Zzap Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 (edited) Hi guys, As announced by Rick over here and , we'll be releasing my debut 2600 game at the Retro Gaming Expo in Portland in September. The game is based on a well known puzzle game that I've also developed versions for the Gameboy Color and NES in the past, but when Rick approached me via Josh Byerly to make a 2600 version I was intrigued by the platform. The 2600 was restrictive at times, but made an excellent challenge that I really enjoyed. I had thought the NES was restrictive and archaic, but 128 bytes and the TIA were a whole new ballgame! The aim of the game is to delete 'chunks' of blocks of the same colour and to ultimately try and clear the screen of all blocks. You can only clear chunks of 2 or more blocks, and the more blocks you clear in one move the exponentially more points you get. So it's a trade off between trying to clear the screen to get a decent bonus at the end, and trying to create large blocks of a single colour by chipping away at the smaller areas of blocks. Some screenshots of the game: Jon Rose has done a wonderful job with the manual for this game transforming it from a puzzler and giving it deeper meaning with an excellent classic space theme. From the back of the box: Those evil Xotec are at it again, and this time, only you can save the peaceful planet of Zarilon from certain destruction! Equipped with the latest Atari Z2PA Advanced Calculation Computer, you must break through the Xotec Homeworld's dangerous Pulsar Fields, and take them down, piece by piece. It won't be easy. Aim your mining laser and fire! The colors disappear as you go. One wrong move and Zarilon is doomed! The Pulsar Fields get tougher the farther you go in. Do you have what it takes? Join the Zarilon Defense forces and find out! Only on Chunkout, for Atari Video Computer System. There will be a total of 100 numbered copies for sale at the Expo available in 2 formats. There will be 30 boxed copies with manuals and individually numbered cartridges and boxes as well as some really cool pack-ins (details to be provided soon). As well as this, there will be 70 copies with the numbered cartridges and manual. I have included a couple of pictures of the boxes below built by Marc Oberhauser. Thanks to the AtariAge community for the great Homebrew forums and all contributors, I look forward to meeting some of you at the expo! Edited August 7, 2009 by Zzap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd-w Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 Nice work! Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lucifershalo Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 is it going to be available to purchase here on atariage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigO Posted August 7, 2009 Share Posted August 7, 2009 The aim of the game is to delete 'chunks' of blocks of the same colour and to ultimately try and clear the screen of all blocks. You can only clear chunks of 2 or more blocks, and the more blocks you clear in one move the exponentially more points you get. So it's a trade off between trying to clear the screen to get a decent bonus at the end, and trying to create large blocks of a single colour by chipping away at the smaller areas of blocks. I'm not familiar with the game. How do you clear the chunks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zzap Posted August 7, 2009 Author Share Posted August 7, 2009 is it going to be available to purchase here on atariage? I haven't worked out any deals to sell this beyond the Portland Expo at this stage. Depending on interest I may look at a broader release through AtariAge or elsewhere after the expo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zzap Posted August 7, 2009 Author Share Posted August 7, 2009 The aim of the game is to delete 'chunks' of blocks of the same colour and to ultimately try and clear the screen of all blocks. You can only clear chunks of 2 or more blocks, and the more blocks you clear in one move the exponentially more points you get. So it's a trade off between trying to clear the screen to get a decent bonus at the end, and trying to create large blocks of a single colour by chipping away at the smaller areas of blocks. I'm not familiar with the game. How do you clear the chunks? I started out writing an explanation, but soon discovered some visuals would help The game begins with a grid of coloured squares. The player moves around a cursor (highlighted block) using the joystick to select a block. When they press the fire button all of the blocks of the same colour are highlighted to show the chunk that will be deleted. If they hit the button again that chunk is removed and any blocks above it fall down. If a column is emptied, all columns to the right get shifted left. This continues until there are either no blocks left, or no chunks consisting of 2 or more blocks remain (only single coloured blocks sitting next to each other). There are 4 levels of difficulty that adjust the number of different colours used. The more colours the harder it is to get big chunks of a single colour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 Looks good! Reminds me of Supercat's (still unreleased) Matchie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 I started out writing an explanation, but soon discovered some visuals would help A YouTube video would be even better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zzap Posted August 8, 2009 Author