Quad-Joust

[+fdr4prez]

Stopped by during PRGE and played some Quad-Joust and Quad-Tanks

 

Fun stuff.

 

What's left in terms of game play and such for these two games?

 

We didn't play the "vaguely-inspired-by-missile-command bomb defense game" because I forgot about it. Can you post a video of it?

 

Any plans for:

Quad-Biplanes

Quad-Jets

 

Does your 4-port adapter work with the Driving Controller and then we can have a 4 person Indy 500 game?

[gauauu]

Thanks for giving it a try!

What's left in terms of game play and such for these two games?

I haven't completely decided yet. I want to do some tweaking with Joust to make it harder to just stay at the sides and endlessly fall. I also want to rewrite the score kernel for both to make the score more obvious.

Beyond that, it's really just a question of what I can do to make a 4-player multi-cart more compelling. Whether that's tweaking those game, adding others, or even replacing one with something else, I'm not sure.

We didn't play the "vaguely-inspired-by-missile-command bomb defense game" because I forgot about it. Can you post a video of it?

I'll see what I can do. Until then, it's just a simple screen where individual bombs (ie like kaboom) fall from the top. Each player has an aiming reticle (like missile command), and you try to move your reticle over the bomb and press your button to destroy it. (see attached picture)

Any plans for:
Quad-Biplanes
Quad-Jets

Not necessarily. Although it depends on what all I can pack into the game, I might add them. I think the next mini-game will be a variation of my Spacey McRacey game

Does your 4-port adapter work with the Driving Controller and then we can have a 4 person Indy 500 game?

Probably not, but I haven't looked at the Driving Controller protocol yet. Tim Lapetino was also suggesting some sort of 4-player Indy 500-style game, so I might look into that.

[+SpiceWare]

Probably not, but I haven't looked at the Driving Controller protocol yet. Tim Lapetino was also suggesting some sort of 4-player Indy 500-style game, so I might look into that.

Actually, it probably will - they use the same pins as the joysticks, just processed differently.

[gauauu]

Actually, it probably will - they use the same pins as the joysticks, just processed differently.

 

Awesome. That's what I hoped, but I didn't have a chance yet to look further yet. The trick would be to make an Indy 500 game that could let the user either use the driving controller or just a joystick (I've never even SEEN a driving controller in person, I can't imagine there's that many people that have them?)

[alex_79]

 

I've never even SEEN a driving controller in person, I can't imagine there's that many people that have them?

Actually, they're very common (and cheap) on ebay, despite the fact that only one game ever used them (not counting homebrews)

[+fdr4prez]

 

I've never even SEEN a driving controller in person, I can't imagine there's that many people that have them?

 

 

Actually, they're very common (and cheap) on ebay, despite the fact that only one game ever used them (not counting homebrews)

 

I bought one for a few dollars at PRGE.

 

On ebay the pricing varies quite a bit, and many times people are trying to sell paddles as driving controllers, so make sure you zoom in on the photo and see if it is really a driving controller

 

This is the cheapest one ($7) currently on ebay: http://r.ebay.com/imHb4V

 

And the listing shows "more than 10 available"

[MrBeefy]

I think this is a cool idea. What about a Pac Man Vs 2600? Outlaw 4 player?

[Machine]

Like both those ideas, Pacman Vs. would be fun if it can be done right!

 

I really liked Slot Racer, that would make a fun 4 player game or even Maze Craze.

Edited October 28, 2017 by Machine

[gauauu]

I think this is a cool idea. What about a Pac Man Vs 2600? Outlaw 4 player?

 

I was toying with the idea of some sort of outlaw game. But not really Pac-Man....I just can't think of a single design for a 4-player pac-man that I think would work well on the VCS. Either it'd be no fun, or it would be ridiculously hard to write.

[Machine]

How about Maze Craze 2 vs. 2.

Both members of each team how to get out before your team wins. It would be exciting and make for some great races!

[BassGuitari]

Like both those ideas, Pacman Vs. would be fun if it can be done right!

 

I really liked Slot Racer, that would make a fun 4 player game or even Maze Craze.

What Slot Racer really needs is a CPU opponent and (IMO) more intuitive controls. The core concept of the game is great--even with such blocky graphics!--but it whiffed in a few critical areas IMO.

 

Anyway...how long before we can start buying VCS multitaps from the AA Store? Really excited about the possibilities for "Tank IV" (in Sears parlance ), Quad Joust, Sprint 4 (in Atari arcade parlance), and other non-paddle 4-player games!

 

Would it be possible or feasible to hack 4-player support into existing games like Combat or Indy 500 rather than build them from the ground up?

