eric_ruck

Crazy Taxi

Looks like a very nice start. Also looks like you could use a Lynx game up there. One Lynx game coming up... Eric

Can I claim one of the 6809 books and put a delayed claim on the 6502 books? Regarding the 6809 book, that's the same CPU as a Vectrex, right? I'd want one of the first two in the list, since I'm not interested in hardware projects. Don't care which one. As far as the 6502 book goes, I'm away from home on business and not sure if I have a 6502 book. I'd like to verify that I need it when I get home (day before Christmas) before I claim it away from someone. But I could use a 6502 refresher when I begin to start optimizing my new Lynx game for size and speed. Thanks, let me know. Eric

Cool -- it's about time someone did a version of this simple but addictive game on the Lynx. It's probably an excellent programming exercize as well. Eric

Re the sound engine, thanks, although I basically wrote something similar but a lot simpler, due to the simple nature of the sounds in this game. Still, I wouldn't mind seeing it. I've been thinking about assembling a central repository for Lynx programming, although truth be told I don't exactly have a lot of time to work on it. Still, everyone who's done any programming on the Lynx probably has a pile of notes that would be useful to everyone else in the community. Eric

Thanks...I got sample code from (I think) Bastian that shows how to make something like a simple file system in ROM...looks to me like a poor man's not-quite DMA (I'm a recovering embedded systems programmer). Project only *temporarily* stalled as I roll out a new product to the first customer (web app, not Lynx game). Naturally said product isn't quite ready so I'm feverishly doing a Frankencode thing... Eric

Heh, they're playing a Microsoft...don't spend your money now on competing system X...wait for our next system. Of course, my toaster has more intelligence than a PS2. Eric

Very cool. Much better than the colored pencils and hex calculator method I'm using for Lynx graphics. Eric

I'm not sure if this topic has been treated before, but if you loved the original Timesplitters... The XBox version is a lot of fun. But I made the mistake of trying it out in story mode on the easy level first. Don't bother -- they cut 2/3 of the levels off to make the level easy. Not only should you not mess with easy, but you should find a friend and play it with two people on the normal level. The more monsters, less ammo per player and more strategy. Can't wait to master normal so I can give hard a go... Eric

Actually I would think that you could port Gameboy games to the Lynx rather easily, since the "tile" system can be done pretty simply with Lynx sprites. But it would still be a big job, with our without the source code. Emulation would be out of the question...heck, to get good Lynx emulation under Windows you need at least 800MHz CPU. Eric

I would be interested although if it were available right now I would probably not have the budget to fork over $100. But hopefully in the near future it would not be a problem. I'm not handy with a soldering iron so having the assembled cart would be cool. Having the cart would be cool. I'd go with serial interface and a UI -- I tend to work off laptops alot so I always have a PC with serial handy. Pokey socket would be find, or I would be happy to mail you a sacrificial BallBlazer. If it was an install yourself, I'd make a label that actually has holes to accomodate the case screws. Why not? If 2600 bankswitching wouldn't cost me (as the consumer) anything extra in the end, sure, go for it, but I probably wouldn't buy it for 2600 games, so it's not a big deal to me. No other smart suggestions. If you can think of anything you could add that would be of use to homebrew developers that would be cool. We need some new 7800 games. Eric

Some of us believe the original was boring and had bad control. My guess is the EGM reviewers probably didn't (or wouldn't have, if they ever played) like d the original. Eric

I was hoping someone other than Interact would get around to this. What with the kids and dogs, wireless would be a good thing. Even better than those safety disconnects on the XBox pads, which by the way is a really good idea. Eric

I'm not a huge fan of the battery pack. I find my Lynx 2 really can go 4-5 hours on battery, so I use rechargeable AA and carry a spare set -- takes up much less space than the battery pack. I mean, how much battery time do I really need? By the way, Chips and Crystal Mines do rock if you like puzzle games. Joust, Robotron and Qix are all great arcade ports. Klax is fantastic. Blue Lightening is a lot of fun. There are some games that are really neat but you may not love the game play. Dracula would be one of those, as well as Warbirds. And of course you should save your money for Break, coming this summer (hopefully). :wink: Eric

