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3D "Mode 7" Racing in TGB (Vid-Pics)

Name:	Chris Jorgensen
Date Posted:	Sep 07, 2008
Rating:	5.0 out of 5
Public:	YES
Comments:	YES
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Profile Page:	View profile page for Chris Jorgensen

Blog post

You know what I love? 16-bit era games. Specifically, the platformers and "mode 7" racers are close to my heart. A while back I set out to figure out how to mimic something like Mario Kart or F-Zero (or, perhaps a more sophisticated Atari Karts). Alas, nobody had ever tried it in TGB and some thought it might not be possible or easy. As it turns out, it is possible and it's not hard to get it going.

Right now, you start off by creating your track in the builder, like so:

In this case it's pretty simple. A couple boost pads, some streetlamps, and a track. Invisible but present are some sprites used to tell the game where the track edges are. The track itself is a scroller (credit Lance Hampton for convincing me a scroller would work here). After some magical script calls to my engine mods, you get something like this in game:

If you want to see it in motion, click on this pic below and it will take you to youtube:

If you want the basics of the code I'm using in TGB, go here. There you can also find an earlier prototype of "TGB Kart," which gives you a feel for how a Mario Kart clone might look using these mods.

If you want a more formal tutorial, Michael Perry has offered to help me put something together.

If you want a full blown kit, let me know. I'm all for putting a kit together if there's enough interest.

Recent Blog Posts

List:	11/10/08 - Mini Shogi Released 09/07/08 - 3D "Mode 7" Racing in TGB (Vid-Pics) 07/23/08 - Fifteen Xeno Sola Reviews! Oh, the Humanity! 05/16/08 - Xeno Sola Full-Featured Beta! 04/16/08 - Look Out, Carcassonne Lovers! 03/14/08 - Mini Chess Beta 2.0 03/10/08 - Download and Play Mini Chess! 10/29/07 - Reclaiming my name... and Mini-Chess!

Submit your own resources!

Ryan Jaeger (Sep 08, 2008 at 00:13 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

I remember Contra III used this technique on a level as well.
Cool stuff!

Mike Rowley (Sep 08, 2008 at 00:55 GMT)

That looks pretty cool.

Edward F. Maurina III (Sep 08, 2008 at 00:55 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

Impressive. I am looking forward to updates.

Great work.

Hall Of Worlds - For Gamers (soon to be The Roaming Gamer)
EdM|GPGT || MGEC
Edited on Sep 08, 2008 01:04 GMT

jydog (Sep 08, 2008 at 02:23 GMT)

> If you want a more formal tutorial -
> If you want a full blown kit -

What silly questions. ; )

Seriously, the work is very interesting. Tutorials, kits? Yes.
"Please Sir, I Want Some More."

Jeremy Alessi (Sep 08, 2008 at 02:50 GMT)

This is fantastic. My favorite games are from that generation as well. Pilotwings in particular still facinates me and I play it often. I'd love to do a game using the mode 7 technique.

Bill Vee (Sep 08, 2008 at 16:01 GMT)

Wow, talk about a blast from the past.
Mode 7. Haven't heard that phrase in years.
Brings back good memories.
Nice work.

Michael Perry (Sep 08, 2008 at 16:16 GMT)

This project has come along way in such a short period of time that I am still blown away. Very impressive =)

Kevin James (Sep 09, 2008 at 02:10 GMT)

That is the most insane thing I've seen in TGB. Talk about something I NEVER expected in see in TGB in a 1000 years.

This is absolutely awesome! I love 16 bit games too. I honestly don't think I can get over this.

Lance Hampton (Sep 09, 2008 at 16:15 GMT)

Chris has that rare combination of being a great coder and having a good sense of taste/style.

This is just the tip of the iceberg on this project.

Chris Jorgensen (Sep 10, 2008 at 21:20 GMT)

Thanks for the nice comments everyone. As an update, I added in a jump the other night. I've also put in solid barriers and level edges. Plus, I've made it such that creating new tracks is trivial. Just adding something like "tree" to the list of objects is all you need to tell the game to handle every tree's 3D position. It's working well. :)

Kenneth Holst (Sep 10, 2008 at 22:00 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

made of awesome. :O

Stephen Scott (Sep 20, 2008 at 06:00 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

Chris, that is some awesome work. I really hope w/ Micheal Perry you guys can make a great tutorial, or even better a kit w/ Tutorial. I would buy that.

Wes - ToadTrip (Sep 22, 2008 at 18:25 GMT) Resource Rating: 5

Very very cool. Kits and tutorials are very welcome. Official support? Even better! :D

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