MemberAtarian
-
Content Count
388 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Posts posted by MemberAtarian
-
-
I don't have any multicart for my Channel F, can you post a video about it?
-
I played it a few times. There wasn't any scrolling issues, but it was very difficult to make jumps. I would intend to jump once, but end up jumping twice, which would usually cause me to fall in a pit and die. I noticed a bug in the areas where the paths fall away as you run across them. on the high path, I went to the end and got the herb, but I got stuck in the wall and had to reset. Then a couple of games later, on the lower path, it fell away and dropped me on the bottom to the left of the herb, so I tried to jump over the the herb and hit the edge where the path fell away and got stuck in the wall there too. I also never got the fire button to work, I thought maybe I was missing something, but if not, that would be a bug too. Overall though, I'm liking the game. It looks great and I can't wait to play the finished version.
These are the things I want to work out somehow. Really hard to make a proper platformer with just 262 cycles, I only have enough cycles to call pfread for a few times. :/
-
After so many hours of suffer and guilty, I polished a nearly finished version of Plague. I removed one room and the final boss to make it fit into the strange logic of the compiler. I won't spoil the ending, it's different from the one I made last time.
It's only NTSC for now, in the next days I gonna create the PAL50 and PAL60 versions and test in on the real hardware. In Stella, in 99% of the cases there was 262 cycles before the drawscreen, so I hope now it works and there won't be any scrolling.
I changed some parts of the game, jumping must be easier, but herbs gives you lesser continues and the inverted cross boss is much harder from now.
EDIT:If the left switch is in hard mode, the herb only gives you 1 points, in easy, you gain three of them!-
3
-
-
Never thought Batari Basic could be this crappy. I arrenged everything to the first 6 banks and removed the whole boss at the end, but it won't even let me put there the ending. Bank7 would have enough space for a great ending, but in the moment I put something there, it says bank 8 is in minus.
-
It's been years since I've used bB, but I imagine this is still the case - no matter where you put your graphic data in the program, it gets relocated to whatever the last bank is (in this case bank8) at compile time. Try commenting out a sprite and see if the size of bank 8 changes when you compile it..
Great, I will try to do something. If it won't work, I remove the boss and make the other parts harder, because the last boss was really fustrating, because you have to shoot the first time and the continues and the bullets both use the collected herbs, so you could drain yourself to game over in a minute.
-
This is where am I right now. I only have the last boss left, the code is in 99% at 262 cycles. But now BB wants itselk kill my work, there is nothing in bank 8, not a single command, and BB says it is full. Can I do something about it? (I cannot copy/paste that "nothing" to bank 2).
-
When you break up init new-screen logic over multiple frames you don't process normal gameplay during those frames. No gameplay logic = no falling, so the first problem isn't really a problem.
Lack of RAM (variables) is almost always an issue with 2600 development, double so for bB due to how much RAM it needs for its own purposes. One way to solve that are to use bits within bytes, I talk about that in step 9 of Collect. In bB you'd do that using Bit Operations. Another is to reuse variables for different things depending upon what's occurring in the game - in Medieval Mayhem I reused the RAM that keeps track of the walls to draw the main menu.
My luck in that you cannot go back to the prev room, so I made it that after leaving one, var0=1, and if var0=1, then it sets the playfield (after that, it sets var0 to 0), but there is no drawscreen during var0=1. So I had to make sure no playfield uses that variable and thats all. The only hard task right now is the mushroom trip, there the cycles always go over 262.
My next game will be a much simpler concept, with a Secret Quest-like layout, no jumps and complex playfields.
-
To fix that problem break up the new-screen logic to run over 2 or more frames. On the first frame update half the playfield, on the second frame update the other half. It'll occur so fast the user won't notice that it used an extra frame, but they will notice screen jitter caused by inconsistent scanline counts.
I have two problems right now. One is, that I created a perfect collision with the stage, so you cannot fall between blocks of the pf and you can jump at the edge of the blocks without falling off, but it takes so many pfreads, even with using temp2 variable to save the !pfread(m,n) commands value if I have to use the same multiple times, that if a room has some action it goes again over 262 cycles.
The other problem is, that I'm out of variables. Most of them are neaded for moving and z for shooting and one for the health, y, o, u, s, r, w are used in every room differently, temp1, temp3 and b are useless, they mess with the code if I give them a value. I thought the same, that if b=0 then I calculate only one part of collisions and if b=1 then the other ones, and have every room draw the pf only at the beginning, but as I said, I have no more variables.
-
Maybe you can get some help with optimizing in the bB forum so you don't have to cut those rooms.
I'm at half way and has to make my favorite room with the mushroom today. Until now, I only had to cut out the mice, so the demon appears immidiately. And I made platforming easier and worked out a bug that caused the character invincible to enemies that damaged more than 1 by toucing.
It some rooms (like the demon I mentioned) the screen will "jump" a bit at enter because there are 264 cycles as it draws the playfield, but after that it will be the normal 262.
-
The other thing I changed is the collision of the playfield while jumping, so you don't have to be 100% sure.
-
Just got a chance to check this out. NTSC ROM is vertically scrolling on a real console, just as it is in Stella and Stellerator.
Since yesterday, I had to start it over maybe 5 times, because sometimes BB thought that it should recognize the Titlescreen part. So the first tactic was bad idea, to recreate every room and test it after it. Now I go from room to room and place every single object one by one and test it with the newest Stella, so I can see the picture vibrating. This will be a long job and I fear, some of my favorite rooms must be cut out.
