Alien Greed II WIP **Completed**

[neotokeo2001]

The WIP BIN files will no longer be updated. If you would like to work on something in the game please PM me and I will send you the latest BIN and BAS file.

 

 

 

This is a work in progress of the new Alien Greed II game. The basic gameplay and structure of the game is now programmed and working. I am opening the game to input or help that anyone would like to add. Any ideas or help to improve the game is welcome. The game will see a non-profit cartridge release in the future and everyone who makes a legitimate contribution(programming,writing,other) will receive credit in the manual and also a copy of the game. Any questions you can just post them here.

 

Original program by Chris Read

 

Here are the latest Work In Progress files:

BIN:aliengreedii012208.bas.bin

BASIC:aliengreedii012208.bas

 

======================================================

 

Older Version 01-19-2008:

BIN:aliengreedii011908c.bas.bin

BASIC:aliengreedii011908c.bas

 

Older Version 01-18-2008:

BIN:aliengreedii011808a.bas.bin

BASIC:aliengreedii011808a.bas

 

Older Version 01-16-2008:

BIN:aliengreedii011608a.bas.bin

BASIC:aliengreedii011608a.bas

 

Known bugs so far:

Game will not reset to the Title Screen during gameplay when reset is pushed. (FIXED)

 

Possible Improvements:

Remove extra zeros in score (ex. 00010) (Completed)

Change Background screen to Black (Completed)

Alternating playfield colors (Completed)

Add more mazes

Add additional barrier to cart collecting screen (Completed)

Improve Boss screen gameplay (Completed)

Short Title screen tune. Possibly eight note ET theme alternating with UFO flyby. See first eight note in ET Atari game. (Completed)

Way to select speed of game as "level" while in the title screen

Additional enemy/enemies to avoid on gathering and maze screens?

Reduce the size a little here and there to make more room for maps, etc.

A game-over screen

 

 

The game has three different sections.

 

Cartridge Collecting Level:

Run around the screen collecting the cartridges before the other Alien Collectore beam them away. When a cartridge turns red it is being transported. Another second and it will be gone. Watch out for the Bee. It won't harm you but it will slow you down.

 

UFO Maze:

Fly your damaged UFO to the next level by making your way to the exit. Don't touch the walls or you lose a life. There is a rare cartridge somewhere in the maze. You don't have to get it, But it is rare (And worth more points).

 

Boss Level:

Atari Charles is protecting his E.T. Prototype. Grab the cartridge without getting stomped.

 

 

Everything is still work in progress. The game will have all original artwork done for the label.

Here are some pictures and the work in progress manual.

 

 

ALIEN GREED II

 

 

They have come from the deepest parts of the Universe to complete their Atari 2600 Collections. Nothing will stop them, No price is too high!! There is nowhere to hide. No way to keep them from getting that exclusive cart. The Atari Community trembles in fear...

 

You were one of the first ones to reach Earth when you heard about the cool new LIMITED EDITION release of ALIEN GREED II. Actually you got here a little too fast. I guess that braking thing wasn't such a waste of time after all. Well, You are here in one piece but you can't say the same about your ship, Pieces is more like it. Oh well, Time to go round up all of those shiny new cartridges before your rivals get here.

 

Oh No!! It can't be. They are already here! And they took the time to slow down! That means they can use their transporters. Hurry up and grab those carts before they beam them away!

 

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

These are actual Work In Progress screen shots of Alien Greed II.

 

 

 

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

 

GAMEPLAY

 

You must race around the screen and collect the Atari Cartridges that appear before they are beamed away by rival Alien Collectors. As you race around the screen you must avoid obstacles and the roving Bee. The Bee won't kill you but it may slow you down.

 

After collecting ten cartridges you will travel in your spaceship to the next level. Your ship is still damaged so you will have to take the long way. Keep on the lookout for an EXTREMELY RARE Cartridge. They are worth more then the normal carts.

 

"My Precious...

You shall never get my Precious!

 

The moment of triumph has gone terribly wrong. Upon obtaining the priceless E.T. Prototype, Atari Charles has horribly mutated into that which he had coveted. He is doomed to spend his life protecting his "Precious" E.T. Prototype. And as if the waves of collectors and resellers isn't enough, Now they have come, The Aliens have found out what Charles is protecting. They will never stop until it has become part of their cosmic collection."

