Frank the Fruit Fly (Pokemon Mini WIP)

[Gamegearguy | 223]

Some people like to make homebrews for the NES. Some like the SNES. I'm different. I like to tackle stuff that only a few people have done. I've made a Channel F game. And I've been working on this game for the Pokemon Mini called Frank the Fruit Fly. There is a small homebrew scene for the small handheld that only a few people know about. So it's fitting that I try to make a homebrew game for it. To download the latest version, go to its website. Here are a few pictures of the game in action.

 

[Dr. Ludos | 26]

Hey, nice project ! I've been following some of your project among various forums (for GB, Channel F and Game Gear), it's cool to see that you can make for every platform. How do you code for the Pokemon mini? Is it 100% in assembly, or can you use and higher-level language like C or Basic?

[neodolphino | 267]

Very neat (and crazy.... hehe j/k).  Welcome to the site!  I look forward to watching the development continue!

[Gamegearguy | 223]

Thanks. I program in assembly for the Pokemon Mini, although there is a C compiler available as well. And it's not EVERY platform, just a lot of them. I still don't know how to program an NES game, for example.

[TylerBarnes | 184]

I had no idea this console was even a thing. Well done. Looks great. I love the weird and the obscure. 

[Gamegearguy | 223]

Thanks for all the kind words on the project. Since I am one of the lucky ones with a Pokemon Mini flashcart and there were a few things I didn't understand and were annoying me, I completely figured them out and now I think the program is just the way I want it now. Time to work on it some more and add new things. I doubt this will get done any time soon since I keep having trouble thinking up stuff. In this latest screen here, Frank is in an oasis in the desert. And those are supposed to be palm trees.

Someone else designed the frog. I forget who. Thanks to whoever did! My plan is for the frog to jump and Frank needs to avoid touching the frog. In earlier stages, the frog had his tongue out, but the frog learned that since that isn't going to work, he might as well not do it. I don't know if this looks good, or should I reverse it and make the ground white and the water gray? Or just get rid of the water altogether.

I've been working on this for a year and a half now, and the code is 7,999 lines long. And I'm only on level 3.

Edited November 6, 2019 by Gamegearguy

[JamesRobot | 5,798]

That's really cool. I didn't even know that Pokemon Mini was a thing.

[Gamegearguy | 223]

I was having trouble with the game but with help I finally got past it and I hope to finish it one day. I just finished level 3 and I'm about to begin work on level 4, the ocean. I bet you didn't know fruit flies can swim! I added about another 1,000 lines. Now it's past 9,000 lines! And I'm only about half-way done.

[Vectrex28 | 366]

Ooooh I think I heard of this somewhere. I like the premise

[Gamegearguy | 223]

A few more screenshots of what I've been up to for the past month or so.

 

I want to have it done by September 2021 for the Pokemon Mini 20th anniversary, but I don't know if I can or not, judging on how slow on it I've been working. The biggest thing I have to worry about is lack of ideas. Found a new (apparently better) way to compile the game, so I work on it the old way and then convert what assembly code I have with a program that turns it into better Epson assembly code.

Edited December 28, 2019 by Gamegearguy

[DoctorEncore | 3,691]

On 11/6/2019 at 6:59 AM, Gamegearguy said:

Thanks for all the kind words on the project. Since I am one of the lucky ones with a Pokemon Mini flashcart and there were a few things I didn't understand and were annoying me, I completely figured them out and now I think the program is just the way I want it now. Time to work on it some more and add new things. I doubt this will get done any time soon since I keep having trouble thinking up stuff. In this latest screen here, Frank is in an oasis in the desert. And those are supposed to be palm trees.

Someone else designed the frog. I forget who. Thanks to whoever did! My plan is for the frog to jump and Frank needs to avoid touching the frog. In earlier stages, the frog had his tongue out, but the frog learned that since that isn't going to work, he might as well not do it. I don't know if this looks good, or should I reverse it and make the ground white and the water gray? Or just get rid of the water altogether.

I've been working on this for a year and a half now, and the code is 7,999 lines long. And I'm only on level 3.

Looks great!

[erockbrox | 33]

Channel F? Like wow, I almost never hear that people are making stuff for that system. I've only seen a few of the consoles at some shops and conventions, but never played one in person.

[Splain | 2,561]

Whoa, I thought the Pokemon mini was strictly monochrome, I didn't know it could display grey. This is a very cool project!

