(8/9/23)

Apologies for the long gap between releases once again. My job makes it difficult to sit down and work on the game these days. I got a good chunk of me time, recently, and I was able to add all kinds of stuff!

• Several powerups have been added, as well as all sub-weapons
  • Stopwatch: Freezes time to give you some room to breath, but it costs quite a few hearts to use
  • Cross: Emits a blinding holy light, destroying all enemies on screen! One use on pickup only.
  • Invisibility potion: Makes you invincible for about ten seconds.
• The whip upgrade is now fully working. Grab 1 to get a chain whip. Grab another to make it longer!
• I've sprinkled candles throughout the level to play with. Every available item and sub-weapon should be attainable, but some of the more valuable stuff is placed in harder to reach areas. Can you find them all?
• First Enemy has been added; The Bone Tower! (Thanks again for the art @HeyNetters. I saw your Bone tower and was inspired for my first enemy!)
  • Acts more like a sentry than anything, but where it lacks in mobility it makes up for in toughness. Recommend at
    least a chain to deal with these guys. Watch your footing...

(11/22/22)

• I've decorated the map a bit, using assets and ideas provided by @HeyNetters. Many thanks go to them for the art! This is all preliminary for now, but these just looked too good to not include them.

• Chain upgrade has been added. The chain graphics reflect the first upgrade, and the added length reflect the second. Collect the whip powerup to upgrade.

• Gameplay pause added upon collection of the whip powerup.

• Whip has been fixed so that you can no longer hit things behind you. Still need to look into that janky
  animation...

• Thanks to suggestions from @dw817, Simon's walk speed has been increased a bit, with matching animation. The whip also stays out for just a bit longer.

• Minor changes to small heart to keep it from flying around so much.

• Tweaking pass on SFX.

(8/26/22)

Sorry for the long delay, guys. I recently started a new job, and I have less time to work on this project now. I do, however, fully intend to see this project to completion. I need to work on some systems that can cut down on repeated code in here, as the token count is getting dangerously high. Despite that, I'm happy with where it is at so far. Let me know how you guys like it!

• Candles have been added. Until I can work out a feasible spawning system, these are hard coded. Whip them to make
  items come out.

• I have mocked up a status bar along the top of the screen. This is all subject to change as I figure out what will
  fit and what will not.

• A game clock is in place. It ticks down in seconds, and once it reaches zero, you're dead. There isn't much you
  can do about it at the moment, but I thought it would be fun to add, and it was really simple to implement. The
  clock will even start to beep after awhile, just to give you some unnecessary stress.

• Hearts have been added. You now have a limited stock of ammunition. Whip candles to find more.

(7/21/22)

• Boomerang can now be caught. Small reason to post an update, but I thought it was important.

• Boomerang graphics rearranged so it animates like in the original game.

  This may be the last update for a little bit. The code for climbing stairs MUST be rewritten before I will
  continue. While it works great as it is, the code is just too darned bloated right now.

(7/20/22)

• All throwable weapons have been added. Hold ❎ and press ⬆️ or ⬇️ to cycle through them,
  and press ⬆️ and 🅾️ to throw one. Like before, you can throw 3 at a time!

• Holy water was redrawn to not be so huge.

(7/19/22)

• Holy water has been added, press ⬆️ and 🅾️ to throw it. You can throw 3 at a time.

• Simon's sprite has been redrawn to make him more detailed and look a lot less scrawny. Many thanks go to the
  Discord community for their feedback on this matter!

(7/18/22)

• Stairs now work in all 4 directions.

• Plenty of stairs have been added to the map, so play around and let me know if anything breaks horrifically.

• It is no longer possible to jump when a block is directly above the player.

(7/16/22)

• Commented out the code and formatted it so anybody could take a look and decipher it all...

• Taking a hit will now interrupt your attack.

• Player can no longer warp through the ceiling when hurt.

(7/15/22)

• Player health, hurt state and death are implemented. There aren't any enemies yet, so for now you
  can press ⬆️ and ❎ to beat yourself up. These are disabled while on stairs...

• Continue screen has been added

• Made a pass on music and sound effects. I feel like the music instrumentation is way better now, and many of the
  sound effects are improving as well!

• Initial HUD elements added. There are here only for a visual to pair with testing health and lives for now.

(7/12/22)

• Changes to walk and stair climbing movement and animation speed. It felt just a tad sluggish before...

(7/11/22)

• Stairs are in progress. Right now there is only up-right and down-left movement, but this is a pretty good proof of concept. Whip is disabled for now while climbing them until I flesh out that aspect.

• The bottom of the screen is now a bottomless pit, and you will die and be reset.

• A small map to test out the mechanics and play around in.

