May 1st 2003
Winners of the NES Game Design Contest
Between Febuary 8th and April 30th 2003, I held a special contest on this
web site. It was called the NES Game Design Contest, and as the name
implies, people who submitted NES game designs could win nice prizes: The
first prize was an e-Reader, the second prize was a set of two
Pokémon-e Aquapolis theme decks, and the third prize was a
Mario Party-e card game.
As this was a game design contest, and not a game idea contest,
people had to design everything about their NES game, including ALL the
background graphics and ALL the sprite graphics. I defined a lot of rules,
and I'm guessing this is what drove people away, because only three people,
Andrew G., Jason Godlove and Johathan Hicks, actually submitted an entry to
this contest, and all three won a prize!
Without further adue, let's review the contest submissions of the winners:
First place: Block Wizard
Designer: Jason Godlove
Age: 21
City of residence: Baltimore, USA
Prize won: Nintendo e-Reader
Screen 1
Screen 2
Screen 3
OVERVIEW OF GAME
Type of Game: Top-view Action/Strategy
Background Story:
There once was a student of a great wizard whose name was Wick. Everyday, Wick
was taught the ways of magic by his powerful teacher. Over time, Wick perfected
the spell of creating magical blocks which he used to repair the great wizard's
castle as part of his duties. One day, while the great wizard slept, Wick
decided to check out his teacher's master spell book and learn a new spell. He
opened the book and found a seemingly easy spell, a spell to summon a simple
servant. As Wick cast the spell, he made sure to speak each word precisely, as
the slightest mistake would cause the spell to go completely wrong. Suddenly,
sensing the use of his magic in his castle, the great wizard awoke and ran to
the chamber where his master spell book was kept. Barging into the room, he
startled Wick, who then finished his spell with a yell of surprise. The spell,
now gone wrong, began to summon all kinds of creatures from another world,
littering them into the wizard's castle. The great wizard, disappointed in
Wick, gave him the task of disposing of the unwanted creatures. Now Wick must
go out and destroy every last one of the ill-summoned creatures with only his
knowledge of summoning and moving magical blocks which he can use to squish
them between the blocks.
Goal of the game: To kill all of the creatures in the level so that you can
move on to the next level.
BACKGROUND SCREEN DESCRIPTION
Background tiles
Background palettes
The title screen has three blocks on it. As a little show, the wizard, Wick,
will create a green block and seal in the blob in the middle of the blocks
while the round muncher munches over to the spiky urchin and eats it. After
pressing any button at this screen, the game will begin at level 1 using
background screen 1.
General background screen stuff:
Right after it says "Level" on the screen, Tile-switching is used to put in
the number of the level with the same layout as digital clock numbers are laid
out. The Life bar starts three hearts, as Wick gets hit, his life decreases.
The gray walls indicate the play area borders where nothing can move past.
Gray Blocks can not be moved or destroyed. Red Blocks can not be moved but
they can be destroyed. Each Background screen has a different color and basic
floor tiles to give a healthy bit of variety from level to level. After killing
every monster in the level, the game will go onto the next background screen in
order from 1 to 2 to 3 and then back to 1 again in a continuous loop, however
the level will increase with harder enemies.
Title screen:
This is the title screen without any sprites.
Background screen 1:
This is a basic area where you have to push and pull blocks around to get
to areas and kill enemies.
Background screen 2:
This area has a larger outer area and a very confined inner area where you
must use a lot of strategy to kill the creatures without getting hit.
Background screen 3:
This area has many small sealed off sections. Here is where unmoving
urchins could block your way and you must direct munchers to eat them in
order to get through.
DESCRIPTION OF SPRITE OBJECTS
A note about sprite animations: So I don't have to keep repeating myself, all
animations for monsters and wizards moving to the left, use the same sprites as
animations going to the right, only they are flipped. So I am typically going
to mention directions up, down, and right to save space and time.
Sprite tiles
Sprite palettes
Sprites (1)
Sprites (2)
Sprites (3)
Player controls, and Wick the wizard's walking animations:
- The player controls Wick by using the directional pad to move him up,
down, left, and right using the respective directions on the game pad. Wick
can not move over top of blocks, walls, or enemies.
