Jess Ragan Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 This is some pretty sweet stuff! Even Coleco couldn't have done better than this. When are you gonna add the enemy movement to the game? It looks like that's all it's missing. By the way, my personal suggestion (if you've got the room for it on the cartridge) is to replace the extra credit you get from spelling "Special" with the veggie harvest in the ColecoVision version of the game. JR Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted February 8, 2006 Author Share Posted February 8, 2006 . . . squeezing this into 8K.1014186[/snapback] Why do you have to be limited to that? Is it that the cost would be too much or is it something else? I thought you could go all the way up to 32 now. 1014852[/snapback] There is no additional cost - I was just hoping to put it all in 8K for purely personal reasons... I've already resigned myself to the fact that I'll need to go to 16K to put in a nice title screen, cool music and a few extras, so we can take this off of the "technical challenges" list... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted February 8, 2006 Author Share Posted February 8, 2006 This is some pretty sweet stuff! Even Coleco couldn't have done better than this. When are you gonna add the enemy movement to the game? It looks like that's all it's missing. I'm about 50% done the enemy movement. Should be in the next build. By the way, my personal suggestion (if you've got the room for it on the cartridge) is to replace the extra credit you get from spelling "Special" with the veggie harvest in the ColecoVision version of the game. Thanks for the suggestion - that is definitely going into the game. Funny thing is that I remember playing the arcade game for the first time and being disappointed that I only got a free game for spelling out SPECIAL - I had only played the ColecoVision version prior to that and was used to the "bounty harvest"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic George 2K3 Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 I played the arcade game first, right around the time I first heard of the game through a ColecoVision software manual that I had sent away for and received. I eventually learned from playing how the color cycle works in regards to the hearts and letters causing the EXTRA, SPECIAL, and score multiple registers to get filled in. I even won myself a free game from spelling the word SPECIAL on one game. I only heard about the Vegetable Harvest Screen being in the ColecoVision version from reading Ken Uston's 1983 sequel to Buying And Beating The Home Video Games that covered 25 games, including those released for the ColecoVision and Atari 5200. I eventually got a ColecoVision and a copy of Ladybug for it, and personally I like that substitution for the free game won by spelling SPECIAL, since all games of Ladybug on ColecoVision were free once one bought the cartridge. It's too bad nothing similar to that appears in ColecoVision Mr. Do! when you collect the diamond that appears randomly from a fallen split apple (which, in the arcade version, would give a player a free game when collected). Frankly, I would be surprised to see anything like the Vegetable Harvest Screen appearing in the Atari 2600 version you're developing. Since I also heard of, read a review of, and even played the Intellivision version of Ladybug, I would have imagined the Atari 2600 version itself would scrap the SPECIAL register altogether. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted February 8, 2006 Author Share Posted February 8, 2006 (edited) Frankly, I would be surprised to see anything like the Vegetable Harvest Screen appearing in the Atari 2600 version you're developing. Since I also heard of, read a review of, and even played the Intellivision version of Ladybug, I would have imagined the Atari 2600 version itself would scrap the SPECIAL register altogether. 1015055[/snapback] Well, prepare to be surprised!!! I could not imagine a version of Ladybug without it... As for the Intellivision version - are you saying that it did not have the task of spelling out SPECIAL? I'll have to do some research and see what was the case... EDIT: I found a review on the Intellivision version - looks like they didn't have SPECIAL at all... Thanks for the suggestions! Edited February 8, 2006 by johnnywc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven/TQA Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 i played the latest build and i am very very impressed about the port... it "feels" right... ok...little bit strange the mirrowed door flipping but well... all other elements are there... and the flicker engine is quite good as well... but it wil be interesting how the flicker will look like when all enemies + bonuses etc are moving around... but WELL done so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted February 8, 2006 Author Share Posted February 8, 2006 i played the latest build and i am very very impressed about the port... it "feels" right... ok...little bit strange the mirrowed door flipping but well... all other elements are there... Thanks - I'm glad you're enjoying it. I agree that the mirrored door flipping is weird at first, but I don't think it's going to adversely