Get Info: #x68000

List of vintage Japanese pixel/dot art software

by Matt Sephton — Sat, 21 Oct 2023 15:56:00 +0000

For a while now I’ve been collecting references to old Japanese pixel/dot art software. My main sources of information are the treasure trove of scanned magazines on Internet Archive, Twitter archives, YouTube videos, Yahoo! Japan Auctions listings, and Google search. I’ve been keeping this list for a while, and the release of 16bit Sensation: Another Layer and its inclusion of Multi Paint System made me realise I should make the list public.

A long term goal would be to find files for each of these so they can be actively used and documented more fully. Most have them can be found in archives of preserved software, with clues in the spreadsheet below, and you can try them using emulation or Virtual Machines.

Selected columns from the big list

The table below is a snapshot of selected columns of a Google Sheet that I’m updating over time. The full spreadsheet contains links to downloads, videos, web pages, magazine mentions, and many other references. So be sure to check, bookmark or subscribe to that link for the very latest information. Since January 2024 I’ve been adding some non-Japanese software that was “big in Japan”.

Regarding the empty cells: software missing a Japanese name was mostly referred to only by an English title. The rest of the missing information is TBC.

ドット絵（ドットえ）作成に使えるビンテージ日本語ソフトの一覧です。

Total entries: 272

Platform	English	Japanese	Year	Developer
FM-7, X1	Art Creator		1984	MDBA
FM-7/8	Graphic Editor		1983	Hiroshi Ichikawa
FM-7/8	Super Graphic Editor	スーパーグラフィックエディター	1983	T&E SOFT
FM-77	FM Graphic Editor	FMグラフィックエディタⅡ V1.0	1986	Fujitsu
FM-R50/60	Z’s STAFF Kid FP		1988	Zeit
FM-R60/70	Z’s STAFF Kid FP		1990	Zeit
FM-Towns	ARTemis		1993	Ryosuke Matsuuchi
FM-Towns	DRAW BOARD2		1993	Souji Yamakawa
FM-Towns	G-Pen32K		1995	rice
FM-Towns	many COLORS		1993	Amorphous
FM-Towns	many COLORS II		1995	Amorphous
FM-Towns	Meta Paint 2	メタペイント2	1992	Oizumi Shigeru
FM-Towns	New Transfer	ニュートランスファー	1992	Hiroshi Toda
FM-Towns	Oops, anime-kun	おっとアニメ君	1989	Nihon Mi-Com Hanbai
FM-Towns	Otome / Towns Paint System	乙女座	1993	Yabara
FM-Towns	Power Paint	パワーペインター	1991	Wave Train
FM-Towns	Towns PAINT		1989	Fujitsu
FM-Towns	TownsFullcolor		1993	Fujitsu
FM-Towns	Z’s STAFF PRO-TOWNS		1991	Zeit
Mac OS X	DotEditerSE		2016	tokyoconsaruai
Mac OS X	DotShot X		2007	Studio Shin
Mac OS X	FireAlpaca		2011	FireAlpaca
Mac OS X	PikoPixel		2013	Twilight Edge Software
