Coolcrab

made a small donation via paypal. Hope that you hit the goal soon and that the operation goes well!

New version added to main page. You now got to get the score down from 1000 to 0 before the healthbar runs out. If you manage then you get the health back and score gets rest. Next step is to make the health lower and score higher for each iteration and perhaps add a second score for #levels. I think that this can be seen as a demo. Feedback welcome

I guess that the name can be confusing. I was also thinking of changing the score mechanics as to give you X points, and make them go down when observing the star. With each successful observation you need to work away more points and maybe the cloud moves faster. What do you think? (assuming that you tried it)

default.bin.bas is the first version, kept for nostalgia? astronomer.0.4 is the current version. Is it customary to remove old versions? I can do that.

I added a .bin to the main post

Thanks to some very useful tips from Bogax I've gotten a new version of the game out. (Download on main post) Feedback and suggestions welcome!

I finally got some time to spend on this again. I managed to make the line move smooth from lower left to lower right and added in a star that the player needs to track. But its too fast and flies horizontally now. I was wondering if it is possible to make payer0 rotate around a certain coordinate. Preferably some star appears somewhere in the lower left corner with a random y coordinate and then rises and sets around say the lower central point. (where the telescope is.) Other than that, as far as I understand I can draw 2 stars at a time. Player1 and 2. Is it possible to draw any more if they behave the same anyway? astronomerV0.35.bin

Ok I understand most of your code, but I was wondering how you came up with the equation for limiting p between 0-31. Is there a reason that its all div 2 and div4 instead of 53p/128? I assume there is some limit to the math the atari can do? The code you gave is perfect, apart from the fact that the y position is changed with up and down. I want to add 3 if statements that make it go down in y when it reaches 0,0 and the player still presses left and the same for (31,0). Sothat you can swoop the entire border with just 2 directions. (soon to be paddles hopefully.) But since the range for x1 needs to be extended from 0-31 to 0-47 he equation you gave is not correct. 5p/8 should do the trick but it doesn't. Should I write this as something with only two's? I've tried to recreate your process in my code and it works reasonably but I get catastrophic failure if I split the movement like this. enter xpos=14 : ypos=9 pfpixel xpos ypos on x0 = xpos : y0 = ypos if x < 8 then x1 = 0 : y1 = 8-x if x> 7 && x < 37 then x1 = x-8 : y1 = 0 if x > 36 && x < 44 then x1=29 : y1=36-x if x> 45 then x1 = 29 : y1 = 8 gosub setup_move goto pf However it just jumps all over the place and even makes sound if i got off screen far enough. I'll keep puzzling, but if anyone sees anything stupid please tell me.

Wow this is great! I'll play around with it when I'm home tonight. Amazing how smooth it runs

Hey all, I came across this book on amazon. Is it any good? I couldn't find a topic on it on the forum (But the title is very generic, so maybe I missed it.) https://www.amazon.co.uk/Making-Games-Atari-2600-Steven/dp/1541021304/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1506863939&sr=1-4&keywords=atari+2600

How does one add scores? I submit screenshot function would be great!

Ok I'm getting there as it now responds to the paddle and can move around. However as soon as I limit the value of paddle tot 29 (Or whatever other number) it gets stuck at one value and does not respond anymore. Am I missing something with how the paddle works? As far as I can see it should have a value between 0 and 77 so it should be easily capped if I say 'if x > 29 then x = 29' right? astronomerV0.3.bas

Yes, I have this at the top. And I'm following this example: http://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-batari-basic-commands.html#pfpixel I must be doing something wrong but I can't seem to find it. set kernel_options no_blank_lines readpaddle currentpaddle = 0 drawscreen

Wow good call I missed that, but it still does not seem to react properly. I also hooked paddle to score to see how it behaves, but it stays at 64. (score = paddle) (And I changed the stella settings to use a paddle instead of a joystick in the settings.) Once that is done I think its just a matter of normalizing the paddle output and bam.

Yes thank you, this is also what I found on stack overflow. I'm trying to implement the code to draw squares but i'm messing up and not sure how to fix it. Instead of an object I make a variable xpos, ypos that 'walks' to the chosen coordinate and whenever it is not touching the playfield it turns the pfpixel to on. Then when it reaches the desired position it stops altogether. This is fast and perfect.. Now I am trying to couple this to a paddle, but it seems not to accept the paddle keyword. (And I tried to copy the readpaddle example) It's getting there though Thanks all for the help! If you replace if p <> paddle then x = paddle : goto center by if joy0fire then x = x + 1 : y = 2 : goto enter for example then the code works in plotting the lines. set kernel_options no_blank_lines readpaddle currentpaddle = 0 drawscreen dim ea = a dim dy = b dim dx = c dim x1 = temp1 dim x0 = temp2 dim y1 = temp3 dim y0 = temp4 dim delay = h dim rand16 = z dim xpos = k dim ypos = l x = 0 y = 3 t = 0 p = paddle player0: %11000000 %11000000 %00000000 %00000000 %00000000 %00000000 %00000000 %00000000 end player1: %11110000 %11110000 %11110000 %11110000 %00000000 %00000000 %00000000 %00000000 end xpos = 14 : ypos = 9 pfpixel xpos ypos on goto enter loop COLUP0 = $1C COLUP1 = $B4 COLUPF = $62 drawscreen if xpos <> x && ypos <> y then pfpixel xpos ypos on: gosub move if p <> paddle then x = paddle : goto center goto loop enter xpos=14 : ypos=9 pfpixel xpos ypos on x0 = xpos : y0 = ypos x1 = x : y1 = y gosub setup_move goto pf move temp1 = ea if f{0} then skip ypos = ypos + yinc[f] ea = ea - dx if temp1 < ea then ea = ea + dy : xpos = xpos + xinc[f] return skip xpos = xpos + xinc[f] ea = ea - dy if temp1 < ea then ea = ea + dx : ypos = ypos + yinc[f] return setup_move if x0 < x1 then f{2} = 1 : dx = x1 - x0 else f{2} = 0 : dx = x0 - x1 if y0 < y1 then f{1} = 1 : dy = y1 - y0 else f{1} = 0 : dy = y0 - y1 if dx > dy then f{0} = 1 : ea = dx else f{0} = 0 : ea = dy var36 = f return data yinc $FF, $FF, $01, $01, $FF, $FF,$01, $01 end data xinc $FF, $FF, $FF, $FF, $01, $01, $01, $01 end pf playfield: ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ end goto loop

Yes this works thanks! But now when I try to run it it gives black static unless I remove like a quarter of the rooms. I'm guessing that that is the space issue. It looks a lot better in transition though. So It's a pity that this does not work. You can't make an 8k game with batari basic? I've looked into pfpixel and the other two line commands, but I can't think of a way to draw the lines without programming in all pixels manually. And that would probably take up more space? Is space defined as the amount of characters used? I guess you'd have less lines per room, as a lot of the pixels can be seen as a 1x2 hline or vline. So might be worth a try. Do you think it will be worth the effort or still be too long? This would be great. If you do not have time, could you tell me how you would tackle such a problem. I don't know how to atomize the process and keep the lines symmetrical.

Put it in the main right under the other colors but it doesn't seem to fix it. main COLUBK=$0E COLUP1=$28 COLUPF = $26 The code worked when I had less rooms, could that be it? Also their size is 29x11, to get more symmetry, does it possibly not like that?

