STRAT-O-GEMS DELUXE *FINAL BETA*

[supercat]

I did notice that there is a little PF glitch when gems are being removed (see arrow in image below).   Not particularly important, but probably easy to fix:

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I noticed that after I posted the game but it was bedtime. Let me know if you find any such glitches in the new version (see last post).

Edited October 23, 2005 by supercat

[supercat]

Okay, another new version. Getting closer to adding skill levels. This one adds white gems, which appear after each 64th gem. If a white gem lands on another gem, all gems of that color disappear for one point each (any chain reactions start at 2x scores). If a white gem hits the ground, the bottom row of the playfield will be replaced by six wild gems (which will instantly react, but may take other gems with them). Score multipliers in this case start at 5x instead of 1x. The six wild gems are worth a base of four points (times five); anything else they trip immediately is also worth 5x. The first chain reaction after that is 6x, then 7x, etc.

 

Pulling down on the player two controller will force the current falling item to be a wild gem, and will cause it to be #63 of the current level. The next set of gems will be normal, but after that will come a solid white gem.

 

Let me know of any timing anomolies noted, and also let me know whether the current game speed seems fast or slow. Should I start below the current speed, and have the game start going faster than it? How much faster?

sgems.bin

[cd-w]

Let me know of any timing anomolies noted, and also let me know whether the current game speed seems fast or slow.  Should I start below the current speed, and have the game start going faster than it?  How much faster?

953352[/snapback]

 

I think the game should start a little slower than at present, as I find that it can seem a bit quick after the screen starts to fill up with gems. I'm not sure about a maximum speed - possibly just keep going faster for each skill level until the game ends? The wild gems look good, though I'm not entirely sure what they do? One tiny anomaly appears to be that if you hold down and left/right at the same time (i.e. diagonally down) then the gems appear to fall faster than if you just hold down, but I could be wrong? The PF glitch seems to be sorted now. This game is shaping up nicely - the logo on the right difficulty switch is very nice!

 

Chris

[vdub_bobby]

Let me know of any timing anomolies noted, and also let me know whether the current game speed seems fast or slow.  Should I start below the current speed, and have the game start going faster than it?  How much faster?

953352[/snapback]

 

I think the game should start a little slower than at present, as I find that it can seem a bit quick after the screen starts to fill up with gems. I'm not sure about a maximum speed - possibly just keep going faster for each skill level until the game ends? The wild gems look good, though I'm not entirely sure what they do? One tiny anomaly appears to be that if you hold down and left/right at the same time (i.e. diagonally down) then the gems appear to fall faster than if you just hold down, but I could be wrong? The PF glitch seems to be sorted now. This game is shaping up nicely - the logo on the right difficulty switch is very nice!

It looks to me like the fall at the same speed whether or not you are pressing L or R while pressing down.

 

And I think it starts a little slow

 

Maximum speed should probably be the speed at which they fall if you hold down - i.e., the maximum speed is like you were holding down constantly. IMO.

Edited October 24, 2005 by vdub_bobby

[cd-w]

It looks to me like the fall at the same speed whether or not you are pressing L or R while pressing down.  And I think it starts a little slow

953491[/snapback]

 

Probably just my imagination Starting slow is probably good as you can always press down to speed things up.

 

Chris

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

Probably just my imagination    Starting slow is probably good as you can always press down to speed things up.

 

Dunno, for my taste it could also start faster. Maybe if it were like the GB Tetris, IIRC it has 20 speeds from which the first 10 are selectable as starting speed. I also think it should speed up at least twice as fast. Right now I usually start playing by filling up half the screen with some quick random drops

 

Graphics are much better now than in the first version.

 

I also like kill-all-of-color-x special, since it occasionally will create some fabulous chain reactions. The other match-all-color special ain't that *special* though, I think it would be better if it were released more often (4 times maybe?). Right now it has no significant effect to the gameplay IMO.

 

BTW: If you hurry a bit, you might have a stable version ready in time for the mini game contest!

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Thomas Jentzsch]

IMO it starts too slow too.

 

BTW: How about allowing to rotate the pieces? (e.g. with fire+left/right or tapping fire twice)

Edited October 24, 2005 by Thomas Jentzsch

[supercat]

The other match-all-color special ain't that *special* though, I think it would be better if it were released more often (4 times maybe?). Right now it has no significant effect to the gameplay IMO.

 

It's supposed to show up 7 out of 256 times (I'm using a 16-bit random-number generator, btw). It seems like it shows up less than that, but I'm not sure why.

 

Right now the gems should be:

120/256 -- Three different colors

120/256 -- Two different colors

12/256 -- One solid color

Remainder (which I guess is really 4 out of 256, not seven--oops) are wild gems

 

If I weren't "artificially" boosting the frequency of the one- and two- color gems, they'd occur 90/256 and 6/256, respectively. Perhaps I should eliminate the artificial boost on two-color gems and divvy up that 30/256 between single-color and wild-color gems. Perhaps 120/90/36/10 might be good?

