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fultonbot

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Posts posted by fultonbot

  1. Posted

    5 minutes ago, zzip said:

    Hmm,  I just pulled up a random issue from 84.   I do see that Arnie and Joyce wrote some of the computer game reviews, as well as regular Tracie Forman and a few other people.   But interestingly none were from Bill.   Maybe he wasn't into computer games?

     

    In Arnie's interview, he blamed the publisher for not wanting to do computers.  Bill said they weren't a computer game magazine, and that was covered by other publications.

    So I met Bill in the 2000's after his book came out and we spent a couple days talking about video game design and EG.  Bill did not have the best memory of everything at the time, and even Arnie mentions this in his interview that book is from "Bill' perspective".   DM me if you want know more.

    • Like 1

  2. Posted · Edited by fultonbot

    17 minutes ago, zzip said:

    Interesting how they both say the magazine wasn't a computer games magazine,  but my memory was that by 1984, they were already heavily covering computer games.

    They were, so yeah, it's kinda weird.  But I wonder if they were not as involved with that part of the magazine as we thought.
    You should also make sure to read Bill's book, Confessions Of The Game Doctor:
    https://www.amazon.com/Confessions-Game-Doctor-Bill-Kunkel/dp/B088BFGF3D/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&qid=1621965535&refinements=p_27%3ABill+Kunkel&s=books&sr=1-1

    It gives a lot of insight into the publishing process.  For example, it's not like the offices for EG were filled with TVs and  video game consoles, in fact, there was very little if anything in the office.  It's likely most of the computer articles were done by freelancers, and the KKW were a bit removed from that process.

  3. Posted

    57 minutes ago, zzip said:

    Did they tell you why they left?

     

    What little the magazine said was they were affected by the crash too, and that's why they went bi-monthly for a time in 84.  Then after they switched to monthly-  I can only imagine the financial troubles persisted..  which probably explains the change in editorial team.   Changing the name to Video Games & Computer Entertainment made some sense because computers had become a much bigger factor in gaming, and the term "Electronic Games" was already kind of outdated because as I remember, we called those LCD/LED handhelds of the late 70s/early 80s "electronic games",   The stuff we played on consoles was "video games".   On the other hand "Electronic Games" was a magazine brand people recognized on the newsstand, they may not have recognized VG&CE and the name change may have backfired.  

     

    The layout of VG&CE changed drastically from EG too.   columns were denser (probably to save paper).  There was much less artwork (again takes up space, and full color printing is expensive, so the fewer pages that require full-color the more they save.   I think they may have switched to a cheaper paper too.    The magazine felt a lot less fun to read.    If it hadn't folded, there was a chance I wouldn't have renewed my subscription

    They did not leave on their own.

    Here is what Bill said:
    Steve Fulton: Why was the switch from consoles to home computers unsuccessful for Electronic Games?
    Kunkel: We weren’t a computer game magazine. The computer people advertised in those big, telephone book-sized PC magazines or the Apple magazines and later the Atari and C64 magazines. But EG was about the UNIVERSE of games, not computers, and computer software didn’t have the marketing budgets the VCS games did. Now CGW survived, but they started back when EG did and they were always devoted exclusively to computers. Also, Sipe sold it to Ziff-Davis in ’83, I believe, and that monolith already had advertisers from all their geek computer magazines and adding in one more magazine was not a problem. And, to be truthful, when Jay Rosenfield fired Arnie and Joyce and then I quit (they were fired on Dec. 7, 1984 and I stayed around long enough to collect a Christmas bonus, which I desperately needed), it was really all over. There’s an entire chapter on it in my book, but basically Reese had no credibility left. It looked like they were suddenly switching sides and were becoming a magazine about the various boring kinds of computer-based entertainment that was big in the mid-80s. I mean, Americans were into computer games, everything had to be a SIMULATION. This is typically fickle of the US audience, by the way.

    Read the while interview here:
    https://intotheverticalblank.com/2008/05/16/bill-kunkel-electronic-games-interview/

    This is what Arnie said:

    How did the original Electronic Games end?

    AK: It folded because Jay fired all of us and brought in another crew that were unable to do it. What was kind of sad about it was that I had told Jay, as far back as mid-1984, that with our name Electronic Games, we should be shifting our focus to computer games because of the problems in the industry. However, Jay was much less comfortable with computers than video games.

