bjbest60 Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 (edited) Hello, all! I'm excited to release the beta of my next game, High Score Screen Burn Slow Burn. It's an experimental game where you play it by not playing it! I like trying to make games on the VCS that feature designs that are more contemporary or experimental--Space Cactus Canyon had procedurally generated playfields, for example. I also like weird, small Internet games that just do things normal games don't do, such as maybe not being a game at all. So, onward to the details! Objective: Get the high score! Players: One or fewer Controls: Maybe How to play: Start the game. Watch for a minute or two. Walk away. Come back in half an hour and check in. Walk away. Come back the following day, week, month. Check in. Do you have the high score yet? Secret tip: If you'd like to be slightly more active in your play, be sure your sound is on. It might occasionally rouse you to alertness! So, let me know what you think, if you find bugs, etc. As the title and "how to play" suggest, this game is indeed a slow burn--give it time. And, of course, be sure to post your high scores! Extra special fake bonus points if you're playing on a real TV. HighScoreScreenBurnSlowBurn FINAL.bin Edited June 26, 2018 by bjbest60 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KaeruYojimbo Posted December 14, 2017 Share Posted December 14, 2017 I got 13, then had to move on to other things. I did find myself saying "just one more room" to myself several times before I quit though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 i got a 31 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KaeruYojimbo Posted December 16, 2017 Share Posted December 16, 2017 (edited) Just broke 100! Are there any plans to add more? Maybe different types of events or use the console switches? Or have I just not stumbled across those yet? Edit: Got up to 235 before I finally shut it off. Edited December 16, 2017 by KaeruYojimbo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjbest60 Posted December 17, 2017 Author Share Posted December 17, 2017 235! Not bad. Well, the big exciting change at 100 is the change in the player's color. The points are also doubled once you hit 100 (and tripled plus another color change when you hit 1,000, etc.). There's nothing fundamentally different about the game, though. It lasts for as long as you want it to. But I'm very open to suggestions. I thought about using the switches for something that felt meaningful, but I couldn't really come up with anything. Maybe if you held down the select switch, the player would move faster (and then return to normal once you released the switch)? I don't know if that would add anything. Or maybe some combination of switches increases the drop rate of the items you collect? That feels Easter egg-y and I don't know if it changes the experience in any significant way. I don't have much room left in the ROM, but I'm definitely interested in ideas about things that could make the game more engaging. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+KaeruYojimbo Posted December 17, 2017 Share Posted December 17, 2017 Without much ROM left I'm not sure what your options are, but a few little things to mix up the encounters could add a lot of interest. Little things like sometimes having the item move the opposite direction the player moves the joystick or the item only being visible when it isn't moving. Not huge changes, just enough to occasionally make the player think "Whoa, hey, what's going on here?" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjbest60 Posted December 19, 2017 Author Share Posted December 19, 2017 Those are both great ideas. I figure I could also add one or two more pickups once the score hits 100 or 1,000. I haven't really tried ensuring the code is as compact as it could be, so I imagine I'd be able to find a bit of room. I'll play with it a bit. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjbest60 Posted December 29, 2017 Author Share Posted December 29, 2017 I've added v2 of the beta to the top post. There are two main changes: 1.) Once you hit 100 points, a new pickup gets added into the rotation, worth 11 points (not counting the multiplier) if taken. 2.) After some soul-searching, I doubled the drop rate to move the game along a bit. (Though it's still a slow burn.) I wanted to implement more ideas, but I also wanted to keep the game at 4k and I currently have 3 bytes left. It could definitely be expanded to 8k, but I'm not sure if there's anything that'd make the game sufficiently new / different to justify it. So, try the game out if you haven't! Get the high score! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjbest60 Posted June 9, 2018 Author Share Posted June 9, 2018 Just to officially complete this one, I've uploaded the final .bin to the top post. 3 bytes left in ROM! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ZeroPage Homebrew Posted June 15, 2018 Share Posted June 15, 2018 We'll be "playing" High Score Screen Burn Slow Burn LIVE on today's ZeroPage Homebrew show on Twitch at 2PM PT/5PM ET! See you all there! Streaming 60fps on a RGB Modded Light-Sixer 2600 through Framemeister Twitch LiveStream: http://twitch.tv/zeropagehomebrew/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 Secret tip: If you'd like to be slightly more active in your play, be sure your sound is on. It might occasionally rouse you to alertness! Something ZeroPage (and maybe others here) didn't know is that when your square is in a room with an object, you can control the object and make it run into the square for points. Do not touch the walls as it will disappear and you will not get any points. My trick is if I don't want to chase the square, I move the object to the far right exit as wait till the square comes to me by the exit. Plus, I've found that you push the fire button for different sounds - at anytime during the game. We'll be "playing" High Score Screen Burn Slow Burn LIVE on today's ZeroPage Homebrew show on Twitch at 2PM PT/5PM ET! See you all there! I started mine as soon as you started playing this title on the show today. So say about 5pm CT and its 9pm now and I'm up to 461! I let the game play itself as BJ's secret tip above and just listen for the beep sound. As soon as you hear that sound, the square has enter a room with an object. That's when I pull up Stella and move the object to the square (or the right exit) and get the points, then minimize it and wait for the next beep. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 another hour in to it and up to 673 ALSO - I discovered that when you press the fire button while controlling the object - it CHANGES the object - which in turn changes the points you can score! as you press the fire button it scrolls (and beeps) thru the different "objects" whichever one you are when you touch the square is the points you will get 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 another hour later - 953 - trying for the first to 1000 points!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 (edited) MADE IT - 1000+ points!!! in 6hrs 10 mins Edited June 16, 2018 by Arenafoot 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 7 hours = 1442 points ..... time for bed 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LidLikesIntellivision Posted June 16, 2018 Share Posted June 16, 2018 (edited) For a "non playing" game, I'd prefer one I could bet on the winner (car race, horse race, soccer, chess player etc). It could be even more interesting if in that betting game you could slightly influence the results (as an dishonest judge - deciding if the ball was in or out in a tennis match - nudging the ball in a pinball game), but if you abuse it too much, make a sound of the crowd booing or the tilt machanics of the pinball, and you lose your money/wages or the player you was betting on is disqualified. When you're just watching a game and rooting for a team or player, you're still not really playing the game but you're emotionally linked to the events. That gives satisfaction and it can be addicting too. Money and rewards can help making it more satisfying. For this game, maybe put a second square and turn the game into a mice racing game through the maze. You bet on your mouse. Those objects could be food, and when the colours are dark - people can't see what you're doing - you move the food to your mouse. The mouse eats the food and become much faster. If you move the food and colours aren't dark, people see what you're doing, start to boo and you lose. Edited June 16, 2018 by LidLikesIntellivision Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffry Posted June 17, 2018 Share Posted June 17, 2018 I got this game after seeing it on ZeroPage Homebrew. I love it!!! It appeals to my kitschy nature. What this games needs is a physicsal cartridge with a digital/LED display showing the amount of time it has been running. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 I'm excited to release the beta of my next game, High Score Screen Burn Slow Burn. It's an experimental game where you play it by not playing it! BJ - I just put in a request on HighScore.com for this title! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjbest60 Posted June 22, 2018 Author Share Posted June 22, 2018 We'll be "playing" High Score Screen Burn Slow Burn LIVE on today's ZeroPage Homebrew show on Twitch at 2PM PT/5PM ET! See you all there! Streaming 60fps on a RGB Modded Light-Sixer 2600 through Framemeister Twitch LiveStream: http://twitch.tv/zeropagehomebrew/ I've been out of town for about a week, so I didn't have a chance to watch until now. Thanks for playing the game! I appreciate the commentary and that you dedicated a fair amount of time to it. BJ - I just put in a request on HighScore.com for this title! Awesome! Seems like an appropriate place for it to be. ALSO - I discovered that when you press the fire button while controlling the object - it CHANGES the object - which in turn changes the points you can score! as you press the fire button it scrolls (and beeps) thru the different "objects" whichever one you are when you touch the square is the points you will get I feel like Arenafoot has pretty much mastered the game, to the extent that it can be mastered. (And congrats on 1,000+!) The strategy of moving the square to the right works well. And yes, the game is driven by sound. One beep says an item is in the room. But you can press the fire button at any time and get different sounds (and therefore different objects). The super-secret special tip: the higher the sound, the higher the points of the resulting object. The percentages are skewed towards the lower-point objects, so it can take a few presses to get a higher sound. The beeps are based on a C chord, so there are low C, low E, low G, high C, and (after hitting 100 points) high G. Anyway, again, thanks for experimenting! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted June 23, 2018 Share Posted June 23, 2018 Awesome! Seems like an appropriate place for it to be. I feel like Arenafoot has pretty much mastered the game, to the extent that it can be mastered. (And congrats on 1,000+!) The strategy of moving the square to the right works well. And yes, the game is driven by sound. One beep says an item is in the room. But you can press the fire button at any time and get different sounds (and therefore different objects). The super-secret special tip: the higher the sound, the higher the points of the resulting object. The percentages are skewed towards the lower-point objects, so it can take a few presses to get a higher sound. The beeps are based on a C chord, so there are low C, low E, low G, high C, and (after hitting 100 points) high G. Anyway, again, thanks for experimenting! Thanks! I did notice the correlation between the shapes and sounds - the higher pitch is the higher point values (after 100): The "S" = 22, Double blue squares = 14, Pink Spider = 10, Yellow Bullseye = 6, and Green Diamond = 2. Also, the "S" will never show up in the room, you have to toggle to it to get those points. Not everytime does the game make a sound (beep) when there's an item in a new room. I've actually watched it and it doesn't beep everytime. My highest so far is below after letting it run all night Very Cool Non-Game! LOL! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted June 24, 2018 Share Posted June 24, 2018 Extra special fake bonus points if you're playing on a real TV. huh? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjbest60 Posted June 25, 2018 Author Share Posted June 25, 2018 huh? Heh. I meant that I think it'd be cool if people were actually willing to risk the lives of their actual TVs and VCSes by playing this on a real setup rather than an emulator. That's why the bonus points are both extra special and fake. But with that in mind, I have active plans to turn this into an actual cart (though sadly with no digital clock, although that's an awesome idea). I've never made carts before, so it'll be a learning experience. I'll post again here if they become a reality. Thanks again, all, for (not) playing! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arenafoot Posted June 26, 2018 Share Posted June 26, 2018 updated ROM in first post! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjbest60 Posted September 3, 2018 Author Share Posted September 3, 2018 I'm thrilled to announce High Score Screen Burn Slow Burn is now available on a physical cart! Details are here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPR Posted September 5, 2018 Share Posted September 5, 2018 Here is 30 minutes of playing High Score Screen Burn Slow Burn: And here is what I wrote in the description: This is a very strange game, if you can call it a game, that is oddly addicting and mesmerizing. It's "odd" in the same way that "Desert Bus" was odd, even though the gameplay here is not quite straight forward, if it is actually a game! lol What you are seeing in this video is the cursor moving on it's own throughout the rooms. This will go on literally FOREVER until you turn your system off. In some rooms you will see an object. When the cursor runs into that object, you score points. You can press the button on the Atari 2600 controller to change the shape of the object and you can move that object around. You get different points based on which object you choose and you get a higher point value object added after you hit 100 points. You can keep pressing the button even when an object is not in the room and if you LISTEN to the sounds, you can pre-choose the object for the next time one shows up in a room. The rooms are completely random as is the movement of the cursor. That is the game! And it's strangely enjoyable! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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