gambler172 Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 It's not a grenade - it's a watermelon! HAW HAW HAW! What fun, chucking watermelons at trolls! Hi Cafeman Why not,a watermelon can also do some damage......... Great game,until now....... greetings Walter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted January 19, 2009 Author Share Posted January 19, 2009 I fixed the throwing system a lot since it was still buggy. Now you stop, press and hold fire, and move the joystick, and let go of it and depress fire. I like the watermelon idea. Apparently, the village has a whole bunch of watermelons sitting around for no apparent reason. Why not put them to use, eh? jack51.bas.bin jack51.bas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted January 19, 2009 Share Posted January 19, 2009 I tried version 50 earlier today. It's definitely gotten harder. I'll have to break out a Stelladaptor so I can use a joystick, which should make it a bit easier. Lots of changes since the last version I played.. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted January 19, 2009 Author Share Posted January 19, 2009 New version. +Fixed the "shy" troll's movement. +The music shuts off during the beginning of the end. Just beat the game for the first time (i haven't really been trying to, though. Been too busy playtesting only the parts I've been working on, hence the need for passwords.) jack52.bas.bin jack52.bas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted January 20, 2009 Author Share Posted January 20, 2009 Changed the score font. This version temporarily has the new font in red at the title screen (this will not be in the final version, it's there just for a test.) Since Greensleeves is playing in the first level, I tried to go with a sort of Elizabethian font. How did I do? jack53.bas.bin jack53.bas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted January 21, 2009 Author Share Posted January 21, 2009 Added bass notes to "Greensleeves." jack54.bas.bin jack54.bas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kurt_Woloch Posted January 21, 2009 Share Posted January 21, 2009 Added bass notes to "Greensleeves." Wow... the game keeps getting better and better. It would be great, actually, if a full verse of "Greensleeves" would be playing. Right now, the music repeats after half a verse of it. And the ability to shoot the troll definitely adds to the game. However, I think it's a bit illogical that if you collect the watermelon, but don't use it during the screen you picked it up on, you enter the next screen empty-handed. I think it would be better if, once collected, the watermelon is yours until you shoot it (or get through Level 1 completely). This could help prevent stupid cases where you just can't get past the troll in time, since then you would be able to pick up the watermelon and reserve it for those cases. However, I'd also reward the player for picking up the watermelon, let's say with 50 points. If the player enters a new screen and still has the watermelon, that new screen should not contain another watermelon. Thus, no chance for scoring the points then. This could lead to different strategies... the player would have to weigh the advantage of scoring another 50 points on the next screen against the advantage of being armed in case the troll gets in the way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted January 22, 2009 Author Share Posted January 22, 2009 Added bass notes to "Greensleeves." Wow... the game keeps getting better and better. It would be great, actually, if a full verse of "Greensleeves" would be playing. Right now, the music repeats after half a verse of it. And the ability to shoot the troll definitely adds to the game. However, I think it's a bit illogical that if you collect the watermelon, but don't use it during the screen you picked it up on, you enter the next screen empty-handed. I think it would be better if, once collected, the watermelon is yours until you shoot it (or get through Level 1 completely). This could help prevent stupid cases where you just can't get past the troll in time, since then you would be able to pick up the watermelon and reserve it for those cases. However, I'd also reward the player for picking up the watermelon, let's say with 50 points. If the player enters a new screen and still has the watermelon, that new screen should not contain another watermelon. Thus, no chance for scoring the points then. This could lead to different strategies... the player would have to weigh the advantage of scoring another 50 points on the next screen against the advantage of being armed in case the troll gets in the way. Fixed all that watermelon stuff. I tried to make the music play the whole length of the song, but no matter what key I tried to put it in, the 2600 didn't have the correct notes for it. Also, you can no longer carry the watermelon around once you press fire. If you press fire, you must shoot it then. jack55.bas.bin jack55.bas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ginnidog Posted January 22, 2009 Share Posted January 22, 2009 Atari2600land, This games is definitely coming out real sweet..this is the first time I`ve played it since the end of december.. Looking forward to a full cart release one day