Brian O

Spider-Man?

Love this game. My thumbs....not so much.

More info here: http://www.jeffsromhack.com/products/d2k.htm

You have to have the original DK rom in your ROM folder as well, otherwise you get error that certain files are missing. -B

Really digging the time limit, but I think 6 seconds is too short. You may want to up that to ~8-10 seconds, especially on the setting with more rooms. I found myself dying pretty quickly because I had to search for the next dot, and there just wasn't enough time to. Overall, I'm liking this game more and more. I will try and copy this to my Harmony cart and test on my 2600 this evening. I'll let you know if there's any surprises. -B One bug I noticed is that you start out with 3 guys (the one you're playing, plus 2 in reserve), but if when you get killed the first time, by the time running out or a dragon eating you, you lose the two guys in reserve (they actually disappear), so that the next time you die your game is over. So, you are now getting only 2 total lives. -B

Really digging the time limit, but I think 6 seconds is too short. You may want to up that to ~8-10 seconds, especially on the setting with more rooms. I found myself dying pretty quickly because I had to search for the next dot, and there just wasn't enough time to. Overall, I'm liking this game more and more. I will try and copy this to my Harmony cart and test on my 2600 this evening. I'll let you know if there's any surprises. -B

Like I said this is very much WIP and not a complete game yet. Check it out anyway If you get stuck in a dead end don't worry: there's a random chance each time you enter a room it'll change into its rare form with new exits. Initially all the room combinations were taking up too much space so I developed a technique to divide one screen into 3 slices that get "printed" and then scrolled to allow the next section to be placed on screen. I haven't seen this done yet so I hope it'll interest fellow Batari game developers. Placement of the rings stays basically static no matter how far in the dungeon you go. However, if one picks up an items ALL other items get a new random location. Liking it so far. It feels very expansive. Not exactly sure what the objective is or how points are scored, however. I noticed I get a point for colliding with one of the white, stair-like objects, lose a point for going down the black staircase, and get no points for the rings. I know it's unfinished, but was just curious how you plan on setting up the game play. Can't wait to see more! -B

Thanks, John! I am going to update the screenshots to more accurately reflect the correct platform sizes, and also be sure there is the correct amount of vertical/horizontal spacing. Hopefully I will post them tonight or tomorrow. Thanks again -B

A couple of suggestions -- Perhaps once you defeat the dot with the chalice, the next round should have a different layout with more boards/rooms. You could also introduce the bat, and set it up so that if the bat touches you he takes away a point (or two). Not sure if you'd be able to accommodate that, but it would definitely add to the game, and make it more challenging. -B

Love it! Pretty addictive game. I may have found a slight bug (not sure). At one point, while playing, the dragon captured me near one of the yellow walls, but I managed to escape. It looked as if when I broke free, the dragon was on the yellow line. For the next 3 - 4 boards, the dragon didn't pursue me. I thought that maybe he got trapped behind the wall, but eventually he reappeared. Not able to reproduce it, so not sure it was a glitch, or if it even matters. It was nice not having that bastard breathing down my neck for a couple of boards Again, nice job on the game -B

John, I think I understand now. So, the platforms leveraging the Player graphic, anything above 8 pixels requires you to add or subtract pixels 2 at a time. So if we created one that was 14 across, it would technically be 16 across. Aside from the platform sizes, which I'll fix, does the screens look accurate? Thanks -B

I like this. It's a fun game. Nice job!

Yep, only widths of 1,2, 4 or 8. It can be a different width on each scan line. It does take extra kernel time though, as not only would you be changing the size, but also the X position. If your sprite image is drawn with 7 pixels on, the widths displayed would be would be 7, 14, 28. 6 pixels on would be 6, 12, 24 and so on. Thanks, SpiceWare! I have updated my screenshot as per the comments you and Propane13 have provided. I have done the following: Changed the colors of the graphic elements to match the 2600 color palette. Updated the platform graphics to reflect the following sizes: 5, 10, and 15 pixels across Updated the Missile1 platform graphic to be 8 pixels across Updated color of platforms to be gray/dark gray, so color would not have to change when the black box is behind them Changed stalagmite graphics to 8,4, and 2 pixels wide, tapering in. Made "Fear of the Dark" logo in bottom left of screen red, as opposed to red and white. Any feedback is welcome. Only question I have is: if the power up graphics (the green box in the screenshot) is going to leverage the Player1 sprite, does it have to be a multiple of 5? Right now, it is 8 across. Thanks again, Brian

