Paul Slocum

Can any of the current emulators output a video file? I know PCAE used to be able to, but it's pretty dated IIRC. And I'm running WinXP.

The battle kernel is not in the demo. I've attached a screenshot. It's intended to allow for 3 attacking enemies at once, and the most impressive part is that at the top of the screen it lists the 3 enemies with colored status indicators AND allows for a 16-pixel-wide bitmap image of one of the enemies to the right. This was extremely difficult to pull off since it has to continue displaying the bitmap between lines of text while it's building the next line of text in memory. The middle part is supposed to display what's currently going on in the battle, and the bottom is your status and where you set up your next move. I had the idea to allow the user to set up their next move while the monsters were still executing their moves. This would make battles go faster. I also had it set up to allow you up to 3 moves per turn (depending on your stats vs. monster stats) since you only had one character. Next week I'll try to clean up the code and I'll probably just post it. -paul

I think I had that on my site at one point. I'll see if I can dig it up. (btw: I talked to brpocock about my code, but his tools and code are already too far along and would require too much rewriting to work with my kernel and stuff)

Matt and Mike Chapman and I have come up with a different, simpler Homestar Game that I hope to start working on in the few months. So I'm going to offer my Homestar Runner RPG code to anybody who is interested in completing an RPG with it. The Homestar graphics will have to be removed, but it's a very complex, capable RPG engine that could be turned into a really cool game. It has a scrolling tile map system, and allows the maps to be stored in a very efficient compressed form, which means huge maps by 2600 standards. It also has the ability for "doorways" that move between different map areas, and it can play music while the map kernel is running. I also have a partially finished inventory/status kernel, and a partially completed battle kernel. The main thing I ask is that the core scrolling map system be kept in place. And I'd like to see my inventory and battle kernels used if possible since they took a lot of time to get working, and look pretty good. And I should mention that this code is extremely complicated and touchy. This wouldn't be a good project for beginners. But it would sure be cool to see a working RPG come out of it. And I probably won't have time to finish it in the foreseeable future. Probably everybody has their own projects already, but I figure it's worth putting out there. Screenshots and the demo binary are here: http://qotile.net/rpg.html -paul

def one of the best I've heard.

I was referring specifically to an RPG on the 2600. Because you have 128 bytes of RAM and limited ROM, you spend half your time just optimizing. Unless you don't have a job or a life, it'll probably take well over a year to finish even a relatively simple one. And it's difficult for most people to commit for that long. I worked on mine for months, but finally had to put it on hold to finish some other projects. btw: We're currently planning on making a new simpler H*R game. So if I finish the RPG it won't be H*R related anymore unfortunately.

Everything is more work than you think on an RPG. The worst part is dealing with memory being so tight. Makes everything take longer. Well, if it doesn't pan out, I still hope to complete my RPG when I get some free time.

Sorry, my primary connection to the Atari world these days is just the Atariage main RSS feed. Next time you have a release candidate maybe you can get Albert to post that you're looking for testers. There are probably others like me who read the main news but don't closely follow the boards or any specific projects. And I'm always ready to try out and complain about UIs.

I haven't used a GP32 so I'm probably not a good person to say, but my first guess would be to adjust it to standard mouse/keyboard UI, drop the "Select" and "Go Up" buttons, and then make A=ENTER and B=TAB (or t'other way round) for the GP32. But since I haven't used one, that might be inconsistent with other GP32 stuff. If it's impossible to make it work consistently both ways, then maybe just use target #defines to customize each interface to it's physical interface.

The emulation is looking really solid, but that new (since I've used it) file browser has some UI design problems. I usually use the windows explorer to launch ROMs by association, but I'll post my issues with the interface anyway. I might start to use the browser (at least for non-dev gaming) if it was a little better designed. If you're going to use a focus/tab based interface, whatever you click on should get the focus of input. But the way it's designed, the file list never gets focus (only the buttons can). So you end up with the problem where you use the arrow keys to select a game, hit ENTER, but the focus is on, say, "options", so it brings up the options menu instead of running the game. The file list itself should be a tab-able, focus-able item, and when it has focus, ENTER should always run whatever game you've selected. Also, ideally "Go Up" should be an item in the file list. And it would be much easier if the path was shown. I have ROMs in a lot of different folders and it's difficult to navigate without seeing the path. Sorry to complain, and thanks for a great emulator. -paul

I need 3 PAL 2600s. Only need working consoles and hopefully power supplies. Don't need anything else. I live in Texas, but I may want them shipped to an address in Belgium if the shipping to Texas is really expensive. -paul

Don't worry, I haven't given up completely on my RPG... And based on my memory planning, a decent RPG is possible in 128 bytes. The bigger challenge for my designs was fitting it in 64k. Tile maps, bitmap character graphics, and text get big really fast.

The video for my band is all Atari 2600, so I still do 2600 programming regularly. And I still plan on releasing the Loopcart when I get time to finish it. I also spent quite a bit of time updating the Minidig recently, and I've almost got a major update to the Advanced Programming Guide finished. Plus, although not 2600 related, I released the C64 Cynthcart a couple of months ago. Definitely still around!

This should be made a sticky post.

No known compatibility issues except for SECAM consoles (the B&W switch is wired differently on those). I've tested it on almost everything including 7800, Colecovision adapter, and PAL 2600. -paul

No I've been totally swamped at work and at home. Haven't forgotten about it though. I'll try to get to it this week.

Homestar Runner RPG

Try this version. _8dodge_songmn.zip

Yeah, just contact Albert and he'll take care of it. He ships out a lot of carts, and while he usually tests all the carts before he sends them out, a bad one is bound to go out once in a while.

Personally I prefer reduced cost to extra features. It already does a lot of awesome stuff. Would it be possible to include the ability to use some sort of EEPROM or flash memory for the ROM, and to program it using a serial cable that hooks up to 3 pins on the board? This would probably be worth it even if it adds $1-$2 to the parts cost because it is time consuming to program and solder on each EPROM, so it saves money in the long run. Using this method, all the parts could be wave soldered at once, and it could be quickly programmed later with a special serial cable and software. It also makes it useful as a dev tool, since you just have to build a special serial cable to program it, which is much cheaper than an EPROM burner and eraser. -paul

Yeah, drop the boards on Ebay. Surely somebody will want them for some crazy arts and crafts project.

That's cool, but where's Thrust!!? Marble Craze has great action, btw. -paul

Seems like Logan's Run would translate into a cool RPG...

Haven't forgotten about this, but I usually update my webpages during downtime at work and I haven't had any lately. I'll get those updates in soon. -paul

Anyone else going? I'll be there with a Cynthcart to demo. http://www.swrapexpo.org/index.php