Brian O

That looks nice and professional. Only thing 'wrong' with it is that the tentacle in the game is a seaweed tentacle. The mature semi-sentient seaweed has the ability to reach up and do harm when it can pinpoint an enemy. Sorry if I didn't make that clear. Updated the tentacle to more closely resemble a piece of seaweed with a claw-hand at the end. I also gave it a lighter color, to separate it somewhat from the other seaweed. I also created cart labels. Turns out the image with all of the characters, etc. won't fit on such a small label without being too small. So I created an alternative label for the cart, that just includes the logo and seaweed. -B

Yeah, it's for my office at work. We're kind of like the distant cousin, since our corp HQ is in another state. Fortunately, our culture is more loose. I'm going to just throw it on the wall and see what happens. I'm determined to have the "fun" office.

It's been a while since I've drawn anything, but figured I'd have some fun with your game concept. While I'm no Nathan Strum, the artwork definitely turned out better than I had hoped. Hope this inspires you in some small way to keep this game going. Any feedback welcome. -B

The "melody board" option is capable of doing it, but $25 plus shipping makes it unappealing to roll your own run. If Al wants to carry it in the AA store then he'll have other terms for RT. I wish there was an alternate source of melody boards. I have a WIP that isn't really appropriate for the AA store, but its 32k, which makes alternatives tough. That sucks. I like this game, though. I think once the game is finalized, I may just make my own label and pony up the $25 to have a cart made. That is, if RT gives me permission to use the binary -B

Since I have to use Superchip RAM to get more variables, I'll also have to move from 16k to 32k because Superchip RAM steals 256 bytes from each bank and I was already getting low on space. Besides the cost of having someone put the 32kSC cartridges together, I also don't know how to create a manual. I think people make them using some kind of expensive PDF software. OK, makes sense. I wasn't aware of that. I know that AA makes one-off carts. Can they handle games that use Superchip RAM? Even if it doesn't get sold in bulk, it would be pretty cool to have it on a cart. If you ever decided to move forward w/ the game, let me know. I can always help you w/ the manual. Looking forward to the next game iteration. -B

Too bad you're not Hallmark's CEO!

Looks pretty darn good. There's a 98 percent chance that this will never be put on cartridge, but if you're having fun, go ahead and make a high-res version. Is there a way to put a hint of faded seaweed tentacles in the background, similar to the title screen (but not as primitive and ugly as what I did)? Thanks. Thanks, I'll definitely make a high-res version for you, just in case. What determines if something is made into a cartridge or not? Does it simply come down to cost? If so, I think it's a shame, because this game is really fun to play. In regards to the seaweed, that won't be too hard to add. I only added the water/bubble background to have something to place the logo on. -B

Doesn't look like there's one for 2010. And it looks like a lot of people are upset (read the comments). http://blog.hallmark.com/2010/05/27/poll-vote-for-favorite-2010-keepsake-ornament/

Here's a logo concept I whipped up. If you like it, I could always create a high-res version of it for you. -B

Couple more bad guys for you -- Floating Mine and Sea Urchin. Finally got VbB to let me preview in Stella and move the sprite around, Pretty cool! -B sea_mine_spr.zip Sea_urchin_spr.zip

A monkey with a snorkel would make an amusing Easter Egg. I do like the push-your-luck element of choosing to wait for a row of seaweed or just blasting single pieces to keep the way clear. Here's my attempt at a Monkey w/ a Snorkle. I was able to really call out the flippers on his feet, but the scuba containers on his back were hard to define. I tried to use a single line of different color to at least call out that area. Haven't tried to animate it yet (I'm still getting used to the vbb interface, etc). Let me know your thoughts. -B snorkle_monkey_spr.zip

That's weird. If you have Stella set as your default emulator, then right click on the Sprite Editor screen and select Preview in Emulator, it should immediately pop up in your emulator. No need to create a .bin file by hand, it's created automatically for you, then gets deleted as soon as you close the emulator. I think what I'm going to do is download the latest version of Stella, and then download VbB and bB again. Start fresh. When I downloaded everything it was late and I was tired, and I wouldn't be surprised if I botched something during initial setup. I really want to be able to preview the sprites (almost makes me feel like I'm accomplishing something!). When do you think you'll have a new version of Seaweed Assault to check out? Thanks again. -B

Has anyone else purchased something like this? If so, does it look as cool as advertised? Link here Thanks, -B

Yep, it worked great. Thanks. In case you don't know yet, you can right click in the Sprite Editor and select Set Background Color. The background color for this game is $80: The background color doesn't get saved with the sprite file, it just helps the artist make sure the colors of the sprite won't clash with the background or won't be too dark. In case you didn't see it in the right-click menu yet, you can also Preview in Emulator and move the sprite around the screen. I do this a lot when working on a new sprite. Thanks. Thanks! Having some trouble getting it to create a .bin file so that I can preview in the emulator. Going to start from scratch tonight and follow the instructions step by step. That monkey with the snorkel sounds like it'd be fun to see -B

Thanks. Is there a reason why you don't have Visual batari Basic? Mac? Linux? Commodore 64? Like you saw in the Free sprites for the taking thread, The VbB Sprite Editor is great for artists because they can see exactly what their sprites will look like on an Atari 2600, then they can save and post .spr files for programmers to use right away so there will be no time wasted duplicating work and guessing at colors. I'm not sure if I'll use every sprite posted, but if we want to get this finished in December, I won't be able to come up with every sprite on my own. I'll need all the help I can get. Hi RT, Let me know if I did this correctly. I created the seahorse in Visual Batari Basic (attached). It's 17 lines long, and would most likely need to be shortened in length a bit, but I'm more concerned with using the editor correctly. Thanks, B Seahorse1.zip

