185 replies to this topic

[Byte Knight]

Latest version:

• Added level III with randomized items.
• Level I is easier - two stabs to kill dragon, one to kill troll.  No hawk or wizard (so my kids can beat the game!).
• Different title screen - I think the Evil Magician's castle & gate looks cooler...
• Orc disappears after you kill the wizard, so you're free to explore.
• Should work on Harmony cart now (untested).

 epicadv15.bin   32K   120 downloads

[disjaukifa]

Byte Knight, on Sun Aug 28, 2011 5:00 PM, said:

Latest version:

• Added level III with randomized items.
• Level I is easier - two stabs to kill dragon, one to kill troll.  No hawk or wizard (so my kids can beat the game!).
• Different title screen - I think the Evil Magician's castle & gate looks cooler...
• Orc disappears after you kill the wizard, so you're free to explore.
• Should work on Harmony cart now (untested).

epicadv15.bin

Good build! Great work, I like it how you programmed in an easy setting, thats a really nice touch. Looking forward to further updates! If I find any bugs I'll post about them!

[ScumSoft]

Byte Knight, on Sun Aug 28, 2011 5:00 PM, said:

Latest version:
• Should work on Harmony cart now (untested).

Tested, everything seems fine now.

[Byte Knight]

disjaukifa, on Sun Aug 28, 2011 5:05 PM, said:

Good build! Great work, I like it how you programmed in an easy setting, thats a really nice touch. Looking forward to further updates! If I find any bugs I'll post about them!

Thanks!  That's one of my favorite freatures about Adventure - an easy level to explore the environment and figure out the gameplay.

[Byte Knight]

ScumSoft, on Sun Aug 28, 2011 5:53 PM, said:

Byte Knight, on Sun Aug 28, 2011 5:00 PM, said:

Latest version:
• Should work on Harmony cart now (untested).

Tested, everything seems fine now.

Great - thanks for trying it out!  I have yet to start my AV mod for the 2600 Jr.  Yet another project put on hold while I try to finish this game...

BTW, how does the "torch effect" look in the dark mazes on the Harmony cart?  Is it light enough to find your way around?

Edited by Byte Knight, Sun Aug 28, 2011 9:33 PM.

[ScumSoft]

Looks alright, although I've always found it to be a bit painful on my eyes and hard to keep track of where the player is unless you carry an item. If you've been searching for a more elegant fading flicker effect, I would be more than happy to whip up some examples, if you'd like?

Edited by ScumSoft, Sun Aug 28, 2011 10:26 PM.

[Byte Knight]

ScumSoft, on Sun Aug 28, 2011 10:26 PM, said:

Looks alright, although I've always found it to be a bit painful on my eyes and hard to keep track of where the player is unless you carry an item. If you've been searching for a more elegant fading flicker effect, I would be more than happy to whip up some examples, if you'd like?

Go for it!  Here's the current lighting effect code:

 temp1=(rand&15)
 if temp1=0 then pfcolors:
 $22
end
 if temp1>0 then pfcolors:
 $00
end

[ScumSoft]

Sure thing then, I figured it was something basic. I'll have an example posted in a bit.

[edit]Ok I've attached a small example that should be easy to implement, flicker changes depending on player position(player not drawn in example) use joystick to adjust flicker periods.
I recommend linking it like I am (in my Adventure mini-game in EggVenture), to your dragon so that the flicker period is always being adjusted as he moves, and when he is killed then the flicker holds on a pattern based on where the dragon stopped, this way killing it has a good or bad effect on the game

  rem Adjust the FlickerTimer and choose FlickerPattern
  FlickerTimer = FlickerTimer + 1 
  if FlickerTimer & DragonX > 3 then goto FlickerPattern1
  if FlickerTimer & DragonY > 3 then goto FlickerPattern2

Attached Files

•  Flicker.bas   5.1K   72 downloads
•  Flicker.bin   32K   77 downloads

Edited by ScumSoft, Mon Aug 29, 2011 3:49 PM.

[Byte Knight]

ScumSoft, on Mon Aug 29, 2011 1:01 PM, said:

Ok I've attached a small example that should be easy to implement, flicker changes depending on player position(player not drawn in example) use joystick to adjust flicker periods.
I recommend linking it like I am (in my Adventure mini-game in EggVenture), to your dragon so that the flicker period is always being adjusted as he moves, and when he is killed then the flicker holds on a pattern based on where the dragon stopped, this way killing it has a good or bad effect on the game

That looks cool, although I can get a similar effect by making my random number smaller...

