Dionoid

Thanks for your suggestions, Silvio! I didn't think of slowly scrolling down the platforms before; that will indeed force you to make a move :-) I like the current score visualization looking like an early '2600 game; it's that big on purpose :-)

Just to be sure: a cycle 73 HMOVE means that it should end on cycle 73 (not start on cycle 73). That might cause the issue you are seeing.

Ok, I guess the TV effects aren't the "Blargg TV effects" for OpenGL that were added in release 3.7 of Stella? Reading this topic, it seems the CPU and GPU in the Retron 77 should be powerful enough to support Stella 5. But it's probably a lot of work getting SDL2 working on the machine...

I just received the Retron 77 system today and I'm really happy with the device and the joystick so far - the joystick has a small throw distance, which I like. The device looks and feels sturdy. I've tried around 15 PAL cartridges so far, and all work. I did notice some jitter when objects in games move horizontally - not at first, but this happens after a few minutes of game-play. What I would like to see in a next release is support for the TV effects, like Composite, S-Video and Bad Adjust. Because when I play a game in Stella on my laptop, I always play games in Composite TV mode, as to me it feels much more like the real thing. I just optimized my game Amoeba Jump for the Retron 77, which is going to be included in the next batch of systems (and probably included in a new system image).

Exactly the information I was looking for. Thanks @SpiceWare and @TheHoboInYourRoom !

Nice review! I didn't even know about the last two "return of the Jedi" games. I love this history about (cancelled) games! Feedback: I can clearly hear the cutoffs in the sound, maybe you can find a way to reduce the noise (or also include some noise in the audio that was cut-out ) Anyway, keep those review coming. I did subscribe!

Hi, I just uploaded a version of Amoeba Jump with these new features: 07/10/2018 - After the Amoeba dies, the message "press fire" appears above the score bar. I used a 48-pixel sprite routine for this ; I never knew that showing text on an Atari 2600 is this hard :-) 07/05/2018 - Added a PAL 60Hz version 07/04/2018 - As requested, I added an extra challenge: screens with all white or blue platforms! These screens are showing at scores 4000 (white) and 7000 (blue) 07/02/2018 - Blue platforms now move independently from each other. Makes hitting them somewhat harder, but the movement looks much better. You can download the new version from the fist post in this thread! Cheers!

I ordered your second book right away! Hopefully it arrives before I leave for summer vacation, so I can bring this book along.

Thanks for the feedback! In the next intermediate release there will be different types of boost, bonus and enemy objects.

In Session 7 of "Atari 2600 Programing for Newbies" I learned that 50Hz PAL has up to 242 lines of actual picture. However, the Stella Programmer's Guide says to use 228 picture lines when doing a conversion from NTSC to PAL (see screenshot below). Which one would make most sense to use? I guess when converting an NTSC game to PAL50, it would be even easier to use 192 visible scanlines (just like NTSC) and increase the number of lines in VBLANK and OVERSCAN accordingly. Or would that cause issues? (other than not using the full screen estate). Are there any best practices to follow when creating a game that should run on NTSC, PAL60 and PAL50?

I love this stuff! Next to playing Atari games, I do like to read about Atari 2600 games or programming. Please continue to do these book reviews once in a while! Some suggestions for books to review: Atari 2600 Programming for Newbies by Andrew Davie. Andrew is one of the guys that created Boulder Dash on the 2600, and he's absolutely a 2600 grand-master. This book is actually the printed version of the programming tutorials that Andrew Davie posted on these AtariAge forums between 2003 and 2004. Yours truly did some editing of the text and formatting of the code and images, bundled it into a PDF and uploaded it to Lulu. Andrew seems to be happy with the results. http://www.lulu.com/shop/andrew-davie/atari-2600-programming-for-newbies-revised-edition/paperback/product-23644281.html The Unauthorized Atari 2600... series by Mike Salzman Atari 2600 Throw Back Zine (#1 - #3) by Mike Salzman - this is a monthly retro magazine on the Atari 2600 Making Games For The Atari 2600 by Steve Hugg Of course "Racing the Beam" and "Art of Atari" are also great books, but those have online reviews already (but I wouldn't mind having your review next to those :-)