Mac OS X	PoCo		2005	KAENRYUU Koutoku
Macintosh	BluePaint		2001	Shungo Onozuka
Macintosh	DotShot		1998	Studio Shin
Macintosh	Leo paint		1997	Reona Takahashi
Macintosh	SketchBook 68K		2000	Shibutaro Kimura
Macintosh	Solid Paint		1996	Masatoshi Utashiro
Macintosh	WishDraw		1998	Motoo Tanaka
MPC-X	MPC-X Lightpen Graphics		1984	Sanyo
MSX	ACE-tools DRAW-SET		1997	Akio Hiramatsu
MSX	Animation editor EDDY	アニメエディタＥＤＤＹ	1984	HAL Laboratory
MSX	ANIMECHA Ver. 2.00		1995	MAR’Z PROJECT
MSX	Art Paper	アートペーパー	1986	Mitsubishi
MSX	CHEESE		1984	NEOS
MSX	CHEESE 2		1985	NEOS
MSX	Computer Painting	描きくけコン	1985	Casio
MSX	Creative Tool	クリエイティブツール	1989	HAL Laboratory
MSX	Da Vinci	ダ・ビンチ	1988	Shinkikakusha Corp
MSX	Dot Designers Club	ＤＤ倶楽部	1989	T&E SOFT
MSX	Dream Block	ドリームブロック	1989	Nikkoh Thinking
MSX	EDDY II	エディー	1984	HAL Laboratory
MSX	Gaban	がばん	1988	Micronet
MSX	Garakuta	画楽多	1988	Southern Create
MSX	Graph Saurus 1	グラフサウルス	1989	Bit²
MSX	Graph Saurus 2	グラフサウルスVer2.0	1991	Bit²
MSX	Graph Saurus 2.1	グラフサウルスVer2.1	1993	Bit²
MSX	Graphic Artist	グラフィックアーティスト	1985	YAMAHA
MSX	Graphic Editor	グラフィックエディター	1984	HAL Laboratory
MSX	Graphic Editor ANGLE	グラフィックエディタアングル	1985	Hiroshi Ichikawa
MSX	Graphic Editor XV	グラフィックエディター	1988	HAL Laboratory?
MSX	Graphic Master Lab	グラフィックマスターラボ	1985	HAL Laboratory
MSX	Graphic Studio Pro	カラー・グラフィック・エディター	1985	HAL Laboratory
MSX	Graphic Tool for screen 12	専用簡易グラフィックツール	1993	KNKKY
MSX	Illustration Word Processor	絵はがき用ワープロ	1985	Hitachi
MSX	Joy Graph	ジョイグラフ	1983	Victor
MSX	Kakikuke kon	かきくけこん	1985	Casio
MSX	Leonard	レオナルド	1987	Omega System
MSX	Leonard Plus Kanji	レオナルドプラス漢字	1987	Omega System
MSX	Lightpen Graphics	ライトペングラフィックス	1984	HAL Laboratory
MSX	MOKO		1986	Toshio Tabeta
MSX	MOKO II Improved Version	改良版 MOKO II	1987	Maeda Mameo
MSX	MSX’s TOOLS		1995	Hitori Circle
MSX	The Painter	ザ・ペインター	1986	YAMAHA
MSX	Tiny Joygraph		1985	Victor
MSX	Pattern Editor Robin	パターンエディターRobin	1985	Hirohumi Ino
MSX	Pixel 2	ピクセル２	1985	T&E SOFT
MSX	Pixel 3	ピクセル３	1988	T&E SOFT
MSX	(Graphic Editor) Sha Ga Raku	写・画・楽	1988	Victor
MSX	UniPaint	ユニペイント	1986	Matsushita
MSX	Video Graphics	ビデオグラフィックス	1986	Matsushita
MSX, WAVY	Light Pen Graphics	ライトペングラフィックス	1984	Sanyo
MZ-2500	G-EDIT2500	グラフィックエディタ2500	1987	Data West
MZ-2500	ILLUST BOX		1987	Rhodes
MZ-2500	Palette	ぱれっと	1987	Dynaware
MZ-2500	Quick MZ Paint		1987	Minoru Morinaka
MZ-2500	Super Paint		1987	S.B.C Software
Newton	HexPaint		1997	HexDump
Newton	NewtPaint		1995	Glen Raphael
OS/2	QueenCy		2000	masami
Palm	CLIE Paint		2001	Sony
Palm	MoePaint		2004	Toshiyuki Hayashi
