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PacManPlus

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Posts posted by PacManPlus

  1. Posted

    Thank you so much for the shout out.  I do appreciate the kind words! :)

     

    That joystick looks incredible, so I have to ask...

    Is that a one-off project, or would you be willing to make a 7800 version (the only two differences are no keypad buttons in the front and two fire buttons on either side of the joystick)... and if so, how much?

     

    Thank you, and excellent work!

  3. Posted · Edited by PacManPlus

    Sorry to necrobump, but I just saw a video in my YouTube feed that they are now emulating Ms. Pac-Man Twin successfully in MAME.

     

    So, that means I can finally finish the 7800 version.  I've already noticed a lot of differences between mine and the arcade...

     

    I need to finish Galaxian first, though... :ponder:

     

     

    ...Ms. Pac-Man seems to have had some collagen implants for this version. :ponder: 

    • Like 16

  4. Posted

    Yes, that was a mistake on my part.  I've fixed a lot of things since that build.

     

    I've shifted gears, though.  I'm currently reading through the arcade commented disassembly (and somewhat learning Z80 in the process) and translating it to the 7800 version.  So (hopefully) if things work we should have a VERY arcade accurate port.

     

    I'll revisit the audio once I have the enemy stuff done.

     

    @-^CrossBow^- - BTW, you were exactly correct on the reason for the 'black bars' that periodically show up on the attacking aliens.  Sprite overlap.  It's only when they are on the same zone as the 'flock', and usually when there is  more than one dive bombing.

    • Like 6
    • Thanks 1

  9. Posted · Edited by PacManPlus

    Things like this make me want to continue working on the 3D model of the shell that Curt gave me (so they can be 3D printed).  I had started to tweak it (it wasn't an exact fit as it was) but then lost interest...

     

    Nobody should have that bad of a case :(

    • Like 5

  13. Posted

    All updated!

     

    13 minutes ago, BydoEmpire said:

    Stupid question: can we pick any unused 2 byte value, or is there some range we need to fit into? Seems like the former in the 7800basic docs.

     

    Only one bit that I know of means something...  Referenced here

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1

  18. Posted

    Ok, Time for a little update:

     

    This is not going to be the quickest game completed, as I've been looking through the commented disassembly of the arcade version of Galaxian.  I'm starting to understand a little Z80 in the process, and I'm seeing how they do things which I like better than how I did it.  For instance:

     

    As we already know, there are 8 sprites available for the Galaxian hardware.  What I *didn't* know, was that the sprite 'slots' are predetermined:

    0 - For miscellaneous use, i.e. an enemy explosion while still in the 'flock' (because it's a tile, and needs to be converted to a sprite to show the explosion).  I'm also using it for the player(s), being they will never be in the same zone as the 'flock' itself.

    1 - reserved for the flagship

    2 - reserved for the 'escorts' to the flagship

    3 - reserved for the 'escorts' to the flagship

    4 - solo alien attacker

    5 - solo alien attacker

    6 - solo alien attacker

    7 - solo alien attacker

     

    So there are never more than 4 solo + 1 flagship + 2 escorts attacking at one time.

     

    Originally, I was using the first two sprite slots for each player (because of the 2 player simultaneous option).  I've reduced that down to 1 to match the arcade, and for the simultaneous option I flicker the players, and their shots.  It's not that noticeable.  Also, did you know that the arcade version flickers the enemy shots?  There are only 7 available shots, and Galaxian can have up to 14 enemy shots at a time.  I was actually a little surprised by this one.  I will do the same, although I only have 6 available to me (up to 12 at one time).

     

    There are two of the arcade routines that I cannot follow, so if someone knows Z80 well, I could use some decyphering... :)

     

    Thanks guys!

    Bob

     

    P.S. - My nickname at work is now 'Blob' as I mistyped my name on an e-mail as I've done here once or twice (the 'l' and 'o' are adjacent and sometimes I fat-finger them) 😕

     

    • Like 8
    • Thanks 1
    • Haha 3

  19. Posted

    I think I got it.

     

    I took a combination of James' and mine, moved some things around and got this:

    image.thumb.png.37676bed1d6a2592e1089e3c7567b144.png

     

    Obviously the 'Atari 7800 Video Game Cartridge' goes above the UniWarS logo, and I think the text will be in the bottom left in 'space'.

    :)

    • Like 12

  20. Posted · Edited by PacManPlus

    On 1/30/2021 at 4:18 PM, PacManPlus said:

    Thank you James - I may re-work my label with that one.  I like it better than what I did:

    Pic.thumb.png.b5b9c60b07768f5dcd939c4dae149640.png

    There's only one thing that bugs me about that label (other than the dirty case, which I did try to clean, BTW): too much empty space in the middle of the picture while the text is over the objects themselves.