-
With all respect, these days, if something doesn't work in Stella but does in z26, I would probably be looking at the ROM in question instead. Stella has seen constant development particularly in the past few years, and z26 hasn't be updated in 5+ years. So while it's possible that Stella has a problem, when compared to z26 I would very much doubt it.
That being said, I can test this ROM on a real console when I get home from work today.
I was amazed as well, but Stella does not play the older version it used to play correctly after I updated the title screen. (if you compile, it inserts the most up to date titlescreen.asm.
I noticed your game do not continuously generate frames with 262 (60Hz/ntsc) or 312 (50Hz/pal) scanlines.
In the game its 292, then 14 (ntsc). 342, 10, 4 (pal).
Moving the character also adds and removes scanlines.
The title-screen seems OK, generating 262 or 312 lines/frame.
Some frames, with sound have 1 scanline more.
Having more or less scanlines each frame, will setup tv's and the latest stella.
So I guess, you need to focus on getting the scanlines/frame in order.
Grtz,
Sijmen.
Hi, how did you count the scanlines?
I only use Batari Basic, so I don't know how to make the scanline numbers correct, I thought that the program calculates them every single time. -
Hi guys, I need your help.
I tested all the versions of the game, but I need you help for fixing screen issues.Somehow after I changed the title screen, it does not work with Stella, only with z26 emulator (Stella slows down the game and flickers the screen).
1. NTSC
I used z26 as mentioned. It looks okay in emulator, but I would like to ask you for testing it on the real NTSC hardware and television.
2. PAL
On my tv, it's perfect, except the mushroom trip part, there the screen starts to roll as the playfield gets reoriented. If I put there a variable and slow it down to third speed, it seems barely tolerable (with the screen shaking). But with my DVD recorder, that decodes the RF signal for my Easycap, de screen rolls except the title screen. Can I do anything besides putting the "tv type pal" in the code?
3. PAL60
It's the same on my recorder and my tv, it's nearly 35 years old, so it's perfect for old consoles. The screen keeps reorienting because of the PAL <<>> PAL60 difference, it does the same with the NTSC version, because it has 525 scanlines as well.
-
I finished the part where you have to find the cure. There is two components for the serum, but beware, two of the four herbs are toxic.
-
2
-
-
is there an updated bin?
It will be 100% soon and I will release it for public testing. I won't be enough to find all the possible bugs.
-
2
-
-
Looks better with every new reveal...
Now I work a bit on my Atari 2600 programming review, after that I'm gonna do the second part of the game where you have to create the medicine and test it on the ill.
-
Interesting, it can detect my tv type? I used it on an entirely PAL system, but it seemed complately fine.
-
So, I give you a little peek again. The two main music got an update, and I show you one of the two bosses. It's a reference to something.
-
1
-
-
One thing to be aware of is the 7800 repurposed the TV Type switch as the PAUSE button, and instead of a toggle it's now a momentary switch. 2600 games will detect it as B&W only when PAUSE is being held down.
The 2600/7800 pause routine topic has routines for detecting 2600 vs 7800 as well as pausing the game. Just change the "paused" check to turn off the music instead of pausing the game
Or even better, considering using TV Type for pause and put the music on/off on a difficulty switch. A number of homebrews already use Right Difficult A for this.
True, so I made the right difficulty switch turn down the music. That is also on the 7800.
-
very cool addition.
i went back and watched a bit more of the game play.
i REALLY like the obstacle of the Hangman's Dance!
the bass line motif gets really tiresome.
any way you could leave any music motif out and put the focus into sound design and sound effects?
Actually yes, now if you set the B/W switch to B/W, the music stops.
-
I think this was the hardest part to program by far, the Plague Doc eats a mushroom, fights his own fears and progress.-
1
-
-
You got it right, I really like plague doctor outfit's, I have also mine.
Yesterday was a horrible day, but today I'm gonna continue development, there was a part with "God's hand" that took me a lot to figure out which line caused it not working. 
-
Man...looks fantastic...with unique and difficult jumps and very impressive sprites. I also love the NO HOPE and NO CURE messages...
I don't understand the cave section, however.
There will be only this tree cave section.
The first has really no hard part, you only have to jump across. The second had floating platforms, so you have to guess jumps. The third has that annoying "bridge fall" and a little trick at the end. I know it's only easy for me because I know the layout. Score works as continue here, but if you waste too much, you can't create enough medicine.Messages are important part of this game.
-
https://www.youtube.com/embed/5QZ-LYJNbtQ
Another progress.
Many errors corrected and other rooms, like the cave added.
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Plague (Atari 2600)
in Homebrew Discussion
Posted
Today I'm still working on my current yt video, but after midnight I finally get again to do a little bit debugging.
You are right with thouse bugs. There is a way to make the score field black without turning the last block of background black as well, so I will try. The pf blocks are a different story, if the VCS would have more scanlines for calculations, I could easily detect collision if there would be more pf reads, but it's one of the most costful commands (so costful you cannot use two of them in the same if then), I have two for checking things under you, on to check things over you and two for both sides.
The fire button is only used after you fought the cross (yeah, you have to beat the boss without a weapon!) and you only use it to cure (or kill, if the elixir is wrong) the people. If splitting the rooms wouldn't eat more space, the last boss would be beatable with the elixir, but unfortunately I had to remove that part.