Some people mentioned that they'd like a "fade in and out" effect, which I did here:

 epicadv16.bin   32K   124 downloads

What do you guys think - better or worse?

[IG-88]

Byte Knight, on Tue Aug 30, 2011 10:44 AM, said:

ScumSoft, on Mon Aug 29, 2011 1:01 PM, said:

Ok I've attached a small example that should be easy to implement, flicker changes depending on player position(player not drawn in example) use joystick to adjust flicker periods.
I recommend linking it like I am (in my Adventure mini-game in EggVenture), to your dragon so that the flicker period is always being adjusted as he moves, and when he is killed then the flicker holds on a pattern based on where the dragon stopped, this way killing it has a good or bad effect on the game

That looks cool, although I can get a similar effect by making my random number smaller...

Some people mentioned that they'd like a "fade in and out" effect, which I did here:

 epicadv16.bin   32K   124 downloads

What do you guys think - better or worse?

I like it. I'm also really enjoying the game over-all. Great work!!

[abaudrand]

Its really a brillant game. I love the Gfx.

[ScumSoft]

It looks okay, but doesn't resemble torch flicker anymore. You need a fade in then a flicker out effect, then a flicker in

[Byte Knight]

ScumSoft, on Sun Aug 28, 2011 10:26 PM, said:

Looks alright, although I've always found it to be a bit painful on my eyes and hard to keep track of where the player is unless you carry an item. If you've been searching for a more elegant fading flicker effect, I would be more than happy to whip up some examples, if you'd like?

I agree that the torch effect has been lost, but now it's got a more "magical effect".  It kinda gives you the feeling of the Evil Magician's presence...

[ScumSoft]

Byte Knight, on Tue Aug 30, 2011 8:00 PM, said:

ScumSoft, on Sun Aug 28, 2011 10:26 PM, said:

Looks alright, although I've always found it to be a bit painful on my eyes and hard to keep track of where the player is unless you carry an item. If you've been searching for a more elegant fading flicker effect, I would be more than happy to whip up some examples, if you'd like?

I agree that the torch effect has been lost, but now it's got a more "magical effect".  It kinda gives you the feeling of the Evil Magician's presence...

Here's a thought, leave the color on so people can practice the maze until the Evil Magician is out, then make it strobe like that Mwahahaha!

[eegad]

ScumSoft, on Sun Aug 28, 2011 5:53 PM, said:

Byte Knight, on Sun Aug 28, 2011 5:00 PM, said:

Latest version:
• Should work on Harmony cart now (untested).

Tested, everything seems fine now.

Hmmm....doesn't seem to work for me.  I just downloaded both v15 and v16 and copied onto my Harmony cart. Both versions just give a scrambled screen when loaded on my heavy sixer.  Any thoughts? Does the file maybe need to have a particular extension  (other than .bin) to tell Harmony what bank select method to use???

Edited by eegad, Sat Sep 3, 2011 2:02 PM.

[Byte Knight]

eegad, on Sat Sep 3, 2011 2:01 PM, said:

Hmmm....doesn't seem to work for me.  I just downloaded both v15 and v16 and copied onto my Harmony cart. Both versions just give a scrambled screen when loaded on my heavy sixer.  Any thoughts? Does the file maybe need to have a particular extension  (other than .bin) to tell Harmony what bank select method to use???

You probably need to update your Harmony cart to the latest firmware version that supports DPC+.

[Legend]

Just played for the first time. Very cool.

One thing I noticed was that after I entered the cave through the small hole, I entered a screen that looked like it would be the inside of the red castle and went towards the bottom left of the screen and I went through into the gold castle from the top.

Also, there seems to be nothing in the cave other than that and when I exit through the bottom, a few screens to the left, I come out the front of a castle but can't get back in.

The blinking mazes are kinda cool, but quickly drove me nuts! Maybe if they faded a little slower.

Another thing was I entered the blue maze where the eye was several times. Eventually, the eye just disappeared, but I still moved slowly through that room.

I was playing on game setting 1.

Not sure how I feel about only having one key to open all castles.

