InfernalKeith
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Posts posted by InfernalKeith
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Good news for me! My big "all-nighter" last night got derailed by a vomiting toddler.
And I realized I'm not as close to finished as I thought I was... still a long way to go. If I can have another weekend (hopefully with no sick kids) I should be able to finish all of it, even the parts I'd planned to skip for the contest (the in-game help, etc). -
Making solid progress man. I'll be done by then... I will be finishing the scoring and level engines tonight... I am working on creating alternate color schemes to change randomly from level to level using CALL PEEK(-31880)--- very cool.... Anyway, I'll be updating my thread tonight as I finish some work... I had a breakthrough last night reading a Millers Graphics SPRITE book. Great sh**.
I'd like to think I was going to start coding again anyway, but I appreciate this contest so much for giving me the kick in the butt to get to work. I really feel like I've regained an enjoyable part of my life, one that's been missing for too long. So I already feel like I've won, no matter what. I've gone from "eh, I should start coding again someday" to having specific goals for finishing a few games, releasing physical versions of at least one of my games, and doing conversions to other computers. I even got my website up and running!
Off to work...
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It's quiet around here... TOO quiet.
I just found out I'm going out of town unexpectedly this weekend, so for me, it's all coming down to tonight and tomorrow. I have more "real world" work to do this evening, but then I plan to put on a pot of coffee and pull an all-nighter, or close to it, to get the game as close to finished as I can. My wife is taking the kids to school/daycare tomorrow so I can either keep on working, or catch some sleep and then get up and get back at it.
For all intents, I'll have to be done with my contest-ready version of Herding Cats by tomorrow evening. I'm thinking the in-game help function may not be activated at all, but the game WILL be playable all the way through.
Everyone else getting down to the wire? Anyone bailing out?
Keith
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............ 7
NOOOOO!!!!! THE PRESSURE!!!!!!! AAAAAUGGGHGHH!!!!!!!
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New developments as of 4am, January 24:
- "Wrap" function works, so cats can (depending on the level) walk off an edge of the screen and appear on the other side. If this function is turned off for a level, cats aren't able to move off the playfield. I toyed with having them blow up if they moved off the edge, but there's enough drama with their blowing up when they collide with each other or a wall
- Several of the levels are designed, and point values have undergone an adjustment based on the first rudimentary play-testing I've been able to do
- Ability to place cats randomly on screen for a level, or read pre-determined starting points from DATA statements
- character set cleanup - I used set 2 for a red graphic, then found I needed comma, exclamation point, and period. I redefined the left and right brackets and forward-slash character, respectively, for those, and use those in lieu of the 'correct' ASCII char in game screens
- fixed a few display bugs and cleaned up pre-level and post-level stat screens
Tomorrow's to-do list:
- add the probability functions for the catnip magnet and cat repellent functions (I thought I was going to do this tonight, but screen wrap needed done)
- begin coding player tool functions
- begin advanced level designs
I may actually finish this thing by the deadline! Maybe.
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I remember that happening when I would edit a single line on the original machine, when the program started getting really large. "EDIT 2330" Wait almost a minute. Make the change and press enter. Wait almost a minute. "RUN" Wait over a minute. ^_^
I don't remember it taking quite so long in XB, but in TI BASIC, most definitely. I haven't hit the 'almost out of memory' point in my game yet, though, so I could just be blocking out the painful memories...
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Is there any faster way to develop for the TI-99/4A using Extended BASIC besides coding it in a text editor and pasting the code every time i make an edit and waiting for the entire code to finish being pasting every time? I'm getting tired of having to wait a minute every time i add a line or two to my code to see if it work in Classic99. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Sincerely,
Cell Wall Rebound
Why not just edit "on the fly" in Extended BASIC itself, with the emulator running? For small edits, that seems to make the most sense.
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Thanks, this may come in handy one day
Does anyone know the cheapest way to get good-quality cartboard boxes ?
For my next game I really would like to have a cartboard box to go with it.
Are you thinking of printing directly on the box, or printing stickers to put on a blank box? The latter may be cheaper.
My plan is to buy blank plastic "clamshell" cases, similar to a DVD case, and print color inserts. I had a few sources bookmarked and items priced out a long while ago, but I'll have to start looking again when the time comes.
I even had a very nice (for my skills, anyway) layout I was going to use for a cassette-based project I planned long ago. Unfortunately, that was on an old laptop, which is now gone.
