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One Shall Rise: JAM is such a TRULY BRILLIANT game entry that most definitely puts a smile on our faces for sure, lukewasthefish, and this puzzle-metroidvania richly brings back phenomenally amazing memories of so, SO many ZX-Spectrum owners who actually played such resplendent computer classics as Jet Set Willy, Atic Atac, and even the countless many Dizzy games to name just a few!!!  (^-^)=b !!

The graphics are so wonderful in a lot of places (although a few close pixels are in 1x1 as I have checked up close in a few places, while a rather whole lot of it overall is in an actual 2x1 pixel-ratio format), the gameplay is simply phenomenal, the controls are rather silky smooth and just plain spot-on, and the idea of finding keys and going through doors to explore new places is quite rather plain fun, which lends to the ingenuity factor which scores very, very high marks indeed!!  TOP marks as well for you in the Music/Sound category, as all your music is splendidly original and just plain adds to the overall joy of this game, also!!!  ;) !!

As for theme, my main gripe with it in your entry is that you only got the theme of “Medieval Fantasy meets Prehistoric World” half-right ( :( ! )... if you had’ve actually added some medieval elements — like chariots and ancient crumbling castles from eons past as examples — then this would’ve been rather more convincing for the theme that it was originally intended to be based upon.  Still, there is absolutely nothing game-breaking in your entry at all, as I was STILL quite enthralled by the way you have pieced this whole game together overall, lukewasthefish, as this is such a rather phenomenal entry overall!!  Very highly recommended!!!  (^-^)v !!!

Puato, here are my clear-cut words about your game called Dino Dark.

This game is QUITE great fun indeed, and it clearly represents a brilliant use of my AAP-64 palette in terms of the graphics, so very wisely picked in terms of your palette choice, first of all!!  ;)

Secondly, the premise and overall gameplay of finding a key and going through the door while collecting the many torches that will add 10 seconds each to the timer of how much light you have left is absolutely brilliant, and the way you have nailed the theme of “Medieval Fantasy meets Prehistoric World” is truly bang-on!!  And when you get the single-use lances, ohhhh boy, nothing is SO F$&KING SATISFYING than using them to stab at the dino’s bare flesh, killing it dead in such wonderful, wonderful animation as it goes down in a pile of crumpling bones... one of the many fantastic things about this game that I absolutely love!!!  ^^

Third, speaking about the animations, they are so fluid and breathtaking for a wide-pixel game, from the chomp from the green dinos to the walking animations of your knight character and so much more as this game is played, which spans itself over the course of all 15 levels in your entry.  And you have created quite a good amount of enemy variety as the levels progress, as well as the smooth difficulty curve that ramps up ever-so-slowly from easy to brutally hard as players move forward and forward through the areas, giving them just enough of a balance of torches and ammunition of lances to get the job done.  This surely lends itself to a rather interesting puzzle mechanic that is splendid well executed the way you have truly created such excellent level design... and so far, the highest level I have made it to on my very first day of playing it is Level 11!!!  ^^  The entire trek can be frustrating and very unforgiving at times in later levels, though, but the beauty of it all UNLIKE SO MANY retro-inspired games of its ilk simply is that Dino Dark actually gives players that “One more go!!!” feeling over and over as he/she tries and tries again, and try again you will... a lot!!  Yes, it is THAT difficult, but yes, clearing all 15 levels IS DOABLE.  Great addictive fun indeed!!!

If there are some slight problems that hold Dino Dark back a bit from achieving true greatness, however, they are:

1. The control setup, because they are auto-mapped permanently to the WASD keys for movement, “Space” key for jumping, and “Enter” for using the Lances (though, I have quickly gotten accustomed to them as I have first played on on my very first go!);
   
   
2. While the background is clear and very easy to see, the foreground walls look empty, and could use a splash of detail to make them more lively and authentic to the medieval/prehistoric setting you were going for; and...
   
   
3. The choice of music, because although you were going for an 8-bit aesthetic, you have clearly borrowed 8-bit classical music sources from YouTube at the time of your entry instead of creating all your own original music for your game itself.  And therefore, I am marking it down some serious notches quite a bit in the Sound/Music department of your game, although the sound effects sure are very good and truly well done.

