CandyBar Game for Atari 2600

[+Gemintronic]

Better than Real-Time Weapon Change!

 

CandyBar for the Atari 2600 is a tribute to PANIC INC. CandyBar utility for the Mac. I'm putting it up as an entry for TIGSources "A Game by It's Cover" competition. http://forums.tigsource.com/index.php?topic=13392.0

 

Very much a work in progress. The title screen has no animation or music. Gameplay consists of moving left and right across the screen. Have 'till the end of July to complete. Couldn't upload the custom score_graphics.asm but that's easy to reproduce via VisualbB.

 

Having the player multi-colored caused the sprite to go LSD/Rainbow effect for some reason. I worked around that by having a single colored sprite with a playfield pixel that is flesh colored for the face. Managed to get 3 different colored "candybars" on the conveyor belt. As PANIC INC. decided to use the score area for their trademark I had to fake the score up top using playfield pixels. Using pfheight is quirky but it worked out somehow.

 

Wish me luck lads!

candybar.bas

candybar.bin

Edited July 19, 2010 by theloon

[Atari_afternoon]

Looks nice

What will the objective of the game be? Something like Pressure Cooker?

 

Looking forward to any updates!

[TrekMD]

Looks nice! I'll keep an eye on this for updates! Thanks for sharing!

[+Gemintronic]

I've got the custom score code printing 00 to 99 on the top corners of the screen. Just have game mechanics, sound effects and title screen music to go. Oh, yeah. The manual too I forget about them since I never read 'em.

 

The box for CandyBar specifies 8 "games" which are actually 4 game variations with 2 difficulty levels each. Anyone have any ideas for gameplay? I thought of these so far:

 

1. Feed the icon a set amount of candybars. Amount needed to sate the icon increases with level.

 

2. Each color of candybar has a different value - such as blue = -3 white = 5 and red = 1. You must feed the icon an exact amount to proceed.

 

3. Each icon requires feeding in a specific color sequence. The sequence gets longer each higher level.

 

any other ideas guys?

[+Gemintronic]

okay! I hope this is the final version. Should be submitted to TIGSource as my final competition entry.

 

Compile errors kept on creeping up as I reached only 105 bytes free. 4k is tough. The music had to be cannibalized to make room for more code! On a real TV the blue used for the 5 point candybar and icon above Chefs head looks a very white lavender. The Chefs face and title-screen candybar look too bright as well.

 

GAME INSTRUCTIONS:

Press fire to start game. Once in-game left and right moves the Chef. Press fire in-game to pick up boxes of candybars. Each candybar box has a different point value: blue/lavender is 5 magenta is 1 and white is 10. The currently held candybar box is indicated on the bottom left-hand side of the screen. Feed the Hungry Icon above Chef to increase your score. When the score reaches a certain amount the level will increase. After each level the score resets to 0 and the Hungry Icon needs even more candybars to gain the next level. The screen palette shifts towards red as time runs out. Each level introduces new challenges such as less time and less predictable Hungry Icon behavior.

 

KNOWN ISSUES:

* Not being able to select level at title screen is not industry standard.

* You can win the game by simply pressing up and fire.

* Lack of game over screen is a "kid friendly feature" - less punishment for losing.

[yuppicide]

So does this game have any object or way to win? All you do is stand in the middle, grab candy and feed it?

[+Gemintronic]

So does this game have any object or way to win? All you do is stand in the middle, grab candy and feed it?

 

At this point in time the object is to feed the icon a goal amount to attain the next level. Higher levels reduce the alloted time, the goal amount becomes greater and the icon starts to move around (eventually moving and warping). In the later levels the candybar boxes move faster too.

 

You can move left and right to catch stray candybar boxes. I do this when a white box appears as they are worth more and thus worth moving around for.

 

My instructions must not be clear enough what the objective is. Thanks for giving me the heads up!

Edited July 19, 2010 by theloon

[yuppicide]

I like the game.. I think the graphics are nice. This reminds me of the I Love Lucy episode where she worked in a chocolate factory. She was stuffing the down her shirt, eating them, etc.

 

So there's no way to lose or die?

[+Gemintronic]

I like the game.. I think the graphics are nice. This reminds me of the I Love Lucy episode where she worked in a chocolate factory. She was stuffing the down her shirt, eating them, etc.

 

So there's no way to lose or die?

 

Yeah, the graphics are better than I expected. I thought it would suck after realizing multi-colored sprites wouldn't work (they went rainbow/LSD every frame). I used a pfpixel block to add the pink to the Chefs face. Made his movements a bit fast and choppy. I think it works though.

 

You can lose by running out of time. The background gets progressively redder as time runs out. If time runs out it's back to the title screen for ya! The box for CandyBar states it has a "special feature" for younger children. I figured not having a GAME OVER screen would apply as GAME OVER seems to be "negative reinforcement". Random Terrain is a big fan of no "negative reinforcement" or competition.

 

Thanks again Yuppicide! This gives me more to work with when making the manual. Definitely have to describe how to win and lose.

[KevKelley]

I may have to leak at your code for the score. May use this for future projects. 

[+Gemintronic]

On 7/30/2023 at 4:19 PM, KevKelley said:

I may have to leak at your code for the score. May use this for future projects. 

 

It's one of my first bB games so the code is probably worse than usual.

 

The basic premise was to use common patterns of pfpixel statements to cobble together numbers.  Kind of like a segmented display.