| Minicraft | |
|---|---|
| File:Minicraftgba.png | |
| General | |
| Type | Action |
| Version | 1.0 |
| License | GPL-3.0 |
| Last Updated | 2022/11/19 |
| Links | |
| Download | |
| Website | |
| Source | |
Minicraft is a GBA demake of Minicraft, a 2D game made by Markus Persson (aka Notch) for the 22nd Ludum Dare.
Description
My aim is to make a version that is as close as possible to the original. Of course, the GBA has some hardware limitations but, since the game isn't too complex, I could port it without too many problems. When the limitations were impossible to overcome, I had to hack a few things, change others, put limits and so on.
To improve the experience, I also added a pause menu and a way to save and load the world.
Differences due to Hardware limitations
| Original | GBA Demake | |
|---|---|---|
| World size | 128x128 | 112x112 |
| Entity limit | ∞ | 255 |
| Chest limit | ∞ | 32 |
| Inventory size | ∞ | 128 |
Game Light
The light system is completely different, both visually and in how it works.
The original Minicraft calculates the light for each pixel: that is, for various reasons, impractical to do on the GBA.
So I had to find another way, and the best one seemed to use tiles, because the GBA is very good at handling them. That gives light a 'blocky' look, but it seems acceptable.
Running
Download or build the ROM (.gba extension). Then open it with your GBA emulator of choice. If you don't have one, I highly recommend mGBA.
If you have any trouble with the save files, try to manually set the save format to 128 KB Flash ROM.
Performance Overlay
By holding the L and R buttons down and then pressing Select, the performance overlay is enabled.
Four hexadecimal values are written at the top corners:
FF <--- vcount after 'tick' entity count ---> FF FF <--- vcount after 'draw' sprite count ---> FF
Screenshots
Building
To build the game, I use the Makefile present in the files. You will need the gcc-arm-none-eabi compiler. I've not tested any other compiler and, if you want to try, I cannot guarantee that the game will work or that the performance will be as good (since it's optimized for the GCC compiler).
Run make: it should build without any configuration.
License
The original game Minicraft was made by Markus Persson in 2011. I do not own it, nor am I affiliated to it.
This demake of the game is released under the GNU General Public License, either version 3 of the License or any later version.