Seaweed Assault

[+Random Terrain]

Thanks for testing for that long.

 

 

 

 

I played until I got a score of 57,621 but like always the seaweed won. I heard a slight bell sound and then paused to see how long I was playing. It happened around 33,274 points and didn't happen again, so it must not happen often. It didn't seem as long and as major as the other bell glitch. It was just a quick "ping".

That's kind of good news, but it still sucks. Maybe I should just rip out the tentacle fade out code and just have the sound cut off immediately when the player moves left or right.

 

 

 

 

 

In demo mode only falling canisters drop. I assume that is intentional to make the AI die but I just thought I would tell you just in case there is something in demo mode you forgot.

Yep, I forgot to update the auto-play code. Thanks for pointing that out. I just changed it and put the new version in the first post.

 

 

 

 

 

Your tip for waiting in the seaweed while shooting and waiting for the tentacle isn't always the best option. Sometimes it can pull you down into more seaweed. If you have health to spare, there are ways to swing yourself back and fourth to put you in a better position for the tentacle to pull you down into a safe spot and sometimes while swinging you can shoot yourself loose. That helped me a lot in this game.

 

A good tip to escape the wrothopod is to make sure that there isn't seaweed under you that he can push you into. Another good tip is to get into a position that he is coming straight down at you and right when he is about to hit, you quickly move out of his way.

Thanks. I'll update the page.

 

 

 

 

 

If a player plays with the fire button held down for auto fire then when they try to come out of pause they can't hold down the fire button. When you hold down the fire button to unpause the Manatee doesn't shoot. A player has to release the button then hold it down.

I debounced the fire button so players won't shoot something they didn't mean to shoot. It's the same thing that happens if you start the game using the fire button. You have to let go before it will work.

 

 

 

 

 

It may be just me but this version seems to run smoother somehow. It made the last versions feel like they have some lag and/or not as responsive to controls. I don't know what it is but it felt different in a good way.

I don't know why it seems smoother, but that's good news.

 

 

 

 

 

The semi-random canisters worked. They switched roles smoothly as the reproduction rate increased and they were rotating but in a way that I was unsure which was going to fall. It works really well and the blinking blue score bar every time looks really nice.

I guess that means I can update the Seaweed Assault page with the new canister info. Thanks.

 

 

 

 

 

The new wrothopods look really good. Some of their tentacles have an intimidating appearance that somehow reminds me of the "hair" of the Predator.

Thanks. So you have no problem with them being random after the first 100 bits of seaweed have been shot?

 

 

 

 

 

When things are silent, especially in pause, if the volume is up high there is static(could be my CRT but also could be the game). I don't know if that can be eliminated but it might be a problem for someone who blasts their surround sound. Maybe an intimidating slow pulsing sound while paused would help and add some suspense. Maybe something like the tentacle sound in slow motion. It might not be a major problem though.

My Atari 2600 has static all of the time. I think that's just the way it is.

 

I might be able to use more variables to remember where the sound has paused. If I didn't screw up and introduce more bugs, the only problem left is that I hate it when games make noise or play music when paused. "I paused you! Why are you still making noise?!!"

 

 

 

 

 

What determines where the wrothopods and canisters fall?

Whatever side of the screen you are on, that's the side a Wrothopod will appear (within a random range on that side).

 

A health canister will appear on the opposite side of whatever side of the screen you are on (within a random range on that side).

 

 

 

 

 

That's all I can think of or remember right now. Anyway, this is the best version you've made.

Thanks. So was the 1,000 Point Energy Burst a welcome bonus or does it need to be changed?

 

 

 

Thanks.

[Schizophretard]

I don't know if the "ping" had anything to do with the tentacle fade out. It sounded different and it may be a different bug.

 

I have no problem with the wrothopods being random.

 

1,000 Point Energy Burst was a welcome bonus. I just wish a biogenesis 3 shades of blue type bonus could be added to it. Maybe not units of health like suggested before but more like the next 3 pieces of seaweed will hurt you but your blue color would kill the seaweed too. Basically 3 units of electric shock for seaweed. Otherwise it works fine though.

 

Are there any ways to make the Manatee blink?

 

I would like to test the deep water idea to see how it looks.

[+Random Terrain]

I don't know if the "ping" had anything to do with the tentacle fade out. It sounded different and it may be a different bug.

It would be cool if you were so close to a bit of seaweed when shooting it that a corroded canister barely had time to ping before you touched it.

 

 

 

 

 

I have no problem with the wrothopods being random.

Thanks. I guess that means the Wrothopods are done.

