FGB

FGB
General
Author	Abe Pralle, Jacob Stevens
Type	Action
Version	1.1
License	MIT License
System	CGB
Last Updated	2022/01/07
Links
Download
Website
Source

FGB, short for Flour Game Boy, was an action adventure game created in 1999 by college friends Abe Pralle, Jacob Stevens, and Martin Casado.

It was loosely based on a game called Flour developed by Martin with input and art from Abe. Jacob's love for Nintendo led them to design FGB specifically for the Game Boy Color. Martin contributed to the initial story and the quirky world but had to step back from the project due to school commitments.

FGB and Flour were both partly inspired by Crossroads, a type-in game that was one of the finest ever published in COMPUTE!'s Gazette magazine.

In 2000, Jacob and Abe attended E3 with hopes of securing a publishing deal for FGB but without success. Eventually, in late 2000 or early 2001, they decided to release the FGB ROM as freeware.

Features

• Full two-player support via link cable, utilizing a unique and faster data transfer method than traditional Game Boy games.
• Simple and effective algorithm for generating random numbers using a look-up table.
• Sophisticated zone-based pathfinding in level design (although later found to negatively impact gameplay).
• Enemies use a straightforward algorithm for movement, enhancing their behavior in the game.
• Utilization of 3-bit sound to incorporate a digitized sound sample for eating food without using an instrument voice.

User guide

FGB was intended to begin with a cinematic sequence involving encounters with Lady Flower and landing on Planet Kiwi. Players would be able to select from three playable characters upon landing.

The development process led to the creation of Moon Base levels to introduce the main characters one by one. Major Skippy's character changed from an anthropomorphic bone to an unlit candle due to design concerns. The fast-firing monkeys in the game are a tribute to the dangerous Brown Monkeys from Crossroads I & II.

The current version ends on a cliffhanger as the heroes return from Space Station Apocalypse, with more planned in the original story outline.

Synopsis

Tired of constant war with the Nasty Croutons, the inhabitants of Planet B-12 send their greatest hero, the Honorable Captain Flour, on a mission of surrender. Capaining the starship Appomattox, the Captain and his loyal crew are enroute to the Crouton home world when they receive a distress signal from a space ship belonging to Lady Flower, the Queen of Planet Kiwi. Unknown to the Flour Gang, Lady Flower has staged her distress as a ploy to get close to the Captain. After the Captain "rescues" her and returns her home, she forces him to journey to her castle at gunpoint in order to marry him.

After realizing their captain has been kidnapped, the remaining crew - BA, BS, and Haiku - set out in search of him. They cannot fly the Appomattox since Captain Flour took the ignition key. They burst into the castle just as the wedding is taking place.

It tums out that Captain Flour has changed his mind and really does want to get married. The wedding proceeds as planned, but during the vows a mysterious figure tricks BA, BS, and Haiku away from the ceremony, where they are captured.

After the wedding General Gyro (the Crouton Warlord) makes a surprise appearance (he was also the disguised figure from before). He's worried that Captain Flour won't carry through with his orders to surrender to the Crouton Empire. Gyro has landed bunches of Crouton troops around the countryside; he tells the Captain that once the surrender is signed then his crew will be released unharmed and the Croutons will take off.

Captain Flour is about to capitulate when Lady Flower takes him aside and persuades him to fight against the blackmail. The Captain proceeds to lay the smack down on the Croutons and frees his comrades. Captain Flour gives BA, BS, and Haiku the key to the Appomattox and orders them to help the people of Kiwi against the Crouton armies that are around. Meanwhile he and his lady retire to their honeymoon...

The trio make their way around the world, getting stronger and fighting baddies. They eventually make their way to the Crouton Base Camp and break in.

The gang discovers that General Gyro has fled. Thinking that he's on a nearby space station they fly the Appomattox to Space Station Apocalypse and fight their way in.

In the end General Gyro is not on the space station. However the heroes turn up a large cache of secret data that will turn the tide against the Crouton invaders.

Screenshots

Compatibility

It can be run on emulators such as SameBoy.

Note: the "battery save" feature does not seem to work correctly on SameBoy at least. Use emulator save states instead.

Credits

Developers:

• Abe Pralle - Programming, Level design, Dialog.
• Jacob Stevens - Art, Music.

Development tools:

• Level Editor - Level editor for FGB.
• GBConv2 - Load BMP images and converts them to tiles and/or sprites.
• MakeGBM - Compile programmatic music .gbm source files into data files for the FGB engine.
• MakeDiscoLights - A simple program that generates data files for the "mirror ball disco lights" of the "Duke's Disco" level.
• MapMaker - Read .lvl data files and uses them to generate PNG images of various level and maps.
• Game Boy Sound Manipulator - Allow developers to experiment with sound parameters in real time. It was used extensively in the creation of FGB.

External links

• GitHub - https://github.com/AbePralle/FGB/