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Rob 'n' Banks: Weekly Development Log


Ryan Witmer

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  • 2 weeks later...

It's been really hard to find time to work on this lately, and December might not be much better.  I've been trying to get a few things done though.

 

I've decided to take a break from the gameplay stuff and focus on some other issues.  Right now I'm trying to get the score display working.  This is a very different problem from other games I've done because of the screen mode I'm using and how tightly the maze fits on the screen.  Basically, there is no vertical space left for a score, so I have to run it down the side like some Intellivision games I've seen.

 

Right now it looks like this:

 

image.thumb.png.f0b9da00f93eccc467fa72fc813c3e8e.png

 

There are some real complications in making this work, but I have a rough idea of how to do it and I've started sketching out the code necessary.

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16 minutes ago, Ryan Witmer said:

Right now I'm trying to get the score display working.  This is a very different problem from other games I've done because of the screen mode I'm using and how tightly the maze fits on the screen.  Basically, there is no vertical space left for a score, so I have to run it down the side like some Intellivision games I've seen.

The Super System meets the Intellivision.?

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On 11/27/2021 at 12:49 PM, Ryan Witmer said:

It's been really hard to find time to work on this lately, and December might not be much better.  I've been trying to get a few things done though.

 

I've decided to take a break from the gameplay stuff and focus on some other issues.  Right now I'm trying to get the score display working.  This is a very different problem from other games I've done because of the screen mode I'm using and how tightly the maze fits on the screen.  Basically, there is no vertical space left for a score, so I have to run it down the side like some Intellivision games I've seen.

 

Right now it looks like this:

 

image.thumb.png.f0b9da00f93eccc467fa72fc813c3e8e.png

 

There are some real complications in making this work, but I have a rough idea of how to do it and I've started sketching out the code necessary.

The Colecovision version had the same issue and place the scoreboard on the side. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

One of my development computers blew up, and I haven't been able to get much done on any of my projects.  I have parts on the way, should be here by the end of the week, hopefully.

 

I pretty much decided to take the week off from everything, but that didn't stop me from goofing around with the score display a little.  I found a better way to do it, and came up with this:

 

image.thumb.png.562aaf8f427738b8fc1d8215f5fc6136.png

 

This is much easier to deal with than the vertical score idea, and simpler programming is faster programming.

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Here's a little thing I did this morning.

 

image.thumb.png.a787c85328b505e46fdf2caa6d6eabc9.png

 

Got the score display fully tested and functional.  The coins now score points, 20 each just like the arcade.

 

In the arcade game, the score starts at two digits with a double 0, and then expands to the right as you score points.  I wanted to copy this behavior even though it's really a stupid little detail.  It would have been much easier to just put six digits in from the beginning, but no!  I had to do it the right way.

 

Anyway, I really shouldn't do any more work until I get the parts for my new computer, because that's where my source repository is and I need to commit this stuff.

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48 minutes ago, Ryan Witmer said:

In the arcade game, the score starts at two digits with a double 0, and then expands to the right as you score points.  I wanted to copy this behavior even though it's really a stupid little detail.  It would have been much easier to just put six digits in from the beginning, but no!  I had to do it the right way.

Love your attention to detail.?

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Starting to get back into this project now that my home server is repaired.  I got the cash bags in place this morning, poorly drawn by me, but that's life.

 

image.thumb.png.565b7e1c1dc8c4ad793e4e49cc4a57ef.png

 

I spent some time studying the arcade game and figured out the exact triggers for the cash bags and bonus objects to appear.  They're triggered by picking up certain numbers of coins, just like how the bonus fruit in Pacman appears after you eat a certain number of dots.

 

You still can't pick up the bonus objects, and that's probably what I'm going to work on next.

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38 minutes ago, MrFish said:

Here's a money bag I was using for a hack of Xagon. You can use it if you want.

 

moneybag.thumb.png.3632fe5bdb9daa94aafb418d93adaa40.png

 

 

Nicely done!!! :) I love that design. Hey @Ryan Witmer, when is the next playable ROM gonna be out for us to test, it's been quite a while, I hope it'll be soon, this is coming out great!!! ❤️ :)  Love it!!!

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Alright here's some fun stuff.

