8bit-Dude Posted January 7, 2018 Share Posted January 7, 2018 I am pleased to announce that 8bit-slicks, a cross-platform online racing game for the C64 and Atari XL/XE, will be released in the first half of 2018. The game features up-to 4 players (local and online), 10 maps, and a competitive ranking ladder. It is compatible with the RR-Net and DragonCart hardware for online play (VICE and Altirra emulation is compatible). Register your account now, as I will release the game through a closed beta by progressively increasing the number of players, to quickly find and fix issues with the gameserver (see: Closed-Beta) Watch YouTube Promo Video: 18 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8bit-Dude Posted January 7, 2018 Author Share Posted January 7, 2018 And some comparison screenshots... 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted January 7, 2018 Share Posted January 7, 2018 Looks brilliant but you say you need to have a C64 to register ? I assume any A8 is OK too ? What do I need to hook up my A8 to the internet ? I've always longed for the idea of online gaming on the old boxes and any Sprint type game is loads of fun. I'm in Europe so I guess there would be time difference problems to do actual beta testing... ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted January 7, 2018 Share Posted January 7, 2018 Registered (Phil). Atari 800XL + DragonCart. I am located in Europe and I have Atari 8bit computers + DragonCart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8bit-Dude Posted January 7, 2018 Author Share Posted January 7, 2018 Looks brilliant but you say you need to have a C64 to register ? I assume any A8 is OK too ? What do I need to hook up my A8 to the internet ? I updated the post, you need 800XL + DragonCart minimum. Europe time is no problem, we can arrange something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted January 7, 2018 Share Posted January 7, 2018 I Googled and found the project page but itmoooks like the rewuired IP Dragon II module is discontinued ? Or are ready made carts somewhere for sale ? Sorry kinda missed this.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8bit-Dude Posted January 7, 2018 Author Share Posted January 7, 2018 I Googled and found the project page but itmoooks like the rewuired IP Dragon II module is discontinued ? Or are ready made carts somewhere for sale ? Sorry kinda missed this.... I got my own DragonCart for testing about 6 months ago, from Mark Dusko. You should enquire from him directly, maybe he's got some spares. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gunstar Posted January 8, 2018 Share Posted January 8, 2018 (edited) Well, I'm excited about this! Of course I never even heard of the Dragoncart until this thread, and have just researched it and found the development page, and I will be building one soon. (If I can't buy a pre-made one) So I should be ready to join in the official game-play but probably not beta-testing. Edited January 8, 2018 by Gunstar 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinroh Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 Super Rad! It looks like a fun racer 8-bit Dude! I'll have to get/make me a DragonCart as well. ^^ Online with a leaderboard would be sweet. I jokingly said, "I should add NetPlay to my M.U.S.C.L.E. port!" and it seems that making netplay is a thing! Great job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Level42 Posted January 9, 2018 Share Posted January 9, 2018 (edited) I'm going to be the one to complain and moan as usually..... That dragoncart is simply amazing of course but uhmmmmm.....wired Internet ? In 2018 ? I mean it's not too bad when you stick it on the backside of an XE, but on an XL the wire is "flying through the air" and I fear it might actually be in my view of my monitor/TV.....but honestly....I don't have any LAN connections except for the ones on my cable-modem.....I'm 100% wifified Now I do have one of those dongles that make any Ethernet device WiFi compatible but to hang that on top of the Dragon cart....uhhhmmm...doesn't look very great either....although I'd definitely prefer that over a wire running around my house... I actually bought that converter to connect my Asteroids arcade machine to the internet Anyway...let's not derail this topic but....has anyone done WiFi yet ? I mean, this idea of online game against each other is simply brilliant and I hope we'd see more games be developed to use this set-up. If only it would be possible to adapt older games for online play, but I know this requires very extensive adaptions.... Edited January 9, 2018 by Level42 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8bit-Dude Posted January 13, 2018 Author Share Posted January 13, 2018 I am organizing the first combined Atari/C64 Testing Session on Sunday 01/14, 10:00 - 12:00, West European Time (WET). There is still time to register here: Closed-Beta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 am or pm? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8bit-Dude Posted January 14, 2018 Author Share Posted January 14, 2018 am or pm? am Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 (edited) that puts it at 5 am and earlier for other folks in the USA & Canada 5 am Eastern 4 am Central 3 am Mountain 2 am Pacific 1 am Alaskan midnight Hawaiian Edited January 14, 2018 by _The Doctor__ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8bit-Dude Posted January 14, 2018 Author Share Posted January 14, 2018 I will organize another round for USA based testers. How about 10am Eastern time? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8bit-Dude Posted January 14, 2018 Author Share Posted January 14, 2018 The testing session has been a great success, thanks to all who joined! I will polish the game a little more this week, and organize another testing session next week-end. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 I played with you and phil today at 5:30 wet! not too shabby for across the pond 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8bit-Dude Posted January 14, 2018 Author Share Posted January 14, 2018 Sadly, you were one of only 2 people experiencing time-out issues... Anyhow, here are the results of the first test session: http://8bit-slicks.com/?page_id=207 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Great game and awesome online experience! Thank you Anthony. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 (edited) You know how it is, long distance... cable modems..a lost packet. high ping...wife watching cat on a roomba videos, neighbors streaming illicit vids... I figured it out and managed to get a win or two... The game played well, it seemed to flicker like a 50 hz interlaced game. But I played it in color none the less, it was better to see everything that way... in all honesty it was quite good! If there is any client side diagnostic tuning, once things are finalized it will only get better... You might be able to push the flicker rate up... as I played I started to get used to it, just like when I had those PAL vcr tapes of science fiction sent to me all those years ago... at first I was like what? then it was okay once the eyes and brain sync'd up with it.... this has long been a PAL vs NTSC thing when it comes to movie and televison experience... but less with digital dancing done in displays today... I used a flat panel LCD this time... I will try a CRT next time.... the LCD might flicker less if the phosphors are slow....and since it draws from top to bottom as apposed to page flipping of a modern lcd, I normally only use CRT's but you requested LCD for the trials, Should be interesting. Edited January 15, 2018 by _The Doctor__ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 Chat being built into the game was a nice touch... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8bit-Dude Posted January 15, 2018 Author Share Posted January 15, 2018 Thanks for the feedback DOC! Programming the Atari port from C64 was tough, seeing as there is no COLORRAM. The XLPaint flicker mode was the best I could manage, 5 colors were just not enough for this game. I know some people have said don't use interlace, but for those people there is the B/W mode which shows only the levels of grey. And by the way... I use this SCART to HDMI converter at home to display on my LCD, and it completely filters out the flicker: https://www.ebay.com/itm/152786986611?hash=item2392d06673:g:yjsAAOSwevdaCrTl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 hmmm, no video lag from the conversion? I'm ntsc so it's hdmi,rgb,composite, or super video for me... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted January 15, 2018 Share Posted January 15, 2018 (edited) Hey, what you've accomplished is a first, I think ! Atari and Commodore playing the same game via the internet so far away, games server style. It worked *very well* as I was reaching around the world to play! That's something many games on the more moderns pc's have major lag / packet issues with, ever watch an unreal engine stream? get a high ping server and somebody with shenanigans and you can watch the glorious weirdness unfold the higher the ping and the slower the connection, and sometimes out of order packets.... I am certain you've seen and researched it all. I was thinking how much I missed administrating game servers, and then realized in short order..... no ... I don't! Playing is the fun part! I had fun, it was much better than I expected going in.... you've got something here! Edited January 15, 2018 by _The Doctor__ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8bit-Dude Posted January 15, 2018 Author Share Posted January 15, 2018 That's something many games on the more moderns pc's have major lag / packet issues with, ever watch an unreal engine stream? get a high ping server and somebody with shenanigans and you can watch the glorious weirdness unfold the higher the ping and the slower the connection, and sometimes out of order packets.... I am certain you've seen and researched it all. About 10 years ago I was lead programmer for the online game "Savage XR". I got my experience in network programming back in those days. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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