Palm	PenPenCol		2001	Shigeyuki Seko
Palm	PenPenW		2005	Shigeyuki Seko
Palm	PixMarker		2001	wernyv
Palm	Sphere the PAINTER		2001	Katsunori Sakuragi
Palm	yapp		2000	Ines
PC-100	Airbrush	エアーブラシ	1984	ASCII
PC-6001	Picture Editor	ピクチャーエディタ	1983	ASCII
PC-88	Adventure Maker mk2	アドベンチャーツクールmkII	1987	T.Ueno
PC-88	ART MASTER 88		1985	SystemSoft
PC-88	da Vinci ~Super Graphic Tool~	ダヴィンチ	1985	POPCOM
PC-88	Emi	絵美	1990	MIINA
PC-88	HR-PAINT3		1990
PC-88	Ink Pot M		1987	H.Komatsu
PC-88	LALF ~Hyper Graphic Tool~		1989	Technopolis
PC-88	LUNA		1991	MEW
PC-88	Magic Paint 88 v2.0	マジックペイント88	1988	Atsushi Oshima
PC-88	Magic Paint 88 v3.0	マジックペイント88	1988	Atsushi Oshima
PC-88	Magic Paint 98	マジックペイント98	1990	Atsushi Oshima
PC-88	Magic Paint VA	マジックペイントVA	1988	Atsushi Oshima
PC-88	nedi3.bin		1987	TA(O)
PC-88	Super Artist 256		1989	Seed Software
PC-88	Yukara art	ユーカラart	1987	Tokai Create
PC-88	Z’s STAFF Kid VA		1987	Zeit
PC-88	Z’s STAFF Kid88		1987	Zeit
PC-88, X1	Ink Pot		1985	H.Komatsu
PC-98	256 Color Drawing Tool	256色お絵描きツール	1994
PC-98	6 Coloured Pencils	6色鉛筆	1993	tsutosan
PC-98	Actor98	アクター98	1990	Soft Studio Panther
PC-98	Adventure Maker 98	アドベンチャーツクール98	1992	ASCII/LOGiN
PC-98	Akane	あかね	1992	Miruhi Takahara
PC-98	Art Frontier	アートフロンティア	1991	Bijutech
PC-98	ArtCore (Art/V?)		1992	SystemSoft
PC-98	Assist Art	アシストアート	1991	Assist Co., Ltd.
PC-98	Ayako	彩子	1988	Art Function
PC-98	Camel	キャメル	?	Nazca Corporation
PC-98	CANDY		1984	ASCII
PC-98	CANDY2		1985	ASCII
PC-98	Character Maker 98	キャラクターツクール98	1994	Pegasus Japan
PC-98	Doodle Book / Rakugaki-chō	落書き帳	1993	Toshiya Hayashi
PC-98	DynaPix V	ダイナビックスV	1988	Dynaware
PC-98	ESQUISSE	電子水彩エスキース	1989	SAPIENCE
PC-98	Funny		1984	Zeit
PC-98	Garakuta98	画楽多98	1990	Southern Create
PC-98	GIOTTO		1986	Art Function
PC-98	GRAPHIC HENSHIN	ぐらひっくへんしん	1998	Taro Namae
PC-98	GREEN		1993	Yoshito Takemura
PC-98	GREM		1993	Yoshito Takemura
PC-98	Hyper Ayako	HYPER 彩子	1989	Art Function / Digital Arts
PC-98	JEDAI		1994	D.O. CORP
PC-98	Kureyon-chan	くれよんちゃん	1994	Fusao Saito
PC-98	Maguro/Tuna Paint System	鮪ペイントシステム	1991	Woody_RINN
PC-98	Mapping Paint	写像ペイント	1990	CAST
PC-98	Marupa	まるぱ	1993	Ichikawa Soft Labratory
PC-98	MEDI-98 / nedi3		1990	NOZUMU
PC-98	Monopen	ものぺん	1995	OEAO
PC-98	Multi Paint System / MPS	マルチペイントシステム	1992	C-Lab
PC-98	Paint System Tool / PST	似非キース	1990	hironon
PC-98	Paper	紙	?	Irem
PC-98	Penta-kun	ぺん太くん	1994	NEG
PC-98	Sadayan Paint	さだやんペイント	?	Irem
PC-98	SANDY		1994	Wataru Ishihara
PC-98	Small CANDY		1984	ASCII
PC-98	Super Tableau	スーパータブロー	1987	SAPIENCE
PC-98	Tableau		1987	SAPIENCE