affect gameplay. and the flicker engine is quite good as well... but it wil be interesting how the flicker will look like when all enemies + bonuses etc are moving around... Yes - right now it's only smart enough to flicker 2 objects - I still have a lot of polishing up to do to minimize the flicker. Thanks again for the feedback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Helmet Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 (edited) The high quality of these homebrews continues to amaze me. Release this game back in '82 and you'd be rich Edited February 9, 2006 by Lord Helmet Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaGtGruff Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 The hight quality of these homebrews continues to amaze me. Release this game back in '82 and you's be rich 1015097[/snapback] That is so true! Sometimes I wonder why that is... 1982: "Hurry up and finish that game, or you're fired! We unveiled the mock-up at the Consumer Electronics Show yesterday and promised the press that it would be ready for Christmas this coming weekend!" 2006: "Think I'll do some more work on the game today, I've got the first three screens looking good, but I still need to tweak the joystick routine a bit, and then next week I need to rewrite the audio, because right now it sounds like a couple of dueling chainsaws." 1982: "Hurry up and finish that game, or you're fired! We want to put you to work on "Return of the Teen-Aged Killer Mutant Pac-Men from Outer Space," plus "Snore Quest Phase 6: World of Bubbles," both of which we told all of the magazines we would have ready for Christmas tomorrow!" 2006: "I'm having a great time working on this game! I wonder what I'll work on when I'm through with this one? Oh, no need to worry about that yet, I'll just stay focused on this game for now." 1982: "What? Haven't you finished that game yet? You're fired! Oh, and on your way out the door, you can stop by the Payroll Department and pick up your frozen turkey Christmas bonus in thanks for the multi-billion-dollar game you created last month! And don't forget, no one must ever know that it was you who wrote that game; you signed a non-disclosure agreement, and the company gets all the credit (plus all the profit) from every game you created!" 2006: "You know, I might not make any money from writing this game, and I'll actually have to shell out some money of my own to get the cartridges made, but it sure does give me a super-cool natural high to hold a finished game cartridge in my hands, smell that new game smell, and see my name printed on the label." Hmm... on second thought, never mind! Michael Rideout 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djmips Posted February 8, 2006 Share Posted February 8, 2006 1982: How the heck do I get more than two players on the screen! How do I get rid of those HMOVE bars? It's lonely coding this all by myself with no help whatsoever... 2006: The Internet: Stella List / AtariAge / emulators. debuggers. and a people with 5 to 30 years programming experience.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Player Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 This is coming along very nicely, and Nathan has done another great job on the sprites. Are you planning to post the source code at some point as it would be interesting to see how it all works? Thanks! And yes - Nathan's work is outstanding and very inspirational! As for the source code, I will submit it to the Stella list once it's completed. Of course, if anybody has any technical questions about how things are being done, please feel free to send me a PM and I'll be glad to answer them! 1014183[/snapback] Why not release the WIP source code to the Stella List? Back when I used to be on the list, a lot of 2600 homebrews were improved by coding suggestions from other members of the list? Is that not going on with the List now? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Helmet Posted February 9, 2006 Share Posted February 9, 2006 1982: How the heck do I get more than two players on the screen! How do I get rid of those HMOVE bars? It's lonely coding this all by myself with no help whatsoever... 2006: The Internet: Stella List / AtariAge / emulators. debuggers. and a people with 5 to 30 years programming experience.... 1015299[/snapback] That's all true. Still, it's amazing. Some of these programmers get alot out of this little system. Some of it probably makes David Crane Rob Fulop and others do doubletakes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cador Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 I just downloaded the latest build--it's simply magnificient. Although I never developed a game for the Atari 2600 (I'm a Commodore 64 + VIC-20 guy), I am quite aware of the graphical limitations of that machine (I've read the Stella programmer's manual). I like the mirrored doors myself, don't succumb to "feature creeping" and try to make the playfield "asymmetrical". The mirrored playfield is a bug/feature/TRADEMARK (depending on your point of view) of the Atari and it's what will make this arcade adaptation UNIQUE in it's own way. Keep up the EXCELLENT work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted February 17, 2006 Author Share Posted