How to Create Complex Level Maps With Aseprite v1.3 - Beginner Game Dev Tutorials

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[@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials]

Just another quick tip to avoid the same colour (like the black in the example given in the video) accidently being used from a different palette that I forget to mention: If for example you are using a black colour in both PAL0 and PAL1, it might be a good idea to change the RGB values of the PAL1 black every so slightly to RGB(0, 0, 1). This would mean that the two black colours should be more easily kept separate in Aseprite, even if you happen to switch to the RGB colour mode and back to Indexed colour mode again.

[@anthonyclements7124]

Hey, you forgot to continue development on symphony of the night on genesis after 2 months?

[@RGH-MD]

Great video as usual! I'm glad my video helped! Thanks for the reference of my game!!!

[@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials]

Thanks for your video, it really helped inspire me to create these scripts. I added a link in the video to your channel and in the video description also. Looking forward to seeing more updates of your game!

[@atomicv7058]

Thank you for the tutorials. Didn’t know you could do this in aseprite, pretty neat.

[@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials]

I really like using Asesprite and it's cool that it allows you to add your own functionality like this!

[@exception360]

Aseprite is awesome! Really worth the money and runs on anything: Windows, Linux, MacOS.

[@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials]

@@exception360 Agreed, well worth the money!

[@Genesis814]

Thank you very much for sharing your knowledge with the community. Success with your work.

[@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials]

No problem. I'm looking forward to getting back to SotN/GGS

[@panzerdragonlegend6664]

Your Pixels Are Getting More Beautiful Pigsy's

[@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials]

Thanks, I've been practising a lot this year. I'll show more in my channel update video later this month

[@panzerdragonlegend6664]

​@@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorialsIf possible I would like you to use the Gradius ship The Vic Viper in your next sprite testing video

[@Bofner]

Ah man, I remember when Aseprite didn't have the tile map feature, and then when they added into the beta but it would always crash and wouldn't keep trak of flips. I perservered and kept using it, but I'm so happy that with the newest update we can finally more easily create maps for old hardware!

[@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials]

Yeah, it's been in beta for a while, but only got an official release recently. It seems very stable now

[@sherekhangamedev]

Nice one, it's almost 6 years since I use Aseprite and I find great to use it to create a collision map. Thanks!

[@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials]

I love Aseprite, so was extra glad to be able to add these features

[@TheNomcognom]

Thanks a lot. Very inspiring channel. Thanks to your tutorials i started to develop with SGDK. Keep working. Next stop, your patreon. Cheers!

[@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials]

Thanks!. Good luck with your projects!

[@ThatOldTV]

Wow! Aesprite really upped it's features. Unfortunately, I've been using Photoshop to construct levels. I've been doing it so long, I think I'm stuck in my ways. However, I do use Aesprite to draw the actual titles. None the less, it was a very insightful tutorial.

[@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials]

So long as you can do everything you need to in Photoshop quickly and easily, and also enjoy using the software, then by all means stick to that. I know a lot of people recommend Tiled as well, but I pretty much do all graphical stuff entirely in aseprite now.

[@analog_ape]

Final episode of 2024? But it's only Juuune, Mr. Pigsy

[@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials]

Haha, too much work left to do on SotN and GG Shinobi. So much to do, not enough time...

[@analog_ape]

@@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials you're doing great! Thanks for your valuable contributions to the scene.

[@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials]

@@analog_ape You're welcome :) I'm looking forward to all the new games everyone ends up creating!

[@analog_ape]

@@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials hopefully :D

[@aminibrahim8523]

Hi Pigsy, love your videos and im half way through the series. Firstly thank you for your incredible efforts. Your Castlevania games looks amazing! I always wanted to be a videogame programmer but when i was young there were no degrees in that subject. I went for database programming instead. Its a good job but i always had the desire to be a games programmer. I applied for many many game jobs but never had any luck. The 4th generation of SNES and Megadrive was my favourite. Yes Im very old now haha. Pushing 50. Im a HUGE street fighter 2 fan and always wanted super street fighter 2 turbo on SNES and Megadrive. I am trying to program Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo for megadrive with your tutorials. As mentioned im around half way through and about to start level collison. I only started 2 weeks ago. Its hard to get time with work, bills and family commitments but im trying. Do you think you will cover stuff like Street fighter 2? Intro screens, character selections, special moves like fireball, dragon punch and combos? Ive seen some VERY talented Brazillians videos who are making street fighter alpha and also have looked at hamoopig sega genesis fighting engine. I downloaded the engine but had to change allot of code to get it to compile as it needed to be updated for modern SGDK. Its very bugy and crashes allot and all in Portuguese but im tryi g to use it for reference. Looks like fighting games need a finite state machine implementation of some kind. Rather complex. I thought database programming was hard with 1000's of tables but its easier for me than Sega Megadrive coding😅. If you do ever plan to cover street fighter 2 that would be amazing as I cant speak Portuguese so trying to learn from the talanted Brazilian programmers is rather hard. In any case thank you again and all the best. Sorry for long message. Take care.