 

 

GAME INSTRUCTIONS

 

1. Follow the manufacturer's instructions to connect your Atari 2600 or compatible video game system to your television set.

 

2. Use the left joystick.

 

3. Game select switch is not used.

 

4. Hold the joystick with the red button in the upper left position.

 

5. Starting the game:

a) If there is no game in progress, press game reset on the console. If there is a game in progress and you wish to start over, press game reset on the console.

b) You start the game with three tries. Each time a cartridge is beamed away/UFO crashes, or touched by "Charles", You lose a try. Lose all three and it is game over.

c) The level of challenge gets harder as the game progresses. Each time you collect ten cartridges the game advances to the next level.

 

6. Aliens don't like Bees! But it looks like Bees like Aliens. Maybe they smell like flowers? When the game begins the Bee is not that aggressive. As you reach higher levels the Bee will start to track the Alien and follow him around the screen. The Bee is not deadly but it may slow you down.

 

7. Once you have advanced a few levels you will see a barrier appear. Guess your Alien Buddies don't like losing out on all the great Atari Cartridges. All you can do is go around the barriers.

 

8. You will receive one point for each Atari Cartridge that you pick up.

You will receive ten points for a cartridge found in the UFO maze.

You will receive ? points for getting Atari Charles E.T. Cartridge.

 

9. To return to the Title Screen at any time just use the Reset Switch.

 

 

STRATEGY HINTS

 

Be ready to move. There is no delay once the game begins. If you miss a cartridge you must be ready to go after the next.

 

Don't worry about the Bee until you have passed several levels. The Bee only becomes a threat and slows you down later in the game.

 

When in the UFO Maze you don't have to get the rare cartridge. But it is worth ten times the points of a normal cartridge.

 

WHAT IS YOUR COLLECTOR RATING?

 

How Awesome are your collecting skills?

Did you get a rare cartridge? Check your points

on the chart below.

 

00-10 points = E.T.

11-20 points = Adventure

21-30 points = Oink!

31-50 points = Flash Gordon

51-60 points = Pooyan

61-70 points = Gremlins

71-80 points = Halloween

81-90 points = Guardian

91-100 points = River Patrol

101-110 points = Air Raid

over 110 points = ALIEN GREED (Mega Score!!)

 

 

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

 

Cartridge List

No reserves are being offered yet. The following are complimentary copies given to

people who helped with the development of the game. Want one for free too? All you

have to do is help out.

 

01- Neotokeo2001

02- atari2600land

03- Atariboy2600

04- gambler172

05- ?

06- Nukey Shay

07- Atarius Maximus

08- batari

Edited May 7, 2008 by neotokeo2001

[neotokeo2001]

Should all the background colors be changed to black?

 

 

 

[gambler172]

Hi Scott

At the moment,i am on hollidays,but certainly i want a cart.looks great.If you need some screens,maybe,i can do for you.

greetings Walter

[Impaler_26]

Yeah, great to see AG II!!

 

Now at least i have something to do over the weekend!

 

IMO the background colors should be changed to black, looks much better than grey.

How about different maze-colors?

[Impaler_26]

I played a few rounds and i like the added maze- and boss levels. I could do a few mazes over the weekend, we'll see if i can come up with something useful.

 

I have a few first suggestions to start with...

 

- The alien should really have a 3 frame-animation like in the first alien greed, with the 2 frame-animation it just doesn't look like the alien is walking anymore.

 

- With the added levels it would be nice if we could score more than just around 100 points (my best so far), maybe make it a bit easier and let the player score a few thousand points max.

This would make the game more fun to play and more motivating for the players IMO.

Collecting a few thousand carts - now that is real greed!

 

- As you already mentioned removing the extra-zeros in the score would look better.

 

- A few more different playfields for both the cartridge-collecting and the sub-level would also be nice.

 

I'm a bloody beginner with bB so i don't know if i could be of much help with programming...

I just took a quick look at the code, you can't reset the game during gameplay because it doesn't check the reset-switch in the game-loop.

 

I'm looking forward to see how this game develops!

 

EDIT: Just saw that the Alien in the first game also had a 2 frame-animation, just faster.

Edited January 19, 2008 by Impaler_26

[neotokeo2001]

Chris updated the game to make a few changes and to add some of the suggestions. You can download the BIN and Basic files in the first post. I will keep the first post updated with the changes and improvements.

