Amoeba Jump

[Dionoid]

I found this game on my retron and it has grown on me. I like it a lot! If you are open to suggestions:

 

+ Let the player choose a Mrs.Amoeba. Give her red lipstick and a bow (Mrs Pacman style).

+ Change the color of the background from time to time. Let the player know they are doing well.

+ Give the amoeba a simple somersault-like animation.

+ Add lives. If the amoeba dies then show the amoeba flapping some wings (or a sprite angel, balloon or wingy thing picking it up) and placing it on the nearest platform. Die 3 times and you loose! (5 if playing on easy difficulty). Keep the current "1 life" mode as a game variation.

+ Give the player more incentives to jump on to platforms by placing objects like fruit or letters (exidy style) for extra points. Place these on a platform or hang them in the air in straight lines, sine or tangent patterns.For example if doing letters think like in Mr. Do or LadyBug where if you spell "Extra" you get an 1up.

+ Pickable power ups like

* extra lives

* temporary super jump boots (all platforms boost the same as the spring). Play a catchy tune or color cycle somewhere while this goes on

* a net on the bottom that automatically follows the amoeba. Once it catches the amoeba then it disappears after the amoeba jumps on it or you could make it last a few jumps before it disappears.

* an umbrella that allows amoeba more horizontal air time.

+ Enemies that kill the amoeba when touched or fall from the sky that eat or break the platforms. Or a platform that when touched forcefully pushes the amoeba in one direction.

+ Enemy that attaches to the amoeba making it heavier decreasing its ability to jump. Have the player quickly move left and right a few times to shake them off.

+ Special square windows that when touched send the amoeba into a bonus screen. Make it a timed challenge, e.g. "grab as many goodies as you can" Or a "Jumpy Challenge", eg, some pre-made tricky platform level where the amoeba has to reach the top before time runs out.

+ A night stage where platforms are only viewable when lightning strikes. No need to draw the lightning, just flicker the platforms or similar.

+ An ending screen where Mr. Amoeba reaches home as is met by Mrs. Amoeba and the kids LOL

+ Play a short musical riff somewhere when starting the game or at a title screen.

 

All good suggestions! Some I had already on my list, but some are new - like platforms that are only visible on some event (like lightning).

I'm not sure about the 'lives' concept, as there is no end goal to this game - just try to jump as high as you can without falling :-)

 

Anyway, thanks!!

BTW: the version on the Retron77 is rather old. The current version has improved gameplay!

Edited August 7, 2018 by Dionoid

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

Heya Dion! We'll be including Amoeba Jump in today's Twitch livestream on ZeroPage Homebrew as it's been a while since the we played it and there have been a bunch of changes since then! Hope you can join us at 7PM PT/10PM ET tonight.

[Silvio Mogno]

my little suggestion: when jumping directly from a spring to another make the spring noise a bit more acute, it would be exciting.

 

Please check a similar effect in this video, at 3:25

 

[iesposta]

 

...

BTW: the version on the Retron77 is rather old. The current version has improved gameplay!

 

I would send them an updated one, if you want.

I think they will be adding games if they continue to have games sent in to them. (I could be wrong.)

 

But the community says they will, eventually, have new firmware, and updated and new built-in games would be nice.

 

I just sent my Flappy, let's see if that makes it in!

[Dionoid]

 

I would send them an updated one, if you want.

I think they will be adding games if they continue to have games sent in to them. (I could be wrong.)

 

But the community says they will, eventually, have new firmware, and updated and new built-in games would be nice.

 

I just sent my Flappy, let's see if that makes it in!

 

I'm having problems contacting Hyperkin, but I'll inform them again today about the update for Amoeba Jump.

And nice to know that Flappy will also be included in a future batch of R77 machines!!!

[+remowilliams]

I came upon Amoeba Jump while working through the RetroN 77 Community Build image, using it for testing at various different times (its the first rom listed )

 

I have to say that this is a well done and entertaining game

[TheHoboInYourRoom]

I took a bit of a break from this game, but I finally got back up into the range of my older scores in this harder version. I managed to get through five cycles of the white and blue levels.

 

[Dionoid]

I took a bit of a break from this game, but I finally got back up into the range of my older scores in this harder version. I managed to get through five cycles of the white and blue levels.

 

SAM_3738.JPG

 

Wow, that is impressive! I was thinking about making the first 'all blue' level just half the height, so more people would be able to pass it. What do you think?

 

I'm currently working on additional bonus & boost objects, for which I had to rewrite part of my kernel just to allow multiple objects on screen at the same time.

I still have around 2K left for graphics, sound and code, so more to come :-)

[TheHoboInYourRoom]

I was thinking about making the first 'all blue' level just half the height, so more people would be able to pass it. What do you think?

That sounds pretty good to me. I only recently am able to about-consistently get through that level every time, so I imagine shortening the first would help a lot of people.

Can't wait to see what else you add!

 

Oh yeah, I noticed a while ago in the Stella debugger that you're using SpiceWare's sound effect driver, if I'm not mistaken. Did you customize it at all or keep it as is?

[Dionoid]

...

 

Oh yeah, I noticed a while ago in the Stella debugger that you're using SpiceWare's sound effect driver, if I'm not mistaken. Did you customize it at all or keep it as is?

 

Right, I'm using the sound effect driver from SpiceWare's Collect sample game. I changed the sound-tables but none of the code so far. Are there any known issues with it?

[TheHoboInYourRoom]

 

Right, I'm using the sound effect driver from SpiceWare's Collect sample game. I changed the sound-tables but none of the code so far. Are there any known issues with it?

Not that I'm aware, just indulging my curiosity.

[+Nathan Strum]

Really enjoying this!

 

 

Wind might be kind of a fun addition (maybe as an option). To indicate it, you could add little bits of debris blowing across the screen so the player would know the direction and speed.

[KevKelley]

Love the score and simple yet addictive gameplay.

[Dionoid]

Hi,

Here it is: the "final" community version of Amoeba Jump! It's actually more like a release candidate, which means that I won't make any big changes to it anymore, but only do some fine-tuning like adding an extra pixel here, changing a color there or tweaking the controls a bit. I have around 50 free bytes left of the 4K, so I've reached my self-imposed limit for the game :-)

Amoeba Jump v1.0 NTSC.bin

Amoeba Jump v1.0 PAL.bin

Changes in this final version:

• Added a title screen with music, where the Amoeba is bouncing on the big "AMOEBA JUMP" title.
  
• The grey springs have been replaced by red and green spring-buttons, which I think look better on the screen. The red spring-buttons give you the normal boost, while the green ones boost you even higher!
  
• Jumping from spring to spring (i.e. a "spring run") will give you extra bonus points and you will hear a higher-pitched sound effect.
  
• When your score gets beyond 1000 points, little oval-shaped bacteria start appearing on the platforms, which can be eaten by the amoeba. Each bacteria holds one of the six letters from the word A-M-O-E-B-A. Collect all six and the single next time you jump on a spring, you will get a super long boost.
  While doing this super boost, the amoeba will show all kind of rainbow-colors, which is done by using code-bytes as colors (just as in Yars' Revenge)
  
• I did some (minimal) changes on the controls to give you more precision. You can now move the amoeba just a tiny bit my moving the joystick left/right briefly. On the long jumps, the deceleration is stronger when you stop moving the joystick, hopefully resulting in a better precision.
  Also, moving in the opposite direction while in mid-air works much better now, which makes it easier when you’re stressing to find a good landing spot for your amoeba.
  
• The all-white and all-blue screens are now half the size, which makes it a bit more doable - or less brutal :-)

 

Note that the version of Amoeba Jump that will become available in the AtariAge store (somewhere early 2019) will have two extra features:

• High-score and SaveKey/AtariVox support
• Alternating 2-player mode, introducing Ms. Amoeba (dressed in pink, wearing a bow)

The game-play of both versions is exactly the same; I just wanted to add something extra for the people who buy the game on cartridge.

Please let me know what you think of the game-play and the controls!

Edited October 4, 2018 by Dionoid

[TheHoboInYourRoom]

First impressions:

-Oh my god the title screen is so cute!

-I got really used to the old acceleration curve, so this new one will take some time to feel natural. It's not bad, though. It makes the blue levels significantly easier (for me, anyway).

-It's very satisfying to get the super jump.

 

I'm definitely going to buy a cart of this.

[Dionoid]

First impressions:

-Oh my god the title screen is so cute!

-I got really used to the old acceleration curve, so this new one will take some time to feel natural. It's not bad, though. It makes the blue levels significantly easier (for me, anyway).

-It's very satisfying to get the super jump.

 

I'm definitely going to buy a cart of this.

 

Great to hear you like this final version!

 

About the acceleration curve: I just watched the recorded ZeroPage Homebrew stream where they played my game, and noticed that they sometimes missed platforms because they expected the slowdown to be less abrupt.

Is this what you're experiencing?

 

I'll PM you and send you a version where there is slightly more 'drift' in the Amoeba, so you can feedback me if you like that better.

Like I said, tweaking the controls is certainly something I still can do before the game gets released on cartridge :-)

 

Thanks!!!

[TheHoboInYourRoom]

About the acceleration curve: I just watched the recorded ZeroPage Homebrew stream where they played my game, and noticed that they sometimes missed platforms because they expected the slowdown to be less abrupt.

Is this what you're experiencing?

I don't have a problem with the slowdown. The speedup, though, feels a bit sluggish. It gave me a mental image of wading through water.

[Silvio Mogno]

Thanks for the spring run☺️

Edited October 4, 2018 by Silvio Mogno

[Dionoid]

I don't have a problem with the slowdown. The speedup, though, feels a bit sluggish. It gave me a mental image of wading through water.

 

Ok, thanks for the explanation.

With the current controls I've tried to strike a balance between fast acceleration and the controls not being too sensitive for people. I tested out a lot of different configurations, and IMO this one works out pretty good. You can still jump across 3/4 of the screen with these controls, which is the about the same as the previous version.

 

Anyway, I'll look into the controls tomorrow to see if a small tweak is needed. Otherwise it's probably a matter of getting used to these new controls.

 

Thanks!

[TheHoboInYourRoom]

You can still jump across 3/4 of the screen with these controls, which is the about the same as the previous version.

Yup, I noticed that. The timing is a little different, but yeah the amoeba can certainly bounce far enough.

 

Anyway, I'll look into the controls tomorrow to see if a small tweak is needed. Otherwise it's probably a matter of getting used to these new controls.

Awesome. I should have no problem retraining if need be.

[Dionoid]

Thanks for the spring run☺️

 

Thank you for the suggestion! :-)

[Dionoid]

Really enjoying this!

 

amoeba_jump_NTSC.png

 

Wind might be kind of a fun addition (maybe as an option). To indicate it, you could add little bits of debris blowing across the screen so the player would know the direction and speed.

 

The display kernel of the game has little room to put more visual effects in, but I like the suggestion! Could be a good concept for a new game.

[SS]

I played this new version on my Harmony last night. It took just a minute to get readjusted to the controls but then everything was fine. I kind of liked the comical look of the springs in the earlier but the two different types are a nice addition to the gameplay. I really like the addition of the super-bounce AMOEBA letters. All in all, this seems a good release candidate.

[Dionoid]

 

...

 

Anyway, I'll look into the controls tomorrow to see if a small tweak is needed. Otherwise it's probably a matter of getting used to these new controls.

 

...

 

 

I just uploaded version 1.1 (release candidate #2) of Amoeba Jump where the acceleration curve is almost the same as the original controls, without the downside of being "too sensitive".

Also in the NTSC version, the red spring-buttons are now a bit darker, so hopefully they don't look pink anymore.

 

Thanks to TheHoboInYourRoom for the feedback and testing out my changes!

 

Download the latest version here:

Amoeba Jump v1.1 NTSC.bin

Amoeba Jump v1.1 PAL.bin

[hizzy]

I love the game. Kinda miss the springs, but I like these plungers. This is a must buy for me. Bravo!!