Note: I couldn't figure out how to change the title of an existing topic, so sorry for starting a *third* topic on basically the same homebrew game... Anyway, I'll be using this topic to keep you posted about new releases of... Amoeba Jump - I promise this will be the final name :-) I already got a lot of useful feedback in the old topics and on the ZeroPage Homebrew Twitch stream, but please continue to give me feedback on any bugs and/or suggestions. Downloads (last update on 05/11/2018) Latest versions: Amoeba Jump v1.3 NTSC.bin Amoeba Jump v1.3 - NTSC version Amoeba Jump v1.3 PAL.bin Amoeba Jump v1.3 - PAL60 version Amoeba Jump - R77.bin Amoeba Jump - RetroN 77 version Older versions: Amoeba Jump v1.2 NTSC.bin Amoeba Jump v1.2 (release candidate #2) - NTSC version Amoeba Jump v1.2 PAL.bin Amoeba Jump v1.2 (release candidate #2) - PAL60 version Amoeba Jump v1.1 NTSC.bin Amoeba Jump v1.1 (release candidate) - NTSC version Amoeba Jump v1.1 PAL.bin Amoeba Jump v1.1 (release candidate) - PAL60 version Amoeba Jump v0.1.bin Amoeba Jump v 0.1 amoeba_jump_NTSC.bin - NTSC version amoeba_jump_PAL50.bin - PAL 50Hz version amoeba_jump_PAL60.bin - PAL 60Hz version Changelog [v1.4] VBlank optimization for AA release version [v1.3] Title music is now playing a tad louder (sound level conform other homebrews) [v1.2] Returns to the title screen if the game has ended and left idle for more than 21 seconds [v1.2] When a new game starts and the joystick isn't moved yet, the score bar shows the score and high-score alternating. Note: saving your high-score on SaveKey/AtariVox is only supported in the cart version. [v1.1] Changed the acceleration curve for the amoeba a tiny bit so it feels close to the original controls, without being "too sensitive". And in the NTSC-version the red springs are now slightly darker red. [v1.0] Added a title screen with music, where the Amoeba is bouncing on the big "AMOEBA JUMP" title. [v1.0] The grey springs have been replaced by red and green spring-buttons, which I think look better on the screen. The red spring-buttons give you the normal boost, while the green ones boost you even higher! [v1.0] Jumping from spring to spring (i.e. a "spring run") will give you extra bonus points and you will hear a higher-pitched sound effect. [v1.0] When your score gets beyond 1000 points, little oval-shaped bacteria start appearing on the platforms, which can be eaten by the amoeba. Each bacteria holds one of the six letters from the word A-M-O-E-B-A. Collect all six and the single next time you jump on a spring, you will get a super long boost. While doing this super boost, the amoeba will show all kind of rainbow-colors, which is done by using code-bytes as colors (just as in Yars' Revenge) [v1.0] I did some (minimal) changes on the controls to give you more precision. You can now move the amoeba just a tiny bit my moving the joystick left/right briefly. On the long jumps, the deceleration is stronger when you stop moving the joystick, hopefully resulting in a better precision. Also, moving in the opposite direction while in mid-air works much better now, which makes it easier when you’re stressing to find a good landing spot for your amoeba. [v1.0] The all-white and all-blue screens are now half the size, which makes it a bit more doable - or less brutal :-) [v0.1] Unified NTSC/PAL version. Use the 'TV TYPE' switch to choose between NTSC colors (=switch set to 'COLOR') or PAL colors (=switch set to 'BW'). Both versions run at 60Hz now; 50Hz PAL is no longer supported, as most PAL CRT TVs support 60Hz. 07/11/2018 - Moved the "press fire" message *below* the playfield to better support older versions of Stella (like 3.7.5, which is used in the Retron 77) 07/10/2018 - After amoeba dies, the message "press fire" appears above the score bar 07/05/2018 - Added a PAL 60Hz version 07/04/2018 - As requested, an extra challenge: screens with all white or blue platforms! 07/02/2018 - Blue platforms now move independently from each other 06/29/2018 - Springs are no longer guaranteed on each screen but now appear randomly, which improves the game-play and makes "combo spring-jumps" more special. But don't worry speedrunners: 2- or 3-combo jumps are still possible now and then 06/26/2018 - Renamed game to "Amoeba Jump" and updated the graphics and animation About Amoeba Jump is a homebrew platform game for the Atari 2600. It's the first Atari game developed by me, Dion Olsthoorn (or Dionoid as I'm known on the AtariAge forums). I initially planned to build this game for the Commodore 64, but after reading the book "Racing the Beam" I decided to buy an old Atari VCS and challenge myself to write a game for this strange, limited but wonderful machine :-) The game is free for personal usage, and available in both NTSC and PAL versions (see downloads). An extended version of the game will be available in the AtariAge store somewhere early 2019 and features alternating 2-player mode (introducing Ms. Amoeba) and SaveKey/AtariVox support for saving your high-score! The game will be available on Hyperkin's Retron 77 as one of the pre-installed homebrew games (I think it will be part of the next batch of systems). Objective The aim of the game is to guide the amoeba (a single-celled creature) up a never-ending series of platforms without falling. The higher you get, the higher your score will be. There are three different platform types: Yellow - these are the basic, stable platforms White - these are unstable platforms that disappear after you bounce off them once Blue - these platforms are harder to hit because they move back and forth horizontally Jumping on a red or green spring-button will give you a short boost and some bonus points, but best of all: it makes the little amoeba rejoice! When your score gets beyond 1000 points, little oval-shaped bacteria start appearing on the platforms, which can be eaten by the amoeba. Each bacteria holds one of the six letters from the word A-M-O-E-B-A. Collect all six and the single next time you jump on a spring, you will get a super long boost. While doing this super boost, the amoeba will show all kind of rainbow-colors, which is done by using code-bytes as colors (just as in Yars' Revenge) The screen wraps around, which means that the Amoeba can leave one side of the screen and immediately reappear on the opposite side. You're going to need this to reach some platforms! Controller This is a single-player game which uses a joystick as controller. Support for the Driving controller (the one used in Indy 500) is in development. Videos Recorded livestream showing the latest build of Amoeba Jump on ZeroPage Homebrew stream:

Yes, I agree with you and Thomas on that. Having a combo of spring-jumps is cool, but it should not become the main focus of the game. And different types of boosts will be included in a future version for sure!

This game is really good. Is it still WIP? Any idea when it will be available on cartridge?

You forgot to mention the The Unauthorized Atari 2600 Imagic Companion and The Unauthorized Atari 2600 Coleco Companion. Both are great booklets for $5. I hope one day Mike will also publish "The Unauthorized Atari 2600 Parker Brothers Companion", as they've created some really great Atari 2600 games (Frogger, Cobra Strike, Q*bert, Spider-Man, Star Wars, Super Cobra, etc.)

I ordered it right away from Amazon.de (which offers free shipping to the Netherlands!). I hope issues 1 and 2 will be delivered on my doorstep today, so I can do some reviews soon!

I'm still experimenting with that. Still not sure if it improves playability though...

Wow... 34,576 points !!! I've really no idea what happens if anyone scores beyond 99,999 points!

Yeah, I kind of feel the same. These are not the final graphics for sure. I'm working on a new (fantasy) animal that I hope people will like. And it has got a pair of antenna's, which will be animated when jumping up and down

Is the manual for Boulder Dash available somewhere? I'm aware that Boulder Dash cartridges sold out long before I entered the world of retro gaming... (too bad, because Boulder Dash was my favorite game on the Commode 64 when I was young).

New name, new graphics!! <<<<< Poodle Jump >>>>> This release is really stable and very playable. Changes: starring a cute poodle dog with ears that go up & down new platform types (white "disappearing" platforms and blue "moving" platforms) the platforms are twice as thick after you die, the game resets after you press fire (allowing you to see your end score) fixed some glitches to make the gameplay better speed-up of PAL version (now plays as smooth as the NTSC version) no more "stacked" platforms cartridge size from 4K back to 2K The .bin files are attached here! (choose PAL or NTSC depending on your system) Screenshot: ...and this is the Youtube video of yesterday's ZeroPage twitch stream, with the debut of Poodle Jump: Cheers! --Dion poodle_jump_NTSC.bin poodle_jump_PAL.bin

Thanks for the feedback! I knew there is an arcade version of Doodle Jump, but I never played it, so I didn't know about the large sliding joystick. Supporting a paddle controller seems to makes sense, yes. However you'll loose the ability to go side to side (as the screen wraps around in non-arcade versions). I think using the Driving controller (the one that comes with Indy 500) would be the even better for this game, but I'm not sure how many people actually got a such a controller.

I ordered your Atari 2600 Homebrew Companion a few weeks ago, and really enjoyed reading it! I'm excited to see which games are covered in Volume 2. I would love to read some background stories on "Boulderdash", "Star Castle Arcade" or "Draconian" :-) FYI: the "Atari 2600 Programming for Newbies" is Andrew Davie's book, not mine. I just did some editing and uploaded it to Lulu.com.

Last week I bought the "The Unauthorized Atari 2600 Activision Companion", and it's really really good! It describes all the 44 Activision games for the Atari 2600 (which IMO are among the best games). This book is both fun to read and informative. The author describes the objective of each game, talk about best strategy to play it, and ends with some good honest (retrospective) analysis for each game. Also I love the introduction for each game, which certainly sets the right mood to go and play it (or to collect it!) I just bought the rest of Atari 2600 books from this author. I hope they're as good as this one!

FYI: the cartridge "Fatal Run" is known to have problems running on a PAL 2600 Jr. I can run the game on my Darth Vader and Light Sixer without problems, but it only shows a black screen on both my Pal 2600 Jr's from China. I think that is because of a newer version of the TIA in those late Jr machines from China. --Dion