Edited by Legend, Sat Sep 3, 2011 11:38 PM.

[Byte Knight]

Hey Legend,

Thanks for checking out the game.  You found the "secret entrance" to the wizard's castle - it was originally a bug that I left in because it gives you a shortcut into the castle if you've got the amulet.  Although you can see the gold castle room from the wizard's chamber while holding the amulet, you can't actually enter the room.  Now you see how the chalice stolen so easily!

I think the blinking mazes are much better than the flickering mazes found in earlier versions - much less seizure inducing...

I believe I fixed the disappearing palintir bug for the next version.

I've got zero k left in the graphics bank, so I'd have to get rid of another item in order to add another key...

Now go try levels 2 & 3!

[Legend]

Byte Knight, on Sun Sep 4, 2011 9:33 AM, said:

Hey Legend,

Thanks for checking out the game.  You found the "secret entrance" to the wizard's castle - it was originally a bug that I left in because it gives you a shortcut into the castle if you've got the amulet.  Although you can see the gold castle room from the wizard's chamber while holding the amulet, you can't actually enter the room.  Now you see how the chalice stolen so easily!

I think the blinking mazes are much better than the flickering mazes found in earlier versions - much less seizure inducing...

I believe I fixed the disappearing palintir bug for the next version.

I've got zero k left in the graphics bank, so I'd have to get rid of another item in order to add another key...

Now go try levels 2 & 3!

I wasn't really suggesting to add more keys. Actually, the first time I played I hadn't properly read the instructions so I spent forever looking for more keys.  

Should there have been something in the wizard's castle? It was empty.

I still think the blinking mazes could fade a little slower and gradually if possible.

One idea I did have was for mazes where the player dies if they touch the walls. Just an idea that would make it a little more challenging.

[eegad]

Byte Knight, on Sat Sep 3, 2011 9:18 PM, said:

eegad, on Sat Sep 3, 2011 2:01 PM, said:

Hmmm....doesn't seem to work for me.  I just downloaded both v15 and v16 and copied onto my Harmony cart. Both versions just give a scrambled screen when loaded on my heavy sixer.  Any thoughts? Does the file maybe need to have a particular extension  (other than .bin) to tell Harmony what bank select method to use???

You probably need to update your Harmony cart to the latest firmware version that supports DPC+.

That sounded reasonable since I'd never updated the bios/firmware on the harmony cart since I got it when it was first released.  So I just did that. No go. Still gives a scrambled screen (like what you'd see if you pulled a cart out of the console in the middle of playing).  This was on my heavy sixer, so I figured I'd also try it on my light sixer since I HAVE found a few things that won't play on one console or the other through the years (offhand, moon patrol doesn't work on the heavy via harmony, and the actual purchased atariage holiday cart from a couple years ago (with stay frosty, etc) plays on the light but not the heavy).  weird, and i've never figured out how that can be, although i have posted about it in the forums previously.  In any case, Epic Adventure  v15 and v16 won't work on either console (but the files DO play on the latest Stella, so it would seem that my files are not corrupt in any case).  Also, tried renaming the file extension from .bin to .dpc - still no luck.  Very odd.  Any other thoughts?  The game looks great and I'd love to play it on real hardware rather than an emulator.

[RevEng]

eegad, on Sun Sep 4, 2011 3:24 PM, said:

Any other thoughts?  The game looks great and I'd love to play it on real hardware rather than an emulator.

You should try one of the other DPC+ games and see if you have problems with them too: Charge!, Eggventure, and Frantic.

[RevEng]

Epic Adventure was featured today in the gaming industry news site Game Set Watch!

Congrats Byte Knight!

[Byte Knight]

RevEng, on Sun Sep 4, 2011 4:43 PM, said:

Epic Adventure was featured today in the gaming industry news site Game Set Watch!

Congrats Byte Knight!

That's cool!  Although the original link suggests playing the game on a DS with Stella.  I seriously doubt StellaDS supports DPC+...

[Byte Knight]

Legend, on Sun Sep 4, 2011 11:34 AM, said:

One idea I did have was for mazes where the player dies if they touch the walls. Just an idea that would make it a little more challenging.

It"s pretty hard to navigate the mazes with a joystick, especially when fleeing an enemy!

[gambler172]

Hi BK
Works great.One of the best games for the 2600.....
greetings Walter