Share Posted August 8, 2009 Looks good! Reminds me of Supercat's (still unreleased) Matchie. Cool, I hadn't seen his game before now, looks pretty good! Yup, this is the same puzzle game concept as that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigO Posted August 8, 2009 Share Posted August 8, 2009 Oh, similar to a marble/bubble sorta game I had on my old Smartphone (Bubble Breaker maybe...I just can't remember). I liked that game. I'll have to try yours out when I get a chance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godzilla Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 any way to have someone who might be there buy me one or two? (max 2, second one never resold, just ask cpu/etc.) for an old computerphobe friend o mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonner242 Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 I would love a copy also if anyone goes! Looks like a great pulle game! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zzap Posted August 12, 2009 Author Share Posted August 12, 2009 The boxed version will be sold 1 per person on a first come, first served basis at the expo. Multiple purchases of the Cart/Manual version will be allowed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 Looks interesting to me. How did you code the color changes? I suppose you repeately change the PF (or BK) color, right? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 This continues until there are either no blocks left, or no chunks consisting of 2 or more blocks remain (only single coloured blocks sitting next to each other). There are 4 levels of difficulty that adjust the number of different colours used. The more colours the harder it is to get big chunks of a single colour. How do you score? The larger the chunks removed, the higher the score? Maybe even double the score with each additional block? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zzap Posted August 12, 2009 Author Share Posted August 12, 2009 Looks interesting to me. How did you code the color changes? I suppose you repeately change the PF (or BK) color, right? Yep, this was coded using background colour changes at the fastest rate I could determine before introducing interlacing. The width of each block is 6 cpu cycles, the time it takes to read the next colour from memory and write it to the screen Again, yep, the bigger the chunks of blocks the bigger the scoring. The specific scoring algorithm is the number of blocks is multiplied by itself, then by 75, so 2 blocks=2x2x75=300, 5 blocks=5x5x75=1875 etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nonner242 Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 The boxed version will be sold 1 per person on a first come, first served basis at the expo. Multiple purchases of the Cart/Manual version will be allowed. Damn I guess no picking one up then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purenergy Posted August 12, 2009 Share Posted August 12, 2009 is it going to be available to purchase here on atariage? I haven't worked out any deals to sell this beyond the Portland Expo at this stage. Depending on interest I may look at a broader release through AtariAge or elsewhere after the expo. Chunkout looks great, as I love puzzle games! Hopefully this will be available after the Portland Expo. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Thag Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 I've had the pleasure of playing Chunkout for awhile now, as I've been assisting Zzap with the manual & extras. It really is an excellent game. It's one of those rare games that constantly begs you to hit the reset switch for just 'one more game', and it has that Tetris-like quality of simplicity and approachability, while having a fiendish level of difficulty once you get your feet wet. Not only that, but the back story is full of words like 'laser', 'pulsar field', 'Zarilon', and there's a guy named 'Brock Starblaze'. What's not to like? It's definitely worth the trip to Portland! IMHO, it's the best puzzle game on the 2600, hands down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godzilla Posted August 14, 2009 Share Posted August 14, 2009 well, as I said, if anyone who is going wants to do me a solid, I'll reimburse you for the game+trouble Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zzap Posted August 31, 2009 Author Share Posted August 31, 2009 I've posted some of the details of the release up on http://chunkout.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.golden.ax Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Man I'd love it if someone would pick on up. There is simply no way for me to go to the show. PLEASE sell these on Atari Age... you would sell lots of them. AX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Put me down as another sale via Atariage as there is no way I can make it to Portland for the show. Looks like a great game and a very cool package as well! Thank you for your hard work! Hopeful Stan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 I've been making WIP protos of this game for a while, and I can say without a doubt, it is very good and addictive. Good luck with the sales at the show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwh Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 Add me as another person that is interested in buying a copy even after the show... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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