[Gamegearguy | 223]

Thanks! Here are a few more screenshots of what I've been busy on these past few months. Every time I get a new idea, I rush as soon as I can to the computer since after 38 screens, I'm kinda running out of ideas. I wanted to make 8 levels, but I'm not sure I can. In the first screenshot, Frank is inside a whale. In the second one, Frank tries not to touch the sharp sea floor while pipes blow him downwards. Right now Frank is in an ocean level.

 

[RH | 4,903]

If you want ideas for screens, play cybernoid. The theme would be different but the gameplay is the same.

There's no shame in the game in regards to being inspired by prior art.

[arch_8ngel | 1,597]

On 12/29/2019 at 1:32 AM, Splain said:

Whoa, I thought the Pokemon mini was strictly monochrome, I didn't know it could display grey. This is a very cool project!

A lot of those little monochrome LCDs can flicker fast enough to manage 4 effective colors of greyscale.

The effect was pretty popular on TI calculator games in the late 90s.

 

[RH | 4,903]

23 minutes ago, arch_8ngel said:

A lot of those little monochrome LCDs can flicker fast enough to manage 4 effective colors of greyscale.

The effect was pretty popular on TI calculator games in the late 90s.

 

Not trying to derail the conversation on this awesome side project, but I know that on the OG Game Boy, there is a a bit of a "fade" delay on all of the pixels which is why you could often see sprites streak as they scroll on stage. It's made me wonder if with clever pixel "flickering", the GB could realistically achieve more than 4 shades of grey.  Of course, this affect would probably look hideous on a GB Pocket, and all subsequent pieces of hardware, but it'd be interesting to try and demo such a technique to see if 8 or maybe even 16 shade of "green" could be achieved.

[Splain | 2,561]

3 hours ago, RH said:

Not trying to derail the conversation on this awesome side project, but I know that on the OG Game Boy, there is a a bit of a "fade" delay on all of the pixels which is why you could often see sprites streak as they scroll on stage. It's made me wonder if with clever pixel "flickering", the GB could realistically achieve more than 4 shades of grey.  Of course, this affect would probably look hideous on a GB Pocket, and all subsequent pieces of hardware, but it'd be interesting to try and demo such a technique to see if 8 or maybe even 16 shade of "green" could be achieved.

I believe there were guidelines that tried to prevent this kind of "cheating" on GB games, although I suspect that Road Rash on GB tries something like that, which prevents it from running on GBC/GBA. It just crashes when you get to the actual gameplay.

[RH | 4,903]

Just now, Splain said:

I believe there were guidelines that tried to prevent this kind of "cheating" on GB games, although I suspect that Road Rash on GB tries something like that, which prevents it from running on GBC/GBA. It just crashes when you get to the actual gameplay.

Someone posted on Reddit a couple of days about that game and bug.  They mentioned that Road Rash is the only GB game that has to play on original hardware and, I think, emulators can't even properly play it.

I've been wanting to ask if anyone knew what that specific bug was and how it was exploited.  I find it interesting and more interesting that it pasted Nintendos QA tests.

[Gamegearguy | 223]

I finished the ocean level and started work on a level in a city:

     

That's interesting about the Road Rash game thing. I would have never in a million years think to try to do something like that.

Edited March 11, 2020 by Gamegearguy

[Tanooki | 4,932]

I like what you're doing there.  Have you considered working perhaps with someone who can do some sprite / drawing work for you as it really seems to vary by the challenge.  The game seems for what it is and on that handheld fairly deep against the stuff Nintendo put out for it in some cases.

 

I had one of these like 15 years ago and I'm finally getting one back soon, hopefully get a DITTO to follow that.  I seem to have a thing for rare Nintendo non-console screw ups.

[Gamegearguy | 223]

If I can't design the sprite myself, I ask someone else to do it for me. I can't draw very well. Yet I somehow managed to make a fruit fly animation of one flapping its wings. For example, I didn't design the cockroaches in the second screen of my last post.

[Gamegearguy | 223]

Added four more screens since the last update.

 

The screen on the left is an orange half. The screen on the right is the living room Frank flew into. In the beginning I had an idea for two things to bounce around and avoid. In the end I made them houseflies.

[Gamegearguy | 223]

Added a few more screens in a few months. Found some time to work on this since most of my time the past week have been working on a Channel F game.

Frank goes in the chimney and out it back outside.

[Gamegearguy | 223]

I've been working on this still. Level 6 is the forest. The first two screens: