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Zippy the Porcupine 4 Level Demo


Sprybug

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Here's the official Demo that's going to be at PRGE.

This demo features 4 levels, 1 from each zone, of Zippy the Porcupine.

What's not included in the demo:

 

12 additional levels

Overworld Selection Map

5 Individual Boss Battles

Gem Collecting

Ending Sequences

 

 

Directions:

 

Joystick - Move

Button - Jump

Down & Button - Spin Up (Must be at a standstill), then let go of the action button to let him go.

 

Hints:

The Spin Up & Release can be used to break certain blocks in Star Zone.

Finding the Springboard in the upper section will catapult you into the bonus minigame.

Platforms can disappear and appear in Cave Zone (and can also disappear in Aqua Zone).

Use the Gate Switch to open gates in Aqua Zone.

You keep your collected rings after you finish a stage.

 

Enjoy

 

-Chris

 

 

zippy09_Demo.bas.bin

Edited by Sprybug
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It's amazing!But damn its hard,a lot of great gaming time!

It takes a while to get the hang of. I've played through it so many times that I end up with more lives than I started. I think I ended with 6 at one point. I've always been really good at platformers though, and since I made it I knew where everything is. It's good to get feedback like this though just in case I do end up making something a little too difficult.

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There are 4 ways (2 available now) to play 64K games on real hardware.

1. Burn an EPROM for a developer board.

2. Buy a custom 128K Harmony, but it must be flashed as a single game -- it won't load off SD card.

3. Harmony v1.2 will run 64K binaries off SD card. (Not available yet.)

4. Harmony v2 for the 7800 will have 512K and play 64K 2600 binaries. (Not available yet.)

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New Harmony coming out? Ooooohh... :-o

 

Spry, I played the Zippy Demo in Stella. There were some issues with reading input from the RetroUSB adapters but I got around that. Man, I ended up save-stating a lot! Not sure if it's just the wonky Atari physics again, but I kept jumping down pits. It seems that Zippy's jump is too low when he's standing still, almost like his jump height is directly proportional to his velocity. One trick is to spin to instant maximum velocity then jump but I usually overshoot the platform. I tended to overshoot platforms a lot in Princess Rescue too but now I'm a pro at the modified PR physics engine! :grin:

 

Also the springboards into the sky, are those bonus stages or just a second layer of platforms above the screen? I think I answered my own question. :P Anyway great job. So there will be four zones in Zippy with individual stages and boss battles? Sweet!

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New Harmony coming out? Ooooohh... :-o

 

Spry, I played the Zippy Demo in Stella. There were some issues with reading input from the RetroUSB adapters but I got around that. Man, I ended up save-stating a lot! Not sure if it's just the wonky Atari physics again, but I kept jumping down pits. It seems that Zippy's jump is too low when he's standing still, almost like his jump height is directly proportional to his velocity.

 

 

Yes it is, you are correct. The faster he goes the higher he jumps, so if you're jumping at a stand still he's not going to go very high.

 

 

One trick is to spin to instant maximum velocity then jump but I usually overshoot the platform. I tended to overshoot platforms a lot in Princess Rescue too but now I'm a pro at the modified PR physics engine! :grin:

 

 

Yeah, don't do that. Just back up a little bit and get a bit of a head start and jump, even on the platforms with just 4 playfield blocks, you can get enough to get higher. As I've said in other posts, I'm really good at platform games and since I made this and know where everything is, I can easily get to start from finish. I even finished with 10 lives at one go. I thought I was making it a bit too easy, but this a demo and I can always fudge with things if it is too hard. I'd like to get some more feedback on this game before making any modifications though. However not being able to jump from one block to the next when your on a set of "steps" is annoying when you have to get a bit of head start before you make the next one. I would like to remedy that part.

 

 

Also the springboards into the sky, are those bonus stages or just a second layer of platforms above the screen? I think I answered my own question. :P Anyway great job. So there will be four zones in Zippy with individual stages and boss battles? Sweet!

 

 

Yes you did. The springboards in the upper half get you to the bonus ring collection minigame. I've never been satisfied with how many rings you can get. At most I think I got 20. I'd like for the player to be able to get more, so I know I'll go back to modifying that too. Yes, there are 16 levels in total (4 for 4 zones, kind of like the princess rescue format). There will be an overhead map that shows your progress and you can go from stage to stage of your choice while chasing down Eggman...I hate that name. Dr. Robotnik. He will always be Dr. Robotnik to me. Eggman always sounded like a temporary name until you came up with something better and then Dr. Robotnik sounds like the name you finally gave him. For some reason they did it in reverse and I never accepted "Eggman". But if he's: Dr. Eggman Robotnik then it makes sense to me.

