Donkey Kong Arcade (ColecoVision)

[Tubular Gearhead]

This is great news! Glad to see you are back hard at work for all us Colecovision fans Eduardo!

 

I am always amazed every time I play PMC how good it is. I am sure I will pick up several of the new ports that come from your work with Team Pixelboy.

 

If I could put a plug in here- I am not sure if there are any plans in the future to work on it- but the game I am most excited about is Quest for the Golden Chalice (Team Pixelboy's website).

Boy, if anyone were to get a game like that out for the Colecovision I am sure it would be a top seller. I have always loved adventure (and Zelda, Phantasy Star, etc), and with the great graphics of the CV it would be just fantastic! A large adventure would be great- with hi-res dragons, larger mazes, more wepons, etc.

 

Anyway, back on topic- great work Eduardo!!!

[Yurkie]

I send a lot of my customers your way for a copy of PMC. Fantastic game!

 

That's great news about Donkey Kong Arcade.

 

Could you please post a comment about the status of the ColecoVision Super Game Module?

 

Thanks for all your hard work, and for teaming up with Luc. He is a top notch publisher of homebrews.

[Murph74]

Once again, welcome "back", Eduardo! Not that you ever really left, but glad to hear you're making progress on more retro bundles of joy!

[+opcode]

Ok so here is the current status of the SGM. Last year I completed the design, which means I included all the tweaks I wanted after the first prototype. Additions included the ability of replacing the BIOS with RAM, a couple of extra lines to the parallel port and ADAM compatibility. However I still need to order the prototype for that, what I plan to do after DKA is done. Ideally I should work on all pieces of the puzzle in parallel, but from my past experience that isn't very productive. Besides I am more concerned about the SGM case and manufacturing than prototyping at this point, as the main design has already been validated.

About the DK roar, yeah, that will be there. In fact I am more concerned about the general playback routine, as it could (and I said could) be used on something else down the line, a certain game that uses similar hardware and where sample playback is much more prominent.

Finally about Quest for the Golden Chalice, it is up to Luc to comment on that.

 

Eduardo

[Arjak]

Eduardo, thank you so much for continuing your projects. It means a lot to all of us who love the ColecoVision. I'm sure that the SGM and the games that use it will be well worth the wait!

[phattyboombatty]

I concur. Your games are amazing Eduardo, and it makes me glad to have held on to my CV all these years. I'd always hoped new developments would crop up that would transcend my creative skills. I think Pac-Man Collection easily deserved game of the year award from any governing body, and DKA looks to deserve the same. Just can't wait to play it!

[+opcode]

Thanks everybody for the kind words and encouragement.

So after months in the making, I am proud to finally present the intro animation for Donkey Kong Arcade, ported straight from the arcade version. Roar is still missing though.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKgl47Hb__o

 

Edit: I mean, "ported" straight from the arcade.

Edited May 24, 2011 by opcode

[+opcode]

The intro animation was one of the few major missing features of DKA. The others are:

 

- Roar sound

- Scrolling DK in the conveyor belt stage

- US version of the game

- Final sprite driver

 

But before I get to that there are some other games requiring my attention, right Pixelboy?

I couldn’t resist putting those aside for a while so I could finish the intro sequence first though…

[ColecoFan1981]

Thanks everybody for the kind words and encouragement.

So after months in the making, I am proud to finally present the intro animation for Donkey Kong Arcade, ported straight from the arcade version. Roar is still missing though.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKgl47Hb__o

 

Edit: I mean, "ported" straight from the arcade.

I do thank you very much for making the music sound correct because all the rest of us also want it to be like the original.

 

The USA version of DK arcade is arranged thus:

Level 1: Boards 1 and 4

Level 2: Boards 1, 3 and 4

Level 3: Boards 1, 2, 3 and 4

Level 4: Boards 1, 2, repeat 1, then 3 and 4

Level 5+: Boards 1, 2, repeat 1, then 3, repeat 1 again, and then 4

 

I'd also like to include level select options (a la the Atarisoft-published home computer versions for Apple IIe and IBM PC). You know, to start at either Level 1 (Normal), 3 (Harder) or 5 (Expert).

 

On the ColecoVision cartridge version, there are four skill levels, although none of those change the way the level boards are arranged. I would think that on the Adam Super Game port, choosing Skill 1 would start you at arcade Level 1, Skill 2 would start you at Level 2, and so on.

 

~Ben

 

 

 

[+cmart604]

The intro animation was one of the few major missing features of DKA. The others are:

 

- Roar sound

- Scrolling DK in the conveyor belt stage

- US version of the game

- Final sprite driver

 

But before I get to that there are some other games requiring my attention, right Pixelboy?

I couldn’t resist putting those aside for a while so I could finish the intro sequence first though…

 

Wow! Eduardo this looks and sounds fantastic! You sir are an artist. I can't wait to get this.

[Pixelboy]

The intro animation was one of the few major missing features of DKA. The others are:

 

- Roar sound

- Scrolling DK in the conveyor belt stage

- US version of the game

- Final sprite driver

 

But before I get to that there are some other games requiring my attention, right Pixelboy?

I couldn’t resist putting those aside for a while so I could finish the intro sequence first though…

Dude, that intro takes my breath away! How the heck did you manage to get such a large sprite moving at the top of the screen without any flicker??? Can we expect the scrolling DK to be just as smooth in the conveyor belt stage?

 

Anyhow, me and my testers are just about to run out of games to beta-test, so before diving into Wonder Boy, if you could put some time in putting the finishing touches on either Star Force, Ninja Princess or Champion Ice Hockey, that would be appreciated.

 

Great work, Eduardo!

[youki]

How the heck did you manage to get such a large sprite moving at the top of the screen without any flicker???

