PacManPlus Posted July 28, 2011 Author Share Posted July 28, 2011 lol - thanks guys (Walter, I knew you would enjoy this post - You recently mentioned MC in a PM to me and I had to stop myself from telling you about it because I wanted to get farther with it. I have the MAME version of MC, what's what I am using to study and figure out the movements (and where I ripped the graphics from). I did notice that the 'Eyes' in the first and second stage have a different patters if they are to the left of the player rather than the right. I was hoping someone knew where the tables were, so I could write a procedure around the table instead of trying to recreate the: 1) X Movement Table 2) Y Movement Table 3) Directional Bitmap 4) Number of frames to wait for each Also, this would be for each motive for the enemy (enter screen, circle, attack player) and in some cases (i.e. attack player) there is more than one set of tables for each motive (like I noted above). It's just very time consuming... I am trying to figure something out, but in the meantime if anyone out there knows Z80 and can get a disassembly from the arcade, it would speed things up greatly. Thanks again, guys - Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic George 2K3 Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 YAY!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambler172 Posted July 28, 2011 Share Posted July 28, 2011 Hi Bob I think,it is not a problem,if the movements are different from the arcade.The most important thing is,that the game plays very well and makes fun.I am sure,it will...... What i see in the first bin,makes me happy.I guess,this will become one of the best 7800 games ever. There is also a SNES version of MC.It is also not complete like the arcade,but plays well... greetings Walter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted July 29, 2011 Author Share Posted July 29, 2011 Thanks, Walter - however if I'm going to do this, I want to get as close as possible to the arcade. That being said, I'm starting to think that the enemy movement isn't table driven after all. There's just too much variation in the movement. When it starts to look like they are doing something similar there's a small change, and it's never in the same place. Still looking... Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ntavio Posted July 29, 2011 Share Posted July 29, 2011 Beautiful.......simply beautiful *tear* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Helmet Posted July 30, 2011 Share Posted July 30, 2011 Oh my god. Bob...you're my hero. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zonie Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 Love that game! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariNerd Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 looks like another winner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NML32 Posted July 31, 2011 Share Posted July 31, 2011 I use to play that game in the arcade as a kid one of my favorites. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted July 31, 2011 Author Share Posted July 31, 2011 Thanks for the good words, guys. Update: The enemy movement is a complete *nightmare* to figure out, and I actually ended up putting it aside a few times. But then I took another direction: I took the arcade roms, and started editing them. Long story short, I believe I found *where* the tables are in the arcade ROM (when put together it's only 16K). Now I have to fine tune the values I've been putting in. So I know where the tables are, but I have to figure out *how* they are used. I can then use the tables and write the code around them. At least it's some progress. Bob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambler172 Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 greetings Walter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.golden.ax Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Thanks for the good words, guys. Update: The enemy movement is a complete *nightmare* to figure out, and I actually ended up putting it aside a few times. But then I took another direction: I took the arcade roms, and started editing them. Long story short, I believe I found *where* the tables are in the arcade ROM (when put together it's only 16K). Now I have to fine tune the values I've been putting in. So I know where the tables are, but I have to figure out *how* they are used. I can then use the tables and write the code around them. At least it's some progress. Bob Your diligence is outstanding! AX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 I'll take a CIB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zonie Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 (edited) Bob, Y'know, the movements are similar to Demon attack, and possibly Phoenix. Those two 2600 titles may give you some inspiration as well? The docking was always my favorite part, I used to play that at the ski lodge when I was a kid. Is it gonna be an XM only game? I need something to use the XM for!!! Ax, Diligence? Nahh, it's a sickness! LOL Hobbies can be that way. I'm trying to find a simple and good 7800 emu for my mac. I try to avoid using anything in my windows partition unless I absolutely have to. Edited August 1, 2011 by Zonie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tremoloman2006 Posted August 1, 2011 Share Posted August 1, 2011 Bob... you have outdone yourself once again! I absolutely LOVE this game! Looks awesome in the screenshots... you can definitely count me in for one when finished. Keep up the great work... and most importantly... WELCOME BACK! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keitaro Posted August 2, 2011 Share Posted August 2, 2011 (edited) Wow! My top games I wished to see in 7800 were Moon Cresta/Phoenix/Galaga 3, so this is a awesome news! I love the title logo design too. I hope you found source code or something to study the enemy movement. The only I remember I meet a guy sometime ago hacking Moon Cresta roms to change values like text, enemy shots frequency, etc in hexadecimal code, but I guess It wouldn't be helpful. Edited August 2, 2011 by keitaro Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted August 2, 2011 Author Share Posted August 2, 2011 Thanks guys. Still having a tought time with this. I've disassembled the source code (the only thing missing is the graphics) and marked where the table begins ($9c00) The code starts at $8000. If anyone knows Z80 and would like to take a crack at trying to figure out what is being done here, it will make this port come along that much quicker. It's attached here. In the meantime, I'm still trying to figure this out by hand. Really am trying to get this as close as possible to the arcade. From what I can gather, this table consists of 'parts' of movements, that are used by the different modes of the enemies. Bob MCDisassembly (without graphics).zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted August 5, 2011 Author Share Posted August 5, 2011 Ok, so this is what I've found up to now. The 'table' that starts at $9C00 in the source above ($1c00 in the ROM) is a 'description' of movement. It's kind of fun figuring out how things were done. This is kind of an 'outside the box' (at least to me) approach to movement: The table seems to be made up of 8 bytes for each type of movement. I'll take the third entry as an example, being that it's the set I was working with: This table entry makes up the sequence for the initial 'left loop' that you see for the first set of aliens (i.e. when they are together in 4 pairs of 2 before you shoot them or they reach the bottom of the screen): Byte Value Description ---- ------ ------------- $00 $01 The number of frames between movements $01 $01 What position in the 'Circle' the flight pattern starts (there seems to be a 360 degree circle of movement defined somewhere and changing this value starts them at different degrees of the circle) $02 $1E Length (in *movement* frames) - How long to do this movement $03 $01 Direction ($01 = normal direction, $FF = opposite direction). i.e. The 'right loop' for this set of aliens has the same values except for $FF in this position $04 $01 Y Magnification Radius - the higher the number, the larger the sweeps in the y direction the aliens make $05 $02 X Magnification Radius - same, but in the X direction. $06 $00 This is the only one I'm not sure of yet. If I change this to $22 like in another entry, they fly off straight to the upper left corner of the screen. $07 $00 This is always zero for every entry. Once I have these values down, I need to figure out: 1 - where they are called from and how to tell which wave of aliens use which of these entries 2 - when they end, there's no indicator (that I can see) of a repeat or a stop. (i.e. the circling of the first set of aliens) Ugh. I searched the 'net almost completely. Nobody has done this yet with this game. (Or maybe they've done it and not posted it) I was hoping to find something along the lines of the commented arcade Pac disassembly or the arcade Frenzy disassembly I had found. I'm guessing nobody who knows Z80 is up to the task of looking through the above disassembly. Anyway, that's what I have so far. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desiv Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Can I just say here... WOW ..just.. WOW desiv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Thag Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Awesome. This one I'll have to buy. I'll set it on my Moon Cresta cocktail cab Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambler172 Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Hi Bob cannot wait to see a first playable bin.... greetings Walter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffgamer Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Please count me in for one if/when they make it to cart. Looks great! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Anyone got a .BIN of this amazingness? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari Joe Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 And best of all it's Made In Naples! Cougar Love! :thumbsup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hydro Thunder Posted August 8, 2011 Share Posted August 8, 2011 Sign me up for one of these when it's done!! Great choice! I'm still pulling for someone to make a Dreadnaught Factor II on 7800, but Moon Cresta? FANTASTIC! Graphics look great so far Bob! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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