     

    @Atariboy2600 - Where are you?  :D 

    • Like 1

  21. Posted · Edited by PacManPlus
    Added quote

     

    5 hours ago, Bencowboy said:

    I'm also subscribed to Arcade USA and saw the video, I'm interested in a physical cartridge release, so please lmk?

    Hopefully it will be in the store soon...  I just finished the label art, need to do the manual first. :)

    Thank you!

     

    • Like 3

  24. Posted · Edited by PacManPlus

    2 hours ago, Synthpopalooza said:

    Thanks for the update.

     

    Hopefully my explanation will solve your POKEY issues.   🤞  Those AUDCTL settings can be difficult to grasp.

    Ok, cool, so let me see if I get this:

     

    I've updated the table so that both sound drivers can share it...

    New common index table and priority (for both TIA and Pokey) : 

    $00 - Player Shot			Priority $08
$01 - Drone 6 (Super Fastest)		Priority $06
$02 - Player Explosion			Priority $0F
$03 - Drone 1 (Slowest)			Priority $06
$04 - Drone 2				Priority $06
$05 - Drone 3				Priority $06
$06 - Drone 4				Priority $06
$07 - Drone 5 (Fastest)			Priority $06
$08 - Enemy Death			Priority $08
$09 - Flagship Death			Priority $09
$0A - Beginning Enemy Swoop		Priority $07
$0B - Final Enemy Swoop Loop		Priority $06
$0C - Bonus Life			Priority $0F
$0D - Coin Insert (Pokey Only)		Priority $0F
$0E - Intro Music, Channel 0		Priority $0F
$0F - Intro Music, Channel 1		Priority $0F

     

    Note that sounds with the same priority and channel will cancel the prior one and start the new sound, regardless of the order played.

     

    For TIA, the player shot and player explosion is in channel 0, and the enemy swoop (both parts), enemy death (both types) and drones are in channel 1.  Bonus life overrides channel 0.  Non in-game music doesn't matter.

    So for Pokey, The Channel table should look like this:

     

    .BYTE $03,$01,$03,$01,$01,$01,$01,$01

    .BYTE $02,$02,$00,$00,$02,$00,$00,$01

     

    ...and also for Pokey, the CTLVOLTBL should look like this:

     

    .BYTE $8X,$AX,$0X,$AX,$AX,$AX,$AX,$AX

    .BYTE $CX,$CX,$CX,$CX,$CX,$CX,$CX,$CX

     

    Finally, when calling the Coin or Title Tune sounds, set AUDCTL to $50.  Everything else gets $60.

     

    Does all of this sound correct?  Sorry about the questions, but I want to make sure everything plays nice.

    Thank you!

  25. Posted · Edited by PacManPlus

    Hi guys...

     

    Just checking in...

    I have the following done:

     

    - If a Flagship attacks the player alone (no escorts) and makes it past the player off the bottom of the screen, it has 'escaped' the level and shows up on the next one.

    - I nixed modifying the sound driver.  I made 5 different speed background drones.  The number of enemies left dictate which one is played.

     

    @Synthpopalooza - thank you for the above post.  I'll check that out soon...  I'm almost done with the TIA sounds, although I'm not happy with my current enemy swoop sound.  Need to work on that.  That's the only one that might have to be different and start lower in pitch as I don't have all of the higher-pitched sounds. :( Also, just so you have it, here is the finalized sound index:

    $00 - Player Shot

    $01 - Used to quiet the channel for TIA (not used for Pokey)

    $02 - Player Explosion

    $03 - Drone 1 (Slowest)

    $04 - Drone 2 

    $05 - Drone 3

    $06 - Drone 4

    $07 - Drone 5 (Fastest)

    $08 - Enemy Death

    $09 - Flagship Death

    $0A - Not Used (I had something here but removed it)

    $0B - Not Used (I had something here but removed it)

    $0C - Final Enemy Swoop Loop

    $0D - Not Used (I had something here but removed it)

    $0E - Beginning Enemy Swoop

    $0F - Not Used (I had something here but removed it)

    $10 - Bonus Life

    $11 - Coin Insert (Pokey Only)

    $12 - Intro Music, Channel 0

    $13 - Intro Music, Channel 1

     

    Then, it's just making some kind of level indicator, and modifying the shot frequency, dive frequency, and difficulty ramping.  Getting there!

    • Like 8
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