Skull Island (Updated Test 3) 02/13/10

[yuppicide]

I have a puzzle game for the 2600. I was wondering if someone could test it out on real hardware for me. I'm interested in how the controls are. Are they good?

 

Here's a screen shot:

 

 

Here's what happens:

 

Title screen of a skeleton. Hit fire to start the game. Joystick moves your cursor, fire picks up and puts down the people (colored squares), joystick moves the people.

 

Here's a basic idea:

 

You find a treasure map in the attic of your house. Think Goonies movie. You and some friends go in search of this buried treasure on Skull Island. One problem, you don't exactly know where Skull Island is. You each get out your raft and head out into the river. Your friends are represented on the grid as colors. The red color is you. The other colors are your friends. The pink square in the middle is an island. You're object is to get to the island.

 

Right now I've included 3 levels to play. In the final version of the game there's 40 levels ranging from Beginner to Expert.

 

How to play:

 

Your cursor is in the center. Move it around. Move it over the person you want to control and press fire. Your cursor will now flash indicating you are controlling that person. Now you can either press a direction to make that person move in that direction or press fire again to put that person back down. You cannot move off the screen including your cursor (it doesn't wrap around). You cannot pick up black or pink. You will hear a buzzing noise. Valid moves are left, right, up, and down. No diagonal movements.

 

You will only stop if there is a friend in front of you. For example, in the screen shot above if you move yourself (red) to the left, the current will carry you off into the ocean, but if you move yourself (red) up then you will run into a friend (orange) and stop.

 

Once you get red to the center pink square, a newer more challenging level will load.

 

Notes:

 

There are only three levels.. after that the fourth level will be all garbage. I know this. I'm just interested in wondering if the controls are okay.

 

Everything else is not finished yet.. I do have 40 levels already to go (just didn't include them here), I do have stuff on my title screen including an actual title, some lightning effect, etc. Just only wanted to present this version so far as it's identical to the other minus the few additions.

 

Just need to test controls and any problems so far.

 

Please see my latest post for updated notes.

 

skull_island_test_3.bas.bin

Edited February 13, 2010 by yuppicide

[yuppicide]

It's 8K by the way.. no Superchip.

[accousticguitar]

The game freezes after a move is made. You can pick things up fine and put them down, but if you move, it goes to the side of the screen (or whatever direction you are moving) and stops. After that you are stuck. The fire button does nothing and the joystick does nothing.

[jrok]

The game freezes after a move is made. You can pick things up fine and put them down, but if you move, it goes to the side of the screen (or whatever direction you are moving) and stops. After that you are stuck. The fire button does nothing and the joystick does nothing.

 

Yes, same thing happens for me.

[yuppicide]

Okay, in the test I gave you you should be able to move RED up and then LEFT and then DOWN and then LEFT to complete the level. This should have no troubles. So, even if you move red up as your first move it "freezes"? It should slide up next to orange and let you continue.

 

However, moving left from the start should make the red block move all the way to the and "freeze" when he gets there.. he drifts out in the ocean. You then need to reset the current level to play it again.

 

Also, if the other people drift out into the ocean you have to reset the level also.

Edited June 11, 2009 by yuppicide

[jrok]

Okay, in the test I gave you you should be able to move RED up and then LEFT and then DOWN and then LEFT to complete the level. This should have no troubles. So, even if you move red up as your first move it "freezes"? It should slide up next to orange and let you continue.

 

However, moving left from the start should make the red block move all the way to the and "freeze" when he gets there.. he drifts out in the ocean. You then need to reset the current level to play it again.

 

Also, if the other people drift out into the ocean you have to reset the level also.

 

Ah, okay I get it. Hmmm, I'd rather the game played some kind of "uh-oh" noise, and then auto-reset the level. Cool idea, though.

[jrok]

I have a puzzle game for the 2600. I was wondering if someone could test it out on real hardware for me. I'm interested in how the controls are. Are they good?

 

Here's a screen shot:

 

 

 

Here's what happens:

 

Title screen of a skeleton. Hit fire to start the game. Joystick moves your cursor, fire picks up and puts down the people (colored squares), joystick moves the people.

 

Here's a basic idea:

 

You find a treasure map in the attic of your house. Think Goonies movie. You and some friends go in search of this buried treasure on Skull Island. One problem, you don't exactly know where Skull Island is. You each get out your raft and head out into the river. Your friends are represented on the grid as colors. The red color is you. The other colors are your friends. The pink square in the middle is an island. You're object is to get to the island.

 

Right now I've included 3 levels to play. In the final version of the game there's 40 levels ranging from Beginner to Expert.

 

How to play:

 

Your cursor is in the center. Move it around. Move it over the person you want to control and press fire. Your cursor will now flash indicating you are controlling that person. Now you can either press a direction to make that person move in that direction or press fire again to put that person back down. You cannot move off the screen including your cursor (it doesn't wrap around). You cannot pick up black or pink. You will hear a buzzing noise. Valid moves are left, right, up, and down. No diagonal movements.

