HeliCommander. Helicopter combat game coming soon to the Atari 8-bit

[peteym5]

 

 

 

 

HeliCommander

A New Arcade Action Game for Atari XL/XE Computers

• An Arcade Action Game in the style of Chopper Command and Choplifter
  
• Game Cartridge requires an Atari Computer with 16K of RAM and 1 Joystick
  
• Parallax Scrolling creating a great 3D effect and colorful scrolling objects and background
  
• Multicolored Sprite Graphics that are detailed and smooth movement.
  
• Enemies - Choppers, Tanks, Bombers, Trucks, Bunkers, to challenge you.
  
• Many Challenging Levels to play
  
• This game was extensively beta tested to assure quality.
  
• Solid Plastic Cartridge Case and Instruction Manual.
  
• See video for more

 

 

This is a teaser trailer for Helicommander. A longer video with commentary will be posted soon also. I will be announcing when the cartridge game becomes available and the price from www.atarisales.com

Edited January 26, 2017 by peteym5

[Bryan]

That's pretty slick!

[+Stephen]

Love the "SNES Mode 7" style scrolling of the ground. Funny - I've been playing with something like that for an intro I'm writing.

[peteym5]

I am really glad you like it. That ground effect is done with multiple HSCROLs with DLI. Ever since I've seen Choplifter Arcade, I said, the Atari 8-bit should be able to do some type of similar effect. I tried it many years ago in Basic but needed assembly language to do a true great effect. This effect was also used for Laser Blast X and is being considered for another Defender / Laser Blast style shooter.

[emkay]

Perfect "Silkworm" scrolling ;D

[Silverstreak]

Looks great. Good to see it's 16k too, nice job.

[+Philsan]

It would be nice to have a multicolor helicopter.

[Heaven/TQA]

Looks good!

 

I personally call that parallax scrolling and not mode7.... mode7 is Pilotwings, Mario Kart etc scrolling tilted texture imho. But that's just my 2 cents.

[Centurion]

The parallax scrolling looks really nice!

[Gunstar]

Looks good!

 

I personally call that parallax scrolling and not mode7.... mode7 is Pilotwings, Mario Kart etc scrolling tilted texture imho. But that's just my 2 cents.

Exactly. Mode7-like on the Atari would be something like Ballblazer. Parallax is totally different.

[+Stephen]

Exactly. Mode7-like on the Atari would be something like Ballblazer. Parallax is totally different.

Must have been the low resolution video, there was a lot of compression artifacting going on. It initially looked like each scanline was scrolling independently, but after re-watching I see what you guys are saying. Still looks cool.

[Gunstar]

Must have been the low resolution video, there was a lot of compression artifacting going on. It initially looked like each scanline was scrolling independently, but after re-watching I see what you guys are saying. Still looks cool.

It's a difference in how the graphics scroll and/or scale. parallax is strictly parallel scrolling of different "layers" (scanlines), weather horizontal or vertical. Mode7 is a vertical and horizontal scrolling that is not strictly parallel and involves scaling too. In parallax scrolling some or all scanlines do scroll independantly. Mode7 is a form of "texture mapping" and scaling that involves both horizontal and vertical scrolling at the same time so that the "ground" or "sky" look as if they are moving toward or away from your (first person) point of view from a "horizon" point, ala BallBlazer*. Parallax is strictly parallel up-down or left-right scrolling a third-person view from an above or the side.You are seeing scanlines scrolling independently as you say, it's just that mode7 is completely different.

 

 

*I use Ballblazer as an example because it is well known. A better example of mode 7 on the Atari would be Dimension X by Synapse software. Nintendo likes to claim they invented lots of graphic techniques, but the truth is most were done long before Nintendo even made their first console, all they did was build the techniques into the hardware instead of doing it by software as was done a decade before.

