Difference between revisions of "Jario!"

From The Game-Maker Archive
Jump to navigationJump to search
Line 8: Line 8:
 
'''Author:''' [[Don'Pan Software]]<br />
 
'''Author:''' [[Don'Pan Software]]<br />
 
'''Related games:''' ''[[Luigi's Heroic Debut!]]'', ''[[Super Mario 5]]''
 
'''Related games:''' ''[[Luigi's Heroic Debut!]]'', ''[[Super Mario 5]]''
}}[[Category:Pending articles]]<center>'''FULL ENTRY COMING SOON!'''</center>
+
}}There are a few constant bugbears with Game-Maker's feature set. After the [[Link vs. Gannon|flag-and-counter issue]], one of the larger is the lack of arbitrary character logic. [[Pac]] can’t eat ghosts, and Mario can’t stop enemies.
  
 +
For kicks, one of my later projects involved transcribing the background tiles from ''Super Mario Bros.'' and the sprites from ''Super Mario 3'', almost pixel for pixel out of a magazine, in attempt to find some way around the stomping issue. It never happened.
  
 +
Even more so than ''[[Link vs. Gannon]]'', ''Jario!'' is barely a game. I didn’t bother to animate the sprites or design a real level; my whole concern was with trying to force an issue on which the engine wouldn’t bend. It was just as well; I never much liked Mario anyway.
  
 
+
'''''- EJR Tairne'''''
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
A quickly aborted attempt at a ''Super Mario Bros.'' clone.
 
  
 
== Instructions ==
 
== Instructions ==
 
[[File:Jario.png|thumb|320px|Jario]]
 
  
 
'''On the numerical keypad:'''
 
'''On the numerical keypad:'''
Line 47: Line 35:
  
 
==Q&A==
 
==Q&A==
 +
 +
[[File:Jario.png|thumb|320px|Jario]]
  
 
'''When does Jario appear in your G-M usage timeline?'''
 
'''When does Jario appear in your G-M usage timeline?'''
Line 72: Line 62:
 
* '''[http://www.aderack.com/game-maker/java/jario.php Play ''Jario!'' online]'''
 
* '''[http://www.aderack.com/game-maker/java/jario.php Play ''Jario!'' online]'''
  
 +
[[Category: Game-Maker games]]
 
[[Category: Incomplete games]]
 
[[Category: Incomplete games]]
 
[[Category: Don'Pan Software]]
 
[[Category: Don'Pan Software]]

Revision as of 15:43, 21 November 2011

Jario!
JarioTitle.gif

Release type: Incomplete
Release date: N/A (begun December 1994)
Levels: 1
Author: Don'Pan Software
Related games: Luigi's Heroic Debut!, Super Mario 5

There are a few constant bugbears with Game-Maker's feature set. After the flag-and-counter issue, one of the larger is the lack of arbitrary character logic. Pac can’t eat ghosts, and Mario can’t stop enemies.

For kicks, one of my later projects involved transcribing the background tiles from Super Mario Bros. and the sprites from Super Mario 3, almost pixel for pixel out of a magazine, in attempt to find some way around the stomping issue. It never happened.

Even more so than Link vs. Gannon, Jario! is barely a game. I didn’t bother to animate the sprites or design a real level; my whole concern was with trying to force an issue on which the engine wouldn’t bend. It was just as well; I never much liked Mario anyway.

- EJR Tairne

Instructions

On the numerical keypad:

4, 6: Walk left, right

7, 8, 9: Jump left, up, and right

Climb the platforms; avoid the enemies.

Credits

Design, graphics, sound: Aderack

Testing: M.O.S.H.

Game engine: Recreational Software Designs

Q&A

Jario

When does Jario appear in your G-M usage timeline?

Somewhere around 1995 or 1996. It was after Ricci's Cow Hunt, and mostly inspired by a bonus level I threw in there for a whim. I was already pretty much done with Game-Maker, but I continued to tinker half-heartedly with small projects. This was something without ego attachment that captured my attention momentarily. I soon realized it wasn't worth expanding.

The graphics of Jario looks very similar, if not undistinguishable from SMB, which is esp. impressive for a scanner-less era. How did you proceed?

Back in the early '90s, game magazines were full of huge, pixelly photographs of game screens. I just dug up some photographs and started transferring, dot-for-dot. Different tile sizes required a bit of adaptation, but it was fairly straightforward.

Jario.gif

Jario shows clearly that most of SMB core mechanics can only be poorly emulated by G-M. Have you learnt interesting lessons in that attempt ?

I think I was beyond the point of huge lessons. It was more a waning bit of curiosity, to see how well I could bend the engine. As it turns out, not well at all. Didn't even bother to animate the character.

Why has Jario been discontinued ?

I guess at that point I just wasn't willing to put the effort in to adapt it into something that did work. If I'd hit on the idea a couple of years earlier I might have come up with something half-interesting. By 1996 I was basically burned out.

Links