Fort Apocalypse

Too funny! Thanks, guys! Time to start poppin'.

Ok... been trying to figure out bugs in my game today, and my first bug find was a bug in the code that I had written to try to reproduce bugs! However, I did find what looks to be a bug in subroutines in Batari Basic. Please try out the attached code and hit the select button 4 times. On the 4th time, it turns the pfscorecolor a color I didn't set it to and freezes. Happens in Stella 2.3.5 in Win XP. Thanks in advance... gosub_bug.basgosub_bug.bas.bin

Months ago I used to be able to view forum posts in a topic as a long straight list by post date instead of by thread. Then something happened and now I've only been able to see posts by threads which is really annoying and I can't tell what the latest posts are very easily. Does anyone know how to fix this? Would be nice if there were obvious "list posts by created date" and "list posts by thread" links at top of each forum page. Also, it took me a while to figure out how to delete attachments. It would be good when you try to post over 7 attachments if it said click on the "X" by each attachment to delete in the Manage Current Attachments dropdown.

(post edited) nevermind... was my own fault

Is still rather buggy. Will try to clean up subroutines soon and maybe remove some (move into main code blocks) to see if avoiding gosubs/returns help. Here's 0.7... colors are not looking as good insane_painter_0.7.basinsane_painter_0.7.bas.bin

Thanks! There are some bugs I think most are around the collisions (there was some bad arithmetic around the edges of the playfield too). I fixed the playfield edge stuff but the collision stuff I'm not sure about. I had tried adding a pop before the goto's in the subroutines but that didn't fix them. Commenting the collision code out fixes it though. It also messes up the way that pfscore is shown on the 2nd collision (regardless of whether pfscore is altered) and the collision after that breaks the game (reboots). Also, there is something wierd around the computer player dying (which wasn't supposed to happen) that I attempted to fix a few times but is somehow still messed up. I'll post the latest code in a minute. I'm unfortunately totally in the dark about how to use the built in debugger in Stella. I know I press '`' to get into it, but then I'm launched into assembly code land with no familiar "step" button anywhere. My eyes glazed over looking at the documentation for it. Would be nice to have to look for an .asm file in the current directory and allow you to go step by step with a pointer pointing to the instruction it just executed in the asm code to see where you are, in addition to showing you what things are set to. Would be even better if Batari Basic had a plugin to Stella's debugger that could show you where in the bB code you are and what variables are set to. I know that will never happen, but it would be helpful.

Thanks! A little progress made in 0.6, at least ball is bigger (missile1 looks a little skinny). Potentially more levels if it wasn't still having trouble with the life counter, random lockups, and unwarranted collision with ball/missile1 and computer player. If anyone sees what I'm doing wrong in the rats nest of code, please let me know. insane_painter_0.6.basinsane_painter_0.6.bas.bin

Still buggy, but is getting kind of interesting (or chaotic, can't decide). Level 2 with 2 balls at 2000 points. Level 3 with 2 balls and 1st enemy at 3000. Level 4 with 2 balls and 2nd enemy at 4000. Intro has somewhat of a theme song (some percussion with lighting effects). insane_painter_0.5.basinsane_painter_0.5.bas.bin

Fixed joystick control. Added player select and kamikazee AI for computer player. insane_painter_0.4.basinsane_painter_0.4.bas.bin

Thanks!

Is short but this is the best I could come up with: if joy0fire then s = 17 if s > 0 then s = s - 1 : AUDV0 = s : AUDC0 = 15 : AUDF0 = 31 : AUDV1 = s : AUDC1 = 8 : AUDF1 = 31 Anyone else have an example of a really great deep and gutteral massive explosion sound? The following longer version doesn't work for some reason: if joy0fire then n = 255 if n > 0 then s = n / 15 : n = n - 1 : AUDV0 = s : AUDC0 = 15 : AUDF0 = 31 : AUDV1 = s : AUDC1 = 8 : AUDF1 = 31 Specifically I get: ---------- Capture Output ---------- ... 2600 Basic compilation complete. DASM V2.20.07, Macro Assembler ©1988-2003 bytes of ROM space left 968 bytes of ROM space left 968 bytes of ROM space left --- Unresolved Symbol List div8 0000 ???? (R ) Fatal assembly error: Source is not resolvable. > Terminated with exit code 0.

This is really cool! I agree that a UI would be a great idea. Another idea might be to somehow convert .mid files into this format, but I know that you are really limited to how that could be done since there are only 2 channels.

0.3 completed. has a second level at 10000 points which contains a bug showing invisible ball for some reason. no more scrolling insane_painter_0.3.basinsane_painter_0.3.bas.bin

