Cybergoth Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 Hi there! Attached are both PAL & NTSC binaries of Star Fire. They are release candidates. I'd like to ask everyone interested in the game to try and playtest these binaries, be it on emulators or the real thing. Please give me some feedback. Greetings, Manuel starfire.zip Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 Unfortunately, I can't get it to run in Stella (1.2.1 - Mac version). Just a black screen. Would an update to the Stella.pro file fix it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarigamer Posted May 30, 2003 Share Posted May 30, 2003 Awesome game! I had it running in CyberStella. I'd buy a copy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixellated Ghost Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 Worked fine in Lunux with Stella 1.3, very good game so far. Nice "robot tank" style death screen! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 Unfortunately, I can't get it to run in Stella (1.2.1 - Mac version). Just a black screen. Would an update to the Stella.pro file fix it? Regular Stella won't run it in Win98 either. Works great in trusty old Z26 though. Now, a bit of fun... WARNING: SENSE OF HUMOR REQUIRED Sorry, I am not going to update Stella just to work with end-user-hacked ROMs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vic George 2K3 Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 Not bad. I always thought Star Fire was just some kind of timed game shoot-em-up, when I last played it in the arcade. Here it's like an alternate take on games like Star Voyager. Excellent music. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeeknPoke Posted May 31, 2003 Share Posted May 31, 2003 Manuel, as you know, Ive been looking forward to this and its really great and a fantastic conversion plus more! Plus points. 1:Music is just right and fitting 2:Title screen is bangon 3:Great controls 4:Neat effects (Death screen is well done) 5:Just right gameplay Ive just had 10mins on it here and its just the conversion of StarFire (always a game that brings a tear to my eye) ive always wanted...cheers!!! Lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted May 31, 2003 Author Share Posted May 31, 2003 Hi there! Unfortunately, I can't get it to run in Stella (1.2.1 - Mac version). Just a black screen. Would an update to the Stella.pro file fix it? Unfortunately, the guy responsilble for the MacStella forgot to update the the 6502 core, even with the current 1.3 Version, I'm sorry. Greetings, Manuel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted May 31, 2003 Author Share Posted May 31, 2003 Hi there! Credit where credit is due: The great music and warping sequence are from Paul Slocum and the intro screen was programmed by Thomas Jentzsch. Greetings, Manuel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkarner Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 Lots of praise for the game... But the point of making a pre-release version available is to get constructive feedback, right? So here goes... I never played the original Star Fire so maybe some of my comments are not applicable if that's the way things are supposed to be in the original. -The radar gets strange once your shields get low. The points become fuzzy lines. Is that normal? -Maybe the end-of-level warp portal should appear on the radar? You kind of have to fly aimlessly to find it right now. -I played one game that skipped wave 2. It went straight from wave 1 to wave 3. -Do the Star Destroyers and Death Stars appear in random waves? I played one game where they started appearing in wave5. I played another game and they never appeared. I then played a third game and they appeared right away in wave 1. -The Death Stars and Star Destroyers only take one shot to destroy. Seems a bit anticlimactic. Maybe they should be harder to blow up. -When you take a hit, maybe it should be more dramatic. I can barely notice when I take a hit. Maybe a louder boom and a brighter flash. -The death scene could be shorter. I figured out that the game is over after the three or four seconds but the on-screen static just keeps going and going... Like I said, very nice game. I'm not criticising, just providing feedback. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 Unfortunately, the guy responsilble for the MacStella forgot to update the the 6502 core, even with the current 1.3 Version, I'm sorry. I'm a bit confused. The Mac version isn't at 1.3. If the Mac version is brought up-to-date with the rest of the 1.3 changes, will that address the issue? I've been putting together a Mac Stella bugs thread in the Emulation forum, for a different programmer (Brad Oliver) who is planning to port the next Mac version of Stella. Any specific info would be a huge help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 I'm a bit confused. The Mac version isn't at 1.3. If the Mac version is brought up-to-date with the rest of the 1.3 changes, will that address the issue? Yup, that will solve all problems regarding "illegal opcodes" (as in Star Fire, Qb, Thrust etc.) and also fix some emulation bugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy_Dude Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 -The radar gets strange once your shields get low. The points become fuzzy lines. Is that normal? yes -Maybe the end-of-level warp portal should appear on the radar? You kind of have to fly aimlessly to find it right now. -I played one game that skipped wave 2. It went straight from wave 1 to wave 3. I don't know whats going on here but its happened to me too -Do the Star Destroyers and Death Stars appear in random waves? I played one game where they started appearing in wave5. I played another game and they never appeared. I then played a third game and they appeared right away in wave 1. It would appear so -The Death Stars and Star Destroyers only take one shot to destroy. Seems a bit anticlimactic. Maybe they should be harder to blow up. I think so too -When you take a hit, maybe it should be more dramatic. I can barely notice when I take a hit. Maybe a louder boom and a brighter flash. -The death scene could be shorter. I figured out that the game is over after the three or four seconds but the on-screen static just keeps going and going... I actually like it like that A new binary was posted on the Stellar mailing list with the warp portal on the radar and a short burst of static when you're hit. Personaly I think it could use "vertical" cross hairs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pixellated Ghost Posted June 1, 2003 Share Posted June 1, 2003 Tried the new binary from the Stella list, even better... Just a few minor observations: 1. The game reset back to the beginning during a game when I was at wave 5. Only did it once though, cannot figure out why. I was plying it with left difficulty A set if that has anything to do with it. 2. When you take your 6th and final hit, have it turn the last shield block red as well. (I just think it'd look better that way) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted June 1, 2003 Author Share Posted June 1, 2003 Hi there! 1. The game reset back to the beginning during a game when I was at wave 5. Only did it once though, cannot figure out why. I was plying it with left difficulty A set if that has anything to do with it. Well, part of the public beta test was to find out if there still can occur worst case scenarios where I'm computing too much during one frame. Thanks for confirming! And I'll fix that shield display. Greetings, Manuel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted June 2, 2003 Author Share Posted June 2, 2003 Hi there! But the point of making a pre-release version available is to get constructive feedback, right? So here goes... I'm sorry, I somehow didn't get around until now to say "thank you" for your suggestion list. I hope it pleases you to hear that meanwhile I've tweaked almost everything you listed (and more) for the better. Thanks, great feedback! Greetings, Manuel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkarner Posted June 3, 2003 Share Posted June 3, 2003 >Thanks, great feedback! >Greetings, >Manuel No problem. It was fun. Now if only the big software companies would listen to me too... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doron Posted June 4, 2003 Share Posted June 4, 2003 Hi Manuel First, I think it's a great achievement, and wonderfully programmed (as far as I can tell). It's way too easy for me though. I got on my first game to stage 7 with mabe one hit. We're not kids anymore, I suppose. Mabe some spaceships could use two shots or three to explode. If one or two aliens per level would do some evasive actions, it could be great. They are sitting ducks as they are. Could you put more sound effects in? What's that door that appear all of a sudden? The game is very rational and logical, which is great. However, could you make it less rational and logical (and more unpredictable)? dor-x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted June 4, 2003 Share Posted June 4, 2003 Door? Do you mean the Tardis? Agreed on the multiple-hit thing...the original game would say that you "winged" the enemy ships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted June 5, 2003 Author Share Posted June 5, 2003 Hi dor-x! It's way too easy for me though. I got on my first game to stage 7 with mabe one hit. We're not kids anymore, I suppose. Ah, Ok. You know that you can select the starting wave with joystick left/right in the title screen? Mabe some spaceships could use two shots or three to explode. The motherships do by now. If one or two aliens per level would do some evasive actions, it could be great. They are sitting ducks as they are. Slave I and the Exidy ship will eventually do that, I'll try some things here. Could you put more sound effects in? I just added another one for mothership hits, but ultimately I don't want to have it hyped up with SFX like a pinball-machine Hey, the game already does 8 times more SFX than Gunfight! The game is very rational and logical, which is great. However, could you make it less rational and logical (and more unpredictable)? Seems hard to find a middle way here. Some people already complained about the motherships, since it ruins their flying illusion - so they say. Greetings, Manuel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
doron Posted June 9, 2003 Share Posted June 9, 2003 Yes, Tardis. Anyway, Manuel, think of the games that last in minds of people and bug them years later - the strange ones. Those who still have a riddle that'll never be solved. Now, space is cold and loney, unlike wild west which is warm and you fight a man, not machines. The space game is obviously darker and need more FX to liven the mood, the more FX the less lonely that it gets. Good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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