Cave-In (PAL50/60 versions available)

[Bakasama]

Enemy death change - It's very minor - but the enemies now explode in 'blood red'.

 

Oh, that sounds interesting. I do like fact you can drop the gun and you have to find it to get it again.

[Mirage]

Just returning to the Atari scene after a little absence to move across the country, get married... life!

 

I've been very much interested in Batari Basic programming, and am going to try to make the time to get started now... ran across your game glancing through the forums. All I can say is: wow. You've done a fantastic job, and I can't wait to see the final version. I can't believe you did all that with Batari. Amazing. Will be plugging into the Kroc Cart tomorrow. Thanks for the inspiration (and the fun game!)

 

- Chris

[gambler172]

Hi Steve

just checked RC6 on my 7800 Pal system.While playing game 1,suddenly i lost the gun.How could this happen?But while playing several times,this never happened again.

greetings Walter

[+Atarius Maximus]

Hi Steve

just checked RC6 on my 7800 Pal system.While playing game 1,suddenly i lost the gun.How could this happen?But while playing several times,this never happened again.

greetings Walter

 

Hi Walter,

 

This feature is actually by design, I guess I forgot to mention it in my last post that explained all of the most recent changes. You will now drop your gun every time you drop one health block (which is 10 hitpoints) on all game levels.

 

To go along with this change, the enemies will now die after attacking you 7 times (think of it as hand to hand combat ). After an enemy dies, it will randomly drop a gun powerup in addition to a health pack. In game 1, You will start off with your gun and can recover it by waiting for an enemy to drop one or going to the hidden gun room. In Games 2 and 3, you start off with no gun and must find the hidden gun room. To increase the challenge on games 2 and 3, the enemies will not drop a gun for you until you have first discovered the hidden gun room.

 

This was feature was included to make walking around the mine a little more challenging and fun. You now have to pay much closer attention to your health, and it gives you more control over your destiny in the game - you can choose to fight enemies without a gun and maybe recover it, or try to figure out if you can avoid them long enough and make it back to the gun room to recover it yourself. Also, once you find the cave warp room, it will always reset your health to 50%, which is another hidden room you can try and reach if you have no gun and are low on health.

 

I hope you like the changes!

 

Steve

[gambler172]

Hi Steve

Yes,i like the new changes,but i was surprised,when my gun was gone.

Played again this afternoon.RC6 works nice on my 7800 Pal system.

If i should find any bugs,i let you know.

greetings Walter

[+atari2600land]

What happened to this game? Any updates?

[+Atarius Maximus]

What happened to this game? Any updates?

 

Yes, I've been working on it off and on for the past few weeks fixing minor bugs that I've found in my playtesting. I'm pretty sure I've got everything fixed and working like I want it to, I just haven't had time to test it on real hardware. Also, as I know you are aware from posting in this thread (http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...p;#entry1419431) the availability of superchip boards is in question right now, so a cartridge release of this game is also in question. I hope Albert can find a way to release superchip games, I'd even be willing to disassemble donor carts if someone would send them to me.

 

Attached is the latest binary, still untested on real hardware.

 

Steve

adv210.bin

[Albert]

Yes, I've been working on it off and on for the past few weeks fixing minor bugs that I've found in my playtesting. I'm pretty sure I've got everything fixed and working like I want it to, I just haven't had time to test it on real hardware. Also, as I know you are aware from posting in this thread (http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...p;#entry1419431) the availability of superchip boards is in question right now, so a cartridge release of this game is also in question. I hope Albert can find a way to release superchip games, I'd even be willing to disassemble donor carts if someone would send them to me.

You can count on it.

 

..Al

[Mirage]

EDIT: IT WORKS --

 

When I drop it on Krok Commander, it defaults to "F4" BS mode. This way it doesn't work. Switch it to "F4 (Superchip)" mode, and it works fine!

 

Now to play!!!!

 

 

 

--------------------------------------------------- The below is what happened when it was in "F4" mode ----------------------------------------------------

 

Has anyone else yet tested this with a Krok Cart? For me, it doesn't work. Title screen is fine [edit: title screen also has the walls all over, like the playscreen], game selection is fine, but then when game starts, the entire screen is filled with the "walls", and you can make the guy do a jet-pack effect, sorta, and change direction, but not move. (Basically, he's stuck in the walls, with rapid fire since the bullets hit the walls). All game variations do this.

