Quadra-Ball

[Lodmot]

Here's a new game I'm working on called Quadra-Ball. It's very unfinished right now, and it's pretty much just a simple ball and paddle physics demo. (Really bad physics by the way xD) I thought I'd put it up for people to see how the game will be played. 0: Hope you like it. ^^

 

Update 4/26/2013:

Got a new Beta version of the game up. Pretty much everything is working, except for sound. I also wanna implement a neat logo intro before the title screen. Some of the level details are still incomplete too.

Quadraball_Build_BetaBuild.bas.bin

Edited April 25, 2013 by Lodmot

[ACrystal2011]

Would b better with driving controller i think

[Lodmot]

How do you program it for that though? The driving controller is a bit different from the paddle controller. o.o

[ACrystal2011]

Idk i cant program lol.

[+Random Terrain]

How do you program it for that though? The driving controller is a bit different from the paddle controller. o.o

 

Check out this thread:

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/209115-how-do-i-driving-paddle/

[+Gemintronic]

I didn't know i can program lol. Here's a relevant link: http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/173622-how-would-i-go-about-programming-for-the-driving-controller/

 

Fixed! A Crystal can do 2011 things. batari BASIC could be 2012!

[ACrystal2011]

Lol i cant understand the bB stuff. I just play games.

[Lodmot]

I looked into programming the game with the driving controller, and it seems like support for it is a bit flawed.. I also don't actually have driving controllers (or a whole lot of spendable money) to test that idea. xD

[Cybearg]

You can test other controllers with Stella if you hit Tab, go to game options, and set the controllers to Paddle or Driving, though you'll have to then restart Stella for the changes to take effect and they'll be reset if you recompile your game. I don't know of any way to set those options and make them "stick," though there's probably some way using an autoexec.inc file or something.

 

You won't be actually using the controller, of course, but it'll emulate how it works relative to other controllers using your keyboard/mouse. Should be sufficient for basic testing and you can ask others who DO own Harmony carts/paddles/etc. to confirm test it for you.

 

I know that most may disagree, but personally, I prefer the paddles over the driving controller. True, the paddles may be prone to jitter as they age (though I'm betting that the driving controller does as well) and the paddles are limited in their movement, while the driving controller can spin as many times as you like, but I think that the sensitivity/precision on the paddles is higher, particularly when making very precise movements or if you'll be twisting the knob very quickly.

 

And yeah, they do work differently. From what I understand, the paddles have a "gradient" between 1 and 76 or something, each number corresponding to a degree of rotation in the knob (not a literal degree, but an amount of rotation), so you have to base how something responds on that value. Plus, the knob could begin at any degree of rotation, so you have to keep in mind that it could be in the middle just as well as far over to one side or the other. Also there's something about a buffer to read the paddle, but I don't understand it.

 

In contrast, the driving controller has four contacts that get connected to make a full circuit as the knob is twisted, so it reports a contact as a series of bits, something like (though this may be backwards, horizontally):

 

00

01 10

11

 

The issue is that if you spin quickly, it'll be too fast for it to read the contact connection, so it may miss noticing that you've moved at all. Also, if you turn very slowly, there may be a decent amount of time where there is no connection with any contact, so the driving controller won't read any movement at all until there is a connection made.

 

If I had a choice, Heartbreak would have used paddles, because whether the paddle is to the far right or the far left doesn't really matter in that context, plus many, many more people will have paddles as opposed to driving controllers, since only something like 6 or 8 games were ever released for the driving controller, almost all of them racing games. But apparently it's not possible because of the way Omega wrote Heartbreak's kernel and I'm not going to push for things that will take yet more of his generously-given time, especially now that he's much more busy.

 

Hopefully that helped somewhat.

[+stephena]

You can test other controllers with Stella if you hit Tab, go to game options, and set the controllers to Paddle or Driving, though you'll have to then restart Stella for the changes to take effect and they'll be reset if you recompile your game. I don't know of any way to set those options and make them "stick," though there's probably some way using an autoexec.inc file or something.

 

Consider using commandline arguments in such a case. The Stella FAQ specifically mentions this.

[Lodmot]

You can test other controllers with Stella if you hit Tab, go to game options, and set the controllers to Paddle or Driving, though you'll have to then restart Stella for the changes to take effect and they'll be reset if you recompile your game. I don't know of any way to set those options and make them "stick," though there's probably some way using an autoexec.inc file or something.

