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New TI Basic game: City Hunter


tibasic

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Update: new version and manual added 12/06/20

 

I've been working on this game on and off for a few months and would like to finish it soon. The game attempts to use parallax to create some depth perception. I recently figured out what the gameplay will be so I am pretty sure I can finish the game now.

 

The idea is a rather common scenario where you have to rescue people from a city under attack from alien ships. There is a flying saucer that hovers above your ship and takes the odd pot shot at your ship. There is also an alien ship chasing you through the city that also tries its luck.

 

In this demo you can fly around and get an idea of how the alien ship fly around too. That's about it for now.

 

The file is for Classic99 and the keys are EXSD for up, down, left and right. H is to move into the screen (further away from the viewer) and B to move outwards.

cityhunter.gif

 

 

SCRAM1006.zip City_Hunter_manual_version_3.pdf

Edited by tibasic
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  • 2 weeks later...

I've uploaded a new version of the game (see the first post). The game is working and now has some shooting ships and scoring taking place.

 

The game isn't particularly fast but hopefully the complexity will be fun ...

 

The goal is to make 10 successful rescues. This is done by lining your ship up with an occupied window in the yellow building. Press space bar to attempt a rescue.

 

The saucer will home in on your location but there will be plenty of time to evade it by moving your ship closer or further away. The chase ship can be evaded by moving inwards and outwards or up or down. I guess you'll see how it all works when you play it. btw a rescue can only be made when you are near to the 'camera', i.e. the ship is big.

 

It is not finished yet although the next version could very well be the finished version.

 

 

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I managed to do a bit of work on the game over the last week. I haven't uploaded a new version as I mostly compacted some of the code and improved the visuals.

 

I did manage to add the ability to advance through different screens though. I think they'll be 5 levels all together of increasing difficulty and then either the game ends or perhaps the city starts getting slowly destroyed. That might be quite easy to do.

 

First I'd like to add some collision detection between the ship and the buildings which shouldn't take much code. Then if I have enough memory left I can add the other things.

 

Level1.jpg

Level2.jpg

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A quick update:

 

I've added code so now ships are lost if you collide with a building. A couple more things left to do then it'll be finished.

 

After this game is completed I'm planning to move towards writing more simple games like ones found in the 80s book, the Vince Apps Texas Program Book but utilising techniques I've developed for my longer programs.

 

I'm considering compiling a 'book' in electronic form, i.e. a pdf, of all my programs accompanied with a few notes about the different techniques that can be used for coding games in TI Basic. I'd also like to emulate the style and quality of the Vince Apps book in the pdf so it kind of looks like a book with a utilitarian outlook. I've already installed some dot-matrix style font and experimented with the look of the text.

 

The Vince App book can be found on the Internet Archive website if you want to take a look at this beauty. I'd call my book something like, 'Getting the most from the unexpanded TI99'.

 

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I have a working updated version (hopefully) that includes the 5 levels of increasing difficulty. At the moment the program stops after the 5th level. The level colours might be a bit hard on the eyes in the higher levels so I may adjust those. I've attached the latest version to this post.

 

I've had to remove the instructions from the game to fit in some other things. I may include the keys on the title screen and further detailed instructions in a pdf to make the idea of the game clear. I've started on some art work for a documentation pdf which will be kinda fun I think. I'm aiming for a retro/homemade feel to the artwork for now that one might expect on cassettes from the 80s. I've used a combination of 3d modelling and a paint.net effect to create the attached artwork. I'll have to do a little more experimenting with the model and effects to get the artwork I'm happy with.

 

The keys are EXDS for up, down, forwards and backwards. Press space bar to rescue people from the building windows. People from the nearest buildings, i.e. the big yellow building in the 1st level, can only be rescued at the moment. Avoid the flying saucer, chase spacecraft and buildings by using H to move into the screen and B to move outwards.

 

cover.jpg

HUNTER2411.zip

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The game is almost finished. I have a few things on my to do list:

 

1. Centre the screen

2. Reorganise the start of the program so loading the next level is quicker

3. Play with the colours of the title screen and add minimal instructions

4. Test the game

5. Check manual for errors

6. Post finished game and manual

 

While the objective of the game is quite simple it's not obvious how to get started. To hopefully make things clearer I have written a manual for the game.

HUNTER1012.zip City_Hunter_manual_version_1.pdf

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On 10/7/2019 at 5:20 AM, tibasic said:

I've been working on this game on and off for a few months and would like to finish it soon. The game attempts to use parallax to create some depth perception. I recently figured out what the gameplay will be so I am pretty sure I can finish the game now.

 

The idea is a rather common scenario where you have to rescue people from a city under attack from alien ships. There is a flying saucer that hovers above your ship and takes the odd pot shot at your ship. There is also an alien ship chasing you through the city that also tries its luck.

 

In this demo you can fly around and get an idea of how the alien ship fly around too. That's about it for now.

 

The file is for Classic99 and the keys are EXSD for up, down, left and right. H is to move into the screen (further away from the viewer) and B to move outwards.

cityhunter.gif

 

HUNTER2110.zip 4.85 kB · 23 downloads

this post was started on my birthday, hehe!  it's really cool to see the things you're doing in Basic.

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The game is almost finished now. It all seems to be functioning properly now. It probably needs a little fine tuning though as it seems a bit too easy. I've attached the new version of the game here and a new version of the manual (nothing really new in it).

 

Glad to see people are enjoying these adventures in TI Basic I'm cobbling together. ?

 

 

HUNTER2311.zip City_Hunter_manual_version_2.pdf

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Sorry for my noobness, how do I load and play basic games? I tried dragging the file to classic99, just loads up with standard basic (not extended). Tried setting the disk0 to the folder doesn't seem to load anything.

 

*UPDATE* found it -   OLD DSK0.SCRAM1006

 

What does OLD stand for?

 

Thanks.

Edited by eflake
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In BASIC, you have to type "OLD DSK0.SCRAM1006" to load that specific program from disk (it replaces the LOAD command used by most BASIC dialects). Note that you don't need the quotes, and everything after the "." is the name of the program you are trying to load. Note also that DSK numbers may change (DSK1., etc.), depending on what you have set up.

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Don't ask me why, but it always reminds me of this scene.

(To find it, I started watching this movie again, and despite all progress made in computer science since then, it has still an odd power on me...)

colossus.png

 

[from Colossus: The Forbin Project, 1970]

Edited by mizapf
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