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can this awesome River Raid hack work on the real game?


ComputerSpaceFan

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Currently...

Spread shot, fast missile, and fast scrolling are all selectable. Each game selection is repeated (for the number of players)

 

 

.
Game Number     1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
Spread Shot        X     X     X     X     X     X     X     X
Fast Missile          X  X        X  X        X  X        X  X
Fast Scrolling              X  X  X  X              X  X  X  X

 

Games 9 - 16 are currently identical to 1 - 8 (needed to make sure that the 10's digit worked OK).

RiverRaid3.bin

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Positioning table was in the wrong bank, tho! Oops.

 

Current version features ingame pause function (7800-compatable). Random section colors given to game selections 9-16. I'm not quite satisfied with it...the colors will change for both sections when a bridge appears :P Threw some icons on the screen when selecting variations.

RiverRaid3(v2).bin

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  • 2 weeks later...

Still in there. I had them disabled while I changed the scoring to decimal mode. With all the extra screen space available during game select, there's no need to cram them into the score. There's still some stats to add in the pause/game over screen, too (the actual level instead of # bridges destroyed - those should be seperate stats). Or maybe work in percent of each object destroyed. Not too sure about that yet, since forks in the river make it impossible to hit everything.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Current:

I found that cycle time was running short due to the extra time needed when copying onboard Ram to working areas, so I disabled the scrolling copyright for now (sorry if you got some screen jumps in the earlier version). P1's stats could also rewrite P2 stats (wrong index value).

 

Added stats for level & bridges destroyed (these are not always equal: in the original game...if you are destroyed when a bridge is onscreen, you miss the chance to destroy that bridge and the level will go up anyway).

 

Added game timer for total hours/minutes/seconds playtime. Does not include any idle time.

 

Reserve lives are displayed alongside the fuel gauge

 

Added text for game select options

RiverRaid3(v4).bin

Edited by Nukey Shay
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  • 2 weeks later...

When I got my Harmony Encore cart in the mail yesterday this was the very first game I played on it, and I have to say I was not the least bit disappointed! Game 16 of River Raid 3 just surpassed Lead as my all time favorite shoot 'em up on the Atari 2600 and I will be recommending it for play in the next season of the Atari 2600 High Score Club! :D

 

I love absolutely everything you've done with this one Nukey. The spread shot, fast missiles, turbo speed, background color variations, and statistical tables give River Raid 3 a decidedly contemporary feel that should definitely appeal to any fan of modern shoot 'em ups. The only thing it's missing is some kick ass music, but I don't know whether or not you've got the space left to add in some pulse pounding tunes. Even without music though I still just adore this game. Phenomenal work!

Edited by Jin
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How about "collecting" power ups instead?

 

What I mean is, you fly over a fuel tank and shoot it and collect a a power up.

 

First one is fast shot, then a 3-way shot, maybe an extra life!

 

You lose them when you get destroyed and have to start over.

That's a cool idea! I was also contemplating how cool it would be if there was a way to get the enemies to shoot back for a serious challenge, though their shots would have to be able to be destroyed with your own shots to prevent automatic death scenarios in tight corridors. There's a lot that could be done with the game, it's just a question of whether or not Nukey wants to or feels up to giving it a try.

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The problem is time. I was barely able to get the 3 cycles needed for the side shots on some scanlines (it's that few because the Y-comparison had already been done for the center missile). To track an independent missile it would cost an additional 7 cycles in every portion that handles missiles.

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The problem is time. I was barely able to get the 3 cycles needed for the side shots on some scanlines (it's that few because the Y-comparison had already been done for the center missile). To track an independent missile it would cost an additional 7 cycles in every portion that handles missiles.

 

Thanks for the explanation Nukey! It's times like this that I think I should really start reading up on 6502 assembly so I'd have a better understanding of what the 2600 is and is not capable of before I start playing backseat programmer and making suggestions. :lol: You've done some really amazing work with this game already turning it into the fastest and most frenetic vertical scrolling shooter on the Atari 2600 and I'll look forward to testing out any future revisions you might make.

 

The only other suggestion I can think of to toss in the ring that (probably) wouldn't overtax the CPU would be to add a little extra challenge to Turbo Speed mode by putting a cap on how long you can slow the game's speed by holding the down direction, maybe just long enough to pass over a couple fuel tanks, before the down function becomes inoperable for a period time to prevent the player from just holding down all the time to slow the game and make it so that they only use the slow down function when they really need it. That might just be me being a sadistic shoot 'em up fan though, so feel free to disregard it. :D

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Actually, the original game does this already because fuel consumption is a constant (whether you go fast or slow, it drains at the same rate). On that note, it would be easier to instruct the game to eat fuel faster if you accelerate than doing it the other way around.

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  • 3 months later...

"Dad, can you play two at the same time?"
It was this question of my daughter that made me ask here, is it difficult to program to make the River Raid be multiplayer, that is, both players at the same time? Imagine the battle to get fuel, to make more points, etc ...
The screen could advance at slow speed always, and players could move the plane back and forth as well ....

.

Is that possible, Mr. Shay?

 

riverraid2players.jpg

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