Mr. Do - Graphical Improvements

[+MrFish]

One of my top 5 Atari games. A nearly perfect arcade port, with great attention to detail. I never thought it needed much polishing;

but now that I've had a bit of a closer look, I can see there are plenty of things that can be done to make it an even better port.

 

A great example of using character-based softsprites; one of the best from BITD, I'd say. There are a few minor slowdowns when

the action gets heavy; but Tim Ferris did a remarkable job.

 

-----------------------------------------------

 

For starters, I wanted to get rid of that 1st level background pattern. The black that was in it caused interference with the stems on

the cherries, and wouldn't help the cherries I've designed here either. So then, of course, I've changed the apples and cherries;

getting them closer to the arcade graphics.

 

This hack will take a while, as there are a lot of animations and other graphics to work on. Plus I'll be adding some title/marquee

and possibly other splash graphics.

 

I haven't decided what I want to do with the hi-res font lines yet. Obviously these aren't so great for PAL; but at least the upper ones

(artifacted graphics) have some meaning to what's going on in the game. They could be switched to Antic 4, which would solve the

problem.

 

I'll start posting binaries once some significant changes have been made.

 

 

Edited December 20, 2018 by MrFish

[Goochman]

This was a port that was done right - I stumbled across Mr Do on MAME and when I played the 8bit version I couldnt believe how close to the arcade was - this simply wasnt done back when Mr Do came out. Interesting to see how you can make a great port even better.

[+MrFish]

I never really played Do back in the arcade days. I remember watching people play it, and I probably played a game or two at times. But recent years (since 2005) was really my introduction, and that on the Ataris. Since I love Dig Dug, Do is just Dig Dug on steroids. It's one of the few games that enticed me to play in the high score club once. I got second place, but I guess Fandal is a pro; although he's playing at PAL speed, which would make a difference; and I never tried that.

 

Mr. Do! (High Score Club)

Edited December 21, 2018 by MrFish

[TheNameOfTheGame]

Wow already looking much better!

[+MrFish]

Here's something a lot of people might not be aware of in Mr. Do!

 

When you start each level, the initial path that's carved is in the shape of the level #.

 

It becomes more apparent when zoomed out.

 

 

The first level is a "D" for "Do".

 

This is from the arcade version, but the Atari version follows it also.

Edited December 21, 2018 by MrFish

[Goochman]

Thats funny - I never realized that in all the hours Ive spent playing the game

[+MrFish]

I'd never noticed before either, until about 5 years ago when I saw those thumbnails on the Wiki. Interestingly,

I didn't read it on the Wiki, and I don't see where they mention it anywhere either (although I haven't combed

through the Wiki completely). It must be mentioned on some websites out there; as I'm sure I'm not the first

one to notice it.

Edited December 21, 2018 by MrFish

[_The Doctor__]

You guys are pulling my leg... right?

[a8isa1]

Doh! I never noticed but it's less obvious on the A8 version and I didn't like the arcade version. The shrill sounds were off putting. And now with my 60 yr-old (almost) reflexes I don't like the frenetic pace of that version.

 

I'm very comfortable with the more "tactical" pace of the A8 version.

 

-a8isa1

[+davidcalgary29]

You guys are pulling my leg... right?

I knew that watching all those “pinball number count” segments on Sesame Street in the ‘70s would come in handy one day...

[+MrFish]

The A8 version is a little easier than the arcade. It feels a little less cramped than the arcade too; maybe a lower sprite size to playfield ratio.

The diggers guys (whatever they call them) are a more active on the arcade version (at least in the early levels), which makes a big difference.

And then the dynamics are somewhat different, having a wide playfield as opposed to a tall one. I like both versions though; it's just a fine game.

[_The Doctor__]

I love the DO! It really enjoy the Atari version, It's one I come back to time after time. It should be interesting to see it graphically tweaked to be even more arcade like. I had no complaints, and that's what makes it a tough bit of work to improve on.