Those are my slight complaints, but apart from that, this is overall a TRULY DAMN EXCELLENT entry into my Wide-Dot Pixel Game Jam 2017... outstanding job in creating it and making it all happen, Puato!!!  d=(^-^)=b !!

You are MOST truly and splendidly welcome, pickler, and such a wonderful pleasure to meet you here as well!!  ;)

As for your retro-game framework of FES which indeed shows full support for sprites (including scaling and rotation), custom fonts, drawing primitives, 2d tilemaps, sound/music, keyboard/gamepad/mouse support, and even indeed a 2x1 wide-pixel mode of potentially any graphics resolution you wish, it looks SO AWESOME to say the least, and I am quite happy that you are actually creating it using the Unity engine... truly great work so far, and keep it up the way you are doing right here!!!  d=(^-^)=b !!

I am furthermore truly ecstatic that my own Wide-Dot Pixel Game Jam 2017 has rather successfully inspired you to create such an amazing framework that’ll surely excite the heart of ever so many retro-/indie-game programmers in so many damn good ways indeed!!!  And for that, pickler, I am forever-and-ever grateful with such magnificent plain joy straight from the heart.

Thank you ever so much very richly for sharing that quite amazing new framework with us.  ;*) !!!

A SPLENDID hello to you, lukewasthefish, and I truly thank you right up front for participating in my Wide-Dot Pixel Game Jam 2017... it has been an honor working with you and all the other entrants indeed from the very beginning of it all!!!  (^-^)v !!

Rather than calling your project a demo, here’s the thing: if you actually call the version of your game project as the “Game Jam Version” while retaining your own game’s original title as whatever you want to name your title as your submitted new entry on time, yes, I will MOST DEFINITELY accept it indeed.  No questions asked, as I do want to give equal opportunity to each and every one of our entrants alike!!  ;)

As a computer-savvy person who has most thoroughly dabbled a grand lot in programming original games in BASIC since wayyyyy back in the mid-1980s when I was very, very young, I know clearly upfront the pressures, thrills, and real difficulties of actually creating a new game from commencement to conclusion... as well as how exciting and absolutely rewarding it all is once that new said game is successfully designed and fully polished indeed, just like you are quite seriously talking about.  And I can *truly* relate with you quite easily as a games programmer myself indeed... something that I am most glad to share with you from the bottom of my rather heart, quite handsomely!!  ^^

Having said exactly that, I would sure love to see your entry sent successfully right into this game jam on time as richly as ever as your “Game Jam Version” of the game title of your choice.  Thank you again so much, lukewasthefish, and I look forward to playing it; a real pleasure to have you with us!!!  ;*)

Puato, while your example does provide synth music, it is not quite FM-synthesis per se... although it comes pretty close, in some instances.

Here are a couple of excellent examples for pure FM-synthesis being done accurately right that we are looking for, as these ones from Ultima VI: The False Prophet and Ultima Underworld II clearly show, and please pay *very* close attention to the many instruments being used as were shown thoroughly through an AdLib FM-synth soundcard on which those original games were first created on MS-DOS PCs from within the early 1990s:

...and please let them inspire you richly in creating your own original music for your game project here.  ;)

I am absolutely most glad to be able to help you out again, Puato, and perhaps that should enable you even further to finally get your completed game project done as an official new entry into my Wide-Dot Pixel Game Jam 2017 on time before the deadine expires.  Thank you so much once more!!!  ^-^=b !!

Ladies and gentlemen, we are now down to the final stretch in my Wide-Dot Pixel Game Jam 2017 on Itch.io, in that the official deadline for this game jam is at the *very* end of this Saturday, December 9, 2017, 11:59pm EST.

