Kaboom-- what if it had 2 "faster" levels?

[+Propane13]

This just hit me-- if Kaboom had 2 more "faster" levels added, would they be humanly possible to play?

I wonder if anyone's ever hacked Kaboom to give it a little more speed, and saw what happened.

 

-John

[VectorGamer]

It would be faster

[atari181]

And much harder

[mkiker2089]

The game would be worse. It already ramps up too fast to be fun iny my opinion.

[keilbaca]

I can consistently beat level 8. I wouldn't mind a fast Kaboom!

[johnkyrle]

God,Kaboom on speed!!!!Quick enough already thanks!Maybe my paddles need renovating

[+Gemintronic]

This just hit me-- if Kaboom had 2 more "faster" levels added, would they be humanly possible to play?

I wonder if anyone's ever hacked Kaboom to give it a little more speed, and saw what happened.

 

-John

 

batari BASIC could do a Kaboom clone easy. Why hack when you can remake?

[+Propane13]

Might be an easy enough hack though:

 

http://www.bjars.com/source/kaboom.asm

Looks like "bombDropVelocity" may be a variable to look into.

 

I wonder if we could make Kaboom have 16 levels, to allow some users to have a more gradual experience, but have the last few levels be faster than current level 8.

 

-John

[Thomas Jentzsch]

I once made a training version for a professional player. IIRC it was even faster than the original maximum speed.

 

Whenever I tried it myself, I got killed within seconds.

Kaboom9_3.zip

[+SpiceWare]

Might be an easy enough hack though:

 

http://www.bjars.com/source/kaboom.asm

Looks like "bombDropVelocity" may be a variable to look into.

 

I wonder if we could make Kaboom have 16 levels, to allow some users to have a more gradual experience, but have the last few levels be faster than current level 8.

 

-John

 

I don't have time to try it now, but this is what I'd start with.

 

Original code:

; bomb group constants
BOMB_GROUP_MAX       = 8

MAX_BOMBS_GROUP1     = 10
MAX_BOMBS_GROUP2     = 20
MAX_BOMBS_GROUP3     = 30
MAX_BOMBS_GROUP4     = 40
MAX_BOMBS_GROUP5     = 50
MAX_BOMBS_GROUP6     = 75
MAX_BOMBS_GROUP7     = 100
MAX_BOMBS_GROUP8     = 150

...

MaxBombsPerGroup
  .byte MAX_BOMBS_GROUP1-1,MAX_BOMBS_GROUP2,MAX_BOMBS_GROUP3,MAX_BOMBS_GROUP4
  .byte MAX_BOMBS_GROUP5,MAX_BOMBS_GROUP6,MAX_BOMBS_GROUP7,MAX_BOMBS_GROUP8
;
; The following are never read. The bomb group maxes out at 7. It looks as if
; they had intended the bomb groups to go to 10.
;
  .byte 255,255,240

 

 

Revised Code (don't include the <-- arrows or the text after it)

; bomb group constants
BOMB_GROUP_MAX       = 10 <-- increase number of groups

MAX_BOMBS_GROUP1     = 10
MAX_BOMBS_GROUP2     = 20
MAX_BOMBS_GROUP3     = 30
MAX_BOMBS_GROUP4     = 40
MAX_BOMBS_GROUP5     = 50
MAX_BOMBS_GROUP6     = 75
MAX_BOMBS_GROUP7     = 100
MAX_BOMBS_GROUP8     = 150
MAX_BOMBS_GROUP9     = 200 <-- new value
MAX_BOMBS_GROUP10     = 250 <-- new value

...

MaxBombsPerGroup
  .byte MAX_BOMBS_GROUP1-1,MAX_BOMBS_GROUP2,MAX_BOMBS_GROUP3,MAX_BOMBS_GROUP4
  .byte MAX_BOMBS_GROUP5,MAX_BOMBS_GROUP6,MAX_BOMBS_GROUP7,MAX_BOMBS_GROUP8
  .byte MAX_BOMBS_GROUP9,MAX_BOMBS_GROUP10 <-- extend table
;
; The following are never read. The bomb group maxes out at 7. It looks as if
; they had intended the bomb groups to go to 10.
;
  .byte 240 <-- remove 2 values

 

If that works and there's space in the ROM you could increase BOMB_GROUP_MAX and extend the MaxBombsPerGroup table. You'll need to redo the group sizes as 255 is the max you could use.

Edited July 30, 2013 by SpiceWare

[Jinks]

Um its already impossible for humans that i know of..

Edited July 31, 2013 by Jinks

[keilbaca]

I once made a training version for a professional player. IIRC it was even faster than the original maximum speed.

 

Whenever I tried it myself, I got killed within seconds.

 

I got something to play when I get home

 

Might be an easy enough hack though:

 

http://www.bjars.com/source/kaboom.asm

Looks like "bombDropVelocity" may be a variable to look into.

 

I wonder if we could make Kaboom have 16 levels, to allow some users to have a more gradual experience, but have the last few levels be faster than current level 8.

 

-John

 

That would actually be pretty sweet. It would make for a much more fun game on the high score club

Edited July 31, 2013 by keilbaca

[godzillajoe]

batari BASIC could do a Kaboom clone easy. Why hack when you can remake?

 

Because it would look and play like ass.

[Emehr]

I got something to play when I get home

 

Yeah, can't wait to try this with my CC2. I think Kaboom's difficulty ramp is perfect as it is. It gets me warmed up to its native speed then promptly hands me my ass. I'm lucky to get 4000 points.

[keilbaca]

I'm up to 1,881 right now. This is tough, I like it!

[+Gemintronic]

batari BASIC could do a Kaboom clone easy. Why hack when you can remake?

 

Because it would look and play like ass.

 

You've seen the DPC+ games made with bB, right? There's a free download of Princess Rescue. Does that play like ass because it's made in bB? The simple fact is that batari BASIC can support up to 10 multi colored sprites using the DPC+ kernel. That's more than enough for the thief, bombs and player.

 

If you're going to come off rude to a whole section of AtariAge developers and members then at least back up your statement.

[godzillajoe]

So code it up and prove me wrong. My problem with Bb is the half-assed one square chases another square on a blocky playfield that every hack tries to pass off as a game. Yeah, it's rude but it's true.

[+RevEng]

Just ignore him theloon. He's already been shown evidence to the contrary. and still clings to his tired old "bb games look like blocks" mentality.

[+Gemintronic]

Just ignore him theloon. He's already been shown evidence to the contrary. and still clings to his tired old "bb games look like blocks" mentality.

 

That explains a lot. First time I get to use the ignore feature

[Video]

Of course the games look like blocks. It's friggin ATARI!!! The rather low quality graphics, limited sprite count, and limited colors is part of the charm, and MAD PROPS to all the developers who can do anything with it (which is most of the current ones IMO, and lots of the classics too)

 

Maybe he's only played jammed or something like that?

 

Back on topic, as far as a faster Kaboom....uh....yeah. That game already destroys me. (I didn't know it had only 8 levels, as I've never beaten them all, to my recollection)

Edited August 3, 2013 by Video