Hustle demo (ColecoVision)

[Bruce Tomlin]

A while back I diassembled the coin-op game Hustle. Well, I've finally gotten around to trying to port it to ColecoVision. The biggest problem is that the Hustle hardware has memory-mapped video, and the Coleco doesn't. So every access to video memory had to be changed to a subroutine call to read or write the VDP memory.

 

Anyhow, I just now got it far enough that the attract mode works.

 

The main things needed to be done are:

* starting the game

* selecting difficulty/options

* joystick input

* sound output (the original hardware only had a single tone generator)

* timing will probably need to be tuned (the original just used delay loops; VBL timing would be better)

 

...and of course stuff related to home vs arcade versions, like the "free game" being pointless without coins

 

hustle_01.bin

Edited November 22, 2006 by Bruce Tomlin

[Cybergoth]

Wow, cool project!

[Bruce Tomlin]

Wow, the joystick bits are in the same order (L D R U) as the Coleco! That means I won't need to scramble the bits around.

 

So anyhow, the original coin-op game was a mere 2260 bytes (2K ROM + 512 byte chargen), with 256 bytes of regular RAM and 1K of video RAM. It used an 8080, which is why I can start with a disassembly. It had a 32x28 screen, compared to the Coleco's 32x24, but there weren't too many places that needed to be changed for screen height, and I also needed to change a few places because I moved the character codes from $00-$3F to $80-$BF.

 

But the code in there could already be mostly playable once I get a start button and joysticks working.

 

Also this might be a good first project for the Sega Genesis. I might even be able to restore the original 28-line screen size.

[Pixelboy]

I didn't try the Hustle arcade game, but isn't it a lot like PkK's "Schlange" game?

[Cybergoth]

I didn't try the Hustle arcade game, but isn't it a lot like PkK's "Schlange" game?

 

Schlange is much more complex. Hustle is probably closer to Tapeworm on the 2600.

 

It's one of the very first Arcades from Sega:

http://www.klov.com/game_detail.php?letter=&game_id=8158

 

They did at least 3 "worm" games based on this Arcade hardware, but AFAIK is Hustle the only one that works for solo players:

http://www.system16.com/hardware.php?id=684

[Bruce Tomlin]

That system16 page has the wrong screen shots for Hustle.

 

Why did I pick it? Because I actually got to play it back in the day. They had one at Schlitterbahn many years ago, and that's the one I played.

Edited November 23, 2006 by Bruce Tomlin

[newcoleco]

I didn't try the Hustle arcade game, but isn't it a lot like PkK's "Schlange" game?

Schlange suggest playing againts computer artificial intelligence, but also againts other players.

Hustle suggest randomize bonus on screen, with or without "???" their value printed.

For me, it's two different games.

 

I remember playing a game written in BASIC for the Vic-20 computer and it was exactly the arcade game Hustle.

 

Daniel

[+5-11under]

Hi Bruce,

 

Looks like a fun game. I'm curious whether you're going to try to mimic the arcade game as much as possible, or whether you're just going to capture the spirit of the game.

 

Also, this game might be a candidate for the 40 column text mode.

 

Thanks,

5-11under

[Bruce Tomlin]

Did you miss the part where I said I'm using the original code which I disassembled? The only major change I'm making is going from 32x28 to 32x24. And taking out the coin-op-specific features.

[+5-11under]

I guess so!

 

Did you miss the part where I said I'm using the original code which I disassembled? The only major change I'm making is going from 32x28 to 32x24. And taking out the coin-op-specific features.

[Bruce Tomlin]

After about an hour of quality time with the ICE, I've debugged the single-player gameplay. Start with the fire button.

 

Yes, this game is flickery as hell. Just try the original on MAME sometime.

 

hustle_02.bin

Edited November 27, 2006 by Bruce Tomlin

[vdub_bobby]

Pretty cool. Primitive, but cool.

[Bruce Tomlin]

The gameplay is relatively fun for a 2K game, but damn that thing flickers. It also doesn't have a very good coin detection algorithm. It just sits in a loop until a coin resets the CPU, and it can't even keep track of extra credits. And there's no high score tracking.

[Cybergoth]

The gameplay is relatively fun for a 2K game, but damn that thing flickers. It also doesn't have a very good coin detection algorithm. It just sits in a loop until a coin resets the CPU, and it can't even keep track of extra credits. And there's no high score tracking.

 

Maybe you can fix those little issues?