 

You will only stop if there is a friend in front of you. For example, in the screen shot above if you move yourself (red) to the left, the current will carry you off into the ocean, but if you move yourself (red) up then you will run into a friend (orange) and stop.

 

Once you get red to the center pink square, a newer more challenging level will load.

 

Notes:

 

There are only three levels.. after that the fourth level will be all garbage. I know this. I'm just interested in wondering if the controls are okay.

 

Everything else is not finished yet.. I do have 40 levels already to go (just didn't include them here), I do have stuff on my title screen including an actual title, some lightning effect, etc. Just only wanted to present this version so far as it's identical to the other minus the few additions.

 

Just need to test controls and any problems so far.

 

Okay, this is a pretty neat, simple puzzle game. I also like the little animation between levels, where the island sweeps all the squares up. But, I made it to Level 4 (where there is only one black "free" space) and the fire button stopped working... I couldn't select anybody. EDT: I see now, only three levels so far.

Edited June 11, 2009 by jrok

[+Propane13]

Only 3 levels defined.

 

-John

[yuppicide]

Alright, now that we've got that settled and you know how to play the game.. are the controls working decent for you? I am just way too broke now to pick up any equipment to test this on real hardware.

 

The reason I didn't give more than 3 levels is because I didn't want you to play them all and then not be interested in the final product for sale.

 

The game does indeed get hard. What's funny is I've played all 40 levels. Some of the levels I can get pretty quick.. some of them takes me awhile to figure out. It's like one level let's say 15 for example is extremely hard for me, but 16 is a piece of cake. Weird how different people see different puzzles.

 

Thanks for the initial feedback. As you were giving this to me I had already thought of your "uh-oh" idea. What I will do is when you "drift out to sea" or whatever I will have a "cut scene" in there showing a boat floating away with an "uh oh" noise. I just have to figure out how to draw the boat and make a few frames of animation for it. I have plenty of space left in bank 2. Then after it displays that scene and sound I will make it automatically reset the level for you because I know a lot of people don't sit close enough to hit the reset switch.

 

I'm going to have a level select eventually, but I am torn between two things.. do I let you select ANY level or do I only let you start at say 5, 10, 20, or 30?

 

In the future if I can expand the grid to be 7x7, I can make a game based on the same idea, but even more challenging.

 

.. here's my favorite part of the game.. the deluxe version will come packaged in a box that is a puzzle in itself to open! The regular version will just be a cart. I also have ideas for something special with the cartridge itself to look cool.. well multiple ideas.

[yuppicide]

Forgot to mention that in the final game there will be different animation between levels. It's actually pretty easy to accomplish with the engine.

 

Okay, this is a pretty neat, simple puzzle game. I also like the little animation between levels, where the island sweeps all the squares up. But, I made it to Level 4 (where there is only one black "free" space) and the fire button stopped working... I couldn't select anybody. EDT: I see now, only three levels so far.

[accousticguitar]

I get it now. This game is kind of fun!

[yuppicide]

I have uploaded a new test version 2. Things in the new version:

 

- Title screen with "Skull Island" logo that moves. Every so often lightning appears, but no sound yet. I had trouble getting it working.

- You can press SELECT at the title screen, which will let you select your starting level. You will be able to start on Beginner (This is level 1. Screen will say "Level Beg"), Intermediate (This is level 11. Screen will say "Level Int"), Advanced (This is level 21. Screen will say "Level Adv"), or Expert (This is level 31. Screen will say "Level Adv"). This doesn't actually work yet. Besides I only gave you 3 levels to sample.

- When you complete a level there are now five different ways it clears the screen, there used to be only one.

 

New changes coming:

 

- Blue background to represent water. It was originally black due to a space theme.

[yuppicide]

I'm a little worried. I've been doing some additions to the game. They're coming along nicely.

 

I let my Girlfriend play the game tonight and it keeps crashing randomly on her. Although, I can't replicate this problem myself. I can play the game fine with no problems.

 

The game froze up on level 8 I believe for her once and then level 12 I believe. I can play through the levels just fine with no problems.

Edited June 29, 2009 by yuppicide

[yuppicide]

Updated with a new version.. what's changed:

 

- Background is now blue to represent water.

- Island is now brown colored instead of pink.

- Title screen music.

- Gave you 2 new levels to play. So, after you clear 5 the game will crash.

- Also turned it into 16k. It was 8k before.

 

Things I am working on currently:

 

- Making the title screen music continue in between levels.

- Hidden game. This game is totally different from the main game, but it will also have 30 or 40 levels.

 

File is in the first post.. skull_island_test_3.

Edited February 13, 2010 by yuppicide

[gambler172]

Hi

and where is the new version????

greetings Walter

[yuppicide]

The original post (first one) was updated with version 3.