 

Funny thing is, I felt like an idiot, cuz I couldn't figure out what to do... I assumed this was correct!

 

I loaded it onto the Krok Cart twice, same each time.

 

BTW, this could be very important -- I have a Krok Cart v1.0 which could be why it's incompatible. I think I may have seen something about some 32k roms not working with it? Maybe I'm remembering wrong. Anyway, if someone could try it with a newer version Krok Cart that'd probably be good.

Edited December 8, 2007 by Mirage1972

[+Atarius Maximus]

Yes, I've been working on it off and on for the past few weeks fixing minor bugs that I've found in my playtesting. I'm pretty sure I've got everything fixed and working like I want it to, I just haven't had time to test it on real hardware. Also, as I know you are aware from posting in this thread (http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...p;#entry1419431) the availability of superchip boards is in question right now, so a cartridge release of this game is also in question. I hope Albert can find a way to release superchip games, I'd even be willing to disassemble donor carts if someone would send them to me.

You can count on it.

 

..Al

 

That's good news. I was hoping you'd find someone to make the 32k superchip boards.

 

I just did some playtesting on my cuttle cart, and the game seems to work just fine on real hardware so far. I did come across another bug - something that was working in earlier revisions and is now broken. The boulder won't kill you, and the health fountain won't heal you. I'm sure I can find and fix that problem. It's been a struggle in the most recent revisions to make changes, as the ROM space is just about 99.9% full, but I'm sure I can fix that problem in the next release. The only other issue I've found that may just have to stay like it is is the death explosion color. It's always red, unless you're carrying the shield, then the explosion is the current color of the enemy. The way I've got it coded would make it nearly impossible to fix due to lack of additional ROM space - I guess it's not that big of a deal.

 

It really is almost done now. Really.

 

Steve

[+Atarius Maximus]

Yes, I've been working on it off and on for the past few weeks fixing minor bugs that I've found in my playtesting. I'm pretty sure I've got everything fixed and working like I want it to, I just haven't had time to test it on real hardware. Also, as I know you are aware from posting in this thread (http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...p;#entry1419431) the availability of superchip boards is in question right now, so a cartridge release of this game is also in question. I hope Albert can find a way to release superchip games, I'd even be willing to disassemble donor carts if someone would send them to me.

You can count on it.

 

..Al

 

That's good news. I was hoping you'd find someone to make the 32k superchip boards.

 

I just did some playtesting on my cuttle cart, and the game seems to work just fine on real hardware so far. I did come across another bug - something that was working in earlier revisions and is now broken. The boulder won't kill you, and the health fountain won't heal you. I'm sure I can find and fix that problem. It's been a struggle in the most recent revisions to make changes, as the ROM space is just about 99.9% full, but I'm sure I can fix that problem in the next release. The only other issue I've found that may just have to stay like it is is the death explosion color. It's always red, unless you're carrying the shield, then the explosion is the current color of the enemy. The way I've got it coded would make it nearly impossible to fix due to lack of additional ROM space - I guess it's not that big of a deal.

 

It really is almost done now. Really.

 

Steve

 

This revision fixes the bugs mentioned above, and it appears to work great on real hardware.

I'm just playtesting now, the game itself is complete. If anyone finds any problems with the game, please let me know.

 

EDIT: I updated the bin - I forgot to reset the game back to the starting room. I always change the start room when I'm testing, and I always seem to forget to change it back when I post a bin.

adv211.bin

Edited December 9, 2007 by Atarius Maximus

[Mirage]

Sorry if this has already been brought up, but... playing the current bin (adv211.bin), sometimes when you shoot an enemy and the health pack appears, it will move into the walls so it can't be grabbed. Each time I saw it happen, it happened to move into the walls in the center of the room, not at the edges. Don't know if it ever moves into the edges. Also, and this is extremely minor probably, but, in the maze, sometimes it appears, when you're moving from screen-to-screen as though there is a way you can go down, but you can't, because as you approach, it moves to the next screen. Not sure if this is significant, but I noticed it and was slightly confusing.

 

I should really read the manual. I swear I d/l'ed it... will scroll back to find it if it was posted. ---- EDIT: Found the manual, read it, can test better now.

 

Looks great though! That death animation is just awesome!

Edited December 9, 2007 by Mirage1972

[gambler172]

Hi Steve

Checked the actual version on real hardware.Works good,but when shooting an enemy,he suddenly left a dot.