[+MrFish]

Mr. Do! (the clown) is at least as cool as (spaceman?) Dig Dug.The enemies in Do! are maybe not as memorable as Pooka and Fygar,

but the gameplay in Do! more than makes up for any lack of cuteness in the enemies; and the cool bonus system gives you an "EXTRA"

goal to achieve, above points totals and conquering levels.

[+MrFish]

A little good news is that Do! himself is made of P/M's. I thought he might be playfield, since he was using the same colors.

So, they decided to make him the same red as the playfield, which I think is a mistake. The same thing was done in the

original version of Donkey Kong, with jumpman (mario). If his color is at least slightly different, it will help make him stand

out and add color to the whole display.

 

They chose (for NTSC) what I like to call the ketchup or tomato paste red, as opposed to the more fire engine red. I'm

thinking they chose that because it allows PAL machines to have the more fire engine red. It's kind of a lazy method of

accommodating PAL and NTSC, since there are a number of variations for each color (i.e. several greens, several blues,

etc.), and they can get them both in the same ballpark by shifting a color here and there.

 

That being the case, I may just end up doing a separate version for NTSC and PAL.

 

Here's Do! in fire engine red and maroon. The maroon is kind of nice, because it lets him stand out more when the blue

guys start marching and the screen goes red. It's also possible to use a more non-standard color for him; but I'd like to at

least stay near to the arcade.

 

These shots also show some of the font changes I've done so far, and how they look with artifacting set to how it is on my

800XL.

 

 

Red Do!

 

 

 

Maroon Do!

 

 

Edited December 22, 2018 by MrFish

[+CyranoJ]

This is one of the best games on the a8 - thank you for doing this

[+MrFish]

The same thing was done in the original version of Donkey Kong, with jumpman (mario).

 

I should clarify here: I'm talking about the original Atari version of Donkey Kong. But I'd forgotten that I found out it wasn't

as bad as I initially thought. My initial impressions were coming from emulation (I didn't have this game BITD), before I

started using real hardware after returning to using the 8-bits here in the 21st century.

 

So, they actually did do what I'm talking about here, which is give jumpman (mario) the fire engine red, while making the

playfield use the ketchup red. I didn't find out until I played it on real hardware, and later when I used emulators with better

NTSC color palettes (Altirra). So they had the right idea, but they did use a blue that was closer to the playfield blue than

what they could have. That would have given jumpman (mario) a little better distinction from his surroundings. [Note: the

yellow on mario was playfield, so no way of getting around that with the given constraints.]

[Goochman]

I like Red Do!

[+MrFish]

I like Red Do!

 

That's what I've been going with so far...

[Pengwin]

This is one of the best games on the a8 - thank you for doing this

 

 

Totally agree with you here. I think I put more hours into this than any other game.

[Kyle22]

@Fish, it's nice that you are 'Do'ing this.

 

 

Merry Christmas to All!

[+MrFish]

Here's something a lot of people might not be aware of in Mr. Do!

 

When you start each level, the initial path that's carved is in the shape of the level #.

 

It becomes more apparent when zoomed out.

 

do levels.png

 

The first level is a "D" for "Do".

 

This is from the arcade version, but the Atari version follows it also.

 

Here's what all the Atari levels for Do! look like zoomed out.

 

Pretty close to the arcade for carving out the level #'s, aside from being a little squished vertically.

 

[Lost Dragon]

Wowza.

 

An all time A8 favourite of mine,now soon to be even better?

 

Your doing the community a huge favour with this.

 

Simply love it B-)

[TIX]

Great job MrFish ! Cant wait for a work in progress download !

 

What tool are you using to edit character-based soft-sprites ?

[AtariLeaf]

I absolutely love the 8-bit version and these little improvements make it even better.

 

Now if someone can remake a homebrew version on the 2600 to replace the original abomination I'd be forever in their debt.

[Mclaneinc]

Love the work MrFish, as always top stuff but what has floored me more is the revelation (to me) about the map numbers..

 

Me and a mate LOVE MrDo, he plays it constantly and got the who strategy down to a T but when I said about the level numbers being part of the map he was as blind as I was

 

Can't believe I never noticed something so right in my face...

 

D'oh!!