 

This morning (live on twitch!) I added the ability to pick up the bonus objects.  I also put in the scoring for them, so that's pretty cool.  I added @TIX's sprite for the cash bag too.  The player doesn't do his happy dance when he grabs the cash bag, that should be in the next build I release.  I also need to play with the amount of time the bonus objects stay on the screen.  It seems like they disappear too fast right now, need to play the arcade to see how long they should stay out.

 

So here's a new test build, marked with "Test build, 1/8/2022" 256 bytes from the end of the file.  This build shows the bonus objects at the correct times, and allows you to collect them.

 

I was planning to get started on making the cops move next, but I decided to take a little detour and get the animation system in place for the player.  The cops are going to share this code, so it seems like it would be easier to get that in place now before I start working on the cops.

robnbanks.bin

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I spent this weekend getting @TIX's animations in place.  I had to make some slight modifications here and there, and I can't use the same coloring scheme he used because I only have one sprite to work with, but I got it all working.  Here's a video I made showing it off:

 

 

To sum up what's in the video, Rob now has his walking animations and the happy dance when he picks up a cash bag.

 

Now that the basic animation system is there, I can start working on the cops.  This is going to require quite a lot of planning and thought, so there may not being anything to show for a couple of weeks.

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NICE! We'll wait for the next build, take your time Ryan, it only makes it better, and BTW love the happy dance and the animation of Rob moving, very nice touches. :) 

 

I think that along with Intellidiscs this just might be one of the best and nicest homebrews ever made for the 5200. Proudly Made In Washington. Just like apples are. As a fellow Washingtonian (I have lived full-time here in Port Townsend for 35 years, former native Californian) I can feel proud of the fact that one of our own is contributing to the retro-gaming genre in a way that not many others have.

 

Indeed Phaser Cat Games and also (the now-defunct) Mean Hamster Software have repped the PNW retro-game scene very well. I look forward to perhaps others here in the Northwest joining Ryan and venturing into the retro-gaming industry and developing games for all sorts of vintage game systems.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Alright, so I've been doing some massive code reorganization so I can get the cops working.  This weekend I got everything overhauled and actually got the little buggers animated, although they don't move yet, they just sort of dance in place.

 

I'm hoping to actually have them moving around the maze next week, but we'll see how that goes.  Might be harder than I think.

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On 1/30/2022 at 12:28 PM, Ryan Witmer said:

Alright, so I've been doing some massive code reorganization so I can get the cops working.  This weekend I got everything overhauled and actually got the little buggers animated, although they don't move yet, they just sort of dance in place.

 

I'm hoping to actually have them moving around the maze next week, but we'll see how that goes.  Might be harder than I think.

Hey Ryan,

 

Just wanted to check in on the progress of this soon-to-be hit port. We hope to see another playable ROM in the short future.

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Alright, been working on getting the cops moving.  There's been a lot of prep work for this, but I finally have all the pieces in place and got them running around the maze, but only in the simplest way possible.

 

I'm posting another test build for anyone who wants to see it.  I haven't actually tested this on a real 5200 yet because I've been lazy, but I'm sure it will work.

 

So in this build, the cops will chase you around the maze, but there are a lot of problems.  Here's a short list:

  • The cops start moving immediately, even before the player can.  They're supposed to start moving on a delay, and they don't all start at the same time.
  • The cops move the same speed as the player, this is way too fast.
  • The cops can't actually catch the player yet.
  • They'll follow you out of the bank.  Whoops.
  • They ignore the green gates and the player's doors.
  • Right now they all use the same simple and over-aggressive pursuit algorithm.  I need to come up with different behaviors for each cop.

I also added the "angry state" the cops go into when the player grabs a cash bag, so be sure to check that out.  In the arcade game they all turn blue when this happens.  Due to palette issues, I had to make them red in this version, because they're just so angry.

 

This build is stamped with Cop movement test, 2/13/2022 256 bytes from the end.

robnbanks.bin

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Nicely done, but I can't (yet) shake those cops off like you can the ghosts in Pac-Man, I tired every move I could and yet they seem to not fall for the dekes I try to pull on them, is there some way to make them a little less smart, you already mentioned they move at the same speed as Rob does but hopefully there'll be a way to shake them off as well as lock them behind a red (player) door soon, everything else is great, and also do keep the cops the different colors they are in right now but each one also needs to have their own personality too.

 

Now I don't know the arcade version as I never saw it in an arcade but do each of the cops have their own names as well like the ghosts do in Pac-Man? Maybe one of you guys can answer that one for me. Great job Ryan. :) 

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