8BIT 1337 Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 (edited) New high score for me: 2730 Got all the targets for level 1 and then crashed.. 5060, level 2 The only thing I've noticed that looked odd to me was the flickering on that mission start screen (when it tells me I'm starting level 1 and counts up the targets). The text usually flickered there, around the 'v' in level. The game is hard but on each play through I get a little better. I think the hardest part is not knowing what you can and cannot come into contact with, and when. I think your biggest challenge in finding an audience is the learning curve - I can see lots of players not keeping with it because of how hard it is to play without consulting the manual a few times. Having said that, I personally love playing homebrews by people I know, and I'm sure lots of others do/will as well Overall I'm impressed with the effort it must have taken to make this - many, many kudos!!! Edited June 7, 2015 by 8BIT 1337 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted June 7, 2015 Author Share Posted June 7, 2015 New high score for me: 2730 Got all the targets for level 1 and then crashed.. 5060, level 2 The only thing I've noticed that looked odd to me was the flickering on that mission start screen (when it tells me I'm starting level 1 and counts up the targets). The text usually flickered there, around the 'v' in level. The game is hard but on each play through I get a little better. I think the hardest part is not knowing what you can and cannot come into contact with, and when. I think your biggest challenge in finding an audience is the learning curve - I can see lots of players not keeping with it because of how hard it is to play without consulting the manual a few times. Having said that, I personally love playing homebrews by people I know, and I'm sure lots of others do/will as well Overall I'm impressed with the effort it must have taken to make this - many, many kudos!!! Glad someone else managed to beat level 1!!! C'mon guys The flickering is down to only using a simple DLI. A future "to learn" but more bytes required so perhaps in my next assembler project. I could really spoil things... by saying think about how games are constructed re the coloured playfields... then it becomes much easier to recognise dangers. This tip will self destruct in 5 seconds... 4.... 3 ....2 ... Just played the latest v1.2 and it's playing nicely (on PAL at least); I've smoothed or removed a few places where you seemed to get stuck when avoiding the obstacles. So it will be easier [sighs of relief] Tables Updated Reminder: this round and the POLL close Monday Night Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballyalley Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 I'm hoping that I'm overlooking an aspect of the game, and that a bit of advice can put me straight. When I transform from the boat to a plane, I can't slow down right away after the transformation-- and this makes me miss targets because I pass them. Is this is meant to be challenging or frustrating to the player as they watch targets go by without control? I'm aware that I can shorten how far I jump to help with this (to some extent), but even with that, there are places in the game, even at the very beginning of the first level (the only level I've been able to play so far) where I feel some targets are setup right in line (more or less) so that they player can collect all of them in one pass thus getting 200, 400 and then 800 points at a time. In particular on the first level, on the left side of the screen near the beginning, I pass up all three of the targets that are set up in a nearly straight line right after the ramp. What am I missing here? Is this meant to be a taunt to the player, or show them that with practice that those targets can be reached? The first post that described the game says that the Normal level "is intentionally challenging," and the Easy "is meant to be very easy." Where is the Normal level that is set to be a regular difficultly level for us average players? I'm terribly afraid that this game has been played so often by the programmer that some sense of the comparative difficultly level has been lost. I don't mean that negatively, as the game is well-programmed as far as I can play it... but the level of difficultly is frustratingly high. I'm playing the game not only because it's the High Score Club game this round, but also because I want to give feedback to the author (yes, you, "Bob") who obviously has put so much effort and time into creating it. "Bob," I love the idea of Ramp Rage. I like how the game works: speeding along in a boat or a plane collecting stuff. Making the game difficult is fine, making the game unapproachable-- which it is to me-- seems to defeat the purpose of creating the game to some extent. My point is not to be critical of "Ramp Rage." This is meant to be constructive feedback. I'm very proud of most new games that I see on the Atari 8-bit-- and I'm very proud of this one in particular. In some way, I feel as though I know "Bob," even though we just play some games "together" here on the High Score Club. Any game from a High Score Club member means the member deserves bonus point, right!?! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam242 Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Had some time to play this afternoon... I'm glad I could. There is a lot going on in this game, and it does reward getting into it, getting your focus on. Like Jetboot Jack or Bristles. I made it to level 2, almost three (had 7 targets collected). Level two is a huge jump in difficulty. There aren't as many targets, and they seem much harder to get to. And the "lock-in" delay is very pronounced. 