Jump to content
IGNORED

TI BASIC Game: Aperture


adamantyr

Recommended Posts

I gave it a try. I like it! However, I couldn't get to the door. It started on test chamber 2. Is that normal? But I couldn't get across to the right hand side using the orange and blue portals...

 

Oh yeah, I forgot I set it on Level 2 so I could check the screen building was good. It's possible to get to the door. :)

 

Right now, I'm considering if I want to add vertical portals. That totally changes the game dynamics, though, and I'll have to do a "button+direction" combo to indicate where you want to shoot the portal.

 

Tracking two different keys may also be part of the cause of the drag on the controls. If I reduced it to one and just had it alternate between orange and blue, it may be faster.

 

Adamantyr

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay, made some changes to the controls... I decided I wanted to use a joystick instead, and the fire button to do portals. You no longer directly control which portal is fired. It starts with one, then alternates between them.

 

I was hoping that going to joystick would speed things up a bit, with less key tracking. No such luck... I think the main slowdown is the GCHAR to check that you got floor underneath you. Not much I can do about that; it's a side-game and gravity matters.

 

On the PLUS side, my new control system actually brought a feature back I'd cut, jumping! I only discovered it because of another state check that allowed you to push up when a ladder was underneath you, but it was easy to extend it to be implemented all the time.

 

 

 

Next step is to investigate vertical portals...

 

Adamantyr

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Okay, made some changes to the controls... I decided I wanted to use a joystick instead, and the fire button to do portals. You no longer directly control which portal is fired. It starts with one, then alternates between them.

 

Not sure this is the best approach... Suppose you get one portal where you want and then screw up the next one... You'll then be forced to screw up the one you had in the right place.... Not sure if this matters - haven't really played Portal in a while....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Played it... very cool, man. =) Glad about the joysticks, and I like the idea of the one button portal shot. I find it nice and clean. Good interface, good mechanics. All around very nice. =)

 

I can't wait to try TEST CHAMBER 3. Looks cool..... up until it crashes out--- line 8520. =) Thanks for the updates and I look forward to watching this thing grow.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was doing some work on a game once that like this one had gravity, it was like load runner, anyway even though GCHAR was slow the other ways I tried were slower, even storing the screen in a map array and reading from it.

 

Good to know... I didn't think that would change much. With TI-BASIC, just cutting down on the number of lines of code between loops is a big help.

 

For example, I broke the game loop for falling out from the general movement loop because I didn't want it going through and validating a bunch of stuff that you couldn't even do WHILE falling.

 

(Yeah, you can't "steer" while falling. That's intentional; the screen is too small and the math too tight to do complicated physics.)

 

Adamantyr

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And now... vertical portals!

 

post-17978-129006377533_thumb.png

 

 

 

To set a portal in any direction, you press the fire button (or Q) and then push a cardinal direction. (Diagonals are ignored)

 

I threw a cube back into test chamber 1 to do some testing with. Feel free to try and get it over on the other side of the chamber. Or up next to the exit.

 

The cube will no longer displace one square after being pushed through.. a limitation of going to a two-axis portal system. This can create some complicated puzzle issues, as you may have to get creative to get the cube into another area and then right behind it. (You'll portal in on top of it, but don't worry, it's there)

 

Next steps are inclusion of dynamic and event-based features:

- Triggers to use with the cube

- Energy balls flying around (and potentially through portals)

- Electric beams

- Areas that can open/close based on trigger state (Need a nice door graphic other than the exit I think...)

- Moving platforms (probably more like an elevator that's triggered)

 

Adamantyr

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Latest version now available! Five test chambers available to play, numerous refinements to controls to allow for a lot of variety in desperate moves. Also added a title screen.

 

 

 

I think I have most of the main features coded up... not all of them have actually been tested, but it's just fixes and refinements now.

 

So far, I've used up around 9.5 kilobytes. That leaves a practical 3k or so left for the rest of the test chambers and any code additions. I may go back and refine some of the test chambers or even replace them to make room for more challenging and interesting chambers.

 

Please feel free to post any bugs or oddities you find here.

 

Adamantyr

 

P.S. Yes, Test Chamber 5 IS solvable... it's not easy, I'll admit, but it is.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm a moron

 

Don't feel bad, I did the same thing myself. I was in Super Extended BASIC re-sequencing the line numbers and I forgot.

 

I really need to get my Extended BASIC III cartridge over to emulation... it's a tough one because it's a complicated cartridge with four 8k pages to retrieve, but XB3 will support loading and running BASIC programs. (It no longer throws "bad value" if you use characters above 143, but you also can't use sprites.)

 

Adamantyr

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Latest version... six chambers now available! Also, if you get stuck, press 'R' to restart the level.

 

 

 

Added some new stuff on test chamber 6, so be sure and try it out!

 

And yes, I'm aware that cubes can destroy ladders. I don't want to waste an array tracking what's behind cubes. Just be careful. :)

 

Adamantyr

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...