 

BTW: If you hurry a bit, you might have a stable version ready in time for the mini game contest!

953559[/snapback]

 

I was thinking of that. I am pretty happy with this thing.

[supercat]

IMO it starts too slow too.

 

BTW: How about allowing to rotate the pieces? (e.g. with fire+left/right or tapping fire twice)

953599[/snapback]

 

I'll probably implement skill levels in the next day or two. Level 1 will probably be something like the current speed or slower, but later levels will be faster. I'll also try to implement a "next gem" display but doing that the way I want will require another new kernel (which I'll hopefully blend in seamlessly).

 

As for rotation, that really complicates things. I think Acid Drop did it, but IMHO the game works pretty well as it is.

 

BTW, I'm planning on also implementing a "foul line" rule: the game ends if--after all reactions have finished--any gem is in the top three rows. I'm planning on having an on-screen marker so there will be no doubt as to where the danger spot is.

[supercat]

Tonight's update:

 

Foul line rule is implemented, but foul line is not displayed (yet). But if there's a gem within the top three rows after all reactions have finished, game over.

 

Some coding improvements which freed up some RAM and should let me free up some code space and also add more color cycling effects at little cost.

 

Skill levels! At present, there's no "proper" way to select them, but there are a couple of cheats available. If I cheat to the start of level 8 I can clear it. Level 9 is too much for me, though, and I doubt I could clear level 8 twice in a row. To me, that suggests the skill levels are probably about right. Level 1 is really slow, but you can always pull down on the joystick to move things along.

 

I haven't yet changed the gem generation. Actually, as I play this I sorta like the frequency of the wildcard gems. Rare enough that when they do come along it's something of a treat.

 

All scores are multiplied by the current skill level. Starting at level 8, I end up with scores in the 1200 range. So starting from level 0 something in the 5,000 range will probably be a good score. I tried adding a superfluous zero to the end of the score but didn't like the way the "score tally" thingie looked when I did that.

 

To cheat your way to higher levels:

 

-1- To start at level 5 with a 330-point bonus, hold select while hitting reset, then drop your gems at the far left edge of the screen.

 

-2- To advance levels, press down on the player right joystick. This will turn the current group of gems into wild gems and set the gem counter to 62. The next gem will then be a white gem, and after that a new level will start. After each white gem, press down again on the player 2 joystick to skip to the next level.

 

Still to do:

 

-1- Proper game-over sequencing logic (allow SELECT to properly change skill level, etc.)

 

-2- Cool gem color effects (as though they aren't already pretty cool)

 

-3- Different gem appearance for different levels

 

-4- New kernel for 'next gems' and foul line.

 

-5- If space permits, screen saver (every proper 2600 game is supposed to have one)

sgems.bin

[supercat]

Saved a bit of code space (and then proceded to use most of it up again--oh well). Most noticeable new feature this version is the enhanced color handling. The wild gems and "bomber gem" now look visually quite distinctive (maybe the wild gems look too cool). I've also increased the frequency of three-in-a-row and wild gems.

sgems.bin

[+Nathan Strum]

Nice update! When it gets going, I die pretty fast now (last game was 1473). I wonder if the difficulty should ramp up maybe a little more gradually? On the other hand, I could just be a wimp.

 

One thing which may just be a Stella issue, is the green and light blue gems appear to be almost the same color. They're very hard to tell apart.

Edited October 27, 2005 by Nathan Strum

[cd-w]

Saved a bit of code space (and then proceded to use most of it up again--oh well).  Most noticeable new feature this version is the enhanced color handling.  The wild gems and "bomber gem" now look visually quite distinctive (maybe the wild gems look too cool).  I've also increased the frequency of three-in-a-row and wild gems.

954515[/snapback]

 

The wild gems do look very cool now! I'm not sure about the bomber gem, but it is distinctive. The difficulty curve could probably be a bit less steep if this is possible, but the game is great fun.

 

Chris

[supercat]

The wild gems do look very cool now!   I'm not sure about the bomber gem, but it is distinctive.   The difficulty curve could probably be a bit less steep if this is possible, but the game is great fun.

955166[/snapback]

 

I adjusted the colors in this one, changed the title screen, adjusted the difficulties, and added a few new features to improve playability. Also, different levels now have different gem designs.

 

Please give me feedback on all of those changes.

 

New features:

 

-1- The game now shows the next set of gems

 

-2- The game now draws a foul line below the third row.

 

-3- You may switch the current set of gems for the "next" set any time UNLESS either set is the "bomber" gem. If there's something you don't need yet, you can thus save it for later up unless/until you reach the end of the level (after each set lands, the set you just swapped with the "next" set will become the current set; push up on the joystick to swap it again). While you're doing this, though, your "next gem" display isn't useful for letting you know what's coming.

