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Zoo Keeper (2600, Champ Games)


johnnywc

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17 minutes ago, bhall408 said:

@johnnywc FYI - see my post on your facebook page... Hangs our emulator (Project Argon)... Happy to send you an alpha to try it with...

Hi Brian,

 

Here is my response from our FB page. :)  

 

Zoo Keeper uses a special banking scheme (CDFJ) and needs the ARM chip to execute properly. Does your app support CDFJ bankswitching and does it emulate the ARM chip? This is done in the latest version of Stella and Stellarator. Any ARM enhanced games (Draconian, Mappy, Scramble, Galagon, etc.) would require this. Do any of these games work on your app? Avalanche is a 4K game that does not require the ARM so it makes sense that would work. Other Champ Games that do not require the ARM chip are Lady Bug and Conquest of Mars. Hope that helps!

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19 minutes ago, johnnywc said:

Zoo Keeper uses a special banking scheme (CDFJ) and needs the ARM chip to execute properly. Does your app support CDFJ bankswitching and does it emulate the ARM chip? 

 

Yep. That would be the reason. We're not using Stella as a core, so we'll have to see how much work that is.

 

At the least, we'll want to detect and warn in the meantime. I'll take this offline. Thanks for the quick reply!

 

I do see that 2600.emu on Android will run it (based on Stella 6), so that shows it should possible on the same hardware.

 

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2 hours ago, Dan Iacovelli said:

wow Great update john will be using that for the harmony games tomorrow will be posting the rules tomorrow morning in the AVC online (Club) here on AA

just played on my harmony cart great game, working the rules for harmony games for this round will be posting early morning the round rules.

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Any tips or tricks to the stage where Zeek gets an extra man level? I can jump over the animals for points and when I try and jump over the cage? It makes a noise and I bounce back. I did manage to jump over it once but bounce off most times.

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

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53 minutes ago, Prizrak said:

Any tips or tricks to the stage where Zeek gets an extra man level? I can jump over the animals for points and when I try and jump over the cage? It makes a noise and I bounce back. I did manage to jump over it once but bounce off most times.
 

Hello there!

 

:idea: Like the arcade, you need to jump the cage from a distance so Zeke is high enough to clear it.  If you are too close to the cage when you jump, Zeke will rebound backwards.  It's a bit tricky but practice makes perfect! :cool:  

 

Good luck!

 

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1 hour ago, Prizrak said:

Any tips or tricks to the stage where Zeek gets an extra man level? I can jump over the animals for points and when I try and jump over the cage? It makes a noise and I bounce back. I did manage to jump over it once but bounce off most times.

 

I use the cages on the other levels to line up my jumping-off point.

 

On the lower level, I use the left edge of the top cage to jump. On the upper level, I use the right edge of the lower cage. The trick is, getting to those points.

 

zookeeper_20200214_NTSC.thumb.png.761144dac74f20900372d56497c05ab7.png

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I STILL cannot get past the platform screen!
 
I had/have the same problem but work at it. I expect to jump like Mario or something but it takes a different tactic. I press jump while hitting left or right as opposed to jump and arching that jump in the direction I want. As I play I get frustrated and mumble about those dang coconuts!

Sent from my SM-N960U using Tapatalk

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Watch the monkey. His animation will show the direction that's he's going to throw the next coconut.

 

I jump straight up, then tap the joystick right or left to move onto a nearby platform. I work my way up to the level below the monkey, then just ride platforms back and forth on that and the next level below, until the monkey throws to the right, or takes a break from throwing. Then I go up the left side to rescue Zelda. Short, vertical, controlled jumps work better than long diagonal ones.

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  • 2 weeks later...

@johnnywc - Well, I've been running a little bit behind on Atari stuff recently so I just got the opportunity try this out yesterday. Fantastic work!  I can't say that Zoo Keeper has ever been one of my favorite arcade titles but this feels really at home on the 2600 and good fun.  Once again, I am totally impressed by what you have been able to force this ancient hardware to do.

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On 3/22/2020 at 1:00 PM, SS said:

@johnnywc - Well, I've been running a little bit behind on Atari stuff recently so I just got the opportunity try this out yesterday. Fantastic work!  I can't say that Zoo Keeper has ever been one of my favorite arcade titles but this feels really at home on the 2600 and good fun.  Once again, I am totally impressed by what you have been able to force this ancient hardware to do.

Thank you!  Zoo Keeper was not a game I played "back in the day" (I first played in on MAME a few years ago) and it quickly became one of my 'go to' games, so making a version for the Atari 2600 has been a lot of fun! :)  

5 minutes ago, Funkyspectrum said:

 

ere is my review of the game so far and i must say i am extremely impressed. i really love the original and what champ games have done here is incredible and i will definitely pick up a finished copy when it is ready as i must add this to my collection !

Thanks for the kind words and the excellent review! :D 

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3 minutes ago, Funkyspectrum said:

will there be physical copies of this available mate ? if so then count me in 100% !

Yes! :)  @Nathan Strum has graciously offered to do the artwork for the box/label and manual (in between his 10 or so other projects). ;)  We are hoping for a release sometime at the end of summer 2020.

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  • 2 weeks later...

We'll be featuring Zoo Keeper to try for a high score as part of the 2020 Harmony Games LIVE on tomorrow's (Sunday April 5) ZeroPage Homebrew stream on Twitch at 11AM PT | 2PM ET | 6PM GMT! Hope everyone can watch!


Games:

 

(SET VIDEO TO 1080P60 FOR FULL QUALITY)

 

Edited by ZeroPage Homebrew
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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

I never played this game in arcades, but this is now one of my go-to games.

 

I thought it was like Breakout in reverse at first, but after seeing how the score shoots up after you jump over multiple animals I realized that impression was not totally accurate.

 

Seems that the most effective strategy for survival and points is to try and manage the flow of animals outside of the pen, and to jump, jump, then jump some more. 

 

Very neat game. Can't wait for cart so I can actually save my scores.

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Does the high-score table in ZooKeeper function like that in Robotron? Specifically, for scores over 1M, will the "rank" number disappear? I am not to 1M yet, but with a bit more practice should be able to get there. Again, this may be trickier in the full version, but given how the points awarded for jumps doubles each time you jump over an additional animal, this shouldn't be too hard.

 

Also, I think I noticed a bug: I was on level 1 and there was a net on the outside of the cage, but then an elephant escaped at exactly the spot where the net was located and the net disappeared. Usually, items aren't supposed to disappear like that, right? This was the last item and the level hadn't ended yet.

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