cd-w Posted May 12, 2008 Author Share Posted May 12, 2008 I also encountered a bug. Not sure how exactly when it happens, but I think it's got to do with running out of time, maybe hitting the last enemy just before dying. After that, There's no enemies but something still shoots at you. Also the score table messes up. Didn't think of taking a screenshot :[ Maybe it's fixed because I can't replicate it in this version. Let me know if it happens again - the game logic is now very complex, so there are likely to be some odd bugs lurking in there. I also noticed that stray bullets stay when wave is cleared. Dunno if it was intentional, but I think it's a good thing. Also noticed that fuel is completely restored when dying. Thumbs up for that. This is intentional - it felt odd for the bullets to simply disappear. The fuel is completely restored now as the alien spawning is no longer linked to the fuel timer (I don't know why I didn't think of this earlier!). As to the waves, you got it, dude. This is exactly what the game needed. Play is much more fluid and frantic. NO FOOLING AROUND ANYMORE! The only thing I would change is to not include the satellite in the equation. Like in the first wave, it feels weird to have to pick up the astronaut for the next group to appear. But maybe that's just me. Thanks - it definitely does seem to play much better, and it saves me a load of work trying to tune the levels. It is a bit difficult to not count the satellite, so I will probably just leave it as is. I'm playing some more in a bit, but I can see this is going to be one of the finest shooters for the VCS. I don't even feel like comparing it to the arcade. Awesome job here. Glad you like it, and thanks again for your suggestions. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmosiss Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 (edited) Ah, I see what you did there. It's a combination of timed intervals and # of enemies remaining. If the player is fast enough, he gets rewarded by having only so many enemies at once, and the next wave is bumped, so the time saved is not wasted. If you're too slow, the next wave will appear before you're done with the previous one. This will clutter the screen with enemies/bombs, and all groups will appear within the time limit, so it's still possible to clear the wave. This are the little things that make a good game great. I would like to test on hardware, but I don't have an eprom for this big boy. --Made to wave nine, no problems that I can see so far. Edited May 12, 2008 by cosmosiss Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hornpipe2 Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 (edited) * The ship has moved forward by 8 lines - this should make it harder for aliens to sneak up behind you. It's much better now, thanks! EDIT: Although with the new changes to alien spawning, I find myself backtracking a lot less anyhow. Edited May 12, 2008 by Hornpipe2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambler172 Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 Hi Chris Works nice on real hardware.Checked it on my Cuttle cart2 and with an atarivox. geetings Walter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwane413 Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 The wave number is now shown for the BEST/LAST scores. Thanks Chris. I like all the changes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd-w Posted May 12, 2008 Author Share Posted May 12, 2008 Hi ChrisWorks nice on real hardware.Checked it on my Cuttle cart2 and with an atarivox. geetings Walter Hi Walter, Thanks for testing it on your CC2. Also, thanks for all your encouragement - it really helps during the last phase of the project! Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mos6507 Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 BTW, I can't really tell but do you perform collision checking just on the ship or also to the exhaust? Ideally you'd only check it against the ship. Then it would be less likely to get cheap shotted from behind. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iwan-iwanowitsch-goratschin Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 This game is so good- it only needs a damn box! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 (edited) BTW, I can't really tell but do you perform collision checking just on the ship or also to the exhaust? Ideally you'd only check it against the ship. Then it would be less likely to get cheap shotted from behind. Ship only. I remember him making the change sometime after v. 10. Edited May 12, 2008 by Nathan Strum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mos6507 Posted May 12, 2008 Share Posted May 12, 2008 This game is so good- it only needs a damn box! I think this is one homebrew that needs a full fledged box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 (edited) I haven't heard anything about a box happening. I think the up-front expense is too much without some guarantee of a return. Edited May 13, 2008 by Nathan Strum Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dino Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 This game is so good- it only needs a damn box! Shrinkwrapped! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+LS650 Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 I'd be happy with just a cart! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 The aliens now move backwards in hyperspace, like in the arcade version. The wave number is now shown for the BEST/LAST scores. The previous initials are now the default for name entry. The astronaut appears instantly to prevent the "astronaut bug". Spheres appear earlier on waves 2 & 4. I managed to find one extra byte of RAM to hold this timer and have now implemented a first pass at this approach. The downside is that it makes the game relentless with no gaps at all (except when you die), but this might not be a bad thing? Let me know how this version compares to the previous, and if it is an improvement? A definite improvement on all counts! The astronaut bug fix is confirmed. The pacing with the new timer is much better - no more waiting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 BTW, I can't really tell but do you perform collision checking just on the ship or also to the exhaust? Ideally you'd only check it against the ship. Then it would be less likely to get cheap shotted from behind.Ship only. I remember him making the change sometime after v. 10.I take that back. I just tested it in the latest version, and while the reverse-thrust works as it should, the forward-thrust causes you to explode if it hits an alien. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd-w Posted May 13, 2008 Author Share Posted May 13, 2008 I just tested it in the latest version, and while the reverse-thrust works as it should, the forward-thrust causes you to explode if it hits an alien. I will look into this - I had to change the collision detection when I moved the ship forward and it seems that I got my calculations wrong. Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
espire8 Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 (edited) Nice work on this game so far. Plays really well and alot of fun. I'd like to suggest polishing up the ship though. It looks very flat and static during play. Since the playfield is an over-head 3/4 view, I think the ship's sprite should have some fore-shortening when moving forward and backward for some improved realism. Chris, I know that you may want to keep the ship as is since nobody else has mentioned this. If you like, I have a hack of the graphics in the game as an example of what I'm talking about that I can post here since it's alot easier and faster for me to do than to make a GIF version. that ok with ya? Edited May 13, 2008 by espire8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd-w Posted May 13, 2008 Author Share Posted May 13, 2008 (edited) Chris, I know that you may want to keep the ship as is since nobody else has mentioned this.If you like, I have a hack of the graphics in the game as an example of what I'm talking about that I can post here since it's alot easier and faster for me to do than to make a GIF version. that ok with ya? Interesting idea, though I'm not sure I have enough space left to fit in the extra frames. Feel free to post your hack here as I would like to see what you have done (and get opinions from others). Chris Edited May 13, 2008 by cd-w Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cosmosiss Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 So, Nathan, buddy, how's that label coming along Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Since the playfield is an over-head 3/4 view, I think the ship's sprite should have some fore-shortening when moving forward and backward for some improved realism. The sprites are based on the arcade game, which doesn't change when moving left-right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 So, Nathan, buddy, how's that label coming along It's pretty-much done. DaveD did most of the work on this one, and it turned out great! Very arcade-retro. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+LS650 Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 This is looking like an awesome new homebrew! Can't wait to see the final product available... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mos6507 Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 Since the playfield is an over-head 3/4 view, I think the ship's sprite should have some fore-shortening when moving forward and backward for some improved realism. The sprites are based on the arcade game, which doesn't change when moving left-right. Yeah, the coinop is like 2.1D. Like the way the laser shots go straight out instead of moving in a diagonal towards the horizon. It's all the way it's supposed to be. Really just a vertical defender with some scaling added. But I love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mos6507 Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 So, Nathan, buddy, how's that label coming along It's pretty-much done. DaveD did most of the work on this one, and it turned out great! Very arcade-retro. Even if it doesn't ship with a box I'd love to see a mockup of what it might look like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mos6507 Posted May 13, 2008 Share Posted May 13, 2008 (edited) I have a question about lateral movement. It's hard to tell, but does the coinop Juno First shift the sprites sideways when you move your guy left and right or is this an optical illusion because of the vertical perspective lines? It appears that it shifts it a little bit, at least when the sprites get close to your sprite, otherwise the perspective lines moving would not mesh with the sprite movement. Edited May 13, 2008 by mos6507 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.