http://atariage.com/forums/blog/269-the-art-of-being-clueless/ The art of being clueless Syndication Sun, 07 Apr 2013 11:09:00 +0000 editor@atariage.com (AtariAge Forums) IP.Blog 60 http://atariage.com/forums/blog/269/entry-10115-atlas-presents-palomino-part-8/ http://atariage.com/forums/topic/210898-palomino-2600/ ) I thought it would be right to list the last changes I made

Game start:
- when a new game starts, the playfield gets gradually cleared (makes beginning the game less abrupt and fits well with the AtariVox saying 'get ready')

Atarivox
- some words have been changed, 'game over' has been added

Gameplay
- the timer is not reset when a pattern is cleared anymore: now you have to clear all the 8 patterns in the given time. This makes 'scanning' the playfield more important, as you have to spot where it is best to place the cells in order to form the patterns as quick as possible
- various changes to difficulty and bonus mode length (it previously felt too long)

Audio
- as a consequence of the gameplay change stated above, I added a sound effect when the timer bar decreases (adds tension to the game)
- the sound effect that was played only when the playfield changed direction, is now played whenever the playfield moves

Score
- when you clear all 8 patterns, bonus points are awarded, depending on the time left

Please visit the homebrew forum thread to download the latest binary.]]> Sun, 07 Apr 2013 08:55:00 +0000 http://atariage.com/forums/blog/269/entry-10115-atlas-presents-palomino-part-8/ http://atariage.com/forums/blog/269/entry-10105-atlas-presents-palomino-part-7/ - Now the playfield is checked for matching patterns where the vertical line is: this adds a strategic element to the game since you can now play 'ahead' of the vertical line (to have the pattern cleared as soon as possible) or 'behind' it (to build up multiple squares during bonus mode)

- Because of the change above, rectangles made during bonus mode (to score twice the points for the squares following the first) have to be vertical instead of horizontal

AtariVox
- A little of code rearrangement, and bitmap compression made with the DOOD utility by Thomas Jentzsch  ( http://atariage.com/...ta-overlapping/  -  thanks Thomas !) allowed to make room for AtariVox support.
As a result, now we have speech for:
- welcome message
- eight words randomly picked when a pattern is cleared (e.g. 'cool', 'go', 'great'...)
- 'extra' for clearing consecutive squares during bonus mode
- 'bonus mode' when clearing the last pattern of a set
- 'get ready' when starting a game
- hi-score]]> Wed, 03 Apr 2013 16:44:00 +0000 http://atariage.com/forums/blog/269/entry-10105-atlas-presents-palomino-part-7/ http://atariage.com/forums/blog/269/entry-10103-atlas-presents-palomino-part-6/ - hold FIRE and move RIGHT/LEFT to rotate clockwise/counterclockwise the cells in the player cursor

Gameplay
- added 8 new patterns
- it is now necessary to make 8 patterns to enter bonus mode
- bonus mode behaves as initially intendend, i.e. the timer bar does not reset when a square is cleared, thus leaving a fixed amount of time during which you have to make as many squares as possible to increase the score
- difficulty progression has been made smoother

Score
- score has now 4 digits
- the closer you get to bonus mode, the higher the score for each pattern you clear

AtariVox/SaveKey
- I had a couple of unused bytes in the eeprom area reserved for my games, so why not use them to save the hi-score ?
- press SELECT when powering up the console (or when pressing RESET) to reset the hi-score on the AtariVox/SaveKey

Game Over
- when the game is over, the playfield gets filled with the name of the game and copyright, and then they start moving across the playfield

Graphics
- use the left (P0) difficulty switch to select between 'striped' and 'full' square kernels ( @rtype_2600: I hope this helps making the graphics feel less similar to omicron)

Audio
- added sound effects for the rotation of the cells
- changed the sound effect that is played when you put the cells back on the playfield
- when the game is over, a variation of the in-game music is played]]> Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:57:00 +0000 http://atariage.com/forums/blog/269/entry-10103-atlas-presents-palomino-part-6/ http://atariage.com/forums/blog/269/entry-10095-atlas-presents-palomino-part-5/ real deal ™ ? The player cursor is now a 2x2 square, which can be used as a 'buffer' to create the required patterns (especially handy for the squares during bonus mode).

@Csonicgo: thank you !]]> Fri, 29 Mar 2013 18:18:00 +0000 http://atariage.com/forums/blog/269/entry-10095-atlas-presents-palomino-part-5/ http://atariage.com/forums/blog/269/entry-10093-atlas-presents-palomino-part-4k/
During bonus mode, you'll have to make the usual 2x2 squares (and the 'rectangular' bonus still applies).

When the bonus mode ends, and the game returns to normal mode, a new pattern will be selected by the game.

@iesposta: thanks !]]> Thu, 28 Mar 2013 17:54:00 +0000 http://atariage.com/forums/blog/269/entry-10093-atlas-presents-palomino-part-4k/ http://atariage.com/forums/blog/269/entry-10082-atlas-presents-palomino-part-3/
- Colors have been reworked

- Now it is necessary to make four 2x2 grids to enter bonus mode

- A grid made during bonus mode is now worth 15 points

- As about iesposta note, now if you make an horizontal rectangle it will be considered as two (or more) consecutive squares, and those following the first are worth twice the points]]> Sat, 23 Mar 2013 17:31:00 +0000 http://atariage.com/forums/blog/269/entry-10082-atlas-presents-palomino-part-3/ http://atariage.com/forums/blog/269/entry-10079-atlas-presents-palomino-part-2/
Once you enter bonus mode, the cells stop moving, and you can keep making grids as long as the timer bar expires.

During bonus mode, a grid is worth 20 points instead of 5.]]> Thu, 21 Mar 2013 17:18:00 +0000 http://atariage.com/forums/blog/269/entry-10079-atlas-presents-palomino-part-2/ http://atariage.com/forums/blog/269/entry-10077-atlas-presents-palomino/
Use the cursor to pick up the cells and arrange them in 2x2 squares, to remove them and score points.

Watch out for the timer bar on the top of the screen !

Controls:
- Use the joystick to move the cursor.
- Press FIRE to pick up a cell.
- Once you have picked up a cell, press FIRE to deploy it to the current cursor position.

(use Color/BW switch for NTSC/PAL colors)]]> Wed, 20 Mar 2013 17:32:00 +0000 http://atariage.com/forums/blog/269/entry-10077-atlas-presents-palomino/ http://atariage.com/forums/blog/269/entry-10033-atlas-presents-crude/
In order to prevent a major system breakdown, you have to keep them fed with random data: use the joystick to move the data writer, and press FIRE to store data where the writer is positioned.

When the pointers will cross a location that contains data, they will consume it, and the buffer underflow timer, show on top of the screen, will be reset.

The memory writer cannot come into direct contact with any of the pointers.

Also, keep in mind that the memory area is continously cleared at random locations, so the data you write will not last long.]]> Mon, 25 Feb 2013 21:24:00 +0000 http://atariage.com/forums/blog/269/entry-10033-atlas-presents-crude/ http://atariage.com/forums/blog/269/entry-10029-atlas-presents-bloom-part-3/ bad seed ™ : it appears during the stage clearing phase, and will hunt the gardener down... avoid it at any cost !

peace]]> Sun, 24 Feb 2013 18:23:00 +0000 http://atariage.com/forums/blog/269/entry-10029-atlas-presents-bloom-part-3/