Atari A8 Donkey Kong Hack

[Jinroh]

I really the the hack of Landon's version! It's near perfect.

 

I like the sounds from the other version too, I really tried to like it, but after you pointed out about the hammer...ugh I couldn't get past it. It was like a thorn in my side until I went back to playing your hack of Landon's original version.

 

We're so close to having like the perfect DK, great work man!

Edited March 8, 2016 by Jinroh

[+Cafeman]

First of all, just like everyone else, I always loved this port back in the day and I still play it on my current Atari 800XL when I hook it up!

 

Darryl, it is rather subtle what you changed. Is it all graphics hacks? The gameplay seemed faster than I remembered but it could just be faulty memory. The most obvious thing I see are the changes to Kong (wider and meaner looking now, and not "Sad" looking), and Pauline is a bit shorter or something (I know, to make it match the orig coin-op graphics better).

 

(Personally I didn't mind the Kong blue eyes, or if you would use blue for his teeth, since white as a bg color isn't available. )

 

I see only 1 or 2 Mode E DLI's on the screens - it might be different on each of the 4 stages. Not sure what the DLI's accomplish or how the 4 Players are used - is that information available already? Is there any multiplexing? I had always assume that the fireballs, barrels, and springs were all bg-graphics soft sprites.

 

So it seems like it should be possible to add 2 more color-changing DLI's and place white Player and/or Missile in there for Kong's eye sockets and white teeth.

[+darryl1970]

Tried only XL hack of the original.

 

I ilke mario's walk and death spin. He walks with a slight bounce as opposed to the original kind of shuffling. The death spiral looks more like he is actually spinning.

 

Love everything about the new DK. He looks awesome up on his girders. Yes, it would be nice to have some white in there on his teeth, but working with the the colors you had at hand it is great improvement!

 

Like the new stripes around the score. Looks more Nintendo-esque.

 

The barrels I am on the fence about. The new one look cleaner and sharper, but the original ones gave a more wooden-barrel feel...still thinking about this one.

 

Extra lives..better, girders...better - Wow and this is just the first screen. It's a great face-lift to a great game!

Thanks. I think the barrels did look good in Landon's original too. I also though Pauline looked a little "prettier".

However, I figure I would err on the "make it match the arcade" side.

 

The barrels match the arcade, except the arcade only had two frames of animation. The A8 has 3. I made up an intermediate "transition" frame.

However, I think the real problem is how the large area of blue meshes with the girders, due to the software sprite routines.

 

I'll probably stick with this, though, just to keep it arcade true. Maybe somebody can remove the use of the third frame eventually.

[+darryl1970]

It's rather subtle what you changed. Is it all graphics hacks? The gameplay seemed faster than I remembered but it could just be faulty memory. The most obvious thing I see are the changes to Kong (wider and meaner looking now, and not "Sad" looking), and Pauline is a bit shorter or something (I know, to make it match the orig coin-op graphics better).

Mostly graphics, yes. I think they just seem subtle until you look side-by-side. It's probably more of a memory thing, although SOME changes are subtle (like the springs). The A8 version was always VERY fast. I read a lot of posts on DK, because it's a favorite of mine. People who play the Atari version first find the arcade too slow. lol. (I like them both)

 

Mario is completely different too.

 

 

You DON'T want the blue used after you see it. I can try it again, as this is an early shot, but I just couldn't get the illusion of teeth from it. It was bad (even when I added the grin curve.) Heck! I'll try again though, as this is a WAY early shot.

Edited March 8, 2016 by darryl1970

[Jinroh]

Oh man, lol. Those blue teeth. xDDD Yeah...I see what you mean.

[+Cafeman]

Oh man, lol. Those blue teeth. xDDD Yeah...I see what you mean.

 

That's how my teeth look, don't be prejudiced against us blue-teethed folk!

 

But seriously, lol indeed. Blue doesn't work for teeth.

[Jinroh]

Well I guess if all you eat is Blue Ice cream that's normal, but yeah. xD

[Tempest]

Aww, I always like the pudgy 8-bit Mario over the thinner arcade one.

[+Cafeman]

Aww, I always like the pudgy 8-bit Mario over the thinner arcade one.

 

I didn't mind the orig A8 Mario, after all we were used to everything on A8/5200 being a bit wider due to the rectangular pixels. But now after seeing it I do like the thinner version. Good improvement Darryl. Maybe that's why the game seems fast, Mario's thinner and it somehow changes my perception.

 

Really though, there can't be many "improvements" with this port. It was fantastic from the start, very playable to this day. One day when I have time, I'd like to study how it was programmed with the XOR / Mode E technique. I was never all that good at using sofware sprites in my attempts.

[+darryl1970]

TO BE FAIR!

 

That was an old, early Kong.

 

I give you "RACCOON KONG!"

 

This isn't as bad, and it DOES give an idea where the teeth actually are. I just stuck with "simpler is better", until we can figure out how to get white.

 

 

Here's the current version with Blue.