 

 

 

 

 

1,000 Point Energy Burst was a welcome bonus. I just wish a biogenesis 3 shades of blue type bonus could be added to it. Maybe not units of health like suggested before but more like the next 3 pieces of seaweed will hurt you but your blue color would kill the seaweed too. Basically 3 units of electric shock for seaweed. Otherwise it works fine though.

 

 

Are there any ways to make the Manatee blink?

I have to think about going over 262. If I add code to have the ship destroy seaweed, I'll have to convert the position of the Manatee to playfield coordinates, then use pfread to make sure a bit of seaweed is really there, then delete it. That time-consuming stuff could be the last straw that pushes the game over 262.

 

If I do something more than just filling up health, it needs to be as simple as possible.

 

And yep, making the Manatee blink between two colors is easy.

 

 

 

 

 

I would like to test the deep water idea to see how it looks.

I'll send it in a PM.

 

 

 

 

Thanks.

[+Random Terrain]

I ran the game again to help me think about what I should do next and as soon as the Wrothopod moved down off the screen, I heard a single ding noise. I'm not sure if the tentacle was about to come up or not. And this was after shooting the first 20 or 40 bits of seaweed, not way into the game. I hope I can track this thing down.

[Schizophretard]

If making the Manatee blink between two colors is easy then would this be easy?:

 

For each unit of energy health the Manatee loses he will blink dead Manatee red once. That way when he hits a piece of seaweed and does the "ouch" noise he would show injury without having to do anything complex with different shades of gray or blue. He would always be gray but blink red once for each unit lost. For anyone that is confused about shooting the wrothopod it would make it more obvious. Also, it would be good feedback for when a TV is muted and for the deaf.

 

Same thing for each unit of energy health the Manatee gains. Whenever the Manatee gains a unit of energy health he blinks a light energy blue. Only for units of energy health gained in the energy health indicator though and not for units converted to points because the indicator is full or for unused units from the energy burst.

 

If you did that it would be perfect. He would show damage and he would show healing. Instead of all the punishments and rewards being shown just in the score bar almost like subtitles they would also be in the action. It would add some personality and life to the living ship.

 

I'm not sure about the deep water test. It made it seem like the difference between the default color and the test color is like the difference between Chopper Command and Defender. If it was in the select switch then it would be like you could choose between two styles from back then. On the one hand that is good but on the other hand I've gotten used to seeing the default color. I'm split on it. If you're open to doing it then I think you should probably start a poll, an example of both, and get people's opinions. If you're not open to it then that is ok because even though it is kind of cool it doesn't feel absolutely necessary. It just feels like a bonus.

 

I played some Crash Dive yesterday and it gave me an idea. In it there is this sea monster that walks on the bottom of the ocean and is the only thing on screen that you can't destroy. You can stun him though and when you do you only get 1 point per shot. When you stun him you just slow down his walk but he eventually gets to you and as he gets closer you shoot faster like if you got close to the walls of seaweed. You try to get as many shots as you can to rack up points, you allow him to get so close, and then you get out of his way. I think it would be cool if you could do something like that with the tentacle. For an example, lets say you are on level one and just waiting around for the screen to fill up with seaweed. Instead of just moving back and forth to prevent the tentacle from coming up, you could call it up and start shooting at it. Your shots would slow it down, you would get a point for each shot, and you would try to see how many shots you can get before trying to get out of it's way.

 

How are things coming with tracking down the bug?

[+Random Terrain]

If making the Manatee blink between two colors is easy then would this be easy?:

 

For each unit of energy health the Manatee loses he will blink dead Manatee red once. That way when he hits a piece of seaweed and does the "ouch" noise he would show injury without having to do anything complex with different shades of gray or blue. He would always be gray but blink red once for each unit lost. For anyone that is confused about shooting the wrothopod it would make it more obvious. Also, it would be good feedback for when a TV is muted and for the deaf.

 

Same thing for each unit of energy health the Manatee gains. Whenever the Manatee gains a unit of energy health he blinks a light energy blue. Only for units of energy health gained in the energy health indicator though and not for units converted to points because the indicator is full or for unused units from the energy burst.

 

If you did that it would be perfect. He would show damage and he would show healing. Instead of all the punishments and rewards being shown just in the score bar almost like subtitles they would also be in the action. It would add some personality and life to the living ship.

The only thing I could not do is make him flash for every energy unit gained. For example, if you get 3 energy units from touching a blue homing health canister, you get them in one shot, not over time. The Manatee would only flash blue once.

 

But I could waste a whole variable on it, so if you get 3 units of energy, the Manatee could flash 3 times after it happens. It would be kind of delayed.

 

 

 

 

 

I'm not sure about the deep water test. It made it seem like the difference between the default color and the test color is like the difference between Chopper Command and Defender. If it was in the select switch then it would be like you could choose between two styles from back then. On the one hand that is good but on the other hand I've gotten used to seeing the default color. I'm split on it. If you're open to doing it then I think you should probably start a poll, an example of both, and get people's opinions. If you're not open to it then that is ok because even though it is kind of cool it doesn't feel absolutely necessary. It just feels like a bonus.

Since you're not in love with the idea, I'd rather keep it dark blue with no choice to change it. It's one of the only things letting the player know it's supposed to be water.

 

 

 

 

 

I played some Crash Dive yesterday and it gave me an idea. In it there is this sea monster that walks on the bottom of the ocean and is the only thing on screen that you can't destroy. You can stun him though and when you do you only get 1 point per shot. When you stun him you just slow down his walk but he eventually gets to you and as he gets closer you shoot faster like if you got close to the walls of seaweed. You try to get as many shots as you can to rack up points, you allow him to get so close, and then you get out of his way. I think it would be cool if you could do something like that with the tentacle. For an example, lets say you are on level one and just waiting around for the screen to fill up with seaweed. Instead of just moving back and forth to prevent the tentacle from coming up, you could call it up and start shooting at it. Your shots would slow it down, you would get a point for each shot, and you would try to see how many shots you can get before trying to get out of it's way.

If you could slow it down with your torpedoes, it wouldn't be as 'scary.' I'd rather leave it the way it is, keeping the story that your torpedoes can't hurt mature seaweed.

 

 

 

 

 

How are things coming with tracking down the bug?

I moved some code and I think the problem might be fixed.

 

I've been looking at the Wrothopod colors on a real Atari 2600 again and I'm adjusting some of the colors so they'll look better on a TV.

 

i also slowed down the up and down speed of the Manatee slightly so it won't seem to move so much faster when moving vertically.

 

 

 

Thanks.

[Schizophretard]

If you get a chance can I see it blink with a delay?

 

I like the fast vertical movement. It is needed for running up to canisters and to keep the timing right when moving up to each row while shooting. I also like the slower horizontal movement, so you don't hit seaweed when squeezing in between it and to make it more tough to dodge the wrothopods. Fast vertical movement makes sense and slow horizontal movement makes sense. The controls are perfect as is. If it isn't broke then why fix it?

[Schizophretard]

Also, if you slowed both directions down a little then it is a little easier not to crash into seaweed. It could make it easier to miss seaweed and harder to catch canisters. All the timing, speed, and balance of everything seems just right. Just a little change could throw things way off. Besides on wide screen it is the opposite. You move faster horizontally.

[Schizophretard]

I was just thinking. If it is going to be delayed and things might look kind of weird then could it just blink the same amount of times rather you get a blue canister, red canister, or energy burst? Like maybe it blinks rapidly with the "gulp" sound of the canisters and the "woosh" sound of the energy bursts in a way that they aren't triggered by energy but triggered with the sounds? Kind of like how on Berzerk you flash with the zap sound. You would flash rapidly with the fill up sounds but only blink red once for each unit lost.

[+Random Terrain]

I thought you were complaining about the speed. I can put it back the way it was with a quick search and replace.

 

I'm still struggling with these stupid Wrothopod colors. I think I'm almost done. The difference between emulator and TV colors is horrifying.

 

I have to stop to eat, but I'll see if I can get the Manatee color change done before I go to bed and post it in this thread.

[Schizophretard]

I was curious about the speed but not complaining. I was wondering why it does the way it does and you explained how many pixels there are. That satisfied me.

 

The wrothopods must look really good in the emulator because on my TV they look real good. What looks wrong to you?

[+Random Terrain]

The wrothopods must look really good in the emulator because on my TV they look real good. What looks wrong to you?

A few of the colors were brighter on TV than on the emulator and everything the emulator says is purple is actually hot pink on TV.

[Schizophretard]

The main wrothopod has always been pink on my TV.

 

What TV are you using? Make sure you have it on it's default picture settings.

[+Random Terrain]

I have a simplistic color change working, but after trying it, it's odd not having a color change when the health energy indicator is full, so I'm going to have it change any time you grab a canister or get the 1,000 Point Energy Burst.

 

I'll make this little change, test it for a few minutes, then put it in the first post.

[+Random Terrain]

Somehow I went too far back with undo using Visual batari Basic, so when I put the speed back to normal, that got partially undone. I double checked everything and it all looks right again. I put the latest in the first post.