So, being that there are so far well over 50 entrants already entering this very special “indie-/retro-game”-themed event that richly inspires, honors, and celebrates the overall creativity/originality of amazing-quality new games being made in their complete entirety in a 2x1 pixel-ratio format indeed, if you have any new game entries, be truly sure to finish them up and release them as entries before the deadline... I am looking rather forward to seeing what AWESOME new exciting stuff you have for all of us in this quite fascinating and often rare pixel-aspect ratio indeed.  ;)

Remember, this year’s themes for this game jam are:

• Medieval Fantasy meets Prehistoric World
• The Wild West vs. Feudal Japan
• Your Spirit alone IS an Elemental Weapon

...and for more information on how to properly submit your entry in time before the deadline hits, please go right to this official Wide-Dot Pixel Game Jam 2017 front page right here.

Thank you all so much, and best of such splendid good fortune to you on making your own entry a *surefire* success!!!  (^-^)v !!!

I have just now checked your shader in Unity here, smoke_th, and since it has full support for a proper 2x1 pixel-ratio format that is quite perfectly needed for this game jam, you are *definitely* allowed to use it for your own game project!!  ;)

The only thing is, be sure to select the mode “64Commanders” and click in a checkmark right next to “Apply Resolution” and you are all good and set!  ^^

With all that said, smoke_th, I wish you the truly best of success on creating your game project for my game jam here!!  Let’s rock!!!  ^-^=b !!

With your brand-new caveman sprite out now in a proper true 2x1 pixel-ratio format, LienPixels, wow, now that is just SO MUCH better... and to be precisely honest, you did a really tremendous job on it!!  I am truly rather proud of you on such an amazing job well done (including on the skin highlights as well as the beard, the eyes, the smile, and the overall new design, which I *certainly* love right here!!), as you have just taken your first real step towards successfully making your entire own game project a guaranteed reality in my Wide-Dot Pixel Game Jam 2017!!!  (^-^)v !!

So splendidly impressed here with your wonderful pixel-art creation now indeed, let’s get that quite right in an absolutely good way, and just keep that stuff up the way you are doing right now!!!  ;)

As far as I can remember, LienPixels, yes, you technically can make all of your own aspects like you normally do and change the aspect ratio to a 2x1 pixel-ratio format... but there are definitely some significant risks to this, in that some sprites can look too stretched that they sometimes end up looking more needlessly squished and awkward to use.  I mean, I’ve even had that happen myself numerous times when I first began creating my sprites in this format from well just over a year ago... even when I tried to make a normal 1x1 pixel-ratio styled sprite into a 2x1 one at first.  But rather then, using this quite interestingly fascinating new method that I am gonna show you here right now at:

• https://itch.io/post/316000

...you and I can finally craft and design much better and more coherent game sprites to perfectly fit in a 2x1 pixel-aspect ratio that clearly works.  I mean, I just love to inspire such awesome and wonderful people like you indeed in order to help us improve much more richly as we learn along together, all of us!!!  ;)

Great to have you with us as well, and welcome to my Wide-Dot Pixel Game Jam 2017 indeed!!!

You are on the right track in trying to make your sprite more presentable, LienPixels... however, what I am really seeing here is a sprite that does not even fit the standards of a proper 2x1 pixel-aspect ratio at all as it currently stands so far.  That is why I am here to help, as I truly understand that this is your rather first time in trying to make this kind of style of pixel-art for your game project.

That said, let me clearly show you how to make your own sprites a whole lot better and *much* more convincing to fit a more suitable 2x1 pixel-ratio format in its most purest form.  ^^

First, I would redraw the entire sprite all over again, this time at half the horizontal (X) size while your vertical (Y) size remains unchanged as normal.  Here is how it is done using the Amstrad CPC palette that you are currently using, for example:

Now with our caveman (so much handsomer now, with even some small bits of chest hair for good measure too!!!  ;) ) entirely redrawn from the ground up as our brand-new sprite for this test, all you have to do then is to change the width (X) to 200% while setting the height (Y) to just 100%, and the resize type set to “Pixel Resize” for that single object indeed, to completely avoid any blurring whatsoever.  Once done, click “OK”.  Here is what should be our desired result:

If you do all of that right, we should NOW see our own caveman in a much radiant form of a proper, nicer, purer, and far more coherent “2x1 pixel-ratio”-based sprite object that is absolutely ready for your game creation!!  And please remember this exact entire method as was shown here in this very post now, as it also works just as well for background set-pieces (and even parallax-scrolling ones, too!), so definitely try to use this technique as often, constant, and as seriously as ever as one stepping stone forward after another in order to help you *finally* get good at last using this challenging yet ultimately rewarding new medium... it takes quite some practice and getting used to, but do not give up; you will soon get the guaranteed hang of it all to the point of muscle memory before you even know it, I promise!!!  ;)

Thank you so ever very much for your time especially, LienPixels, and I sincerely hope this one tremendously helps you out rather a long way going forward into your entire game project right here for this jam!!!  (^-^)=b !!

My absolute pleasure, VinylFly, and great to have you here with us indeed!!!  ;)

VinylFly, a splendid hello to you as well, and welcome!!!  ;)

The way I quite go about achieving a proper, accurate, much more natural 2x1 pixel-art effect in my own sprites indeed there is by carefully making them in a direct series of 2x1 rectangle-based dots of precisely well-placed colors (I like to truly imagine an entire grid of “2x1”-styled pixels visually off the top of my head as I go, you know?  ^^ ), just like the snap-together toy building blocks that you and I used to play with as rather young children from back in the day, so to speak.  Not an easy task, mind, as I then check and check again *real* often in making sure there is absolutely ZERO pixel-loss and no incorrectly-placed pixels either at all in the entire translation from 2x1 to 1x1, and then back to 2x1 in terms of overall pixel-aspect ratios for sprites... all using a regular pixel-resize method (without even any slightest hint of blurring whatsoever).

Here is the method that I use for checking 2x1 pixels: 1) I set the Width (X) to 50% and the Height (Y) to 100% for a 1x1 pixel ratio:

...and then 2) set the Width (X) to 200% while leaving the Height (Y) at 100% to switch back to a 2x1 pixel ratio:

...all while making sure at the same time I set all the beginning horizontal (X) pixel coordinates for each sprite to just an even number (e.g. 0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 16, or any multiple of 2!) to begin with in advance.  So yes, overall, I do and customize my own sprites in a 2x1 pixel-ratio form manually and thoroughly in any screen resolution that I set it to.

Truly plain challenging stuff to get the hang of at first, but hey, if you get the sheer practice in often and constantly in nailing it all down pat without any unwanted pixel losses period in the checking and everything, you will soon be well-skilled brilliantly in the world of this 2x1 pixel-ratio style as another step taken forward for you into creating much better pixel-art!!  As a result of it all, you will then have some of the best, more natural results... and you know what, that is how I truly do it, and I am so happy to be sharing all of that with you deeply from the heart as one of my main methods!!!  (^-^)=b !!

A TRULY great follow-up question most indeed, VinylFly, and thank you so much for your wonderful time well-spent.  We are learning some real awesome inspiration to warm us all up for this game jam of mine here that is set to start in less than 24 hours... I cannot wait!!!  :D

You know what, please do that... as I would love to see some wonderful insight and vital pointers about how your own game entry is made from the ground up, all in the form of you recording it all live on Twitch!!  I will bet that would strongly interest and inspire aspiring indie-/retro-game devs and newcomers alike into wanting to join my current Wide-Dot Pixel Game Jam 2017 event on Itch.io; totally nothing wrong with that at all.  ;)

As such, I am definitely looking forward to that!!!

No problem, and great to have you in my Wide-Dot Pixel Game Jam 2017, even if you have just joined us as one of the newest entrants yourself.  Again, I thank you quite richly.

And real awesome to meet you, by the way!!!  (^^)v

While I do not know the exact answer, Puato, I can come close to as accurate an answer as I can to your question.