[@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials]

Glad you are enjoying the videos! Having previous experience as a database programmer is a big advantage, as at least you are all good on the coding front. If you are just doing a 1-on-1 fighting game, then you could probably get away with a very simple ground collision code rather than the complex platformer code I explained in that video (just make the characters land/stop jumping when they fall below a certain height). Regarding the moves, I have never had to programme them before, but maybe create a timer which measures whether certain buttons/directions have been pushed in quick succession? Feel free to search for non-SGDK guides on this, I'm sure you could adapt any useful code you find for the Mega Drive. I've been through the pain of trying to learn from outdated code in a foreign language too, so I understand your experience :) I'll be covering loading in different screens/option menus ect next year. For now though, I really need to get back to my own SotN/GG Shinobi projects. I wish you luck with your game!

[@aminibrahim8523]

@@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials Hi mate, thanks for your quick reply. Of course you must work on your own game and as mentioned your Castlevania looks incredible. I will try to see what I can do myself and see how I get on. Take care, all the best and speak later. Thank you again

[@ldd6098]

Top quality content!

[@Kr33ch4]

me looks and see. I've had this version of Aseprite the whole time->HEH!!

[@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials]

Yeah, fortunately it was just a free update, not DLC

[@inceptional]

So, wait, before I dive into the video, are you saying Aseprite has Genesis development features specifically built in, like building maps and setting tile priorities and collisions and so on? If so, does it have similar features for SNES development too? PS. It's cool how effective a very simple background layer like the one for the cityscape at 22:11 can look, which has maybe only 2-3 visible colours per tile and maybe 8-16 colours total, and doubly so when you have a talented artist drawing it. Nice.

[@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials]

No, not built in, but you can add your own functionality via the use of scripts (which I get into in the video). The collision script I created should be fine for SNES too, but the priority stuff would probably need to be altered in some way before it would work

[@zabustifu]

Aseprite does not have Genesis development features. It's the SGDK that takes advantage of the PNG-8 format, by giving a meaning to colors depending on their index, like some kind of bitmask-based metadata system. The SNES could not use the exact same trick due to having more palettes than the Genesis (with 16 palettes of 16 colors, the SNES would already use up all 256 colors of the PNG-8 format).

[@inceptional]

@@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials Okay. That's a very cool feature. I wouldn't know how to implement it myself for SNES specifically, as my coding just isn't up to par for such things, but it seems like it would definitely be worth someone investigating there. Good stuff. Another great video by the way. :)

[@inceptional]

@@zabustifu Ah, okay. I wonder if there's some way for someone to implement something similar for SNES too. That would be extremely useful, especially if it works for 2bpp, 4bpp, and 8bpp backgrounds too.

[@zabustifu]

@@inceptional My SNES knowledge is rusty and I forgot all the features of each bpp mode, but I think the 2bpp would be possible with no sacrifice. If it worked like the SGDK, it would automatically detect flipped tiles to optimize the tileset accordingly. Maybe the simplest way to cover all possible bpp formats would be to rely on an indexed-color image format that goes beyond 256 colors.

[@BeJankins-b4n]

I’m thinking about taking this on Two game ideas that for years I would love to see on genesis or snes The first one was to somehow make a game like the old grand theft autos that were top down view, open world The other was an open world old west game that somehow would use a 2.5D beat ‘em up style plane, you can use guns and melee weapons along with riding a horse that could be used to explore the map, somehow I would have like to make pathways similar to how the Friday the 13th game, where you just press up on that path, I also thought about having towns that could be explored where there are shops for weapons, and other things, maybe have bounties that can be collected, also have abandoned towns that could be gang hideouts It’s like red dead but on sega, we even had some missions/quests written out but I hav no clue what happened to them If I ever get to have the time, I’ll probably look into figuring out how SGDK Works

[@aminibrahim8523]

Hi Pigsy, i noticed SOTN has a double jump. I am experimenting with your jumping tutorial which is great. I'm coding a double jump with some success and some bugs 😅 If you ever implement a double jump in your castlevania maybe you can show us amateurs next year? Take care and all the best

[@anjodaharpa8757]

Thanks!