- Sprite 18 is flipped back and forth to give the animation of walking back
and forth downward. Sprite 19 is flipped back and forth to give the animation
of walking back and forth upward. Sprites 20 and 21 are switched back and forth
to give the animation of walking to the right, while the same sprites only
flipped, are used to walk left.
- Pressing the "SELECT" button will cause Wick to create a green block. Wick
can only create up to 5 blocks at a time; otherwise he can not create a new
one without destroying an old one. Wick can only create a block into an
unoccupied space in front of him. He also pauses for a while in order to
cast the spell.
- Sprites 23, 25, and 28 for right, down, and up are used in conjunction
with sprite 2 and then sprite 1 in its green color to make the animation of
the block creation.
- Pressing the "A" button will destroy any red or green blocks directly in
front of him. Destroying a block causes him to pause a little before he
destroys it, about the same amount of time as it does to create a block.
- Sprites 24, 26, and 27 for right, down, and up are used in conjunction
with sprite 2 to make the red or green block disappear. For green blocks, the
sprite is simply removed. For red blocks, the background tile is switched with
the respective regular floor tiles that are used for that background.
- Pressing the "B" while facing a green or blue block will cause Wick to
grab it.
- Sprites 24, 26, and 27 for right, down, and up are used in conjunction
with sprite 1 in the respective blue or green color.
- Now the player can push and pull the block either left and right, or up
and down, depending on if the player grabbed the block on the side or on the
bottom/top. The player must hold the "B" button down while using the
directional pad. The block can only be pushed onto an empty spot or a spot
with an enemy. However, the enemy will be pushed to either an adjacent empty
spot or be destroyed.
- Sprite 26 is flipped back and forth to give the animation of
pushing/pulling back and forth downward.
- Sprite 27 is flipped back and forth to give the animation of
pushing/pulling back and forth upward.
- Sprites 22 and 24 are switched back and forth to give the animation of
pushing/pulling to the right, while the same sprites only flipped, are used
to walk left.
- Pressing the "START" button will cause the game to pause and pressing the
START button again will cause the game to un-pause. While paused, the player
may press the "A", "B", and "SELECT" buttons simultaneously to restart the
current level in case the player gets themselves into a jam where there is no
possible way to finish the level.
- When a monster is killed, sprite 2 (the cloud) is placed over the monster,
and then both the monster and cloud sprite is removed after a short pause.
The monsters:
Blob: The Blob is the weakest of all the monsters. It moves randomly up
and down, left and right, constantly changing its direction. The Blob uses
Sprites 3 and 4, switched back and forth to animate it slowly bouncing around
on the screen.
Stone Head: Stone Heads move around somewhat randomly but not as
randomly as the Blobs. Stone Heads take three to six steps in one direction,
then turn and go in a new random direction for another three to six steps.
Stone Heads use the flipping of Sprites 17 and 16 to move up and down
respectively, while switching from sprites 14 and 15 in order to move to the
right.
Minotaur: The Minotaur actively "hunts" Wick. The Minotaur constantly
moves toward the Wick character. If there is a blue or green block directly
in its path that has an empty square on the other side, the Minotaur will
push the block, however, if it is pushing against Wick on the same block,
Wick will have priority and Wick will push it his way. This way the Minotaur
will be able to push blocks out of its way, making it more of a threat to Wick.
The Minotaur uses the flipping of Sprites 11 and 10 to move up and down
respectively, while switching from sprites 12 and 13 in order to move to the
right.
Muncher: The Muncher is a mindless munching machine. It moves in a
straight line until it hits a barrier, then it will turn randomly left or
right 90 degrees and continue going in that direction until it hits another
barrier. Any enemies or wizards (Wick) will be instantly destroyed when munched
on (touched) by the Muncher. The Muncher uses the switching of sprites 7 and 8
in order to move to the right, the switching of sprites 5 and 6 in order to
move down, and uses sprite 9 when moving up.
