Cannonfire-cart release survey

[+SpiceWare]

Figured out where the screen scroll-up glitch occurred. Also found an optimization glitch where the game didn't work correctly for multiple players. Both routines are currently the original routines.

 

Made the lava "pulse"

 

Changed the ground color to $F0

 

Changed the fireball color routine - the colors now cycle when the cannon shoots.

 

At the moment there's 30 bytes free. I'll need to free up some more space before I can look into bubbling lava.

cf20070428.bin

source.zip

Edited April 29, 2007 by SpiceWare

[Math You]

I'm wondering which color to keep, I kind'a like the yellow lava better. Any thoughts from anyone?

 

Click on the samples to watch full animation

-------------------------------

 

It's looking really good. I think I prefer the animation on the right. Looks a bit more lava-ry and orange to me:D

Edited April 29, 2007 by MRB

[espire8]

I refered to some photos to compare how lava colors actually appear.

Looks like someone got too close to the scene.

 

The exposed surface and extremities, while cooling down, look a darker orangy-red and the hotter parts just glow a bright yellow.

I even found one with some purple in it (the one with the spaceman gear).

Edited April 29, 2007 by espire8

[+SpiceWare]

Do you have your heart set on it staying 4K? If we change it to be 8K then lava and other enhancements would be no problem.

 

Also started work on my next game - check my blog.

[espire8]

Do you have your heart set on it staying 4K? If we change it to be 8K then lava and other enhancements would be no problem.

 

Oh, I remember Nukey turning a 4k adventure into an 8k game. If it's easily possible, sure why not.

Obviously I can't take credit for all that you and Nukey have done with this hack so far, so I changed the credit screen to reflect that.

 

How do this one look?

 

Also started work on my next game - check my blog.

:!: Your next game?... cool, i'll check your blog to have a peek!

[Impaler_26]

I really like this hack! Nice idea, fun to play and the graphics are excellent!

 

IMO it would be even better if you change the music, maybe some kind of "medieval" tune would fit the game theme better.

 

It would also be nice if you change the sound effects and the scoring to make it more different from Eggomania.

[espire8]

I really like this hack! Nice idea, fun to play and the graphics are excellent!

 

IMO it would be even better if you change the music, maybe some kind of "medieval" tune would fit the game theme better.

 

It would also be nice if you change the sound effects and the scoring to make it more different from Eggomania.

Thanks for the thought Impaler. I too am in hope of seeing the changes you mentioned. Changing the scoring is a great idea, I always thought the set 100 point award for hitting the dragon is kind'a low as compared to the max of 50 points for each fireball catch in level 10 (that level is hard to reach but I like it like that, keeps me coming back ).

 

Here's the original score chart in eggomania and changes i'd like to see below.

 

___________________________________________________

 

Level....# of fireballs....dragon speed....points per catch

-1-...............- 20 -..............- slow -................- 1 point-

-2-...............- 40 -..............- slow -................- 2 points-

-3-...............- 60 -..............- slow -................- 4 points-

-4-...............- 40 -..............- med -.................- 8 points-

-5-...............- 80 -..............- med -................- 16 points-

-6-...............- 60 -..............- fast -.................- 32 points-

-7-...............- 80 -..............- fast -.................- 64 points-

-8-...............- 80 -..............- faster -..............- 128 points-

-9-...............- 80- ..............- fastest -............- 256 points-

-10-.............- 80 -..............- mania -..............- 512 points-

 

1000 points for shooting the dragon.

______________________________________________

The only sound effects I find are the egg slpattering sound when they're catched and the whooshing when fired and hitting it's target. Unless I'm mistaken, I think tweaking the sound and altering the scoring should'nt cost any memory if it's just a matter of changing the values in the exsisting code? I'd like to hear a loud explosion sound the moment the dragon is hit!

 

I doubt I can make these changes myself, looking at the assembly I don't even know where start. And the bit hacker tool can only do so much unfortunately. I'll just have to wait and see if someone who can will pick up on this one. In the meantime, what are your thoughts? Spice, Nukey or anyone who's ever played and enjoyed eggomaina say of the new score table idea?

[Impaler_26]

Thanks for the thought Impaler. I too am in hope of seeing the changes you mentioned. Changing the scoring is a great idea, I always thought the set 100 point award for hitting the dragon is kind'a low as compared to the max of 50 points for each fireball catch in level 10 (that level is hard to reach but I like it like that, keeps me coming back ).

 

Here's the original score chart in eggomania and changes i'd like to see below.

 

___________________________________________________

 

Level....# of fireballs....dragon speed....points per catch

-1-...............- 20 -..............- slow -................- 1 point-

-2-...............- 40 -..............- slow -................- 2 points-

-3-...............- 60 -..............- slow -................- 4 points-

-4-...............- 40 -..............- med -.................- 8 points-

-5-...............- 80 -..............- med -................- 16 points-

-6-...............- 60 -..............- fast -.................- 32 points-

-7-...............- 80 -..............- fast -.................- 64 points-

-8-...............- 80 -..............- faster -..............- 128 points-

-9-...............- 80- ..............- fastest -............- 256 points-

-10-.............- 80 -..............- mania -..............- 512 points-

 

1000 points for shooting the dragon.

______________________________________________

 

The only sound effects I find are the egg slpattering sound when they're catched and the whooshing when fired and hitting it's target. Unless I'm mistaken, I think tweaking the sound and altering the scoring should'nt cost any memory if it's just a matter of changing the values in the exsisting code? I'd like to hear a loud explosion sound the moment the dragon is hit!

 

I doubt I can make these changes myself, looking at the assembly I don't even know where start. And the bit hacker tool can only do so much unfortunately. I'll just have to wait and see if someone who can will pick up on this one. In the meantime, what are your thoughts? Spice, Nukey or anyone who's ever played and enjoyed eggomaina say of the new score table idea?

 

I like your new score table, less points in the early rounds and more in the later ones would be very motivating!

I hope you find someone who can help you with applying those changes, it would be the icing on the cake for this already great hack! IMO it's one of the few hacks worth buying on cartridge!

 

Sadly i just made my first trys with bB and don't know anything about asm-programming so i won't be able to help you and bit hacker or hack-o-matic aren't really helpful for changing sounds...

 

But hacks like Rob Kudla's "Pac26" show that it isn't impossible

[espire8]

I like your new score table, less points in the early rounds and more in the later ones would be very motivating!

Thanks. I figure since the fireballs in the early stages are very easy, I'd like to start it at 1 point each and simply double it's value with every next stage. The big points in the early stages are for shooting the dragon "carnival style" and to miss that 1000 pts bonus would make it harder to catch up to another player who already has. So in the begining of the game -it would be important to hit the dragon every time to get a high score. Eventualy the fireballs will earn you more, alot more points than the dragon once you get to the faster stages and rack up really big points if you can last that long.

 

In other news - here's a different number for the in-game music Popcorn.mp3by kjmann. I think it would fit in great. Just thought I'd share to hear what other's think of it.

[Math You]

I remember this tune Sounds good! Does Cannonfire use joysticks or paddles ?

[espire8]

I remember this tune Sounds good! Does Cannonfire use joysticks or paddles ?

It's a paddle game for up to 4 players, a hack of Eggomania to be exact.

 

If you use the stella emulator, you can set up the paddle control but only while the game is running. It's a one time set up, so when you're there, press the [Tab] key on your keyboard to open an onscreen menu.

Next, select >[Game Properties] and a second menu appears.

Click on the [Controller] tab and a menu for both left and right controller appears with joystick already set as the default.

Click on [joystick] to open the drop-down and select >[paddle] for both controller ports then click the [OK] button and close the menu with [Exit Menu] button.

Finaly, you'll need to reload the rom to activate the new control setting just this one time and then you can control the cannon with your mouse for that particular game every time you boot!

Edited June 23, 2007 by espire8

[espire8]

Here's a cool cart label that was done by Longhorn I wanted to share here.

It's a very neat concept that's quite close to what I had in mind! I especialy like the use of the game graphics as the artwork, even the lava is present! This is definatly an encourgment to have the lava in the actual game.

Thanks Longhorn!

 

[mimo]

looking good

[Longhorn Engineer]

Hey espire8 I cleaned up the image a bit and made an end label. To bad I don't know anything about coding so I could be more useful in helping this hack see a cart release (nudge).

[Math You]

If they ever make a paddle version of the Flashback console, I hope that cannonfire and medievel mayhem are on it I'm sure Atari will pay a very good price for them

Edited June 25, 2007 by MRB

[espire8]

I've decided to start a poll in this tread to take a chance to see where the public interest is in preparation of a cart release for CF.

Please look at the poll and take time to answer as the results will shape how I plan to make this release happen based on the feedback there. There's still plenty that can be done with CF before finalizing a version but there's been no real progress the past couple of months and everything's been slow lately because of the summer weather -so I may as well take a break too and relax a bit, lay low for a couple weeks, enjoy some free time and then return to see how the poll turned out.

 

So after tonight I won't be around for a couple of weeks and won't be seen in the forums as often but I'll be back and hopfully things will start to pick up from there.

 

Don't forget to place your votes for the CF cart release!