I tried the function but I couldn't find a good way of implementing it. However, I decided to just draw every option by hand. But for some reason it does not accept my code. Could it be that it is too long? It compiles but gives a black screen that doesn't respond to anything. Code below main1 y=0 player1x=80:player1y=85 player0x=0:player0y=10 c =10 l=0 score = 10 main COLUBK=$0E COLUP1=$28 if y=0 then playfield: ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=5 then playfield: ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. XXXXXXXX..................... ........XXXXXXX.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=10 then playfield: ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. XXXX......................... ....XXXXXXX.................. ...........XXXX.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=15 then playfield: ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. XXX.......................... ...XXXXX..................... ........XXXX................. ............XXX.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=20 then playfield: ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. XXX.......................... ...XXXXX..................... ........XXXX................. ............XXX.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=25 then playfield: ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. XX........................... ..XXXX....................... .....XXXX.................... .........XXXX................ .............XX.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=30 then playfield: ............................. ............................. ............................. XX........................... ..XXX........................ .....XXX..................... ........XX................... ..........XXX................ .............XX.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=35 then playfield: ............................. ............................. XX........................... ..XX......................... ....XX....................... ......XXX.................... .........XX.................. ...........XX................ .............XX.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=40 then playfield: ............................. XX........................... ..XX......................... ....XX....................... ......XX..................... ........XX................... ..........XX................. ............XX............... ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=45 then playfield: X............................ .XX.......................... ...XX........................ .....XX...................... .......XX.................... .........X................... ..........XX................. ............XX............... ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=50 then playfield: .X........................... ..XX......................... ....XX....................... ......X...................... .......XX.................... .........X................... ..........XX................. ............XX............... ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=55 then playfield: ..X.......................... ...XX........................ .....X....................... ......XX..................... ........X.................... .........XX.................. ...........X................. ............XX............... ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=60 then playfield: ...X......................... ....XX....................... ......X...................... .......X..................... ........XX................... ..........X.................. ...........X................. ............XX............... ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=65 then playfield: ....X........................ .....X....................... ......XX..................... ........X.................... .........X................... ..........X.................. ...........XX................ .............X............... ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=70 then playfield: .....X....................... ......X...................... .......X..................... ........X.................... .........XX.................. ...........X................. ............X................ .............X............... ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. ............................. end if y=75 then playfield: .......X..................... ........X.................... .........X................... ..........X.................. ...........X................. ............X................ .............X............... ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=80 then playfield: .......X..................... ........X.................... .........X................... ..........X.................. ..........X.................. ...........X................. ............X................ .............X............... ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=85 then playfield: ........X.................... .........X................... .........X................... ..........X.................. ...........X................. ............X................ ............X................ .............X............... ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=90 then playfield: .........X................... ..........X.................. ..........X.................. ...........X................. ...........X................. ............X................ .............X............... .............X............... ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=100 then playfield: ..........X.................. ..........X.................. ...........X................. ...........X................. ............X................ ............X................ .............X............... .............X............... ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=110 then playfield: ...........X................. ...........X................. ............X................ ............X................ ............X................ .............X............... .............X............... ..............X.............. ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=120 then playfield: ............X................ ............X................ ............X................ .............X............... .............X............... .............X............... .............X............... ..............X.............. ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=130 then playfield: .............X............... .............X............... .............X............... .............X............... .............X............... ..............X.............. ..............X.............. ..............X.............. ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=140 then playfield: ..............X.............. ..............X.............. ..............X.............. ..............X.............. ..............X.............. ..............X.............. ..............X.............. ..............X.............. ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=150 then playfield: ...............X............. ...............X............. ...............X............. ...............X............. ...............X............. ..............X.............. ..............X.............. ..............X.............. ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=160 then playfield: ................X............ ................X............ ................X............ ...............X............. ...............X............. ...............X............. ...............X............. ..............X.............. ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=170 then playfield: .................X........... .................X........... ................X............ ................X............ ................X............ ...............X............. ...............X............. ..............X.............. ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=180 then playfield: ..................X.......... ..................X.......... .................X........... .................X........... ................X............ ................X............ ...............X............. ...............X............. ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=190 then playfield: ...................X......... ..................X.......... ..................X.......... .................X........... .................X........... ................X............ ...............X............. ...............X............. ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=200 then playfield: ....................X........ ...................X......... ...................X......... ..................X.......... .................X........... ................X............ ................X............ ...............X............. ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=210 then playfield: .....................X....... ....................X........ ...................X......... ..................X.......... ..................X.......... .................X........... ................X............ ...............X............. ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=220 then playfield: .....................X....... ....................X........ ...................X......... ..................X.......... .................X........... ................X............ ...............X............. ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=230 then playfield: .......................X..... ......................X...... .....................X....... ....................X........ ..................XX......... .................X........... ................X............ ...............X............. ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. ............................. end if y=240 then playfield: ........................X.... .......................X..... .....................XX...... ....................X........ ...................X......... ..................X.......... ................XX........... ...............X............. ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=250 then playfield: .........................X... .......................XX.... ......................X...... .....................X....... ...................XX........ ..................X.......... .................X........... ...............XX............ ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=260 then playfield: ..........................X.. ........................XX... .......................X..... .....................XX...... ....................X........ ..................XX......... .................X........... ...............XX............ ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=270 then playfield: ...........................X. .........................XX.. .......................XX.... ......................X...... ....................XX....... ...................X......... .................XX.......... ...............XX............ ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=280 then playfield: ............................X ..........................XX. ........................XX... ......................XX..... ....................XX....... ...................X......... .................XX.......... ...............XX............ ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=290 then playfield: ............................. ...........................XX .........................XX.. .......................XX.... .....................XX...... ...................XX........ .................XX.......... ...............XX............ ..............X.............. ............................. ............................. end if y=300 then playfield: ............................. ............................. ...........................XX .........................XX.. .......................XX.... ....................XXX...... ..................XX......... ................XX........... ..............XX............. ............................. ............................. end if y=310 then playfield: ............................. ............................. ............................. ...........................XX ........................XXX.. .....................XXX..... ...................XX........ ................XXX.......... ..............XX............. ............................. ............................. end if y=320 then playfield: ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ...........................XX .......................XXXX.. ....................XXXX..... ................XXXX......... ..............XX............. ............................. ............................. end if y=330 then playfield: ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ..........................XXX .....................XXXXX... .................XXXX........ ..............XXX............ ............................. ............................. end if y=340 then playfield: ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ..........................XXX .....................XXXXX... .................XXXX........ ..............XXX............ ............................. ............................. end if y=350 then playfield: ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. .........................XXXX ..................XXXXXXX.... ..............XXXX........... ............................. ............................. end if y=360 then playfield: ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. .....................XXXXXXXX ..............XXXXXXX........ ............................. ............................. end if y=370 then playfield: ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ............................. ..............XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX ............................. ............................. end player0: %00000000 %00000000 %00011000 %00111100 %00111100 %00011000 %00000000 %00000000 end if y=0 then player1: %01111110 %00111100 %00011000 %00011000 %00111100 %00000000 %00000000 %00000000 end if y=10 then player1: %01111110 %00111100 %00011100 %00001000 %00000101 %00000010 %00000100 %00000000 end if y=20 then player1: %01111110 %00111100 %00011001 %00001111 %00000001 %00000000 %00000000 %00000000 end if joy0right then y=y+1 if joy0left then y=y-1 if c>10 then player0x=player0x+1: c=0 c=c+1 if collision(player0,playfield) then l=l+1 if l>100 then score=score+1: player0x=5:player0y=70: l=0 drawscreen goto main