Urchin: The Urchin is an enemy that never moves but like all monsters,
if touched, hurts the player. The Urchin can not be killed or moved by blocks,
it can only be destroyed by a Muncher. Urchins act as a tricky barrier in the
game that takes skill to kill. Sprite 29 is used to place the Urchin onto the
game area. Color changes are only cosmetic in the case of the Urchin.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
When a Monster tries to move into a space occupied by Wick or Wick tries to
move into a space occupied by a monster, Wick loses hearts, how many depends
on the monster he touched based on the following List:
Blob = 1 heart
Stone Head = 2 hearts
Minotaur = 1 heart
Muncher = 3 hearts
Urchin = 2 hearts
When Wick loses a heart, the tile with the right most heart is tile switched
with the blank tile with the diagonal lines on it.
The level restarts with all of the monsters revived, blocks placed in their
original position, and the starting life of Wick minus one heart if Wick loses
all of his hearts.
So Wick will begin the level again with only 2 hearts and then if he dies,
will start again with only 1 heart. If Wick dies again after that, the game is
over. After Wick beats a level, his life is restored to a full 3 hearts.
The Levels start with a few randomly placed blue blocks. The most monsters are
randomly placed, but not near Wick. However Urchins are typically always placed
in strategic places to block off sections, as shown in screen shot 3.
The level number increases with each level (duh) and is displayed to the right
of the "Level" words in the upper part of the screen. The background tiles are
switched out with the "tube" tiles of varying shape in order to form numbers.
The digital clock numbering system is used to fashion the numbers.
As the level increases several things happen:
- As the level increases, different colors are used to color all of the
monsters of the level. At first, the yellowish colors are used, and all the
monsters move rather slowly. Then as the levels increase, the monster colors
change to the reddish colors and the monsters move faster. After another few
levels, the monster colors change to a greenish color, moving faster yet, and
finally the black color with red outline where the monsters move the fastest.
- Also, in the early levels, Wink only encounters Blobs, and as the level
increases, he meets Stone Heads, Minotaurs, Munchers, and Urchins based on a
preset level setup which I am not going to go into for this contest because
you asked me not to bore you with code type things.
There is no scoring system other then Wick's life which was already explained.
OTHER DETAILS
I'm going to recap on a few game details that might not be clear as a bell in
the above writing.
- Wick can only create green blocks.
- Blue, Red, and Gray blocks start premade on the level.
- Red and Green blocks can be destroyed.
- Blue and Green blocks can be moved.
- All but the Urchins die from squishing them with blocks as shown on screen
shot 3. Urchins can only be killed from Munchers running over top of them.
- You get 3 shots at a level, once with 3 hearts, once with 2 hearts, and
once with 1 heart. After that, it's game over. After you beat the level, you
get 3 hearts again.
- Yes all of the monsters in the level are linked to the same color palette.
As the level increases, first new monsters are encountered, then it goes back
to just the beginning monsters and the monster color palette is "moved" to the
next fastest color making the monsters tougher to trap and avoid.
Second place: Blade Master
Designer: Andrew G. (last name withheld on request)
Age: 14
City of residence: Oak Ridge, USA
Prize won: Pokémon Aquapolis "Abyss" and "Rock Garden" theme
decks
Screen 1
Screen 2
Screen 3
Screen 4
OVERVIEW OF GAME
This game is a combination of a platformer and a hack and slash game. In this
game you are required to eliminate all enemies on screen and then retrieve the
Encryptox. The Encryptox is a sacred laser blade that has the power to undo
any evil that has been committed. In this story the hero is a Orc-Human
crossbreed named Lazorn. His guest is to avenge the death of his father Marksi.
He must conquer against all of his enemies in order to free the trapped spirit
of his father so that he may join the other spirits in the spirit world.
BACKGROUND SCREEN DESCRIPTION
Background tiles
Background palettes
Title screen
Background screen 1
Background screen 2
Background screen 3
The background screens in this game are all parts of the castle where the
Encryptox is kept. In each scene you are required to retrieve one Encryptox
in order to rebirth the Encryptox and banish evil. Some screens have red and
orange areas which are lava flows that cannot be stepped in. The gray blocks
are all castle platforms and walkways and green areas represent grass, which
is also safe to tread upon. The blue in the background represents the sky.
Each screen is positioned along the walls of the castle. As you go from one
screen to another you are making your way along the walls to gather all three
Encryptox images.
DESCRIPTION OF SPRITE OBJECTS
Sprite tiles
Sprite palettes
Sprites (1)
Sprites (2)
You play as Lazorn who is the almost lanky character that sports a sword.
