The Upward Spiral - drawing list!

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Sprite drawing list code is just about working -- some kernel timing problems were introduced with regards to background tiles not updating PF1/2 in time, but it looks like some quality time with the debugger is reducing those.

 

Sprites now are 8px x 8px using the same size pixels and venetian blinds as the background, mostly because the two different resolutions looked dumb, and made sprites like doors a little painful looking.

 

The sprite object model stuff is ironing out with regards to Ursa. The Ursa script interface to sprites for their controller scripts got a Hell of a lot simpler once I started thinking modally. Thus, instead of putting mad logic into something like zombie_controller I instead have zombie_wander, zombie_attack, zombie_hurt, zombie_die, i.e. I'm using the controller script index pointer to also "remember" the controller script's mode. This saves a lot of RAM -- at least one and possibly three bytes per sprite -- and reduces wastage for sprites like doors and particle effects (projectiles, only, at the moment, but I'd like to have time/space to do things like monster_dies_goes_poof).

 

Ironically, the game boards themselves are problematic -- I'm almost starting to fear having the core code all working but the game boards in need of work!

 

Text drawing was removed a while back in a refactoring and I really, really, really need to replace it. There's no rocket science involved but it's important to the whole RPG theme!

 

Player inventory and costume handling are absent.

 

In the vein of TLoZ, I'm considering adding a "compass" type item alongside the "map" item for each level. The code to use missiles to do so is trivial but to colour coordinate it would be rough since the keys on the left of the map are drawn as P0/P1.

 

The password-continue stuff has been drastically simplified by just using prefab passwords. A look-up table of valid passwords has a block of variable values associated with it which can be blt into RAM. The downside, of course, is that one can't just 'save progress anywhere.' Instead, you get a continuation password upon completion of each level. The levels have design elements guaranteeing that they can't be completed out of order, but it is a limitation that I'd rather not have had to use.

 

What else? . . . There's still no attract nor win animation, but the plans for those make use of the text drawing routines and some simple bitmap display logic, and I haven't written that yet, so I've just been ignoring it. The kernel timings are, as they have since day one, driving me slightly more insane, but I think that's the price of any complex 2600 game. If not for TIA timings, where would the challenge be?

 

Oh -- there's still no sound. Some sound or other will make it in, but it will be uninspirational. :-(

 

Also, joystick movement is too quick, I need a debounce counter. It's OK for debugging but almost useless for game play to move so fast.

 

And so it continues ... the time growing short.

 

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