jrok

Is there any way to copy a graphic defined in score_graphics.asm into a player sprite? In particular, I was hoping to target and copy some of the extra ($A-F) graphics used with Omegamatrix's modified DPC kernel.

Sorry, I drifted off topic there. Yeah, that was the original question, I just included that sample in case I wasn't explaining the desired (sprite) effect well enough. Yes, it is. I tried to RTFM for this, but I couldn't find it documented anywhere. Thanks, again.

No worries. Just in case I wasn't explaining myself right, I wrote a little test program a while back that does a similar color swap with the playfield object. set kernel DPC+ dim PF_line = a dim chroma = b dim chroma_shift = c goto Start bank2 bank 2 Start playfield: ..............XXX............... .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. .............XXXXX.............. ..............XXX............... end data zonelumshift $00,$00,$02,$02,$04,$06,$08,$0A,$0C,$0E, $00,$00,$00,$02,$02,$02,$04,$04,$04,$06, $02,$02,$04,$04,$02,$02,$04,$04,$02,$02, $00,$02,$04,$06,$08,$08,$06,$04,$02,$00, $00,$02,$00,$04,$00,$06,$00,$08,$00,$0A end chroma = 16 WritePFColorLoop DF0FRACINC=128 DF1FRACINC=128 DF2FRACINC=128 DF3FRACINC=128 DF4FRACINC=128 DF6FRACINC=128 DF7HI = 10 DF7LOW = 52 PFColor for temp1 = 0 to zonelumshift_length DF7PUSH = zonelumshift[PF_line] + chroma PF_line = PF_line + 1 next PF_line = 0 rem Press and release the fire button to change the color if joy0fire then chroma_shift = 1 if !joy0fire && chroma_shift then chroma_shift = 0 : chroma = chroma + 16 drawscreen goto WritePFColorLoop It's been a couple of years since I've tucked into bB, and I forget how I determined the hi and lo pointers for the playfield. I assume I could use a similar technique to color the background, right?

I have related question: Suppose I wanted to do the following: - Define the colors for each line of a virtual sprite (in a data statement, I'm guessing? Then push them into the sprite?) - Add a multiple of 16 to each line when the code is run. I'm trying to build a palette swapping function, preserving each line's brightness while shifting the hue. Thanks again.

Thank you!

I've noticed it's fairly straightforward to randomize P0's colors with the statement: player0color = rand Is there a similarly simple method of assigning random colors to a virtual player? Thanks, J

Yes, exactly. Any road-based enemy (evil knight, grendel) is flickered at 30hz with the player knight when both are displayed on the screen. Each of those is drawn using P0 and P1.

It's been a while since I've worked on this game (or on any VCS stuff, period). I still don't think it's necessarily a fun game, and I'm not sure that adding bells and whistles like the falling princesses will solve that problem. If I can find the time to tuck back into this game, I think I might take a big step back and change some of the fundamental gameplay.

Thanks for chiming in with your two cents, Soulblazer. That was really helpful, and worth every penny.

You want to critique my well-jumping style? What are you, the John Madden of E.T.? I don't recall offhand how many times I fell in a well. Hard to count when I'm half asleep. What "story"? What's there to "know" about this game? It's not fucking chess. Weren't you asking questions about this game on a different thread, where I tried to help you understand the concept of writing randomized zones? I guess that's a mistake I won't make again. Merry Christmas. Get fucked. J.

I didn't realize RT had a mistress. Thought he was a one-alien kind of guy.

Eight traders bilking?

