Hi, Evan Bowman. Your game is amazing – your wonderfully stylised art and sound direction for this game is unmatched on the GBA. Even the Bitstream games didn't come close to innovating GBA look and feel to the level you've achieved with your games. And all this running on my humble Gameboy Micro too!
I did however, want to find a way to get rumble working on Skyland using an EZ-Flash Omega DE though if you can help please? (doesn't seem to work atm). Whatever you implemented on BlindJump was the way – because that does work directly on device using the Omega DE.
If this is possible it'd be very appreciated - rumble would fit this game so well, and I'm a little bit obsessed with getting rumble working on every GBA game I can. These days there are quite a few more than people might think and I'd LOVE to add Skyland to the list (probably works already but I'm doing something wrong - it already works on mGBA on a Miyoo Mini for instance):
- Goodboy Galaxy - Drill Dozer - Pokemon Pinball - Warioland 4 - Apotris - Final Fight One - BlindJump - Mario and Luigi SS - Warioware Twisted - Butano Fighter - Super Mario 3 - Chessmaster - Summoner Story 3 (J)
(this list is a little bit in the order of how well/much the rumble is implemented.
Hi! Thank you for your nice comment! I can work on supporting cartridge rumble, I already know why it doesn't work. In mGBA and the miyoo mini, the rumble does work, as you noted, because Skyland supports GameCube controller rumble when played on a gameboy player attachment for the GC, which mgba emulates.
Unfortunately I don't have an EZ-Flash cartridge, although I do have an insideGadgets rumble cart. It takes forever to flash code to it, which is the main reason I haven't added support for it yet -- my method of working on projects usually involves making small incremental tweaks until I like the result, and it takes 10 minutes to flash this cartridge, which kills my motivation to do it :) I will put it on the todo list! To be honest, the existing rumble support could use some more work. A couple of years ago, when I first added rumble support, I just made the controller rumble whenever the screen shakes visually in the game, but I could work out something much nicer feeling if I find some time to do it.
Hi Evan, and thank you for the reply. that sounds great! I guess I just wanted to really convey that there are some of us who really appreciate good rumble in a game, so I'm happy to hear it'll go on the list – and I'll be very much looking forward to it – both on OG hardware and the Miyoo (actually, now the RG28XX, which blows the Miyoo out the window, and is kinda the ultimate modern GB Micro! – for me anyway).
Hi! Interesting idea, I'm always happy to consider suggestions for improvements! So in this concept, after finishing the game, you could go back and continue exploring? That could be doable.
As for remakes: the game's license allows the code to be reused for non-commercial purposes. The artwork is not allowed to be used, but I would probably allow it for non-commercial projects.
If you wanted to use any existing code, the easiest way would be to implement the game's Platform class for the desired target platform https://github.com/evanbowman/skyland-beta/tree/master/source/platform. There is a folder containing the GBA implementation, and other folders containing other incomplete implementations of device/OS-specific code.
Feel free to let me know if you have any additional suggestions in the future! I will consider the postgame exploration idea and work on it when I have some time.
Hey Evan! Trying to get this running on a bootleg and am currently not having any luck. Runs fine on my EZ-Flash Omega DE, but it's stuck on "start application..." on a Yu-Gi-Oh bootleg. Any ideas? EDIT: Works on a Mother 3 Bootleg. Maybe it doesn't like the SRAM on my Yu-Gi-Oh cart?
Sorry, I'm not sure! Do you have any details about the Yu-Gi-Oh cart? Some cart writers like FlashGBX will give you details about the flash chip and cartridge configuration.
Have you considered implementing a crafting system, where defeated ships leave behind materials and items like iron, bronze, phosphorous (for incendiary weapons), "energy emanators" (for force fields and energy-based weapons), gyroscopes (for radar and maybe homing/knight weapons), etc?
I think this would pair especially well with upgradeable weapons like Mk2 and Mk3's
Hi! That's a really interesting idea! I hadn't considered that, one thing that I did think of is giving people the ability to combine weapons together to forge new more powerful weapons.
Could you please add more weapon groups? I find that 3 isn't enough. Maybe instead of arrows use colored shapes, like red green and blue combined with triangle square and circle to make 9 groups total.