February 17, 2006 Hello Cador - welcome to AtariAge!! I just downloaded the latest build--it's simply magnificient. Thank you very much! I like the mirrored doors myself, don't succumb to "feature creeping" and try to make the playfield "asymmetrical". The mirrored playfield is a bug/feature/TRADEMARK (depending on your point of view) of the Atari and it's what will make this arcade adaptation UNIQUE in it's own way. I agree. I've been playtesting alot and I'm happy to say that the mirrored doors don't take away from the gameplay at all. I don't even notice it anymore. When I first started developing this game Cybergoth figured out that it was virtually impossible to do the asymmetrical doors with only 128 bytes of RAM (and he was right - I'm using all 128 bytes now as it is!). Keep up the EXCELLENT work. Will do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cador Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 I agree. I've been playtesting alot and I'm happy to say that the mirrored doors don't take away from the gameplay at all. I don't even notice it anymore. When I first started developing this game Cybergoth figured out that it was virtually impossible to do the asymmetrical doors with only 128 bytes of RAM (and he was right - I'm using all 128 bytes now as it is!). Something I've always wondered about maze games on the Atari 2600 is--how do you keep track of which dots to turn on and off? Do you use an entire byte for each dot or use 1 byte to keep track of 8 dots? It must be quite a pain to set the values in the playfield as the Stella chip is drawing in realtime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted February 18, 2006 Author Share Posted February 18, 2006 Something I've always wondered about maze games on the Atari 2600 is--how do you keep track of which dots to turn on and off? Do you use an entire byte for each dot or use 1 byte to keep track of 8 dots? The 90 dots are stored in 36 bytes. I'm basically storing the playfield data for the 9 rows, 4 bytes for each row. It must be quite a pain to set the values in the playfield as the Stella chip is drawing in realtime. 1020058[/snapback] Well, this is my first maze/dot game I've programmed for the 2600 and I have to say it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Everything is stored before the drawing starts so it's basically just pulling the information from the 36-byte array. I'll be posting the source once it's done to StellaList. Stay tuned! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandmountainslim Posted March 4, 2006 Share Posted March 4, 2006 This one definately needs to go to the AA Store when finished Albert can sign me up for a copy now if he wants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diggs130 Posted March 9, 2006 Share Posted March 9, 2006 Nice!I await its release~ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
panamajoe Posted March 22, 2006 Share Posted March 22, 2006 Nice!I await its release~ any news on this project ? i just can´t wait... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted March 23, 2006 Author Share Posted March 23, 2006 Nice!I await its release~ any news on this project ? i just can´t wait... Hello all, Lady Bug development has been slow - I have not been able to work on it in over a month (thanks to that pesky 'other' job) Good news is that my time frees up come April and I hope to finish it soon. In the meantime, I made some good progress on other parts of the game (see screen shots). Enemies are moving in the maze, collision detection is finished. Main pending items are a better flicker algorithm and music/sound. Thanks for the interest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Player Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Damn good looking screen shots there. Wow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariboy2600 Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Nice!I await its release~ any news on this project ? i just can´t wait... Hello all, Lady Bug development has been slow - I have not been able to work on it in over a month (thanks to that pesky 'other' job) Good news is that my time frees up come April and I hope to finish it soon. In the meantime, I made some good progress on other parts of the game (see screen shots). Enemies are moving in the maze, collision detection is finished. Main pending items are a better flicker algorithm and music/sound. Thanks for the interest! WOW if thouse old Coleco programers had half of the interests of doing as good as this arcade port for all there Coleco games maybe we could had great games for the 2600! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic George 2K3 Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Keep working on it, Johnny. It looks good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Helmet Posted March 23, 2006 Share Posted March 23, 2006 Looks great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted March 25, 2006 Share Posted March 25, 2006 Looks great, John! Fantastic to see the Champ Games logo/style too on this new project. Keep up the great work, I'm looking forward to seeing the final product -Trebor Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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