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PacManPlus

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Posts posted by PacManPlus

  1. Posted

    Hey, I was wondering when you would show up...

     

    1 hour ago, darryl1970 said:

    I do not know if development is only in a bug-fixing stage, but one thing that I would really like to see is the ability to steer Pac-Man's direction when stopped. That is something that I find myself doing constantly when playing the arcade games, and it feels especially satisfying when a home version includes this arcade-accurate feature. I remember being completely confused as a child, wondering how the great Pac & Ms Pac players would face a direction, in the corner, they were not moving. Now it just feels like a necessary thing to do when waiting for the monsters to approach the energizers!

     

    It actually is in a 'bug-fix only' stage, but I put that in.  It was easier than I thought.  So, I *think*, the only nuance that isn't there is the monsters 'look ahead' before actually turning.  That's never been in any 7800 version (either GCC's version or mine - and I think that includes the 5200 version as well), as I honestly don't know how to pull it off without breaking the routine (I've tried).  So, it's out.

     

    1 hour ago, darryl1970 said:

    I didn't understand the reason for the dithered eyes, as it appears the eyes are dithered with white (or maybe a bright white-ish blue)? I don't question the necessity, as I am familiar with things not looking as one might expect. I just wanted to understand more clearly. I understand the limited pallette too. It just appears to my eye that "whiteish" is being dithered. Does that whiteish color not look right by itself, adjacent to the monster's costume color? If somebody wants to PM me and explain, I'd appreciate that. I don't want to hijack this thread. I would like to understand what I am missing. I have experienced similar limitations before. I know things often do not display on regular hardware as one might expect. I am wondering if it's something like that.

     

    It's a limitation of that graphics mode of the 7800.  In my prior 320B versions, I had transparency turned off.  That was why you saw black boxes around the sprites.  In that mode, all three colors from the palette are available.  With transparency on (as in this version), you don't see any black boxes, but color 1 (in this case white) has the limitation of not showing up if it's in a pair with either itself or the background.  This means that for each pair of pixels, Color 1 (white) needs to be next to color 2 (red in the screenshot) or color 3 (lt. red in the screenshot) to even show up.  Otherwise it's black. 

     

    41 minutes ago, darryl1970 said:

    Thanks for sharing. I feel the same way. Although Hangly-Man was prevalent in my neighborhood, I came across Popeye Pac-Man one time. It was also the Hangly-Man play mechanics, which I also find to be one of the best remixed Pac-Man hacks. I had read about the Popeye variation in one of my video game books. It seemed to be urban legend. I was so excited when I finally found one at "Good Time Pizza". I felt as if I'd found Bigfoot. That really stuck with me.

    Thank you - the version I saw stuck with me as well.  I also made sure the 'stop moving when pressing right in the vertical tunnel' feature was there.

     

    Interesting about Ms. Pac-Man Plus... I've NEVER seen that version in the wild, and believed it didn't exist!

     

    Attached are the latest versions, with the 'direction stopped' addition in.

     

     

    PMC_XM.A78 PMC_XM.BIN

    • Like 5

  3. Posted

    12 hours ago, Mitch said:

    Have you checked out any of the classic Atari console designs that you could adapt for it? Maybe one of the proto designs.

     

    Mitch

    I think I need to do that...  That's a good idea.

  5. Posted · Edited by PacManPlus

     

    Well, I made an attempt to make a case for the 7800/XM combo, and I think the bottom part came out ok:

    IMG-0172.thumb.jpg.9b55253b52110b5901149640a89f9828.jpg IMG-0173.thumb.jpg.49e512bc591a090cd04decd93dd61007.jpg

    I wanted the motherboard to sit more 'flat' and have the joystick ports protrude a little to they were easy to get to.

    I screwed the XM unit into the base so it doesn't move.  There are small pegs that stick up that were made to go through the small holes in the front corners of the 7800 PCB.

     

    The top, however, I'm having trouble with.

     

    It takes FOREVER to print (like 3 days - because of the height and supports) and I'm not crazy about how it looks.  Here is the 3D drawing of the top:

    image.thumb.png.d72c498e0cc842f22ec21af9abaad778.pngimage.thumb.png.416f83cd95b5bacbd7cb83cd4468c99a.png 

    image.thumb.png.a38fa0007bb8428cb5ba711318100c04.png

     

    The outer cylinders are for the screws to go into, and the four inner ones are used to press the switches.

    I used to like the sloped front, but not any more.  I may have the front of the case go straight down and then forward.  Same thing with the back.  My plan is to have a badge on the front (where you see the slope but where I intend for it to go straight down) that has something like '7800/XM' on the front.

