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5200 Homebrew Asteroids clone: Rasteroids


tjb

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I wanted to gauge the level of interest for an Asteroids clone for the 5200. I've been working on one for some time now. I originally wrote it for the Atari 8-bit computer line and in late December ported it to the 5200. I'm hoping to release a public beta soon. For now I wanted to release a couple of videos showing the game running in Atari 800Win+. Thanks to the extra buttons and keypad on the 5200 the player has the ability to invoke hyperspace, shield, and flip at any time. Additionally, while I don't allow the player to fire while the shield is up, you can thrust and maneuver. Currently I'm working on allowing the alien ship to fire guided missiles at certain points in the game. I've also added a power up that allows the player's ship to emit an "electro-magnetic pulse" that surrounds the ship and grows in size until the pulse finally dissipates. Anything that comes in contact with the pulse (Asteroids, alien, alien bullets, powerups) is immediately destroyed. This first video shows this:

 

rast5200.zip

 

You'll notice that alien missiles hit the player's ship but nothing happens. This is because I temporarily have that portion of the collision checking turned off. Here's another video showing a test of the missiles. It also shows some of the powerups:

 

missiles.zip

 

My thought was that after a few waves you would have to fight off one or more aliens. The aliens would be using missiles which you would need to either evade or destroy.

 

-tjb

Edited by tjb
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I'm interested. I can't seem to play the videos. I think I had trouble before with some other videos you posted but never could figure it out. I have VLC media player for Mac OS X which usually plays everything. Can you post a couple of screen shots.

 

Allan

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i assume you would release it on a cart? or would it just be the rom only?

 

I do plan to release it on cart. I've looked into having either Atari2600.com and/or Best Electronics publish it. I've also looked into doing it myself. Having AtariAge publish it would be the ideal solution but alas, I've gotten very little response from AA regarding publication. I'd also like to do a bank-switched version with rotating Asteroids.

 

tjb

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I'm interested. I can't seem to play the videos. I think I had trouble before with some other videos you posted but never could figure it out. I have VLC media player for Mac OS X which usually plays everything. Can you post a couple of screen shots.

 

Allan

 

Sorry the videos don't work. I'll try to upload some in a more standard format and some pics later today.

 

tjb

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Wow, looks great! I'm definetly interested! The 5200 badly needs a good Asteroids adaptation.

Dare I to ask how the progress is? Is the game almost finished, just started, or somewhere in-between?

 

Good question. The game is fully playable but is a bit rough around the edges in places. For one thing, sound is pretty minimal. Also, there is currently no two player support. I'm not sure if I'll be able to offer two player simultaneous play as having two players at once may really slow things down. Another more fundamental problem is how do I indicate which ship is player 1 and which ship is player 2? I could use different ship images but introducing another set of ship sprites would not be possible in 32K (at least the current way it's implemented). I'm thinking of only supporting 2 player alternating.

I also need to tweak how the shields work. Right now Asteroids bounce off the shield unless the "Destructive Shields" powerup is active. The player's ship and the Asteroid should really bounce off each other. There are other areas that need work but those are the main ones.

 

Classics offered to help with production and has a 512K bank-switched PCB that would remove the 32K limitation. If I were to go that route I could certainly offer much, much more. I'd really like to have rotating Asteroids. Any thoughts?

 

tjb

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Looks very good. My main question is how the controls may be?

I heard that the controls in the original version are very uncomfortable due to the analog joysticks.

 

To be honest I haven't played the original on the 5200. I've played the 8-bit computer version but of course the joysticks are different. Could you be more specific?

 

I will say that personally I find it a bit uncomfortable having to rapidly press the fire buttons using your thumb. Rasteroids has autofire so you can simply hold the button down. Rather than have static button/keypad assignments I'd like to be able to offer the ability to configure them so that you can customize them to your liking.

 

tjb

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Looks very good. My main question is how the controls may be?

I heard that the controls in the original version are very uncomfortable due to the analog joysticks.

 

To be honest I haven't played the original on the 5200. I've played the 8-bit computer version but of course the joysticks are different. Could you be more specific?

 

I will say that personally I find it a bit uncomfortable having to rapidly press the fire buttons using your thumb. Rasteroids has autofire so you can simply hold the button down. Rather than have static button/keypad assignments I'd like to be able to offer the ability to configure them so that you can customize them to your liking.

 

tjb

 

The original on the 5200 does have some control issues, but I found it's just a curve that needs to be learned and then it's fun but your new version will be a VERY welcome refershment. I look forward to more news on your progress.

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I think it is because the joystick of the 5200 isn't self centering, so it's harder to control your own ship.

Unfortunately I don't have a 5200 yet, so I couldn't test it. You have some problems with EBay.com when you live in Germany.. :(

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Looks good.

 

I'd say consider having an option where there's no shield as we know it in the classic, but just have an energy bar that is depleted by missile and asteroid collisions.

 

Still not a fan of artifacting... I'd prefer a game that uses hires with "fat" lines but still the extra precision that 320 pixels offers.

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Still not a fan of artifacting... I'd prefer a game that uses hires with "fat" lines but still the extra precision that 320 pixels offers.

 

Are you saying I should take advantage of the full 320 pixel resolution and not worry about artifacting? Or are you saying that the artifacting that does show through should be eliminated by using "fat" lines?

 

I've tried to do the latter for the most part. The stars in the background are single pixels and thus show color. Most of the sprite images employ thick lines to at least minimize artifacting.

 

I'm not real happy about artifacting either. I'd much prefer it didn't happen at all and the full 320 pixels across was fully legible. Am I missing something here? Please explain.

 

tjb

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I'd just go for 2-pixel width of asteroids.

 

Having stars a different colour is no probs - never a fan of artifacts, probably because it looks crap on PAL.

 

 

Seeing as the 5200 is an NTSC based system in this case it won't be a problem :)

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I would say have the ship bounce off the asteroid when the shield is on, as opposed too both. It just seems odd that something with a large mass like an asteroid would be affected by a ship.

 

Or maybe you could do that with the larger asteroids and have them both bounce if the asteroid is smaller.

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