For example about what you are saying now, if you are using a screen resolution of 128x128 right here:

...then the correct style of sprites would be to redraw them so that they would perfectly fit the 2x1 pixel-aspect ratio we are looking for.  Here, I will show you an example:

That is just one way of doing it, and I hope this helps you out truly as a valuable little example right there.  ;)

You know,  working with “2x1”-styled pixels can sure be a daunting and most challenging discipline to successfully pull off at first, especially for those just starting off in this kind of pixel ratio as beginners... but, with some good constant practice as well as plenty of time and study about this fascinating medium, it can be managed masterfully the more you learn and learn about it as well as how it works while you are pixelling your own new sprite work in the form of a 2x1 pixel-dot style indeed.  I mean, even I had to discover all of that quite a serious bit thoroughly myself too when I first began from just a year or two ago, especially if I wanted to preserve the sprites to fit that exact very ratio instead of them looking like a choppy mess with nasty, randomly missing pixels in-between.  I am only just learning along all the splendid aspects of it thoroughly and handsomely so that I can share all that newfound knowledge about it with you in order to give you some much vital insight into what this amazing, iconically well-cherished art of pixel style is truly all about.

As such, I most richly thank you so much for the rather interesting question, and I look forward to your fine entry into this game jam.  All the best to you indeed on doing that!!!  ^-^=b !

Hello to you, knux400, and thank you so much for the question.  ^^  I just want to clear up some confusion on the third theme of “Your Spirit is an Elemental Weapon”, just to make it a little easier for both you and the other entrants who pick this one as the selection of choice for this game jam.

If you really wanted to design a game where your character harvested elemental energy from something like totem poles, power-ups, and and any sort of thing you can dream up, you are quite welcome to do that.  And also, you are TRULY also more than welcome to allow the player to use harvested energy in a manner that is not necessarily a weapon as well, such as using it to help you solve puzzles easier... or if you prefer, use that very same kind of energy there for any creative means that you can dream of.  In fact, all of the above is *absolutely* encouraged, as it is not against the rules at all in any way whatsoever.  So I say go for it, as I want the third theme here to be as freely open to both interpretation and imagination as you really want it to be.

Once again, thank you so much for the question indeed, knux400, and I just want to make thoroughly sure that it all makes a lot more sense to you now so as to make things even more fair and lenient for you as well as all the other entrants choosing this third theme we are talking about together.  ;)

Well RADIOACTIVE 2069, I am *quite* certainly glad you have asked that, because you can find a well-detailed post that I have made earlier today for you right here:

• https://itch.io/post/313098

...and in it, I clearly and more accurately describe about what a 2x1 pixel-ratio aspect is truly about, as well as some excellent examples that can perfectly illustrate that which’ll fit quite nicely with what you are talking about here.  Please, let it all inspire you richly, and thank you so much for your wonderful time this week!!!  ;)

On my Wide-Dot Pixel Game Jam 2017 on Itch.io, you freely have the opportunity to work on your newest game project either alone or as a team.  BUT, if you are really planning to work on your brand-new game indeed as a team, then here is a wonderful and fully-integrated CrowdForge page I’ve just made that will truly help you build and assemble your own indie-game development team to seriously aid you in creating all of the necessary elements (graphics/pixel-art, coding, sound/music, and game design) needed in making a splendidly amazing game for this very game jam, and you can access it right now by going to this important link:

• https://crowdforge.io/jams/widedotgamejam2017

Remember, all graphics, sounds, sprites, etc. *are* to be of your own original creation alone, even as a team; absolutely no ripped stuff whatsoever, please.  We are aiming for authenticity, originality, and sheer quality when it comes to this original game jam, so do keep all of that in mind as you join us, alright?  ;)

Thank you ever so much once more, and I am truly looking forward to seeing your newest entries into this exciting new game jam indeed!!!  (^-^)v !!