7960 points. Level 2. Hopefully this isn't my final score for this round... Playing on real hardware - 800 w/Incognito (in XL mode), PAL ANTIC chip. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adam242 Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 (edited) Okay, how about 15600 - Level 3 (with only 1 target to go, grr)? Also had a go at Expert. 2300 Points. Pretty brutal... I wish I had made time earlier in the round... I'm digging it. Elements of Spy Hunter, River Raid, a dash of 2600 Sky Jinks... a lot to like here. Edited June 7, 2015 by adam242 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHiNjide Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 My new score o for EXPERT -> 4140 (Level 2) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 (edited) I'm hoping that I'm overlooking an aspect of the game, and that a bit of advice can put me straight. When I transform from the boat to a plane, I can't slow down right away after the transformation-- and this makes me miss targets because I pass them. Is this is meant to be challenging or frustrating to the player as they watch targets go by without control? I'm aware that I can shorten how far I jump to help with this (to some extent), but even with that, there are places in the game, even at the very beginning of the first level (the only level I've been able to play so far) where I feel some targets are setup right in line (more or less) so that they player can collect all of them in one pass thus getting 200, 400 and then 800 points at a time. In particular on the first level, on the left side of the screen near the beginning, I pass up all three of the targets that are set up in a nearly straight line right after the ramp. What am I missing here? Is this meant to be a taunt to the player, or show them that with practice that those targets can be reached? The first post that described the game says that the Normal level "is intentionally challenging," and the Easy "is meant to be very easy." Where is the Normal level that is set to be a regular difficultly level for us average players? I'm terribly afraid that this game has been played so often by the programmer that some sense of the comparative difficultly level has been lost. I don't mean that negatively, as the game is well-programmed as far as I can play it... but the level of difficultly is frustratingly high. I'm playing the game not only because it's the High Score Club game this round, but also because I want to give feedback to the author (yes, you, "Bob") who obviously has put so much effort and time into creating it. "Bob," I love the idea of Ramp Rage. I like how the game works: speeding along in a boat or a plane collecting stuff. Making the game difficult is fine, making the game unapproachable-- which it is to me-- seems to defeat the purpose of creating the game to some extent. My point is not to be critical of "Ramp Rage." This is meant to be constructive feedback. I'm very proud of most new games that I see on the Atari 8-bit-- and I'm very proud of this one in particular. In some way, I feel as though I know "Bob," even though we just play some games "together" here on the High Score Club. Any game from a High Score Club member means the member deserves bonus point, right!?! This is good. Everyone fire away as I'm making the "final" changes. Again my comments are an over explanation of things after a while you will find a way of doing things that works: There is a disconnect between the backgrounds that have evolved and the jumps and scroll speeds which have also evolved though not necessarily together The playfields could be re-done from scratch now that the game is more or less settled and they could match up better with the initial jump distances. That said some targets are to be collected from previous ramps (even from previous sections) and some may need to be collected using the boosts (there is more to the game as the levels unfold). There are spare targets on all levels. There may be an issue with mega long jumps which I have corrected! Target collection tactics When the plane is flying fast after taking off it's only when it's grey and you feel it starting to slow that you can start to go for the targets. Try working your way down the screen say in thirds (left / middle / right) minimise sideways movements instead scroll down to the next target. Key is to not worry about targets you have missed or nearly missed - if they are near the top of the screen forget about them. Instead hold down until the plane flies very fast (still steering l/r) then just steer l/r and as you see a new target push up just as you approach it and keep up held so you stop on it (you need enough up to slow the plane right down and give you some room to move to maintain position without going fast again). Aim to collect targets towards the middle/bottom of your movement window (the top half of the screen). Yes you can shorten the jumps significantly by going over the ramp at about 3/4 speed (if you are on NTSC you may be missing the top quarter of the gauge so this does not help). If you go over at full speed you can still slow down during the initial jump 'lock in' period. Note: slower ramp speed also shortens the jump time in the air (but use any boosts to stay airborne for longer). Again check out the video of level 3 (link on first post) to see