[Discussion] Problems with RPG games on Zune (or ANY game for that matter)

sandman · 05-11-2008, 07:28 PM

I would love to see some actual rpg 2D games for the zune. but some of the problems with that, as far as i can see, are:

Game Size - It would probably take ALOT of space, im talking GBs, to make it work.

Processor Power - Im not too sure if the zune could handle something thats not spoon-fed to it.

Button Limit - There wouldnt need to be much button movement i dont think, most rpgs are turn based, so you would only need Up, Down, Left, Right, and Ok. Maybe, if it is real time, then you could utilize the touch pad for swinging and such.

Save Points - from what ive seen with the games currently out, there are no save points. Im not sure if this is just lazyness, or the fact that we cant figure out how to do it. Bc if you notice, when the zune is shut off completely, it wont go back to the song or video you left it on.

Battery Life - Idk if yall have noticed, but the battery life is DRASTICALLY wasted when playing games on the zune. For lack of a better word, it SUCKS. Power efficiency would need to be utilized greatly.

Have i missed anything?

Please discuss

Crinklypaper · 05-11-2008, 08:42 PM

Game Size - You do release some of the older final fantasy games are less than a Gig in size right?

Processor Power - Would not need much to run an old style rpg

Save points - Got me there, as I dont know how the zune handle memory

wakeskater17 · 05-11-2008, 10:22 PM

the zune remembers where you left off in movies even through a reset, so saving probably wouldn't be that much of an issue. it just doesnt remember which one was playing, because thats probably stored in ram.

Omnidragon · 05-12-2008, 12:56 AM

Save's just havent been done yet. The zune and XNA both support saves.

It wouldnt take gigs for an RPG for a few reasons really first off we are not dealing with 3D models just 2D sprites, alot of the gfx can be reused and we cant have movies.

Battery life: this is a pre-beta release so treat it like one, the release wasnt really meant for end users to use atm it was mainly for the developer community to see how it worked generally. There is also nothing we at this end can do about battery life it would have to be done very deep down in the firmware on the hardware interface layer.

You also dont need alot of processing power for an RPG seem as its mostly just simple sums and a bit of random number generation for the battle system

sandman · 05-12-2008, 03:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wakeskater17

the zune remembers where you left off in movies even through a reset, so saving probably wouldn't be that much of an issue. it just doesnt remember which one was playing, because thats probably stored in ram.

Mentally corrected. thanks

sandman · 05-13-2008, 12:57 PM

this is supposed to be a discussion topic, not a 'post 2 or 3 replies and never come back' lol

axlgreasetires · 05-13-2008, 05:00 PM

well yes... saving is possible.

Using simple jpegs or pngs as sprites will not gobble up that much space. Looping a short .wav can also cut down the size of a game(Alien Aggression could use some looping(that download is ginormous)).

buttons. there are basicly 7, 6 if you want to avoid the back button. the gameboy color used only Up,down,left,right,a,b,start for pokemon. the back button could be used as the menu button. center for accept. that leaves the play button open or it could be used as a turn down(not accept)button.

The battery situation is the most prevalent problem in my opinion. At the moment im happy playing the games while having the zune plugged into a wall socket.

Rockman87 · 05-13-2008, 05:41 PM

Size does not matter... the 16 gig limit is only the ram size on the zune... if you know how to swap memory, the game can be as big as you want.

133794m3r · 05-13-2008, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rockman87

Size does not matter... the 16 gig limit is only the ram size on the zune... if you know how to swap memory, the game can be as big as you want.

you do mean 16 meg right? b/c 16 gig is insane! I mean that's like super computer ram...

Tiptup300 · 05-13-2008, 07:17 PM

1) 200mb max if the game is saved as bmp's with full 100% uncompressed audio
2) An rpg is really low processing type of game.... Menu's take a lot of cpu, let me tell yoU!
3) UDLR + click is all we really need... Seriously, do you have any reasoning skills?
4) Yes, because saving wasn't used in any zune games at all.
5) I haven't noticed a big impact on battery life... anyways, not a big problem.