Maybe a new weapon could be added like a "knight" cannon that hooks or homes to hit a target around structures.
Thank you! I'll think about ways to add more groups!
Speaking of a homing weapon, I actually do have a prototype for that lying around. I just have to think about how to add it without affecting the balance of the game too much, it could be overpowered. Maybe a knight cannon like you're suggesting would be easier to fit into the game!
I also think Macrocosm mode would be a lot more enjoyable if land blocks were ⅛ the size (½ width) they are right now, so hills are more of a gradient. Still keep buildings the same size which would now be a 2x2 footprint. I find that the current size of blocks doesn't allow for much creativity and I get bored very easily. It would also open the door to smaller buildings for aesthetic purposes like bridges and sidewalks.
I’ll consider your suggestions! I may not find the time to make the changes to macro mode anytime soon, though. The macro mode is definitely the weakest part of the game right now
It seems like when multiple missiles hit a target at the same time, not all of them are counted so it only destroys one block. Can you fix this? An easy and cool looking solution would be for weapon groups to fire in succession 100ms apart from left to right or top to bottom, so it's like a wave and they don't all land at exactly the same time.
I can work on changing this, the reason I haven’t fixed it already is that changing the logic would also make enemy missiles that land at the same time do even more damage, making the game harder for the player.
When selecting a weapon target for a weapon group, there’s a barrage mode that you can enable by tapping the right shoulder button, causing the weapons to fire one after another. I’ll play around with the 100ms spacing idea as well!
Zone 3, upgraded my ship in the shop, and after exit to sky map there's softlock when i try to visit any location and error when i try to save and return to menu. After L+R+SEL+START on error screen and playing adventures it restores progress before visiting shop.
Sorry, emulator I'm using doesn't support exporting state.
Thank you! I was able to recover some data from the save file, but unfortunately, I have not been able to reproduce the issue exactly. I am sorry about the bug and I will look into it more when I find some free time! Thank you for letting me know about the issue, I try to fix all issues with the game wherever possible.
Also, after closing error (L+R+SEL+START) and playing again (as i said, it restores data before going to shop), if you go to shop and buy anything again, the same problem will occur.
And another thing: if you buy anything from store, and there's no space for it on your island, game will kinda softlock in "choose place" state. (not freeze, but softlock: you can interact, but can't exit choosing place state)
Btw i entered in storm instead of shop>exit and won! I didn't even repair anything during combat, storm was easier than i excepted)
About the shop soft lock: I will fix the shop to prevent this from happening, perhaps by giving the player extra terrain if there's no space. The "choose place" selection still lets you access the salvage menu, so you can remove blocks with the B button, although I admit that this isn't obvious.
Great job winning! The hard difficulty has a more challenging version of the final boss.
Just wanted to leave a quick comment about how wonderfull this game is. The Audio is captavating, the graphics are enchanting and the gameplay keeps me comeing back. Welldone.
oh, now i get it!! thanks so much for the reply. yes, I'm LOVING the game, just beat the storm king and you can view my first macro freebuild island here 🥳 https://skylandgame.io/sr/inspect?d=River_Temple
Nice, thanks for letting me know! So you're still actively developing it? I gave the previous version a small shot on the Miyoo Mini but want to keep it now until my Analogue Pocket arrives (hopefully in december). Can't wait to play it then. =)
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I did however, want to find a way to get rumble working on Skyland using an EZ-Flash Omega DE though if you can help please? (doesn't seem to work atm). Whatever you implemented on BlindJump was the way – because that does work directly on device using the Omega DE.
If this is possible it'd be very appreciated - rumble would fit this game so well, and I'm a little bit obsessed with getting rumble working on every GBA game I can. These days there are quite a few more than people might think and I'd LOVE to add Skyland to the list (probably works already but I'm doing something wrong - it already works on mGBA on a Miyoo Mini for instance):
- Goodboy Galaxy
- Drill Dozer
- Pokemon Pinball
- Warioland 4
- Apotris
- Final Fight One
- BlindJump
- Mario and Luigi SS
- Warioware Twisted
- Butano Fighter
- Super Mario 3
- Chessmaster
- Summoner Story 3 (J)
(this list is a little bit in the order of how well/much the rumble is implemented.
