Thomas Jentzsch

Thanks. I will both suggestions a try.

This is planned as a party game, where people a competing against each other. So why would it need a score? However I could provide points based on positions and then the players could play e.g. 3 rounds and accumulate points (displayed on a separate screen). But I am not sure of that fits well to the target group.

Effectively the values would be averaged. And since some cars are accelerating while others are slowing down, the ups and downs would mostly get lost.

@alex_79 Hm, the paddle lines are used for switching. So how can I use them for detection? If they would work, paddles would work with a QuadTari too. Or is only one lines (INPT0) used and INPT1 is still unaffected? Wouldn't that mean that the 2nd paddles of each pair would work with a QuadTari?

Thanks. Sounds easy.

How can I detect if a QuadTari is attached to a port?

I am not very talented when it comes to sound design. The current version uses two different engine sounds in parallel (AUDC0 = $3, AUDC1 = $f). The current noise is OK, but any useful help is welcome.

Next update V0.3 (see 1st post). Major additions: timer (30, 60 and 90s races) and start countdown some sound (not final yet) human vs computer players With SELECT you can select a race time, RESET starts the game. During the countdown, the human players have to press their buttons, this will brighten their cars. The other, darker cars will be controlled by the computer. During a race, the position of a car represents its current placement (not distances between cars). The visible gaps slowly increase during a race and are maximized at the finish. Feedback welcome! The game still fits easily into 2K, so there is plenty space for further improvements.

That might work (or maybe not), but even two engine sounds are hardly distinguishable.

I wonder too. Obviously I cannot play individual sounds for all 8 cars. I suppose I will play sounds for the two leading cars. Sounds will be the typical buzz sound (based on speed, maybe with some shifting). Or a braking sound, in case a player missed the boost arrows.

Partially broken paddle controllers might get a new life too.

I had thought about this one too.

High Octane, Octoboost...

Me too! I plan to a add a simple AI for the cars which have no driver. Then, when you start a new game, all players have to press their buttons within a few seconds. The remaining cars become AI driven. BTW: You monitor or camera seem to have a heavy blue tint.

Cool! But don't expect too much. There are still a lot of things missing. And to fix (e.g. the cars coming to a full stop if you brake too much). BTW: I suppose I will name it only VROOM! (without the 8 ). Or VROOOOOOOOM!

Continued here.

After having a coarse idea for an one button racing game, I went ahead and started coding. The current result is nowhere near to being complete, but I think it is good enough for a first impression. On real hardware it works with a QuadTari and four(!) sets of paddles, from which only the buttons are used. Gameplay: Press SELECT to select game length (30, 60 or 90 seconds) and difficulty (white = kids, blue = easy, yellow = normal, red = hard). Difficulty affects computer AI and braking. Set LEFT DIFFICULTY switch to A to activate red colored "SuperBoost" arrows. These occur randomly and provide twice the boost of a normal arrow. Press RESET to start the 5 seconds race countdown (indicated by 5 appearing red lights). During the countdown, each player must press his fire button to activate his/her car. The activated cars will become brighter, the other cars will be controlled by the computer AI. After the countdown, the race starts. During the race, press the fire button while your car is over the boost arrows. The arrows will turn your car's color if done right and black if you missed them. The former will accelerate your car, the latter will brake. The position of a car reflects its position in the race (not the gap to opponents). This gap will increase during the race, moving the leading cars further to the right. This reduces the reaction time for new boost arrows. Shortly after the race is over, the distance covered by each car will be displayed instead of the cars. Note: This game uses paddles (fire buttons only), up to eight if you use a QuadTari. There is no end to the game yet, you can only try to take the lead. BTW: During coding, I found that the latest Stella 6.5.2 still is missing some QuadTari support. Paddles aren't working as expected. But you can use Joysticks with directions left/right instead. Default mappings for 3rd and 4th controller are the identical to 1st and 2nd controller, but with Shift pressed. And since my QuadTari is still shipping, testing is a bit hard currently. Vroom 8! (v0.2) (PAL60).bin Vroom 8! (v0.2).bin Vroom 8! (v0.3) (PAL60).bin Vroom 8! (v0.3) (NTSC).bin Vroom 8! (v0.4) (PAL60).bin Vroom 8! (v0.4) (NTSC).bin Vroom 8! (v0.5) (PAL60).bin Vroom 8! (v0.5) (NTSC).bin Vroom! (v0.6) (PAL60).bin Vroom! (v0.6) (NTSC).bin Vroom! (v0.7) (PAL60).bin Vroom! (v0.7) (NTSC).bin Vroom! (v0.8) (PAL60).bin Vroom! (v0.8) (NTSC).bin Vroom! (v0.90) (PAL60).bin Vroom! (v0.90) (NTSC).bin

I went back several versions (until 4.7.2) and this demo never worked in Stella. It uses some TIA tricks which are not emulated in Stella. @DirtyHairy Do you want to have a look? Should we create an issue?

Trackballs are not listed as compatible on the QuadTari website. But I think they should work. Then multiple trackballs hacks should work too. if there is enough CPU time during kernel display.

I created a non-playable demo of my simple, eight player, one button racing game. Gameplay (not implemented yet): When the button is pressed and the car is over the boost arrows, the car accelerates. When the button is pressed and the car is not over the boost arrows, the car brakes. When no button is pressed, the car slows down gradually. The horizontal position of the car signals the position in the race. Also it requires the reaction of the leading players to be faster. Currently the difference per position is half the car width, this may change, even while the game is played. Vroom 8! (v0.1).bin

Are you pointing the Image path in the Launcher settings to the correct directory?

Brainstorming: A one button, eight players racing game might work. Either eight horizontal or vertical lanes (one for each player) or a circuit layout with 8 different starting positions. The track consists out of two (maybe three) types of zones (accelerate, brake, (neutral)). When you press the button, the zone you are currently on gets active. So you have to time your button presses so that you hit the accelerate zones and avoid the brake zones. In case of separate lanes, you race towards the checkered flag. In case of a circuit, you try to catch and eliminate your opponent ahead.

A simple hack: Use EOR BEQ/BNE instead of CMP BEQ/BNE. This has two advantages which might be useful: A is 0 if equal The C and V flags are not changed

The same would work with the missiles and the ball, and playfield of course. And you could read NUSIZx registers that way too, also some bits of CTRLPF. Reading RESMx is also possible. And you could use the VDELed shadow registers and gain another 16 bits! Plus one bit from the ball. There was a thread about this somewhere on AtariAge.

Not feasible with the QuadTari. Only the buttons would be supported.