96 replies to this topic

[Byte Knight]

Hey guys,

I know you're getting sick of my Adventure games, but I decided to update EMR to DPC+.  EMR II is a truer vision of an Adventure sequel that I had in mind when I was thinking up EMR, but didn't have the knowledge or the resources.  I still don't have any knowledge, but I've got better resources thanks to batari basic's DPC+ kernel!

EMR II  has the same basic premise as EMR in which you must reclaim the chalice from the Evil Magician and his apprentice.  Here are some differences between EMR II & EMR:

• Upgraded sprites and background graphics thanks to PacManRed!
• Some mazes are from Adventure with new twists, some mazes are new.
• Dark mazes are back.
• There are now four castles to explore, complete with mazes and secret passageways.
• Home castle gate is now open - why should you have to open your own castle?
• The bat is back as the great randomizer of items.
• You can only carry one item like Adventure.
• The staff also acts as a magnet to attract objects by holding down the button.
• You can attract the staff to yourself by holding down the fire button.
• The wizards cast spells that make you go half speed.
• The Evil Magician and his apprentice have the ability to raise each other from the dead when in the same room as each other.
• A new hideous Dragon created by the Evil Magician guards the chalice on Levels 2 & 3.

Screenshots:





To do:

• Titlescreen music (I know I always say this).
• Level 3 randomized object placement.

Only Levels 1 & 2 work so far.  Level 2 has the bat and the Dragon.   Check it out and let me know what you think!

 EMRII16.bin   32K   176 downloads

Latest version 8/22/12 (Randomized Level 3 is now done and working):

 EMRII22.bin   32K   264 downloads

Thanks to PacManRed for the graphics, RevEng for the titlescreen and technical help, and AtariBrian for alpha testing!

Edited by Byte Knight, Wed Aug 22, 2012 7:57 AM.

[littleman jack]

Looks good! Will you be putting this one out on cart as well?

[jeffgamer]

If he IS putting it on cart, I'm definitely interested in buying one!  :-)

[AtariBrian]

hey Todd, not sure when youll get your email, I need the updated version.

Edited by AtariBrian, Fri Aug 3, 2012 11:50 PM.

[cvga]

Those castles look incredible. I would definitely buy a cart.

[theloon]

Obviously this is a serious enough project you want to withold the source.  Nevertheless, DPC+ is still new teritory to figure out.  Would you consider posting  your own ready-to-go template for DPC+ or a topic on what you've learned/hints/tips/code snippets about programming DPC+?

My recent issues compiling with div_mul16.asm and pfread_msk.asm in the multi-sprite kernel have let me feeling I'm tripping over hurdles that have already been discovered and forgotten   Maybe we can save some other DPC+ coders some surprises.

P.S. Are the candles on the sides some special mini kernel or just more delectable DPC+ sprites?

Edited by theloon, Sat Aug 4, 2012 12:25 AM.

[PFL]

Forgive my ignorance but will this run on my Harmony or do I need a specific DPC+ cart?

This looks gorgeous by the way.

[Philsan]

PFL, on Sat Aug 4, 2012 4:12 AM, said:

Forgive my ignorance but will this run on my Harmony?

Yes.

[Atarius Maximus]

Wow.  Absolutely amazing, I just played for quite a while.  Fantastic work Byte Knight!  I agree with theloon, I'd love to hear more about using DPC+.  If you could share any tips or samples that'd be great.  I played around with it a few weeks ago and couldn't even get anything to compile.

Steve

[cubelindo]

Look awesome! I don't know how you guys are able to make this kind of stuff using a 2600

Byte knight, I'll sure get the new version when it is available!

[scobb]

The 1st game was great - this looks even better!!!  

Can't wait!  Thanks for your works!

Scott

[Byte Knight]

theloon, on Sat Aug 4, 2012 12:10 AM, said:

Would you consider posting  your own ready-to-go template for DPC+ or a topic on what you've learned/hints/tips/code snippets about programming DPC+?

P.S. Are the candles on the sides some special mini kernel or just more delectable DPC+ sprites?

Sure, here's an earlier version of the game.  I'm not sure how helpful the code will be, since I rarely use any rem statements - just a good ol' notebook.  Keep in mind that I'm still using an older version (bB 1.1c) since I was too far along with my game to update all of the code to bB 1.1d.  With the older version of bB, there's no virtual sprite collision detection so I had to check for overlap of the virtual sprites when there's a collision with player1.  I'd also suggest reading through the entire thread of "Next version of bB" if you haven't already.  I also have to give RevEng a lot of credit, as I probably sent him about 100 PM's trying to get various things figured out and he always answered back.  Sorry RevEng if your mailbox now fills up rapidly!