PC-98	Tetsujin	鉄人	?	Irem
PC-98	TrueLine		1996	OEAO
PC-98	Z’s STAFF		1985	Zeit
PC-98	Z’s STAFF Kid		1986	Zeit
PC-98	Z’s STAFF Kid98		1988	Zeit
PC-98	Z’s STAFF Kid98 v3.0		1990	Zeit
PS-55	Z’s STAFF TRAD		1989	Zeit
SMC	Graphic Editor	グラフィックエディター	1984	Sony
TRON-OS	Pelistina		2005	KAENRYUU Koutoku
TRON-OS	Pelistina 2		2005	KAENRYUU Koutoku
TRON-OS	Sketchbook	楽描き帳	2011	Satoshi Sera
TRON-OS	Xbrush for Chokanji	Xbrush for 超漢字	2013	Akira Tasaki
Twin Famicom	Game Maker	ゲームメーカー	1989	HAL Laboratory
Windows 2K	4thPaint	よつばペイント	2007	4th Paint Project
Windows 2K	Let’s Draw F		2007	Oscar Creation
Windows 3.1	Daisy Art	デイジーアート	1995	Ichikawa Soft Labratory
Windows 3.1	Draw Unit		1994	Type-甲
Windows 3.1	GOINDRW		1996	Yasuhiro Nakata
Windows 3.1	ImgFinish		1996	Syouichi Hattori
Windows 3.1	Pattern Editor PE	パターンエディタ PE	1995	Windows 3.1
Windows 3.1	Sailing Draw++		1993	Jun Satomi
Windows 3.1	SUPER KiD		1994	Zeit
Windows 3.1	SUPER KiD v2.0		1995	Zeit
Windows 3.1	Tsuruniha○○mushi	つるニハ○○ムシ	1999	Mr Dad
Windows 7	EDGE2		2006	TAKABO SOFT
Windows 9x	1bitPaper		2004	shiden
Windows 9x	ArtistX		2001	ARINOKI
Windows 9x	ArtistX Labolt		2005	ARINOKI
Windows 9x	AZPainter		2006	Azel
Windows 9x	AZPainter2		2009	Azel
Windows 9x	Camel2	キャメル2	1995	Nazca Corporation
Windows 9x	D-Pixed		2000	Jun Doi
Windows 9x	DoggyPaint		2000	HKR.Jon
Windows 9x	Dot Art Kakiko	ドット絵カキコ	2000	YUUKI
Windows 9x	Dot Art Vacation	ドット絵バケーション	2002	Arue
Windows 9x	Dot Editor Ver 4.0	ドットエディタVer4.0	2000	PSIKYO
Windows 9x	Dot Pictureditor	ドット絵でぃた	2000	shishido
Windows 9x	DotPainterALFAR		2003	Herohero
Windows 9x	Easy Paint Tool SAI	ペイントツールSAI	2004	TANE/KOJI
Windows 9x	eco paint	エコペイント	2006	tyty
Windows 9x	EDGE		2000	TAKABO SOFT
Windows 9x	FARLUX	ファーラックス	1997	Studio BullTerrier
Windows 9x	FudeBoard		1998	matumoto
Windows 9x	Gpen96		1999	Hiroshi Igami
Windows 9x	GraphicsGale		2004	HUMANBALANCE
Windows 9x	HappyPaint32R		1997	Isao Maruoka
Windows 9x	Hyper KiD		2000	Fanfare
Windows 9x	Hyper-Paint		2004	kiriman
Windows 9x	iDraw		1996	hawk
Windows 9x	ILLUSTMAKER		2000	matumoto
Windows 9x	Janus		2007	Rigeru
Windows 9x	Kakukakuoji	かくかくおうじ	2000	1BITMANIA
Windows 9x	L-Paint		2001	via
Windows 9x	Let’s Draw		1996	Oscar Creation
Windows 9x	Let’s Draw Z		2003	Oscar Creation
Windows 9x	Light Painter		2000	Yoshi
Windows 9x	LitePaint		2000	Rigeru
Windows 9x	Matilda		2001	ViikiSoft
Windows 9x	mdiapp		2007	nattou
Windows 9x	Mpaint		2001	ura00
Windows 9x	Neko no Mori Graphic Editor	猫の森グラフィックエディタ	2009	Neko no Mori Soft
Windows 9x	PAL Paint 2		2005	Togura
