Quad-Joust

[gauauu]

I mentioned this another thread in relation to the 4-player joystick adapter I'm working on, but thought I'd throw it here also. I'm currently working on a 4-player joust adaptation to go with my joystick adapter, tentatively called "Quad-Joust." It's a super-simple PvP-only joust-style game, mostly meant to demo the adapter I'm working on.

 

Generally I'd say I'd love to get some feedback, but this is a tricky one to test since the only existing adapter is in my basement If you're interested in giving it a try, though, shoot me a message and I can see about getting you a copy of my (slightly buggy) fork of Stella that provides emulation for the adapter.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Does the game need up and down? Else you might be able to convert it into a paddle game.

[gauauu]

Nope, sure doesn't. I thought about the fact that it would probably work with paddles.

 

Although really, the idea of a 4-joystick adapter came first, then as I was thinking of games that would be fun to do with it, I thought of joust. If I get time, I'm actually hoping to put a few small 4-player games onto a single cart, to make the whole thing a little more compelling.

[neotokeo2001]

Is it strictly going to be player control or are you implementing computer controlled players? 1 player vs 3 cpu.

[gauauu]

Right now it's strictly human vs human. I figure 1 player vs 3 cpu was already done on the real game, and better done than what I'm going to come up with. That's not to say it won't ever happen before release, but I'm not focusing on that right now.

[+GoldLeader]

Sounds like an incredibly fun idea to me!

 

Good luck with it!

[+Gemintronic]

I've been trying to convince various people to make joysticks using output that the paddle controllers use. batari BASIC already has 4 player paddle support.

 

But, then there's the whole problem of having enough sprites for 4 player games too. I'm beyond impressed with what you've described so far

[gauauu]

I've been trying to convince various people to make joysticks using output that the paddle controllers use. batari BASIC already has 4 player paddle support.

The Batari Basic support should be pretty easy. I actually did most of the Joust code using bB. Adding bB support for this 4 joystick adapter would be a super-tiny library, or just a few small keywords and additions to the main bB transpiler source.

 

But, then there's the whole problem of having enough sprites for 4 player games too. I'm beyond impressed with what you've described so far

The whole reason I ended up using bB at all (which I originally didn't plan to use) was that the DPC+ kernel made it so easy to get a decent multi-sprite kernel up and running quickly. My original plan was to write my own custom kernel and do it all in assembly, but after comparing the amount of time it would take, vs just using the existing DPC+ kernel, I figured I might as well focus my time elsewhere.

[gauauu]

If I get time, I'm actually hoping to put a few small 4-player games onto a single cart, to make the whole thing a little more compelling.

 

After a good night of playtesting joust with my kids, I decided to try adding on another game, this time a combat/tank knockoff. Having a lot of the 4-player framework in place from joust makes for some pretty fast development....

[gauauu]

Hmm, or maybe this palette seems a little more "combat-ish"

[rasch_C]

 

After a good night of playtesting joust with my kids, I decided to try adding on another game, this time a combat/tank knockoff. Having a lot of the 4-player framework in place from joust makes for some pretty fast development....

 

4-Player Combat would be epic!

 

-Allen

[Yosikuma]

I've been trying to convince various people to make joysticks using output that the paddle controllers use. batari BASIC already has 4 player paddle support.

 

But, then there's the whole problem of having enough sprites for 4 player games too. I'm beyond impressed with what you've described so far

My understanding, though, was that the paddle input had very limited usage with batari (read: no DPC+ support, etc.)...

 

Is this not the case anymore?

[Yosikuma]

Nope, sure doesn't. I thought about the fact that it would probably work with paddles.

 

Although really, the idea of a 4-joystick adapter came first, then as I was thinking of games that would be fun to do with it, I thought of joust. If I get time, I'm actually hoping to put a few small 4-player games onto a single cart, to make the whole thing a little more compelling.

 

Thank you! I have been contemplating a similar idea -- a set of 4 player mini games, after realising how few games support 4 players at once.

[gauauu]

My understanding, though, was that the paddle input had very limited usage with batari (read: no DPC+ support, etc.)...

 

Is this not the case anymore?

 

According to the docs on random terrain's site, they only work on the standard kernel. (Probably because they need to be read multiple times during the kernel)

 

The code for handling my adapter will be much simpler. You write the joystick number that you want to read to SWCHA, wait a few clock cycles, then read the first joystick as usual, which will give you the status of the joystick you selected.

 

In bB, I'm currently doing:

  asm

    lda #$01  ;select joystick 1 (player 2)
    sta SWCHA
end

  ;...do some other logic to use a few clock cycles

  if joy0left then ...;etc

Or if you don't have anything else to do between selecting and reading, a few nop's will do the trick.

 

(You might even be able to just do

SWCHA = 1

but I didn't test it, and don't know if bB handles that correctly. I guess I should look, should be simple to check.)

[Thomas Jentzsch]

If you only want to know if the paddle is left, centered or right, you only have to check two times. I suppose this can be even done outside the kernel.

[gauauu]

Just an update...I have 4-player joust, tanks (ie combat) and a vaguely-inspired-by-missile-command bomb defense game ready to demo at PRGE. For any of you going, I'd love to hear your feedback afterwards if you get a chance to try it with a few friends!

[Yosikuma]

I would love to try this on actual hardware at some point!

[S1500]

This is pretty cool. With the paddle, you could have a middle "dead zone" where no rotation takes place, any place out side of that rotates the tank left or right.

[gauauu]

I would love to try this on actual hardware at some point!

 

Eventually I hope to make a hundred or so of them to sell!

 

Until then, you'll just have to come try it sometime. I'm only an hour and a half drive from Peoria....

[+fdr4prez]

Just an update...I have 4-player joust, tanks (ie combat) and a vaguely-inspired-by-missile-command bomb defense game ready to demo at PRGE. For any of you going, I'd love to hear your feedback afterwards if you get a chance to try it with a few friends!

 

Where shall we find you at PRGE?

[Albert]

 

Where shall we find you at PRGE?

 

In the AtariAge booth.

 

..Al

[CPUWIZ]

 

Where shall we find you at PRGE?

 

You won't be able to miss the booth, trust me.

[+fdr4prez]

 

In the AtariAge booth.

 

..Al

 

 

 

You won't be able to miss the booth, trust me.

 

Thanks.

 

There was no previous mention of which booth he'll be at, so it sounds like I'll be spending some time in the AA booth

 

[gauauu]

You're right, I didn't mention that Al's letting me demo it at his Atari Age booth. Thanks, Al!

[Yosikuma]

 

Eventually I hope to make a hundred or so of them to sell!

 

Until then, you'll just have to come try it sometime. I'm only an hour and a half drive from Peoria....

 

"Sweetie? There's some weird short guy with a long beard at the door for you. He says he's from Peoria??"