Retro Game, Retro Methods

Freeman69

I've just found this website and had to leave a comment (to be followed with a link to the game I've just finished writing).
I'm a dinosaur - I've been hobby programming for decades and I'm a little sad that the most visible 'Indie' forums seem to be monocultures for very high level game engines; not that it's a bad thing.
I started with BBC Basic, then learnt some 6502 assembler, ARM assembler and only touched on 'C' in Windows when I turned 40. It was a journey ignited by finding programming at an early age (back in the dark ages).
While hi-rez graphics and 3D rendering tools are fantastic, they seem to have pushed out the experimental programmer, the ones who find achievement in a broader, more general environment. They need a bit of encouragement too.
Games are inherently suited to learning how to program - at all levels of programming skill. They are all about input/output and data processing; and it makes learning fun.

Freeman69

Zonyx was created as an experimental proper-3D version of Zaxxon (as opposed to isometric)
It runs with a fixed 320 x 256 pixel resolution that is scaled up when displayed.

It's for Windows only - written on Windows 7, but tested on Windows 10 as well.

Written partly in BBC Basic for Windows with a DLL in C for drawing the graphics.
Triangles and spheres are plotted pixel by pixel, which allows the z-depth of each pixel to be calculated with a bit of ray tracing; some texture mapping can be done and a display depth-map is maintained.
(The depth map also enables pixel-perfect mouse-over-object identification, although that isn't used here.)

The 3D nets can incorporate additional lines used for simplified collision checking. Drawing an environment is one thing - interactions with it is another.

Sound is minimal using the 4 channels and ENVELOPE command built into BB4W.

I've always been fascinated with 3D environments ever since 'Elite' came out on the BBC Micro, but I'm a very slow learner! I also can't draw for toffee.

Screenshot

Zonyx zip folder stored on Google Drive - yes, it really is that small

100goats

Welcome to the forums! We are glad to have people who build their own engines on here.

I played your game using WINE on Linux Mint. It worked well!
Congratulations on making your game.

Have you tried Handmade Hero Network forum? Those guys build their own engines as well.
https://hero.handmade.network/

I understand your frustration with other forums. I get a lot of pushback and put-downs from these young novices who are convinced it is impossible or impractical to build a game without some high-level engine.

Freeman69

100goats Hi and thanks 🙂
I'll have to take a deeper look at that forum, it seems to cover a very wide range of subjects!
In the UK, teachers can use any language they want and some stick to theory only. There's virtually zero recognition of the worth of 'All Purpose' (Basic) languages, which, given the speed of computers today, provide plenty of scope for creating games... although I expect these 'novices' really want to create commerically saleable games before they've learnt anything 😉

I've been trying to think how to define the situation without sounding like an elitist snob... but there is a spectrum of programmers out there and I believe I'm at an extreme end being a hobbyist who does it as a creative outlet; so I prefer to put more of myself into a project than perhaps the other far end of the spectrum, where someone is taking as many short cuts as possible by leveraging the work of others.
Speaking personally, I've found that the satisfaction gained from programming as a hobby far exceeded that from a narrow job as a programmer maintaining systems, but the obvious compromise is that I'm not making any money from it. I also find it unfortunate that too often the lowest common denominator drowns out everything else (which definitely makes me sound like a snob). We're all following our dreams, on one path or another.

100goats

I can understand what you are saying about the lowest common denominator.

As soon as a niche gets more popular, the niche changes to accommodate the new people.
Then, the scene changes so much that it stops appealing to the people who were there early.