I haven't really decided yet. The "Advanced" modes will have some similar and some different power ups, as well as similar and different ways you get to them. I'm more trying to capture the feel of Breakout with the features of Arkanoid. The other deciding factor is really time. I want to make sure I can release this game by CGE at the latest, and the number of features will have a lot to do with how much time I can squeeze in on the game between now and then. I only put 5-10 hours/week in on the game, although I work very quickly. Also related to time is space, and Lynx capabilities. Right now the game is entirely written in C, although I do know 6502. If (when?) I have to start optimizing for size in space in assembler, that might mean fewer features. Also, it's becoming very clear to me that I will have to spend some time building a system to keep graphics (and possibly sound) data in ROM. Powerups definitely. As well as, I guess, "power downs", or hazards. Plus the skill level affects the balance between power ups and downs, among other things. Various screens, also yes. Not sure how many, but probably a whole big bunch. I thought about branching, but I wouldn't count on it. Let's just say that's one of the very low priority features that will probably not make the cut. No...well, probably not. This is more of a horizontally oriented game anyway. It two player mode the screen space is really at a premium, but I really hate holding the Lynx vertically, as much as I like Klax -- it makes my hands go numb. No Comlynx, but two player support like Ponx. In one player, the player uses the joypad left and right and either A or B to launch the ball (and maybe activate powerups, maybe). Two player mode, the first player's power up button becomes Option 2. Second player uses the A and B buttons to move the paddle and Option 1 for power ups. Basically there are a ton of options. First, 5 play modes, including classic, progressive (like Super Breakout, decending bricks), head to head classic, advanced (like Arkanoid/Breakout 2k) and head to head advanced. Also number of balls per game (3/5/10), skill level (easy, normal hard), and paddle options (which I'm working on now). The cool part about the paddle options is that you can set them separately for the players in two player mode, so you can use it as a handicap feature. The two paddle options are size (small, normal, large) and movement (normal, fast, acceleration and turbo). If I have time and space in the ROM I'm considering a hidden bonus game. But it will probably only appear in a limited number of copies :wink: . And if I can do it, believe me, it will be something worth having. Eric

Starting by designing the game on paper is an excellent idea, but I'd like to refine that somewhat. You also want to think about the design in terms of what the system can do, so you won't get frustrated later. For instance, design 5200 games with the way the sprites and hblanks work in mind, maybe also the scrolling as well since these are things the 5200 is really good at. For the Lynx you'd design for scrolling and lots of mapped objects. You also want to prioritize your basic gameplay and feature list. You want to make sure you *plan* to develop in an order in which you can test after every few hours of programming, and where the features that aren't as important are saved for last so they can be jettisoned if you run out of space or time. Eric

I would say that's a fair deal, given shipping and depending on the condition of the Lynx. Not super spectacular but fair. Also without looking at the ratings here, I think Ninja Gaiden is also a little on the rarer side (as opposed to the more common Ninja Gaiden 3). Eric

That is quite the collection. You might want to make an option so those of us with broadband can see more than 5 pix at once. You also might want to make the contact a form rather than putting your e-mail in a link so spammers can't capture your address (as if they already haven't). Finally, in the guestbook you might want to make the e-mail optional. Again, since I don't want crawlers finding my e-mail, I put in [email protected] Eric

Excellent, only 99,997 more copies to go... Don't know how it'll be produced or distributed. Carl at Songbird has already expressed interest. I'll keep y'all posted. Today I wrote the pause feature. Probably writing the paddle size options next. Eric

The Lynx had a bunch of catch phrases. Wasn't one of them "The Cat Wants To Play?" Eric

Well, anyway, I'm still trying to figure out the price on this one: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...=735873337&rd=1 Eric

If you live anywhere near Owings Mills, MD there's actually a store at the mall there that has Wonderswan games. Eric

My experience with the XBox as a DVD player is as follows: 1) Much better playback reliability that the PS2...my PS2 rarely makes it more than 20 minutes through anything, no troubles on the XBox so far 2) The DVD playback has many more features and the user interface is more logical on the XBox than on the PS2, more like a real DVD player 3) You have to tolerate the loudish system fan that a standalone DVD player doesn't have (PS2 suffers the same problem) FYI they make you buy the remote because the software for DVD playback is either in the remote, the remote dongle, or just enabled by the remote, but that's how they pay the license for DVD compression to whoever owns the technology. Sony has cheaper software so they throw it in with the console. Eric

It's hard to compare Halo and Unreal, they're very different games. I find that in Unreal you really have to "run and gun", where that doesn't work so well in Halo. Heck, Halo gets so tense I had to switch chairs toward the end because I kept toppling the one I was used to back when the action got too hot. And I strongly prefer Unreal for Deathmatch, Halo for single player. Eric

Don't worry,I won't tell anyone... Cool!What games do you have? Ah, only the demo games so far...but I'm shipping some new software to my customers come hell or high water Dec 2, so I'm planning on treating myself to Unreal once I get back from that business trip. Unreal Tournament is the only game I like for my PS2, and I really can't wait to play UR2003 online! Eric