• Preliminary artwork has been added to make the view a little more interesting

(7/10/22)

• Jump physics have been reworked and the jank is now gone for the most part. I feel like the jumping is in a pretty good spot now.

• Initial work on the whip has been started. The animation is just a little janky, but I'm working on that :)

• I am currently prototyping ideas for stairs. I haven't added stairs yet, so don't try...

(6/26/22):

• Basic movement is implemented; Walking, ducking, jumping and hard landing are in. There is one little niggle
  with collision and platforming. I'm sure you guys will know when you find it. (Edit) I've created a temporary workaround
  for this. Please let me know if you like how it handles. Collision is still not perfect, and you might still get
  hung up, but I'm working on that.

• First draft of music has been created. Let me know how you like it! I might need to shift things around a bit
  before I release: I've not included everything I'd like to, and I've run out of room due to some initial (less
  than optimal) SFX layout choices.

(6/27/22):

• I've tweaked the jump physics to more closely match the original game.

• Invisible walls have been added. I wanted a way to create impassible areas without changing the collision.
  You can test this out near the lone block on the right.

  Now is the time where I sit down and take a class on Picomap by @JadeLombax. I may as well get this figured out
  and implemented now, since stairs will likely rely on it...

Contra version .73 (fixed)

The latest Pico-8 update evidently changed the way the (--[[) switch works, breaking the game! XD
This is fixed.

Contra version .73

This version could be considered a bug fix/polish release...

• Tweaked the machine gun sound to give a more "auto-fire" feel to it.

• fixed underwater behavior so that your gun Actually won't fire. Somehow I missed that the feature was broken
  all this time...

• Changed the behavior of the continue cursor. Now it will only make a sound if you switch to the other option

• Tweaked the runner enemy so that they cannot kill you when they fly back after being shot.

Contra version .72

This version has been sitting on my computer for some time now, And I figured it has enough changes to warrant a release.

• More sprite edits by ReeceGames.

• Machine gun sprites changed to better set it apart from the Pea shooter

• Boss bullets will now fall straight to the ground, making him a little more difficult.

• Fire sounds have been changed to more closely match what is happening.

Contra version .70

Special thanks go to ReeceGames for their contribution to the graphics work!

• Sprite edits to player, enemy, turret and shutter graphics to improve quality.

Contra version .68

Thanks to the PICO-8 Discord community for offering suggestions on how to trim down my code and how to improve the graphics, this update would not have been possible without them!

• Turrets were completely rewritten, and can now track you in all 8 directions. They are still quick, but they have a limited range of motion...

• Fire Weapon fully implemented! It's not the greatest for crowd control, but it is highly effective against
  emplacements.

• Soldier drones have been reworked. Only 3 drones can spawn at a time now (usually), they run a little slower, and any drone that goes for a dip will instantly drown...

• Another pass on map and object graphics to improve detail and readability.

• It is no longer possible to soft lock the game by taking damage from two things at the same time.

Contra version .63

• Detail pass on map graphics

Contra version .62

• Tweaks to sound effects playback to reduce clobbering

• New explosion sound for turrets, shutters and cannons to help them stand out a little more and make blowing them up
  just a little more satisfying.

• Adjusted collision so you can't scale the Base exterior

Contra version .61

• fixed cannons not clearing out after a game over.

Contra version .60

• Turrets have been added. They have pretty good servos, so don't think you can slip past them so
  easily. A healthy dose of gunfire ought to short their circuits.

• The boss now has some defenses in two cannons. They just kind of spew bullets on the ground, but they are still
  lethal. Blow them up if they are bugging you.

Contra version .51

• Changed powerup collision so they pass through semi-solid platforms correctly
• The first Rapid and Machine Gun powerups have switched places.

Contra version .50

• Boss has been added. There are no defenses for it, but he did finally show up.
• Runner enemy type has been added. They move fast, so you have to be on your toes. At least they are easy to kill...
• Powerup shutters fully implemented. Shoot them to receive an item!
• Victory state implemented.

Contra version .30

• Capsules are fully implemented! they can be shot for a powerup, and I have sprinkled a few through the level
• Powerup behavior is implemented. Available powerups are: Machine gun, Spread, Fire, Laser and Rapid Shot
• Machine gun fires in full auto, like a Machine gun should!
• Collect Rapid Shot to nearly double the speed of your bullets!
• Sound and partial graphics in place for all weapons
• Adjustments made to some sound effects
• Minor changes to title music

Contra version .25

• Phase one of capsules added. You can't shoot them yet, but if you press ⬆️ and 🅾️ one will spawn from Bill's location.
  I also have one capsule setup to spawn in as a script
• Initial work on items started
• Initial work on spread gun started.
• Small explosions added. Press ⬆️ and ❎ to make a capsule go boom!