I considered learning The Printer's Apprentice and trying to do the whole package - cover, manual, etc - on my 99/4A... not sure if I have the patience for that, though!
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A good morning with no sprites ...
100 CALL CLEAR :: CALL SCREEN(4) 110 CALL COLOR(1,4,4,2,4,16,3,4,16,4,16,16,5,13,16,6,4,13,7,4,13,8,13,13,9,7,16,10,7,16) 120 CALL CHAR(40,"FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFEFFFFFFFFFFF88000FFFFFFFFFF000000FFFFFFFF") 130 CALL CHAR(44,"FFFFFFFFFF1F0100FFFFFFFFFFFFFF7FF8E08080000000001F070101") 140 CALL CHAR(48,"000000000000FCFE7F1F0F0703010100FEFC00000000000000010103070F1F7F") 150 CALL CHAR(52,"8080E0F8FEFFFFFF000000000080F8FF") 160 CALL CHAR(64,"00000000000000FF0000000000011FFF0101071F7FFFFFFF") 170 CALL CHAR(72,"FFFFFFFFFF3F0F03FF3F0F0300000000FFFFFFFFFF7F3F3FC0F0FCFFFFFFFFFF") 180 CALL CHAR(76,"00000000C0F0FFFF00000000000000FF00000000000003FF000000030F3FFFFF") 190 CALL CHAR(80,"3F7FFFFFFFFFFFFF") 200 CALL CHAR(96,"00073F7FFFFF7F3F00FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF00E0FCFEFFFFFEFC") 210 CALL CHAR(100,"0700010307070707FFE0C08080000000FFFF000000000000FF") 220 CALL CHAR(104,"E000000000000000070707070707070707070707070606060606060606060606") 230 CALL CHAR(108,"07070F0F0F0F0F0E") 240 FOR L=8 TO 18 :: READ D$ :: DISPLAY AT(L,10)$ :: NEXT L 250 DATA "()*++*,-",".`abbac/","8deffgh8","8i88888801","8j888888 8","8k888888 8" 260 DATA "8l888888 8","8888888823","88888888H","[email protected]@ABXIJ"," KLMXXXNOP" 270 GOTO 270
Very nice! It's been said before, but your mastery of the graphic arts is something to behold. I wish I had a tenth of the skill.
As a brand-new convert to Classic99, I have to say, I am so excited about copying and pasting code and seeing instant results. It's pretty remarkable! I'm still coding Herding Cats on my real TI, but man, I dunno... I may have to 'cross over' with the rest of you soon.
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Beautiful!!!
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Grrrr... I could use one and missed it. Oh well.
I need to snag one of these next time. Either that or rig my PEB to take 3.5" disks.
Tempest
There was a guy putting external 3.5" floppy drives up for the TI now and then, but I haven't seen him listing in a while. I have one, it's pretty awesome. If I could have it and my CF hooked up at the same time, I'd be all set.
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Okay, I crossed a bridge tonight. You still can't actually enter any commands yet during the game, or use any of your tools. But the game actually functions from beginning to end -- title screen, main game loop (with informational screens before and after gameplay), and at the end of the level, either a bump up to the next level, or a "game over" and kick back to the main title screen to start over.
I'm gonna clean up some of the displays and then I'll post some more screen captures, hopefully tomorrow night. After that, I gotta retest my "catnip/cat repellent" idea, the one I scrawled out on paper at the diner the other day, and then it's time to start adding the player commands one by one. The bare bones of a working game could be done by this weekend.
I'd do a victory dance and hoist a Guinness if it wasn't 3:30am. Tomorrow, perhaps.
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Good news! I've started coding, and I have some code ready for testing!
100 CALL CLEAR
Of course, I'll continue refining this, but I hope to add a "PRINT" statement soon!
okay, so I'm a bit of a smartass...
Hate it!
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Assuming the game is worthy, and turns out as well as I hope, I'm making plans to make a small number of actual, physical copies of the game for sale, in a box, with printed instruction manual. The plan is to make no more than 100, and probably a lot less, depending on how I decide to print up boxes and manuals. I'm going to number each one and when they're gone, that's it. (I suppose I should say "if" they're gone...)I would be interested.... it's also a sign of a maturing TI homebrew scene.
Also think that the TI scene needs a publisher, like they for example have for colecovision
There's a company in the UK releasing new games for the Vic 20 and Commodore 64. They just put out an RPG called Realms of Quest, for the 32K expanded Vic-20, and it's a beautiful looking game. Full color booklet, packaging, and the back of the disk contains the author's entire collection of other PD games to date as a bonus. Really nice and elaborate!