Added a newer version.

Oh I didn't think of that game. Any clue on how they programmed this? Is it a sprite or a background? And did they just draw each position? I haven't looked into assembly at all, are there tutorial sites on that? This guy also did it in the same way I did, i.e. with backgrounds. http://sebastianmihai.com/main.php?t=47So perhaps this is the only way The clouds are a good idea! It would probably be cool if the stars were 'immune' while in a cloud. Multiplayer would also be awesome, but I will focus on 1p first. I'm sure that I'll have to remake the whole thing a few times anyhow.

Main Website: http://pietrow.net/atari/astronomer/ Buy your cartridge here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/281647-fs-astronomer-for-the-atari-2600-ntsc-or-pal/?do=findComment&comment=4087293 Get 20 point and win a patch + official letter! (See attachment) Update 18/10/2018 - Version 1.2. Score glitch fixed so it should not roll over to 999999 anymore. Update 27/2/2018 - Version 1.0. The game is officially done. I've used the 4k to the max and nothing more can be added sadly. Since I want to work on my other game I decided to not go 8k. (Maybe at some point in the future) The good news is that the game got picked up for publication at Packrat video games! It will be sold as a cart+manual. So no box, but I designed one anyway for anyone who wants to print one themselves. Game now comes in NTSC and PAL. You are an astronomer and you are working at a telescope. You are tasked to observe a certain star for your research project. Point your telescope at the star and observe! But look out for clouds, as they ruin your observations. Other astronomers also want to use the telescope, so make sure to finish your observations before the time runs out. Otherwise you will be banned for wasting time. Goals: *Fill the healthbar before the score reaches 0 *Don't observe clouds Flip the left difficulty switch to A for playing with paddles, B for joystick. Flip the right difficulty switch for extra time on the telescope Gamemode 1 gets harder with standard increments Gamemode 2 has more random leveles Use reset button to reset For convenience, you can play the game by clicking this link: http://javatari.org/?ROM=http://pietrow.net/games/astronomerV0.9.bin Any feedback and suggestions for gameplay would be welcome! Thanks to Bogax, RandomTerrain and Atari Age in general! astronomerV1.2_ntsc.bas astronomerV1.2_pal.bas astronomerV1.2_ntsc.bin astronomerV1.2_pal.bin

Hi all, I am a long time lurker and fan of the 2600 and I would like to contribute in my own way to the games library. However I am very new to the language and not 100% sure about the limitations. The setup of the player is close to that of Commando Raid, but instead of bullets I would like to have a continuous beam shooting out of it. (Is this possible?) This would symbolize the 'field of view' of a telescope that needs to observe stars. In the skies there would be X stars that rotate around the center of the screen. (is this possible or should they have a jagged path?) The stars would have a selected 'observing time' (random health) and need to be pointed at for that number of time. (can this be done, or do they all have to have the same HP?) Once a star is observed it is taken off the map(+1 score) and a new target is selected (a new enemy is spawned at a random point, would this work? can you make it spawn at random points and still make the same circle?) If the star leaves the room then the observation has failed and you lose a life. Lose 3 and you get fired. Perhaps more stars can be introduced when the score reaches a certain number? So if you guys could tell me if this is 1) possible at all and 2) point me to some relevant tutorials on the above questions. I quickly threw together a 'demo' in HTML5. It's a bit glitchy with some stars getting infinite HP and spawning outside of the room and giving you a negative score. But the idea should be clear. Possibly this could also be a 2 player thing with rivaling astronomers. IMO this would be ideal as a paddle game. http://pietrow.net/games/astronomer/ I've played around with batari basic and done some tutorials/looked at example code. I can make things move and respond to a joystick and paddle. But I don't know how to make the 'laser', rotate the telescope and handle the spawning/path of the stars. (I assume you can make it go to the player if x^2+y^2 > r and then move it to the right if x^2+y^2< r. ?)

I have recently mastered the skill of burning eeproms onto 8-bitclassics carts and I'm currently enjoying tapeworm immensely. However I have a 3.2k ROM that I'd like to play and I am wondering how to burn that. Should it be put on the front of the memory with zeros or ones as padding? Or do you put it at the end with padding on the front? I'd try it out but I have to wait a day or more between burns as I have only limited access to the burner.

Not sure if I am allowed to link to this, but here goes: http://romhustler.net/rom/atari2600/pac-man-1981-atari I also tried this one with the same effect. http://www.mr-atari.com/defyocas/ I can't reach the programmer until Monday, but I'll try that for sure!

I'm using a M2732A M2732A-2F1 EPROMs ST DIP-24 and this board https://www.8bitclassics.com/homebrew-supplies/Atari-2600-Blank-2k-4k-PCB-Homebrew.html i tried several roms and burned it with buffer disabled. I also emailed the seller, but they did not know.