+Stephen Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 Glad to see you back. Good luck with the therapy, life can sure stomp on all of us at times. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Machine Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 (edited) Make sure you take care of yourself first - thats the most important game to finish This was a lesson it took me a long time to buy into. But once I did, everyone around me(including me) was so much happier. "If you put everyone else first, all the time, you will be a shell of yourself and have nothing left to give......." -Budda Edited October 18, 2018 by Machine 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imstarryeyed Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 Bob! Welcome back! No apologies, I am sure I speak for many, many people here when I say it is simply not the same without you on this project and doing 7800 games in general. Remember you have a LOT of people on this board who really like you and what you do! 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atariboy2600 Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 In the immortal worlds of Rob Schneider - 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imstarryeyed Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 (edited) ... 1) why does the ball usually bounce out of the drain when it enters from the right rolling fast down the right flipper (but not enough to bounce off the left flipper), but not when doing so from the left, and what is it bouncing against? It sound like maybe this happens sometimes on the actual machine, according to Imstarryeyed, but it seems to happen really frequently here, and only when moving right to left. ... Swami, you bring up an excellent point that I missed when I was typing up my findings.. @Programmers I did notice that the ball bounces out of the drain too much... On a real Baby it is possible for the ball to reflect out of the out hole drain but that is a rare occurrence.. on a real machine the outhole has a funnel like shape that can be used to deflect the ball back into play but MOST of the time it dampens the ball speed to come out of the drain just a little bit and not enough for the flippers to touch it. If the ball is coming at a high speed and at the perfect angle it can happen but I do no think anyone can ever predict when its going to happen.. we simple call it a happy miracle haha.. I would say to Bob or Kurt if the ball drains let it drain, but use a random number like 5 or 10 out of 100 for the ball to bounce back and in my opinion that would replicate the arcade pretty well. In fact if you were going to make difficulty levels like Arcade or Fun / Atari Teddy Bear level then that number can be increased and that would make it easier for a lot of players.. On that same note, not having / adding those "posts" in the park zone and slowing down the ball would also make for an easier pinball version for beginners I would imagine. Of course all of this might be moot as once it is all constructed it may need to be "tuned" away from the actual arcade to make sure it still is fun.. The arcade has flipper buttons, the 7800 controller options (which I hope there are a bunch of different option settings for controllers supported) may not allow the same experience to be enjoyable but frustrating. When I worked in the game industry the biggest thing that best illustrates this is racing games. In racing games you have to speed the car up much faster than what is reading on the speedometer because if you scaled the speed to the game it would feel soooo slow and boring haha.. I am hoping the arcade accuracy can stay in there or be an option, but I do not think anyone would enjoy the game if they felt the pinball part was not fun or frustrating, having said that, I think it plays really good right now and you programmer guys are doing an amazing job recreating a fun and accurate experience. The good news is that this is a balancing thing with variables usually and not too hard to tune usually and you will not really know until you feel you are finished with the programming and are entering the tuning phase. Keep up the amazing work! This game is looking to be one of the best games for the 7800 of all time in my opinion! Edited October 18, 2018 by imstarryeyed 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swami Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 Serving 1000 people as a job can burn you out, even moreso doing it as a hobby. So glad you are feeling better. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GaryH917 Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 (edited) Glad to see you back Bob! Take care of yourself and get better my friend . Edited October 18, 2018 by GaryH917 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tep392 Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 Bob, I hope you are able to work through your troubles and be happy. You have given us all so much joy with your games over the years. You deserve some happiness as well. Just please remember, that no matter how low you might feel at times, we see you through our eyes as an amazingly talented person and a prolific game programmer. You've reached legendary status here and that is never going to change. I wish you only the best my friend. Perry 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambler172 Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 Hi Bob hope you get well soon.....remember we must do A......3 And you are the best 7800 programmer ever.... greetings Walter 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imstarryeyed Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 Hey gang I was wondering if the play field is going to get the blue energizer lights back? I noticed they are missing. These lights light up when you spell pac man and hit the target 1 more time to turn on the blue light, they are hexagons but circles are very understandable due to 7800 graphics limitations. I did not notice last night that they were missing when I was analyzing the ball movement. Thanks again for the great work you are doing! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted October 18, 2018 Author Share Posted October 18, 2018 Thanks, guys... you are all awesome, and I will try to be more level-headed... but please bear with me. This last year has been especially rough on me. Hey gang I was wondering if the play field is going to get the blue energizer lights back? I noticed they are missing. These lights light up when you spell pac man and hit the target 1 more time to turn on the blue light, they are hexagons but circles are very understandable due to 7800 graphics limitations. I did not notice last night that they were missing when I was analyzing the ball movement. Thanks again for the great work you are doing! The blue energizer lights are there. They just aren't lit because no energizers have been earned. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
killersquirel Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 Hey Bob, your games are awesome and there is a strong community that supports you. Take the time you need to better yourself. Looking forward to Baby Pac Man and any other potential future games you do as they are all top notch! 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari PAC-MAN Fan Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 (edited) I can't really think of anything else that hasn't already been said, but either way..... Edited October 18, 2018 by Atari PAC-MAN Fan 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 I liked it, but it got locked in the pinball segments when both parts are chosen. Now I see why Bob gave up on it, though not for the same reasons. Hi guys. I just hope you all can forgive me for the on-line 'breakdowns' I've been having. These past few years have been absolutely hell for me, coming to a head recently, and I am actually in therapy now. It is helping somewhat. I didn't realize how low my self-esteem / self-worth has reached, and how the things that you don't even realize affect it. That being said, I've been in talks with Kurt, and he's done a phenomenal job with the pinball section. He has agreed to revert the source code back to me once he's done so we can a) combine our changes (I've freed up more ROM space) and b) I can try and learn what he's done. He has put quite a few comments in the code so I can follow it, and I will re-read it over and over until I 'get' it. I can then work on the rest of the game (i.e. the pinball 'rules' - earning energizers, etc.) Once again, I apologize - please bear with me. Bob Bob, you are an amazing person. I have suffered from depression in the past. Trust me, it sucks. Hobbies are just that, hobbies. Don't ever feel you have to meet deadlines or answer to demanding fans. You are basically developing games for free (or for very little compensation) because you want to do it, not because it's your job to do so. Oftentimes fans (including myself) may play armchair developer while remaining ignorant of actual code, compile lists of feature requests (often absurd or impractical), demand updates, or give non-constructive feedback even though we may believe it's constructive. But we are all here because we love games. We are fans of Atari games, people who make games for classic Atari systems, even fans of your incredible work. If being a minor celebrity on AtariAge gets too much, take a break from it. Please don't jeporadize your mental or physical well being on our behalf. Just know you are well loved amongst Atari fans and homebrew fans. I finally broke down and purchaeed a 7800 four years ago specifically to play your awesome games. You did not disappoint! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 Of course all of this might be moot as once it is all constructed it may need to be "tuned" away from the actual arcade to make sure it still is fun.. The arcade has flipper buttons, the 7800 controller options (which I hope there are a bunch of different option settings for controllers supported) may not allow the same experience to be enjoyable but frustrating. When I worked in the game industry the biggest thing that best illustrates this is racing games. In racing games you have to speed the car up much faster than what is reading on the speedometer because if you scaled the speed to the game it would feel soooo slow and boring haha...I believe the ideal control scheme is to use the two fire buttons for the flippers and the joystick for the pacman segments. This would work well on Atari wand style joysticks or dual button arcade boxes. For nes style pads, dpad + fire button works well. Using dpad as button doesn't feel right when tilting a stick in one hand and pressing button with the other. Single button Atari joysticks aren't well suited to pinball however, but if using a single button stick, I would recommend a Midnight Magic style layout. People often forget that home console games need to have addicting and challenging, but not unforgiving and frustrating. Their purpose is not to gobnle as many quarters as posxible. Definitely a Teddy Bear -> Normal -> Arcade option is in order. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stun Runner 87 Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 (edited) I remember the Baby Pacman Pinball machine. It came out in 1982 and was awsome that it was both a video game and pinball at same time. Perhaps you can add the Pinball Machine gameplay part to this game. Make it kind of like an upgraded version of Midnight magic, and it could go back an forth from pinball to the actual baby pacman video game part. LoL. I know this is a massive request. But to me, Baby Pac Man isnt Baby Pacman without the pinball part of game. But either way, your program looks awsome and even without the pinball part, I'd still buy a cart from you. Keep up the good work. Your efforts are appreciated. ? Edited October 19, 2018 by Stun Runner 87 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imstarryeyed Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 @Stun Runner The pinball part is included already, Kurt posted a newer download a few posts ago. You should download it and try it out, it really is remarkable how close Bob and Kurt are getting on this game. I think this is going to be the must buy game for the 7800 when it comes out.. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swami Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 @Stun Runner The pinball part is included already, Kurt posted a newer download a few posts ago. You should download it and try it out, it really is remarkable how close Bob and Kurt are getting on this game. I think this is going to be the must buy game for the 7800 when it comes out.. It really is a landmark innovative game. I applaud everyone who took the risk to embark on this journey to new frontiers of the 7800. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinks Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 I remember the Baby Pacman Pinball machine. It came out in 1982 and was awsome that it was both a video game and pinball at same time. Perhaps you can add the Pinball Machine gameplay part to this game. Make it kind of like an upgraded version of Midnight magic, and it could go back an forth from pinball to the actual baby pacman video game part. LoL. I know this is a massive request. But to me, Baby Pac Man isnt Baby Pacman without the pinball part of game. But either way, your program looks awsome and even without the pinball part, I'd still buy a cart from you. Keep up the good work. Your efforts are appreciated. ? Lol...must get your news from facebook. Way late and uninformed. Try reading the pages and pages of the pinball physics ideas and even pictures of the pinball section and even downloads of it as well.. WOW! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted October 19, 2018 Author Share Posted October 19, 2018 (edited) Thanks again, guys. Regarding controls, it's been mentioned a few pages back: It auto-detects the controller: CX-40 - Same control as Video Pinball: left is left flipper, right is right flipper, up is both, down launches the ball. Holding the button while moving the joystick 'bumps' the table in that direction (except down). ProLine - Left button is left flipper, right button is right flipper (you can hit them both for both flippers). Moving the joystick 'bumps' the table in that direction (again except down). One thing about the auto-detection routine (which is based on the 'Asteroids' one, but I've made some modifications to it): You can hot swap a ProLine to a CX-40, but not the other way around. You have to power off and on for that. It was like that in original Asteroids as well. I get why that was done... Hope this helps... Bob Edited October 19, 2018 by PacManPlus 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dauber Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 Okay, it's great we're all saying that Bob's games are great, he's a great developer, etc...let's also be mindful: Bob is also an awesome person. One of the kindest people I've encountered in our crazy video gaming world. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inky Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 Okay, it's great we're all saying that Bob's games are great, he's a great developer, etc...let's also be mindful: Bob is also an awesome person. One of the kindest people I've encountered in our crazy video gaming world. Quoted for great truth. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 Welcome back, Bob! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 Welcome back, Bob! Who is Bob? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SlidellMan Posted October 20, 2018 Share Posted October 20, 2018 Glad that you took the time to recover. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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