    It was something about computers. He did not like computers. Maybe they seemed more threatening? I honestly don’t know. Whatever it was, we kept our format. I even suggested changing the name to Computers and Video Games. We kept doing it. The circulation went down, but not by much. I think 180,000 was the bottom.
    https://intotheverticalblank.com/2009/12/29/my-interview-with-arnie-katz-co-founder-of-electronic-games-magazine-up-at-gamastra/

     

  7. Posted

    24 minutes ago, RevEng said:

    The quick answer to arbitrary bitmap drawing is to use RAM-backed sprites. Basically you have a series of sprites that cover the screen and point at different segments of RAM, and you have line drawing routines that update that RAM. There isn't an easy way to do this in 7800basic right now. @SmittyB's Plink game uses pretty much this technique for dynamic backgrounds, though it's not doing full-screen bitmaps. (they repeat vertically)

     

    That said, I don't think Missile Command actually needs bitmap display, if you just limit the number of angles the missiles can come in at. (The 2600 version doesn't pull off arbitrary angles either, and the missile aspect of the game compares very well to the arcade). Given that approach, you can just draw the missile segments with sprites. (pulling this off quick enough would likely require pre-the Under The Hood technique)

    I think I'll try the 2nd method for the fun of it.

     

    • Like 1

  8. Posted

    On 4/10/2021 at 8:20 PM, RevEng said:

    Arbitrary user-interrupts (other than the current near-top, near-bottom, and offscreen ones) aren't planned in the near future. An NMI color change interrupt needs minimal overhead to be reliable - otherwise, adding more dma increases the chance of the color change not taking effect until the next scanline, to the point where the heaviest DMA limits can cause a miss in the most minimal color change code.

     

    I may change this in the future if I take on an NMI handling rewrite, but honestly I have a few different pieces I'd like in place before I consider that, to avoid painting myself into a corner.

    RevEng
    Can you see any way to "draw" on the screen effectively with Maria by manipulating the bitmap drawing?  
    Like how would one approach drawing the missiles in Missile Command? 

  9. Posted

    17 hours ago, fultonbot said:

     

     

    Oh, old files.  Sorry. These should work at least in an emulator.

    numbercrusher2021.bas.a78 128.13 kB · 11 downloads numbercrusher2021.bas.bin 128 kB · 3 downloads

    I just want to point you that this game is really not ready to be played yet.   Most of the bits are there (except the shield and the boss fight), but I'm struggling on timing, balance, and exactlyy how the enemy cars will move.  It's pretty much a mess.

  11. Posted · Edited by fultonbot

    2 hours ago, gambler172 said:

    The demo bins are great,but number cruncher does not work on my Dragonfly 😭

    Will check it on other devices tomorrow.

    Maybe contact Rafal,why Dragonfly does not work?

     

     

    1 hour ago, Trebor said:

    @fultonbot In addition to gambler172 results above, I tried Number Crusher under the A7800 emulator, MiSTer FPGA, and Concerto. 

    All experienced the same - a solid yellow screen.

     

    Oh, old files.  Sorry. These should work at least in an emulator.

    numbercrusher2021.bas.a78 numbercrusher2021.bas.bin

    • Like 2

  13. Posted

    On 5/22/2021 at 3:41 AM, gambler172 said:

    Hi FB

    looks good so far....Are the any files available of your other projects?

    grretings Walter

    You mean like binaries of games and utilities? 

    pokeyplayer.bas.a78 pokeyplayer.bas.bin 160A_16pixelzone_128_16.bas.a78 160A_16pixelzone_128_16.bas.bin laststand.bas.a78 laststand.bas.bin 7800xmas.bas.a78 7800xmas.bas.bin itvb.bas.a78 itvb.bas.bin numbercrusher.bas.a78 numbercrusher.bas.bin

    • Like 1

  14. Posted · Edited by fultonbot

    19 hours ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

    You bet, you can watch it right after the show finishes on Twitch on the ZPH twitch channel through the link above!

     

    - James

    @ZeroPage Homebrew
    Okay, so I was getting new glasses and  just missed this. Damn.
    Here is the archive:
     

    ZeroPageHomebrew - Twitch

     

    1. Port of a game I designed and programmed in 2005.

    2. 1/2 of the screen is blank because that's is where you fight (eventually)

    3. Will probably NOT make it time-based this time (I hated that mechanic). Will probably use a fuel mechanic based on clicking pieces.

    4. Yes, the bottom is diagnostics to debug the rare times pieces don't connect.  The top corner seems to be an issue.  I think you gave me some more clues.

