GadgetUK Posted May 24, 2013 Author Share Posted May 24, 2013 (edited) Thanks, lol, it's just a scaled sprite. You wouldn't believe the problems I had just trying to get the image into RAM. Originally I had text printed over the screen - like number of crew, cargo etc but RAM again... I might tweak it a bit, see if I can overlay some text later. If I can be bothered I might add 'use computer' option in the computer room - which would show crew dosier and info from mother. I think the only remaining thing now is any bugs reported and maybe to tweak the difficulty. I had a cracking game last night on medium difficulty - few fires sprung up, the android turned and also started a few, he also set self destruct I was really challenged lol and eventually I escaped in shuttle with 2 people. Just now i've played on medium difficulty again and lost 2 people but managed to kill it with 80% rating. The alien legged it twice as it was getting low on health, it was a bugger to kill but the balance seems OK for easy and medium I think. I just need to try hard next, I am hoping that hard is very hard - ie. maybe complete it by attacking alien with only 1 person surviving, and the extreme should be near indestructable if I remember as it has way too much health to take it out probably - therefore on that difficulty you really need to try and lure it into the airlocks. That reminds me, I need to put a few more lines of code in - 1) make the alien head for the shuttle when crew are about to leave and 2) make the alien avoid the airlocks (more so on harder difficulty). Edited May 24, 2013 by GadgetUK 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
108 Stars Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 Love the intro, simple but effective! On the matter of RAM expansion: I am totally against it, be it a hardware mod or an add-on. The Lynx doesn't need it. With extra RAM it would not be the Lynx anymore, we could just do GBA games if we wanted more. There's so much potential left in the Lynx without tinkering with the hardware. You must see that Alien is (and I say that with all respect for the accomplishment) a quick, "dirty" port of a C64 game, not a game made for the Lynx from the ground up. Look at the speed, how fast GadgetUK made this happen; that's way below the normal development time for such a game. Had it been done from the ground up for the Lynx, with real optimization for the Lynx hardware the game could probably have been made with enough RAM left for sound. Gadget is interested in doing these quick ports. This way we can get new games very quickly, and he can learn how to master the Lynx. That doesn't mean the Lynx would require more RAM to make sound or more graphics possible, it just means that in this short time frame and working based on C64 code it is asked too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxman Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 OTOH if you could build a pass-through cart like Game Genie style that has extra RAM, it could be used by anyone, including those who are banned from touching screwdrivers, to have expanded RAM for future games. The only problem is finding source of connector to mate with the cart, maybe use something different so that cart can't be used in Lynx without RAM board? No problem to add a 8K/32K (or more) SRAM to a Lynx Cart. No search for expansive connector etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
108 Stars Posted May 24, 2013 Share Posted May 24, 2013 Small deck 2 update. The freakin' graphics take much longer than I expected... floor2e.bmp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GadgetUK Posted May 24, 2013 Author Share Posted May 24, 2013 Wow, that's really sexy!! Love the engine rooms, it's all straight out of the movie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GadgetUK Posted May 25, 2013 Author Share Posted May 25, 2013 Spotted a bug in v0.8 - The room target icon doesn't show correctly if you press a button to skip intro, instead of cycling through the palette it just shows the 3 colours, I suspect that will affect the location icon flashing, and some other animations as its a common counter I've used in a few places. Fixed it already for the next release. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
108 Stars Posted May 25, 2013 Share Posted May 25, 2013 Wow, that's really sexy!! Love the engine rooms, it's all straight out of the movie! Thanks, that's what I'm trying. Not easy though,and lots of own imagination mixed in because I can't ffind really good pictures of the sets. Always from an angle, or just details and missing size relation to the characters. For the engine room I just found like brown towers of pipes and stuff, so I put something like that in. Also I must correct myself: The mess hall is in the game, I was just looking at a map where it was not listed by name.^^ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GadgetUK Posted May 27, 2013 Author Share Posted May 27, 2013 v0.9 is up. Fixed a few bugs in last version, added more code to the Alien to make it more difficult - when about to launch shuttle you may get a visit from the Alien Additionally, it will be a bit more evasive around the airlocks. Numerous other small tweaks including the ability for fire to spread. I won't do another release now until 108's images are in there. I do have a very short list of cosmetic changes to do for v1.0 as well. If you spot a bug please let me know, this might be the last chance for a long while as i've officially moved onto JackAttack yesterday - pic coming in a mo. http://www.c5software.co.uk/downloads/Alien0.9.zip 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael David Morsette Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Nice work. Can't wait to see it with the updated graphics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
108 Stars Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Have some patience with me, I am doing my best but I am dividing time among various projects. It may be a few weeks yet before I am done. I am trying t find pics of every room from the movie to make it look somewhat similar, and I am trying to make the character potraits ecognizable too which isn not easy in 26x24.^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GadgetUK Posted May 27, 2013 Author Share Posted May 27, 2013 Nice work. Can't wait to see it with the updated graphics. Thanks, I can't wait for + gfx either!!! Have some patience with me, I am doing my best but I am dividing time among various projects. It may be a few weeks yet before I am done. I am trying t find pics of every room from the movie to make it look somewhat similar, and I am trying to make the character potraits ecognizable too which isn not easy in 26x24.