Thanks. Is there a reason why you don't have Visual batari Basic? Mac? Linux? Commodore 64? Like you saw in the Free sprites for the taking thread, The VbB Sprite Editor is great for artists because they can see exactly what their sprites will look like on an Atari 2600, then they can save and post .spr files for programmers to use right away so there will be no time wasted duplicating work and guessing at colors. I'm not sure if I'll use every sprite posted, but if we want to get this finished in the December, I won't be able to come up with every sprite on my own. I'll need all the help I can get. No particular reason. I guess I'm a late adopter with certain things. Plus, I'm just so used to working in Photoshop. I just downloaded Visual Batari Basic editor. Moving forward, I'll try and use the sprite editor to create the sprites. Thanks, B

Also created a Seahorse Sprite. Like the crab, it's just a JPEG since I don't have vBb sprite editor. I also placed the seahorse sprite onto the plafield with the crab. Sea horses are so funky looking. I think it'd make for a cool-looking enemy. Obviously, these are just some suggestions, so feel free to tell me to buzz off at any time -B

Hey RT, I created a JPEG of a crab sprite that you could use (if you chose to). I also incorporated the sprite into a screenshot. -B

I second this. I've played a bunch of times and there doesn't seem to be enough tentacle attacks. -B

This game keeps getting better and better. The whole concept of a game based on characters whose only purpose is to die is pretty fun in and of itself Haven't had a chance to play too much yet, but one minor issue I noticed is that the characters have a tendency to overlap some of the square obstacles. Especially if you do a barrel roll move too close to one. I was even able to barrel roll and walk right through some of them, or even walk around inside them (see attached pic). It doesn't really cause any functional issues, however. Just thought I'd point it out. Also, there seems to be a score field at the bottom, but no matter what it remains "000038". If this is not active yet, or if it has some other purpose I have overlooked, please disregard this. Will keep playing and let you know if I find any other bugs, etc. -B

Great game! Just downloaded it and have been playing it using the Stella emulator. Lining up the sub to hit the seaweed blocks took a bit of practice, but it eventually got easier. Gets a bit claustrophobic very quickly when the seaweed starts growing in faster. Personally, I wouldn't change anything in regards to the base game play. However, here's some suggestions/ideas: Have random bonus items appear throughout the game, in addition to the canisters. I know you have the canister show up at 100 and 1000, but perhaps you can have some lesser items appear for only a few seconds in random spots on the board. These could give you a slight power boost, or perhaps a temporary shield to protect you from that mother-f'ing Wrothopod, so you can clear some of the seaweed (especially when it really starts growing in fast). Having these temporary, lesser bonus items appear would also force the player to decide between risking trying to get the random item, or leave it. These items would appear only in unoccupied areas, obviously. Give the player extra men. Instead of having the game end once the player dies, give the player 3 men to start. Then you could make the bonus at 1000 points be an extra man, so it gives the player something to shoot for, and separates the 1000-point bonus from all of the others. One thing I experienced is that it is difficult to break away from the seaweed blocks, and they drain your power pretty quickly. Not sure if you could make it a bit easy to break away, or change it so that the sub just loses points and bounces off the seaweed if it comes in contact with it. A few times, I had a fair amount of energy left, but got stuck in a seaweed block and ended the game. These are just some quick suggestions off the top of my head. Don't know how much wiggle room you have to work with. Again, really nice job. I can't wait to play the final version, however it turns out. -B

I can't imagine Nintendo being okay with that. Nintendo would have most likely had some say in the design, I would imagine. But, you never know.

Cool. Glad you like it. I started working on a high-res version, just in case. I put the "O" behind the rest of the letters, so that the "R" and "U" are visible, to improve legibility. -B Looks really nice. Could you make something full page (or booklet size) for the manual. I can write the manual now, so I could maybe finish this up by the time DCAGE rolls around. I will add your name to the list of credits if you like. Drop me a message and we can talk about it more. Cliff Hi Cliff, I'm happy you like it. It was fun to make. I can definitely create a manual-sized version of the image. I will be home later tonight, and will work on it then. The game is fun. I'm glad you're making a cart I'll shoot you a message w/ my email address as soon as I get home, so we can discuss further. Thanks, -B

Click here for nostalgia

Because 99% of the time, that's not how 2600 coding works. Yeah, but surely there are times when a second pair of eyes proofreading your code could yield a "hey, this bit is crap, why don't you try ______ instead", right? I figure Atari didn't do this because if you put two guys working on Pac-Man, you're wasting precious man-hours that the second guy could spend churning out E.T. I think you can just chalk it up to being a different time back then. Most coin-op games were developed by single-person teams as well, I believe, and I think the console game development followed this process. I'm sure there was some method of QA, however. Most coin-op guys left the game up for other developers / employees to play, and would know if they were on to something if there was internal demand for the game. They'd also get feedback on their games from other employees. I would imagine the console game developers had a similar process. But I could be wrong. Doing it that way also kept costs down, too. One person would create the art, music, code, etc., all for the same salary as a typical engineer was making at the time, and no royalties. -B