[gauauu]

Anyway...how long before we can start buying VCS multitaps from the AA Store? Really excited about the possibilities for "Tank IV" (in Sears parlance ), Quad Joust, Sprint 4 (in Atari arcade parlance), and other non-paddle 4-player games!

 

 

Thanks for the encouragement! It will still be awhile -- the next step is designing a proper PCB, and then a lot of details to actually produce them (what cases, what exact parts, how cheap can I get the parts, etc). I'm guessing a year out still.

 

 

Would it be possible or feasible to hack 4-player support into existing games like Combat or Indy 500 rather than build them from the ground up?

 

That sounds just as hard as building them from the ground up, really. So much has to change (ram usage for extra players, scoreboard changes, processing the new players, reworking the kernel for more players), that it seems easier to start from scratch. But hey, who knows, maybe somebody smarter than me would disagree.

[gauauu]

Well, I've sent the hardware design off to a chinese manufacturer to get quotes on production, so we'll see how that turns out.

 

Meanwhile, I finally got inspired to get back to work on this. I spent this evening hacking away at the bB DPC+ score kernel to make a nicer looking per-player colored scoreboard. Now I have rom space for at least 1 more simple game (possibly more if I make some optimization passes -- I've optimized for speed and development time so far, which means everything takes up ridiculous amounts of space) on the cart. Any recommendations?

 

Some possibilities:

- some sort of maze game (similar to slot racers? or maze craze?)

- a racing game like Indy 500 (or super off-road)

- some sort of fighting game (outlaw-ish? but maybe that's too similar to Tanks to feel interesting)

- a top-down space shooter type thing? (maybe something like my NES game Spacey McRacey?)

- something team based, 2v2?

 

I'm leaning toward an Indy 500 game -- it sounds both fun and easy to write.

[+fdr4prez]

The more the merrier

 

I'd like to see an Indy 500 game and a 2v2 game, too

 

Your Spacey McRacey looks fun, too.

[gauauu]

Decided to add an indy 500 style game next. Mostly because it's simple enough to pack into 1k or so, so it can squeeze into some empty space in the bank I was using for combat. Rewriting all the game logic of everything from batari basic to assembly helped as well -- I've still got room for between 1 and 3 more small games after this one.

 

So currently it's at:

Joust

Tank

Bomb Defense

Indy 500

 

 

The game is mostly working, but needs some scoring. And brakes (either by pressing down, or by using the 2nd button on a genesis controller?) Also considering throwing in support for the driving controller, because why not?

[Yosikuma]

Looking forward to seeing this in action!!

[+fdr4prez]

+1 vote for adding driving controller support

[vidak]

This is fantastic!!

[Novastar]

I second the vote for driver support on indy 500 quad. It will be arcade level now.

[gauauu]

Well, the good news is my test prototype PCB works.

 

The bad news is that I spaced everything too tightly and didn't make enough room for connector cables. Looks like I'm going to need a 2nd draft before I make a bunch more....

 

 

[+SpiceWare]

looks like you're making a Penta-Joust adapter

[David Alexander]

Definitely looking forward to this As I picked up a Sears Heavy Sixer from AA FB Marketplace.

[+fdr4prez]

Well, the good news is my test prototype PCB works.

 

The bad news is that I spaced everything too tightly and didn't make enough room for connector cables. Looks like I'm going to need a 2nd draft before I make a bunch more....

 

 

 

How many prototype boards did you get made?

 

What if you take a file (or dremel tool) to those sides of the grey connectors to get them to get squeezed closer together?

 

I guess you need to get the connector spacing correct before you look into a design for a housing/box for it, yeah?

 

But I don't see any mounting holes on the board to be secured in a housing.

[gauauu]

looks like you're making a Penta-Joust adapter

 

Heh. The two gray cords connect to the Atari. The other 4 ports (only 3 of them are connected in this picture) are for the joysticks :-)

 

 

 

How many prototype boards did you get made?

 

What if you take a file (or dremel tool) to those sides of the grey connectors to get them to get squeezed closer together?

 

I guess you need to get the connector spacing correct before you look into a design for a housing/box for it, yeah?

 

But I don't see any mounting holes on the board to be secured in a housing.

 

I have just 3 board printed. I could definitely take a dremel or something and file down the connectors. That's fine for prototype/testing, but I'd want to fix that on the final board so any old DB9 connector would work. And yeah, the board needs to be exactly right before I work on a housing. I actually have 3 tiny holes on the board for securing it, although I mis-judged the scale and they're a little too small :-/ So that's something else I want to fix.

[gauauu]

Ugh, and tonight's further tests show some weird static/interference on the screen on my Jr when I use the PCB version of the adapter instead of my breadboarded version. Something's different between them. I need to scrounge up another Atari to test though.