bluswimmer Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 (edited) Over the past week I've been working on a port of the "Balloon Trip" mode of the NES game Balloon Fight. The game is pretty simple, just avoid the electric sparks and pop the balloons. Oh, and don't get too close to the water- the fish are pretty hungry, after all. Currently there's three difficulties that can be chosen with the select button. Scoring works by popping balloons, which scores 30 points, and simply surviving. Here is it in action. Hope you enjoy! balloontrip.bin balloontripV2.bin balloontripV3.bin balloontripV3.1.bin balloontripV3.2.bin balloontripPAL60.bin balloontripSECAM60.bin Edited November 9, 2019 by bluswimmer 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 That looks very nice! I'll have to try this out on real hardware. ..Al 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ZeroPage Homebrew Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 (edited) Wow, great start! We'll be playing your game on July 6th episode of ZeroPage Homebrew!! That part of Balloon Fight is definitely a favourite of mine, it's so awesome to now play it on the 2600. I'm really looking forward to seeing how things progress. If you're looking for suggestions for things to add to the game: - Vertically moving hazards (at later levels). This would add flicker but I think flicker would work fine with the spark effect of the hazards. - Time freezing power-ups (as in the original) - Temporary invincibility balloons - Animated 'sparks' but you're probably already working on that for later. You could just animate the four outside dots on and off. Looking forward to playing it next Friday, hope you can tune in. We usually play at 2PM ET/5PM ET. Edited July 1, 2018 by cimmerian 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluswimmer Posted July 1, 2018 Author Share Posted July 1, 2018 Wow, great start! We'll be playing your game on July 6th episode of ZeroPage Homebrew!! That part of Balloon Fight is definitely a favourite of mine, it's so awesome to now play it on the 2600. I'm really looking forward to seeing how things progress. If you're looking for suggestions for things to add to the game: - Moving obstacles (at later levels) - Time freezing collectables (as in the original) - Temporary invincibility balloons - Animated 'sparks' but you're probably already working on that for later. You could just animate the four outside dots on and off. Looking forward to playing it next Friday, hope you can tune in. We usually play at 2PM ET/5PM ET. Thanks for taking a look at the game! I'm unfortunately unable to tune in since I have work that day, but I'll watch it as soon as the stream gets uploaded. I'll keep your suggestions in mind! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MemberAtarian Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 Not bad, it's a bit repetitve but reminds me the really old days of the console with simple and challenging games. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted July 1, 2018 Share Posted July 1, 2018 Nice, I will give it a spin. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ZeroPage Homebrew Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 Here's my best score so far, 1062! Super fun! The game seems to max out difficulty after the second speed increase at around ~400 points and from then on it's survival mode. I do agree it gets a little repetitive at that point and needs some more variety of dangers and bonuses thrown into the mix. Not bad, it's a bit repetitve but reminds me the really old days of the console with simple and challenging games. Even more suggestions for additional gameplay fun at higher levels: - All balloon bonus area - Rising sea level at some points to increase difficulty - Moving balloons to make them more difficult to get - Cloudy sky at points that when touched can kill you so you can't just pound the button to get to the top to safety - Jumping fish that keep you even further from the bottom 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 Awesome, can't wait to load it on my harmony. I always thought it was odd, how most platformers and horizontal shmups moved left to right. Balloon trip mode on the nes (and your inspired homebrew) moved right to left. It would have been cool if more games did this, and not simply primarily left to right platformers with backtracking segments. Nintendo included a version of Super Mario Bros in NES Classics Wii-U version staring Luigi, that ran backwards and was in fact a mirror image emulation of the original game with tweaked physics. I rarely made it past 1-2 despite having beaten it countless times playing right to left. All that muscle memory went out the window... @zeropage, thank you for streaming up and coming homebrews. You've alerted me to poodle jump and several others, though I'm usually late to the party watching on youtube. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ZeroPage Homebrew Posted July 2, 2018 Share Posted July 2, 2018 (edited) You're very welcome Kosmic Stardust! I can't wait to stream this great new game so make sure you tune in this coming Friday @ 2PM PT/5PM ET 7PM PT/10PM ET or catch it after in our YouTube archive. I've even got the graphic done up for the episode already with Balloon Trip on it with a nice shiny balloony font. :-) @zeropage, thank you for streaming up and coming homebrews. You've alerted me to poodle jump and several others, though I'm usually late to the party watching on youtube. Edited July 5, 2018 by cimmerian 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluswimmer Posted July 6, 2018 Author Share Posted July 6, 2018 Hi everyone, Version 2 is out! This one adds a couple of things that I hope will make the game less repetitive. + Added higher difficulty levels. As you progress further, more sparks are able to spawn on a single scanline, instead of the old hard limit of one. + Added a Balloon Meter. As you collect balloons, this goes up, but if you miss balloons it goes down. Fill it up all the way, a huge wave of balloons spawns! + Added bubbles. While these don't come out of the ocean like the NES game, they serve the same purpose and stop the scrolling for a few seconds. Hope you enjoy! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uosipa llamxew Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 Excellent! I wish I had thought to do something like this! Cheers! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluswimmer Posted July 22, 2018 Author Share Posted July 22, 2018 It's been a while hasn't it? Apologies for being a bit inactive, I've been juggling a number of projects as of late. Anywho, a new version has been released. This one is comparatively minor since the gameplay is almost unchanged, but I've added a few noteworthy things... + Added a title screen that is navigated with the controller + Added a new sound for when the Balloon Meter has been filled + Added a dumb easter egg that I doubt will be worth finding in the slightest + Fixed a bug that tried to spawn multiple bubbles on one scanline, even though it shouldn't have been possible 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ZeroPage Homebrew Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 (edited) Looking good and topped my best score and made it through two balloon waves (so I guess level 2)! Love the new title screen, so very cool. The only thing I think I could suggest is holding the death screen just a touch longer. By holding it a little bit longer, you'll be able to see easier how you died and also prevent you from accidentally starting a new game while you're flapping like crazy. Haven't found the easter egg yet, but I'll keep looking! Also, it doesn't look like I linked to the episode after playing your game so I'm not sure you saw the stream, here's the link! Edited July 23, 2018 by cimmerian 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted July 23, 2018 Share Posted July 23, 2018 I haven't even filled the balloon meter once .....yet! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluswimmer Posted July 23, 2018 Author Share Posted July 23, 2018 (edited) I haven't even filled the balloon meter once .....yet! Yeah, getting the meter filled is pretty tricky! I can usually only fill it once during a single game. EDIT: Oh, and since cimmerian brought it up, I've uploaded a quick patch that holds the death screen half a second longer. Edited July 23, 2018 by bluswimmer 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluswimmer Posted July 26, 2018 Author Share Posted July 26, 2018 Well, this is embarrassing... turns out I didn't even check if the sound when the meter fills up played properly! I've uploaded an update that corrects this issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 Balloon Trip is now available in the AtariAge Store! ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluswimmer Posted November 4, 2018 Author Share Posted November 4, 2018 Hi everyone, As stated above, Balloon Trip is now available in the AtariAge store! To commemorate the occasion, I figured I'd make a short post expressing my gratitude. Balloon Trip was the third 2600 homebrew that I had posted online. My first uploaded homebrew, a crummy version of Doodle Jump, honestly surprised me with the amount of attention it got, considering I had only shared it with a few friends. While it wasn't my best work, I decided that I should take the positive reception of that project and continue making more homebrews. I'm really happy that so many people enjoyed Balloon Trip, and I'm just as happy to know that my work will potentially reach a wider audience than before now that it's in the AtariAge store. So, to keep things brief, I just wanted to say thank you for this amazing opportunity. I hope that I can continue to create more games, homebrew or otherwise, that people enjoy, much like they have with Balloon Trip. Enjoy the crummy pencil doodle I've attached below. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted November 4, 2018 Share Posted November 4, 2018 Hi everyone, As stated above, Balloon Trip is now available in the AtariAge store! To commemorate the occasion, I figured I'd make a short post expressing my gratitude. Balloon Trip was the third 2600 homebrew that I had posted online. My first uploaded homebrew, a crummy version of Doodle Jump, honestly surprised me with the amount of attention it got, considering I had only shared it with a few friends. While it wasn't my best work, I decided that I should take the positive reception of that project and continue making more homebrews. I'm really happy that so many people enjoyed Balloon Trip, and I'm just as happy to know that my work will potentially reach a wider audience than before now that it's in the AtariAge store. So, to keep things brief, I just wanted to say thank you for this amazing opportunity. I hope that I can continue to create more games, homebrew or otherwise, that people enjoy, much like they have with Balloon Trip. Enjoy the crummy pencil doodle I've attached below. I was amazed when I first played it how well the physics were. It's very fluid and controls very nice and to top it off, Balloon Fight is my favorite NES game so this was a natural purchase for me. I'm happy to support your work and look forward to future endeavors 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted November 6, 2018 Share Posted November 6, 2018 I did pick up Balloon Fight. And I also really liked your poodle jump. Still unsure about the jumping sheep game which appeared in the shop out of nowhere. I'm afraid if I bought it, I might like yours more... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluswimmer Posted November 6, 2018 Author Share Posted November 6, 2018 (edited) I did pick up Balloon Fight. And I also really liked your poodle jump. Still unsure about the jumping sheep game which appeared in the shop out of nowhere. I'm afraid if I bought it, I might like yours more... Just an FYI, I don't think I made the "poodle jump" you're thinking of. I never actually posted my doodle jump here, in fact. I was completely unaware of the other version at the time. My doodle jump can be seen in action here, but compared to my more recent stuff it's honestly an embarrassment. Thanks for picking up Balloon Trip! Edited November 6, 2018 by bluswimmer 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 Just an FYI, I don't think I made the "poodle jump" you're thinking of. I never actually posted my doodle jump here, in fact. I was completely unaware of the other version at the time. My doodle jump can be seen in action here, but compared to my more recent stuff it's honestly an embarrassment. Thanks for picking up Balloon Trip! lol nice. Yeah there was a "Poodle Jump" game in development here somewhere... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted November 7, 2018 Share Posted November 7, 2018 lol nice. Yeah there was a "Poodle Jump" game in development here somewhere... yeah here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/279963-its-poodle-jump/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dionoid Posted November 8, 2018 Share Posted November 8, 2018 lol nice. Yeah there was a "Poodle Jump" game in development here somewhere... Poodle Jump is now "Amoeba Jump", see http://atariage.com/forums/topic/280211-amoeba-jump/ Hopefully Amoeba Jump will be in AA store somewhere early next year (the game is finished; work is done on the label design). 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted November 9, 2018 Share Posted November 9, 2018 Yeah the gameplay was really good and addicting. Though I preferred the poodle graphic, the amoeba one is equally good. I will be looking forward to it, not trying to crap on the op's thread or nothing. I did buy Balloon Trip... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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