    5. Hint- start from the end instead of the beginning

    6. You hit a bug!!  Yeah, I think that's exactly what happened.   You should not be able to max it out. Oops.

    7. Yeah, I think you are right, moving all the ships is a good idea

    8. Timer or fuel, will try both

    9. Thanks for playing so long.  I loved how you tried to break it. This was great. I think you played it longer than I ever have. 

    10. Pokey music probably.   I'm not very good at it, but will give it another shot.

    11. I'll try having the ship launch manually instead of automatically.

    12. Acceleration through tubes...I'll do that if it makes sense for the game.

    13. Nice, yeah the sprites in the last ship type seem to be messed-up

     

    Thanks for doing this!!  So much helpful information.
    Next time it will be an actual game to play and not just a POC.

     

     

    • Like 2

  16. Posted

    57 minutes ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

    Nice, thanks for the great update! Looking forward to playing it on the show tonight.

     

    I've got a lot of fun ideas for the game that'll I'll talk about on the show. Congratulations on the programmer's block being broken!

     

    - James

    Oh i can't wait! I'd love some ideas.  
    I have a dr. appt tonight at 5:30, so I might miss it.  Is there an archive for Twitch?

    • Like 1

  17. Posted

    10 hours ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

    ZeroPage Homebrew is playing Iron Grip: Destroyer of Worlds on tomorrow's (Tue May 18, 2021) stream LIVE on Twitch at 6PM PT | 9PM ET | 1AM GMT! Hope everyone can watch!

     

    Games:

    2131415952_20210518-LetsPlay.thumb.jpg.0e3ddcb5fa4af6dea17eb4d8f579b0c4.jpg

    @ZeroPage Homebrew

    Here is updated binary with couple bugs fixed.  The ships now return to their starting position after launch.
    Also, I forgot to mention, the concept here is that the longer the path you create, the more power your ship will have. 
    This is subtle, but the ships will change shape as their travel on the path.
     

    (PS: "programmer's block" broken!)


     

    irongrip.bas.a78 irongrip.bas.bin

    • Like 2
    • Thanks 1

  18. Posted

    43 minutes ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

    ZeroPage Homebrew is playing Iron Grip: Destroyer of Worlds on tomorrow's (Tue May 18, 2021) stream LIVE on Twitch at 6PM PT | 9PM ET | 1AM GMT! Hope everyone can watch!

     

    Games:

    2131415952_20210518-LetsPlay.thumb.jpg.0e3ddcb5fa4af6dea17eb4d8f579b0c4.jpg

    Cool! Be gentle, I know there is not much to Play yet and even what is there is buggy, but I’ve been having complete “programmers block” since my sister passed away in April and I figured the best way to combat it was to post this progress up and make it “real” so I would have to keep working on it. 

    • Like 1

  19. Posted · Edited by fultonbot

    On 5/17/2021 at 11:15 AM, gambler172 said:

    any file available?

    Oh heck, I just added the binaries to the first message (also added below)
    Instructions


    -Use the arrows keys to move the selector

    -Press fire to turn the pieces

    -Blue pieces means they are connected to the left side

    -Make blue track all the way to right-side to "launch" the ship

     

    There are too many bugs to name, but this gets the idea across.

     

     

    • Like 5

  22. Posted · Edited by fultonbot
    Updated Binaries

    So this my 4th homebrew currently in development, but it was actually  the first 7800 homebrew I started and I'm returning to it now that I have a little experience.
    This game will be a combination of Rocket Mania and Plants vs. Zombies as you launch ships to combat the "Iron Grip", an alien force bent on destroying the universe.
    It started s a demake of some object oriented ActionScript 3 code from 2005.
    This is just getting started again, I hope to have a playable (non buggy demo) soon.

    ig1.thumb.png.eafaa1c3c777715038fc767a0990bcb9.pngig2.thumb.png.357b9cf12d91cdace6e76e23b0be2878.png



     

     

    irongrip.bas.a78 irongrip.bas.bin

    • Like 8

  25. Posted

    4 hours ago, Dave S Cramer said:

    First, there is no such thing as a dumb question. Second, if you still haven't found it yet, just keep going right (using the parachute to fly between the gap between the end of the beginning of the trucks) and it's near the front of the 3rd 'convoy'.

    Okay, I needed to use the "bricks" on the last car of the first convoy, then the parachute.
    This is game is so in-depth it's amazing.

    • Like 1
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