Not sure why they couldn't just leverage this storyline: The Qotile Ultimatum! -B

Does this mean that I can only use widths of 1,2,4, or 8 (with a maximum of 8 pixels) for the stalagmites? Can this sprite leverage multiple widths, to show it tapering (e.g. -- Having it start 8 pixels wide, and then taper to 4 pixels, to 2 pixels, etc?) Also, for the platforms, any platforms that use the Player graphics will have to be 16 or 32? If I use the Missle for the shorter ones, do they have to be 8 wide, or can they be 1, 2, 4 or 8 wide? If so, can these sizes vary? I don't want to have too many big platforms, because that wouldn't be too challenging. There should be some smaller, harder-to-land-on platforms as well. This is helpful, thanks! I am going to make the name in the lower left all red, and leave the score all white. Will this work? I want the dark square to remain solid, so it may just be best to not have the platforms visible once the dark passes over them, as opposed to showing them in the inverse color. Thanks! Once I fully understand the Player and Missle graphic limitations, I can update the screenshots accordingly. And thanks again for all of the information! Really appreciate it. -B

Not enough there to form an opinion either way. I could get passed them anthropomorphizing the Yars character if the game itself stays somewhat true to the original, and it plays well.

I'll have to write up a blog entry some day about my theory of "The 'Weird Al' Curse". Now that's something I'd like to read!

Thanks, man

I think this is great. Only recommendation I have, and this is just nit picking, would be to remove the two zeroes ("00") between the scores in the Pong game. Other than that, nice work! Is it possible to add additional icons to the desktop? It would be cool to add a "Word"-type text editor or something, too. Just for heck of it. -B

I think you're selling yourself short. Learning something new takes time and dedication, but one of the joys of homebrew is you can take as much time as you need and you are doing something you want to do. So don't start with ASM. Many people have done some amazing games with batari Basic. Work through the tutorials and documentation. Read through other people's code, make changes and see what happens. You don't even need a VCS, just use one of the emulators. Put the same amount of passion and enthusiasm you put into your artwork into learning something new.Hi Eric,I may download the VbB editor and see what happens. I've started looking through some of the introductory code and it's all pretty confusing. I'm honestly not sure I'll ever understand it. We'll see what happens...Thanks for the encouragement -B

Programming for the 2600 is often about sacrificing one thing to get another, and about having to decide what you're willing to sacrifice versus what you want to keep. For example, if the walls and doors are red (i.e., Jumpy's color), then missile0 can be used to draw them: background = white background player0 = red Jumpy missile0 = red walls and doors player1 = various objects (different colors: green, blue, red, purple, etc.), as well as black platforms missile1 = black platforms, as well as red key platform playfield = the dark (black) ball = the edge of the dark (dark) That would let everything move and scroll at 1-clock intervals. The screen could be divided into vertical zones, with platforms being limited to certain y positions, and the various objects being limited to the areas between the platforms, so different COLUP1 colors could be used for the objects. Missile1 could be used for the narrowest platforms-- 8 clocks wide-- but player1 would have to be used for the wider platforms (16 clocks wide, 24 clocks wide, and 32 clocks wide, or whatever). Michael Thanks, Michael. Is the attached screenshot more in line with what you have laid out above? -B

I suspect that if Doc or Fillmore (George Carlin) are in the movie, they'll re-cast them, as they did with Slinky Dog (Jim Varney) in Toy Story 3. If Megamind is still around in a month, I'll probably see it while I'm on vacation. Or maybe I'll check it out over Thanksgiving. But I can't say it's high on my "to-do" list at the moment. Damn, I forgot that George Carlin was in that, too. Any more actors from that movie die and it'll give Poltergeist a run for it's money. Megamind wasn't high on my to-do list, either, but the kids have different priorities than I do! -B

Well, people pay more for bottled water, which is essentially tap water, so I wouldn't be surprised. It would be the same as having a glass container filled with what you think is sand from some exotic beach, when it's really from the Jersey shore. -B

Wow, Cars 2 looks pretty good. I like the spy story, too. I wonder how they'll handle the backstory with Doc -- or if they'll even mention him -- since Paul Newman passed away. Definitely see Megamind. I'll admit, I was skeptical, but was pleasantly surprised. -B