Paulie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted January 23, 2009 Author Share Posted January 23, 2009 Changed the scoring system in the castle level. I doubled the bonus points for the bonus point timer, and changed it so you only get 50 points for the goose and harp instead of 100. Does anyone have any suggestions on what i should do next? jack56.bas.bin jack56.bas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambler172 Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Hi Chris I think the games is great,as it is for now.Normally,nothing needs to be changed. greetings Walter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted January 23, 2009 Author Share Posted January 23, 2009 (edited) Changed a line in the code. get_goose m=(rand/8)+2 drawscreen if m=p then goto get_goose : rem used to read "if m=p then goto get_harp" if m=59 then goto get_goose drawscreen goto room_1 I think this will lessen the time needed for getting the two rooms for the goose and the harp, but you probably won't notice a change. Also included is the instruction manual i'm working on in case this gets to the store. jack57.bas.bin jack57.bas jackinst.txt Edited January 23, 2009 by atari2600land Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted January 23, 2009 Share Posted January 23, 2009 Well, I just played the most recent version. I couldn't beat it - in fact it's been several versions now that I have seen the Game OVer screen. Which I think is good, it prompts me to try harder. Observations: - the harmony/melody music (Greensleeves) is nice; the Giant's Castle music is nicer sounding than it used to be too. - I like the sleeping dogs , although they are the reason I haven't beaten the game for a while. I get lost in the castle looking for goose & harp, then get nailed by dogs as I backtrack over & over. You'd think I'd know my way around by now. I'll have some time later to *really* try to beat the game and will report back. - watermelon throwing rules are perfect in level one, IMO. There are lots of subtle nice things in level one -- multiple troll patterns; watermelons in random places; the fact if you throw a watermelon and it even nicks a wall, it doesn't reach the troll, adding the the need to be careful; and the odd occurrence, ever now & then, where you can't get past the troll or reach a watermelon and finish the screen in time. Good stuff. - as simple as the rising/falling birds idea was, that is all the vine stages needed. - the semi-hidden giant legs screen is a pretty awesome idea. You have to hit him 6 times all on the same screen (without leaving and coming back) right? I've never beaten him. Gotta try harder. The things and the different game variations, and the little intermissions , all add up to a fun little game, extra surprising that it was programmed in bAtari Basic instead of ASM. It feels like an authentic "Atari 2600 game" to me too, kind of like playing a smurf adventure. But better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted January 24, 2009 Author Share Posted January 24, 2009 Well, I just played the most recent version. I couldn't beat it - in fact it's been several versions now that I have seen the Game OVer screen. Which I think is good, it prompts me to try harder. Observations: - the harmony/melody music (Greensleeves) is nice; the Giant's Castle music is nicer sounding than it used to be too. - I like the sleeping dogs , although they are the reason I haven't beaten the game for a while. I get lost in the castle looking for goose & harp, then get nailed by dogs as I backtrack over & over. You'd think I'd know my way around by now. I'll have some time later to *really* try to beat the game and will report back. - watermelon throwing rules are perfect in level one, IMO. There are lots of subtle nice things in level one -- multiple troll patterns; watermelons in random places; the fact if you throw a watermelon and it even nicks a wall, it doesn't reach the troll, adding the the need to be careful; and the odd occurrence, ever now & then, where you can't get past the troll or reach a watermelon and finish the screen in time. Good stuff. - as simple as the rising/falling birds idea was, that is all the vine stages needed. - the semi-hidden giant legs screen is a pretty awesome idea. You have to hit him 6 times all on the same screen (without leaving and coming back) right? I've never beaten him. Gotta try harder. The things and the different game variations, and the little intermissions , all add up to a fun little game, extra surprising that it was programmed in bAtari Basic instead of ASM. It feels like an authentic "Atari 2600 game" to me too, kind of like playing a smurf adventure. But better. Thanks for the kind words on my game. Should I make the castle smaller or is it fine the way it is? Or maybe i could alternate castle rooms of dog/no dog perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MausGames Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 (edited) Chris, you've done a great job of polishing this game and fleshing it out. If you want to extend the game, you could make a cut scene where Jack buys the beans at the end of level one, and then repeat the level in reverse, so the player has to get Jack back home safely, and maybe replace the trolls with