    I need to streamline this so it doesn't take up as much filament.  I've been through 4 large rolls of filament just trying to get the bottom and top just right.

     

    Once this is done, I'd *like* to try and make a newer 7800 (only) case, for the people whose cases have cracked.  I plan on using the same base as above (without the walls that hold the XM in place) and design a new top.

     

    Oh, and I've also made a new cart design.  I've used many bits and pieces from other designs...  I think the labels will stick better to this one:

    image.thumb.png.ea98be40963a92475e3ef25f4e451c14.pngimage.thumb.png.365c3da6e5ca2d2bf6a93953e622e3e9.png 

     

    It also fits much better in the 7800 and/or the XM.

     

    Any ideas about the top of the case design?

    Thanks guys

     

    • Like 15

  6. Posted

    On 6/1/2020 at 12:11 AM, Draxxon said:

    please share pictures when youre finished. also, im sure you can still use the art pack here with your project.
     

    I can share what I have so far:

     

    These two are of the 'adapter' that I designed and 3D printed to fit the RPi Zero in the FBX:

    IMG-0174.thumb.jpg.1b71d82bd2cd280919406867241b8d85.jpg

    IMG-0175.thumb.jpg.ba47fc58db0530f6741b7d6003b52393.jpg

    I will still have to modify it, as I'm not sure what to do with the power port and the USB port (although I want to put the USB port through the Cartridge port).

     

    This one shows the RPi and right controller port in:

    IMG-0176.thumb.jpg.9661192c3158cffc7d2546ce017d85b9.jpg

     

    I've placed an order for some Micro USB headers and a ribbon cable.  I can't do much else until I get them. 

     

    Believe it or not, the thing that will be the biggest pain to me is creating the image to boot directly into Stella for the RPi.  I need to see what the latest version of Stella is available for this.

     

    Also, I am making a list of the parts that I am using and will post them here when I am done, and I will post the .STL for the bracket shown above.

     

    • Like 4

  7. Posted

    Ok  - thank you - although I've made up my mind to put a Raspberry Pi zero in the thing.  I'm already making the bracket that I will 3D print to use for it.  It will be my 2600 Flashback.

     

    Also, being that I have another RPi Zero, I found the Flashback 1 (the one that looks like a 7800) on eBay and I'll be putting the other RPi Zero in that for an *actual* 7800 Flashback.

     

    Thanks guys.

    • Like 1

  9. Posted

    Hi Guys...

     

    So, I'm finally getting around to trying this, but having no luck.

     

    I am using two units; one with the update from AtGames (it sees the 'Game' folder and shows up as 'Ext. USB Drive' on the main screen), and one without the update.  However, I can't get either one to take the 'atari_update.img'.  I put that file on the root of the SD card (the same one that has the 'Game' folder on it so I know it works), and when I boot either unit, I do not get a prompt to press left or right.  It just goes straight to the main menu on both units.

     

    Anyone have an idea what is going on?

    Thank you!

    Bob

     

    (It would be cool to put a 7800 emulator on here, being that it looks like we aren't getting a 7800 flashback any time soon, if ever).

  10. Posted

    9 hours ago, SearsRoebuck said:

    I think Bob said something about Defender ? (just to note Bob - I didn't buy the colecovision version of it in anticipation of your port 😄)

    That's one of them ;)  But thank you!   (I didn't know Colecovision had a Defender port?)

     

    Thank you.  I'm very pleased with how it came out.  @tep392's Awesome Yamaha skills and @Defender_2600's and @Trebor's graphics twerking and advice pushed me (as always) to make this better.  It definitely wouldn't have been as good without all involved.

    • Like 10
    • Thanks 2

  15. Posted · Edited by PacManPlus

    I'm very confused by this...  If that were true, then you wouldn't be able to see the bottom of the maze either.  The lives left go up the left side of the maze from the bottom, like the level indicator (fruit) goes down the left side of the maze from the top...

     

    The lives indicators are not at the bottom of the screen like in the normal game.  This was done to be able to show more of the maze on the screen.

  22. Posted

    4 hours ago, DrVenkman said:

    I may be doing something wrong, but I decided to check out how this most recent WIP sounds in a stock 7800. So I booted up the most-recent A7800 emulator build, selected a standard console (e.g., no XM installed), then selected today's cart .A78 from the menu. Cycling through the menu options creates what seems like a stuck sound that never stops or changes until you start the game. Actual game sounds seem okay (usual TIA sounds). Restarting, enabling the XM module and then loading the game, the menu sounds great and works as expected. Can anyone confirm, or do I have something busted in my A7800 emulator installation?

    Crap!

     

    I know what that is...  Give me a minute....

    • Like 2
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