Rebooteroids - Public Testing Phase (And user created level submission)

[+CyranoJ]

So... Rebooteroids...

First of all, I'd like to apologize for the agonizingly long time this has taken to become finished. There are loads of reasons for this that we've already covered, a few that we haven't, and some that we never will. Let's just leave it at "we are nearly there" and move on to what I've come here to post about tonight.

This will be our biggest game to date. There are several game play modes. There are several input modes, each with their own configuration. There are web-codes. There are QR submission codes that will link your score directly to our website. There are multiple 2-player game modes. There are (currently) 90 levels (plus 10 multiplayer levels). There is a menu that has probably had more work put into it than most games. The game is, to put it mildly, too big for us to be 100% sure we're going to catch all the bugs.

We also have discovered an incompatibility in the DSP (Jerry) between K and M model Jaguars. The game runs flawlessly on K-models, but will (randomly, it seems) lock up on M model Jags while switching audio tracks. We don't have enough M-models in our test group to track this one down. Fixed, thanks to all at Atari-Age!

On top of this, I will be dedicating this game to my father who passed away recently. This makes it doubly special to me, and makes me want to ship a product that is not only bug free and fully working, but also of as high a quality as we can make it.

So, this is where you come in. We are opening up this stage of the development to everyone. Play, report bugs, report things you think could improve it (Please, don't expect another re-write - if your idea is sound, and can be implemented, it will be considered, but huge chunks of the game are not going to be restructured at this point).

Not only that, but we have release the level editor. There is still space in the ROM for a few more levels, and this will give you all the chance to have a go at making some - if they are good and play well, then we will offer you the chance to have them included in the final ROM image.

The plan at present is to get through this stage, get to a 100% stable ROM that we can all agree on can be called 'FINAL' and then have it placed into the AtariAge store for sale.

Sure, you could grab the ROM from this thread and make your own carts, we'll have no control over that. We (Reboot) have trusted you in the past with our work, and you have never let us down, so we feel confident in doing things this way that once again the Atari Age Jaguar community will be supportive of home-brew developers.

I've asked Albert if he'll let me edit this thread permanently. I'll keep the latest test-ROM and other assorted files in this first post.

We look forward to your input.

-The REBOOT Team-

Known issues:

High Resolution splash screen not working on all Jaguars - Optionally available from menu (No plan to fix)

 

To Do List:

 

Add a way to back out from level select done

Display current level on screen somewhere during game

 

Current test ROM:

Rebooteroids - 20160703-1023.ROM [RC1.1]

 

Level Editor:

 

The level editor is now available here.

 

This is completely unsupported, will never be updated as should be taken 'as is' - it served it's purpose for our needs well and is being offered so that you can play around creating some levels. It's buggy, it's fiddly to use, and it can be extremely frustrating. As it was never intended for public consumption, buyer beware!

Edited July 3, 2016 by CyranoJ

[racerx]

There is still space in the ROM

 

[Albert]

I've asked Albert if he'll let me edit this thread permanently. I'll keep the latest test-ROM and other assorted files in this first post.

 

Done! Can't wait to see all the awesome levels people create!

 

..Al

[Rick Dangerous]

I was wondering why my skunk board started glowing red, shaking and emitting smoke last night.....ITS READY!!

[Sporadic]

Awesome news guys!

[leglock]

Looking forward to trying this.

[+Saturn]

My sincere condolences for your recent loss.

 

I'm ready to test on several different units (no idea how many, if any K models I have-will check) and looking forward to buying multiple copies of the final release (absolutely not to re-sell... ever)

 

Awesome!!! :thumbsup:

[PeterG]

I'm also very sorry for your loss CJ.

 

As far as the testing phase and level creation is concerned, I think it is an awesome idea to include the community like this. People have been waiting for so long for this game and now they can contribute, I think that is the best thing that can happen.

 

I have an K and an M Model Jag, so I can try it on the M one.

 

Looking forward to this, everything Kevin has shown us on Ejagfests so far has been really nice.

[+LS650]

Sounds good to me. Hi look forward to hearing more.

Edited March 28, 2016 by ls650

[+orpheuswaking]

I have one jag, and I never checked it for K or M, how does one tell?

[omf]

I have one jag, and I never checked it for K or M, how does one tell?

serial number label on the bottom should be the first letter

[omf]

i will definitely giving this a good play

 

i will put it on flash roms and test on real hardware so saving etc can be tested

 

i will be purchasing the released version however, from what i have seen already its well worth it!

[Matthias]

Awesome idea!

[Gaztee]

This is an awesome idea. Look forward to hopefully being some help. And as others have said CJ sorry to hear about your father. If he's anything like my own father he must have been AWESOME.

[Rick Dangerous]

Sure, you could grab the ROM from this thread and make your own carts, we'll have no control over that. We (Reboot) have trusted you in the past with our work, and you have never let us down, so we feel confident in doing things this way that once again the Atari Age Jaguar community will be supportive of home-brew developers.