Anyway thanks again for your kind work.
Hi! Thank you for your nice comment! I can work on supporting cartridge rumble, I already know why it doesn't work. In mGBA and the miyoo mini, the rumble does work, as you noted, because Skyland supports GameCube controller rumble when played on a gameboy player attachment for the GC, which mgba emulates.
Unfortunately I don't have an EZ-Flash cartridge, although I do have an insideGadgets rumble cart. It takes forever to flash code to it, which is the main reason I haven't added support for it yet -- my method of working on projects usually involves making small incremental tweaks until I like the result, and it takes 10 minutes to flash this cartridge, which kills my motivation to do it :) I will put it on the todo list! To be honest, the existing rumble support could use some more work. A couple of years ago, when I first added rumble support, I just made the controller rumble whenever the screen shakes visually in the game, but I could work out something much nicer feeling if I find some time to do it.
I could technically add rumble support in the course of a few minutes for rumble carts, but it wouldn't be very fine-tuned.
Hi Evan, and thank you for the reply. that sounds great! I guess I just wanted to really convey that there are some of us who really appreciate good rumble in a game, so I'm happy to hear it'll go on the list – and I'll be very much looking forward to it – both on OG hardware and the Miyoo (actually, now the RG28XX, which blows the Miyoo out the window, and is kinda the ultimate modern GB Micro! – for me anyway).
Best wish for all your projects.
hi evanbowman! i got an idea: what if we'll get a save file, and after skyland's events, we can freely explore the left of world and complete quests?
+ can i remake your game on another console, or even on PC?
Hi! Interesting idea, I'm always happy to consider suggestions for improvements! So in this concept, after finishing the game, you could go back and continue exploring? That could be doable.
As for remakes: the game's license allows the code to be reused for non-commercial purposes. The artwork is not allowed to be used, but I would probably allow it for non-commercial projects.
If you wanted to use any existing code, the easiest way would be to implement the game's Platform class for the desired target platform https://github.com/evanbowman/skyland-beta/tree/master/source/platform. There is a folder containing the GBA implementation, and other folders containing other incomplete implementations of device/OS-specific code.
Feel free to let me know if you have any additional suggestions in the future! I will consider the postgame exploration idea and work on it when I have some time.
alright thanks!
Hey Evan! Trying to get this running on a bootleg and am currently not having any luck. Runs fine on my EZ-Flash Omega DE, but it's stuck on "start application..." on a Yu-Gi-Oh bootleg. Any ideas? EDIT: Works on a Mother 3 Bootleg. Maybe it doesn't like the SRAM on my Yu-Gi-Oh cart?
Sorry, I'm not sure! Do you have any details about the Yu-Gi-Oh cart? Some cart writers like FlashGBX will give you details about the flash chip and cartridge configuration.
Really fun game, tried to inject it in a real 3ds and didnt run for whatever reason but played it on an emulator on pc and had a good time
Thanks! Unfortunately I don’t have a 3ds to test it, I only tested consoles with a gba flash cart,
Thanks for playing!
Have you considered implementing a crafting system, where defeated ships leave behind materials and items like iron, bronze, phosphorous (for incendiary weapons), "energy emanators" (for force fields and energy-based weapons), gyroscopes (for radar and maybe homing/knight weapons), etc?
I think this would pair especially well with upgradeable weapons like Mk2 and Mk3's
Hi! That's a really interesting idea! I hadn't considered that, one thing that I did think of is giving people the ability to combine weapons together to forge new more powerful weapons.
I love this game!!
Could you please add more weapon groups? I find that 3 isn't enough. Maybe instead of arrows use colored shapes, like red green and blue combined with triangle square and circle to make 9 groups total.
Maybe a new weapon could be added like a "knight" cannon that hooks or homes to hit a target around structures.
Thank you! I'll think about ways to add more groups!
Speaking of a homing weapon, I actually do have a prototype for that lying around. I just have to think about how to add it without affecting the balance of the game too much, it could be overpowered. Maybe a knight cannon like you're suggesting would be easier to fit into the game!
Very cool!
