ColecoVision WIP: Terra Attack

[joeybastard]

OK, here's version two with some added cannons & towers. This is a big file and not in correct aspect ratio but I wanted to show off a little detail.

 

I played the newer ROM and I think it's pretty good with the crosshairs. The background thump is OK, I guess it doesn't add what I had thought it might. I imagined it a deeper, heart beat type thing. Maybe it speeds slightly as the waves progress. It's probably not worth wasting your time on it though. All in all though I think this game is really good.

Edited March 20, 2007 by joeybastard

[Pixelboy]

OK, here's version two with some added cannons & towers. This is a big file and not in correct aspect ratio but I wanted to show off a little detail.

Looks perfect to me! Great job! :thumbsup:

 

 

I played the newer ROM and I think it's pretty good with the crosshairs. The background thump is OK, I guess it doesn't add what I had thought it might. I imagined it a deeper, heart beat type thing. Maybe it speeds slightly as the waves progress.

Personally, I think some music would have been more immersive and just regular thumps. Something like the suspenseful music in the old Star Trek series (listen to the "danger music" in the Doomsday Machine episode for a good example).

 

 

It's probably not worth wasting your time on it though. All in all though I think this game is really good.

Let's just hope Scott didn't lose his hard disk... All that work gone to waste would be a crying shame...

[vdub_bobby]

OK, here's version two with some added cannons & towers. This is a big file and not in correct aspect ratio but I wanted to show off a little detail.

I think I agree with your original thought: I think it looks a little weird to have a crosshair and the firing turret. The crosshair makes it seem as if it is a 1st person viewpoint, but the turret muddies that up. I'd ditch the crosshair.

[joeybastard]

 

I think I agree with your original thought: I think it looks a little weird to have a crosshair and the firing turret. The crosshair makes it seem as if it is a 1st person viewpoint, but the turret muddies that up. I'd ditch the crosshair.

 

Yeah, I'm kind of on the fence about it. I'll mess around with it a bit more and see what happens.

 

Thanks for the input, always appreciated

[ScottHuggins]

Joe, it's reallllllly nice looking. Those vibrant colors kick butt. Very spacey, very science fiction.

 

Now the melody thing is an interesting idea. I can code up a basic melody if it's not something too complex. It would be cool to come up with a sound that depicts a stressful situation....

 

> Something like the suspenseful music in the old Star Trek

I will search around and find an example of this...thanks.

 

I am taking the pc into a shop at lunch. Keeping fingers crossed.

Edited March 20, 2007 by ScottHuggins

[Pixelboy]

I think I agree with your original thought: I think it looks a little weird to have a crosshair and the firing turret. The crosshair makes it seem as if it is a 1st person viewpoint, but the turret muddies that up. I'd ditch the crosshair.

I thought about it for a minute, and I find myself in disagreement: When you play the game, you control several turrets from a remote point of view. In a way, the box artwork also conveys that same remote point of view. Feel free to remove it if you want, Joe, but I wouldn't.

 

(Keeping fingers crossed............)

[joeybastard]

Any update on the status of Terra Attack?

[ScottHuggins]

Hey Joe!

 

Thanks for asking.

Well, got the PC working - immediately backed up the code!

I've redefined more enemies so each wave is now different. I've got one final (new) bug that I'm trying to fix. You know what sucks? I spent a bunch of time coming up with (your suggestion) a tense background melody but it just gets drowned out with the main gameplay sounds. So, I think that'll get scrapped. It was a good suggestion, but don't think it adds anything to the game experience.

 

I will post a new binary this weekend. With any luck it will be the final (wishful thinkin').

 

Scott

 

Any update on the status of Terra Attack?

Edited April 5, 2007 by ScottHuggins

[joeybastard]

Cool, glad to hear it's moving along. It's a shame the background thing didn't work out. I hope it wasn't too much of a hassle for you.