Mine won't be quite THAT spectacular, but I definitely want to have color cover and nice booklet, and maybe a laminated quick reference card to show all the cat-herding commands at a glance.
For my next game, the mini RPG type game, I'm thinking of writing a small novella to go with it, and comb-binding that to include with the package. That may be a little overly ambitious, I don't know... but I love the idea enough that I might go for it, no matter how ridiculous.
Keith
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Actually, according to trivia I've read, originally "The Attack" was supposed to be an "Alien" tie-in. I don't see any resemblance, personally... O_o
No kidding. Just as Zero Zap doesn't resemble Pinball either
ZeroZap doesn't even resemble a game.
I can't wait to see "Ordinary People: The Game"!
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As I hurtle closer to finishing "Herding Cats," and start thinking about my next project, I also have something in mind that I've told myself I was gonna do when I finally got back to programming.
Assuming the game is worthy, and turns out as well as I hope, I'm making plans to make a small number of actual, physical copies of the game for sale, in a box, with printed instruction manual. The plan is to make no more than 100, and probably a lot less, depending on how I decide to print up boxes and manuals. I'm going to number each one and when they're gone, that's it. (I suppose I should say "if" they're gone...)
Does anyone have any thoughts on this? Obviously, I don't make TI 99/4A games to make a bunch of money. But as someone who also collects software from the old days, I like getting things with original packaging. Also, it is my hope that if I make the game available on Ebay and online, outside the already-established TI channels (here, the Yahoo! groups, etc), some people who don't know about our community might discover it and make their way into the fold.
The game will still be distributable, I'm not saying anyone would have to buy a copy to play it. That would be dumb, even if it was enforcable. You'll have the option of downloading it for emulator or a real TI, but the "real" copies would be there for those of us who enjoy having those things.
Any thoughts?
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Well, it's 4am here and I'm still working. I decided to add a more complete splash screen and begin formatting some in-game help tonight, as well as an introductory screen for each level, explaining the level's goal, how many cats were coming, if they would explode on contact with each other, if they could wrap around the edge, etc.
Getting to that impatient phase now, where I want the whole thing done RIGHT NOW!
I really want to get the meat of the game engine done over the next couple days, so I have the time to properly design and play-test each of the levels. I have a feeling that some issues with gameplay may come up when I'm testing, so I want to have time to adjust point levels, etc. and not turn in an "almost right" game.The encouragement and support of you guys here on this forum means a lot, and it's really a great motivator. Thanks - I appreciate it. I'm really enjoying this whole process of knocking the rust off this portion of my brain, and it's great to have some feedback, and not be working in a total vacuum.
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Great concept, awesome title name
- will be a cool game. Is this for a old Texas Instruments TI-99 Computer? Would love to see this on the Jaguar.Jaguar's a little new for my tastes.
I do plan to port it to several other systems as I learn more - the Commodore Vic 20 will probably be the next one. I'm going to try to work on that concurrently with my next TI game project, but as always, time is an issue. Eventually, I plan to make a small and simple enough game to port to a dozen or so classic systems, as a learning exercise to discover the strengths and weaknesses of their native BASIC dialects. -
Obviously, the title screen is just a placeholder. The main game screen will be a little nicer when it's done, too. For instance, the solid yellow block is actually a cat repellent, which I'll redefine as a real graphic when I get the game engine finished. The black squares are holes, which will be round and jagged. The big red rectangle is the exit, where you want the cats to go.
I actually, finally, for the first time, downloaded Classic99 and grabbed my XB code with my new CF7+ so I could get the screenshots. Fancy stuff!
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I just ordered my 3rd one
For those who don't know this device. It has 32K RAM memory and reads compact flash
cards that contain TI-99 disk images. This little piece of equipment replaces
my peripheral expansion box for most of my requirements.
Combined with TI-DIR (file manager running on windows, looks like norton commander), it's
a piece of cake transferring TI-99/4A software between your PC and TI-99/4A.
All development I do is done on a PC with emulator and then tested on the TI-99/4A
itself using this device.
A very cool device
I bought one last time Jaime put them up, and it arrived today. I'm about to go plug it into my TI 99/4A. I may actually be able to send you guys my game without having to mail someone a floppy disk! Ain't technology grand.
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eBay Auction -- Item Number: 200428044512
These tend to sell very quickly, so if you're thinking of grabbing one, now's the time.