Windows 9x	PictBear		2000	Yasuyuki Kashiwagi
Windows 9x	PictBear 2		2009	Yasuyuki Kashiwagi
Windows 9x	piroPaint		2011	piroyan
Windows 9x	Pixia		1998	Isao Maruoka
Windows 9x	Pointillist Feng Chu 3	点画師鳳雛３	2005	Maya Takimoto
Windows 9x	PRETTY ART		2000	dmms_21
Windows 9x	SPED4		2001	TwinkleSoft
Windows 9x	SUPER KiD 95		1996	Zeit
Windows 9x	SUPER KiD FE		1997	Zeit
Windows 9x	The Graphics		2002	Fanfare
Windows 9x	Ultra KiD	ウルトラキッド	1997	Fanfare
Windows 9x	Ultra KiD v2.0	ウルトラキッド	1998	Fanfare
Windows 9x	Yumeiro no Enogu	ゆめいろのえのぐ	2008	Kengo Watanabe
Windows CE	EDGE Pocket 2		2009	TAKABO SOFT
Windows CE	JINZO Paint 16		1999	Tomohiro Ueno
Windows CE	JINZO Paint 4		1999	Tomohiro Ueno
Windows CE	JINZO Paint full-colour		1999	Tomohiro Ueno
Windows CE	mdiapp mobile		2008	nattou
Windows CE	Pocket Artist		2001	Conduits
X-Windows	Gedo / Graphic EDitor OMNI		1999	Yasuhito Sugiura
X-Windows	Xbrush		2001	Akira Tasaki
X-Windows	xpx		1994	yav
X-Windows	XShodou		1998	Hiroaki Sakai
X1	turbo Z’s STAFF		1985	Zeit
X68000	Art68K		1991	OOYAMA
X68000	Easypaint SX-68K		1991	First Class Technology
X68000	EEL		1994	GORRY
X68000	EX-WIN (EX-System)		1996	Oh! X
X68000	Full Color Paint Tool SAI	フルカラーペイントツール-彩-	1996	TANE/KOJI
X68000	G・TOOL	G・ツール	1990	Zainsoft
X68000	G68KversionII-PRO		1989	OH! Bussiness
X68000	GE		1990	Miki Hoshino
X68000	GLab		1992	Ushi no shizuku
X68000	gm256.x		1993	Kanzu
X68000	Graphics Editor ARTIST		1992	T.Shimanuki/GCC
X68000	Magic Palette	マジックパレット	1990	Musical Plan Ltd
X68000	Matier	マチエール	1992	Meteor Art Tech
X68000	mfged.x		1988	Mamiyu Yuuki
X68000	MONOCRAYON	ＭＯＮＯくれよん	1990	Yasuhiro Sasama
X68000	MONOCRAYON Wide Edition	ワイド版ＭＯＮＯくれよん	1994	Noboru Ishii
X68000	Monotone		1988	GUNchan
X68000	Object Editor	オブジェクトエディタ	1990	Tonbe
X68000	Onazorikun		1990	Muchi
X68000	Prism 68K	プリズム68K	1989	WOLF TEAM
X68000	RG	ＲＧ	1992	RERO2
X68000	RGBP		1994	Tetsuya Kimura
X68000	Usagi	うさぎ	1992	IKUTA
X68000	XGE		1995	KYA!,CHIAKI
X68000	XPST	えせきーすX68	1991	kenna & PUNA
X68000	Z’s STAFF Pro-68K		1987	Zeit
X68000	Z’s STAFF Pro-68K v2.0		1989	Zeit
Zaurus	PetitPaint		2001	TOK
Zaurus	PrismPaint 3		2001	Soga Juroh
Zaurus	PrismPocket		2002	Soga Juroh
Zaurus	Zausuke	ざうすけ	2000	Soga Juroh
Zaurus Linux	CloverPaint		2005	Soga Juroh
Zaurus Linux	PetitPeinture		2004	Sakira
Dedicated	Aniputer	アニピュータ	1982	JVC
Dedicated	Hyper Paint 2		1991	Shima Seiki
Dedicated	Personal LINKS: PFB-2		1991	LINKS Corporation
Dedicated	Pyuta G-GRAPHIC	ぴゅう太 G-GRAPHIC	1982	Tomy
Dedicated	SGI-Pictoris	ピクトリス	1988	LINKS Corporation
Dedicated	SGX-Hyper Paint		1988	Shima Seiki