I'm starting to. How mature of you. Oh, I see. So I guess you're claiming that screenshot I posted is some sort of a lie? How nice. I guess that makes me part of the Lizard Illuminati conspiracy against E.T, HSW Steven Spielberg and "controlled randomness". If you really think it's so odd that someone can pick up E.T. and immediately beat it, I'm not sure what to tell you. It is an easy game, even without collecting candy and getting the part from Elliot. I'm certainly not going to download software and play this turd twice in one day to prove something to a deranged E.T. crackpot with a chip on his shoulder. That's like trying to teach a pig to sing. Wastes my time and annoys the pig. Cheerio, J

For those who don't want to take RT's online graduate degree course in "How to Play a Shitty Game", here's how to beat E.T.: 1. Scrub the ground in each of the pit rooms for "?" marks. Press the button to see if there's a piece in one of the pits, and keep that position in mind. 2. Scrub the ground for the phone home and pickup symbols and keep those in mind. 3. Scrub the ground (monotonous, I know) for a roman numeral symbol and keep that in mind. 4. Make a run at all three pits with the pieces in them, collecting them one after the other. If the FBI guy tails you, stand on the roman numeral and press the button, then continue collecting pieces. 5. Stand on the phone home symbol and press the button 6. Stand on the pickup symbol and press the button. 7. Take game out of Atari and place it into box. 8. Wait 35 years, then sell.

I know this game is an obsession for you -- not exactly a secret. Obsession isn't necessarily a bad thing (in one way or another, most people in this hobby all mildly obsessive) But at times your passion for it can turn you into a raving jackass. I haven't said anything contradictory about E.T.'s alleged "gameplay." I said the pits are no fun. They aren't. I said the bad guys are more annoying then dangerous. I said that the screen movement is busted. It is. As soon as I fired this junker up, all of that continued to be true. It also was as easy as I remember. Granted, I just beat it on "A", which is so ridiculously easy it's hard to call it a game. I suppose I could try it again on "B", but whatever added difficulty the faster agents offer won't change the fact that it's just not fun to evade them. And wishes aren't horses. But given how obnoxious you are being, why would I want to reward you by jumping through your hoops? I'm sure just ask for another video anyway ("This time do it on hard! Now with Elliot on the screen!"). Basically, this all adds up to a big case of fuck you, RT. I'm sorry you think that "E.T." is so challenging it requires 170 Youtube videos to teach people how to play it. That's fucking tragic, man.

Just for shits and giggles, I just booted up E.T. in Stella. Haven't played this turd in many years... about three minutes later I got this: What I didn't get was an ounce of enjoyment... stay home, E.T.

Oh my... here comes the Internet Tough Guy! I've got an even better idea... why don't I smash my skull with a brick for an hour and upload that to Youtube. Far less painful.

Such a great game. My local arcade actually had both Addams Family and Twilight Zone at the same time. Pinball heaven. Yeah, I was just thinking that too. The time care they took in that game was obvious, and though I'm not sure what their total development time was, I'm sure it wasn't comparable to the ridiculous launch schedules most license games operate on. Then again, Tron -- another great arcade game tie-in -- was launched with the movie, and the programming was so rushed that a major sub-game (the disc battle) had to be left out of the final product, and had to be redesigned and released separately as Discs of Tron. But it was still a great, fun game. Interestingly, KLOV lists both Star Wars and Tron in their Top Ten Most Popular games. That's not a bad showing for such a cursed genre.

This is true. And through years of careful, patient study, I have developed a foolproof way to avoid them even better... by not putting the cartridge in the machine. Yeah, how is it possible that I don't like one of the most infamously terrible video games ever made? I must be that I'm stupid, or uncoordinated, or have terrible taste in video games, or something. For the record, I've sent that little green bastard home exactly twice (A & B difficulty), and see no point in giving him any more free rides. I know that it's not hard to stop yourself from falling along the way into the pits, or avoiding all but the pits with the pieces in them. Collecting all the candy and avoiding the bad guys isn't hard either. None of it is hard... because E.T. is not a difficult game. It's just a boring, broken one, by a great programmer who tried to bite off more than he could chew. If you want to continue to verbally mate with this stinker of a product tie-in here or elsewhere, that's entirely your business RT. But pretending that the only reason to dislike the game is the inability to play it is the true "steaming pile of bullshit." Plenty of easy games suck ass.

