Hi everyone, with two games under my belt I thought I would share a few things I’ve learned that the new AGD user should be aware of when making games that will save you a lot of pain and time.
In this initial post I’ll go into what you need to do to get up and running with AGD…At the end of this you’ll have a blank canvas with which you can start to make your game.

Ill also share some tips on planning your game and what to keep track of as you start developing your project.

Getting started

You’ll need:

• An Emulator (I’m using Spectaculator 8 here)
• AGD 46A 
• An idea ! :)

The AGD File can be downloaded from the file section on the AGD facebook group.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/785775881484393/

There are a few versions available, currently I use 4.6A
Grab the AGD file from the link above and copy it to a folder..for example:

C:\Spectrum\AGD 

You can then add subfolders for your game into the Spectrum folder. (This is just how I work so feel free to do it your own way)

C :\Spectrum\Mygame

This is where you will save all the versions of your game as you go.

Once your emulator is installed and open you should be looking at the god old sinclair basic prompt.

Next lets get AGD running. AGD is a spectrum program, so you are running a game creator on a spectrum emulator on a pc. :)

File / Open / Browse for the AGD46a.szx file (C:\Spectrum\AGD\AGD46A.szx)

You should now see the AGD menu.

There are tutorials out there which go through each of the sections (see below) but I’ll add my version here just because.

A :  Character Set :  This is the font that you will see in game. You can redefine each character to your own design. Its also useful for creating your own menu graphics.,which I did in Monty and the Temple of Lost Souls.

B: Blocks :These are the graphics you make your screens with such as platforms or walls or spikes, These are static graphics, no animation, you can however colour them using normal spectrum colour attributes. You are able to copy and paste blocks but not flip or rotate them.  Each block consists of an 8×8 graphic and a type.

• Platform : Can jump through but not fall through
• Solid Wall : Is solid. Nothing passes through from any direction
• Empty Space : Empty, but can be used to colour objects/sprites when they are placed on top of these coloured blocks
• Water : Doesn’t actually do anything that I can see. Currently no function to test for it.
• Custom : Uses the custom function to detect if the sprite type is colliding with the custom block. It can be used for many things for instance moving
• Deadly : A block that kills you on contact.
• Fodder :  This block type can be removed with the DIG command.

C: Screens : Screens are your game levels. They are made from blocks, Sprites and objects.

E: Events : These are the code blocks that describe the movement or behaviour of the Sprite types. Its best to use Event 0 as the player sprite.

F: Sound : This is where AY sound effects are made. Using AY sound will limit your game to running on an emulator or a 128k Spectrum machine (or higher) AY sound is not supported on a 48k

G: Save Game : This is where you save your AGD file as a TAP using the emulators built in recording functionality. I’ll cover doing this in a later tutorial.

I: Misc :

• D: Collision Distance : Allows the user to soften the collision between sprites. AGD collision works of a 16×16 pixel block and so in some cases people might think the collision is too harsh. Adjusting this value down will make it more forgiving.
• H: Sprite Height: The user has the choice of using 16×16 sprites (recommended) or 16×24 sprites which cost more memory.
• I: Sprite Ink Mask : I’ve not messed with this yet but if you aren’t using ULA plus then don’t worry about it.
• L: Loading Screen : AGD is able to load in a custom loading screen which is saved out with the loader when you save the game using SaveGame from the main menu. I’ll cover doing this in a later tutorial.
• O: Order Sprites :When order sprites is switched on, the sprite table is sorted and the order in which sprites are drawn depends on their vertical position in order to eliminate flicker.  When this is turned off the order the sprites are drawn does not vary from one frame to the next.
• S : There are several game modes which include special functions in AGD. Choose from the list which is best for your game.
• Y: AY Sound ON/OFF : Off for 48k games which use beeper sounds other wise leave on.

J: Jump Table: Allows the user to change the height and length of the players jump. Be careful with this as it can cause the player to die due to “falling to far” prematurely.

K: Keys: Where you define your game keys

L : Load Game: Never used it. Use the emulator.

M: Map : The map allows you to position your game screens in the order you need them to appear. It is possible to have the same screen appear multiple times should you want to use generic corridors to enlarge your game map

N: Sprite Positions : This is where you place the sprites on your screens. Create the sprite, position it and then change its Type (event) and its Image (sprite)

O: Objects : Objects are sprites that once collected do not return. They are held in your “Inventory” and you can query for the presence of an object.You can use an object to give score, or an extra life or activate a game event, such as open a door.

P: Palette : For ULA Plus games only:

S: Sprite Images : This is where you create your player and enemy sprites/ animations. Sprites are quite expensive so be careful using them. keep your animations simple.

T: Text : This is where you create text messages that are displayed in menus or on screen.

W: Window Area: Allows the user to change the size of the playable screen area. This is to allow for adding score and lives or other user interface artwork. Changing this will destroy all current screens.

X: Test Game : Play your creation. Enter will return you to the main menu.

There is official documentation for AGD

AGD Documentation

It’s necessary that you read through it…not all in one go…but you are going to get to know it well.

Tutorials

These are really good videos as they take you through a lot of features and teach you how to make a basic game.

Planning your game

When I start a game I find it useful to make notes as you go and keep them visible, I run a text editor alongside the emulator.

Its good practice to make lists of things as you make or use them in the game. Some of this may not mean much at the moment but very soon you`ll be referring back to it!

For example in my Monty games I have something like this:

Variables (Sets a value)

A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O, P

A animation timer
B Timer for Spikes
C Timer for Blocks
D Direction Monty is facing
I Initial Placed image value for 2 directional sprite (like the scorpion, I always place the left facing sprite down)
J Left image number
K Right Image Number
L Ladder state (so you can’t jump when on a ladder)
O Cloned X value for when you change screen
P Cloned Y value for when you change screen

Sprites +Animations (What things look like)

When placing sprites you don’t see the sprite number on screen and so if you have a few sprites with empty frame 0`s it can be difficult to remember what sprite is what.
0 Monty Up/Down
1 Monty Left
2 Monty Right
3 Snake Left
4 Snake Right
5 Scorpion Left
6 Scorpion right

Etc…

Event Type (What things do)
0 Player
1 Enemy move up down
2 2 Directional Enemy left / right
3 Enemy left / right
4 Spikes
5 Blocks
6 Collectable Colouring

Objects (Things you pick up score items, lives, keys etc)
0 Key Starts on screen 5 Used on Screen 10
1 Extra life Starts screen 10

Etc…

Text Messages (Text you display on screen such as game screen names or Menu items)
0 Game Over
1 Score
2 Lives
3 Menu
4 Keyboard
5 Kempston
6 Sinclair

Etc…

Map and Game Play

What is the story behind your game. Whats your objective? Whats in your way and how can you overcome those obstacles?

Think about what you will be able to do in your game. It’s easy to go head on into making sprites and levels but then not have any idea what the game is or what it needs to make it fun !

Also think about how that affects the map of your game. If it’s an arcade adventure, you want to keep people revisiting areas and opening up new ones…so make sure that they know there are areas to unlock by adding locked doors that hint at secret rooms etc..

If there are any specific areas that you want more help or info about leave a message and I’ll see what I can do !

Andy