Jump to content
IGNORED

D.K. VCS


Joe Musashi

Recommended Posts

Impressive!

 

Thank you!

 

Scrolling the levels is a slick idea, though it does feel cramped due to how far down BONUS ends up combined with the early termination of the screen kernel (it looks like the visible portion of the screen is only 170 scanlines).

 

Yes, the scrolling window is only 3 floors (girder + corridor) plus 1 girder high (3*32+8 = 104 lines). I'm currently out of resources to add another floor, but will revisit it when the rest of the game is there.

 

- RAM: only 2 bytes left in ZP. I can probably move the sound variables to SARA RAM, but I first need to have the enemy AI done before I know how much space I would have for that.

 

- ROM: another floor will need another subkernel in the display bank, which will limit the space available for graphics. I will see that when the levels are done.

 

- Cycles: The enemy AI might not fit into vblank + overscan and may need to be in the black area. But not all enemies move every frame, so maybe that can be timescliced.

 

Not impossible, but better not hold your breath for it :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Do keep working on this and feel free to take any inspiration with what I did so far in batari Basic - graphic or sound wise!

Mine looks like DK, is starting to sound like DK, but I don't know if I know enough or know if I have enough space to do game logic yet.

Jumpman1234_20121209.bas.bin

 

Thanks! The level design you have is awesome, particular the elevator level.

 

I do not yet want to release the complete source at this point, but if you are not scared of 6502 assembly you can take a look at my game logic. Mario is controlled by a state machine which can be found at line 1020. I think there recently even was a tutorial about state machines in the programming forums.

bank_2.asm

Edited by Joe Musashi
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is impressive Mr. Musashi! Please finish this game!

 

I'll post a mockup of others stages that I didn't finish for the demo, perhaps it can be used as inspiration, I don't really think on 2600 limitations to make them, that's why the laddes are white :

 

(The first screen need an inclinated girders, the elevator screen is too much optimistic for 2600 hardware, the pie factory and blue-ish screen is very doable IMO).

 

Thank you! Your work is a great inspiration. The first level will probably look very much like your mockup. I can't do tilted girders, but the oil barrel will definitely be there.

 

post-27536-0-21212900-1355873789_thumb.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I looked at your sprite sheet; they appear to be either the arcade or NES versions. The Atari VCS really isn't capable of multicolor sprites like this.

 

You should look again. ;)

 

The sprite sheet shows how it's done and the demo shows them in action.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I looked at your sprite sheet; they appear to be either the arcade or NES versions. The Atari VCS really isn't capable of multicolor sprites like this.

 

The sprite sheet shows the individual 30hz flicker frames that creates the illusion of multiple colors on a line (and so does his demo binary, for that matter).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I looked at your sprite sheet; they appear to be either the arcade or NES versions. The Atari VCS really isn't capable of multicolor sprites like this.

 

I try to base everything on the arcade version (dkong in MAME). The NES seems to be mostly pixel accurate but has fewer colors.

 

post-27536-0-16548500-1356040100_thumb.pngpost-27536-0-01050200-1356040113_thumb.png

 

The sprite sheet above shows a number of different multi-color techniques.

  • Shown on the left is overlapping two colors. This gives you three colors per line that will have a similar tone.
  • In the middle it's alternating between two colors. This allows for arbitrary colors (half as bright with a black background), but you will have only two per line.
  • On the right is the most interesting method. This is eshu's player, missile, ball trick, which works without flickering.

Please note that Pauline and Mario are not flickering in the opening and ending sequences, and thanks to Omegamatrix' help I"ll get rid of the dot flicker as well.

 

So, under some conditions the VCS is capable of displaying multi-colored objects.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

IMHO Joe I would make Mario and the Fireball out of just one color change per line. Even with the phosphor effect in Stella you see the ladder through Mario. He just looks like a faint ghost.

 

That's true, transparency is one of the annoying side effects of flicker. Another problem is that motion needs to be at 30Hz because otherwise the eye will not correctly fuse the images, which leads to even more ghosting.

 

I still prefer the multicolor approach as it is more consistent with the overall design. It would, however, be worth trying how it looks with a single color per line. I could probably put a #define in the source and compile an edition without Mario flicker for players who like that better.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Time for another update. I've now started working on the 25 m and 75 m stages.

These are the ones where I'll have to make the most compromises, be warned :)

 

This update includes the following changes:

  • Non-flickering title screen letters, courtesy of Omegamatrix.
  • We welcome new enemies: Oil Barrel, Wood Barrel, Cement/Pie, and Flame.
  • And an all new 25 m stage, including broken ladders and additional Kong graphics.

 

 

 

post-27536-0-85044700-1358189204_thumb.pngpost-27536-0-71258100-1358189218_thumb.png

post-27536-0-72312200-1358189234_thumb.pngpost-27536-0-79568600-1358189241_thumb.png

post-27536-0-87959700-1358189249_thumb.pngpost-27536-0-24502900-1358189275_thumb.png

 

 

 

 

As usual it's playable but not really a game yet.

 

Have Fun!

D.K.VCS_130114.bin

  • Like 7
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...