+atari2600land Posted March 8, 2021 Share Posted March 8, 2021 I have restarted my Xevious-like game on the Odyssey2. Back when I first started programming this machine, I had this idea. Now that I know much more than I did back then, I decided to go ahead with this game. I have my Odyssey2 SD cart to help with testing it on a real console (O2EM, while helpful, isn't exactly perfect.) Right now I have scrolling and two different enemy types. One thing that is different than Xevious is that you die when you crash into a tree. The blue enemy ship does not shoot at you, but the white one does. I want to have a black enemy ship that follows your horizontal movement and shoots, but that will be saved for a later level. I am imagining an 8k game here, so there will be much MUCH more to do. This is just a little sampling of what I have done so far. Right now, even at this early stage, it's 4k. The two 2k banks are around half filled. xybort10.bin 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+pboland Posted March 9, 2021 Share Posted March 9, 2021 Neat concept! The only top down scrolling game (sort of) I can think of on the OD2 is Alpine Skiing. I haven't tried your wip yet, but I like the concept. Of course there is also "Freedom Fighters", but that's more of a side scroller (sometimes, depending which controller you use). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted March 9, 2021 Author Share Posted March 9, 2021 Added a whole bunch of stuff. Level 1 is still endless, but I want to make it so that if you get a certain score (like 50 or something, I don't know) you'll trigger a boss fight. xybort13.bin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted March 9, 2021 Author Share Posted March 9, 2021 Did a little "cleaning up". Someone discovered my white ship wasn't correct, and I put in an "enemy counter" variable I need to set to trigger a boss fight. But I've been working on this so much I am going to take a few days away from coding this nonstop so I don't get burned out and sick of coding it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted March 12, 2021 Author Share Posted March 12, 2021 Level 2: I must ask: Does Xevious have an ending? Or does it just keep playing the same levels over and over? I can't get past level 1 of it. xybort17.bin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted March 12, 2021 Author Share Posted March 12, 2021 Just watched a YouTube video of a guy getting 400,000 points on Xevious. It's just the same setting over and over again, and there is no boss. So I guess my game will be different in those regards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+pboland Posted March 13, 2021 Share Posted March 13, 2021 15 hours ago, atari2600land said: Just watched a YouTube video of a guy getting 400,000 points on Xevious. It's just the same setting over and over again, and there is no boss. So I guess my game will be different in those regards. Being different is better. That way you are keeping with the OD2 tradition. Similar to an arcade game, but different (i.e. Pick Axe Pete, KC Munchkin, UFO, & Alien Invaders-Plus). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted March 13, 2021 Author Share Posted March 13, 2021 I'm thinking about changing the name of the game. It must be at most 6 letters long, so it fits on the title screen. Any suggestions? Just so I could, I made it so once you pass level 1 it goes to level 2. But for testing, later on I'm going to make it so it starts at level 3 when I'm ready to work on level 3. Since the gameplay is endless, after you get through all my levels, I'm going to make it pick a level at random until you lose all your lives. Life counter now displays at level screen. xybort18.bin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted March 13, 2021 Author Share Posted March 13, 2021 How does the name Zipzap sound? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted March 14, 2021 Author Share Posted March 14, 2021 Robots come after you trying to crash into your ship in level 3. Let me know if this is too difficult. zipzap20.bin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted March 15, 2021 Author Share Posted March 15, 2021 There is now just one robot in level 3. And a ball bouncing around the screen in level 4. zipzap21a.bin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted March 15, 2021 Author Share Posted March 15, 2021 I think level 4 is easier than level 3 so I switched them around. Level 3 is the ball bouncing around the screen and level 4 is the robot trying to get you. zipzap22.bin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bah Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 How I missed this I am not sure. I like it. I will have to put this on a chip and try it on a real o2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikebloke Posted April 6, 2021 Share Posted April 6, 2021 Have to admit I've completely missed this too. I'll try it sometime tonight or tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted April 16, 2021 Author Share Posted April 16, 2021 I got my copy of KTAA in the mail today. It only plays with the right controller and not the left one. Then an idea hit me: Why not make it so my games work with either controller? That way if you have a broken controller you can still play it? So a few hours of programming later I have this. To use the left joystick, press its action button on the title screen, and to use the right one, press its action button on the title screen. Now anyone can play, unless you don't have an Odyssey 2, or have one but both joysticks are broken. But why still have a broken Odyssey 2 if you don't have a working one? zipzap24.bin 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickaxe Brad! Posted April 17, 2021 Share Posted April 17, 2021 I had the same idea. All single player games should do this. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikebloke Posted April 17, 2021 Share Posted April 17, 2021 7 hours ago, atari2600land said: I got my copy of KTAA in the mail today. It only plays with the right controller and not the left one. Then an idea hit me: Why not make it so my games work with either controller? That way if you have a broken controller you can still play it? So a few hours of programming later I have this. To use the left joystick, press its action button on the title screen, and to use the right one, press its action button on the title screen. Now anyone can play, unless you don't have an Odyssey 2, or have one but both joysticks are broken. But why still have a broken Odyssey 2 if you don't have a working one? zipzap24.bin 4 kB · 4 downloads Thanks for this, I've just tried this version. Sleepless night and videopac was sitting at end of bed for two weeks (was supposed to box it back away but couldn't be bothered), so took advantage to test it out. Quite enjoyed playing it, though I've not got past level 3 yet to see the harder level 4 mechanic. The use of either joystick is great and is actually a feature in some videopac games from my memory. This is also particularly good for the videopac because its very easy to pick a joystick up and then find it's the "wrong one" so having either work is a nice feature. Ideas if you have the bytes for it: Shooter enemy, if its low to the screen could it check to see if there is a worthwhile gap to fire before it fires. Only logic for this is it gives a vibrating like effect when it's really close if you miss it and passes you as it reaches the bottom. Really minor thing. Could there be passable terrain for maps which is not collision detected to kill you? Might be an unnecessary effort for the sake of making it more xevious like. Other random idea: ship colour changes based on whether its p1 or p2 controller. However I feel that might just get in the way of colour palettes clashing. Maybe a different ship shape / bullet image? Really random I know, but given you've set the option. On that front, a 2 player option so you can use both ships at the same time. With different graphics this then helps with differentiation too. New loop perhaps having multiple enemies. I feel I'm not super knowledgable on the coding for odyssey2/videopac, so maybe suggesting the impossible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikebloke Posted April 17, 2021 Share Posted April 17, 2021 Managed to complete a loop by finishing level 4. Got a couple of other things: Once I got to the next level and player bullet was still going up - again minor thing, not sure if it should be wiped at level change? I don't think it would normally appear as you only have a moment to refire before level change happens. Wondering if the indestructable "resister shield" from xevious could make an appearance as another potential obstacle that is wider than existing obstacles. Perhaps as a harder option or later loop as an additional difficulty? (same with any other potential 2nd enemy on screen waves?) After the first loop, my score went from 99 back to 0, rather than 100 as expected. That's all I got, thanks for making it, was fun to play. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted April 17, 2021 Author Share Posted April 17, 2021 Thanks for the feedback and bug report. I changed it so the player bullet disappeared when the next level screen was on. And I changed it so it goes to 100 after 99. I'm really surprised you completed a loop, the best I can do is get to level 2. zipzap25.bin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikebloke Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 (edited) 19 hours ago, atari2600land said: Thanks for the feedback and bug report. I changed it so the player bullet disappeared when the next level screen was on. And I changed it so it goes to 100 after 99. I'm really surprised you completed a loop, the best I can do is get to level 2. zipzap25.bin 4 kB · 6 downloads Thanks, tested it out and score now goes over 100 and haven't seen stray bullets in 25. Me and the wife also wondered if level 4 colours need adjusting. The 'black' (appears grey) walking enemy blends a little with the 'brown' background on the TV. It might be less of a problem on emulator with no interlacing. Here's my current high score: Edited April 18, 2021 by Mikebloke Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted April 18, 2021 Author Share Posted April 18, 2021 I made the robot in level 4 light gray and the sky in level 2 a lighter shade of blue. There's 8 colors to choose from in the background palette and 8 colors in the sprite/character palette. zipzap26.bin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pickaxe Brad! Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 (edited) Made it to the level 4 boss (in v25), but a greyman got me. Score 95. Fun game so far. *Update - New high score: 170* Edited April 18, 2021 by Pickaxe Brad! Updated high score. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted April 18, 2021 Author Share Posted April 18, 2021 Perhaps I should make a fifth level if people are going to post insane scores. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted April 18, 2021 Author Share Posted April 18, 2021 Level five is an ocean. The shark will follow you and will not stop following you. Here is a special ROM for you to try the level out. It starts at level 5. Let me know. I made it so now the level ends after 20 shots instead of 25 to fit this level in. zipzap27level5.bin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikebloke Posted April 18, 2021 Share Posted April 18, 2021 5 hours ago, atari2600land said: I made the robot in level 4 light gray and the sky in level 2 a lighter shade of blue. There's 8 colors to choose from in the background palette and 8 colors in the sprite/character palette. zipzap26.bin 4 kB · 1 download 1 hour ago, atari2600land said: Level five is an ocean. The shark will follow you and will not stop following you. Here is a special ROM for you to try the level out. It starts at level 5. Let me know. I made it so now the level ends after 20 shots instead of 25 to fit this level in. zipzap27level5.bin 4 kB · 1 download Thanks! Looks interesting. Will try both versions later tonight/tomorrow morning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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