More games to come...

[peteym5]

We like "Animal Keeper" I already did the title screen and label art for this name. Several names were tossed around by us last year, and one was done as an internal joke from all my experiences on Atari Age. Not going to reveal it and start a big flaming war here and possibly face legal action.

 

Now we know I am here to make great games and I want to sell them. I am spending a little more time making these next set of games look and play better. hoping it will increase sales. Also, the 8-bit is not longer the only platform I can make these games for. Easily port to the 5200 with just changing memory location and controller input stuff. I just got some information that would make porting games that use "Antic 4" set ups over to the 7800 much easier, and already did a test with the Miniature Golf.

Edited September 25, 2018 by peteym5

[peteym5]

 

Pete - Im pretty most would agree that this game needs something beyond the brick screen. You can easily design a bonus screen which is not the same but has the same effect. You are there to save your girl from the animals.

I spoke with Lance and he is also in favor of the ideal. I looked into it, and checked remaining ROM space, see what can be optimized moved, and managed to clear some memory space. I am avoiding needed a larger cartridge to avoid figuring out bank switching and make things more expensive than they need to be. Looks like I should be able to add a simple bonus screen, a few designs and ideals had been submitted to me already. Also would need to avoid messing up a game that already is 100% working without any glitches.

[peteym5]

https://youtu.be/pVg1XxB3BDo

 

Latest Upload WIP. Was going to start new thread for Animal Keeper, but there are several things I may still add or change to the game. Made a few changes to help make it challenging. The biggest difference is having different shapes of the brick, wall, or fence graphics surround the enclosure between each level so we are not looking at the same graphics during the whole game.

[Goochman]

Pete,

 

A few comments from watching the video:

1. The animals def dont seem to be very aggressive in getting out of the pen. The first 3 levels they dont even get close to breaking out

2. The speed still seems too slow

3. When the animals are out of the pen, it appears all you need to do is jump on them to put them back. that really decreases the difficulty and fast paced nature of the game you are trying to replicate.

4. IN later levels there appear to be artifacts on the right hand side of the screen

[peteym5]

I have to keep it easy for the first few levels for novice players. Still working on balancing the game. The pounce or jump on top of animals and knocking them to center was my way of making this game unique. However, if you were to check if the select key is functional when the title screen on displayed, you may find what you are seeking. Right screen static is normal for the Atari 8-bit computer in wide screen mode, but most people cannot see it unless they run the game on an emulator and change the over scan settings. I use the emulator to make the videos because I don't have everything I need to record video on real hardware.

[Goochman]

Pete - Maybe you should have a difficulty option whereby the default would be Medium and the player would start on level 3 or 4 (ie, normal arcade speed). Novice would start at level 1 and Hard maybe level 10. It wouldnt be alot of fun having to go through the first 3 levels of slowness every game. Just my $0.02.

[peteym5]

I already have added options for starting level and different gaming styles. I made the first two levels slightly more difficult by swapping in one faster animal to challenge you. Just make the video showing work in progress from the first level. There will also be a top 4 high scores stored as long as the game is running. I did not do a top ten scores because people seldom play games long enough to even record one or two scores. Game speed is relative based on PAL frame rate and resolution of the Atari screen. So far, the beta testers reported they found the game very challenging and takes time to learn to play it.

Edited October 3, 2018 by peteym5