how I played. You must make heavy use of the diagonals to do well; great fun when landing before a tricky bit: to pull down to get away from the top edge then push up diagonal to slow and steer to avoid and hope boost has burned off! The final version is much improved. I'm torn between defaulting to "Easy" where people may not realised the game has a lasting challenge and many features, or "Normal" where people may be put off by the initial complexity. If I make the first few levels much easier then players will become bored on replays. My new score o for EXPERT -> 4140 (Level 2) Well Done SHiNjide Did you just get single targets or collect the "p" ? Much appreciated comments everyone and still time to Vote for Round 9 Tables Updated Edited June 8, 2015 by therealbountybob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballyalley Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 I thought that it was about time to play on the Easy difficulty level for the first time. I did this using Altirra 1.5, emulating a PAL 600XL/800XL with a 600XL/800XL ROM. The system was set to have 320K (Rambo) RAM expansion. I've had no problem playing Regular difficulty with this setup, but after I lost my first life on Easy game, the game crashed. The screen looked like this: I thought that the trouble might be caused because I was using expansion RAM, so I set the system to 64K. I did a Cold Reset and I got the exact same crash problem (and it looked exactly the same). Note that I had hadn't lost any previous lives and I'd spelled "EXTRA" both times the system crashed on the Easy level. I tried again without collecting "EXTRA" and the game didn't crash. Maybe the trouble has something to do with losing a life when there are six of them? I can try this on my 130XE NTSC real hardware too, if you like. Adam 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SHiNjide Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Well Done SHiNjide Did you just get single targets or collect the "p" ? Just single targets, can't get any "p"s. Maybe in one of the next rounds, when we play RR 1.2?! Or just a late score. I like your game very much, I keep on playing! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted June 8, 2015 Author Share Posted June 8, 2015 I thought that it was about time to play on the Easy difficulty level for the first time. I did this using Altirra 1.5, emulating a PAL 600XL/800XL with a 600XL/800XL ROM. The system was set to have 320K (Rambo) RAM expansion. I've had no problem playing Regular difficulty with this setup, but after I lost my first life on Easy game, the game crashed. The screen looked like this: Ramp Rage (Game Crash).gif I thought that the trouble might be caused because I was using expansion RAM, so I set the system to 64K. I did a Cold Reset and I got the exact same crash problem (and it looked exactly the same). Note that I had hadn't lost any previous lives and I'd spelled "EXTRA" both times the system crashed on the Easy level. I tried again without collecting "EXTRA" and the game didn't crash. Maybe the trouble has something to do with losing a life when there are six of them? I can try this on my 130XE NTSC real hardware too, if you like. Adam What do you know?! I just played on easy on altirra and got the same lockup after crashing after getting the extra life... hmmm... BONUS POINT for bally - crashing after the extra man on easy DOES cause a lockup (perhaps others who had lockups earlier in the round can remember if they were paying on easy at the time?) SMALL EXTENSION: THIS ROUND AND THE POLL WILL NOW END WEDNESDAY 5PM UK TIME 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballyalley Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 I've been playing quite a lot and I still haven't cleared the first level. I've gotten to just one target left probably a dozen times. I can get about 2,500 points on any given game, but cracking into the second level is pretty hard. I'm played-out for the day. I'm not sure if I'll get to play again before Wednesday, so here's another score: 3,850 - Altirra Emulation - PAL I like how each "Bad Guy" seems to have its own personality. Sometimes when I shoot my shots go toward the top of the screen, but most of the time the shots go down. How do I determine which way I'll fire? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
8BIT 1337 Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Two scores for me: 7110 (level 2 again) for Normal. I threw my hat in on Expert as well - 1370. I was too stubborn to play Easy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballyalley Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 (edited) Since I was having trouble playing the Easy level (because it was crashing after collecting "Extra"), I gave the Expert level a try for a bonus point instead. I expected to do about as good as I did, but I didn't expect as many surprises. Here's my score: 860 - Emulation, PAL (Expert Level) Some comments about the Expert Level: The "bad guys" (monsters) are fast! I can't always outrun or avoid them. This is actually a problem sometimes on the first level of the Normal level too-- which doesn't seem appropriate. Power-Ups move so quickly that I can't catch them. Was I the only one I couldn't catch them at all? You can't fly with your plane down the middle of the ramp (like on the Normal level) and just receive a small amount of damage-- it just kills destroys the plane. That was a surprise! Far less damage kills the player. You stay as the airplane for far less time. This makes it really