 

Edited January 27, 2017 by Gunstar

[peteym5]

Parallax is done for the mountains and sky, scroll left or right at different speed, Every few pixel lines on the ground below scrolls left/right slightly faster, the further it goes down on the screen, so it does give the illusion of that SNES mode 7 or something like BallBlazer. The game will use a joystick and the keyboard to turn the helicopter left or right. Oh yes, the Helicopter and sprites are multicolored with overlaying 2 players for the 3rd color, and is multiplexed so more than 2 moving objects can be on screen at the same time.

[peteym5]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCdNGDulf2M&feature=youtu.be

 

Here is the video with the commentary. We put a lot more work than usual with the graphics with multicolored sprites and display list interrupts for more background colors and scrolling effects that make it look really good. I put a limit on the number of sprites onscreen at once so sprites don't flicker much. It plays really good and is challenging. Great Sound Effects.

Edited February 1, 2017 by peteym5

[+GroovyBee]

The last video is set to private.

[peteym5]

I emailed Video61 to see what is going on with that. My web browser has me automatically logged into an account, did not know it was set up for private viewing.

[+Stephen]

Can't wait to see the video - this is definitely a game I am interested in.

[Jetboot Jack]

"Nintendo likes to claim they invented lots of graphic techniques, but the truth is most were done long before Nintendo even made their first console, all they did was build the techniques into the hardware instead of doing it by software as was done a decade before."

 

Nope that's just not true, Nintendo have not claimed to invent lots of graphic techniques - sure scale and rotate was done in software LONG before they provided that function at a HW level, but that is why it was so interesting, and SEGA followed suit on the MEGA CD. Arcade hardware had that feature for many, many years and the software approach was always going to be limited to expensive and powerful hardware platforms - like VGA PC's at the time. But putting it in a low cost console so it could be leveraged by all developers made it a feature every game could use without the need to spend precious cycles on "doing it in software". And I think you will find that Nintendo did not claim to invent the technique, they just cleverly marketed it as a feature of the SNES to create distance between their platform and the competition - kinda worked out well for them too...

 

sTeVE

[peteym5]

Nintendo and Sega had came up with inventive terms about their hardware. Neither of them invented sprite graphics, Atari had player/missile and Commodore 64 had sprites long before those companies built consoles. I liked when Sega stated the Genesis had "Blast Processing" instead of stating it ran at 7.67 MHz. I admit the higher CPU speed on the SEGA probably enabled it to do more, have more moving objects on screen at one time.

Edited February 2, 2017 by peteym5

[kiwilove]

Something that impressed back in it's time - was the Sega CD version of Batman - in which there was this incredible driving sequence level that blew me away.

But this was at the end of it's life - in which this hardware did not catch on. Also while the 32X add on may have upped the MegaDrive hardware - I wasn't bothered enough to want to see what it was about - seeing I was enticed by the SNES and went that way instead.

 

Also in these hardware wars of the consoles - like with other hardware systems, it's rare that you see in it's initial lineup what the hardware is capable of - but that it takes time for the programmers to become familiar enough with the hardware to then really push it further. The SNES was thought not to be such a capable machine for moving lots of sprites around etc - But Super Aleste showed this was not the case at all.

 

Harvey

[Jetboot Jack]

Nintendo and Sega had came up with inventive terms about their hardware. Neither of them invented sprite graphics, Atari had player/missile and Commodore 64 had sprites long before those companies built consoles. I liked when Sega stated the Genesis had "Blast Processing" instead of stating it ran at 7.67 MHz. I admit the higher CPU speed on the SEGA probably enabled it to do more, have more moving objects on screen at one time.

 

 

I don't think either of them ever claimed to have invented sprites - why the attempts at bashing?

 

Sega did not claim the Genesis/MD had blast processing they claimed Sonic USED blast processing - it just scrolled in larger steps than 1 pixel to get speed!

 

The sprite limit on the MD was not a factor of CPU, although if you were trying to push more than around 80 on screen you had to do some tricks and most devs just lived with a bit of horizontal re-use flicker. There was plenty of time to draw and update the sprites...

 

sTeVE

Edited February 3, 2017 by Jetboot Jack