Here is version 0.2. insane_painter_0.2.bas insane_painter_0.2.bas.bin

A game written in Batari Basic for the 2600. I'm told it is like a mix of breakout and surround. It is also fairly chaotic. Story Two painters were asked to paint a nuclear research facility. Unfortunately, after they arrive they realized there is some very strange stuff going on in the facility. Someone accidentally dropped a small vial of nuclear material that is very kinetic and deadly. It flies around bouncing off the walls and marring the floor with explosions when it reacts with the paint. Then there is the small problem of a security droid that runs over the paint and messes it up, which wouldn't be so bad. However, it is as deadly as the vial, and it seems to send signals when it touches the paint that make the vial move erratically! Finally the nuclear material and paint mixing together with the droid's signals seem to be making other strange things appear... Are they ghosts? Have the painters' tools become the painters' demise? You'd have to be insane to paint a facility like this! Description For 1-2 players. 1 player game is playing with computer as 2nd player who cannot contribute points, and computer player is not really cooperative. 2 player game is cooperative (both players contribute points). 10 points per paint section. Hold button down to paint. Avoid container, droid, ghost paintbrush and ghost paint roller. Paint enough and you can move on to the next room if you survive (but some rooms may be hard to see!). Unfortunately things get faster. Release Notes 0.8 is way more stable now and looks better! Please try it out! Thanks, Batari and SeaGtGruff for the help, and everyone else for trying it out! I'm still looking for ideas, so please let me know where you think I should go next. I have no idea how to use player sprites both for two players and two enemies and still handle collisions without using multisprite kernel (which I don't think I can use since it doesn't allow pfpixel or asymmetric playfield). insane_painter_0.8.basinsane_painter_0.8.bas.bin

Curt, you are the man. The Flashback 2 takes a prominent place in our house, and I attribute my total obsession with this forum to the cool stuff you have shared in it as well as the super cool work you are doing (not to mention my endless fascination with Atari and other retro stuff!). That dude has made me so mad I had to bite my tongue a number of times. That kind of dementor attitude started to make me feel depressed. I'm really glad someone spoke up. I apologize if my posts and polls get annoying also. I was having way too much fun getting into things.

Speculation burns more time than waiting. I appreciate your positive attitude and don't want to be a downer. But here goes.. That is not what he said last. He said "what was being developed for 08' as an advanced follow-up system has been moved up to the front burner and is being worked on now in place of the original FBP design". Curt has been fairly open in the forum prior to last few months when Atari was having trouble, and the two projects he has talked about his team working on were the FB2p and the FB3. Never did he mention any hybrid system, and I don't see how they could advance the project that much and go into production for sale early next year with a substantial change in the design. He said it was an "advanced follow-up system" so it is certainly not a game collection. The earlier post you were referring to might have been a game collection, but in his last post Curt definitely said it was a system (console). That's a good point. Odds are is because it is not 2600-based so they have changed the name?

The more I think about this 'advanced folllow-up system', the more I think it could be a 7800 or omni computer. It's the 'modern gaming arena' console that puzzles me. The most modern consoles that Atari have made are the Jaguar and Lynx. It couldn't be, could it? I guess we could speculate the rest of the year on what "modern gaming arena" means. However, to me it sounds like a compilation game for one of the current game systems (maybe some special controller to go with it?). I originally thought like you, maybe a new game system, but Atari just doesn't have the money to compete on the level with Xbox 360, wii, or PS3. I guess only time will tell. Ok, here is Curt's last post on this afaik for reference: http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?s...00#entry1339391 The fact that he is considering putting the prototype up on eBay to me means the FB2p project was not temporarily delayed but was permanently delayed. Otherwise, why would it even be considered to give it up like that before it was in production? Regarding the statement: "On the plus side, what was being developed for 08' as an advanced follow-up system has been moved up to the front burner and is being worked on now in place of the original FBP design... No details will be given/shown until after the New Year..." - there is no way that "what was being developed for 08' as an advanced follow-up system" is referring to anything other than the FB3. Just think about it for a minute. The FB3 project was farther along then anything other than the FB2p project, and it fits the description. The only long shot I could think of for those hoping it is a FB2-like project would be that they could possibly just mod the existing FB2 product to support a usb port. But because there was never any mention of doing that, I think it's got to be the FB3 (although I'd vote for a follow up FB2 system, just because I'm partial to the 2600). For everything that Curt has said about the FB3 see this post in which I compiled all of Curt's comments that I found: http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=110891

Thanks for all of the info!

Also... what's the best way to ensure you are getting good carts and controllers? Any reputable sellers that clean up the carts/controllers and make sure they work? (again doing this on the cheap...)

Curious... what was done as part of the reconditioning process? Do you also replace the switches?

Thanks!

Just curious... would be nice to have a 2600 that had been renovated and ready for some serious use, for not a lot of cash... Any idea where the best place to get this would be? Same question for controllers and carts... Thanks!

Yeah I saw a thread in which he stated that he had a prototype in 2005 that ran linux. I don't think that is what they are doing now though. Would be above the price range they were looking to market it in. Although I totally salivate over something 2600/5200/7800/800XL compatible, there is no chance to do that <$50. I was thinking earlier tonight about someone's post from way back that just had a picture of a 2600. I think it would kick butt just to sell an atari 2600 in the old style case, complete with racing controllers, tennis paddles, and joysticks that has A/V output. Then they could include a cart with it (old style looking cart, but it would contain a memory stick) with about 200 games on it. Then they could sell more carts for about $10 a piece with a few hundred games each. At this point there is very little chance that anyone who has written a 2600 game in the past is going to get much money for it, and this might actually make Atari and the old game authors some money. If there is enough interest it might be cool to try to get a petition going for this (not that it would do much good, probably). I'm saddened that there are so many people t'd off because the portable got tanked. I personally would like to have a portable, but in the end, Atari was about consoles, not portables. My fondest memories of it were sweating for hours to the point where I almost had blistered playing Armor Ambush with friends, and playing Race (aka Indy 500) with my brother. Those were fun games.

You don't have to look at the poll or even post to it if you don't want to. How about a positive comment for a change, werejag?