jacobus
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Posts posted by jacobus
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Update!
I’ve attached a playable demo of Imp! It works, but there are lots of things still left to do (including all sound), however, there should be enough here for you to get a feel for it. The first level is fairly complete; you’ll need to navigate the playfield, unlock doors, collect stuff, fight off a bunch of monsters and locate the exit. Good news, the monsters are all pathetically weak and you can’t get killed! (how great is that?!)
If you find the exit, you should start again in level 2 (which looks almost identical to level 1). I’ve included three levels in the game, they are all more or less the same, but the game will likely crash after level 3.
I have not tested using real hardware, but I don’t anticipate any compatibility issues.
Control via Mouse 2 or Joystick 1 – the spacebar switches between current weapons and the bow.
One last thing – I find few things more irritating than seeing large numbers of people downloading one of my programs, and very few people commenting on it. So please, if you’re going to take the time to download, please post a comment! I do this just for the attention, and if I don’t get enough, chances are the game won’t get finished! :-)
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Now that reminds me something....
maybe after Arsantica 3 I resurrect Beyond Evil 
That would be awesome!
@Jacobus, great stuff looks good in its current form already...
Not my sort of game BUT its great to see people still having the impetus to produce games for the old machine, thank you...
I'll still give it a play, I may be converted even now
Thanks very much! Still a long way to go!
Looks great, the graphics as-is are better than a lot of games I paid good money for.
Only criticism: the character following the pointer. I wonder if the game would feel less abstract and more interactive by having the player control the character, not the pointer.
Other than that, and even with that, love it.
I've had a couple of people mention this, so I'll give it some thought. One argument for it, is that the dashboard requires a mouse to navigate efficiently - and since you are already using the mouse there, using the mouse for the game seemed logical.
Anyways, I like the preview of IMP !! This looks like another great "Jacobus" game...
Thank you!
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I have new game in the works – this time a Diablo clone! OK, calling it a ‘clone’ is a bit of a stretch… I am writing a game that a very distant cousin to Diablo, smaller, plainer and simpler. To acknowledge its obvious lack of stature, my working name for the project is “Imp”.
I actually started Imp way back in 2014, dropped it in favour of Dungeon Hunt and recently picked it up again. In hindsight I’m glad I waited - from a technical point of view this game is a lot more challenging than DM and I’ve managed to learn quite a bit more about the language (QUICK) in the intervening year or so.
Imp features a large scrolling playfield – 128 x 48, multiple levels, melee and ranged weapons, multiple NPCs and an interactive equipping/outfitting section.
Memory optimization is key with the Quick environment, and my executable code is currently around 12K with most of the main features roughed in. I’ll have the luxury of using the remaining memory for polish and extras. (Quick limits the program to 20K of main code)
The plan is to have about 10 levels, each populated with scenery, objects, NPCs etc. Using the magic of LPE compression I should be able to fit them along with the game and all supporting data onto a 90K floppy. And of course, all of this will run on a stock 800 with 48K.
Control is via either a mouse or joystick with a few commands accessed via the keyboard – the mouse is the preferred method.
Please note: The colours and many of the graphics are still very preliminary!
https://youtu.be/90OmMoxDnT8 https://youtu.be/f7WzJFm9HcA
Fog of War
This was an interesting feature to implement, I played around with several different techniques but came back to the simplest one – I have two copies of the map. The first one called the Player Side is on the left and initially entirely filled with a single character (fog). The second, called the System Side contains all of the map, NPC and POI details. As the player moves their character over the Player side, I draw a (before rounding) a 12 by 7 character ‘window’ of playfield graphics from the System side to the Player side at the current player position. The player is prohibited from ever visiting the system side and the illusion that the fog is rolled back to reveal the playfield is maintained.
Playfield Graphics
The perspective graphics are a pain to design but have great impact. Just to keep things interesting I’ve allowed for an entirely new character set to be defined and used for each level. This will allow the terrain and NPCs to keep evolving as the game progresses. Of course it also makes for a lot more design work for the level developer(s)!
Dashboard
No RPG game is complete until you can get killed while fooling around with weapon selections. The Imp dashboard will allow the player to select their defensive capabilities on one hand (shields etc) and their offensive weapons with the other. The exception here is the ranged weapon which forces the player to put down their shield to use. Both armour/shields and weapons are leveled and will accumulate damage as they are used. The playfield can contain specialized areas (store/smithy) where items can be bought/sold/repaired/upgraded.
NPCs
Aside from the active opponents in the game, you will also be able to interact with doors (locked with a set of keys), break barrels and ransack chests for treasure (redeemable at the local store).
Weapons
Currently the player has both melee and ranged weapons available, I’m debating about including a magical element…
I plan to release this game to the community when complete (although a very small cartridge run is a possibility). In order to get to that point however, I have a lot of work – levels to design, sounds/music to create and lots of play testing to accomplish. If anyone is interested in helping with any of these tasks, please feel free to contact me.