The original Star Wars vector arcade game was badass! So was the Addams' Family pinball game.

The sprite sheet shows the individual 30hz flicker frames that creates the illusion of multiple colors on a line (and so does his demo binary, for that matter).

Who said anything about staying until the end? I'm talking about walking out of a cruddy picture and demanding my money back, like that old couple. With "Lady in the Water", I think we walked out at the exact moment that the Shymalan's character was revealed to be the world's greatest writer. This would probably be equivalent to to the moment E.T. players realized that falling into pits was mandatory. Commercials for games are pretty limited in showing the "fun factor", though. Showing E.T. falling into one pit (and finding a phone piece there, no less) was different than the reality of steering E.T. through Pittsville and constantly falling into (mostly empty) pits. I get the feeling that the part players hated the most wasn't so much falling into the pits as it was monotony of floating out of them, which was a chore-like activity that would compromise a big part of gameplay. The floating was an attempt to cram a story element (E.T. levitation powers) into the game without a good design reason. That happens a lot in movie license games, and is probably a big part of why so many of them stink. If Activision licensed "A Lady in the Water" game, the suck from that cartridge might cause the world to collapse in on itself. As far as the timing issue, everyone agrees that the dev cycle for E.T. was 100% crazy (which is why they were paying Warshaw such a huge bonus). The sheer amount of work he put into it with so little time deserves respect, and the game's presentation is top notch. But the broken screen navigation leading to illogical player placement and cheap falls isn't just a polish issue IMO, and some of the design decisions were just bad ones from the start. The pits are bad (even for non-nose-pickers) not because they are hard to get out of, but because they are boring to get out of. And get into. Everything about them is dull. Warshaw said something about wanting to include them because they would expand the game world. An admirable goal, but it was a dud gameplay-wise. Just because one of the greatest Atari games is called "Pitfall" doesn't mean that falling into pits is fun. It's kind of depressing. Even sound effect is a downer. Meanwhile, E.T.'s enemies are more annoying then menacing. The FBI Mugger robbing your candy and phone parts is servicable, but the Scientist carrying you to the blue screen is roughly half-an-idea, poorly executed. Running from these enemies isn't very fun, and the only challenge involved is those damned pits, which they can somehow magically float over. The analog might be to re-imagine Pac-Man's gameplay where everything is the same except that 1) the ghosts can move through all the maze walls and 2) if Pac-Man touches a maze wall, the game stops for eight seconds. When they come for you, the only solution is to memorize the Roman numeral locations, wait around for them drag their asses onscreen then press the button to make them go away for a little while. The windup is that E.T. is less a game than a buggy, luck-heavy memorization test. On Christmas morning, 1982, nose-pickers may not have been able able to put their finger (multiple puns intended) on exactly what was wrong with it, but I guess they knew a stinker when they played one. There are far worse Atari games - buggier, more poorly designed, etc - but despite all it's bells and whistles, E.T. still feels like one of the least fun to play.

Hey, that's okay. Being satisfied with a crappy product isn't a crime. That's why E.T. has apologists today, even though Warshaw himself isn't enamored of it. All of them? So, every modern game designer with replayability in mind has an AA membership? Do they also support a strict no-refund policy for shitty games?

Haven't you ever been to a terrible movie and demanded your money back? Maybe I can't un-see a crappy flick like "Lady in the Water", but I can surely put that money to better use, or at least give it to a better movie. Imagine what would happen if designers still made games that were fun to play even after they were "beat."

From the sound of it, he sat there with a bemused smirk on his face while Warshaw showed him all his flowcharts and astral coefficients, then said something like, "Can't we just do a Pac-Man clone?" Which sounds like a very Spielbergian thing to say actually -- the man isn't exactly known as a very cerebral or original filmmaker, but he has a great nose for what people like and what works. Or at least, he used to... :sleep: