I love this image.

Impressions: Yes, this is another tech demo, but it definitely needs more love. I remember playing this once upon a time, wishing there was more, and only now do I realize that Ashes of Emerald gave us full permission to make games with it if we liked. Without further ado, here's why that would be awesome! This tech demo replicates the feel and appearance of old Nintendo side scrolling platforms such as Ninja Gaiden and Castlevania, and it really is ideal for a making a game of that variety. Also, for fun, I checked out the eventing on this program, and even with my meager skills, I was able to add moves to the player character's repertoire. Provided you can supply the animations, making a full action platformer in RPG Maker or Tsukuru 2000 and 2003 shouldn't be a problem with this tech demo at all.



System: First, this system is surprisingly simple, amazingly so considering you get these kinds of results. This sidescrolling platformer uses the basic method of blocking tiles above and below the main character to make sure he can't move up or down. The charsets are all replaced with battle animations, which the event code calls to the screen for all actions including walking, attacking and jumping, bypassing RPG Maker's standard character system. Next, the battle AI is very simple; your enemies are simply evented to approach you and to do damage whenever they make contact. Your attacks do not rely on which tile you're on, but instead use a series of variables to set a range of attack. You don't have to be on the tile next to the enemy. You just have to close enough for your attack to make contact. This was the part of the eventing I fidgeted with, and it's very easy to work with. Unfortunately, programming in jump attacks isn't easy and it will likely take some time to figure out. Animations are tied to tile position, so they're not always as seamless as you may like. Finally, you have life meter tied to a series of variables which count each time you're struck by an enemy and score counter tied to a series of variables which count how many enemies you've beaten.




Conclusion: It's not a full game...more like a tutorial level. By all means, check it out, fiddle with it, find out what makes it tick. I highly recommend it.