Edited March 8, 2016 by darryl1970

[+darryl1970]

Aww, I always like the pudgy 8-bit Mario over the thinner arcade one.

Haha. You know, he holds a special place in my heart; but he stuck out like a SORE thumb to me since day 1.

You'll have that, coming from the nerd that sat around doodling Mario pics in class.

Edited March 8, 2016 by darryl1970

[+darryl1970]

I figured it out!!! PERFECT!!

 

 

It's a keeper! I "smurfing" LOVE this!

[+Cafeman]

 

(click it!)

[Tempest]

Haha. You know, he holds a special place in my hear; but he stuck out like a SORE thumb to me since day 1.

You'll have that, coming from the nerd that sat around doodling Mario pics in class.

 

Well at least he's not the beer belly one from the 2600 version. That one always bothered me.

[+darryl1970]

 

Well at least he's not the beer belly one from the 2600 version. That one always bothered me.

Funny, because I preferred the 2600 Mario's head. The body was lacking, but they had the right "look" to call him Mario!

He could have been a little skinnier, and the hardware collision was killer. lol.

[Jinroh]

I figured it out!!! PERFECT!!

Haha1.PNG

 

Haha2.PNG

 

It's a keeper! I "smurfing" LOVE this!

 

LOL DK's been throwing barrels til he's blue in the face. xDDD

[TheNameOfTheGame]

Thanks. I think the barrels did look good in Landon's original too. I also though Pauline looked a little "prettier".

However, I figure I would err on the "make it match the arcade" side.

 

The barrels match the arcade, except the arcade only had two frames of animation. The A8 has 3. I made up an intermediate "transition" frame.

However, I think the real problem is how the large area of blue meshes with the girders, due to the software sprite routines.

 

I'll probably stick with this, though, just to keep it arcade true. Maybe somebody can remove the use of the third frame eventually.

 

Yep, I agree. The goal of the hack is to make it closer to the look of the arcade, so the changes to the barrels make sense.

[Jinroh]

I 2nd this! We can get so close to the arcade on our awesome A8s!

[+darryl1970]

I played with the colors. If I make the blue light enough, and I make the Kong's face more yellow, the blue looks white on him.

 

I think this MIGHT work!!!

 

 

The Rivet level is a little washed out, but I prefer the detail if it comes to that.

 

I will keep tweaking.

 

 

Edited March 8, 2016 by darryl1970

[Jinroh]

The oil drum is a bit loud, but what can you do? The rest looks pretty good for what it is. :3

 

The teeth on DK do look great.

[+darryl1970]

Possible Color Changes

I have been working with color tweaks that would allow more of a lighter blue. This seems to blend with the fire and allow Kong to have eyes and teeth.

 

I have found this color combination to look pretty good on an average. I tweaked Mario to a little richer colorset too.

 

Wishlist

This is a real graphic tweak I added. The reason I do not use the yellow color more is that the yellow color is blanked out of the software sprites on the ramp level. Thus, notice how the firefox and barrels look on the top and bottom level of the ramp. In the middle, the barrels have lost the yellow. This would be the same for the firefox. It looks great on all the other levels.

 

Color tweak and Kong teeth:

 

Multi-color, but no yellow in middle of RAMP screen, unless we can "fix" this. My concern is that Landon had a reason for blocking this color.

 

 

NO YELLOW ZONES!

Edited March 9, 2016 by darryl1970

[+darryl1970]

That's pretty nice.

 

I think it would be awesome for someone (not me!) to re-do the XOR graphics. With more memory available it should be possible to do a masked draw-and-repair rather than a repeated XOR; that would make the artifacts when things overlap go away. Those always bugged the hell out of me, but I didn't have time (or memory) to do anything about it. You'll have to make masks for the bitmaps; shouldn't be hard.

 

It also might be possible to reposition a player or missile with a VBI to get white into Kong's face.

 

And fix Mario's final death frame. Argh, that was embarrassing. :-)

Hey Landon.. If you're watching this at all, do you have an answer for my last post? Do you remember if there's a purpose that the yellow color is blocked from the software sprites, in the middle of the RAMP level only?

 

Thanks!

[Tempest]

I know those firefoxes look more like the arcade version, but I always loved the 8-bit firefoxes. The new ones look smaller, are they easier to jump over now?

[+darryl1970]

I know those firefoxes look more like the arcade version, but I always loved the 8-bit firefoxes. The new ones look smaller, are they easier to jump over now?

I liked the original firefoxes too, because they are the perfect hybrid of a firefox and fireball. That is one reason I didn't change them much up front. I couldn't choose one. Crazy Kong only has fireballs. Donkey Kong was the only one to have fireballs and Firefoxes. So, the melding of them both was nice.

 

I THINK they are a little easier, but it has to be psychological. I didn't change any collision registers. So, I think the smaller size just makes me braver, or it's a better indicator of how close I can get before I jump.

[Tempest]

When you finalize your hack please make one with the original Firefoxes. I refuse to accept anything less.