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[Beta] Astronomer | a new homebrew for joystick and paddle


Coolcrab

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I feel that my first atari 2600 game is mature and playable enough for a beta. Therefore I posted it here as suggested by RandomTerrain. Feedbacks, critique and tips of any kind are very welcome. In the thread you can find a short game description, a 'manual' and some downloads. Enjoy :) The game is 1 player and works with both the joystick and paddle.

 

You are an astronomer and you are working at a telescope. You are tasked to observe a certain star for your research project. Point your telescope at the star and observe! But look out for clouds, as they ruin your observations. Other astronomers also want to use the telescope, so make sure to finish your observations before the time runs out. Otherwise you will be banned for wasting time.
Goals:
*Fill the healthbar by pointing the telescope beam at the star and press the fire button to observe. Make sure to finish before the score reaches 0
*Don't observe clouds
Manual:
  • Flip the left difficulty switch to A for playing with paddles, B for joystick
  • Flip the right difficulty switch to A for randomized levels. Press select for more randomization. Set it to B to remove all randomness and have a more structured level progression
  • Flip BW switch to pause
  • Use reset button to reset
  • After a game over, your score will be shown on the title screen

Play the game here or download the rom. http://javatari.org/?ROM=http://pietrow.net/games/astronomerV0.75.bin

YNKoPwe.gif

 

If you want to see the code, this is discussed here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/270313-betaastronomer-wip/

astronomerV0.75_NTSC.bin

astronomerV0.75_PAL.bin

Edited by Coolcrab
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  • 2 weeks later...

New version available with help from RT. :) Everything is much smoother and most glitches are gone. Pause function got removed due to space limitations and there is now a difficulty setting for the right switch. (+100 time if you set it to A)

 

This is the almost complete version. Not because I think its perfect, but because of the 4K almost being out. :P

 

Feedback welcome!

astronomerv0.9.bas.bin

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  • 7 months later...

Neat! I'm guessing you use a telescope occasionally, as this is totally a real world struggle lol. Highly original concept for a game too, I'll check this out tonight.

Yea I used a few. MoMt notable are the VLT, Isaac Newton and now the Swedish Solar Telescope for my PhD.

 

Hope you like it!

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Yea I used a few. MoMt notable are the VLT, Isaac Newton and now the Swedish Solar Telescope for my PhD.

 

Hope you like it!

Nice, always wanted a solar scope. I have a celestron c90 backpack scope, a Stellarvue 'Sparrowhawk' 50, and a Barska Magnus ED Apo. Fun hobby, though Washington clouds make it hard to do here.

 

Fun little game too. Reminds me of some of the good, early VCS titles that are still fun like Bowling or Pinball. Simple concept, but addicting gameplay.

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Nice, always wanted a solar scope. I have a celestron c90 backpack scope, a Stellarvue 'Sparrowhawk' 50, and a Barska Magnus ED Apo. Fun hobby, though Washington clouds make it hard to do here.

 

Fun little game too. Reminds me of some of the good, early VCS titles that are still fun like Bowling or Pinball. Simple concept, but addicting gameplay.

Nice setup! Do you take pictures too? And you can buy a filter for most telescopes these days .they are not as nice as say a Lunt telescope but you can see spots.

 

I'm glad that you like the game. :) It was fun to make and having others enjoy it is the main goal now.

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Nice setup! Do you take pictures too? And you can buy a filter for most telescopes these days .they are not as nice as say a Lunt telescope but you can see spots.

 

I'm glad that you like the game. :) It was fun to make and having others enjoy it is the main goal now.

I'd say that I'd like to take pictures, and I've almost pulled the trigger on a mount for my DSLR for that reason... but the amount of post processing involved, coupled with the need for a pretty expensive/fancy motor drive setup has made me always put it off, especially since cloud cover here prevents reliable use. I suspect it would start to feel like work for me.

 

I just enjoy hunting for faint fuzzies, comets, planets etc. I find it almost like meditating.

 

I will have to get this game on cart. I do a retro gaming night for kids on the autism spectrum, and this is a nice, simple game that would be easier for some of the younger kids to wrap their heads around.

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I'd say that I'd like to take pictures, and I've almost pulled the trigger on a mount for my DSLR for that reason... but the amount of post processing involved, coupled with the need for a pretty expensive/fancy motor drive setup has made me always put it off, especially since cloud cover here prevents reliable use. I suspect it would start to feel like work for me.

 

I just enjoy hunting for faint fuzzies, comets, planets etc. I find it almost like meditating.

 

I will have to get this game on cart. I do a retro gaming night for kids on the autism spectrum, and this is a nice, simple game that would be easier for some of the younger kids to wrap their heads around.

Cool. The software is not that hard to do. There are free programs that you can use for relatively good results. Pm me me if you want some links.

 

As for the kids game nights, that's super cool! If you do one with my game, please send some pictures (if thats a possibility.)

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Cool. The software is not that hard to do. There are free programs that you can use for relatively good results. Pm me me if you want some links.

 

As for the kids game nights, that's super cool! If you do one with my game, please send some pictures (if thats a possibility.)

Thanks, I may do that if I decide to take the jump. As is, I think about doing astronomy more than I actually do these days, as we have cloud cover here 95% of the time. Not like it was back in Northern California, sadly.

 

I'd love to send you pics, but it's a bit of a process due to privacy/confidentiality concerns. I'll see if we can take some and add them to the ARC Directors list of photos they are planning on getting permissions signed off on so we can post them online for advertising the event. If we do... I'll make sure and share them with you.

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