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I frequently used David Young's version - if I remember correctly it had write verify turned off by default along with the full disk copy feature mentioned by Rybags.
David Young Modified DOS 2.0S
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You know I drooled all over the 1450XLD when it was announced, but in hindsight I think this computer would have been a huge mistake... it was expensive and included a crappy modem and speech synthesizer (the speech synthesizer is a gimmick in my mind). Atari screwed a lot of stuff up (in addition to everything they got right). For me, these are the things that would have made a difference (oh and I'm an XL guy):
1. A native 80 column capability using the Parallel bus - I know so many people who bought the vastly inferior Apple II for more money because they could use a word processor in 80 columns on their green screen. Please don't say XEP80.
2. Double density on the 1050 - The enhanced density thing was stupid. I can't rationalize it to anything other than that.
3. An Atari branded CP/M upgrade. If nothing else just to say you have it and you can run Wordstar (or whatever)
4. Enhanced graphics on XL or XE machines - imagine how things would have been different with some kind of enhanced graphics on the XL/XE (but retain backwards compatibility) Graphics modes with more suimultaneous colours would have done it, but enhanced sprites would also have been nice
5. An Atari branded monitor- dang I would have loved an nice matching monitor for my XL or even XE. Wouldn't have made much of a difference I guess, but I still want it
6. More PBI peripherals! I loved the MIO, but all Atari ever did with it is the 1064. That 1090 expansion bus looked sweet.
7. Something other than "hold option key to disable BASIC". Better yet give me DOS in ROM and an easy way to turn BASIC on when needed.
8. Some kind of networking capability that would allow daisy chained Atari computers to operate in a network for multi-player games, telecommunications, etc. They had Joe decuir... he knows this shit.
9. Faster SIO speeds. We all know the Atari is capable of far faster, so why limit to 19,200 bps?
10. Less Tramiel. Enough said.
I suppose the 800xl was all about cost cutting so nothing made it. well except DOS 3 and enhanced density. yay.
Great list, but I'd add:
11. a second joystick button
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I'm sorry to say that all of the cartridge versions have been sold. (actually I'm quite pleased, but I'm sorry to have to tell you this)
I'm thinking about putting a copy I held back for myself up for auction, but I haven't decided yet.
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SOLD!
Thanks everyone for your interest!
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Brand new Incognito - never installed, still in package. From the first run of boards.
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Great project! I was a Clipper programmer as well - amazing what could be done with that language!
Dot prompt support would be awesome, but I think memory requirements would make it impossible! Many years ago I wrote a dBase III clone (including an interpreter for the language), but that was on the PC.
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Thanks for this Jeremy!
From the very first time I played Sudoku, I had a definite itch to write a solver - thank you for saving me the trouble!
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Nice thing about Quick is the very rapid development time :-)
OK, so now you can use the < and > keys to roll the bytes up and down (within the sector), as well as press the "S" key to double up characters in the Explorer (I'll revisit closing the the space later). Images here are from Necromancer, before and after rolling the sector with a good chunk of the character set. Both of these features only work in the Explorer.
and the spacing option invoked:
Program
DiskExplorer v4.atrDiskExplorer Boot v4.atrDiskExplorer.XEX
Docs
Source
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Just in time to miss MrFish's request here is version 3.0. :-)
Joystick support, and now the Editor has the ability to output (via print) either the current sector or a range. This feature is really intended for emulator users to copy and paste with. I've also messed with the interface a little, START brings up the Explorer exclusively, SELECT still shows the Selector and now OPTION selects the Editor.
MrFish - An option to close up the columns is certainly possible, it will cause some pain with the hot spots so it might take a few days. Just of out interest, would you prefer closing the spaces, or doubling up the current chars (ABC or AABBCC)?
Thanks again for the feedback!
Boot, Autorun and file versions attached, as well as current source code.
Program:
DiskExplorer Boot v3.atrDiskExplorer v3.atrDiskExplorer v3.XEX
Manual:
Source:
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Some disk editors handle DD sectors by splitting them and displaying 128 bytes at a time.
Also, is there any possibility of adding hotkeys on the menus and cursor movement with arrow keys for those who do not have a mouse?
I suppose joystick support would not be out of the question - would you be OK with that?
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Andreas - good points, I will include both versions in the next release (likely last, as the only thing I want to add is the ability to output the sector(s) as CSV). I knew there must be a tool like Super-Copy, seems that most of the disk tools are boot to binary converters only.
Thank you very much Xuel - much appreciated!
Doc - thanks ... Just call me Thomas :-)
Ryan - not surprising, only so many ways to represent disk structure using a character based system. Hmmmm, that brings up a good point ... I wonder if I should switch to a graphics mode in order to represent the disk sectors? I could use Antic $0D - four colours would give me enough to show normal, empty and directory sectors and one more colour to indicate the current file. This would also allow me to show an entire ED disk... (pretty sure I want to stay away from DD disks - the 256 byte sectors would break the Explorer and Editor screens). Then again, considering the mouse sensitivity issues, this might not be such a great idea. I'll have to play around a bit.
