The Gizzle Wap and The Strange Red Tree (Final Version)

[Mountain King]

The Latest update:

 

1. Fixed a pretty significant bug that kept the boss fight from initiating. (what a pain in the ass it was to find and fix)

2. When fighting multiple enemies you will kill the monster you hit 90% of the time. Once in a while you will take out a different monster or take out multiple.

3. The Invicta's hiding place is now random.

4. The ant now moves faster as the level increases.

5. The game can potentially go up to level 255 but anything past 10 seems damn near impossible. The Final boss is currently set on level 7.

6. The Animation after killing the boss is pretty much complete

7. The Red Tree now flips to look at you with contempt.

GIZZLEWAPdpc43.bas.bin

[ZackAttack]

Nice job on the animation after you kill the boss.

[Mountain King]

Thanks ZackAttack. I just changed the animation on the death routine to do something similar. I also implemented Random Terrain's collision routine, however it messed my sound and score routine, so I want to fix that before I post another revision.

[Mountain King]

New Update.

1. Finally finally put in a title screen.

2. Implemented Random Terrain's DPC collision routine. Now you pretty much kill what you hit.

3. Fixed the sound and score routine problem caused by #2

4. Added the river to the bridge screen.

5. Changed the animation on the death routine.

6. If you can reach the final final boss, Invicta Prime. He no longer attacks you relentlessly, He will wait and attack you at your weakest and then retreat. (I wanted to implement a similar routine for the mini bosses, Invicta Minors, but sadly ran out of room in that bank)

7. The Invicta Prime also has help in his fight.

GIZZLEWAPdpc49.bas.bin

Edited April 17, 2015 by Mountain King

[Mountain King]

Another update

1. Had to change the title screen. It was way over the scan line count.

2. Fixed a bug that kept the wasp from shooting.

3. Pressing restart during a fight clears everything properly.

GIZZLEWAPdpc50.bas.bin

[PFL]

I've only given the game a quick blast but it certainly looks really pretty. I'm having difficulty fighting some of the baddies. The ant has me stumped!

 

I may have got stuck on one screen but I'm not sure and it may be user error. I'll play a bit more tonight just to confirm.

 

The title screen is lovely too. I agree with you that the game cries out for one. The game has a nice premise and original characters. Anything that invites the player into this new world is a bonus, if you ask me.

 

Good stuff so far and I can't wait to see where you go with it.

[Mountain King]

Fighting the ant and anything that's low to the ground may require you to use the moth as a shield. The trick with the ant is to time your jump so you are above him, you jump higher than he does, then hold the button in and pull down. This will place the moth below you. Doing this correctly will kill the ant.

 

I am going to type up instructions for the game hopefully today.

 

There is a bug I have to fix that keeps you on the screen after a fight. If you fire the moth it should release you. Thanks for trying the game PFL.

Edited April 18, 2015 by Mountain King

[Mountain King]

A game play update.

1. You can now eat the fruit you collect during a fight and it will heal you completely. This is very helpful later on in the game. Pull down on the joystick when you are NOT firing and your fruit count will go down if you have any fruit and your life bar will go up.

2. You collect the fruit when you touch it not when you defeat the monsters. So you can use it to heal yourself if you want to.

3. The Blue Humming Duck now heals you without taking your fruit. He also increases your speed until the end of the level. (I'm not sure i'm going to keep the increased speed in the game. still testing) you can shoot him if you want another fruit.

4. Fixed a bug that skips the death animation

5. Fixed a bug (hopefully) that locks you on the screen after you defeat a monster.

6. Changed all the "lifting" animations so the moths and the butterflies look more natural when they pick something up.

7. Added the beginnings of the Finale animation after you defeat the Final Boss Invicta Prime.

8. The bosses require more hits to kill.

9. Level 1 was too boring, level 1 now starts as if it were level 2

 

Working on music.

GIZZLEWAPdpc51.bas.bin

Edited April 20, 2015 by Mountain King

[ZackAttack]

Feels like all the little changes made for a large improvement in gameplay.

 

Would it be possible to have a mode where the moth travels straight in whichever direction you're holding the joystick when the button is pressed? Maybe the difficulty switch could choose.

[Mountain King]

A quick up update

1. Changed the title screen.

2. Added music to the title screen

3. You can only carry 3 fruit now

4. Bosses are a little harder to beat.

5. The Humming Duck's speed boost no longer stacks. (you could move way too fast)

GIZZLEWAPdpc53.bas.bin

Edited April 21, 2015 by Mountain King

[Mountain King]

Feels like all the little changes made for a large improvement in gameplay.

 

Would it be possible to have a mode where the moth travels straight in whichever direction you're holding the joystick when the button is pressed? Maybe the difficulty switch could choose.

Thank's ZackAttack. Being able to heal yourself really improved the game play. Now you have to make a decision, do I heal myself or give the fruit to the butterflies.

 

I thought about the moth trajectory early on in development and I really wanted a missile you would fire and have very little control over. I used to make model rockets as a kid and one of my first models wasn't balanced right and I launched it with a "C" engine. That thing flew all over the place. But that's kind of what wanted. I think controlling the direction would make the game too easy and predictable. I'm also out of room in that bank. So I'm not sure I'm a good enough code cruncher to add that.

[ZackAttack]

Well in that case, the moth should have a rocket pack

[Mountain King]

Update 55

1. The Finale animation is complete after you beat the Invicta Prime.

2. The Cloud fruit is now animated and moves slightly.

3. You may eat cloud fruit between fights as well as during fights.

4. The Red tree is animated in all scenes.

5. Fixed a bug that let you kill the invicta minors too easily.

6. Overall difficulty has increased slightly.

7. Level 5 and 6 Invicta minors have help in their fights.

 

Thank you to iesposta for helping me find more space.