Anyhow, the good doctor is on the map too and you have to chase him down. You go from stage to stage until you land on him and when you do you do the level and then do a boss fight. If you already visited that level, you won't have to do the level again and go straight to the boss fight. When you defeat him, you receive a stolen gem. There are 5 gems, so this is why there will be 5 boss battles. It's also possible to beat the game without having to complete all the levels since your main goal is to get the 5 gems. If you lose all your lives, then you can use a gem to continue if you have any, but you'll lose 1 gem for continuing and the doctor will make you go through a few levels that you had previously completed again. When you beat him he'll fly off to another part of the map and you have to chase him down, going through levels once again. Where he ends up is random, so the game plays differently every time adding to the replay-ability factor.

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Oh wait, no nevermind I did remedy the "step" problem already. It used to happen. Now, it's just when it's 2 blocks high is when you need to get momentum, but I just might keep that for the challenge. There will be times when you need to run and jump and then not so much. You gotta be careful with Zippy sometimes because he will get a bit out of control when he's going too fast for a part where you need to be cautious.

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Since I was using save states anyway, I started backing up every time I hit an enemy, and got like 70+ rings when I exited one of the stages, so it's definitely possible to collect a lot. You said the upper level has bonus stages in it? I never managed to stay on the upper level for long periods due to having many more holes in the floor compared to the lower level.

 

Awesome that you are making a world map so people can play whichever stage they choose. That way, even if I don't completely beat the first zone, I can always go to other zones and try them out as well. Even the original Sonic didn't have that feature, although some later post-Genesis games did. I'm wondering if you could implement a save system by employing the Melody tech similar to how Sonic 3/Knuckles carts used a battery to keep track of save progress. I know some newer homebrew games like Chetiry saves the high scores to the cartridge so this could be useful to some players who may not want to finish the entire game in one sitting.

 

I actually made it to world 4 in Princess Rescue and have left my Atari on for the past couple days so I don't have to start over. It's currently tying up my Atari from playing other games, LOL! :P

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... You said the upper level has bonus stages in it? I never managed to stay on the upper level for long periods due to having many more holes in the floor compared to the lower level.

 

...

I actually made it to world 4 in Princess Rescue and have left my Atari on for the past couple days so I don't have to start over. It's currently tying up my Atari from playing other games, LOL! :P

Zippy: I once got to the Bonus Stage from the upper level. It is really cool! SPOILER: (You bounce around like reverse "Breakout", grabbing rings and breaking out the floor until you fall out!)

 

Princess Rescue: I left my Atari on for days also! I started Level 4, but haven't finished it. I'm good enough now to turn it off and get to Level 3 boss fight without too much trouble, so it doesn't stay on anymore and I can enjoy other games.

Look for Circus AtariAge this weekend (if you have Paddles).

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There are 4 ways (2 available now) to play 64K games on real hardware.

1. Burn an EPROM for a developer board.

2. Buy a custom 128K Harmony, but it must be flashed as a single game -- it won't load off SD card.

3. Harmony v1.2 will run 64K binaries off SD card. (Not available yet.)

4. Harmony v2 for the 7800 will have 512K and play 64K 2600 binaries. (Not available yet.)

 

Don't forget the Krokodile Cartridge.

Edited by FujiSkunk
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Zippy: I once got to the Bonus Stage from the upper level. It is really cool! SPOILER: (You bounce around like reverse "Breakout", grabbing rings and breaking out the floor until you fall out!)

 

Princess Rescue: I left my Atari on for days also! I started Level 4, but haven't finished it. I'm good enough now to turn it off and get to Level 3 boss fight without too much trouble, so it doesn't stay on anymore and I can enjoy other games.

Look for Circus AtariAge this weekend (if you have Paddles).

I actually found the World 3 boss fight easier than world 2,

because there's a nice little ledge to stand on where he can't hurt you, and just drop down onto his head when he goes underneath.

 

 

World 3-3 is the toughest level IMO because of the Spineys raining down everywhere. I lost so many lives there! The advanced platforming jungle gym elements in certain stages in World 4 actually look tougher than they really are because you can hold left or right without actually falling off. I made it to 4-4 the other day but I was on my last life and died trying to jump over a Thwomp, or fell down a pit or something, I forget what. So I gave it a break and I've been busy helping my mom with rehab from knee surgery, so I haven't gotten a chance to finish the game yet. Hopefully it won't hurt the Atari to leave it running for days. It's 30 years old so if it was going to fail, it would have failed by now, LOL!

 

Trust me, rescuing the princess is still high on my to-do list!

Edited by stardust4ever
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The 2600 Krokodile Cartridge has that much memory for a 64K game?

 

And more.

 

What about the 2600 Cuttle Cart, or the 7800 Cuttle Cart?

 

Good question. I don't have a Cuttle Cart and I haven't tried anything too extravagant with my Cuttle Cart 2, however, it looks like they too are capable of 64k 2600 games. The Cuttle Cart specs say so explicitly. The Cuttle Cart 2 specs don't mention a maximum size for 2600 games, but they do show support for the same 2600 bank-switching schemes as the Cuttle Cart.

Edited by FujiSkunk
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