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Quick update...
I rewrote the editor to be a little more conventional in appearance. You can switch between hex and decimal views, it shows ascii at the end of each row, and in keeping with the entire project, it shows a character and player visualizations at the bottom of the screen. As well you can click anywhere on the first line of graphics to highlight the actual byte. Edits are dynamically displayed as you type.
Additionally I fixed the issue that Mr Fish found when clicking on the graphic characters.
As per Bunsen's request I am including source code.
Xuel - thanks very much for the help, unfortunately my assembler skills are minimal. Could I ask you to create another boot disk with this new version?
Keatah - Sorry, the mouse driver is part of the development tool (Quick). I have thought about writing one myself, but nothing for the moment.
Thanks to everyone for the feedback!
DiskExplorer v2.atrDisk Explorer v2.pdf
(rename FE.LIB.TXT to FE.LIB)
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This is a program I've been writing on and off for quite a while now. It started out as a way to visualize graphic data stored on the disk and morphed into an editor and disk mapping tool. The documentation is bit weak, but I'm sure a few minutes of playing around will give you an idea of what it's capable of. I have tested it on real hardware, but thanks to Altirra's mouse support I find it works much better in an emulator.
Quick instructions - start the program and then insert another disk (with a game or two on it). Press START to flip between Explorer and Editor, press SELECT for the selector.
Did I mention a mouse? Yes, it's required for this program!
I expect to be knee-deep in poo (work) for the next while so I thought I post this now, even though it isn't quite finished. If anyone is interested I can include the Quick source code.
enjoy!
EDIT: Old links removed - new ones can be found in most recent message
P.S. Does anyone know of a nice easy tool that can take a regular executable (such as this one) and convert it to a boot disk. Since Disk Explorer does not need DOS, it would be better suited as a boot disk.
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sale postponed - sorry, personal issues cropped up.
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Alien Swarm
Chicken
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While I could be wrong, I was under the impression that there was an initial 8K model, then the standard RAM was upgraded to 16K, and that was it - until MUCH LATER in the 800's life when 48K became standard, towards the end of the run, and no 24K, 32K, 40K models in-between.. At least, that's what I was lead to believe by the few Atari dealers in Anchorage at the time. As it was explained to me, the 800 came with 8K, 16K, and then 48K, with a rather lengthy time between 16K and 48K, and by then the 48K was proudly advertised on the outside of the box.
Based solely upon the numbering scheme for the initial circuit boards, 8K was intended to be the base memory (board #3) for the 800. The 16K board was almost an afterthought at #11.
http://atariage.com/forums/topic/240643-400800-circuit-board-numbering/?p=3287077
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GTA = Greater Toronto Area
If you live there you think it's the centre of the universe.
If you don't, you think it's full of pretentious twits. :-)
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Thanks to Bradley at Best Electronics I now have a complete set!
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Hi.
I grew up with an Atari 1040ST. I had like, everything. Modems, printers, one of those huge hard drive enclosures that the colour monitor would sit on top of, tons of disks, games, joysticks, manuals, dust covers, a Forget-Me-Not clock, everything. And then one year my basement flooded, and I stupidly chucked everything.
Probably my biggest regret as far as computer collecting goes.Out of pure nostalgia alone I decided to go back and look for a new 1040ST, but I found all the prices on eBay are, well... way out of my range.
What are reasonable prices for even just a system, hard drive and monitor?
I'd also like to note that I live in Canada, so prices would probably be different here, than say, anywhere in Europe.
I have a 1040STe gathering dust. If you're anywhere near the GTA, drop me a PM and you can pick it up for free.
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The first time I noticed the change to 2/@ was with the introduction of the IBM PC. Although that keyboard was an exact match of the 3270 terminals (at least the shape and placement of the keys themselves, the keycaps were different)
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RAM to EXE utility
in Atari 5200 / 8-bit Programming
Posted
I'm trying to accomplish to a work-around for some of Quick's limitations - namely the 20K program code limit. With the standard compiler, I have two options for a program, a) include all secondary data (graphic, sound, DL, etc) within the program space and create a standalone executable, or b) off-load everything but program code and load the secondary data into memory at run time. The problem with a) is it severely limits the amount of code in a program, the problem with b) is that I need to create and distribute an entire disk with the main executable and all of the secondary files. Ideally I'd like to be able to run the application, have it load up memory with the secondary data and then snapshot the contents of RAM into an executable that when loaded would populate memory with both the code and the secondary data.
Not sure if such a utility exists within the Atari, or I should be looking at a tool that could perhaps modify an Altirra save state file.
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!