Blinky Goes Up (formerly GIANA BROS)

[Jan Hermanns]

Hello,

 

I would like to produce a little booklet with 12 pages.

I've done the artwork, but I have no idea how to properly layout this thing.

 

Can anybody provide me a template file for a "classic" Atari2600 manual?

I work with CorelDraw but Photoshop or any other format would also be fine...

 

Thanks,

 

Jan

[Jan Hermanns]

Good things come to those who wait!

 

Yesterday I got a message from Albert

 

 

I plan on adding Blinky Goes Up and Armor Attack II (for the 7800) to the store in a few days...

 

 

[cak]

Yay!

[+cmart604]

Awesome. I'll be buying one

[Sprybug]

Hello,

 

I would like to produce a little booklet with 12 pages.

I've done the artwork, but I have no idea how to properly layout this thing.

 

Can anybody provide me a template file for a "classic" Atari2600 manual?

I work with CorelDraw but Photoshop or any other format would also be fine...

 

Thanks,

 

Jan

 

I can provide you with my Princess Rescue Manual layouts if that'll help.

[cak]

Don't watch if you don't want the entire game ruined for you.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Don't watch if you don't want the entire game ruined for you.

Looks almost perfect.

 

How big is the ROM?

[Nognir]

The official webpage of the game says 4K

 

http://www.lov3machine.com/blinky/

[+Propane13]

So......sequel with more levels?

 

-John

[Jan Hermanns]

I can provide you with my Princess Rescue Manual layouts if that'll help.

 

Thanks Sprybug, but I don't need it anymore.

[Jan Hermanns]

Don't watch if you don't want the entire game ruined for you.

 

Wow, that is impressive!

 

I must have played Blinky a million times during development, but I'm not even close to your speed...

 

I hereby grant you the title "Fastes Blinky Player Of The Universe"

[Jan Hermanns]

Looks almost perfect.

 

How big is the ROM?

Thank you - assuming you're referring to the game

 

The ROM images are 4K each (PAL as well as NTSC).

Feel free to download them here:

 

http://lov3machine.com/blinky/

 

A modul version will be released in the next day.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

So......sequel with more levels?

Yes, good idea.

 

I suppose in 8K or more, the number of levels could be increased massively. And maybe some "controlled randomness" could be added to the levels then too. This would increase the replay value quite a lot.

[Jan Hermanns]

So......sequel with more levels?

 

-John

 

Well, if you guys are willing to help me...

 

I'm thinking about releasing a decent leveleditor, then everybody could design levels and I would just compile them.

 

Big levels like level 3 need aprox. 160 Bytes, so a 32k ROM could easily have 150 big levels...

[+Propane13]

Wow, glad to hear you're considering it. This is a game worth working on a sequel for.

 

For a level editor-- you may not even need to go that far.

 

Some folks on these forums are programmers, and some are sprite designers.

Lots of them understand pixels, and binary concepts.

So, you may be able to make it easier, if you'd rather focus on gameplay.

You just may need to say "guys-- I need new level data. Here are the requirements". For example, if you said:

 

1) Choose your level color (red, blue, green)

2) Level data is on/off per line represented in binary; there are 16 "big pixels" per line.

3) One enemy per line, say what "big pixel" it starts at, and what kind.

4) One key or exit per line, say what "big pixel" it starts at

 

Your level 1 written this way is:

 

Color: brown

Level:

1000000000000000 (exit at 2)

1111000000000000

1000000000000000

1000001111000000

1000000000000110

1111000000000000

1000000000000000 (slinky starts at 10), (key at 15)

1000000001111111

1111110000000001

1000000000000001

1000001111000001

1000000000000001

1000000000000001

1111111111111111

 

Obviously, this is just a quick example (there's more to your game), but if you did something like this, you could just "translate" what people give you.

Then you can focus on cool new features (bosses after every 5 levels?), and focus on the important stuff instead of a level editor.

And, I'm sure you'd get tons of submissions!

 

Of course, you can do this however you wish-- just a suggestion, since it's a good game.

 

-John

[Jan Hermanns]

Wow, glad to hear you're considering it. This is a game worth working on a sequel for.

 

For a level editor-- you may not even need to go that far.

 

Some folks on these forums are programmers, and some are sprite designers.

Lots of them understand pixels, and binary concepts.

So, you may be able to make it easier, if you'd rather focus on gameplay.

You just may need to say "guys-- I need new level data. Here are the requirements". For example, if you said:

 

1) Choose your level color (red, blue, green)

2) Level data is on/off per line represented in binary; there are 16 "big pixels" per line.

3) One enemy per line, say what "big pixel" it starts at, and what kind.

4) One key or exit per line, say what "big pixel" it starts at

 

Your level 1 written this way is:

 

Color: brown

Level:

1000000000000000 (exit at 2)

1111000000000000

1000000000000000

1000001111000000

1000000000000110

1111000000000000

1000000000000000 (slinky starts at 10), (key at 15)

1000000001111111

1111110000000001

1000000000000001

1000001111000001

1000000000000001

1000000000000001

1111111111111111

 

Obviously, this is just a quick example (there's more to your game), but if you did something like this, you could just "translate" what people give you.

Then you can focus on cool new features (bosses after every 5 levels?), and focus on the important stuff instead of a level editor.

And, I'm sure you'd get tons of submissions!

 

Of course, you can do this however you wish-- just a suggestion, since it's a good game.

 

-John

 

Well, I have a "leveleditor" that does just what you proposed. It's just a small LISP program - but I won't embarrass myself and release it. I rather write a shiny new one, so that anyone -especially non-programmers- can contribute. That shouldn't be too much work.

 

As I said, I just would compile new levels from the "community" - kind of like an extended version. There would be *no* new features like bosses or moving platforms or what have you; because I don't have enough time (at least not in the near future) to implement them.

[atarifanjay]

This game is really tough, but great job on it. The jumping physics feel kinda weird though.

 

Haven't even made it past the first level.

[+bennybingo]

I still don't see this in the store...is there a pre-order?

[Jan Hermanns]

I still don't see this in the store...is there a pre-order?

 

I'm sorry, but Albert told me on July 4th he would put in the store "in the next few days".

Please send him a PM, maybe that helps...

[Albert]

Sorry guys, I'm trying to get all the Princess Rescue pre-orders out the door, and I'm making good progress on that (hope to have them all out this upcoming week!) Then I can focus on getting Blinky Goes Up and another game in the store.

 

..Al

[KevinMos3]

Don't watch if you don't want the entire game ruined for you.

 

That's a great run! I'm still going to claim the title though, until I see you do that on real hardware through a video capture card that has delay.

 

Not that I think you can't... I just want to hold on a little longer.

[cak]

Thanks! Actually I plan on doing a console run at some point, so I can submit it to Speed Demos Archive (and fix the couple mistakes I made).

 

Very nice playthrough...I've watched it a few times

[Albert]

Just shipped the first copies of the game to Jan Hermanns!

 

 

I have 50 NTSC copies nearly complete, just need to staple the manuals, test and label the carts, and assemble them all together. Today or tomorrow I'll be taking photos of Blinky Goes Up for the store (along with a few other games) so it can be added to the store.

 

Here are a few pictures I took with my phone to tide you over:

 

 

 

 

..Al

[PFL]

Can I ask about a PAL version? Sorry if I've missed something earlier in the thread.

[LidLikesIntellivision]

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