My 1st Atari 2600 game (Man Goes Down)

[+Nathan Strum]

I hadn't noticed any such effect from the arrows, and on some levels I wouldn't like it even if I did.

 

Only when you're in the bubble. Sorry, should've made that clearer in my post.

 

  The mushroom seems to protect the player from hunger until the next mango, sometimes with the consequence of reversing the controls.

 

Don't know about hunger, but the reversing controls thing is brutal. I just avoid the 'shrooms.

 

The gold cherries make a high-pitched ding but don't seem to do anything else.

 

They enable the transporter/warp thing. If you miss the gold cherry, you can't warp the next game.

[Atari_Jaguar]

You go straight to the copyright screen at the end.  Maybe just stop the gameplay and show the prizes at the bottom until the fire button pressed .. then the copyright screen .. then a restart.

 

Maybe keep track of the current high score at the bottom too.

 

I thought I saw some arm flapping there .. nice!

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

652473[/snapback]

 

Rob crystalized my thoughts most eloquently.

 

 

 

Currently playing "NBA JAM T.E." for the Atari Jaguar Console.

[supercat]

Only when you're in the bubble. Sorry, should've made that clearer in my post.

 

So they make the bubble less evil?

 

Don't know about hunger, but the reversing controls thing is brutal. I just avoid the 'shrooms.

 

Well, reversing the controls I can deal with if I'm prepared. Depends where the mushroom is when I grab it. But I'll agree sometimes they can be deadly.

 

They enable the transporter/warp thing. If you miss the gold cherry, you can't warp the next game.

 

I don't know that I've ever missed a gold cherry, but I know I often don't reach the cherry and yet still get the warp option. Probably because I have an Atarivox. On the other hand, I haven't found the warp option useful since I never get a skateboard before the Blue Zone.

[Alex H]

Only when you're in the bubble. Sorry, should've made that clearer in my post.

So they make the bubble less evil?

Each down arrow collected adds a very small amount to gravity, irrespective of what other power-ups you have. It's very subtle - you need lots of them before you really feel it, although even a small increase in gravity can make all the difference with the longer platforms. The later levels will be faster and it becomes increasingly difficult to not get pushed off the top of the screen, so extra gravity is worth having.

 

Remember, this is a WIP so lots of things aren't quite perfect yet. I'll adjust things like the amount of gravity added once I do more thorough play testing.

 

Don't know about hunger, but the reversing controls thing is brutal. I just avoid the 'shrooms.

Well, reversing the controls I can deal with if I'm prepared. Depends where the mushroom is when I grab it. But I'll agree sometimes they can be deadly.

The mushrooms give a good/bad trip depending on what colour they are. The bad trip is obvious, the good trip let's you miss fruit without starting back at the cherry plus a points bonus (not sure if that was in the last version I posted).

 

They enable the transporter/warp thing. If you miss the gold cherry, you can't warp the next game.

I don't know that I've ever missed a gold cherry, but I know I often don't reach the cherry and yet still get the warp option. Probably because I have an Atarivox.

At the end of each level is a golden fruit. Collect the gold fruit to enable teleport back to that level. Say you have collected 2 gold fruit, then you will see the teleport at the beginning. Jump through that and you will see a second teleport, etc. The number of opened teleports is stored in the AtariVox - this is basically how I've implemented the level select.

 

On the other hand, I haven't found the warp option useful since I never get a skateboard before the Blue Zone.

The blue zone is the end of the test data - there is nothing (playable) beyond it in this version.

[+Nathan Strum]

I need to re-read my old posts more carefully. Or other peoples' posts. Or something.

 

I did indeed mean that the down arrow power-ups speed your rate of fall. The more you collect, the faster you go.

 

I thought Supercat was referring to using the down arrow key (on a keyboard) while using the bubble power-up. If you hit (press, move, type, whatever) down while in the bubble, you move downward quicker. (That's what I get for using an emulator too much.)

[+uosipa llamxew]

Any news on this project?

 

I fired it up a few days ago and I'm addicted all over again.

[moderntimes99]

Any news on this project?

 

I fired it up a few days ago and I'm addicted all over again.