I also think Macrocosm mode would be a lot more enjoyable if land blocks were ⅛ the size (½ width) they are right now, so hills are more of a gradient. Still keep buildings the same size which would now be a 2x2 footprint. I find that the current size of blocks doesn't allow for much creativity and I get bored very easily. It would also open the door to smaller buildings for aesthetic purposes like bridges and sidewalks.
I’ll consider your suggestions! I may not find the time to make the changes to macro mode anytime soon, though. The macro mode is definitely the weakest part of the game right now
It seems like when multiple missiles hit a target at the same time, not all of them are counted so it only destroys one block. Can you fix this? An easy and cool looking solution would be for weapon groups to fire in succession 100ms apart from left to right or top to bottom, so it's like a wave and they don't all land at exactly the same time.
I can work on changing this, the reason I haven’t fixed it already is that changing the logic would also make enemy missiles that land at the same time do even more damage, making the game harder for the player.
When selecting a weapon target for a weapon group, there’s a barrage mode that you can enable by tapping the right shoulder button, causing the weapons to fire one after another. I’ll play around with the 100ms spacing idea as well!
Zone 3, upgraded my ship in the shop, and after exit to sky map there's softlock when i try to visit any location and error when i try to save and return to menu. After L+R+SEL+START on error screen and playing adventures it restores progress before visiting shop.
Sorry, emulator I'm using doesn't support exporting state.
Thanks for finding this! Do you have any way of sending me the broken save file? Which version of the game do you have?
I don't this it's enough, but that's all i could find as my emulator doesn't supprt export/import and i don't want to root my device.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zymFzgRU6WkxRrz3qJ1WtMuXvEGGAg3G/view?usp=drive...
Version: from itch.io's page
Thank you! I was able to recover some data from the save file, but unfortunately, I have not been able to reproduce the issue exactly. I am sorry about the bug and I will look into it more when I find some free time! Thank you for letting me know about the issue, I try to fix all issues with the game wherever possible.
Also, after closing error (L+R+SEL+START) and playing again (as i said, it restores data before going to shop), if you go to shop and buy anything again, the same problem will occur.
And another thing: if you buy anything from store, and there's no space for it on your island, game will kinda softlock in "choose place" state. (not freeze, but softlock: you can interact, but can't exit choosing place state)
Btw i entered in storm instead of shop>exit and won! I didn't even repair anything during combat, storm was easier than i excepted)
I'm gonna try higher difficulty.
About the shop soft lock: I will fix the shop to prevent this from happening, perhaps by giving the player extra terrain if there's no space. The "choose place" selection still lets you access the salvage menu, so you can remove blocks with the B button, although I admit that this isn't obvious.
Great job winning! The hard difficulty has a more challenging version of the final boss.
Just wanted to leave a quick comment about how wonderfull this game is. The Audio is captavating, the graphics are enchanting and the gameplay keeps me comeing back. Welldone.
Thank you! I've been working on it for a long time. Enjoy :)
hi there!! stuck on macrocosm mode, can you help? i need basalt to build houses, but i need 60 productivity to mine any basalt 😨
love the game!!! so fun!!!
PS using the beta from the .io site
Glad you're enjoying it!
In the macro mode, mining regular grassy terrain also gives you 10 stone:
If you want to build without any resource requirements, there's also a creative mode in the extras menu:
oh, now i get it!! thanks so much for the reply. yes, I'm LOVING the game, just beat the storm king and you can view my first macro freebuild island here 🥳 https://skylandgame.io/sr/inspect?d=River_Temple
Does skyland use your BPCore engine?
It doesn't, I mainly used C++, unfortunately it's not possible to make a large gba game of this size in lua due to cpu and ram limits.
ok thank you! That’s very helpful to know 😊
Such a lovely game! Really amazing!
Thank you! There's actually a new version with lots of updates, available here: https://skylandgame.io/beta/
Wow thanks for the fast reply. Is this the january release from GitHub or even newer?
Much newer! I've been working on the code from a private repository, it's about 2000 commits ahead of the public repository from last year's gba jam.
Nice, thanks for letting me know! So you're still actively developing it? I gave the previous version a small shot on the Miyoo Mini but want to keep it now until my Analogue Pocket arrives (hopefully in december). Can't wait to play it then. =)
Oh wow, a homebrew game with rumble support. That's awesome.