A rather excellent question!!!  I would be QUITE happy to give you plenty of examples of how a 2x1 pixel-aspect ratio is made, RADIOACTIVE 2069, as it would be such a most absolute pleasure to help you out indeed.  Follow me.  ;)

The 2x1 pixel-aspect ratio can best be thought of as something called “double-wide pixels” (or, if you will, two normal square pixels being smushed and glued together right next to each other horizontally in order to really give the impression of a single ‘dot’), so that the pixels are not always square in that regard.  Here are some screenshots that are shown from some classic games on the Amstrad CPC and c64 to give you an example what I clearly mean:

• Fruity Frank (Amstrad CPC; Kuma Software, 1984)
  

• Rick Dangerous (Amstrad CPC; Core Design, 1989)
  

• Cybernoid II (Amstrad CPC; Hewson Consultants, 1988)
  

• Mega Apocalypse (Commodore 64; Martech, 1987) (Loading Screen)

• Crush (Commodore 64; Smash Designs, 1999) (Loading Screen)

This exact method of pixelling is *rather* plain historically important where both retro-gaming and classic computers (especially the c64, Amstrad CPC, and even the Atari 8-bit home computers, too!!  ;) ) are concerned... and it even dates wayyyyyyyy rather back to the splendidly good ‘ol Atari 2600 in the late 1970s, too!!!  ^-^=b !!!

Speaking about the Atari 2600 itself, here are some videos of some great classic games that perfectly illustrate the smooth active movements in the form of a 2x1 pixel-ratio aspect on that system, as further proof of this as a cleverly amazing form of pixel-art that is fondly cherished upon even to this rather day:

I hope this all makes some insightfully clear sense in what a 2x1 pixel-aspect ratio truly is, and may it all inspire you even further for my Wide-Dot Pixel Game Jam 2017 here that I am talking about.  Thank you ever so very much for that wonderfully most awesome question, RADIOACTIVE 2069, and quite a rather pleasure to meet you, too!!!  (^-^)v !!

Hello to all of you on this post, ladies and gents, and since my Wide-Dot Pixel Game Jam 2017 clearly requires that you create all of your original sounds and musics in entirety in the style of 8-bit/chiptune/FM-synthesis form in the format we are looking for on a 2x1 pixel-aspect format, here are some valuable resources to really help you get well-started on your way towards truly becoming a magnificent 8-bit maestro for your new game project!!  ^^

For your 8-bit/chiptune/FM-synthesis music creation buzz, here are the following tools that are available for free download to get you revving:

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• DefleMask by Leonardo (Delek) Demartino (http://deflemask.com/)
  

• Klystrack by kometbomb (https://kometbomb.github.io/klystrack/)
  

• Bosca Ceoil by Terry Cavanagh (http://boscaceoil.net/)
  

• PXTone by Pixel (http://www.cavestory.org/pixels-works/pxtone-collage.php)
  

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...and to top things off quite so nicely by adding some rather damn good 8-bit/chiptune sound effects of your own to brilliantly match, try these next free tools right here:

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• LabChirp by Labbed (http://labbed.net/software/labchirp/)
  

• Bfxr by increpare (https://www.bfxr.net/)
  

• sfxr by DrPetter (http://www.drpetter.se/project_sfxr.html)
  

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Okay.  Now that you got your hands on them, you are wondering how you’re gonna use them efficiently to create your own quality music and sounds at the absolute fullest once you load them up?  Well, fear not, because there are quite some excellent video tutorials to help you tremendously on this here, starting with these that I HUGELY recommend you want to pay real close attention to:

That way, you will end up taking a significant step ever-closer towards successfully making your amazing-quality game for the Wide-Dot Pixel Game Jam 2017, and perhaps much, much more!!

Hope this all helps, and I thank you all so splendidly much for your awesome time and wonderful attention indeed!!!  ^-^=b !!

Ladies and gentlemen and indie- and retro-gamers everywhere, I truly welcome all of you to this very special game jam on Itch.io called the Wide-Dot Pixel Game Jam 2017!  Great to have you here with us!!!  ^-^=b !

In this exciting new game jam, it inspires, honors, and celebrates the overall creativity/originality of amazing-quality new games being made in their complete entirety in a 2x1 pixel-ratio format... only better!!

If you are making a new game as an entry in this jam, please do not be afraid to ask any questions in case you run into trouble in the making of your entry, or if you just want some pointers towards getting your entry started now.

Please, do enjoy the official forums for this game jam, and let us treat each other with the fullest utmost respect, ok please?  Thanks!!!  ;)

- Adigun Azikiwe Polack
Official Founder and Organizer of Wide-Dot Pixel Game Jam 2017