Sad if it wasn't finished, the last binary seemed almost 99% complete...

 

Regards,

Moderntimes99

[Albert]

I wrote Alex not too long ago to get a status update but haven't heard back yet. I do know that the game is fairly close to being complete and that Alex intends to finish it (I spoke with him earlier in the year). Also, Nathan Srum (who won the label contest) is presently working on a manual for the game.

 

Several people pre-ordered Man Goes Down back in the late summer/early fall and I'm sure they are quite eager to get their hands on the game.

 

..Al

[Big Player]

They wouldn't be the only ones. As soon as this game is in the AA store, I'm buying it.

 

I did see Alex made some posts last week. I thought about bumping this thread. I still play this game.

 

Since there have been a lot of new people to this site since this thread was last posted, do yourself a favor and download the ROM. It is located on post #169. Warning! You will get instantly addicted to this game.

[StanJr]

holy hell yeah. I wrote this game off with HomestarRunner RPG. I thought the FB2 had pretty much killed it. Here's hoping it gets finished soon.

[birdie3]

Can anyone confirm if the game has changed all that much from the way it was a year and a half ago? This game definately has the potential to be one of the best VCS games ever produced!!

[Nubian]

I must say I'm not in favour of a Spike Goes Down binary being release, this is from a collectors point of view.

 

Regards,

 

Daniel.

[Nubian]

Very much looking forward to the release of Man Goes Down too. Sorry about the double post as I haven't been around AtariAge for a while. Apologies.

 

Nubian.

Edited April 1, 2006 by Nubian

[Alex H]

Hi Folks, it's about time I posted an update. Unfortunately I haven't made much progress with MGD over the past year or so. I've had some heath problems to contend with (including a brain haemorrhage - ouch!!!), and it's hard to get back into a project when it's been left so long.

 

Anyhow, the latest binary is here.

 

The level data is still far from complete, I still have more speech to add and other little bits to do here and there. I've put in some title screen music (known bug: music goes crazy when you reset out of the game). And I've updated the scoring system (the number of points scored for each platform passed increases depending on which fruit you're on). I'm sure there were other changes but I can't remember off-hand.

 

Hopefully I'll get this finished sometime soon.

 

Alex

[Big Player]

Thanks for the update Alex. I hope your health is better now.

[+Nathan Strum]

So glad to see you back! I hope you're recovered and doing well. It sounds like a very traumatic experience.

[Cybergoth]

I must say I'm not in favour of a Spike Goes Down binary being release, this is from a collectors point of view.

 

I don't get it

[tenoch]

I have to say that I'm a little addictive to it. It is a great game.

 

thanks for sharing.

 

-h.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

I must say I'm not in favour of a Spike Goes Down binary being release, this is from a collectors point of view.

I don't get it

Neither do I.

[+Nathan Strum]

I must say I'm not in favour of a Spike Goes Down binary being release, this is from a collectors point of view.

I don't get it

Neither do I.

 

I do, but I'm not telling.

 

 

 

Actually, I don't get it either.

[Big Player]

Spike Goes Down is the mini-game hidden in Alex's Vectrex homebrew Protector.

[tenoch]

Love this game. I like how the music changes like it is not playing the same song over and over again.

 

The bubble part at the end is really hard to grab anything, but it seems to work.

Is the screen right after the bubble part the end because the game crashes after it

 

Very cool,nice work

 

-h.

[vdub_bobby]

Spike Goes Down is the mini-game hidden in Alex's Vectrex homebrew Protector.

Linkie: http://www.herbs64.com/pro_sgd.html

[NES Console]

Guys , I just have one question .... what program do you use to make an ATARI game and where can I find it , plus the tutorials ... THANKS YOU SO MUCH !!!

[+kisrael]

Guys , I just have one question .... what program do you use to make an ATARI game and where can I find it , plus the tutorials ... THANKS YOU SO MUCH !!!

Historically you write your program in Assembly Language, so you use an Assembler like DASM.

If you're a beginner at programming you should check out BatariBASIC, there's another forum on this site just dedicated to it ...

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showforum=65