Nothing (demake of the PC game)

[ssmirnov]

Dec 17, 2021 19:28:35 GMT M!$#A said:

Hurrah! I was waiting for this! :-)

Me too! 

[ssmirnov]

NOTHING is released!

You can download the release version here: zxonline.net/game/nothing

With kind regards,
Sergei

[patmorita]

Congrats! Looking forward to playing it this Holidays. Thanks.

[ssmirnov]

While we are waiting for the results of the competition, I will publish some interesting facts about the game.

FACT #1:
Uncompressed game size = 285.2 KB;
Compressed game size = 46.6 KB.
Compression ratio = 83.6% 



Such result is achieved by using at the same time:
- algorithmic compression,
- data generation algorithms,
- and zx0 packer @ Einar Saukas

In runtime: all the data and code is using almost all 128KB of available memory.
(67 bytes free in page 2; 17 bytes free in page 3; and 54 bytes free in page 6)

[mananuk]

It seems incredible that a spectrum moves that!!! , congratulations Sergei

[zxade]

Ingenious use of compression methods, mind-bending optimizations, and shrewd positioning of game assets to maximize use of the available RAM...even relocating code to the screen area I see...well done for devising some novel solutions and creating a super slick rendition of the original and taking it even further...I never thought a speccy could be made to do this!

[ssmirnov]

FACT #2:
A system of automatic measurement of the engine performance was developed especially for this game.
(Something like "3DMark" or "FutureMark" on a PC)

Based on the result of the automatic run of the first 20 seconds of the game, a score of performance is shown on the screen.

The performance was first measured on January 7, 2021.
And then, when something changed in the engine, the benchmark was re-run again and again.
There are total 112 iterations of measurement were made - with different settings, and for two target machines: Sinclair ZX Spectrum 128K/+2 and Pentagon 128K.

This approach allowed to clearly see how much faster the engine became after certain optimizations.
And secondly, it did not allow me to commit the code that would significantly reduce the performance of the engine.

For a year of work, it was possible to speed up the engine by 25% only due to optimizations of the assembly code.
On 7 Jan 2021 the score was 661.
On 18 Dec 2021 the score was 827 (+25,11%)

Each point on the diagram shows the total count of rendered frames (greater value is better):

[ssmirnov]

FACT #3:
The development process took 1 year and 13 days (about ~1000 hours)
Development started: 7 Dec 2020.
Development finished: 20 Dec 2021.

Everything was made by a single person - from the first line of code, till the final release.

Except:
- boss #1 sprite was drawn by Art-top; you can find his arts here: zxart.ee/eng/authors/a/art-top/qid:403731/
- music packer "TBK PSG Packer" was written by psndcj: forum.tslabs.info/viewtopic.php?t=383
- music & sfx player was re-written/modified by spke,
- zx0 packer was written by Einar Saukas: github.com/einar-saukas
Thank you, guys!

p.s. Happy New Year to all participants! Thank you for such great games!

[ssmirnov]

Just recorded a full walkthrough of "Nothing".
Number of deaths: 0

[zxade]

Jan 13, 2022 22:04:51 GMT ssmirnov said:

Just recorded a full walkthrough of "Nothing".
Number of deaths: 0

That's mind blowing! I recognize that a developer knows his game inside out and has had to play sections over and over again when testing things out but this game is SO HARD I seriously wouldn't have believed anyone could ever complete it legitimately without dying a good number of times. I've finally got as far as the "greatest battle ever" boss but only with use of save games and have died 100's of times along the way. The extra screens are really well thought out and in keeping with the spirit of the game but with even more devious and unexpected traps, mixed with great humour along the way. The reversing of controls in moonwalk mode had me tearing my hair out for a time...as if it wasn't already tricky enough! ...leading to great relief when they were eventually restored back to normal. All in all a tremendously well put together game and I take my hat off to all of the devotion and hundred of hours that have gone into making it.

[ssmirnov]

Jan 18, 2022 15:34:23 GMT zxade said:

Jan 13, 2022 22:04:51 GMT ssmirnov said:

Just recorded a full walkthrough of "Nothing".
Number of deaths: 0

That's mind blowing! I recognize that a developer knows his game inside out and has had to play sections over and over again when testing things out but this game is SO HARD I seriously wouldn't have believed anyone could ever complete it legitimately without dying a good number of times. I've finally got as far as the "greatest battle ever" boss but only with use of save games and have died 100's of times along the way. The extra screens are really well thought out and in keeping with the spirit of the game but with even more devious and unexpected traps, mixed with great humour along the way. The reversing of controls in moonwalk mode had me tearing my hair out for a time...as if it wasn't already tricky enough! ...leading to great relief when they were eventually restored back to normal. All in all a tremendously well put together game and I take my hat off to all of the devotion and hundred of hours that have gone into making it.

Hahaha! 
Thank you for the response.
In fact, deaths count is the part of the gameplay itself. The game would be very different if the main character didn't die so many times! But, on the other hand, if lives were finite, it would be very, very hard to get to the end!

That's the peculiarity of modern indie games.
They're made to be attempted over and over again in bits and pieces, rather than throwing the player back to the beginning if they fail.

In earlier 1980s games migrated from the arcade automates to the home computers.
And at that time the point was very different: not to allow player finish the game, but to spend (pay) more and more time and each time to start from the beginning.

[zxade]

Jan 19, 2022 9:43:08 GMT ssmirnov said:

That's the peculiarity of modern indie games.
They're made to be attempted over and over again in bits and pieces, rather than throwing the player back to the beginning if they fail.

Yes the modern approach is great for those of us who don't now have the luxury of time to spend replaying a game and not really getting very far without cheating, which includes a LOT of spectrum games. It's great to be able to complete modern games after spending a reasonable amount of hours playing being suitably challenged yet able to progress and enjoy all that the developer put into making it.

[zxade]

This was a fascinating interview on a Spanish retro channel where you shared many details of how you developed the game. Great seeing some of the game logic and many design sketches! Sharing here for those who may be interested as I've not found it linked anywhere....

[ssmirnov]

Fact #4:
If you run "Nothing" in 48K mode, the game will say hello to you


Fact #5:
You can easily keep the "Blue mode" from the Chapter 1 till the end of the game.
Try to figure out how to do it.


Fact #6:
Starting at Chapter 2, you can discover the ability to perform a super-high jump, and thus shorten the distance or get some upgrades in a different order!
Try to find the super jump!


Fact #7:
Also there is an ability to perform a super-long jump! Try to find it!
So you can pass the spikes in the Chapter 2 without using the "Second chance" upgrade.


Fact #8:
It is possible to avoid some harmful upgrades in Chapter 3.
Try to use your abilities from the Chapters 1 and 2.