[@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials]

🙏

[@aminibrahim8523]

Hi Pigsy, probably would have taken you 30 seconds but took me many many hours over 2 days but I've managed to code a double jump. Initially I was having issues with first jump being ok but second jump was shooting character up so high plus multiple jumps could be done such as 3, 4, 5 jumps and so on. I've managed to make both jumps the same height at any point on the button press as at one point second jump when descending was only jumping a small amount. So both jumps are good now plus if you fall off a platform you cant just jump in mid air and also added a float mechanic like Dixie Kong from Donky Kong Country 2. I doubt you need it but if you want the code let me know. I know SOTN Uses the double jump. Take care speak later 😅

[@aminibrahim8523]

Hi Pigsy, finally finished all your videos and they are excellent. I'm still busy in my job doing database coding but managed to do some megadrive coding. Got a double jump, fast running, floating like DKC 2 and a celeste like dash for left and right, trying to code a dash for up, down and diagonals but that is proving rather tricky for an amateur like myself. I still want to make super street fighter 2 turbo for megadrive but that is years away. Also did a jump where the longer you hold jump the higher you jump until you reach maximum height. I also want to code climbing and wall jumping like super metroid or NES batman. I know you are doing more lessons in 2025 but can I ask where did you learn megadrive coding please? I want to study more and would like to get more practice in before your 2025 lessons. Thank you so much. Take care.

[@rogeliolarronda]

Where can I get that wonderful Mega Drive version of the Dracula’s Castle theme from your Symphony of the Night?

[@georgemouhawesse5355]

Last tutorial videos of 2024?! Is this because you have to finish your projects this year?

[@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials]

Yeah, last one of 2024. I only have limited time and want to spend the rest of the year trying to make as much progress on my personal projects as I can

[@tankatlus5797]

Can you help me in how to make sonic 32 bit style sprites on aseprite and how to animate sprites and how to prerender 3d models into sprites

[@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials]

Sorry, I've never done that myself so wouldn't know how to help

[@BloodyboyABO]

I have a 2D APK(file type) Android game Bad Zombies The First Mission on Amazon from 2018. I've got all the files still. All images, sound effects etc. I hardly used any software. Gamesalad, PShop Elements, MS 3D Paint, Remix 3D Library. Maybe Audition or ITunes. Can this be made into a Genesis game? Do you make the Cartridge and can it play on Kega Fusion or equivalent player? I still have notebook notes I made and the game is a small file size it's about 35MB with CD audio and I swear it was 15.7MB without the back track but I don't have that file at the moment. I know how to write music somewhat as well. Can it be done? Gamesalad was easy because I used code from various free tutorials. There is an HTML version too but the self generated scripts from the APK version are broken for 2-3 enemy movements.

[@aminibrahim8523]

Hi Pigsy, if you can please read my comments and get back to me. Id like to know where you learned Megadrive programming so i can learn more before your new tutorials. Thank you. Take care

[@felipematias3162]

I'm going to try and change the collision script to do 8x8 instead of 16x16. would it be too hard? just so i know what I'm getting into 😄

[@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials]

Sure, you can do that. My initial build of SotN used 8x8 collision and worked fine, but I found that 16x16 was good enough (and that requires less CPU). for the script, you'll only need to make a few changes. Note that there is a bit of redundant code in the script left over from it's initial incarnation as a GameBoy script, so don't let that confuse you

[@Frank-fh2qn]

Would you be able to cover the sound capabilities of the 32x?

[@rubendarioreymartinez2073]

Have you tried programming in the original language of the megadrive? Greetings from Colombia 🇨🇴

[@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials]

I've only used C up until now, but I plan on learning some 68k assembly one day too

[@diegofloor]

This is a test comment.

[@PigsysRetroGameDevTutorials]

Test successful! 😆

[@arhimhironimus9303]

Hi, can you explain how I develop quests? Scooby-Doo Mystery (Genesis)