hard to get one Target. I never managed to gather two Targets at once for 400 points. The Expert level is certainly aptly named! Edited June 9, 2015 by ballyalley 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted June 9, 2015 Author Share Posted June 9, 2015 I've been playing quite a lot and I still haven't cleared the first level. I've gotten to just one target left probably a dozen times. I can get about 2,500 points on any given game, but cracking into the second level is pretty hard. I'm played-out for the day. I'm not sure if I'll get to play again before Wednesday, so here's another score: 3,850 - Altirra Emulation - PAL I like how each "Bad Guy" seems to have its own personality. Sometimes when I shoot my shots go toward the top of the screen, but most of the time the shots go down. How do I determine which way I'll fire? Push up and then hold in fire to lock the firing direction up - once locked (instantly) you can move as normal. Otherwise firing is down. Since I was having trouble playing the Easy level (because it was crashing after collecting "Extra"), I gave the Expert level a try for a bonus point instead. I expected to do about as good as I did, but I didn't expect as many surprises. Here's my score: 860 - Emulation, PAL (Expert Level) Some comments about the Expert Level: The "bad guys" (monsters) are fast! I can't always outrun or avoid them. This is actually a problem sometimes on the first level of the Normal level too-- which doesn't seem appropriate. Power-Ups move so quickly that I can't catch them. Was I the only one I couldn't catch them at all? You can't fly with your plane down the middle of the ramp (like on the Normal level) and just receive a small amount of damage-- it just kills destroys the plane. That was a surprise! Far less damage kills the player. You stay as the airplane for far less time. This makes it really hard to get one Target. I never managed to gather two Targets at once for 400 points. The Expert level is certainly aptly named! 5 lives on easy not enough for you?!!! Note. this is not 5. ! 1. Some are faster than others and need avoiding but shooting from both directions helps (see above) 2. I'm still messing around with the speeds, there's so much to balance; on version 1.0873476783453 you could hold down and chase down the power-ups / baddies, this should be possible again in v1.2 3. In v1.2 you have more reflex shield so this is possible 4. see 3. 5. Faster Ramp Speed = longer jumps = longer flights. No messing around here. I though I did well once to get to Bridge 50 on River Raid so when other HSC players got to Bridge 70 or 80 I figured someone would need a tougher challenge here! Assembling again in 5 minutes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballyalley Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Push up and then hold in fire to lock the firing direction up - once locked (instantly) you can move as normal. Otherwise firing is down. I just tried firing up under emulation. It works great. I wish I'd known-- or understood-- this sooner. It will make the game much easier to play and seems very natural. I won't have time to play it much before the round ends. Which doesn't mean I won't test my skills after the round ends. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted June 10, 2015 Author Share Posted June 10, 2015 (edited) Thanks for playing, erm testing, Ramp Rage v1.1 everyone, I told you it would make you mad! So what did I found out. My game is too hard. It had a serious bug on easy, NTSC players couldn't see the gauges, and, it's not quite ready! But when will it ever be? So I'm doing a few more tweaks tonight and I hope you will all enjoy the easier and improved final(ish) version.v1.2 which will be appearing on the main forum tomorrow [it will still be challeging!] Well done to SHiNJide, JK40001 and adam242 for making it through a few levels. Bonus points earned by JK40001 and ballyalley Checkout the FINAL TABLES (Post #2) Now lets start round 9... Edited June 10, 2015 by therealbountybob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ballyalley Posted June 10, 2015 Share Posted June 10, 2015 Final Tables FINAL TABLES (Post #2) I think I was supposed to get 1 point for playing on the Hard level, see this post: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/238610-hsc12-round-8-ramp-rage-v11/page-3?do=findComment&comment=3254283 This was a fun, but difficult round. Thanks for making this "Ramp Rage!" Will version 1.2 be the last version? I wouldn't blame you if you're sick of working on this game. It's time for another project, I'm guessing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted June 10, 2015 Author Share Posted June 10, 2015 I think I was supposed to get 1 point for playing on the Hard level, see this post: This was a fun, but difficult round. Thanks for making this "Ramp Rage!" Will version 1.2 be the last version? I wouldn't blame you if you're sick of working on this game. It's time for another project, I'm guessing. Updated! Thanks, and thanks for the feeback. v1.2 will probably soon turn into v1.3 after the hoardes are let loose on it My next project "Gravity", another game for the abbuc contest, is already finished! Turns out I'd done most of the work already, this is in Turbo Basic. It's much simpler but fun for a few goes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted June 13, 2015 Author Share Posted June 13, 2015 Link to Ramp Rage v1.2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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