Apshai beta 4.2

[waderain]

Hello everyone, been working on a Apshai for the 2600 game for a few months now. Based off the classic Gateway to Apshai EPYX game. Except for bug fixes, this will be the last beta release, it's basically the game without the final level 40 boss fight. This is the endless dungeon version. Changed a bunch of stuff and fixed a bunch of bugs. Still have a few more bugs to iron out but it is playable. I do plan to release carts for the final version hopefully in the next few months. You can download it from the link or from the attached files. Remember to hit the download button in the top right corner from the link. Thanks for playing!!!!

 

http://bit.ly/Apshai1

 

August 18, 2018 edit: Cleaned up some more code and it's running a little smoother now.

apshai manual.pdf

ApshaiTEST_v4_2.bin

Edited August 19, 2018 by waderain

[MemberAtarian]

Hmmm, the whole game runs in one loop? Because the scanlines are over 262, mostly 272 and the screen jiggers. On the real hardware, that could even make the screen roll a bit. You should only call elements (like the playfield and the kind of sprites, even the actions) only as they are used, so they won't waste the poor circa 2100 cycles that is done by the CPU in one drawning.

If there are really costful actions, like pfread or pfpixel, you can move them to vblank.

 

I had 4 days only optimizing my current project and I had to remove the Waterdrop effect, because I got 266+ cycles as it appeared.

 

To be fair, I was thinking of a port of this game as well, the labirynth and fight part won't be to hard to make, the real deal would be the text, that can be only done is assembly and it is really above my skill levels.

[waderain]

Thanks for the feedback, I am in the process of cleaning up the code and have rewritten a good part of it. I wasn't really trying to make a port of Apshai, just wanted to capture elements of the original game and make a simple dungeon crawler style game on the 2600. All about getting the high score and seeing how far you can get.

 

Writing this game was basically started because someone said I could make an Atari game and I like a challenge. I choose Batari Basic over assembly mainly because assembly is so boring to program in. The original Atari game programmers had a hell of lot more patience that I do.

 

Time is my problem right now. I only have a few hours on the weekend to work on it. All the elements that I want from the game are done, just cleaning it up is what I'm working on now.

 

Thanks again,

[MemberAtarian]

Time is always a problem. I'm working on Fear of the Dark since April I guess. Debugging is very boring and annoying, sometimes you make a mistake but you progressed so much you don't want to load the previous version of your code. I'm learning Python now and I really like that Thonny tells me which line has the error, Batari Basic is more mysterious in that way and of course, a program in BB is much longer than one in Python.

 

By time, you learn a lot and you realise you never get crash with the assembler and you will find your own way to compress the code (I'm really good with music data for example). If I would look at my first game, Plague, I would cry on that coding. It was my first attempt and my first game since 2010, so, it really a garbage in many way.

 

Thanks for the feedback, I am in the process of cleaning up the code and have rewritten a good part of it. I wasn't really trying to make a port of Apshai, just wanted to capture elements of the original game and make a simple dungeon crawler style game on the 2600. All about getting the high score and seeing how far you can get.

 

Writing this game was basically started because someone said I could make an Atari game and I like a challenge. I choose Batari Basic over assembly mainly because assembly is so boring to program in. The original Atari game programmers had a hell of lot more patience that I do.

 

Time is my problem right now. I only have a few hours on the weekend to work on it. All the elements that I want from the game are done, just cleaning it up is what I'm working on now.

 

Thanks again,

[waderain]

Fear of the Dark is a pretty cool game, I remember playing Plague as well. Not a bad platformer. Making games has always just been a hobby for me. I actually like working around the limitations of the 2600. I'll be working on Apshai more on Sunday, will have a new beta version on Monday.

 

My first 2600 game is called Phantoms (or Flicker of light). Kind of the same concept of my Apshai game but your stuck in a dark room and Phantoms come at you but they turn on and off so you don't know where they come from sometimes. If you move they move faster and if you shoot to many times they reset there position. Kind of a cat and mouse game. I got the idea when I was standing in my laundry room and the light started to flicker on and off. My girlfriend said there is a ghost in there, so I made a game of it.

 

you can get it here if you want to check it out

http://bit.ly/Phantoms2600

you don't have to sign up for dropbox and hit the download in the upper right corner.

 

Time is always a problem. I'm working on Fear of the Dark since April I guess. Debugging is very boring and annoying, sometimes you make a mistake but you progressed so much you don't want to load the previous version of your code. I'm learning Python now and I really like that Thonny tells me which line has the error, Batari Basic is more mysterious in that way and of course, a program in BB is much longer than one in Python.

 

By time, you learn a lot and you realise you never get crash with the assembler and you will find your own way to compress the code (I'm really good with music data for example). If I would look at my first game, Plague, I would cry on that coding. It was my first attempt and my first game since 2010, so, it really a garbage in many way.

 

Edited August 18, 2018 by waderain

[MemberAtarian]

I was playing that, I like the single idea. I really love how the bullet rotates around you if you are turning constantly, it can protect you from monsters.

 

For most people, it's just a hobby. You really have to be clever and you also have to make your own cartridges if you want to have profit.

Fear of the Dark is a pretty cool game, I remember playing Plague as well. Not a bad platformer. Making games has always just been a hobby for me. I actually like working around the limitations of the 2600. I'll be working on Apshai more on Sunday, will have a new beta version on Monday.

 

My first 2600 game is called Phantoms (or Flicker of light). Kind of the same concept of my Apshai game but your stuck in a dark room and Phantoms come at you but they turn on and off so you don't know where they come from sometimes. If you move they move faster and if you shoot to many times they reset there position. Kind of a cat and mouse game. I got the idea when I was standing in my laundry room and the light started to flicker on and off. My girlfriend said there is a ghost in there, so I made a game of it.

 

you can get it here if you want to check it out

http://bit.ly/Phantoms2600

you don't have to sign up for dropbox and hit the download in the upper right corner.

 

[waderain]

the rotating bullet was actually a mistake but I liked it. If you play the game for awhile the phantoms move faster and if you get good at rotating the bullet it can make the game last longer. I still want to add sound to this someday, even if it something simple.

 

I really love how the bullet rotates around you if you are turning constantly, it can protect you from monsters.

 

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

Heya waderain! We'll be featuring your game on ZeroPage Homebrew Twitch livestream on the Wednesday August 22, 2018 episode!

 

Looking forward to playing it on the show! :-)

[waderain]

Very cool!! Thanks. I'll make sure you have a good cleaned up version to try out.

 

let me know if you need anything else

 

Thanks again,

Justin Gibson

Heya waderain! We'll be featuring your game on ZeroPage Homebrew Twitch livestream on the Wednesday August 22, 2018 episode!

 

Looking forward to playing it on the show! :-)

[waderain]

Cleaned up some more code tonight and got rid of the screen shake. Seems to run smoother now as well. reposted as version 4.2

Hmmm, the whole game runs in one loop? Because the scanlines are over 262, mostly 272 and the screen jiggers. On the real hardware, that could even make the screen roll a bit. You should only call elements (like the playfield and the kind of sprites, even the actions) only as they are used, so they won't waste the poor circa 2100 cycles that is done by the CPU in one drawning.

If there are really costful actions, like pfread or pfpixel, you can move them to vblank.

 

I had 4 days only optimizing my current project and I had to remove the Waterdrop effect, because I got 266+ cycles as it appeared.

 

To be fair, I was thinking of a port of this game as well, the labirynth and fight part won't be to hard to make, the real deal would be the text, that can be only done is assembly and it is really above my skill levels.

Edited August 19, 2018 by waderain