GIZZLEWAPdpc55.bas.bin

Edited April 25, 2015 by Mountain King

[Mountain King]

Update 56

1. Fixed a bug where the finale would not play correctly.

2. Fixed a bug where the red tree would appear briefly when the screen changed.

3. The Invicta minor and the Invicta Prime now have separate hit routines.

4. Cleaned up the title screen slightly.

 

Attached are the rough drafts of the Instruction manual and cartridge labels.

The Gizzle Wap Game Instructions.pdf

GIZZLEWAPdpc56.bas.bin

Edited April 27, 2015 by Mountain King

[Mountain King]

Sorry forgot to take the scoring out of testing mode.

GIZZLEWAPdpc57.bas.bin

[Mountain King]

Update 58

1. Added harmony to the title screen music.

2. Changed some colors of the trees to look better on a regular TV

3. Made the lair triggers more conspicuous.

4. Made the lair easier to see specially on a regular TV

 

GIZZLEWAPdpc58.bas.bin

[graywest]

I've been playing this game for several versions now and I really like the new additions. First, the music and the title screen really add a lot to the game - did you write the song yourself? It sounds great.

 

Also, the death animation / melting effect on the screen is amazing - how did you do the screen stretching?

 

When I collected enough fruit, the moths pulled the tree out of the ground. I ate a fruit before they got off the screen and the tree and moths popped back into place. Is that supposed to happen? I was still able to get to the boss afterward.

I'm getting a little farther each time I play - I got to the boss for the first time tonight, but haven't beaten him yet.

 

Nice work!!

[iesposta]

The music is beautiful! Very hard to make good sound/music, especially using both channels.

It sure is strange to play.

I like you mentioned designing this with your kid(s). That, I think, added a lot of originality and whimsy.

 

Good use on the "screen stretching" ending. (You just change a value before drawscreen, and you can change the thickness of the Playfield lines.) I still can't figure out a way to use it dynamically in a game.

[Mountain King]

Thanks iesposta. I almost used stretching to set different playfield levels. If I had given this function more thought early in development I probably would have. The simplest example that comes to mind would be making one screen a pit, then stretch the center 2 defrac values to make a hill, something along those lines.

 

The Gizzle Wap originated as bedtime stories we would make up at night. My daughter came up with the good characters and I did the evil characters. She keeps asking me to put in other characters she made up but sadly there's no room in the graphics bank and some don't fit in the story.

[Mountain King]

I've been playing this game for several versions now and I really like the new additions. First, the music and the title screen really add a lot to the game - did you write the song yourself? It sounds great.

 

Also, the death animation / melting effect on the screen is amazing - how did you do the screen stretching?

 

When I collected enough fruit, the moths pulled the tree out of the ground. I ate a fruit before they got off the screen and the tree and moths popped back into place. Is that supposed to happen? I was still able to get to the boss afterward.

I'm getting a little farther each time I play - I got to the boss for the first time tonight, but haven't beaten him yet.

 

Nice work!!

Hey Graywest. I wrote that song when I was about 15 on an old Tandy Color computer 2.

The screen stretching is a function of the DPC+ kernal. There are 6 DFxFRACINC that allow you to set the resolution of the playfield and backround.

Thanks for finding that bug. I'll test it today to see if I can recreate it.

I guess you mastered the jump drop move, which currently is the only way to beat the ant. I hear from other play testers that beating the ant is the biggest challenge.

Thank you for the feed back.

[ZackAttack]

All those refinements really improved the overall feel of the game. The difficulty curve seemed spot on to me. It isn't repetitive and it isn't impossible. I'm still trying to figure out the best strategy for the boss battles. The third one really put a hurting on me.

 

I can't wait to see what you and your family come up with next.

[graywest]

Hey Graywest. I wrote that song when I was about 15 on an old Tandy Color computer 2.

The screen stretching is a function of the DPC+ kernal. There are 6 DFxFRACINC that allow you to set the resolution of the playfield and backround.

Thanks for finding that bug. I'll test it today to see if I can recreate it.

I guess you mastered the jump drop move, which currently is the only way to beat the ant. I hear from other play testers that beating the ant is the biggest challenge.

Thank you for the feed back.

Yeah, I actually haven't had a problem with beating the ant. The one I have difficulty with is the enemy that flies back and forth dropping bombs on me. It's ok though - I just need more practice. I think the difficulty is good.

[Mountain King]

Quick update 59

1. Fixed a bug where if a cloud fruit is eaten while the Pegsi pull the tree out of the ground they would come back and replant the tree.

That's it tonight.

Thank you Graywest for finding this bug.

 

GIZZLEWAPdpc59.bas.bin

[Mountain King]

Update 60

1. Fixed and aligned playfield colors

2. Tightened up the code, scanline count was hitting 263 during the fight loop

3. Invicta Prime fight is more managable

4. Sound shuts off properly in the finale animation

5. Score color now turns green when you have collected enough fruit to remove the tree and signal the Gizzle Wap to return to the Zazzle field. You still need to drop off fruit when you have 1-3 fruit..

 

GIZZLEWAPdpc60.bas.bin

[ZackAttack]

Got 5380. Score changes back to yellow if you pick up another fruit after it turned green. I always load up before returning to Zazzle field so I have a change against the boss fights.