39 replies to this topic

[KevKelley]

UPDATED .bas AND .bin - 2/16/2019!
 
I have edited this first page to include an updated ROM and/or .bas file, as well as the latest gameplay.
 
GAME
Bag Boy!
 
SYNOPSIS
You play the eponymous hero, Bag Boy, in this parking lot adventure! You must heroically stop shopping carts from rushing into moving cars but be careful. You must also avoid getting hit by the cars while you bring the carts back to the store where a customer awaits. Drop off the cart and then head back out before another wreckless patron potentially plows into a cart with their motor vehicle.
 

Attached Files

•  BBPv021619.bas.bin   32KB   12 downloads
•  BBPv021619.bas   17.95KB   4 downloads

Edited by KevKelley, Sat Feb 16, 2019 11:02 AM.

[KevKelley]

Just deleted the if line in the sprite animation for up or down movement and that seemed to solve the Gumby movement.  

[KevKelley]

Also, I am sure I will have to use bankswitching but am a little confused about implementation. I played around with a 16k bankswitching scheme and got it to work but I noticed the lives and status bar would not load and that area was blank. The code for that was in bank 2. For now I was leaving everything alone until I can figure it out.

[Karl G]

Minikernels need to be defined in the last bank in a multibank project.

[KevKelley]

Thanks.  I figured it had to be some issue of which bank they needed to go into.  I just wasn't sure which.  

[KevKelley]

I figure I could put in an update here since it had been a while.

Using the standard kernel I had gotten the gameplay kind of where I wanted it and started to implement the powerups.

But...

I was a little unhappy with the appearance and I used up a bit of space and all the variables so I started playing around with various code and had recently decided on switching over to a DPC+ kernel to take advantage of multiple sprites and nicer looking playfield, as opposed to my bland green bars and square missile "car."

Still got bunches of learning but this looks promising...

[KevKelley]

This is kind of what the playfield and sprites look like right now. I have 2 cars, a cart, bag boy, and a customer.

I was having a bit of an issue getting life counters or a status bar in the DPC+ and have to figure out how to organize things in banks but I like this direction.

Attached Thumbnails

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[Arenafoot]

This is kind of what the playfield and sprites look like right now. I have 2 cars, a cart, bag boy, and a customer.

I was having a bit of an issue getting life counters or a status bar in the DPC+ and have to figure out how to organize things in banks but I like this direction.

Can't wait for that updated ROM!!

[KevKelley]

Right now it is kind of back to square one. I am trying to be more organized with the coding so I am trying to figure out how to best way for the cars to move and how I will have things progress.  I have so many more ideas but I don't want to get ahead of myself and get discouraged if I run into some roadblocks.

[KevKelley]

Can't wait for that updated ROM!!

I just uploaded what I had started with. I was playing around with this at lunch.  

[KevKelley]

Was working on this a bit today.  Tried adding some gameplay elements.
 
Added some sprite animation for player and customer, some basic sounds, and simple gameplay.
 
Basically the game play involves the player (Bag Boy) retrieving a cart from the parking lot and bringing the cart to the customer while avoiding the cars.
 
I am trying to work out some details.  I had some issues with the following:
 

• Sometimes while near the customer the cart may linger or accumulate more points then it should before going off screen. It may also jump around a bit.
• I was having a hard time trying to get the car sprite to randomize which aisle it comes down.  I have other cars that I will eventually utilize that may have different qualities but for now I was trying to get the one to work alright.
• For the most part, once Bag Boy touches the cart he holds on to it but sometimes it does get away from him.

Hope everyone enjoys this work in progress.  This is a wonderful learning experience and I am hoping to make some progressions. 

Forgot to mention - added the files to the first page...  

Edited by KevKelley, Sat Jan 26, 2019 4:58 AM.

[Muddyfunster]

This is looking good Kev, such an unusual concept for a game. 

[KevKelley]

Thanks. I had wanted to make this for years. Originally I had wanted to make a game with a parking lot and each car acted as a gravity well. I would imagine something like that could be possible on the Atari but it may be very difficult. I may try to reserve that for something else.

My adaptation of my idea was to try and make something like a classic Atari game but try to do something just a little different so it isn't some weird clone. I was actually inspired to switch to a DPC+ kernel because of your games. My programming isn't that good yet but I'm having fun with the trial and error.

Everyone here has been very helpful and I have learned a lot. I was surprised how quick I got the DPC+ version up. I thought rewriting the code from the standard kernel would take me forever. Only a couple hours now.

[KevKelley]

So my next step is to try and fix the car spawning and then I wanted to experiment with the difficulty switches. I was thinking I could have one keep the customer still, one move him, and then maybe a combo of him having random movement. I had also considered putting a timer on getting the cart to the customer but I was having problems trying to make a statusbar like in the original.

And then of course my wife looked at it and wondered why the cars were so small and the cart so big... But it was an improvement over my buzzing square. Lol

Edited by KevKelley, Sat Jan 26, 2019 6:43 AM.

[TrekMD]

Had missed this before.  Just downloaded the binary to try it out. 

[KevKelley]

Had missed this before.  Just downloaded the binary to try it out. 

It's by no means anywhere near finished but I think I got some basics down. Now to kind of work on them. Interested to hear any kind of feedback. Hope you enjoy.

[KevKelley]

After some work today I finally fixed my collision detection and any issues related between Bag Boy and the shopping cart so I had then moved onto the spawning of the cars and the second customer.  I haven't quite determined how the second customer will behave.  Also took a bit to figure out how to use the score as a determining factor for when new cars will be introduced.  I am thinking certain gameplay elements will be introduced at certain score intervals while their behaviors may react to other variables.

 

Anyway.  I will update the .bin and .bas on the first post!

 

Thank you to all who have either answered my questions or had taken the time to check out my progress!

[TrekMD]

Cool, looking forward to the new binary to try out. 

[StanJr]

I LOVE the concept and theme you have working here!  The play field looks great too!  I'm excited to see this develop.  Looks like classic arcade action with a fresh take!  Can't wait to see more!

[KevKelley]

Thank you! I have found the process both daunting and rewarding, especially since this is my first game. I had started with an idea without realizing the limitations of the system and have been trying to educate myself along the way. This has caused some gameplay revisions and some added elements that I have come to really enjoy.

I was aiming for an arcade feel while avoiding something done over and over. I feel like the gameplay is familiar but new. Any suggestions are definitely welcome. They will help me become better.

I just got the car spawning for all the vehicles and am now working on their behaviors. When I get stumped I hit the forums. I have a long way to go but when I see screenshots of my first iterations I feel encouraged. I'll hope up have another update soon once I hammer some things out.

[Tony The 2600]

Nice game, great concept and looks good

[KevKelley]

Thanks! Your help on the other thread has helped me move onto another gameplay element. Now I can try to hammer out some details. I'm now trying to figure out the behavior of the vehicles and customers at different difficulties. It is exciting that it is resembling a real game more and more each day. I hope to have some time to work on it the next few days to where I can have a new update relatively soon.

[KevKelley]

Here is a current screen shot with all sprites and the added life counters and timer bar.

Attached Thumbnails

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[Greg2600]

Graphics are very nice, definitely "late 2600 run" or Activision style.

[KevKelley]

I still have things I wanna do with the graphics to give a more varied experience. And then depending on how much space I may try to improve upon the simple walking movements and may tweak the playfield a bit. Overall I am pleased. Once I finish with the virtual Sprite behavior I am going to add power ups and bonus items.