[Pixelboy]

With the generally shitty week I've been having and my SG-1000 port poll, Terra Attack kinda fell off my radar. I'm glad to see it's almost done.

[ScottHuggins]

Well, here's the latest build of this game. It's in the first post of this thread. I believe all known bugs have been squashed. I've improved some of the sounds, more detail was added to the enemy graphics, and after every boss stage there are newer enemies that come at you (even the main "saucers" are completely different now).

 

In spending the last week fixing the bugs, I managed to optimize the code a bunch. I have saved 640 bytes! So... there's room for more... Any suggestions? Better title screen? More enemies? Sounds? Currently, there is only a one player option...maybe two players?

 

Thanks for any suggestions.

[Pixelboy]

Well, here's the latest build of this game. It's in the first post of this thread. I believe all known bugs have been squashed. I've improved some of the sounds, more detail was added to the enemy graphics, and after every boss stage there are newer enemies that come at you (even the main "saucers" are completely different now).

I'm looking forward to trying it out tonight!

 

In spending the last week fixing the bugs, I managed to optimize the code a bunch. I have saved 640 bytes! So... there's room for more... Any suggestions? Better title screen? More enemies? Sounds? Currently, there is only a one player option...maybe two players?

Honestly, I don't think Terra Attack lends itself well to a two-player mode. And even if a cool two-player mode was devised, implementing it would require months of additional work and new bugs would probably pop up. Haven't you pulled out enough of your hair trying to fix those random graphic glitches?

 

On the other hand, a better title screen would be greatly appreciated, because the one that you have now is rather bland. How about using joeybastard's "Terra Attack" logo (from his WIP box art) for a new spiffyer title screen? If possible, you could even have a simplistic attract mode that would show small paragraphs of text that explain the "back story" of the game.

 

Otherwise, another simple-to-implement feature that would be cool to have is Roller Controller support: Put the RC in "roller mode", and control the active crosshairs with the trackball, use one of the buttons to fire, and the other three buttons to select a turret. Not everyone has a Roller Controller, but those that do could experience Terra Attack in a whole different way...

[ScottHuggins]

I agree about the 2-player mode. Good, it's scrapped...

 

Ok, roller control is a great idea. I would *think* it could be squeezed in the 640 bytes. Lemme research that a bit.

 

The attract mode idea is makes the most sense in terms of being the easiest: [1] it likely won't introduce any new bugs since it's isolated from the actual gameplay, [2] it's not a lot of work... but at the same time, it's just eye candy.

 

Well, here's the latest build of this game. It's in the first post of this thread. I believe all known bugs have been squashed. I've improved some of the sounds, more detail was added to the enemy graphics, and after every boss stage there are newer enemies that come at you (even the main "saucers" are completely different now).

I'm looking forward to trying it out tonight!

 

In spending the last week fixing the bugs, I managed to optimize the code a bunch. I have saved 640 bytes! So... there's room for more... Any suggestions? Better title screen? More enemies? Sounds? Currently, there is only a one player option...maybe two players?

Honestly, I don't think Terra Attack lends itself well to a two-player mode. And even if a cool two-player mode was devised, implementing it would require months of additional work and new bugs would probably pop up. Haven't you pulled out enough of your hair trying to fix those random graphic glitches?

 

On the other hand, a better title screen would be greatly appreciated, because the one that you have now is rather bland. How about using joeybastard's "Terra Attack" logo (from his WIP box art) for a new spiffyer title screen? If possible, you could even have a simplistic attract mode that would show small paragraphs of text that explain the "back story" of the game.

 

Otherwise, another simple-to-implement feature that would be cool to have is Roller Controller support: Put the RC in "roller mode", and control the active crosshairs with the trackball, use one of the buttons to fire, and the other three buttons to select a turret. Not everyone has a Roller Controller, but those that do could experience Terra Attack in a whole different way...

[Pixelboy]

Ok, roller control is a great idea. I would *think* it could be squeezed in the 640 bytes. Lemme research that a bit.

 

The attract mode idea is makes the most sense in terms of being the easiest: [1] it likely won't introduce any new bugs since it's isolated from the actual gameplay, [2] it's not a lot of work... but at the same time, it's just eye candy.

Well, if you end up implementing Roller Controller support, please keep left-handed and right-handed players in mind: Some players might prefer to have the fire button assigned to the far-left button on the RC, while some others might prefer to have it set to the far-right button. The other button assignments (for turret selection) would be adjusted accordingly.

 

You'll also have to calibrate the trackball control so that it doesn't rotate the active turret too fast (or too slow). The idea is to make the player feel at ease with aiming the active turret. Something similar to the fluidity of the trackball control in Missile Command.

[Pixelboy]

Alright, I tested the latest ROM this morning with Meka, and I have a few things to report.

 

First of all, the first saucer wave of each level lasts far too long. I know there's a certain level of aiming skill to acquire in order to reduce ammo wasting to a minimum, but still, I really think you should reduce the number of saucers. As it is now, I have almost no ammo left for the mothership confrontation. Perhaps you could start with fewer saucers and increase the number of saucers with each successive level...?

 

Secondly, I encountered a weird bug: After destroying the mothership once, I lost all my cannons during the second wave of level 2, and after I restarted the game, the saucers were red instead of blue, and the general difficulty curve was such that I felt like I started the game on level 2. Is this normal?

 

Thirdly, are you supposed to be able to stop the little laser shots that enemy ships fire during the second (horizontal) wave? The collision detection between those laser shots and the player's shots is absolutely atrocious! All the enemy needs to do is aim properly, and I'm just about sure to lose my towers and cannons, since I can't intercept those laser shots no matter how hard I try! As it is now it's completely unfair and highly frustrating.

 

Because of the flaws listed above, I can't really get far enough into the game to see everything there is to see...

[ScottHuggins]

1. I wondered if the "saucers" wave was too long. Yea, I can start it off with less hits (it takes 25 now) and then increase it. Agree with that.

 

2. Yep, that a bug...the saucers at wave two are red / yellow and when you die on that wave, it was supposed to "reset" back to blue/yellow when a new game starts. it must not be doing that. Thanks for finding that.

 

3. No way to stop them. Unfair? Hmmm... The idea was to kill the guys moving horizontal before they kill you. You cannot deflect their shots with your shots. That's the way it was intended to be. No collision detection fault there. So do you think this is that big a deterrent?

 

Anyone one else agree with #3 (well, anyone that has tried it?).

 

Thanks for your input...it's highly appreciated whether I agree with it or not... (mostly, you are right htough).

 

 

Alright, I tested the latest ROM this morning with Meka, and I have a few things to report.

 

First of all, the first saucer wave of each level lasts far too long. I know there's a certain level of aiming skill to acquire in order to reduce ammo wasting to a minimum, but still, I really think you should reduce the number of saucers. As it is now, I have almost no ammo left for the mothership confrontation. Perhaps you could start with fewer saucers and increase the number of saucers with each successive level...?

 

Secondly, I encountered a weird bug: After destroying the mothership once, I lost all my cannons during the second wave of level 2, and after I restarted the game, the saucers were red instead of blue, and the general difficulty curve was such that I felt like I started the game on level 2. Is this normal?

 

Thirdly, are you supposed to be able to stop the little laser shots that enemy ships fire during the second (horizontal) wave? The collision detection between those laser shots and the player's shots is absolutely atrocious! All the enemy needs to do is aim properly, and I'm just about sure to lose my towers and cannons, since I can't intercept those laser shots no matter how hard I try! As it is now it's completely unfair and highly frustrating.

 

Because of the flaws listed above, I can't really get far enough into the game to see everything there is to see...

