for sharing it here!

 

Looks like something I'd enjoy playing.

very cool- following!!1!1!!11!!!!

Pretty cool. Loved the graphics of the playable character =D

This looks great so far! I also love the main character sprite and the gameplay looks interesting from the gif you posted! I will be watching this closely, thanks for sharing your work.

Love the look! Excited to see how this turns out!

Great concept! This looks like a lot of fun.

Definitely beautiful artwork, love the style. So is this going to control just like a classic platformer? Definitely a favorite of mine for the NES.

Thanks for feedback everyone  

@thesubcon3 yep, controls like a classic platformer. Physics are somewhere between SMB1 and MM1.

Looks rad! Hit me up if you need some tunes for it.

Progress since last post:

* Game can now be paused (using upper bits of PPU_MASK to darken screen).
* Crystals glow using palette swapping.
* Scenes can now encode palettes (used to just be hardcoded).
* Progress towards transition screens before each level (where you see your life total and the level name).
* Bug fixes.
* Minor optimizations to reduce ROM size.

Animated GIF is attached.

New GIF attached. Added the following:

* Floating dash counters.
* Debs can be hurt by enemies and when hurt is stunned briefly.
* Added game over state.
* Bug fixes.
* Crystal animations.

Looking great!

Updates:

* New flying enemy Z75.
* Star animations.
* Completed level 1 and 2.
* Dash powerups.

Attached GIF shows the star animations.

I still am not sure how I want to handle the traditional boss stage/last level of a world. I can't spare the CHR for unique bosses for each world unfortunately and am not sure if I want to do a SMB1 recurring Bowser-like encounter. I want to hear if you have a favorite end-of-world challenge. For example, I have been toying with the idea of some kind of puzzle.

Can you replace just the face? Have like a monster that attaches to a bosses face, you can do fire, water, earth, etc. That could go along with your heroes backstory

That's tricky. Are you going to stick with the same CHR constraints after the NESDEV competiton? One thing that comes to mind would be to have an "enemy rush" segment, which could be structured almost like a puzzle (repeating patterns like the MM games). I'd have to see more of the general feel of the game to be able to better feel if that would work, but it is an idea.

What types of puzzles did you have in mind?

Can you replace just the face? Have like a monster that attaches to a bosses face, you can do fire, water, earth, etc. That could go along with your heroes backstory

Good idea! A different face and a palette change could get me pretty far if I do a recurring boss fight!

That's tricky. Are you going to stick with the same CHR constraints after the NESDEV competiton? One thing that comes to mind would be to have an "enemy rush" segment, which could be structured almost like a puzzle (repeating patterns like the MM games). I'd have to see more of the general feel of the game to be able to better feel if that would work, but it is an idea.

What types of puzzles did you have in mind?

Enemy rush segment could be good! As for puzzles I am not really sure--just that Deb's main ability dashing has to be integral. Not that helpful I know