gorfcadet Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Awesome news on the midi front. PMP, I wouldn't worry about the scene. Everything has a high and low tide. I've been back to lurking because of work, but I check in daily. I'll always plunk down to support whatever new goodies appear and will continue to work on my projects that might even get finished one day. lols. I see new faces on here still and my students think what folks do here is just cool. I'm hoping the boss gets that programming class back on the schedule for next fall. Kids need that stuff. I asked nicely that they schedule it during my break hour so I can sit in. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Keytar! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stun Runner 87 Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Awesome news on the midi front. PMP, I wouldn't worry about the scene. Everything has a high and low tide. I've been back to lurking because of work, but I check in daily. I'll always plunk down to support whatever new goodies appear and will continue to work on my projects that might even get finished one day. lols. I see new faces on here still and my students think what folks do here is just cool. I'm hoping the boss gets that programming class back on the schedule for next fall. Kids need that stuff. I asked nicely that they schedule it during my break hour so I can sit in. That would be cool if you're school gets a programming class back.You should run that department.You could make a class assignment where you have you're students make 7800 games for a project.That way, there can be a shit load of new games in the atariage store here.PacManPlus should write the textbook for you're new class. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gorfcadet Posted March 8, 2013 Share Posted March 8, 2013 Lol. I wouldn't complain! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desiv Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Just a thought, no idea if it would actually be useful for this game or worth adding, but... I just got a savekey (and I'll be getting an Atarivox when it's ready, which has savekey support).. Any chance of adding savekey support for saved game(s)? http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/93491-save-key-review/ Again, no idea what's involved in adding support or whether it would help, but I just think it's great when homebrew games support homebrew hardware and drive each other.. desiv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desiv Posted March 10, 2013 Share Posted March 10, 2013 Can't edit my post, so.. Doing a bit more research, it looks like Richard H. is the keeper of savekey memory locations: http://www.richard.hutchinson.dsl.pipex.com/new_page_6.htm (and you can tell from that what games support the savekey also) desiv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted March 14, 2013 Author Share Posted March 14, 2013 Thank you guys! Well... I couldn't get the USB-> MIDI controller to work with Windows 7 x64. So it looks like Bentley will be on the back burner again until I can think of another way to get Pokey data from MIDI. For the developers who use RMT: I couldn't follow how to use it - If I can figure it out, does it actually put out Pokey data or does it have to be converted as well? @desiv - I have no plans at the moment to use SaveKey, but I'm not using the HSC either; I have the continues there to help the player, but the more you use them, the less bonus points you receive at the end of the game. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwierer Posted March 14, 2013 Share Posted March 14, 2013 Does it work under virtual PC? http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx -Jeff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted March 15, 2013 Author Share Posted March 15, 2013 It's funny you should mention that; I've been trying to get myself more familiar with Microsoft Virtual PC lately. Anyway, it won't let me install the "Windows XP Mode with Virtual PC" because I'm using Windows 7 home, and the 'regular' Virtual PC for Windows 7 crashes when I attempt to install Windows XP I'm still trying things... Thank you though. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenfused Posted March 15, 2013 Share Posted March 15, 2013 (edited) It's funny you should mention that; I've been trying to get myself more familiar with Microsoft Virtual PC lately. Anyway, it won't let me install the "Windows XP Mode with Virtual PC" because I'm using Windows 7 home, and the 'regular' Virtual PC for Windows 7 crashes when I attempt to install Windows XP I'm still trying things... Thank you though. Bob I have always used Virtual Box. I still use the same XP Pro disk image on windows 7 home premium i was using under Ubuntu before. Edited March 15, 2013 by kenfused Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinMos3 Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 I have always used Virtual Box. Seconded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted March 16, 2013 Author Share Posted March 16, 2013 Thanks, just installed it on my laptop... The only thing I am afraid of is that going through the virtualization to get a USB->MIDI adapter working will introduce some latency when capturing MIDI which will put me back at square 1. I'll let you know how it goes Thank you for the additional suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmervine Posted March 16, 2013 Share Posted March 16, 2013 Bob-hope you have some luck with this...eagerly awaiting the opportunity to play BB on my 7800! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmetal88 Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Seconded. I always had problems with VirtualBox, but I had much better luck with VMWare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desiv Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 I always had problems with VirtualBox, but I had much better luck with VMWare. Opposite for me. I also am happy with VirtualBox.. For servers, I've been a staunch VMWare proponent. Clustering and VMotion and SAN performance.. Really nice... But for desktops, I've tried all variants of VMWare and always ended up back with Virtualbox... But that's the nice thing about multiple options. Hopefully a good working solution for everyone... desiv Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jmetal88 Posted March 20, 2013 Share Posted March 20, 2013 Opposite for me. I also am happy with VirtualBox.. For servers, I've been a staunch VMWare proponent. Clustering and VMotion and SAN performance.. Really nice... But for desktops, I've tried all variants of VMWare and always ended up back with Virtualbox... But that's the nice thing about multiple options. Hopefully a good working solution for everyone... desiv Might have to do with the fact that I almost exclusively run Windows 98 in my virtual machines. VirtualBox crashes the installer multiple times during the installation process, but VMWare Player installs it without a hitch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted March 21, 2013 Author Share Posted March 21, 2013 Hi all: At this point, I'm actually thinking about releasing it as TIA only (which actually makes it a stock 7800 144K game). I want to call it done at some point, and I only have to add a few sounds here and there to do so for the TIA version. This would mean no background music. To my personal tastes, this makes no difference in gameplay (and, to be honest, when I used to play games like DOOM I would turn off the background music anyway - but that's just me). For the record, I still plan on researching and attempting to develop some sort of MIDI->Pokey/TIA setup. Being a songwriter and a musician, it is the *only* way I will create music for the 7800 (sound effects are a different story). Just doing the background tune for Super Circus AtariAge was a long and tedius task, as I coded it by hand. Does anyone have an issue with this? Thanks, Bob 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lapetino Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Hi all: At this point, I'm actually thinking about releasing it as TIA only (which actually makes it a stock 7800 144K game). I want to call it done at some point, and I only have to add a few sounds here and there to do so for the TIA version. This would mean no background music. To my personal tastes, this makes no difference in gameplay (and, to be honest, when I used to play games like DOOM I would turn off the background music anyway - but that's just me). For the record, I still plan on researching and attempting to develop some sort of MIDI->Pokey/TIA setup. Being a songwriter and a musician, it is the *only* way I will create music for the 7800 (sound effects are a different story). Just doing the background tune for Super Circus AtariAge was a long and tedius task, as I coded it by hand. Does anyone have an issue with this? Thanks, Bob I could never say it's an "issue," Bob, as you have birthed so many great games for the Atari community, and this game is no exception. But I've played it some (hard!) and would love, love LOVE for it to have background music. For me, that separates the awesome platformers like Pitfall 2 from everything else, so it would be the ultimate cherry on top. But as another creative person, I totally understand the notion of calling something done at some point. But if you wanted to persevere, I think this game would be extra special with that music. Is there any way someone else could help with it, and would that be interesting to you? (With no programming skills, it can't be me.) Just a thought. Thanks for the great stuff you do. It is appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rorysl Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 I would have to agree, wholeheartedly. I can only speak for myself but I'm more than willing to wait patiently until you manage to figure it out. That being said, if you're ready to wash your hands of development and get it to cart, I'll still be pre-ordering! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 "Issue"? No. More than happy to purchase Bentley as is. Hoping though when/if Bentley is updated with background POKEY music another version will be released on cart - I am not talking about an upgrade or trade-in deal. 1. Bentley Bear - TIA - stock machine edition - Full price and cart 2. Bentley Bear - POKEY/XM edition - Full price and (different) cart No swaps/trades or upgrades. This concept is no different than say Eternal Champions or Ecco the Dolphin on the Sega Genesis then a Sega-CD enhanced release. Or somewhat like SNES having released Final Fight and later Final Fight Guy. Better yet, another similarity is Atari 2600 Frogger and Atari 2600 SuperCharger Frogger. In fact I like that best, the XM is to the 7800 like the SuperCharger is to the 2600. Just my 2 cents. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 I'm with lapetino and rorysl, I'd rather wait for the game to have background music. Platformers like these have a better "feel" to them with music in the background. It just adds to the ambiance of the game. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambler172 Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Hi Bob If you plan to release BB,count me in.BB is really great......One of the best 7800 games ever greetings Walter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiffyone Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Been a while since I've been on the forums, but I'm so happy to see the project still alive and progressing as well as it has. I tried the latest demo out last night, and it has really come together in ways that I only imagined when I first floated the idea a year ago. Stellar work, Bob. F'n stellar. One quibble though: Why are the buttons swapped around in the latest release? Was that something users wanted? It seems strange to me to have the attack button not be the primary (first) button, as that's the way it was with games of this sort on NES (everything from Adventure Island to the Super Mario games to Mega Man had jump on button 2/A and attack on button 1/B). SMS was a different story, with it not being a "set rule" (Alex Kidd in Miracle World had attack on button 1, jump on button 2; Wonder Boy had it reversed). I'm playing it on MESS using a USB joypad, and pulling off basic jumps over rocks is more difficult than it ought to be, even more than pulling off the more difficult jumps in the earliest demos where you had the buttons set up so the first was attack and the second was jump. I gather that when this is released in cart form, this will still be an issue for me as I'll be playing using the 7800's EU joypad. Thinking about it, I can see the way you have it currently set up being better for those unfortunate souls who have to deal with the stock 7800 joystick (why, oh why, couldn't we have gotten the joypad in the States?), but...c'mon, man. Perhaps a settings menu would be a solution. More work for you, and I'm sorry for that (you've done such amazing work on this already), but my right thumb implores you. Oh, and to your question on music: Again, more work for you (sorry), but I'd rather have some music. As another poster alluded, good game music is the cherry on top, especially for a platformer. Even the games that inspired Crystal Quest (Wonder Boy and Adventure Island) both have really memorable tunes that instantly pop in my head when I think of my favorite 8-bit platformers. The thing is, I really don't wish for you to be dealing with hand coding the music, so this is only if you can find a way to set up easier an easier work environment for Pokey music. Then you can go crazy with the FM chip on the XM for the sequel Wait...would adding Pokey music make this an XM only game, or an XM enhanced game (still playable on a stock 7800)? I'm still a bit unclear on that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spiffyone Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 Please let it be a Zelda/Golden Axe Warrior type game ... Adventure III The original Adventure was the first action/adventure game, and Legend of Zelda (LoZ) was obviously inspired by that VCS/2600 classic. There's an Adventure II for 5200 (sadly I've never played it as I don't have a 5200). It looks like what a 5200 sequel to the Atari 2600 classic would've been had it been released during the 5200's time on store shelves: familiar, but very much updated in both graphics and gameplay. It only makes sense then that there'd be an Adventure III for 7800, and that it too would feel like an update from Adventure II on 5200. That would "fit" the basic idea of imagining what form updates to Atari IP would take during the 7800 years, which was the foundation that sprung BB:Crystal Quest, particularly if it too borrows from Zelda's additions to the genre in much the same way Zelda borrowed from the original 2600 Adventure. We'd then have a unique take on Wonder Boy/Adventure Island in the form of BB: Crystal Quest and Legend of Zelda/Golden Axe Warrior in the form of Adventure III. Going along this line of thinking, a unique, Atari branded "take" on a Castlevania-style game "fits" just as well. Similar gameplay, but Atari branded, just like Sega did with Master of Darkness on SMS, so not an exact clone in any way. Use the Haunted House branding, perhaps. I know that HH was also an action/adventure (first real "survival horror", btw), but exploration/item hunting/door unlocking can be added as well. After all, the MSX version of Castlevania, Vampire Killer, had that sort of gameplay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UberArcade Posted March 21, 2013 Share Posted March 21, 2013 (edited) I actually prefer it to have TIA sounds and run on stock hardware so as many people as possible can play it. Somebody could always add enhanced music to it later. Edited March 21, 2013 by UberArcade Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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