Robin's Roundabouts

[boski]

Here’s my new game, and why I needed help plotting out circles. It’s called Robin’s Roundabouts.

This is a PADDLE game. Your task is to drive through a never ending succession of roundabouts without crashing into other cars or the curb. When you do, you're going to have repair costs. Press the fire button to step on the gas.

All of my games so far have been about current events in Wisconsin, and this one is no different. Right now in Wisconsin, the big debate is whether we need more funding for roads. Some people believe we’re wasting too much money on roundabouts. Others, like the Assembly Speaker (Robin), say roundabouts are not the problem. However, it sometimes does seem like the state overdoes it with roundabouts. It’s not uncommon to find five in a row.

The code is a little sloppy, but I included a lot of comments to guide you through it. Some things I learned writing it were:

- Usually paddles are used to set sprite positions directly. This program uses the paddle to determine a variable, which is used to calculate the sprite’s position.

- Plotting a circle with an adjustable radius

- How to use icons for lives using the life counter

One thing I still don’t understand is what happens to a temp variable when you define it differently within just a couple lines.

Please play and enjoy. Remember this is a PADDLE game (on Stella: start the game, press tab, click controller, change player0 to paddle, exit, when the game starts back up press ctrl+r).

Feel free to clean up the code or improve it. I’d really appreciate it if you would.

Special thanks to Bogax for teaching me to plot a circle!

RobinsRoundabouts.bas

RobinsRoundabouts.bas.bin

Edited April 1, 2017 by boski

[neotokeo2001]

Shared with the Atari 2600 Homebrew Group on FaceBook

https://www.facebook.com/groups/Atari2600homebrew

 

Cool little game. Took a minute to get used to the control but no problem after a minute or so. Any plans to expand the idea?

 

Unfortunately roundabouts are here to stay. Cheaper to maintain without having a lighted intersection and takes liability away from the city or county and places it on the driver. We are getting these in South Florida also and with traffic they become a nightmare. I can never understand why people who run stop signs will come to a complete stop at a circle. Do you guys have the 3-4 lane variety yet?

[boski]

Thanks! I wasn't planning on expanding it, but there probably are easy ways to do so. When programming I strive for fairly simple concepts that can keep you playing for more than a minute or two. It's always a fun challenge!

 

Oh yeah, we just have double lane roundabouts so far...

Edited April 1, 2017 by boski

[boski]

Tripwire

 

It's not much fun unless the player is compelled to actually circle to roundabout - so I included a "tripwire" that closes a gate to the next level. Here's the code I used to do this:

;open & close the gate

if angle = tripwire then u = u + 1
if u > 0 && u < 3 then pfhline 12 0 18 on
if u = 5 then u = 0

drawscreen

I would have liked to simply use: if angle = tripwire then pfhline 12 0 18 flip

That would have meant on the gate closes on the first loop and opens on the second loop. Unfortunately, as soon as the car passes the tripwire, the line turned off. That's why I had to use the counting method with the u variable.

Two problems I need help with:

1. It looks great on Stella, but when I played it on my 2600 - the screen bounces when the line turns on or off.

2. Collision detection does not work with the new line

The code and game are attached. Please enjoy it and any help with these two issues would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

RobinsRoundabouts3.bas

RobinsRoundabouts3.bas.bin

Edited April 5, 2017 by boski

[+SpiceWare]

Roundabouts are quite slick. I think the problem with them in the US is there's not enough of them around, so people are unfamiliar with them and thus confused about what to do when they encounter one.

 

Have you considered the Driving Controller? Seems to be a lot more appropriate for this game.

[boski]

Oh, people are very familiar with them in Wisconsin... The problem is the DOT will string up to 5 of them in a row, and people get frustrated.... or maybe just dizzy.

 

I considered the driving controller. The problem is, I don't think many people have one. And with paddle-type games, you really need to play them on a real 2600. Using a mouse on Stella just doesn't cut it.

 

Any thoughts on those two problems?

[+SpiceWare]

like a Magic Roundabout? Now there's one I'd have trouble with

 

I suspect most people today who regularly play on a 2600 are going to have driving controllers.

 

For paddle games and Stella I use a Stelladaptor. It's no longer available though, so if I were to get something today it'd be the 2600-daptor.

[+KaeruYojimbo]

There's a street in Olympia, WA that has roundabouts for several intersections in a row. Normally I don't have any problem with roundabouts, but there is something about hitting that third or fourth one in a row that makes you want to just plow through the middle. There are places where they work great and places where it seems like city planners were out of ideas and just said "%@&$ it, nothing else has worked here, let's make it roundabout and see what happens" or "Gosh, won't a roundabout look cute in this neighborhood we're gentrifying." Portland recently installed a bicycle roundabout, which has actually managed to unify drivers and cyclists in their hatred of it.

[+hloberg]

Atlanta got it's 1st roundabout about 2 years ago. I kinda like them. they keep the traffic moving.

As for the game, interesting use of a paddle. i would never thought of using one that way.