 

Hi

and where is the new version????

greetings Walter

[yuppicide]

I spent a lot of time at work today going through my code and fixing things. I'm very excited about the changes I've made. One of the changes is that I made the colors easier on the eyes.. you can see a sample video of the new colors here:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5zDdSpoYdc

[Bill Loguidice]

I have to say, I absolutely love how clean and colorful the game board is. It truly looks fantastic. With that said, I think the skull graphic rather downgrades the experience, as it just doesn't seem up to the same visual quality as the main game.

[yuppicide]

Thanks for the comments. Someone else here did the grid for me in a different language. I'm always on the lookout for stuff I can use to incorporate into my program, so I'll see what I can do.

 

I have to say, I absolutely love how clean and colorful the game board is. It truly looks fantastic. With that said, I think the skull graphic rather downgrades the experience, as it just doesn't seem up to the same visual quality as the main game.

[+cvga]

I spent a lot of time at work today going through my code and fixing things. I'm very excited about the changes I've made. One of the changes is that I made the colors easier on the eyes.. you can see a sample video of the new colors here:

 

 

Thanks for the video! I'm certainly interested.

[SeaGtGruff]

Thanks for the comments. Someone else here did the grid for me in a different language. I'm always on the lookout for stuff I can use to incorporate into my program, so I'll see what I can do.

 

I have to say, I absolutely love how clean and colorful the game board is. It truly looks fantastic. With that said, I think the skull graphic rather downgrades the experience, as it just doesn't seem up to the same visual quality as the main game.

Huh! I sort of had the opposite reaction to the title screen. I thought the skull, title sprites, flashing stripes, and music were very cool, and then the game screen-- other than being colorful-- sort of doesn't live up to the expectations set by the title screen. But then, I wrote the code for the colorful grid board, so maybe I'm a little bit prejudiced against it (too critical of it)?

 

Michael

[Bill Loguidice]

Thanks for the comments. Someone else here did the grid for me in a different language. I'm always on the lookout for stuff I can use to incorporate into my program, so I'll see what I can do.

 

I have to say, I absolutely love how clean and colorful the game board is. It truly looks fantastic. With that said, I think the skull graphic rather downgrades the experience, as it just doesn't seem up to the same visual quality as the main game.

Huh! I sort of had the opposite reaction to the title screen. I thought the skull, title sprites, flashing stripes, and music were very cool, and then the game screen-- other than being colorful-- sort of doesn't live up to the expectations set by the title screen. But then, I wrote the code for the colorful grid board, so maybe I'm a little bit prejudiced against it (too critical of it)?

 

Michael

 

Maybe the issue then is one of consistency between the title screen and the main game. It's like two different games stylistically. There's nothing wrong with the title screen per se, it just looks out of place in comparison. In any case, even if it stays as is, I think it will be great.

[Nostalgic]

This is an interesting puzzle concept. I like the levels that I've played so far. It reminds me of some of the block movement puzzles in the older Legend of Zelda games.

 

The lightning and sound in the title screen are good effects. I would like to have more sound during the game itself. An occasional sound of waves would add to the atmosphere. It would also help to have a sound when you pick up or drop a piece.

 

I agree with the other posters that some sort of signal that you've failed the level - an "uh-oh", the boat floating away, or something of that sort.

 

I wonder if a move counter might be something good to include. It could add a dimension to the game, encouraging players to improve their performance in a level. It would depend on whether any levels have multiple solutions.

 

I didn't encounter any bugs in my testing. Well done!

 

I made it through level 5. I hope to see many more in the near future!

[yuppicide]

I thought the original skeleton title screen looked like something off an old Megadeth album lol.

 

Anyway, I've taken some of your ideas into consideration.

 

- New title screen displays a picture of an island instead, when you select a level you get "closer" to the island, just as in the game later levels you're closer to the last island

- When your raft floats off screen there's now an indicator to let you know. I will seek help in trying to add a sound for that.

- I will also seek help in possibly adding a "wave" sound every now and then

 

Other than that the game is done and is for sale in two editions.. the limited edition version will be made in real wood hand carved case! Peep the sales here:

 

[yuppicide]

Here's the title screen I had in mind with your code, but couldn't get it to work:

 

 

Well, that's the screen before the title screen..

 

 

Thanks for the comments. Someone else here did the grid for me in a different language. I'm always on the lookout for stuff I can use to incorporate into my program, so I'll see what I can do.

 

I have to say, I absolutely love how clean and colorful the game board is. It truly looks fantastic. With that said, I think the skull graphic rather downgrades the experience, as it just doesn't seem up to the same visual quality as the main game.

Huh! I sort of had the opposite reaction to the title screen. I thought the skull, title sprites, flashing stripes, and music were very cool, and then the game screen-- other than being colorful-- sort of doesn't live up to the expectations set by the title screen. But then, I wrote the code for the colorful grid board, so maybe I'm a little bit prejudiced against it (too critical of it)?

 

Michael