I also posted a new thread for a hack I was working on called Blue Jay's Move, for all of you to look at while I'm away. Hope you enjoy it!

 

Till then!

 

-David

 

 

 

3511 views since this post

Edited July 16, 2007 by espire8

[Impaler_26]

I think the best and easiest way would be to sell this through the AA-Store.

[espire8]

Well I'm back and happy to report that the CF to cart project is going to be a greenlight.

 

As most are in favor of a boxed version, I will go that direction. I were thinking the magic number would be 25 carts but based on the # of votes so far, I will make 15 copies which is perhaps better for me as I will be producing the boxes myself. The box will have artwork made exclusively by me as well as the full-color manual and label design. I have'nt started yet but should have something ready in a couple weeks and I will keep the poll open for more votes until then.

 

I think the best and easiest way would be to sell this through the AA-Store.

True, but this is not a homebrew. I originaly were just making a few carts for myself and as a gift for a few others, but since Darrell was kind enough to lend his assistance on the enchancements, I figured it would be worthwhile to produce a limited number for those in the community intrersted in a copy; thus- I introduced the poll.

 

The specs so far look like this: A boxed enchanced 8k version limited to 15 copies at the $35-39 price range. This is not the final specs and can change later as the poll is still open for more votes and the game enchancements are not fully there yet. But following the week after I post a pic of the box art and label, the total # number of boxed carts produced will be decided and any who prefer loose will be concidered from there.

[Impaler_26]

I think the best and easiest way would be to sell this through the AA-Store.

True, but this is not a homebrew. I originaly were just making a few carts for myself and as a gift for a few others, but since Darrell was kind enough to lend his assistance on the enchancements, I figured it would be worthwhile to produce a limited number for those in the community intrersted in a copy; thus- I introduced the poll.

Yep, it ain't no homebrew but the AA-Store also sells hacks (though only 3 for the 2600 at the moment).I just thought it would be nice to have it available for everyone who wants one all the time.

But i also like the idea of a boxed limited edition so maybe after that sold out you could sell a "standard edition" with cart + manual only through the store?

Anyway, that's just my opinion and i'm looking forward to the final version no matter how and where it will be sold!

[+SpiceWare]

Just an update - my original plan of attack to converting CF to 8K was to move the display kernel routines to the 2nd bank. After much frustration, I've scrapped what I've done so far and restarted. I'm now moving the over scan & vertical blank code to bank 2 and it's been going much smoother so far.

[+SpiceWare]

bubbling lava.

 

The lava graphics are just a placeholder.

cf20070923.bin

Edited September 24, 2007 by SpiceWare

[espire8]

Wow! This is getting to shape up nicely!

 

I was play testing it and allowing the lava to rise purposely just to see the lava effect in action when suddenly an idea came to mind about having the game start with the lava already risen to the point near the cannon's rim that the next fieball miss will definately end your game.

I think this is a great way to begin the 1st level since it starts out easy and slow, -so basicaly you need to focus on shooting the dragon in the earlier part of the game to bring the lava back down as much as you can before reaching the much faster levels. You see, now to 'miss' hitting the dragon will result in less chance of survival as well as missing the bonus points! It gives the element of a "get out of that quick-sand trap" situation.

Any comments on this if it sound like a good or bad idea to you?

[+SpiceWare]

Updated the lava to 8 frames of animation, added the orange lava color

cf20070929.bin

[espire8]

Neat! I downloaded the bin from your blog.

The 8 frames will let me experiment with more varied bubble animations, however, the color combination of the lava/bubbles presently look too pastel to me. It's the lightest lava hue that's pinkish in color that bothers me alot.

Try using orange $20 thru $2E for the plusing lava and orange $28 for the bubbles.

 

Also, presently the bubble animation ends at the same line as the lava -giving a flat look. so is it possible to have the bubble animation about 6 pixels above the lava's horizon line level to give it that foreshortening effect? You know, like the lava in joust? Where the bubbles pop and some specks of it fly up slighty above the lava's horizon level? (see pics). The left pic is a gif with slower animation -click on it to watch.

 

Btw- Can you also have the game start with the lava already risen just beolw the cannon's rim for testing purposes while I work on the new bubble animations? I'm also thinking this to be a possible game feature as I mentioned earlier.

Edited September 30, 2007 by espire8

[+SpiceWare]

Planned to look into that next.

 

I think I'll have to invert the graphics though - currently the bubbles are holes in the playfield. For them to stand out they'll need to be the playfield. There's also the possibility that I'll be limited to only updated 1 or 2 of the playfield bytes.

 

I'll post something tomorrow with the lava already risen.