Khao · 05-13-2008, 07:23 PM

I see no problem in making an RPG for the zune
1. Not hard on the processor
2. Saving is possible and is fairly easy once you know how it's done
3. There's enough buttons for just going trough menus
4. With memory swapping it's really easy to fit into the 16mb of ram available
5. Battery is an issue though, you couldn't play for 3 hours straight, and I don't think there's a way to know when the battery will fail in-game, so saving right before the battery dies would be hard to do because I haven't seen anything related to the zune hardware like battery, zune type (1st gen or 2nd gen), touch enabled etc..

gordesky1 · 05-13-2008, 09:21 PM

or just use one of theses for extra battery life

Amazon.com: MusicPower Encore Dual Port USB AC...

i bought one couple weeks ago and so far its been great!!

tho i dont use it much because i couldint run my zune or ipod nano 4gb down yet lol

but last night when i was playing Zune Pong by Steven Gilligan which is a very nice pong game by the way

it finely drained my battery to were it says your battery low tho it didint go dead and i problee used it all lastnight like 6hour to 7hours listening to music and playing a game with music for a hour or 3

im gona take the encore with me tonight sense its gona be a long work night and see how long it will keep the zune runing

it says on the box 15hours extra on ipod and mp3 players so we will see.

but ya rpgs and even rts will be very cool on the zune

mikem709 · 05-14-2008, 12:20 PM

I think a multiplayer rpg would be pretty awesome if we could figure out how to include it. as for the challenges, i think the biggest problem would be battery life. i played barely any games today and my battery is already down 2/3 of the way to empty, and thats without wireless on.

also, does anyone knnow the max number of players in an ad-hoc wireless network?

Link9228 · 05-14-2008, 12:22 PM

I don't know if there's much we can do about the battery problems... right now the XNA thing's only in beta, so they could fix it for the future..

Khao · 05-14-2008, 12:37 PM

ionman said it could support 8 had-oc players.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ionman

Happy to help!

As a side note, that code is configured to allow up to 8 Zunes to connect. I have tested it with up to 3 at a time and it worked just fine.

- ionman

KAGE LUPUS · 05-14-2008, 02:26 PM

I would love to have an rpg for my zune. Me and some friends made a stand-alone battle system using Java and hand-drawn bitmaps. C# isn't supposed to be to different from Java is it? Our game was under 25 megs and im sure if we had smaller pics it would make it under 16

Ace1tk · 05-15-2008, 05:35 PM

it doesnt matter how much space the game takes up as long as its 16mb RAM**** why's that so hard to understand. HAve you played The updated Alien Agressors that file is massive! 260mb so that goes to show we can have rpg's. I like games like GW3, SIR TET, Pong, and marblets but im an Avid RPG player. I'd love to see an rpg on Zunes. If i knew how to program and Dev. my own games i'd certainly take on the project

SimReality · 05-15-2008, 05:40 PM

Consider that they made RPGs for Game Boy (the original) and that thing had pretty weak specs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Bo...al_information).

05-11-2008, 07:28 PM	#1 (permalink)
sandman Zuner Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 91 Reputation: 10 $zB: 59 Donate	[Discussion] Problems with RPG games on Zune (or ANY game for that matter) I would love to see some actual rpg 2D games for the zune. but some of the problems with that, as far as i can see, are: Game Size - It would probably take ALOT of space, im talking GBs, to make it work. Processor Power - Im not too sure if the zune could handle something thats not spoon-fed to it. Button Limit - There wouldnt need to be much button movement i dont think, most rpgs are turn based, so you would only need Up, Down, Left, Right, and Ok. Maybe, if it is real time, then you could utilize the touch pad for swinging and such. Save Points - from what ive seen with the games currently out, there are no save points. Im not sure if this is just lazyness, or the fact that we cant figure out how to do it. Bc if you notice, when the zune is shut off completely, it wont go back to the song or video you left it on. Battery Life - Idk if yall have noticed, but the battery life is DRASTICALLY wasted when playing games on the zune. For lack of a better word, it SUCKS. Power efficiency would need to be utilized greatly. Have i missed anything? Please discuss __________________ Readily will I display the intestinal fortitude required to fight on to the Ranger objective and complete the mission, though I be the lone survivor. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Questing for: Zune 8gb