Ball und Panzer Golf: making a Playdate game in a week

by Matt Sephton — Mon, 26 Jun 2023 22:11:00 +0000

I’ve been following the X68000 Z mini computer since it’s announcement in the hope that it will bring new activity to the X68000 scene and it seems to be having that effect. In one video from the recent 「68の日」(“68 Day”, named after the date written in Japanese order, 6-8, that’s 8th June the most special day of the year for X68000 fans) I spotted a interesting looking single screen golf game:

Hello kata68k

It was Ball und Panzer Golf an indie/doujin game by @kata68k for the Sharp X68000 series of Japanese personal computers and the recent Zuiki X68000 Z mini system, a new emulator based reimagining of the original classic computer. The name is a pun on the anime series Girls und Panzer and its shortened version is BuPG which I assume is a pun on PUBG.

kata68k’s game, as the name implies, is golf but with a tank. It was created in May 2023 and fine tuned for a few weeks, released in time for “68 Day”. It’s a single player game where you use the tank to shoot holes-in-one on a golf course and try to destroy all flags. All this to say it plays like golf, kinda, but with a focus on high scores.

Aside: my favourite source of X68000 content is the PipitanTV YouTube channel, run by @pipixvi, which has a longer, screen capture video of Ball und Panzer Golf.

I played Ball und Panzer Golf v0.94 using an X68000 emulator and was instantly hooked, by the strange mashup concept and also by the scoring mechanisms that were involved. Kata’s game design values and methods align with my own to a surprising degree. kata68k grew up with the X68000 much like I grew up with another Motorola 68000-based computer: the Atari ST. We’re roughly the same age and have similar interests in many ways.

Anyway, I had great fun figuring out the different types of shots and opportunities to increase my scoring ability during my few plays of the game. Once I’d figured them out, it became a task of improving my skill controlling the tank and the shot power. The shot mechanism itself is worthy of a mention: there is no real charging of the shot and the ball starts to move immediately. What you do control is the moment the ball starts to come back down to Earth. It’s a very strange way of controlling the ball, but oddly satisfying. It’s reminiscent of the two tap system that sets power in most golf games, but at the same time feels completely alien.

Enter Playdate

I currently spend my time creating games for Playdate, a handheld gaming system with a black and white screen and a unique crank control that can be used as a method of input. Whilst on a walk in the park I couldn’t stop thinking of kata68k’s game and how it might work on Playdate. When I got back to my computer I wrote a little bit of Lua code to draw an elliptical golf green on screen, then added a hole, a flag pole, and a flag with a number on it. Then I added a loop to generate random positions and drew 18 holes, adjusting the size so they all fitted a bit better. It might just work.

After a quick dinner, it was time to draw the tank. I really didn’t want to slow down my pace of progress so I decided to keep drawing the graphical elements in code using filled shapes rather then have to draw a tank in pixels. Another option would have been to use one of the cars from my game Daily Driver, but the path of least resistance was to draw a filled ellipse along with a line to show the turret position.

Day 1

That first day everything fell into place perfectly, with little friction and no refactoring. I started from a blank file and wrote just under 400 lines of code. The two most complicated elements were the randomised background and limiting the tank to its circular area, but I’d done similar things before so there was no problem solving involved, just pure implementation. In fact, a lot of this quick prototype made use of tricks and techniques I’d figured out over the past few years of Playdate development, in particular during the development of my game Daily Driver.

At the end of the first day you could drive the tank around the screen, fire the ball at an angle selected using the crank or d-pad, and when you run out of balls it would trigger game over. What it didn’t have is any logic that would collide the ball with the holes, point scoring, or any sort of win state. For some reason at this point I thought it would be cool to have a black tank with three wheels.

Day 1: Timeline

Time	Event
15:40	draw a single “hole”: flag, hole, green
16:00	loop to draw 18 holes
17:00	(dinner)
18:00	draw tank
18:20	(ask permission from kata68k)
19:00	background (interesting use of Perlin and random)
20:00	add controls to tank
20:10	(send update to kata68k)
21:00	limit tank to circular area (tricky but fun)
22:00	ball moving
22:10	(kata68k confirms he’s OK with my version)
22:30	add game states
23:00	add ball height capability
23:45	(send update to kata68k)
00:26	tweet about it

Week 1

The following day I added a first draft of collisions and scoring. There was slower progress, but it was still very steady with no problems encountered. I was keenly aware that the collision and scoring were very naïve and that I would have to refine and improve them going forward. But, regardless, at the end of the second day it was possible to play a complete round of tank golf!