 

You won't be actually using the controller, of course, but it'll emulate how it works relative to other controllers using your keyboard/mouse. Should be sufficient for basic testing and you can ask others who DO own Harmony carts/paddles/etc. to confirm test it for you.

 

I know that most may disagree, but personally, I prefer the paddles over the driving controller. True, the paddles may be prone to jitter as they age (though I'm betting that the driving controller does as well) and the paddles are limited in their movement, while the driving controller can spin as many times as you like, but I think that the sensitivity/precision on the paddles is higher, particularly when making very precise movements or if you'll be twisting the knob very quickly.

 

And yeah, they do work differently. From what I understand, the paddles have a "gradient" between 1 and 76 or something, each number corresponding to a degree of rotation in the knob (not a literal degree, but an amount of rotation), so you have to base how something responds on that value. Plus, the knob could begin at any degree of rotation, so you have to keep in mind that it could be in the middle just as well as far over to one side or the other. Also there's something about a buffer to read the paddle, but I don't understand it.

 

In contrast, the driving controller has four contacts that get connected to make a full circuit as the knob is twisted, so it reports a contact as a series of bits, something like (though this may be backwards, horizontally):

 

00

01 10

11

 

The issue is that if you spin quickly, it'll be too fast for it to read the contact connection, so it may miss noticing that you've moved at all. Also, if you turn very slowly, there may be a decent amount of time where there is no connection with any contact, so the driving controller won't read any movement at all until there is a connection made.

 

If I had a choice, Heartbreak would have used paddles, because whether the paddle is to the far right or the far left doesn't really matter in that context, plus many, many more people will have paddles as opposed to driving controllers, since only something like 6 or 8 games were ever released for the driving controller, almost all of them racing games. But apparently it's not possible because of the way Omega wrote Heartbreak's kernel and I'm not going to push for things that will take yet more of his generously-given time, especially now that he's much more busy.

 

Hopefully that helped somewhat.

A very sensible post. I'm going to be presenting this game on my actual console at the end of the semester to my entire class, so I'm gonna want a functional game that everyone can just pick up and play. In case it's relevant at all, the final due date is going to be May 1st at the earliest. We're supposed to do an Alpha test AND a beta test, regardless of what we chose to do for our Digital Arts project.

[Cybearg]

Just out of curiosity, if this is a digital arts project, why are you choosing a console with such minimalist, limited visuals available to you? Or is that the point?

[+Atarius Maximus]

Just out of curiosity, if this is a digital arts project, why are you choosing a console with such minimalist, limited visuals available to you? Or is that the point?

Ian Bogost at Georgia Tech uses Batari Basic as part of his university classes, it's been fun over the years to see what his students have created. See his blog at http://www.bogost.co...mes.shtml)atari, and one of his early posts about it on the bB forum here: http://www.atariage....science-course/. I'm not sure what Lodmot's working on but bB has been used before in the context of a modern curriculum. Very cool stuff!

 

Ian also co-wrote a fantastic book called "Racing the Beam" about the 2600. I highly recommend it!

[Lodmot]

Just out of curiosity, if this is a digital arts project, why are you choosing a console with such minimalist, limited visuals available to you? Or is that the point?

Well, I wanted to do a project that was unlike anything the rest of my class was doing. Everyone else is doing like a magazine or a video or something. And I wanted to showcase something different. Doing an Atari game for this project also represents what I want to do in life, to make games that are fun. And it also demonstrates everything I've learned up to this point about game design. So yeah. o3o I feel it's a nice final project before I get my associates'

Edited March 7, 2013 by Lodmot

[Lodmot]

Bump: New beta version now up. Check it out. ^^

[+Random Terrain]

Too much nudity!

[Lodmot]

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! RT YOU'RE FREAKING GRRRRRRRRRRT! 8D

[Lodmot]

Sorry for resurrecting an old topic, but I just realized I didn't post the final version of this game yet. I've been so busy with school and such that I couldn't get on here as often like I used to.

 

So, without further due, here is the FINAL RELEASE OF QUADRA-BALL!!!

Quadraball_Build_FinalBuild.bas.bin