The torches are just a double-copy of player1 at the right edge of the screen so the other copy wraps around to the left.

 EMRII9.bas   51.89K   106 downloads

[Byte Knight]

Atarius Maximus, on Sat Aug 4, 2012 7:46 AM, said:

Wow.  Absolutely amazing, I just played for quite a while.  Fantastic work Byte Knight!  I agree with theloon, I'd love to hear more about using DPC+.  If you could share any tips or samples that'd be great.  I played around with it a few weeks ago and couldn't even get anything to compile.

Thanks!  I agree that there's a much steeper learning curve with DPC+.  When I first started playing with it, I couldn't even get the ball to move around the screen - it turns out it was buried in the playfield because I didn't realize that I now had twice the vertical resolution of previous versions of bB!  See my above post for other tips.

[theloon]

Real coders don't use comments unless there's a code review meeting coming up!

Thanks for the source.  I didn't know you could use player sprite data labels in an if - then statement!

Also, are ON GOSUBs broken in DPC+?  I noticed startroom2 was a long bunch of if foo = statements.

[IG-88]

Thanks for the email with the heads-up on the game Byte Knight! It looks and plays fantastic!! I already have a spot cleared off on the shelf for it. You got another sale here!

Edited by IG-88, Sat Aug 4, 2012 7:55 PM.

[Gateway]

Great game so far! On Level 2, I managed to get both magicians killed so that they didn't respawn and I was able to explore a bit. I found the white key and went to the white castle. I tried touching the gate several ways but it did not open for me.

I even accidently dropped the white key behind the white gate and had to wait for the bat to come along and pick it up for me. Note: the red key was also on the screen at the time. Later I tried again without the red key present and it still did not open for me..

[AtariBrian]

im just making sure on this... was it the gray key you were trying to open the white castle with?

[Byte Knight]

Gateway, on Sat Aug 4, 2012 9:04 PM, said:

Great game so far! On Level 2, I managed to get both magicians killed so that they didn't respawn and I was able to explore a bit. I found the white key and went to the white castle. I tried touching the gate several ways but it did not open for me.  I even accidently dropped the white key behind the white gate and had to wait for the bat to come along and pick it up for me. Note: the red key was also on the screen at the time. Later I tried again without the red key present and it still did not open for me..

I wonder if you're confusing the gray and white key.  The skull key (gray key) opens up the gray castle with the skull & bones gate at the top of the blue maze.  The castle key (white key) opens the white castle with the barred gate to the left of the dark maze.

Also, you don't have to wait for the bat to grab items that are out of reach.  The staff will attract items when you hold down the fire button and you can attract the staff to you by holding down the fire button.  I didn't have room for a magnet in the game...

[Gateway]

Okay, I will give it another go.

[Byte Knight]

theloon, on Sat Aug 4, 2012 5:07 PM, said:

Real coders don't use comments unless there's a code review meeting coming up!
Thanks for the source.  I didn't know you could use player sprite data labels in an if - then statement!
Also, are ON GOSUBs broken in DPC+?  I noticed startroom2 was a long bunch of if foo = statements.

Glad you learned something useful from my crappy coding!

As I recall, the "on gosub" line got too long and wouldn't compile.

[Gateway]

Okay, so I learned the hard way that the dragon-thing doesn't succumb to shots fired at it like the magicians do.

[gambler172]

Hi BK
No one is tired of your great Adventures.I will check it out,when returning home. The posted screens look really good.Sure count me in for a cart
greetings Walter

[Pioneer4x4]

I updated my harmony and I tried it out today, and will have to play through it some, looks good.
If it does go to cart, it should be packaged like the original, I think a dual boxed set type of thing would be cool.  A sleeve for the new and original side by side...

[sandmountainslim]

Just downloaded it    Will give it a whirl later today.  It looks GREAT!

[purenergy]

EMRII is excellent, and will make a great game when finished. I enjoyed the gamplay very much last night. It was hard to stop testing this fine game. The one thing that did stop me was when I took an item (trophy/cup/chalice) into the red castle, the game screen started flashing, while displaying the chalice. Was that supposed to happen? I had to reset and start over.

Thanks.