See the attached photo.

greetings Walter

[+Atarius Maximus]

Sorry if this has already been brought up, but... playing the current bin (adv211.bin), sometimes when you shoot an enemy and the health pack appears, it will move into the walls so it can't be grabbed. Each time I saw it happen, it happened to move into the walls in the center of the room, not at the edges. Don't know if it ever moves into the edges. Also, and this is extremely minor probably, but, in the maze, sometimes it appears, when you're moving from screen-to-screen as though there is a way you can go down, but you can't, because as you approach, it moves to the next screen. Not sure if this is significant, but I noticed it and was slightly confusing.

 

I should really read the manual. I swear I d/l'ed it... will scroll back to find it if it was posted. ---- EDIT: Found the manual, read it, can test better now.

 

Looks great though! That death animation is just awesome!

 

I've changed the code for how the healthpack appears so many times -- I've spent hours trying to perfect it. It seems there is no easy way to absolutely guarantee that it will always be accessible and not stuck in a playfield. Since my last change, I've not been able to get it to appear in a place that I can't get to it, there's always a little bit sticking out on the side to make it possible to pick it up. If it happens with the current version, it should be very rarely. That's one of the reasons I doubled the size of it, to try and ensure that part of the sprite would stick out enough to be able to touch it and pick it up. You can ensure the healthpack will appear in an accessible location if you shoot the enemy in an open area of the playfield - think of it as another challenge incorporated into this game.

 

I'm not sure what you mean with the invisible maze issue you described. Are you seeing the healthpack in the maze? I've played it and can't get anything unusual to happen on those screens.

 

EDIT: I read you post a few more times, and I think I know what you mean. As you approach an exit that takes you to a different screen, the playfield ends and it looks like you might be able to go up or down, but it changes screens before you can. Is that what you're referring to? If so, you're right, there's nothing I can do about that. I can't make the playfield extend any further to avoid how that looks. That's just the exit to the next section of the maze.

 

Steve

Edited December 9, 2007 by Atarius Maximus

[+Atarius Maximus]

Hi Steve

Checked the actual version on real hardware.Works good,but when shooting an enemy,he suddenly left a dot.

See the attached photo.

greetings Walter

 

Where were you when that happened? If you could describe where you were from the starting room (like Up, Up, Left, Left, etc.) I could see if there's something unique I put in when entering or exiting that room that would cause that behavior.

 

Also, Does it happen every time you enter that room?

 

Thanks,

 

Steve

[+Atarius Maximus]

This revision fixes one other bug that I knew about and finally figured out how to fix. After you lost your gun and picked up the gun again for the first time, the death animation wouldn't appear any more, the enemies would simply disappear. That's been resolved.

 

I'm not sure yet about the issues that Walter and Mirage1972 reported. Guys, if you could give me any more detail on how to make those problems appear, or what you were doing in the game right before they appeared, that would be helpful. I haven't been able to replicate those problems as of yet.

 

Steve

adv211.bin

[Mirage]

This revision fixes one other bug that I knew about and finally figured out how to fix. After you lost your gun and picked up the gun again for the first time, the death animation wouldn't appear any more, the enemies would simply disappear. That's been resolved.

 

I'm not sure yet about the issues that Walter and Mirage1972 reported. Guys, if you could give me any more detail on how to make those problems appear, or what you were doing in the game right before they appeared, that would be helpful. I haven't been able to replicate those problems as of yet.

 

Steve

 

I'll see if I can get it to do it again, and if so, if maybe I can get at a corner of the object like you said. I don't do anything unusual that I know of, just shoot the enemy, and then the health pack will sort of scoot away a little bit until it's firmly in the center area of the playfield. It seems like it only happened on the screen(s?) where there was that center island thing.

[Lost Monkey]

Hi Steve

Checked the actual version on real hardware.Works good,but when shooting an enemy,he suddenly left a dot.

See the attached photo.

greetings Walter

 

 

This happened to me on 2 of 3 tries - I would walk into an enemy and take a hit and then shoot.

 

The enemy would leave a dot which would still be there if I left the room and came back - if the enemy ran into the dot, it would die.

 

I also got into the walls a few times... the code bounces you back more than you advance so you end up going backwards through the walls.:

[+Atarius Maximus]

Hi Steve

Checked the actual version on real hardware.Works good,but when shooting an enemy,he suddenly left a dot.