 

-4- Changed the sound when a bombergem hits bottom. Not sure I like this one any better, though.

 

I still need to work out what I want for the game over and level-select logic, but the game itself is pretty much done. Problem is I spend more time playing than coding.

sgems.bin

Edited October 28, 2005 by supercat

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

Two oddities to report:

 

- I once had a horizontal row of 3 gems displayed too long. It was only resolved after the next tile was dropped.

 

- I just had my game ending because something with the controls went nuts, as the fire-button would start to do the current/next swap. Since I was no longer able to re-arrange the gem order I quickly died...

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

Nice update! When it gets going, I die pretty fast now (last game was 1473).

 

Beat ya!

 

Also, different levels now have different gem designs.

 

I think I'd prefer if there was an option to keep the standard gems throughout the complete game. I found some of the designs are pretty stressful to the eye and hard to adjust to

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[supercat]

Hi there!

 

Nice update! When it gets going, I die pretty fast now (last game was 1473).

 

Beat ya!

 

The game is a bit easier than when he got his score. Sorry--they're not comparable.

 

Also, different levels now have different gem designs.

 

I think I'd prefer if there was an option to keep the standard gems throughout the complete game. I found some of the designs are pretty stressful to the eye and hard to adjust to

956024[/snapback]

 

Aww, IMHO having the different gem designs is one of the cool things in the game, though I would not be averse to changing ones that are hard to see. Which ones give you trouble?

[supercat]

- I once had a horizontal row of 3 gems displayed too long. It was only resolved after the next tile was dropped.

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Logic that was supposed to kick the game out of looping on the gem color for a wild gem was preventing the game from checking for chain-reaction matches. So if a wild gem cleared out gems in a way that should have caused a chain reaction, those gems wouldn't get tripped until next time. Consistent and reproduceable behavior, but will be fixed next version.

[+Nathan Strum]

Beat ya!

 

Ahem...

 

 

 

I think I'd prefer if there was an option to keep the standard gems throughout the complete game. I found some of the designs are pretty stressful to the eye and hard to adjust to

 

There are some that are pretty nasty (the diamond ones are really hard to see diagonally). So maybe it would be better to save those for the really high levels.

 

For me, the problem with the changing gems is getting used to them and the increased speed at the same time. It takes a little while to get used to what the new patterns look like.

 

Maybe you could introduce the new gems first, while still at the previous level's speed, then after a number of them have been dropped, kick up the speed and officially change levels.

 

It could serve as kind of an early warning that the game's about to get harder.

 

This game is really coming along great. The green seems to be better now - I'm not mixing it up with the light blue. Some of the new gems are pretty cool looking. (Although I could live without the aforementioned diamond-shaped ones. And the round ones with the holes in them don't look as nice as the others.)

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

Aww, IMHO having the different gem designs is one of the cool things in the game, though I would not be averse to changing ones that are hard to see.  Which ones give you trouble?

 

Like Nathan said, diamond is the hardest one. But why not make it a switchable option? That's what the difficulty switches are for

 

Logic that was supposed to kick the game out of looping on the gem color for a wild gem was preventing the game from checking for chain-reaction matches.  So if a wild gem cleared out gems in a way that should have caused a chain reaction, those gems wouldn't get tripped until next time.  Consistent and reproduceable behavior, but will be fixed next version.

 

Ah, cool! I was just about to answer your PM regarding it, where following your explanations I wanted to confirm that I'd suspect a wild gem incident as well

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

Ahem...

 

Rats!

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

 

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[supercat]

956306[/snapback]

 

Glad you people are enjoying the game. Here's the latest and greatest. Difficulty should be the same as last one. I should still add screen blanking for the "pause" switch (left difficulty) since otherwise it allows too much of a cheat, but otherwise things seem pretty much "there".

 

The title screen shows the selected starting level. After a game, the indicator will show the selected starting level but the gem shape will be that of the ending level. The game should work on a Supercharger (not tested as such).

 

I've tested this one quite a bit under emulation. Still have to test it on real hardware, but it seems pretty solid. I'll have to see how the new gem shapes look, though. Difficulty should be unaffected compared with last version, so keep the scores coming.

sgems.bin

[supercat]

956306[/snapback]

 

I just got 4969 starting on level 6. IMHO, the game seems pretty well balanced for starting on different levels, since the higher levels score more. If you start on level 1, you may be able to end up with a higher score than if you start at a higher level, but it will take longer and you'll have to make more decisions correctly. Starting at a later level means that you haven't gotten the points you could have scored on the easier levels, BUT you don't have gems already piled halfway up the screen either.

[supercat]

Second rev today. This one supports a proper pause function: press RESET briefly during the game to pause. When the game is paused, it will show the STRATOGEMS title but all the gems will be gray. Press again to unpause. Holding RESET or SELECT for about a second will abort the current game and return to the title screen.

 

If no other problems are found, I may submit this version.

sgems.bin