witches or something similar, and make the playfield/bg darker to show that it's later in the day. IMO, the more levels the better, and this is a good way to add a level that makes use of already-programmed game elements, just like you did with the beanstalk levels. Step-by-step open-feedback game development might actually hurt you with games like this, people who really enjoy them will have all the levels memorized before the game ever gets released on cart. You might consider using dummy playfields for your testing bins, keeping the actual layouts secret until the cart release. You could still have a few friends/fans thoroughly playtest the final verions privately for you before preparing the bin for cart. I'd be way more likely to buy this game on cart if I knew the level layouts would be completely new to me. Edited January 24, 2009 by MausGames Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted January 24, 2009 Author Share Posted January 24, 2009 (edited) Step-by-step open-feedback game development might actually hurt you with games like this, people who really enjoy them will have all the levels memorized before the game ever gets released on cart. You might consider using dummy playfields for your testing bins, keeping the actual layouts secret until the cart release. You could still have a few friends/fans thoroughly playtest the final verions privately for you before preparing the bin for cart. I'd be way more likely to buy this game on cart if I knew the level layouts would be completely new to me. How's this: I'll design new level 1 screens right before the cart release (if there is one, Al never said if he would or not yet.). That way, at least something will be new. Right now, though, I'm going to work on level 3. I have an idea for the dogs. Having them randomly appear or not appear sounds like the best approach for this. Thanks for the positive feedback. Edited January 24, 2009 by atari2600land Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted January 24, 2009 Author Share Posted January 24, 2009 (edited) New version: The dogs appear randomly now. jack59.bas.bin jack59.bas Edited January 24, 2009 by atari2600land Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 I didn't try jack59.bin yet, but I never saw a problem with every room having a dog. You just have to be careful. Will play this version later today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impaler_26 Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 Has anyone tested the game on real hardware yet? It might be about time to start checking for bugs or glitches already... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impaler_26 Posted January 24, 2009 Share Posted January 24, 2009 (edited) I just played jack59.bin a bit and found a bug in level 1... Sometimes when you keep the fire button pressed after collecting a melon the score keeps increasing until time runs out. I got over 100.000 points on level 1 that way, see screenshots below. It doesn't always happen and it doesn't happen on the same screens. Oh, and may i suggest a new "death sound" for jack? At the moment it sounds more like a ufo crashing or being shot, would be a nice touch to have a better fitting sound. Edited January 24, 2009 by Impaler_26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted January 25, 2009 Author Share Posted January 25, 2009 Thanks for telling me about the bug. As a result (after a half-hour of fiddling with the code and having no results), I gave up & made it so you don't get any points for collecting a watermelon. Next up is finding a new death sound for Jack. jack60.bas.bin jack60.bas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Cafeman Posted January 25, 2009 Share Posted January 25, 2009 Okay, not the most recent version, but withing the past couple days I saw a glitch with the dog guards. I was playing option 2. Something happened and the dogs started to glitch out - travelling left to right off-screen and I think wrapping around. I hit a dog on purpose (and died) and the glitch disappeared, fixing itself. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted January 25, 2009 Author Share Posted January 25, 2009 Thanks for reporting this. What I did in this version is change it so that if player0x>150 (the dog gets out of the maze on the right side), it doesn't loop back again. Did you touch the dog when this happened? I haven't run across this bug yet, so I don't know what to do. Please play this latest one and tell me whether it happens again or not. jack61.bas.bin jack61.bas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 New death sound. I have no idea how to do death sounds, so criticism of this is accepted. jack62.bas.bin jack62.bas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted January 26, 2009 Author Share Posted January 26, 2009 (edited) I think I got the watermelon bug fixed. I added the 50-point bonus back, and after test playing it for about 10 minutes, i didn't see it. However, if I missed something and you still get the bug, please tell me. I've also added a pause function: B/W is paused and COLOR is unpaused. jack63.bas.bin jack63.bas Edited January 26, 2009 by atari2600land Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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