Devin

The game I always wanted on the Atari was the Spin-Out. That was a great game. Indy 500 wasn't even close to as good - or fun.

Do you picks of either of these games? I search of Google was an epic fail.

Release Candidate 1 Here is the release candidate for the game. I included a few last minute changes on difficulty and the You Win and title screens. Major Concussion and Russ Tick do not stun you as long when they throw a punch. It was near impossible to block them in level 2 and 3. I rearrange the text on the You Win screen. I put the belt on top and simplified the sprite. The You Win screen now displays different colors depending on the difficulty - bronze, silver and gold. ... since it cost me 3 statements and just a half dozen bytes, I added the bronze, silver and gold feature to the title screen. Anyway, I can't imagine making any additional changes at this point. Let me know if I can improve anything. The attached binary still has the select screen. EDIT: I just updated the binary with a very minor change. Major Concussion is far more playable in Level 2 and 3. KO_Cruiser_RC_TEST_2009_02_23b.bin

So, to sum up what everyone has said.... Welcome to Hell...

I've attached another binary with the last-minute changes. I changed the You Win screen once again. Reverted the legs for the player sprites. The lifted leg caused unnecessary visual noise. Made a change to the last hop of Wally B's special WIP_2009_02_22c.bin

That code is complex. It is uber-elite programming! I wish I could take credit, but I can't. Atari 2600 graphic objects don't have a x position value. Instead, each objects x position is set by hitting the reset strobe when the T.V. laser is at a particular position. Needless to say, counting the clock cycles to get to a particular x position is difficult. When you have a sprite that is moving left and right, the programming can be quite overwhelming. That code really, really, really saves a ton of work - and sanity!

The most difficult aspect of Atari 2600 programming is horizontal positioning. Here is some excellent assembly code that I found on these boards eons ago. This code is a life-safer! I don't remember the author's name. This subroutine will position any of the graphical objects on the screen in the specified column. ;--------------------------------------------------------------- ; Subroutine: PosSprite ; ; In : a = position. ; x = sprite (0 = player 0, 1 = player 1, ; 2 = missile 0, 3 = missile 1, 4 = ball) ; ; Out : None ; ; Destroyed: A ;--------------------------------------------------------------- PosSprite STA HMCLR SEC STA WSYNC ; begin line 1 PosSpriteLoop SBC #15 BCS PosSpriteLoop ;+4/5 4/ 9.../54 EOR #7 ;+2 6/11.../56 ASL ASL ASL ASL ;+8 14/19.../64 STA.wx HMP0,X ;+5 19/24.../69 STA RESP0,X ;+4 23/28/33/38/43/48/53/58/63/68/73 STA WSYNC ;+3 0 begin line 2 STA HMOVE ;+3 RTS ;+6 9

That side-effect should be considered a "coming of age" event for all 2600 programmers!

You can give them the binary - which is created by either Batari Basic or an assembler. Batari Basic should be free of the side effects. Assembly gives you some freedom you don't have in a high-level language like Batari. It depends on the game you are writing and if you enjoy programming assembly. Of course, writing assembly is much more difficult. There have been some great games written in Batari and assembly.

Batari Basic would be a great start. It depends how hard-core a computer programmer you are. There are some definitely "gotchas" for the 2600 which might not be caught by an emulator. For instance, clearing the horizontal movement during horizontal blank can cause some weird side-effects. These are not caught by emulators - at least the ones I was using when it got me!

Here's an update that modifies the boxer sprites slightly (now he lifts a leg slightly). The You Win screen is now gold! WIP_2009_02_22b.bin

Here's yet another update. This version changes the You Win screen once again - albeit slightly. I also made a huge script change for both Russ (#5) and Major Concussion (#6). In the last version, the scripts for both characters would select one of two different combos. This didn't leave much "randomness" in the game. The new scripts will go into a loop and through random jabs until a random final (unblockable) punch. Russ will throw 1 to 4 jabs before the final punch. Concussion can throw up to 8. Made some punch-power changes to Russ to make him harder. I also made some to Concussion to make him a tad easier. WIP_2009_02_22.bin

Hmm... We need Monk. Thank you!

I was inspired by the hacked boxer sprites to improve the existing ones. There are some definite 8-bit Rembrandts on this site! I've attached a new version of the game. It has the following changes: I updated the boxer sprites. I am curious what everyone thinks of these designs. I tried to combine the artist work of Espire while keeping them simple. I also created a version of the punch where the sprite lifts a leg. I can attach a binary with this version. I replaced the You Win screen with one that displays a belt and the text "champion". I might replace this with different text such as "Great work!" or "Congrats!". I would love feedback on this. The screen also displays a trophy sprite depending on the level. The title screen was tweaked slightly. Knockouts display "KO" rather than just "10". WIP_2009_02_21.bin

I might be able to fit the extra animation pic. Now the big question: do I have the skills to draw it! EDIT: I won't be able to fit a new graphic. The woot (I win) one took up the last space. I might be able to do something with flipping the picture.

Good point. I will work on that.

Perhaps I need to revisit the difficulty settings..... EDIT: I misread your post. I thought you had beat it in level 2....

The second screen - where you can select the opponent - is for testing purposes. I will removed it in the final version. I never got around to making it use the joystick.

Yet another update. This version is the first release candidate. The binary still contains the screen that lets you select the opponent. Added theme songs for both K.C. Nova (#2) and Russ Tick (#5). Nova's song uses the first verse from Malguena. Russ uses the song "Home of the Range" which is the official anthem of Kansas. Added some more sound effects - mostly just slight modifications K.C. Nova now has a different disco song. I made some internal changes to allow each "stance" to have a different flash glove color. Now, unblockable punches have a different color. I made it yellow in most cases. Fixed the end-of-round health recovery logic. I actually had this working in a prior betas, but left it disabled in the last one. Added rematch logic. Basically, you get one rematch per game. This is similar to being able to keep fighting after being defeated in Punch-out. Given there are only 6 boxers, I don't currently bump you down the ladder if you lose. Created a Rematch Screen. Redid the graphics for the Game Over screen. The new version is far simplify than the last. I needed the bytes. Revamped many of the boxer scripts so the difficulty does not jump dramatically as you advance through boxers. The difficulty feature was modified. Level 1 is now the default and is equivalent to to Level 2 in the last version. In the new level 2, the effect of hits is halfed and the computer combo speed doubles. Level 3 also doubles movement speed and computer punch power. KO_Cruiser_WIP_2009_02_20.bin

Thank you. Its not easy. But, the challenge is incredibly fun.

That looks quite impressive! However, I think that drawing each half in alternating frames might cause some visual issues. The line between the two sides might be quite noticeable. The drawing is quite artistic!

I wrote it in assembly language.

I actually tried this - and it didn't work well for blocking punch combos. I've attached an older version where I tried - and failed! I was thinking about a quick tap to the left or right would make him dodge. I haven't tried to implement it yet - mainly because RAM was uber tight at the time. However, I did some changes this month and got back up to 15 bytes (rather than 6 with a 4 byte stack staring at me). I can try to implement it if everyone thinks it would make the game better. Will do! The boxing glove colors can be changed in the macro (like in Major Concussions cannon move). It will be actually quite easy to add this! I would like to hear them. KO_Crusier___build_j13___failed_attempt_at_timed_block.bin

In a sequel I will push past the bounds of sanity into 32k. For now, I need what little sanity I have left.

You are right. I am keen on getting this done! I'll definitely do this in a sequel! ... it took me forever to write this game mainly because the macro engine is general purpose. It can be reused for future "circuits". For instance "K.O. Cruiser: Time Circuit" where you fight different characters through time.