 

The reset now works during gameplay.

All backgrounds are black.

Alternating playfield colors.

 

Cartridge collecting Levels 1-3

 

 

 

 

UFO Maze Levels 1-3

 

 

 

 

First Boss Level

 

 

 

Update:

 

Known bugs so far:

Game will not reset to the Title Screen during gameplay when reset is pushed. (FIXED)

 

Possible Improvements:

Remove extra zeros in score (ex. 00010)

Change Background screen to Black (Completed)

Alternating playfield colors (Completed)

Add more mazes

Add additional barrier to cart collecting screen

Improve Boss screen gameplay

Short Title screen tune. Possibly eight note ET theme alternating with UFO flyby. See first eight note in ET Atari game.

 

 

If any of the Batari Basic coders want to help improve the game, Please do. We want the game to be as good as possible.

[Fort Apocalypse]

Hey. Great game! Would like to help.

 

One thing that it would be really helpful for you to do before me or anyone else gets involved in development is if you could add dims at the top for all of the variables and define names with something descriptive and clear so that it is easier to track what var is what (and if you reuse the same variable for two different things then dim it twice). I have been asked for this before and while it is a pain in the butt to go back and do this for a lot of code, it is worth it in the end.

 

Possible features I could help with if you'd like:

* a way to select speed of game as "level" while in the title screen

* additional enemy/enemies to avoid on gathering and maze screens?

* reduce the size a little here and there to make more room for maps, etc.

* could help with additional maps

Edited January 19, 2008 by Fort Apocalypse

[neotokeo2001]

Hey. Great game! Would like to help.

 

One thing that it would be really helpful for you to do before me or anyone else gets involved in development is if you could add dims at the top for all of the variables and define names with something descriptive and clear so that it is easier to track what var is what (and if you reuse the same variable for two different things then dim it twice). I have been asked for this before and while it is a pain in the butt to go back and do this for a lot of code, it is worth it in the end.

 

Chris is working on it.

[Fort Apocalypse]

Good deal. Thanks, and let me know when you'd like me to help. I really think it is pretty good now though!

[neotokeo2001]

Good deal. Thanks, and let me know when you'd like me to help. I really think it is pretty good now though!

 

 

You can jump in any time you would like.

 

Nothing in the game is set in stone so if you have any ideas or suggestions go right ahead. The Boss level is OK but it still needs something.

[Impaler_26]

IMO it would be nice if you had to collect 20 (or more) carts on the cartride-collecting level before advancing to the maze-level.

 

Can't think of much improvements for the boss-level at the moment but you're right, there should be more to it.

Maybe let the boss move over the whole screen?

 

To get a bit more variation in the maze-levels you could allow different starting positions for the ufo in each maze and also let it exit to the left in some levels.

It would also be nice if you let the ufo fly completely off the screen before going to the next level.

 

Make the animation of the alien as fast as in the first game, it looks much more like the alien is running.

 

A game-over screen would also be neat.

 

I like the changes you made so far, my best score is 227 now.

 

EDIT: I found a possible Bug...

 

I compiled the version from 01-18-2008 (haven't changed anything in it) with the normal 2600basic.exe from the bB 1.0 zip file and everything is ok.

 

When i compile it with the fixed 2600basic.exe from the included bB-fix file i get that sprite-garbage on the upper left side of the screen after the boss level (see pics below), it's also still there when i reset the game.

 

Now the question is if there is a bug in the game code or in the bB-fix??

bBfix_5_26_07.zip

Edited January 19, 2008 by Impaler_26

[neotokeo2001]

Hey. Great game! Would like to help.

 

One thing that it would be really helpful for you to do before me or anyone else gets involved in development is if you could add dims at the top for all of the variables and define names with something descriptive and clear so that it is easier to track what var is what (and if you reuse the same variable for two different things then dim it twice).

 

Is this what you wanted?

aliengreedii012008.bas

[Fort Apocalypse]

Now the question is if there is a bug in the game code or in the bB-fix??

 

This sounds suspiciously like the problem that happens when you don't pop as many times as you need to from a subroutine before doing a goto.

[neotokeo2001]

I have a few ideas for the Boss level. Would these be possible?

 

Example 1

 

Have a wall behind the boss that has a rotating opening that the player must negotiate while avoiding touching the Boss.

