José Pereira Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Hi. Although we two are 'enemys' on the contest I really have to admit and fair-play that I really like your game. Based on Popmilo PAL Blending, then Xuel tries and my tries of getting a Xenon like with some little blending I had an idea for these Modes: it can be 1:1 or 2:1 blending with GR.9 4:1. I have some ideas for the next year ABBUC's Software Games Contest and of course I would like to same as this year work with Xuel (and with another guy that sadly didn't got time to finish the game in time...) but because you already have the code and the editor for these gfxs blending mixing modes then if you want and have time during the year then send me a message because maybe we can get another type of game 'never seen on A8' !... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Now that I know the rules, tonight I'll play with it. It's one of ABBUC's contest best games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNameOfTheGame Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Impressive graphics development! Good Luck with the contest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Adam+ Posted October 19, 2013 Author Share Posted October 19, 2013 When you say 'PAL system only', do you mean the code checks for PAL GTIA or will this run on an NTSC machine with a PAL ANTIC swap? Well, xeen should answer that question, but AFAIK there is no code checks for PAL GTIA. We were concentrated on fully-working PAL version, we don't have NTSC machines. The game doesn't work on emulator in NTSC mode, but we didn't have time to analyse it, sorry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam242 Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Well, xeen should answer that question, but AFAIK there is no code checks for PAL GTIA. We were concentrated on fully-working PAL version, we don't have NTSC machines. The game doesn't work on emulator in NTSC mode, but we didn't have time to analyse it, sorry. Well, I look forward to trying it, and I'll report back. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popmilo Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 "Assembloids XE" is the first game in the history of 8-bit Atari which uses a combination of low resolution graphics mode (16 luminances in pixel ratio 4x1) and high resolution mode. Graphics mode is changed every second line. Looking really good! How is changing graphics modes done ? Is all the cpu time on visible part of screen used for it or did you manage to squeeze something else in between register changes ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 It would likely be a Mode F screen or possibly Mode 2 - all that's needed is GPRIOR toggled between a GTIA and normal graphics mode per scanline, only 1 register store. So long as colour changes aren't required, fairly cheap. The game appears to be in Narrow mode so a DLI per scanline could leave spare cycles, even in Normal mode a single register change could probably leave some cycles. Of course this is assuming bitmap mode where DLIs can occur per scanline. Option 2 might be to use Timer IRQ as Project M (Wolf3D clone/demo) does - since the timer can be synced to whatever cycle we wish on a scanline, for single register changes it can be a much cheaper method than DLIs since NOP or WSYNC delays can usually be dispensed with. Option 3 of course is just use a kernal and waste the spare cycles - given it seems a fairly simple game with not too much demand, this "easy" method would be totally valid. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
José Pereira Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 All screen scanlines with always the same PFs (PF1 and PF2 as colour0 dark and light are used on 1:1 scanlines) and BAK set to [00] Black. It uses GR.11 in the 4:1 scanlines so it's only one change per scanline by 'poking' 623,255 to enable on the 4:1 scanlines and disable on the 1:1 scanlines. There isn't a single colour register changing in any of the screen scanlines. Do you think that this could work for a vertical scrolling game (maybe have the two modes scanlines fixed and vertically scrolled two scanlines each frame)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 The technique would work fine in VScrolling. Alternative to jumping 2 lines could be to have a blank line which is alternately removed each frame although the top coloured line would appear a little jittery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
José Pereira Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 (edited) Does VScrolling (like HScrolling has for how many pixels we want to scroll each time) also has different values to get other than one scanline scroll per frame? P.s.