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I can't use CALL MOTION, CALL POSITION, etc because these are all graphic characters, not sprites. There are actually no sprites being used in the game right now, though I may utilize them for an animation when a cat hits the "cat-a-pult."Working with graphic characters is not necessarily bad. One benefit is you don't have to worry about "invisible" cats
if you get 4 of them lined up in a row
Just out of curiosity, how many cats will there be on-screen ?
Keep up the good work!
I figured the game doesn't need sprites, so why mess with them? I have it set for up to 30 cats, which will vary by level. On some levels you'll get many and some are 'expendable,' on others, you'll get only a few and need to try to save them all to proceed.
All of that is subject to change, of course, once play-testing levels begins, or if I have to start conserving memory (not a problem yet).
On my demo level I'm using to test, I have 15 cats on screen, and they move quickly enough, though some disappear rather soon due to holes in the floor, etc.
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I can't use CALL MOTION, CALL POSITION, etc because these are all graphic characters, not sprites. There are actually no sprites being used in the game right now, though I may utilize them for an animation when a cat hits the "cat-a-pult."
Many of the tools will be things done while the action is stopped -- moving the exit, "bumping the table," etc. Only the repellent and the cat magnet are conditions which will affect the cats' movement in each cycle of the game, once they're activated. I actually feel a little weird about the fact that those two tools DO influence the cats' otherwise random movement -- the whole idea of the game being that you CAN'T tell the cats what to do. But without them, I think the game would be TOO random and would end up frustrating. As it is, there will still be plenty of chances for cats to veer off in unexpected and dangerous directions - even these tools won't be absolute behavior changers. (It'd be easier to program if they were!)
Very cool man... I think you've got er pegged now. Perhaps rather than using all the IF THEN ELSE AND stuff, you could set up individual subprograms that deal specifically with each "tool". You might already be doing this, but if not, read on.
300 IF CATNIP MAGNET THEN GOSUB 1000
1000 (scan for cat "CALL POSITION(#CAT,XCAT,YCAT")) scan for tool(CALL POSITION(#TOOL,XTOOL,YTOOL))
1010 IF XCAT>XTOOL THEN CALL MOTION(#CAT,repel or attract,0)
1020 RETURN
just a thought.... You might even have something better already.
. But if each tool has it's own subprogram, it would send to and from smoothly and quickly. Good work, can't wait for screenshots! -
OK, I know it's not much, but here's actual photographic evidence that I'm working on a program.
I went out for breakfast this morning, kidless, after realizing last night that I'd made a mess of the probability portion of my main game loop.
Basically, if the player uses the "catnip magnet" or "cat repellent" options, I want there to be a much greater chance that each cat will toward (or away from) that point on the screen. So if either of those items are deployed, the loop vets each random movement number, and - if it clashes with the item in question, like if the cat was to move north and there is a cat repellent to the north - there's a 90% chance that the direction will be rejected and the loop will select another direction.
It's not a particularly difficult concept, just tedious to get right (at least the way I came up with doing it). There are eight conditions under which the "90% chance of rejection" scenario kicks in (I'm allowing diagonal moves to proceed normally, to avoid even more long IF-THEN-AND-AND statements to slow things up.. which is why the probabilty of rejection for the other four directions is so high).
For example:
IF the cat is to move north, and IF the device is north of the intended destination, and IF it's a repellent... it kicks out.
IF the cat is to move north, and IF the device is SOUTH of the intended destination, and IF it's a catnip magnet... it kicks out (we're "attracting" the cat south by limiting its chance to move north, away from the catnip).
etc, etc.
I *think* I've got this all figured out, on paper. It was nice to get away from the screen, and the internet, and other distractions, and just drink coffee and work the formulas out. It all seems a lot simpler NOW. Later tonight I'll strip out the crappy code I WAS installing to do all this, add my new solution, and let 'er rip.
This is probably the most cumbersome part of the whole program. Many of the "tools" the user gets to manipulate the playfield will be coded in 2-3 lines, tops. If this routine works out, a lot of the rest of the game will fall together over the weekend.
Real screen pix soon, I promise!
Keith
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Retrogaming Times Monthly is up!
in TI-99/4A Computers
Posted
http://www.retrogamingtimes.com/rtm69/#pressplay
I wrote a column this month on saving (for posterity) games written in TI BASIC that load their data from separate cassette files. I review Atlantis and Hordes, and set myself up for another project for next month as I promise to try to move these games to disk, and into the world of emulation.