Demo of my next game for you Colecovision enthusiasts

[Itchy Scratchy]

The sentiment was that you have the Atari 2600 with one button doing everything.

The Colecovision had multiple buttons to stand out from the rest so why not use them.

 

They weren't put there to phone home.

Use the single button approach for the ports if any.

Edited December 16, 2020 by Itchy Scratchy

[youki]

17 hours ago, 5-11under said:

I like the way Missile Domination on the Intellivision works, where you have the option to automatically fire from the closest base.

like that approach too!

 

[doubledown]

Keep in mind, in a variant where say the 1/2/3 keypad buttons were used as the 3 Launch Control buttons...there is an interference issue with the ColecoVision, wherein it cannot cleanly read more than 1 keypad button press at a time.  I'm not sure if the original Missile Command (or your version) allows for more than 1 missile to launch simultaneously (multiple simultaneous button presses), but if so, this would be an issue.  The ColecoVision can read independently, and simultaneously:

 

Left Side Button

Right Side Button

and any 1 of the 3rd or 4th SAC buttons, or any 1 keypad button

 

The idea of using the Left and Right side buttons simultaneously can be problematic, if you accidentally press 1 button slightly before the 2nd is made, then you'll shoot from the wrong base.  In a  game with limited ammunition per round, it could be infuriating.  

 

Personally, I feel that an "automatically shoot from the nearest base (assuming ammo is available)" isn't a bad idea...for children!  ?

[+5-11under]

42 minutes ago, doubledown said:

Personally, I feel that an "automatically shoot from the nearest base (assuming ammo is available)" isn't a bad idea...for children!  ?

/shakes fist

 

I still like the CX-40 and similar 3rd party controllers (such as Slik-Stik) better than pretty much any other controller around.

Personally, I like simplicity in games, so anything that needs more than 1 fire button, for me, rather than a good thing that increases game complexity, instead is often a bad thing that increases the tediousness of a game (for fast action games, at least). That's just me, though. I'm pretty sure I'm in the minority.

 

[doubledown]

I wholeheartedly agree that games which require 0 or 1 button, can be great fun...look at Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, Galaga, Pitfall, Montezuma's Revenge, and countless others.  But there just are going to be those games, that require a little more control...like 3 Launch Control buttons in Missile Command, 4 Weapons Deployment buttons in Spy Hunter, and on, and on, and on.  Personally, I say the more buttons the merrier, but I'm also fine with 0 or 1!  ?  It's a binary world...I'm just livin' in it.  

[LoTonah]

Love it!  Although if you're looking for feedback I'd have to say the only thing its missing is the line that zips up from your bases to where the cursor is.  I don't know why, but that was my favorite feature as a kid.  I could understand why you wouldn't want it (another bunch of lines to calculate might slow things down, I don't know how much slack you have to play with here) but yeah, it would make your version one of the best for any home console.

[AnalogKid]

On 12/24/2020 at 12:41 AM, LoTonah said:

Love it!  Although if you're looking for feedback I'd have to say the only thing its missing is the line that zips up from your bases to where the cursor is.  I don't know why, but that was my favorite feature as a kid.  I could understand why you wouldn't want it (another bunch of lines to calculate might slow things down, I don't know how much slack you have to play with here) but yeah, it would make your version one of the best for any home console.

Yeah it is the one glaring departure from the arcade version.  Only bitmap mode allows you to plot points to construct lines and you loose some capabilities and resolution in doing so.  The missile trails you are seeing are constructed from characters which means I had to do all kinds of craziness to keep the characters from interfering with each other.  This is why the mirv splits aren't nearly as cool as they are in the arcade version.  

[SiLic0ne t0aD]

Very cool! Just saw Willie's video and got the rom here. I'll give this a go! ?

[Swami]

What ever happened to this guy?

[youki]

he bought HE-MAN prototype , he went to bankruptcy.?

 

[Swami]

On 4/8/2021 at 9:07 AM, youki said:

he bought HE-MAN prototype , he went to bankruptcy.?

 

Hopefully it wasn't another of that dudes alt accounts.?

[slydc]

Ahh.....buttox again! Seems i'm always late.....

[AnalogKid]

10 hours ago, slydc said:

Ahh.....buttox again! Seems i'm always late.....

updated link:

 

Missile Command ROM

[+bhall408]

4 minutes ago, AnalogKid said:

updated link:

 

Missile Command ROM

Is that a newer version by chance?

 

[slydc]

14 minutes ago, AnalogKid said:

updated link:

 

Missile Command ROM

Thanks you so much!

[AnalogKid]

22 hours ago, bhall408 said:

Is that a newer version by chance?

 

Yes it is.  I did some optimization and (hopefully) fixed the issue where the game could hang in the really high levels when the action is full-throttle

[Swami]

On 5/18/2021 at 8:06 AM, AnalogKid said:

Yes it is.  I did some optimization and (hopefully) fixed the issue where the game could hang in the really high levels when the action is full-throttle

Hey, you're back! Was wondering if if you'd left.

 

[phattyboombatty]

@AnalogKid This development is phenomenal! It's as if it came from AtariSoft themselves. Thanks a million for sharing your work and the fun!

 

Still trying to figure out how to get my middle base to fire.

[AnalogKid]

22 hours ago, phattyboombatty said:

@AnalogKid This development is phenomenal! It's as if it came from AtariSoft themselves. Thanks a million for sharing your work and the fun!

 

Still trying to figure out how to get my middle base to fire.

Thanks, I'm glad you like it.   Pressing both fire buttons together should launch the missile from the center base. 

[AnalogKid]

On 5/20/2021 at 11:42 PM, Swami said:

Hey, you're back! Was wondering if if you'd left.

 

Yeah, I'm still around, and I haven't stopped coding, things are just slower now that the good weather is here and I'm allowed to have a night-life again.  I was finishing up Infiltrator when I got inspired to write a circus based game because I wanted to code something that has a lot of physics.  I always liked games that had interaction with the environment like elevators, springboards, vines to swing on, etc. and a circus game has a lot of opportunities, with the trapeze, trampolines, high dive tanks, cannons, ladders, etc.  The game has all those playfield elements and your character is a clown who's goal is to grab balloons that are floating upward and returning them to the kids that lost them.  Meanwhile other clowns are impeding your progress by throwing pies and juggling pins at you or just getting in your way while you're climbing ladders, walking the high-wire, swinging on trapeze, etc.  So it's kind of like Popeye but upside down and the player can utilize shortcuts like diving into the high dive tank, being fired out of cannon, etc.

[alekmaul]

On 5/26/2021 at 10:37 PM, AnalogKid said:

Yeah, I'm still around, and I haven't stopped coding, things are just slower now that the good weather is here and I'm allowed to have a night-life again.  I was finishing up Infiltrator when I got inspired to write a circus based game because I wanted to code something that has a lot of physics.  I always liked games that had interaction with the environment like elevators, springboards, vines to swing on, etc. and a circus game has a lot of opportunities, with the trapeze, trampolines, high dive tanks, cannons, ladders, etc.  The game has all those playfield elements and your character is a clown who's goal is to grab balloons that are floating upward and returning them to the kids that lost them.  Meanwhile other clowns are impeding your progress by throwing pies and juggling pins at you or just getting in your way while you're climbing ladders, walking the high-wire, swinging on trapeze, etc.  So it's kind of like Popeye but upside down and the player can utilize shortcuts like diving into the high dive tank, being fired out of cannon, etc.

You know, Circus will be published soon from CollectorVision