The next two days consisted of fine tuning, polishing, play testing, bug fixing, adding sound effects, and so on. I even managed to record a GIF where I got all 18 flags …my first speed run!? I also received some great early encouragement and feedback from Playdate Squad community members: Donald @Guv_Bubbs, Steve @ScenicSoftware, Atsu @SquidGodDev, Neven @neven and of course @kata68k himself! The game was shaping up nicely and coming together very quickly.

Opportune timing meant that I could get the game in the hands of some testers on a live stream, over at IGDA Twin Cities (MN, USA) as part of their monthly Playtest. Thanks to Mark LaCroix for sorting that out! It was great to watch them play the game for the first time as they discovered the details of gameplay, mechanics, controls, and scoring! I even spotted a bug.

For the rest of the week I polished and played, addressing areas that I thought could be improved. I added accessibility improvements, more opportunities to score, better hole randomisation, even wind effects, and so much more besides.

For the last couple of days of the week I kept release notes, as I felt the pace of progress slowing down towards the end of my self-imposed deadline of one week. I would categorise most changes in those final days as either quality of life improvements or minor bug fixes.

I had not optimised any of the code and was targeting the default 30 frames per second. On the final evening I optimised all text drawing in my main update path, as I could see that was responsible for a huge portion of where my game was spending its time, with the CPU pegged at 100% and the frame rate not able to hit the target 30fps. So the flags with numbers on were pre-rendered as images during initialisation, and the HUD is drawn only when its contents change, and the image is cached for use at other times. These two small and quick optimisations reduced the CPU usage by 20% and put me at a solid 30fps.

There are many more optimisations to be made but this is not the time to do them. There’s too much still to do and I don’t want to lose focus. But for example: I’m not currently using the Playdate SDK Sprite system and am instead doing things the traditional way of drawing everything every update, so I’m positive I can get some good gains by drawing to a few different sprite layers. There are also some functions I call regularly, such as one that counts remaining holes, that can be optimised or avoided by improving my game logic. I’m confident I can get the CPU time down a good bit more. There’s no real need to do so, but I figure anything that will help reduce power usage or is good for the player is a honourable responsibility for a developer with a conscience to take on. If that goes well I may even increase the frame rate for smoother ball movement.

Shaping up

All the graphics are still composed with filled ellipses, rectangles and lines, varying their dithering patterns to provide different textures. I really leaned into this and over the course of the week fine tuned the tank from a three-wheeled blob to a high contrast, detailed, carefully animated sprite that you might think has been rendered externally. Maybe in a forthcoming post I can put together an exploded diagram of how it’s drawn?

What’s next?

The only things I didn’t manage to fit in in my week sprint were a couple of animations I think will help make the game feel even higher quality and that will increase players ability to read/understand what is happening on screen. I need to make some more changes to the wind feature and the way the flag flaps in the wind. Currently the flag direction is correct but I’d like the length and frequency to be relative to the strength of the wind.

Pretty much all of the maths in this game is high school algebra and trigonometry, wrapped up in some smoke and mirrors to make it feel magical.

Also on the task list are a couple more sound effects, with the goal being one sound effect for each important event or action in the game. I feel that sounds cues are as important as visual cues and players could pick up on one or the other so there should ideally be parity.

I can’t keep up the insanely fast pace of development from this first week, not only because of the physical and mental toll it would take but also because the quick wins of the prototype phase are now gone. To add the animations I previously mentioned, the first serious refactoring of part of the code will be needed. So there is no choice but for progress to be slower from this point at least for a while.

The big remaining task that will take a lot longer than a week is game structure and progression. I have ideas of how I can package the structure of the game now into a short experience with increasing difficulty level and unlimited replay-ability.

But the bigger question is do I want it to be bigger than that? There are no shortage of ideas how how to mashup to concept of tanks and golf, only a shortage of time and budget to make it happen. I could even add a mini-golf type of experience where you’re playing a round of single screen holes with additional hazards pulled from both the golf and tank world.

Launched!

My version of Ball und Panzer Golf was renamed Fore! Track and is available for Playdate via Catalog play.date/games/fore-track/ or on itch where there’s a bargain offline version.