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Donkey Kong XM Pre-order and demo


tep392

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I never noticed that before. Good catch. I probably won't implement it though, unless I have some spare time after everything is finished.

 

 

Yesterday I compared different home versions of Donkey Kong and I noticed that the animation of the barrels that gradually disappear (when the bonus timer reaches zero) was included in the excellent version of the ColecoVision.

 

If it is not too much to ask, would be really nice have this feature also for version of our 7800 ...

 

...if there is some spare time when everything is finished.

 

Many thanks

 

 

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I never noticed that before. Good catch. I probably won't implement it though, unless I have some spare time after everything is finished.

 

 

 

Perry, as always, thank you for your kind attention.

In 7800 Homebrew scene, you are really a great fortune for us.

 

I would like to share a thought and ask kindly appeal to people who have pre-ordered the cartridge of this amazing new edition.

 

Perry announced Donkey Kong with Pokey sound, here on AtariAge, in October 2010.

Was a big surprise for me, though it was said that there would be no changes to the graphics and to the game play. And no Cement factory level.

 

But around the end of September 2012 is happened something magical and unexpected. Everything has been revolutionized. Lot of hard work, an incredible list of changes made in less than three months. Three months fundamentals.

 

Now, we will have the XM in February.

Therefore I think that, send the cartridges in late January instead of in late December means to give this project few weeks more that can be very valuable for development.

Also to evaluate the latest ideas, resolve eventual bugs, and of course check everything.

 

Perry is really very fast, but leave that he completes this great work without hurry is another way to say thank you.

 

 

Thanks to all

 

Marco

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I posted another update with some small changes.

 

- I fixed the color issue with the fireball's on the 1st screen.

- I've also updated the hammer graphics and added the skidding graphic that appears breifly at the end of jumps and falls. What's interesting is that the skidding graphic was already in the Atari release but was never used. I just tweaked it a bit and added the code to use it.

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Perry,

Looking great. The fireballs work perfectly now and the hammers look good too. I think you're almost there with this screen. I like the way that the first blue barrel in levels 2 and 3 go on a slant like the arcade version too. If you decide to do an animation with the barrels on the top disappearing as the time expires maybe you could also consider that as time expires the final countdown color of the numbers turns to the color of the beams on all levels. 10, 9, 8 etc. The Game Over color should be the same as the ladders on all levels too.

Thanks,

Chuck

Edited by ChuckH
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Here's a quick update. I havn't posted the code yet because I'm chasing some bugs.

 

I've made the following changes to replicate the arcade version.

 

- Hat, purse and umbrella point values vary with level.

 

- Hammering regular barrel is 100 pts. Blue barrels, firefoxes, fireballs, pies are random value of 300, 500 or 800 using same probability as arcade version.

 

- I've changed the object jumping code to mimic the arcade. If Mario jumps strait up, the window that the object below him needs to be in is fairly small. You won't always score points when jumping barrels because of this. Object detection is only performed when Mario is at his peak. If you push the joystick left or right before he hit's his peak, the window widens. This is what allows you to score points for jumping next to an object even if you didn't go over it. This includes Kong on the rivet screen. :)

 

Here are the changes I have planned to do next.

 

- Barrel logic will follow the arcade. Barrels will go down the ladders with the same probabilities, which will change the longer you stay on the screen. You will also be able to influence when the barrels go down the ladders using the joystick. Don Hodges has a great article describing this in detail on his website.

 

- Don was also able to point me in the right direction to figure out the fireball/firefox spawn/movement logic. I will be updating this as well. Don's great work reverse engineering the arcade code will be a big help to getting this port to be arcade accurate.

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Thanks for the update tep...In line with "getting this port to be arcade accurate" will this change:

 

"- I've adjusted barrel throwing speed so it's a little slower for the first two levels. I had it at the same rate as the arcade but I seemed too difficult. I also don't let it go to the 1.5 second rate used on higher levels in the arcade version because the number of barrels start exceeding what the game engine is setup for and interfere with each other."

 

From here: http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/204250-donkey-kong-xm-pre-order-and-demo/page__st__250?do=findComment&comment=2655065

 

If possible, can there be an option to keep the barrel throwing speed the same as the arcade for the first two levels?

 

Just wonder, especially if striving for arcade accuracy.

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Thanks for the update tep...In line with "getting this port to be arcade accurate" will this change:

 

"- I've adjusted barrel throwing speed so it's a little slower for the first two levels. I had it at the same rate as the arcade but I seemed too difficult. I also don't let it go to the 1.5 second rate used on higher levels in the arcade version because the number of barrels start exceeding what the game engine is setup for and interfere with each other."

 

From here: http://www.atariage....50#entry2655065

 

If possible, can there be an option to keep the barrel throwing speed the same as the arcade for the first two levels?

 

Just wonder, especially if striving for arcade accuracy.