Contra Version .22

• Adjusted wipe speed to more closely match the NES version
• Map filled out with initial artwork
• Player spawn delay now consistent
• Code commented out a little more, and formatting changes
• Minor alterations to music

Contra version .2

• Submitted to BBS

On the note of resources, I feel like I should give a shout out to Nerdy Teachers and the PICO-8 fanzines for giving me a good idea of where to start, and to doc_robs for taking everything a step further! I am sure if you take one look at my code you will see their examples being put to good use.

At any rate, I've set out to create at least the first level from Contra on NES. I still have a little way to go, but I felt that I had reached a few major milestones, and would like to share with everyone what I've been up to...

That said, I have absolute ZERO coding experience, so please keep that in mind when you stare in disbelief at my code, although I am absolutely open to feedback.

• You can fire in all 8 directions! Simply press in the desired direction and ol' Bill Rizer will make it so.
  (Note: You cannot fire straight down unless you are jumping or falling.)

• If you go prone on a floating platform and press the Jump button he will drop down!
  (That part took me FOREVER to figure out) (Note: This will not work on the bridge...)

• If you go prone while in water you can dive under. Your gun can't fire, though...

• If you just run off a ledge, you cannot immediately change direction. So if you run right off a cliff don't say I
  didn't warn you. Jumping allows FAR more control.

  Those are all the controls you need to know!

What is here:

• Player movement is fully implemented. I will certainly have to tweak a few things, but everything works as
  intended...hopefully

• Death and lives

• The Pea shooter, Machine gun and Fire are fully implemented.

• The first stage layout.

• Items, capsules, Shutters and small explosions.

• A soldier drone that runs fast and can juke you if he catches you on a platform.

  • Side mounted Turrets that track you

• The Boss, and some meager defenses.

• Victory state when you blow him up...

• Title, Game and Game over states are in place and working.

• Ending since I have reached the token limit.

• Music and sound effects are in place. My musical ear is a little out of tune, and my rhythm is near non-existent,
  so please let me know if you catch anything while listening to it.

What was planned:

• More weapons! Preferably all of them had I enough room: Machine gun, Spread, Fire and Laser!
  (Machine gun and Fire implemented!)

• Enemies. well, duh... right? You gotta have enemies that you can attack aggressively!

  • Gun emplacements that pop up from the ground
  • More advanced soldiers that remembered they had a pistol...
  • Standing soldiers that fire at you from a stationary position
  • Soldiers that appear from behind the brush
    .

For the love of all that is not mayonnaise, go ape on this thing! I'd like for you guys to twist and bend and
faniggle until either the game breaks, or you do. If you do manage to make the game buckle in some interesting or
hilarious way PLEASE tell me all about it, and be sure to post a screenshot if you did something truly horrific.

Here is what I have found so far:

• Right now I have the Capsules set to spawn when the camera is within certain X and Y positions. If you stand in just the right spot a stream of capsules will spawn.

• There is an issue with firing your gun while jumping out of water that causes Bill's top half to begin cycling
  through all the sprites. I haven't quite pinned down what is causing that, or how to replicate it reliably.

• Sometimes when you die, instead of showing the sprite of Bill l
  ying on the ground, it shows him prone.

• If you press ⬇️ and ⬅️ or ➡️ while jumping, Bill will go prone for 1 frame.

• Not necessarily a bug, but I am still figuring out how to make the map longer than what is allowed.
  For now, there is a jarring snap to position when you cross into the second half of the stage.

• The area directly underneath what has been built has some garbage just below the screen in the map editor due
  the whole sprite bank/map bank "Sharing" thing. PICO-8 counts these areas as collision, and Bill will land on it if
  he dies. (Maybe mitigated since the whole map is now laid out.)

• The title screen shows for a moment before doing its thing if you arrive from the Continue, ending or Game over screen.

So... why are you doing this, again?

I am a humungous video game nerd!

I love playing them, I love looking at them, I love listening to them!

I've wanted to make them for some time now, and I have tried several platforms but I always ran into some hang up or other, but When I first discovered PICO-8 last year I instantly fell in love! Seriously, this thing is so easy to use. My creativity can just... flow, and I love Pico-8 for that!

While I played around with other people's games for awhile I brainstormed, and Contra just kept pushing it's way forward. I began to think about how Bill Rizer would look as an 8 x 8 sprite and began drawing. I finished a first draft of his standing pose and thought, "Dude... this could work. I could do this". One could gesture wildly at an NES with both hands while shouting, "You want Contra? Here it is! the work is done, just play it here". To that I would point at PICO-8 and say "Yes, but I made this."

In addition to the kudos mentioned at the top of my post,