 

I think the width of Donkey kong is 32 pixels. So , i think he uses 3 rows of 4 sprites to render kong (total of 12 sprites) . each row being compounded of 2 layers of 2 (16x16 pixel) sprites in order to have 2 colors. So there is alway never more than 4 sprites by row => no flicker.

 

I think Pauline when she is at the top of the screen is not done with sprites.

 

But things are hard to see on youtube video.

 

Anyway , it is indeed a really impressive jobs!

Edited May 24, 2011 by youki

[+opcode]

I think the width of Donkey kong is 32 pixels. So , i think he uses 3 rows of 4 sprites to render kong (total of 12 sprites) . each row being compounded of 2 layers of 2 (16x16 pixel) sprites in order to have 2 colors. So there is alway never more than 4 sprites by row => no flicker.

 

I wish things were that simple, otherwise it wouldn't have taken months.

BTW, DK is 40 pixels wide from foot to foot.

 

EDIT: you know, not related to this topic, but I was thinking the other day about starting a Z80 assembly language beginner’s course. The problem is right now I am swamped with work, but maybe in the near future, like a lesson a week or something. I know that a lot of CV programmers use C, and I have nothing against it, but it would be cool to have some more people using assembly too.

Edited May 24, 2011 by opcode

[youki]

I think the width of Donkey kong is 32 pixels. So , i think he uses 3 rows of 4 sprites to render kong (total of 12 sprites) . each row being compounded of 2 layers of 2 (16x16 pixel) sprites in order to have 2 colors. So there is alway never more than 4 sprites by row => no flicker.

 

I wish things were that simple, otherwise it wouldn't have taken months.

BTW, DK is 40 pixels wide from foot to foot.

 

40... 32+8 .. so i think you use a ( set of ) couple of characters for the "center" of kong's body. And you overlap smartly characters by the sprites depending on kong's position.

[+opcode]

40... 32+8 .. so i think you use a ( set of ) couple of characters for the "center" of kong's body. And you overlap smartly characters by the sprites depending on kong's position.

 

That is a very good guess.

[128Kgames]

WOW, just watched this on my Droid and it looks fantastic! Where were you back in 1982 Eduardo?

 

Your programming could have changed the course of history...

 

Great work man, I look forward to the finished product(s).

[JamesD]

I was wondering what had happened to this project. That looks awesome.

The sound of him jumping could be a little closer to the arcade but otherwise it's spot on!

Matching sounds from different chips is really tough.

[+opcode]

I was wondering what had happened to this project. That looks awesome.

The sound of him jumping could be a little closer to the arcade but otherwise it's spot on!

Matching sounds from different chips is really tough.

 

Donkey Kong doesn't have a sound chip per se. It uses a microcontroller to produce sound directly to a DAC, but some sound FX are produced by individual discrete sound circuitry, and that includes the "stomp" sound. Properly reproducing such sounds using a square wave generator is near impossible, as we don't have the same control over wave form, volume or frequency as a dedicated oscillator circuitry does (I can’t update volume and frequency as fast as a dedicated circuitry does for example).

What I still plan to do is to improve volume balance among the different sound FXs so no FX is too loud or too quiet. The stomp sound for example is currently a bit too quiet (though it sounds better on a real TV, where bigger speakers improve bass reproduction). One the other hand volume control isn’t a trivial matter with any of the PSG we have, as they use logarithmic volume scales.

Eduardo

[JamesD]

Donkey Kong Arcade does a pretty good job of reproducing the sound. I'm wondering how long it took them to get it right.

Donkey Kong Arcade Intellivision

[JamesD]

Donkey Kong Arcade does a pretty good job of reproducing the sound. I'm wondering how long it took them to get it right.

Donkey Kong Arcade Intellivision

That was supposed to say Donkey Kong Arcade Intellivision. Oops.

[ColecoFan1981]

Donkey Kong Arcade does a pretty good job of reproducing the sound. I'm wondering how long it took them to get it right.

Donkey Kong Arcade Intellivision

That was supposed to say Donkey Kong Arcade Intellivision. Oops.

Nonetheless... I'd like to see improved versions of these other Donkey Kong ports:

*Atari 2600

*Commodore 64

*Texas Instruments TI-99/4A

 

 

 

[tz101]

Donkey Kong Arcade does a pretty good job of reproducing the sound. I'm wondering how long it took them to get it right.

Donkey Kong Arcade Intellivision

That was supposed to say Donkey Kong Arcade Intellivision. Oops.

Nonetheless... I'd like to see improved versions of these other Donkey Kong ports:

*Atari 2600

*Commodore 64

*Texas Instruments TI-99/4A

 

Having no programming experience, I thought before of redoing 2600 DK. I don't know if it could be done with Batari Basic tools, but it would be an ambitious project for sure. I don't know about all 4 arcade levels, but even adding the elevator stage to the 2600 game would be quite an accomplishment (probably tons of flicker though).

[+opcode]

Donkey Kong Arcade does a pretty good job of reproducing the sound. I'm wondering how long it took them to get it right.

Donkey Kong Arcade Intellivision

That was supposed to say Donkey Kong Arcade Intellivision. Oops.

 

First of all let me say that I am a little suspicious of anything involving mr. David Harley. I don't know how he got those people to associate with him, but that isn't a good sign.

Secondly, there is something strange about the sound we hear in their video. Some of it seems to have been lifted right from the original CV version, while some of it just doesn't sound like it is from the GI PSG to me. Since the game isn't out yet, I would say it is possible they just got sound pieces from different sources and edited everything together. Until they show it publicly I am just not convinced.

[tz101]

Either way, I signed up for the release of INTV DK Arcade as soon as it is available. Can't wait to play it.

[+opcode]

But ok, I got the point, lets improve sound....