- Sorry to this 'Out of Topic'. I promise that it's my last question. Edited October 20, 2013 by José Pereira Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted October 20, 2013 Share Posted October 20, 2013 VSROL generally you specify 0 to 15, or 1 less than however high the mode line is. It's an absolute value, not a velocity one, ie you have to change it continuously as part of the overall scrolling process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Adam+ Posted October 27, 2013 Author Share Posted October 27, 2013 (edited) So we have finished on the second place in the ABBUC contest - the difference was only 6 points... I think I should join the club next year and vote You can find the links to the games on AtariOnLine.pl (including "Assembloids XE"). Edited October 27, 2013 by +Adam+ 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam242 Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 Thank you! Just had a go at this on my 800, and I love it! Well worth the months-long wait. The graphics technique looked cool on the YouTube teaser, and is amazing on real hardware. It does get fast, quickly... wish there was an adjustable difficulty setting, but otherwise perfect. I'd buy this on a cart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kyle22 Posted October 27, 2013 Share Posted October 27, 2013 (edited) I wish it would work on my NTSC 1200XL. The videos look AWESOME! Could I just put a PAL ANTIC in there, or is there more to it? -K Edited October 28, 2013 by Kyle22 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roydea6 Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Is this a Pal only game or can it be fixed for Ntsc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popmilo Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Option 3 of course is just use a kernal and waste the spare cycles - given it seems a fairly simple game with not too much demand, this "easy" method would be totally valid. Yeah, easy does it Simple register changes and wsyncing... I keep telling myself: "Keep it simple stupid" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xuel Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 (edited) Here's an unofficial, quick and dirty, use-at-your-own-risk, probably broken hack to get Assembloids XE to not crash on NTSC but it ruins the lower part of the screen and some of the top too: asem-ntsc-hack.xex The last six bytes of the official version are just replaced with the following: org $2884 jsr $2000 kern1 equ $150A kern2 equ $1A30 org $2000 mva #$4C kern1 mwa #$180D kern1+1 mva #$4C kern2 mwa #$1D90 kern2+1 jmp $9700 run $2840 Edited October 31, 2013 by Xuel 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
matosimi Posted October 31, 2013 Share Posted October 31, 2013 Sorry for doublepost from AA HSC, but this is another dirty stuff: also with some background info: http://matosimi.websupport.sk/atari/2013/10/playing-assembloidsxe/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Adam+ Posted October 31, 2013 Author Share Posted October 31, 2013 Thank you for profound testing, fixed version will be published after Silly Venture party. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popmilo Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 Sorry for doublepost from AA HSC, but this is another dirty stuff:LoL that is a nice way to test the game ps. Love the title of your app - sound perfect even in Serbian Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rybags Posted November 1, 2013 Share Posted November 1, 2013 It's available now, many of the games can be downloaded from http://atarionline.pl/v01/index.php?subaction=showfull&id=1382890574&archive=&start_from=0&ucat=1&ct=nowinki&%3Bamp%3Bsub=S+inurl%3Asubaction%3Dshowfull+site%3APL&%3Bamp%3Bhl=ru&%3Bamp%3Blr=&%3Bamp%3Bft=&%3Bamp%3Bcr=&%3Bamp%3Bnum=10&%3Bamp%3Bct=clnk&%3Bamp%3Bsa=U&%3Bamp%3Bei=7GNaUoriL4TZtAaZ9oDgCQ&%3Bamp%3Bved=0CH0QFjAkOMgB&%3Bamp%3Busg=AFQjCNGO-EZDMm1jeoikta-vqr_lz1zSSw%2Findex.php%3Foption%3Dcom_jce&%3Btask=plugin&%3Bplugin=imgmanager&%3Bfile=imgmanager&%3Bversion=1576&%3Bcid=20&%3Bsa=U&%3Bei=bKByUqrINOiQ0AXyg4D4Aw&%3Bved=0CPkBEBYwVjisAg&%3Busg=AFQjCNEocTpntghmpoUc84O--Ikm-Rb3tA%2F%2Fimages%2Fstories%2Fdor%2Fdor.php%3Fclone When something says PAL only it generally refers to which Antic is installed - Antic has the say on how many CPU cycles are available per frame which is the biggest factor by far with software that won't behave on NTSC machines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted December 7, 2013 Share Posted December 7, 2013 A couple of family members have played Assembloids XE they enjoyed the game but found it way too hard (fast). Please can we have a difficulty option or perhaps another version with a longer timer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nognir Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 So at least I'm not the only one My lifes only last for a few minutes until I see the Game Over Screen ^^ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marius Posted December 10, 2013 Share Posted December 10, 2013 I do not have that problem but I still am convinced that there is a (small) bug in the difficulty progression. Sometimes (without completing a full face in one color) the game slows down. Sometimes out of the sudden the games is unplayable fast (the timer goes from top to bottom within less than a second) And sometimes completing a full face in one color does not lead at all into slowing down. So: the speed of the game does not behave as described or as could be expected. But: even with this in mind I find this a brilliant game which might be very hard for novice players, but it is really challenging for die hard joystick breakers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Adam+ Posted December 10, 2013 Author Share Posted December 10, 2013 Sometimes (without completing a full face in one color) the game slows down. The "temperature" of the thermometer rises with the number of faces collected (but can be reduced by FULL FACES when "mercury column" is not low). BUT the speed of the game depends also on the number of tiles currently visible on screen - sorry that I didn't make it clear. That's why sometimes the speed decreases after collecting "normal" FACE. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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