(sprites1.bmp # 1-4) He can jump up three tiles and over three by pressing the
A button and can use his sword by pressing the B button. When you use your
sword and hit an enemy they are destroyed. If you need to jump higher you can
use a super jump by holding down the A button. A super jump allows you to jump
up six tiles and over three. He is moved left and right by the D-Pad.
The horned human sized enemies are the Waifs. (sprites1.bmp # 5 - 6) They are
minions of the Black Mist, which has infected the castle of the Encryptox.
They will run around and try to ram you causing you damage.
The smaller horned creatures are the Knaeds. (sprites1.bmp # 7) They are
little hatchlings of the Waifs who join in the fight against you by using
similar tactics.
The Rangers are archers that will fire laser arrows at you laterally.
(sprites2.bmp # 15) The arrows fly either East or West until they make contact
with a surface.
The Canons are the last weapon used in the game. (sprites1.bmp # 8 - 9) They
can be aimed laterally or diagonally. They fire cannonballs which, like arrows,
fly until they hit a surface.
TECHNICAL DETAILS
In this game there is no tile-switching or color-switching. However, there is
a health meter. You have three life points that are represented by heart-shaped
icons. You also have three lives. There are no special scores for defeating an
enemy but depending on how many lives you have left at the end of the game you
are awarded 10,000 times the number of lives you have left.
Third place: Free Mr. Lucky!
Designer: Jonathan Hicks
Age: 15
City of residence: Ocala, Florida, USA
Prize won: Mario Party-e card game
Screen 1
Screen 2
OVERVIEW OF GAME
STORY:
Poor Mr. Lucky. After getting his second traffic ticket, he was sentenced
to 1 day of imprisonment in Smallville's ultra-high security jail.
(Judge Pinky, his father-in-law, was in a bad mood.)
Now, this would've been fine, except today is Lucky Jr.'s baseball tourny!
So Mr. Lucky used his one phone call to ask you, his only friend, to bust
him out in time for Junior's game.
Your mission is to hack into the jail's security system, and correctly
guess the passwords to open the door. As you get more and more of the
passwords right, they will get harder and harder.
Good luck! Mr. Lucky is counting on you!
DETAILS:
"Save Mr. Lucky" is a hangman type game. To open the jail door, the player will
have to guess a certain amount of passwords, depending on the difficulty.
BACKGROUND SCREEN DESCRIPTION
Background tiles
Background palettes
Title screen
Background screen 1
There is only 1 background screen used in the game. The top part is a
picture of the Smallville High Security Jail, while the bottom is the
computer display.
DESCRIPTION OF SPRITE OBJECTS
Sprite tiles
Sprite palettes
Sprites
Sprites are used for all the letters in the game, except for the ones on the
sign, and the "Miss:" "Hints" "New" and "Quit" menus. Sprites are also used
for the letter blanks.
Players use the D-pad to select the letter or option they want to choose,
which blinks when selected. The "A" button is used to submit their choice.
There is only 1 animation in the game, used for Mr. Lucky's randomly blinking
eyes.
NOTE: On "s_tiles.bmp" and "sprites.bmp", transparent is represented by light
orange (color G-1 on the color palette).
TECHNICAL DETAILS
When the player starts, they select a difficulty. These are the configurations
for each one:
- Easy: 3 passwords open the door, no words longer than 5 letters, 7 misses
allowed per word.
- Hard: 5 passwords open the door, no words longer than 7 letters, 7 misses
allowed per word.
- Expert: 7 passwords open the door, up to 9 letters and 5 misses allowed
per word.
Tile-switching is used for raising the barred door if the player wins, and
for hiding the four background tile menus during the title screen.
The panel above the door, and the letters on the computer start red, change to
yellow when half of the passwords are guessed, then to green on the last
password.
A few closing comments
I am aware that quite a few people actually began to work on a game design
for this contest, but they threw in the towel somewhere along the way. Some
others considered participating, but never got around to actually doing it.
To all those people, I can only say this: Thanks for trying, and I hope that
you will now have a better appreciation of the dedicated people who make
video games for a living. It's certainly not an easy job, as even the simplest
games involve some very tedious work.
Oh, and by the way: Good job Jason, Andrew and Jonathan! Your games look like
fun! ;-)