 

The 1.5 second barrel rate isn't going to happen without major graphics engine changes. There aren't enough DL's entries to handle the number of barrels that can be on the screen. It could become a major PITA if I start making significant changes to that part of the code. The rate on the earlier levels could be tied to a difficulty switch if you want the challenge. :)

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The 1.5 second barrel rate isn't going to happen without major graphics engine changes. There aren't enough DL's entries to handle the number of barrels that can be on the screen. It could become a major PITA if I start making significant changes to that part of the code. The rate on the earlier levels could be tied to a difficulty switch if you want the challenge. :)

 

Cool, thanks for the info. I wasn't concerned with the 1.5 second barrel rate (Realizing that was more of a huge system/program limitation-change), rather just the part bold and italics - The rate of throwing speed matching the arcade for the first two levels. It would be awesome to match the arcade on the early levels with the difficulty switch adjustment...Thank you! :thumbsup:

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What's interesting is that the skidding graphic was already in the Atari release but was never used. I just tweaked it a bit and added the code to use it.

 

 

Really interesting, I always thought that we would not have had this sprite in the 7800 version ... so it's very nice that you have resurrected this!

 

And thank you for having reversed the direction of rotation of the barrels. :)

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Here's a quick update. I havn't posted the code yet because I'm chasing some bugs.

 

I've made the following changes to replicate the arcade version.

 

- Hat, purse and umbrella point values vary with level.

 

- Hammering regular barrel is 100 pts. Blue barrels, firefoxes, fireballs, pies are random value of 300, 500 or 800 using same probability as arcade version.

 

- I've changed the object jumping code to mimic the arcade. If Mario jumps strait up, the window that the object below him needs to be in is fairly small. You won't always score points when jumping barrels because of this. Object detection is only performed when Mario is at his peak. If you push the joystick left or right before he hit's his peak, the window widens. This is what allows you to score points for jumping next to an object even if you didn't go over it. This includes Kong on the rivet screen. :)

 

Here are the changes I have planned to do next.

 

- Barrel logic will follow the arcade. Barrels will go down the ladders with the same probabilities, which will change the longer you stay on the screen. You will also be able to influence when the barrels go down the ladders using the joystick. Don Hodges has a great article describing this in detail on his website.

 

- Don was also able to point me in the right direction to figure out the fireball/firefox spawn/movement logic. I will be updating this as well. Don's great work reverse engineering the arcade code will be a big help to getting this port to be arcade accurate.

 

 

 

 

"So the excellence is not an act, but a habit."

_Aristotele_

 

 

:-D

 

Perry thank you!

 

 

 

Merry Christmas to everyone!

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Tep, this is amazing!

 

One thing I notice though, this plays great in Prosystem for Windows, but in the PSP port of Prosystem, The top half of the score lettering at the top is Chopped off. I'm sure this is a product of the coding of the PSP port of Prosystem, but it does look like there is some room at the bottom of the screen to move things down and it will all fit. Is there any way to do this in the a.78 file?

 

Thanks.

post-34823-0-88604000-1356979973_thumb.png

Edited by 7800 Emucoder
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Time for an update. :)

 

Sorry I've missed my goal to ship by Christmas, but hopefully everyone will appreciate the reason and be understanding. Besides it being a busy time of year, I've been digging through the arcade code so I can understand how the AI for the various enemy's work. I also spent a lot of time tracing the 7800 code so I could understand the differences and figure out how to implement the arcade logic. I had to re-write a lot of the code to get it working but I think it's pretty good now. Here's a summary.

 

- Firefoxes and Fireballs use the same AI as the arcade game.

- Probabilities for going up/down ladders is replicated.

- the change in enemy speed as the bonus timer counts down and levels increase has been

replicated. This includes the difference in speed going up and down ladders.

- the fire enemies bounce correctly as they move.

- timing/AI for direction changes are replicated.

- enemies on the rivet/cement screen will pause at the top of ladders randomly.

- Firefox graphics have been improved.

 

- I have added functionality for the player 1 A/B difficulty switch. It will control the difficulty of the girder screen so it won't be so hard for beginners. Position A will cause Kong to throw barrels at the same rate as the arcade version, while position B will use the original slower 7800 rates.

 

- Fixed a few minor bugs.

 

I have three more changes to make and then I think I'll be ready to call it finished.

1) Player 2 difficulty switch will changed between US and Japanese screen order

2) High Score Cart support.

3) Some cement level tweaks.

 

I may also tweak some more of the graphics.

 

Thanks for you patience.

 

Perry

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Perry,

As a wannabe hardcore Kong player and a lifetime addict of this game, I really appreciate your work. Some of my earliest childhood memories are throwing quarters in Kong at the local Pizza Hut, kicking the bottom of the machine at my local theme park, Magic Springs, for free credits, and playing the Colecovision version with a cousin that spurred my need to buy every accessible version of this game I have come across. AA is such a great community because of projects like this and after years of buying this game from corporations that slapped 2 or 3 levels together and called it a day, I am really excited to get my hands on a version made by someone who did it right. Thank you. I look forward to swearing at my tv again.

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Perry,

 

I just want to tell you that it's unbelievable the attention to detail that you've put into this. You've done such great work with this game, that even though I don't have a 7800 collection any more, I would still like to purchase one of these carts from you to support all of the hard work you've done. (Of course if you have any left and can spare one).

 

Great Job!

Bob

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