05-12-2008, 12:56 AM	#4 (permalink)
Omnidragon zB Programmer Jr. Member Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 287 Reputation: 18 $zB: 234 Donate	Save's just havent been done yet. The zune and XNA both support saves. It wouldnt take gigs for an RPG for a few reasons really first off we are not dealing with 3D models just 2D sprites, alot of the gfx can be reused and we cant have movies. Battery life: this is a pre-beta release so treat it like one, the release wasnt really meant for end users to use atm it was mainly for the developer community to see how it worked generally. There is also nothing we at this end can do about battery life it would have to be done very deep down in the firmware on the hardware interface layer. You also dont need alot of processing power for an RPG seem as its mostly just simple sums and a bit of random number generation for the battle system __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

05-13-2008, 12:57 PM	#6 (permalink)
sandman Zuner Join Date: May 2007 Posts: 91 Reputation: 10 $zB: 59 Donate	this is supposed to be a discussion topic, not a 'post 2 or 3 replies and never come back' lol __________________ Readily will I display the intestinal fortitude required to fight on to the Ranger objective and complete the mission, though I be the lone survivor. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Questing for: Zune 8gb

05-13-2008, 05:00 PM	#7 (permalink)
axlgreasetires Squirt Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 18 Reputation: 10 $zB: 12 Donate	well yes... saving is possible. Using simple jpegs or pngs as sprites will not gobble up that much space. Looping a short .wav can also cut down the size of a game(Alien Aggression could use some looping(that download is ginormous)). buttons. there are basicly 7, 6 if you want to avoid the back button. the gameboy color used only Up,down,left,right,a,b,start for pokemon. the back button could be used as the menu button. center for accept. that leaves the play button open or it could be used as a turn down(not accept)button. The battery situation is the most prevalent problem in my opinion. At the moment im happy playing the games while having the zune plugged into a wall socket. Last edited by axlgreasetires : 05-13-2008 at 05:02 PM.

05-13-2008, 07:17 PM	#10 (permalink)
Tiptup300 Experienced Zuner Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 222 Reputation: 72 $zB: 142 Donate	1) 200mb max if the game is saved as bmp's with full 100% uncompressed audio 2) An rpg is really low processing type of game.... Menu's take a lot of cpu, let me tell yoU! 3) UDLR + click is all we really need... Seriously, do you have any reasoning skills? 4) Yes, because saving wasn't used in any zune games at all. 5) I haven't noticed a big impact on battery life... anyways, not a big problem. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

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05-11-2008, 08:42 PM	#2 (permalink)
Crinklypaper Zewbie Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 1 Reputation: 10 $zB: 1 Donate	Game Size - You do release some of the older final fantasy games are less than a Gig in size right? Processor Power - Would not need much to run an old style rpg Save points - Got me there, as I dont know how the zune handle memory

05-11-2008, 10:22 PM	#3 (permalink)
wakeskater17 Jr. Zuner Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 43 Reputation: 10 $zB: 30 Donate	the zune remembers where you left off in movies even through a reset, so saving probably wouldn't be that much of an issue. it just doesnt remember which one was playing, because thats probably stored in ram.

05-13-2008, 05:41 PM	#8 (permalink)
Rockman87 Zuner Join Date: Nov 2007 Posts: 61 Reputation: 12 $zB: 23 Donate	Size does not matter... the 16 gig limit is only the ram size on the zune... if you know how to swap memory, the game can be as big as you want.

