Idea: tribute to 8-bit video games

by **natty dread** on Thu Jul 21, 2011 1:48 am

Ok this is an idea that I've been rolling around in my head for a while...

Before you all jump up and say "we already have conquer man" this isn't quite the same, it would go a bit further in history, in the early 90:s: those of you old enough probably remember games like Super Mario Bros 3 and the elaborate world maps in them...

Classic 8-bit video game world maps, with all the clichés of them: there's one "normal" country that's mostly grass, then there's always at least one desert country, one ice country, etc...

Of course I wouldn't be using any names from any copyrighted games, it'd be more like a generic 8-bit adventure land... but I think I could still use lots of elements that would be very recognizable without breaching any copyrights - green "warp pipes" connecting territories accross the board, blocks of rock as impassables, roads connecting territories...

Graphical style would be the biggest attraction of the map, the idea would be to make it a breeze of nostalgy for all those who played video games in the 90:s...

Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enlarge.

Click image to enlarge.

by **Victor Sullivan** on Thu Jul 21, 2011 1:55 am

YES YES YES

I LOVE IT!!!

-Sully

by **WILLIAMS5232** on Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:22 pm

so there would be different versions? like a map for each?

or are you saying make just one map while trying to bring everything into play?

zelda i think would be hard to do. but not impossible. i don't recognize the 3rd image. i like the mario 3 board the best. the one that is like the general map in the beginning. you could even throw in a jackpot machine. it could be a 3x3 with resetting neutrals. meaning you'd only get the bonus for one round. have a cherry a 7, and a bar. or whatever symbol you like. but just make it where if you hold 3 of the same, you'd get a big bonus for one turn.

i don't know, i think it could work, not so much the slot machine, but the idea.

by **Industrial Helix** on Thu Jul 21, 2011 9:45 pm

This would be pretty cool in style and execution... but we'd need a sort of good gameplay for it as well. I like the Mario 3 idea of having different worlds and bonuses for conquering each world. Perhaps an autodeploy on conquering the boss (flying ship as I remember in Mario 3). Make a draft!

by **natty dread** on Fri Jul 22, 2011 12:28 am

To clarify, I don't mean a map that would represent any single video game. More like the map would represent the style of the time, the world maps of various games - there's so many similarities if you think about it, similarities in style, and themes...

It would be a map of a generic 8-bit video game.

I would have each continent represent a different "level" of the game, where one continent is a grassland, another is a desert land, etc...

I'll have to see when I have time to make a draft... this isn't an easy project, it's actually really hard to create graphics that look authenticly 8-bit and still look good. I'll probably have to study lots of screenshots pixel-by-pixel to get an idea on how those graphics were made...