[Schizophretard]

I just played another round. I forgot to write it down but it was 70000 something. I didn't hear the pings or bells.

 

The blinking red does need to override the blinking blue or allow temporary invincibility while blue.

 

I figured out my favorite wrothopod. It is a dark gray one.

 

I couldn't tell if this type of interference exists but you might be able to see in the code. Here is an example to check for:

 

Lets say you are on the left side of the screen and the wrothopod is triggered. There is a corroded canister on the right side of the screen preventing the wrothopod from coming. When I go and grab the canister will the wrothopod come from the right side where he should or will he come from the left side where I was when he was triggered? Same question with a wrothopod preventing a canister?

 

I'm really loving this red and blue Manatee.

[+Random Terrain]

Lets say you are on the left side of the screen and the wrothopod is triggered. There is a corroded canister on the right side of the screen preventing the wrothopod from coming. When I go and grab the canister will the wrothopod come from the right side where he should or will he come from the left side where I was when he was triggered? Same question with a wrothopod preventing a canister?

If an object is on the screen, the sections for other objects are skipped. For example, if a health canister is on the screen, the Wrothopod code is skipped. Once the canister is gone, the conditions for making a Wrothopod appear are checked.

 

I'll check the code. I could be off by 8 pixels when checking which side the Manatee is supposed to be on.

 

 

Thanks.

[+Random Terrain]

I'll check the code. I could be off by 8 pixels when checking which side the Manatee is supposed to be on.

After double checking, this is how it works:

 

Wrothopods

If the player is anywhere left of center, start the Wrothopod randomly on the left side of the screen.

 

If the player is in the center or anywhere to the right of center, start the Wrothopod randomly on the right side of the screen.

 

 

 

Health Canisters

If the player is anywhere left of center, start the Canister randomly on the right side of the screen.

 

If the player is in the center or anywhere to the right of center, start the Canister randomly on the left side of the screen.

[Impaler_26]

I played the latest version a bit yesterday, this game is coming along really nicely!

 

It's fun to play but i have to admit that i totally suck at it, this is my best score so far:

 

 

 

It's rather difficult to control the ship precisely with an analog stick (especially since mine is totally worn out), i bet the controls are much better with a digital stick.

[+Random Terrain]

I played the latest version a bit yesterday, this game is coming along really nicely!

Thanks.

 

 

 

 

It's rather difficult to control the ship precisely with an analog stick (especially since mine is totally worn out), i bet the controls are much better with a digital stick.

I've played it with a real joystick and a SEGA controller. It's easier and more fun to to play with the SEGA controller.

[Schizophretard]

I'll check the code. I could be off by 8 pixels when checking which side the Manatee is supposed to be on.

After double checking, this is how it works:

 

Wrothopods

If the player is anywhere left of center, start the Wrothopod randomly on the left side of the screen.

 

If the player is in the center or anywhere to the right of center, start the Wrothopod randomly on the right side of the screen.

 

 

 

Health Canisters

If the player is anywhere left of center, start the Canister randomly on the right side of the screen.

 

If the player is in the center or anywhere to the right of center, start the Canister randomly on the left side of the screen.

 

Thanks for clarifying. That's clever how you have that set up.

[Schizophretard]

An analog stick would be hard because the game requires a bunch of taps(up, over, up over, down, over...) and they have to be precise. A SEGA controller would be hard for me too because I can move my wrist faster than I can push a button.

 

I first played it with my TAC-2 because that is my favorite controller. All the holding the fire button down and quick movements made major hand cramps, so I tried my blaster controller. It was better but still didn't feel right. Finally, I tried my StarFighter. Something I noticed right away was that it was easier to move diagonally. Also, since the stick barely moves it is easy to do slight taps in every direction and since it has a metal ball inside that taps for each movement you get feedback that a tap has been done, so it kind of feels like a D-pad in joystick form. Another thing is that somehow my hand cramps less with it than the other two. I use a second StarFighter for the pause. The fire button is very easy to push with a quick slap, so when I pause I can do it quickly. Everyone is different but the StarFighter controller works perfectly with this game. I like it so much that I think it is going to have to be my new favorite controller. The full name is StarFighter THE ULTIMATE JOYSTICK. I think they are probably right.

[+Random Terrain]

The game seems to be finished. The latest .bin file is in the first post.

[Gorfy]

Congratulations on finishing your game :thumbsup:

Thanks for providing the latest download. I'm having a lot of fun with it and would like to purchase a copy in the future.

[+Random Terrain]

Congratulations on finishing your game :thumbsup:

Thanks for providing the latest download. I'm having a lot of fun with it and would like to purchase a copy in the future.

 

Thanks.