drludos

Thanks for liking the game, and it's unique / weird concept! Regarding ports, I think it may actually be challenging to port it on other handhelds, such as the Game Boy or the Game Gear. It may not be obvious at first, but the game actually uses the Lynx sprite scaling features to generate the ties, allowing to have many loooooong ties on screen without any frame drop :). And it's the only retro handheld I know with such powerful features. To do something similar on a "tile based" 8/16 bits machine, you'll have to use loads of small sprites, possibly exceeding the total number of sprites the machine can handle (40 for the Game Boy, and 64 for the Game Gear). I'm not familiar with Atari 8 bit platforms though, so I don't know if it could be done or not on them . And for modern platform like the Switch, I think you need to be an actual game studio to get a devkit from Nintendo (sadly - it would be cool to be able to make Switch or PS4 homebrews like we can do for retro platforms). But yeah, considering the screen size, I think you could even make a multiplayer version on the Switch, with multiple "tie-o-matic" machines competing for customers!

Thanks a lot Fadest for the info, and thanks Jon MC for the wonderful review! I'm really happy that you all enjoy the game - reading such a great review and your feedbacks here is really a huge boost of morale and motivation to keep making homebrew games! :) @karri: The video is perfect (the format is "stretched" but I guess it's meant to fit your display screen), and thanks a lot for showcasing the game on your PGRE booth! I hope you'll sell plenty of On Duty carts, as the game is very cool and rich content-wise, and feels like it could have been created in the 90's during the commercial life of the Lynx!

Woaw, that's outstanding! Not one, but two great coding competitions in a row - 2019 is really the "year of the Lynx"!

The wonderful @KevinMos3 kindly created not one, but two labels for Growing Ties if you'd like to make your own cart using @karri pcb coupled with @necrocia Lynx cart programmer (https://atarigamer.com/pages/lynx-cart-programmer-pi-hat). Here they are: They both look very cool, thanks again Kevin!

Wonderful, thanks a lot Necrocia for all your hard work on running this competition! I'm downloading the final versions of the games right now, and I'll try to play them all in the upcoming days!

I'm really really glad that you enjoy the game! Thanks again everyone (KevinMos3, Krip316, Karri, Nop90, Fadest, Power, Felyx...) for your help on fixing the Flash Carts issues! Here is a updated build of the game that will work on all the devices. The zip file contains: - A LNX file that will work on emulators and the LynxSD (with saves - see the readme file) - A LYX file that will work on the AGAcart and flashable devices. I've also uploaded the updated build on my website: https://drludos.itch.io/growing-ties GrowingTies.zip

Thanks again everyone (KevinMos3, Krip316, Karri, Nop90, Fadest, Power, Felyx...) for your help on fixing the Flash Carts issues! I did modify the save filename to fit within the 8.3 format as reported by Karri, and I also figured out that you have to use the LNX file on the LynxSD for the save to work! (with the LYX file, it doesn't work even if the save file is on the SD card). Here is a updated build of the game (that should be also the fixed release for the compo deadline! - I'm mailing it to you too Necrocia) in a zip file containing : - A LNX file that will work on emulators and the LynxSD (with save - see the readme file) - A LYX file that will work on the AGAcart and flashable devices. I've also uploaded the updated build on my website: https://drludos.itch.io/growing-ties GrowingTies.zip

Thanks again for the new kinds words, I'm very happy you're enjoying the game! Thanks too for your help to fix the game issues with LynxSD and Agacart. I do use Karri/Nop90 template to have EEPROM and SD save. The EEPROM works fine, but as I don't have a LynxSD I couldn't test the save feature. Based on Fadest and Nop90 feedback, do you know if the LynxSD can refuse to launch a game if it use a "save" feature but that you don't create a save file first? (I remember reading something about this on Xump readme file :)). Because that might be the case here. In my code, I specified "/saves/growingties.sav" for the SD save file, but I didn't know that you also have to create this file on the LynxSD. KevinMos3 is currently kindly doing lots of tests for me on both the Agacart and the LynxSD. I should be able to upload a fixed build shortly that run on both devices. The issue was apparently on the rom format itself (you have to pass the LNX file through ImageConvert as "BLL" and then pad it to 256kb for it to work).

I use Karri's CC65 version and template, so I used his own LNX header file as a template. Here is the content of my current LNX header: ; ; Karri Kaksonen, 2017 ; ; This header contains data for emulators like Handy and Mednafen ; .import __BLOCKSIZE__ .export __EXEHDR__: absolute = 1 ; ------------------------------------------------------------------------ ; EXE header .segment "EXEHDR" .byte 'L','Y','N','X' ; magic .word __BLOCKSIZE__ ; bank 0 page size .word 0 ; bank 1 page size .word 1 ; version number .asciiz "Growing Ties " ; 32 bytes cart name .asciiz "Dr.Ludos " ; 16 bytes manufacturer .byte 0 ; rotation 1=left ; rotation 2=right .byte 0 ; aud bits 1=in use for addressing .byte 65 ; eeprom -> use 1 for the most common eeprom, 64 to use SD Cart saves, 65 for both ; eeprom [2:0] - ; 0 - no eeprom ; 1 - 93c46 16 bit mode (used in Ttris, SIMIS, Alpine Games, ..., MegaPak I at least) ; 2 56 ; 3 - 93c66 16 bit mode ; 4 76 ; 5 - 93c86 16 bit mode ; (remark: size in bits is 2^(value+9) -- (please recheck!) ; eeprom [3-5] - reserved - keep it to 0 for further usage ; eeprom [6] - 0 - real eeprom, 1 - eeprom as a file in /saves/flappy.hi on SD cart ; eeprom [7] - 0 - 16 bit mode, 1 - 8 bit mode .byte 0,0,0 ; spare Do you think there can be an issue here? Thanks for your help!

Thanks everyone for your comments, and I'm glad you're enjoying the game! Thanks for the nice words! Regarding the web emulator, I do use an Emscripten version of Retroarch with Handy core. I don't which one you are using but for this release I used the fork maybe by Toadking: https://toadking.com/retroarch/ It did take quite some time to configure the emulator, but I had previous experience of tweaking retroarch config files, so that helped a lot! ;). If you want to read my config file, it's simply written directly inside the HTML file itself: https://v6p9d9t4.ssl.hwcdn.net/html/1618669/index.html (look at the source of this file, I added many comments to help readability of the parameters I used). But all credits goes to RetroArch and Toadking really, I simply tweaked config files and set up the code to load a rom directly. Hi, thanks for the feedback and very sorry to hear that. Do you have any error message? I did test the game on real hardware, using Karri's PCB carts, and it works perfectly on my Lynx II. One of my beta testers used another cart (custom made with an EPROM chip) and it works on his Lynxes I and II. Maybe the issue for AgaCart / LynxSD is with the code for the EEPROM save (to save highscores), as those cart don't have it. Would you agree to help me solving this issue? If yes, I can PM you a build without the EEPROM code to see if it does boot fine on your Flashcart. Thanks for your help!

I'm very impressed by your entry! It's very fun to play, and the graphics are quite cool (love the mythical cave!). On the more technical side, I wonder how you managed to have so many animated elements moving on screen at 30fps, kudos! Did you use a single Sprite Block Chain for all the elements? Anyway, I'm eager to play the final version, but this preview is really promising.

Mini instructions for Growing Ties Patrons want to get custom ties. You'll have to cut them perfect-sized ones! Press A to grow a tie. Press B to cut it. The tie will fall down, and hopefully reach a patron. Be careful to cut right-sized ties! You'll get 10 points for a perfectly fitting tie, but less points if it's too long or too short. A perfect sized tie matches the height of the patron's shirt exactly. As the levels go along, you'll discover more mechanics explained in the game: combo system, modifying tie colors, limited tie supply, limited time, etc.

Ouch, if I'm the one who posted it too early, I'm very sorry about spoiling it :(. As the game ROMS were all available online on Atari Gamer from the contest page, I thought it was "it" and eagerly tried all the games and posted mine on this forum too. I haven't posted the link any besides this forum, so I'll wait your signal before posting it on Twitter. I had a quick run over all the entries, and I'm very impressed by the quality and variety of them. Congrats everyone on the work done, and good luck for the last steps this week! The Lynx couldn't have wished for a best birthday present!

Hi everyone! To celebrate the 30 years of the Lynx, here is new game I've created for the Atari Lynx 30th birthday Programming Competition hosted by Atari Gamer: Growing Ties. It's game requiring both an excellent eye and a good hand dexterity. Patrons want to get custom ties. You'll have to cut them perfect-sized ones! HOW TO PLAY Press A to grow a tie. Press B to cut it. The tie will fall down, and hopefully reach a patron. Be careful to cut right-sized ties! You'll get 10 points for a perfectly fitting tie, but less points if it's too long or too short. A perfect sized tie matches the height of the patron's shirt exactly. As the levels go along, you'll discover more mechanics explained in the game: combo system, modifying tie colors, limited tie supply, limited time, etc. PLAY IT You can play it online or download the rom from my website. You can also read the detailed entry page of the competition on AtariGamer. This is my first Lynx game, so I'll hope you'll enjoy it! Any feedback is welcome :)!

Now that's what I call a test bench! Congrats on finishing the game, I'm looking forward to play it. Also, as I only own a Lynx II, is it me or the Lynx I screen actually looks better than the unmodified Lynx II one? (there seems to be more vertical tracing on Lynx II than on Lynx I). I always believed the Lynx II was slightly better than the first model...

Woaw, I'm amazed and impressed by the final days progress from everyone! I'm more and more eager to play the games as the time goes on! For the videos, I've tried Karri's method with Mednafen, and it works perfectly - thanks Karri for the tip! Necrocia, as requested I'm attaching a short video clip of the gameplay for my entry Growing Ties with this post. Karri, feel free to use it for your jukebox too! (if you need a different resolution / format, please tel me). @Nop90 I love the new look of 4Titude @LordKraken An atari lynx version of Another World, woaw! You should send it to Eric Chahi growingties_gameplay.mp4

I hope so, because for now the title of my entry is "to be defined" 4Ttude sounds good, but I like Oblique Challenge too.

Thanks again Nop90 for this improved template, it was really really helpful to get me started on my first Lynx game project. While developing, I've just found a tiny bug in the "resetSaveData" function. The bug is located in the "resident.c" file (in the "resident" folder), line 130: for(i=14;i<=64;i++) Should actually be: (the <=64 become a <64) for(i=14;i<64;i++) In the current state, reseting SaveData will nullify one extra byte out of the "saveBuf" array, that may modify any other variable (in my case, it was altering the first color of my main palette, that's how I noticed the issue). It's really nothing dramatic though

Awesome ! I'm glad to see that we reached 10 entries, and thanks a lot for doubling the prize pool! I'm eager to see all the game published online on September 1st!

Thanks you a lot for your help! I've just sent you a PM

Woaw, thanks a lot for the numbers and your test, it's very good to know!

Oh by-the-way, I have another "performance question" related to Suzy: Is it faster to render a small sprite stretched to a larger size by Suzy using the SCB or to render a big sprite directly? For example, if I want to draw a blue fullscreen background, would it be faster for Suzy to draw a 1px*1px blue sprite stretched to 160*102 or to draw directly a 160*102 blue rectangle sprite?

As someone who is trying to make a 60fps game on Handy, I'm glad to read that! I'm quite impressed that the Lynx can draw a 102 sprite chain at 60fps, someone will maybe make a manic shooter game on it someday! Did you make your test with Mednafen too, as it's apparently *faster* than real hardware?

Well, it isn't fixed in the RetroArch 1.7.7 release (the one I used), but I guess it'll be fixed in the next one then. Thanks also A LOT for the EEPROM code in the cart template, it works wonderful and saved me a lot of trouble!

Thanks a lot for this trick! I too was able to confirm that EEPROM save/write now works on my game using RetroArch and your "file hotswap", so thanks a lot for discovering it and taking the time to share it publicly!