 

It will be hard to resist busting out my handy dandy Mattel Jaguar Cart Maker and Easy-Bake Oven Combo™ to make myself a few dozen carts...but I'll try.

[rayik]

i will definitely giving this a good play

 

i will put it on flash roms and test on real hardware so saving etc can be tested

 

i will be purchasing the released version however, from what i have seen already its well worth it!

 

Same here. I'll post problems, if any.

[+CyranoJ]

Thanks everyone, we really appreciate the words and support.

 

So, with a bit of nervousness, and a click of faith, there is a ROM in the first post.

 

I'm going to deliberately not say anything about how to play, or offer any hints for a day or so just to see how well people can pick it up blindly.

 

Deep breath, here we go.

[galax]

First 15 minutes on Virtual Jaguar - awesome! Slick, fast, responsive, lots of stuff to blast. That's going on the Skunkboard after dinner.

 

 

Love the soundtrack that builds from the classic asteroids slow beeps! Versus and co-op modes! Haven't even tried Skirmish yet, lots to explore.

 

[mckafka99]

Thanks for making this available! When you need/want $$ just say the word!

 

For the Rom in the OP on 3/28/2016 , I have tried to run this with my Silly Skunk and Model 'K' Jag and the jcp -f <name> flash appears to work fine, but when the game loads, I get the initial 'splash screen' for a moment before it goes to the 'Rebooteroids - Copyright' screen; pressing B (or waiting) goes to just a black screen and nothing else occurs. I appear to be able to flash other files without issue. Any suggestions on what I shoiuld try next? I have tried both a rotary controller plugged in (rotary on the back of the controller type) and a regular unmodified controller. I have removed the JagCD from the mix and plugged the skunk into the Jag Cart port.

 

I tried flashing it to each of the Skunk banks to no avail and then tested the Joust ROM which worked fine.

 

Any thoughts/ideas what I should try next?

[walter_J64bit]

I'm sorry for your loss CyranoJ.

 

I'll get to play Rebooteroids! :thumbsup:

[rayik]

"K" jaguar. Does not work as real cart. Runs fine from skunkboard.

 

REAL CART:

Made real cart by burning to roms. Title screen comes up okay but NO music. Title screen blanks out and video never returns. Waited a minute and still had blank screen. Never had any music entire time powered on. Attached photo of title screen that does appear.

 

SKUNKBOARD:

Flashed to skunkboard. Game runs fine. Title screen appears WITH music. Screen goes blank. After about 15 seconds menu screen appears. Game works normally. Can go into different option screens. Start game and it plays okay. When game ends goes to high score screen with B to options screen. Music entire time.

Edited March 29, 2016 by rayik

[+CyranoJ]

Can't help with making real carts, sorry - Maybe Omf can assist here.

[rayik]

First impressions of game:

Love the "2000" treatment. Most Minter-like

Rotary controller option. I made one and will try it later

Option to input cheat codes. Like that

When playing - points at first impression seem to block view of asteroids. However points have degree of opaqueness. See if I get better vision with more play

Much more to explore

 

Edit to add:

Rapid fire !!!!

Point multiplier

Edited March 29, 2016 by rayik

[rayik]

Can't help with making real carts, sorry - Maybe Omf can assist here.

Rom is split and cart made correctly. Program crashes.

 

Game passes validation. Title screen appears but no music. Title screen fades out like on skunkboard but video never comes back.

 

Maybe no sound can help with troubleshooting.

Edited March 29, 2016 by rayik

[+BitJag]

Rom is split and cart made correctly. Program crashes.

 

Game passes validation. Title screen appears but no music. Title screen fades out like on skunkboard but video never comes back.

 

Maybe no sound can help with troubleshooting.

 

 

Same issue. Burnt roms, dropped onto a board, doesn't get past the screen with the credits. Model K Jaguar.

 

I did test on Skunk and it works great. Awesome, awesome game! I cannot wait to buy this. I am going to take it into the office tomorrow and see how many people I can get to play it. For testing of course

 

I found a bug that might already be discovered. After flashing to skunk, the game boots into the main menu. I start a normal game at level "60", plays fine. But after I lose all three of my lives, and it goes to the highscore screen, the audio turns into white noise. If I continue back to the main menu, everything seems to function just fine, except for the white noise audio. If I start another normal game at any level, the audio kind of comes back, but it is louder, and obviously has problems still. Also the spaceship sprite garbles up, and eventually disappears, but seems to still be functional, with bullets appearing and disappearing suddenly. If I lose all of my lives again, it goes back to white noise audio at the highscore screen.

 

I have re-flashed three times to the skunk, with the same results, rebooting a few times with each flash. The results are consistent.

 

I am going to try to test it on 2 more consoles tomorrow, skunk and the freshly burnt eproms. One is a model K for sure, I am not sure what the other model is, hopefully an M model.

 

Here is a video

 

 

 

Edit:

 

Just tested in VJ, it crashes VJ after losing three lives on wave "60".

Edited March 29, 2016 by lachoneus