05-13-2008, 07:23 PM	#11 (permalink)
Khao Developper zB Programmer Experienced Zuner Join Date: May 2008 Location: Québec, Canada! Posts: 104 Reputation: 25 $zB: 89 Donate	I see no problem in making an RPG for the zune 1. Not hard on the processor 2. Saving is possible and is fairly easy once you know how it's done 3. There's enough buttons for just going trough menus 4. With memory swapping it's really easy to fit into the 16mb of ram available 5. Battery is an issue though, you couldn't play for 3 hours straight, and I don't think there's a way to know when the battery will fail in-game, so saving right before the battery dies would be hard to do because I haven't seen anything related to the zune hardware like battery, zune type (1st gen or 2nd gen), touch enabled etc.. __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. My website is down! Temporary download link : To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Feel free to contact me to get my msn/gtalk address if you develop games, I love to help and I know a lot about programming! To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

05-13-2008, 09:21 PM	#12 (permalink)
gordesky1 Zewbie Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 4 Reputation: 10 $zB: 4 Donate	or just use one of theses for extra battery life Amazon.com: MusicPower Encore Dual Port USB AC... i bought one couple weeks ago and so far its been great!! tho i dont use it much because i couldint run my zune or ipod nano 4gb down yet lol but last night when i was playing Zune Pong by Steven Gilligan which is a very nice pong game by the way it finely drained my battery to were it says your battery low tho it didint go dead and i problee used it all lastnight like 6hour to 7hours listening to music and playing a game with music for a hour or 3 im gona take the encore with me tonight sense its gona be a long work night and see how long it will keep the zune runingit says on the box 15hours extra on ipod and mp3 players so we will see. but ya rpgs and even rts will be very cool on the zune Last edited by gordesky1 : 05-13-2008 at 09:23 PM. Reason: nano

05-14-2008, 12:20 PM	#13 (permalink)
mikem709 Zuner Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 87 Reputation: 10 $zB: 48 Donate	I think a multiplayer rpg would be pretty awesome if we could figure out how to include it. as for the challenges, i think the biggest problem would be battery life. i played barely any games today and my battery is already down 2/3 of the way to empty, and thats without wireless on. also, does anyone knnow the max number of players in an ad-hoc wireless network?

05-14-2008, 12:22 PM	#14 (permalink)
Link9228 Experienced Zuner Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Pennsylvania Posts: 234 Reputation: 13 $zB: 133 Donate	I don't know if there's much we can do about the battery problems... right now the XNA thing's only in beta, so they could fix it for the future..

05-14-2008, 02:26 PM	#16 (permalink)
KAGE LUPUS Squirt Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: OSU Posts: 15 Reputation: 10 $zB: 8 Donate	I would love to have an rpg for my zune. Me and some friends made a stand-alone battle system using Java and hand-drawn bitmaps. C# isn't supposed to be to different from Java is it? Our game was under 25 megs and im sure if we had smaller pics it would make it under 16

05-15-2008, 05:35 PM	#17 (permalink)
Ace1tk Zuner Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 78 Reputation: 14 $zB: 71 Donate	it doesnt matter how much space the game takes up as long as its 16mb RAM**** why's that so hard to understand. HAve you played The updated Alien Agressors that file is massive! 260mb so that goes to show we can have rpg's. I like games like GW3, SIR TET, Pong, and marblets but im an Avid RPG player. I'd love to see an rpg on Zunes. If i knew how to program and Dev. my own games i'd certainly take on the project

05-15-2008, 05:40 PM	#18 (permalink)
SimReality Jr. Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: Seattle, WA Posts: 341 Reputation: 49 $zB: 284 Donate	Consider that they made RPGs for Game Boy (the original) and that thing had pretty weak specs (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Bo...al_information). __________________ Nick Gravelyn Microsoft MVP - DirectX/XNA To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

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