^^ No worries, fit it in when you can, we've all got other jobs to do etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari_afternoon Posted May 27, 2013 Share Posted May 27, 2013 Thank you so much for your work, GadgetUK ( and team) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GadgetUK Posted May 29, 2013 Author Share Posted May 29, 2013 Thanks! At least a couple of people are happy. It's suprising how few are interested in new Lynx games. Making me wonder if its really worth the effort with new games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Luchs Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 But the few loves you :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GadgetUK Posted May 29, 2013 Author Share Posted May 29, 2013 Hehe, thanks, don't need love, just feedback on bugs / balance. At the moment it seems like 3 or 4 people tried this. It is summer, I guess people got better things to do than retro gaming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Der Luchs Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 All you need is love :-* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordKraken Posted May 30, 2013 Share Posted May 30, 2013 I already told you when 0.4 came out, but the latest version is even greater! Just a bit hard to get the gameplay when you dont' know the original game ^^ You should advertise your game there : http://www.yaronet.com/forum.php?s=9 It's a french forum but the french lynx scene is gathered there. You can post in english, we understand it (more or less, as long as we don't have to speak ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
108 Stars Posted June 4, 2013 Share Posted June 4, 2013 Hehe, thanks, don't need love, just feedback on bugs / balance. At the moment it seems like 3 or 4 people tried this. It is summer, I guess people got better things to do than retro gaming. You should not worry too much. The Lynx community is definitely smaller and less active than the ones for 2600 and 7800... partially because it lay pretty dormant for a long time and has only gotten reanimated in recent years, but so far with few complete games. The Lynx people are not so much used to the public beta thing I guess, and Alien is not a very accessible game to begin with. I think this will change with more accessible games and once a steady stream of homebrews starts to come out. At the moment when people think of the Lynx they think of loads of unfinished titles over two decades.^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GadgetUK Posted June 4, 2013 Author Share Posted June 4, 2013 Thanks, I guess it will just have to be how I think it should be lol. I've tweaked the balance a little and fixed the last few bugs I can find. Got a few minor changes to do and version 1.0 should be complete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GadgetUK Posted June 8, 2013 Author Share Posted June 8, 2013 Just a quick update. I've done more tidying up and bug fixes etc since the last release. The new version runs a little better and has a few new things added - spanner can be used to carry out repairs (room dmg), and if the shuttle has any damage you cannot launch. I've set the shuttle to be damaged by a small amount for the top 2 difficulty levels and made numerous small tweaks related to balance and playability. I've been thinking about this game and I think it would be wrong for me to stick it on a card at this stage. At the end of the day its a free retro remake of old copyrighted (possibly expired, although trademarks will exist for the Alien brand) material and I think any money exchanging hands (at cost for materials) could be viewed in the worst possible light. Many retro remakes have been shut down in the past for doing similar things. I also have to make clear that this is a free game and it basically replicates the C64 version which is already very widespread on the internet - ie. You can play this game on the C64 by downloading the ROM from hundreds of sources - none of these have been told to cease and desist, and whilst this doesn't make this game legal I believe it's fair in respect of the original publisher, copyright holder, and good old common sense. ie. The Lynx community is very small, the ROM is free, its based on code and graphics from material that the original copyright holder clearly has no current interest in and has clearly not attempted to protect over the last 20 years. I could have ported this to 'popular' platforms like the iPhone / iPad etc but that would in my opinion be a very different scenario and be very clearly illegal. What I will do is make a mock up of the box to download, and obviously people can put the game on their own flash cards or EPROMs in order to play the game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GadgetUK Posted June 8, 2013 Author Share Posted June 8, 2013 One final point, this game was created in tribute to Alison Challis. If you play the game please take 10 mins of your day to check out the following links. Alison was an amazing woman and whilst I never got chance to speak to her whilst she was alive, her story had a strong effect on me and has made me change the way I live my life. It's also no coincidence that nearly every bit of info I tried to search for related to the Atari ST always lead to one of Alisons tech posts on atari-forum, she was a huge fan of the Atari ST and BBC amongst other things. An expert in electronics without a doubt, and a very helpful and friendly person. I am just about to get into programming Microchip PIC chips - something else that's rubbed off on me from her story. http://www.alisonchallis.moonfruit.com/ http://www.familynotices24.co.uk/9480522?s_source=arsf_edt http://pest.atari.org/www.logicsays.com/index1 http://pest.atari.org/www.logicsays.com/ http://www.logicsays.com/atari/ http://www.atari-forum.com/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=20912 http://www.flickr.com/photos/old_computers/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4ever2600 Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 That is such a shame, sorry to hear about your friend. Such a talented and beautiful woman. Nice that you're sharing the tributes of her and the things she accomplished. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari_afternoon Posted June 9, 2013 Share Posted June 9, 2013 Yes, i have read all the links now I think. I find it very nice of you that you dedicate your work to such a great member of the Atari world. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GadgetUK Posted June 10, 2013 Author Share Posted June 10, 2013 That is such a shame, sorry to hear about your friend. Such a talented and beautiful woman. Nice that you're sharing the tributes of her and the things she accomplished. Thanks, yes she certainly was both talented and beautiful. I feel like I am so lucky, she was born the same years as me and yet I am two years older and half as clever as she was. Life doesn't make sense does it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninjabba Posted June 11, 2013 Share Posted June 11, 2013 A bit late to the party here, but congratulations on this (almost) finished game! Sorry to hear you lost a friend though... I would dive into the game a bit more (I don't really get the mechanics, but I also never played the original) if I weren't still so occupied with real life matter. But definitely curious about how the mechanics work! I love the Alien franchise Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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