 

 

 

 

The second idea would be to have a wall that will disappear after so many seconds (5-10). The Boss will move in a rebounding pattern off of the walls and the player must avoid him until they are able to retrieve the cartridge.

 

[Fort Apocalypse]

One idea might be to do it so that each time you get a cartridge on the boss screen the boss's life counter goes down? I like the "bouncing" boss idea or maybe just have it move really slowly toward you or have a lot of "little bosses".

[Fort Apocalypse]

Is this what you wanted?

 

This is a lot better! If you could continue and create dims for every variable so that there are no references to the variables themselves, that would be the best. I'm kind of sloppy about dimming when it is my own game, so I feel a little hypocritical for suggesting it, but it really would help me and others learn what is going on in the game enough to collaborate without a lot of detective work. Also (and sometimes more importantly) add comments (rem) as many places as you think you need to.

Edited January 22, 2008 by Fort Apocalypse

[gambler172]

Hi Scott

Would it be possible,to have different bosses?

Maybe the first one could be a big,angry looking face (Atari Charles) and the 2nd one could be ET,guarding his rare prototype cart.And a possibility,to attack the boss,would be great

greetings Walter

[neotokeo2001]

Newest version has been uploaded to the first post.

 

 

Additions:

New barrier appears on the cartridge collecting screen.

After the first Boss level the Bee turns into a Super Bee. My God!! Look at the size of that thing!

 

 

The new barrier and bigger bee add more difficulty to the cartridge collecting screen in the later levels.

[neotokeo2001]

Looks like the Aliens have discovered an unknown Prototype. Rumor has it that it will be included in the Alien Greed II Package.

Edited January 27, 2008 by neotokeo2001

[neotokeo2001]

One idea might be to do it so that each time you get a cartridge on the boss screen the boss's life counter goes down? I like the "bouncing" boss idea or maybe just have it move really slowly toward you or have a lot of "little bosses".

 

 

That might be possible. You have to get 5-10 cartridges (Randomly placed) before the ET Prototype appears. The Boss would move in a bouncing pattern across the screen and the player must avoid him while grabbing the carts.

[+atari2600land]

One idea might be to do it so that each time you get a cartridge on the boss screen the boss's life counter goes down? I like the "bouncing" boss idea or maybe just have it move really slowly toward you or have a lot of "little bosses".

 

 

That might be possible. You have to get 5-10 cartridges (Randomly placed) before the ET Prototype appears. The Boss would move in a bouncing pattern across the screen and the player must avoid him while grabbing the carts.

That is possible under one condition: if you want all the carts to be the same color. I mean, if you want the ET proto to be a different color, then ET will have to change colors as well (I'm using missile1 for the cartridges, although in the boss level, it could be the ball (which would be the same color as the playfield, though.))

[neotokeo2001]

One idea might be to do it so that each time you get a cartridge on the boss screen the boss's life counter goes down? I like the "bouncing" boss idea or maybe just have it move really slowly toward you or have a lot of "little bosses".

 

 

That might be possible. You have to get 5-10 cartridges (Randomly placed) before the ET Prototype appears. The Boss would move in a bouncing pattern across the screen and the player must avoid him while grabbing the carts.

That is possible under one condition: if you want all the carts to be the same color. I mean, if you want the ET proto to be a different color, then ET will have to change colors as well (I'm using missile1 for the cartridges, although in the boss level, it could be the ball (which would be the same color as the playfield, though.))

 

Having the ET Proto cart the same color as the background would be fine.

[gambler172]

Hi Scott

Plays really well,so far.But sometimes it is nearly impossible,to reach a cart,before it turns red.If i am in the upper right screen,the cart sometimes appears in the left side behind a barrier.And then,the time is absolutely too short to reach the cart.Another suggestion.How about an enemy in the Ufo maze?Maybe another Ufo or how about an angry looking face(Atari Charles????)?Or a possibility to gain an extra live,would be good.

greetings Walter

[skem]

looks like I am missing from the list

 

[+Atarius Maximus]

Just thought I'd post this as a possible new change for the game. I used the superchip option and increased the resolution of the playfield, adjusting the game maps and title screen to reflect that change. I didn't make any gamplay changes.

 

Steve

ag.bas

ag.bin

Edited February 8, 2008 by Atarius Maximus