See the attached photo.

greetings Walter

 

 

This happened to me on 2 of 3 tries - I would walk into an enemy and take a hit and then shoot.

 

The enemy would leave a dot which would still be there if I left the room and came back - if the enemy ran into the dot, it would die.

 

I also got into the walls a few times... the code bounces you back more than you advance so you end up going backwards through the walls.:

 

Out of curiosity, what emulator are you using? I went to that same room you showed in the screenshot, and bumped into every wall, covering all parts of the playfield for several minutes, and I could not replicate that problem. I don't remember that happening to me in my playtesting in any of my previous releases. Hmmm.

 

I was able to replicate the problem with the dot showing up, I should be able to fix that.

 

Steve

[Lost Monkey]

Out of curiosity, what emulator are you using? I went to that same room you showed in the screenshot, and bumped into every wall, covering all parts of the playfield for several minutes, and I could not replicate that problem. I don't remember that happening to me in my playtesting in any of my previous releases. Hmmm.

 

I am using Stella 2.4.2.

[+Atarius Maximus]

Out of curiosity, what emulator are you using? I went to that same room you showed in the screenshot, and bumped into every wall, covering all parts of the playfield for several minutes, and I could not replicate that problem. I don't remember that happening to me in my playtesting in any of my previous releases. Hmmm.

 

I am using Stella 2.4.2.

 

 

Ok, so it's definitely not an emulator issue, that's the same emulator I use. I've tried and tried, and I cannot get my player to stick in the playfield. When I bump into the playfield, it pushes me one pixel in to the wall, and when I let go, I return one pixel backwards to where I began. I'm not sure what you're doing to see the player get bumped back more than he is advanced. Can you give me a more detailed explanation of how you're making that happen?

 

As far as the dot, I've seen it happen, but I have a really difficult time reproducing it. I'd say I can make it appear 1 out of 40 tries, using the method you described of bumping into an enemy once and then firing. Based on what I observed, I've mad a few changes that will hopefully resolve the issue. Since I have such a hard time reproducing it, I can't say for certain it's fixed - please try again on this one and let me know. I'm sure the problem was caused with one of my recent changes that makes it impossible to fire the gun until the bullet has traveled the full distance it's allowed or hits a wall. If I changed it back to how it was and make the bullet disappear when you release the button, that would definitely solve the problem. I'll use that solution as a last resort fix.

 

Steve

adv212.bin

[espire8]

How about letting only a single shot fire everytime the button is pressed?

[gambler172]

Hi Steve

The "thing" with the dot happened one time to me.

But it is no problem for me.I could continue playing without any problems.

greetings Walter

[+Atarius Maximus]

Hi Steve

The "thing" with the dot happened one time to me.

But it is no problem for me.I could continue playing without any problems.

greetings Walter

 

Did it happen on the latest revision that I just posted (212)?

 

Thanks

 

Steve

[Lost Monkey]

Out of curiosity, what emulator are you using? I went to that same room you showed in the screenshot, and bumped into every wall, covering all parts of the playfield for several minutes, and I could not replicate that problem. I don't remember that happening to me in my playtesting in any of my previous releases. Hmmm.

 

I am using Stella 2.4.2.

 

 

Ok, so it's definitely not an emulator issue, that's the same emulator I use. I've tried and tried, and I cannot get my player to stick in the playfield. When I bump into the playfield, it pushes me one pixel in to the wall, and when I let go, I return one pixel backwards to where I began. I'm not sure what you're doing to see the player get bumped back more than he is advanced. Can you give me a more detailed explanation of how you're making that happen?

 

As far as the dot, I've seen it happen, but I have a really difficult time reproducing it. I'd say I can make it appear 1 out of 40 tries, using the method you described of bumping into an enemy once and then firing. Based on what I observed, I've mad a few changes that will hopefully resolve the issue. Since I have such a hard time reproducing it, I can't say for certain it's fixed - please try again on this one and let me know. I'm sure the problem was caused with one of my recent changes that makes it impossible to fire the gun until the bullet has traveled the full distance it's allowed or hits a wall. If I changed it back to how it was and make the bullet disappear when you release the button, that would definitely solve the problem. I'll use that solution as a last resort fix.

 

Steve

 

Each time I got stuck or pulled through a wall, I was walking very close to a wall at an angle anticipating a corner. IE if I was moving right, and down, when I came into contact with the wall, I would get pulled into the wall and right became left.