[ScottHuggins]

Ok, just thought about something... How's about a sheild? One shield per "wave". For example, if you are on the Saucer wave, if you hit right controller button, then the shield comes over the active cannon for 5 seconds and thwarts anything that hits it...and then goes away. No more shields 'till the next wave.

 

See attached image. I could make the shield 'radiate' through the colour set for extra affect. I have some pretty good sounds effects for the "shield sound".

Edited April 28, 2007 by ScottHuggins

[Pixelboy]

Ok, just thought about something... How's about a sheild? One shield per "wave". For example, if you are on the Saucer wave, if you hit right controller button, then the shield comes over the active cannon for 5 seconds and thwarts anything that hits it...and then goes away. No more shields 'till the next wave.

 

See attached image. I could make the shield 'radiate' through the colour set for extra affect. I have some pretty good sounds effects for the "shield sound".

That's a very good idea, but activating it with the right trigger button means you can only protect the active turret. How about pressing 1, 2 or 3 on the keypad instead? That way, you can save a turret without having to switch control to it. After all, while you have control over a turret, you can just shoot to defend yourself. While we're at it, you could assign one shield per level to each turret, and re-energize all three shields each time the mothership is destroyed. That would definately improve the player's odds of survival. With such a setup, you could even forget about coding the collision detection between the player shots and the small laser shots. The player could just use the shields instead, which mean that experienced players will save the shields for the second wave of each level, because that's when the shields will be the most useful.

 

Very good idea, Scott!

[ScottHuggins]

Ok, fixed that bug with the saucer staying red when uou start a new game after you have played game in which you made it to level 2.

 

Also, I liked your idea of using the keypad (1, 2, or 3) to activate a shield over a tower. It's been implemented (first post has latest build). Here's the one caveat. With the 4 new characters it took to define the shield, the color table addition and the shield sounds effect...I'm now down to 4 bytes remaining.. so this is IT.

 

Also, the one caveat... you can only have ONE shield on at a time. In other words... if you hit 1 and then immediately hit 2, nothing will happen to cannon #2. That would require more logic and I'm not of rom space.

 

You have one shield per cannon, per wave. At the beginning of each wave, the shields get regened. A wave is one of the four sequences of enemies that come at you before the FINAL boss comes at you.

[joeybastard]

Finally got chance to try this new version. It's good. I have to admit, I think the shield is unnecessary as I was OK with the old version. Maybe I'll get more used to it as I play it more.

 

Looking forward to playing this on a real CV some day

[Troy_Whelan]

Scott,

 

Sorry I haven't responded sooner...I have been intending to spend some time with this, but constantly get pulled in other directions. Fortunately it seems that you are getting quite a bit of good feedback anyway. Maybe my life will calm down a bit by the time the next game comes around.

 

Troy

[joeybastard]

I'm starting to lay out the design for the box/manual/labels but I want to take a quick poll.

 

Take a look at the picture I posted earlier in this thread. I'm on the fence about keeping the crosshairs in the picture since one of the cannons is firing. Even though, within the context of this game that could be the situation, it just looks a little weird to me.

 

So keep the crosshairs or get rid of them?

 

(I'm not guaranteeing I'm going to take the advice of the majority but I want to consider it)

[Pixelboy]

I'm starting to lay out the design for the box/manual/labels but I want to take a quick poll.

 

Take a look at the picture I posted earlier in this thread. I'm on the fence about keeping the crosshairs in the picture since one of the cannons is firing. Even though, within the context of this game that could be the situation, it just looks a little weird to me.

 

So keep the crosshairs or get rid of them?

 

(I'm not guaranteeing I'm going to take the advice of the majority but I want to consider it)

You know my opinion on this issue: Keep the crosshairs.

 

Aside from the whole deal about how much sense it makes to include them or not, the crosshairs just look cool.

[vdub_bobby]

I say get rid of them; it just looks odd to me.

[joeybastard]

Yeah, I knew how you guys felt already, you effectively negate each other

 

Here's hoping some other folks chime in...