the.golden.ax Posted January 23, 2011 Share Posted January 23, 2011 I really like this game. Great job so far. Thanks for the support, and I love your Ken Uston avatar! The exploits of card counters beating the odds is one reason for my interest in Blackjack. I'm not a gambler at heart, but I really like the idea of people gaming the system using nothing but their brains. Card Counters of the 21st Kind. Sorry, some bad jokes have to be said even if they are bad. AX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevEng Posted January 23, 2011 Author Share Posted January 23, 2011 I forgot to mention how great BlakJuko is. This, alone, could be its own cartridge! Woohoo, my first comment on the Blakjuko minigame, and it's a positive one! Thanks, I'm quite proud of it! I searched around for card-themed logic games but didn't find anything I could steal, so I made my own. I'm still amazed it turned out as challenging as it is on the later levels. The other fun detail was the fact that I didn't want the use the remaining rom space for the Blakjuko kernel, so instead I just abused the main one 21 Blue kernel with some conditional logic. The title is actually a dealer chat line, the grid is a repeated set of the dealer cards, and the level number is part of the dealer score with unused digits masked off. ...The exploits of card counters beating the odds is one reason for my interest in Blackjack. I'm not a gambler at heart, but I really like the idea of people gaming the system using nothing but their brains. Card Counters of the 21st Kind. Sorry, some bad jokes have to be said even if they are bad. AX And some jokes should be abducted by aliens, never to return again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Player Posted January 27, 2011 Share Posted January 27, 2011 I really like this game. Great job so far. Thanks for the support, and I love your Ken Uston avatar! The exploits of card counters beating the odds is one reason for my interest in Blackjack. I'm not a gambler at heart, but I really like the idea of people gaming the system using nothing but their brains. That is what got me interested in blackjack as a game to study further. I also have been addicted to the game at times but, thankfully for my wallet, only the electronic versions. I'll have to dig out one of Ken's books and try some open book card counting with your game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yuppicide Posted January 28, 2011 Share Posted January 28, 2011 So, let's say it is released on cart. Fine. But maybe for people who have a Harmony cart (or emulator) maybe we can have a way to simply insert our own ladies. I'm sure people will come up with other interesting pictures to insert too lol. Now some needs to make this for the 2600: (warning not safe.. it's Sex Games on the C64): http://www.lemon64.com/?mainurl=http%3A//www.lemon64.com/games/details.php%3FID%3D1479 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevEng Posted January 28, 2011 Author Share Posted January 28, 2011 That is what got me interested in blackjack as a game to study further. I also have been addicted to the game at times but, thankfully for my wallet, only the electronic versions. I'll have to dig out one of Ken's books and try some open book card counting with your game. I'd love to hear the results if you do! ...But maybe for people who have a Harmony cart (or emulator) maybe we can have a way to simply insert our own ladies. I'm sure people will come up with other interesting pictures to insert too lol... It's a definite possibility, though I think I'd change the title screen to identify it as a DIY version. Speaking of alternate dealers, my pre-Stella versions had an "easter egg" dealer. I figured the responsible thing to do would be to replace it with something everyone could enjoy, but maybe I'll reuse that one in the DIY kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Devin Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I am really enjoying playing this game. I only have one request, though. For Blackjuko, can we also clear a card? Currently lets us iterate from 2 to 10. But, once we put down a value, a value is will always be displayed. It might be useful sometimes to just clear it - or mark it somehow - for those "ah, crap, that's not right" moments. So, iterate from 2 to 10 + blank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevEng Posted February 5, 2011 Author Share Posted February 5, 2011 Good idea! I updated it to allow you to cycle back to blank cards. This version also has changed win/lose-hand sounds. As usual, the binaries are in the first post. Thanks for the feedback, Devin! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevEng Posted February 19, 2011 Author Share Posted February 19, 2011 (edited) I've taken a first crack at the real manual. I'd appreciate any and all feedback! [removed - the updated manual is in the first post] Edited February 21, 2011 by RevEng Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.golden.ax Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Stick to programming No really, it's fairly good. The last page formating needs major help. If the first page is a cover, that needs help. If it is going to be the first page inside a cover then it's okay. AX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevEng Posted February 19, 2011 Author Share Posted February 19, 2011 Stick to programming Hah. My inner artist is wounded! No really, it's fairly good. The last page formating needs major help. If the first page is a cover, that needs help. If it is going to be the first page inside a cover then it's okay. Ok, I'll give the last page some love. The first page is an inner cover, and the image might even be a placeholder at that. For the cart/manual image I was planning to do the contest thing. Thanks for looking it over! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.golden.ax Posted February 19, 2011 Share Posted February 19, 2011 Yeah I figured that there would be a label and the cover would match. It's a fairly comprehensive and thought out explanation of the play. :thumbsup: AX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tin_Lunchbox Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 This is a great homebrew, and humorous and fun for attempting the risque graphics on the primitive capabilities of the 2600. I look forward to your actually releasing it on cartridge with box and instructions. Thanks! Suggestions for improvements: 1) bigger, better images if you possibly can. They should at least be able to stretch the full horizontal length of the screen? 2) Bigger cards with color and identifiable suits. I think you could free up some screen space by placing the dealer score at extreme lower left, the player score at extreme lower right, and the command line in the middle between them. If it's possible to pick up the pace a little, that would be good too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 1) bigger, better images if you possibly can. They should at least be able to stretch the full horizontal length of the screen? That's not possible for the 2600. Without introducing flicker, 48/160 pixel are the maximum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevEng Posted February 26, 2011 Author Share Posted February 26, 2011 This is a great homebrew, and humorous and fun for attempting the risque graphics on the primitive capabilities of the 2600. I look forward to your actually releasing it on cartridge with box and instructions. Thanks! Suggestions for improvements: 1) bigger, better images if you possibly can. They should at least be able to stretch the full horizontal length of the screen? 2) Bigger cards with color and identifiable suits. I think you could free up some screen space by placing the dealer score at extreme lower left, the player score at extreme lower right, and the command line in the middle between them. If it's possible to pick up the pace a little, that would be good too. Thanks! As Thomas has answered, (1) isn't possible without additional flickering on the image. If I tried to make the girl image wider, she'd be as blinky as the Pac-Man 2600 ghosts. Unfortunately technical reasons prevent most of (2) as well. The vertical separation between the command-line and the scores is intentional. The 48-pixel maximum Thomas mentioned comes into play, so to avoid flickering it needs to be spaced vertically. The cards having suit would be a nice detail, but having no suits was one of the memory trade-offs I made so I could have each card tracked in memory and still have some left over for stuff like splits and sound effects. Your pacing comment is interesting. I tried to more or less keep it paced similar to a real blackjack game, with pauses to the player can read the dialog. (and count cards, if that's their thing) Are you thinking (1) overall timing of interactions should be faster, (2) the player should be able to speed up the prompts by pressing fire, or (3) it takes too long to get her clothes off? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tin_Lunchbox Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Your pacing comment is interesting. I tried to more or less keep it paced similar to a real blackjack game, with pauses to the player can read the dialog. (and count cards, if that's their thing) Are you thinking (1) overall timing of interactions should be faster, (2) the player should be able to speed up the prompts by pressing fire, or (3) it takes too long to get her clothes off? Heh, I was really thinking about 1, although 2 is a possible solution. I like the way it operates, but you have slight pauses in there, and then there is the moment where it emits the "win" or "lose." sound effect. When someone gets accustomed to the controls, he or she might like to hustle things along through the hand and to the next hand. If you could allow the player to OPTIONALLY speed the prompts by pressing fire (and leave the operation as it is for novices or those that prefer a relaxed pace) that might help. As well the "lose" sound effect could be played faster. But I stress that it's overall doing real well now, I don't advocate any non-optional change in operating the controls. If not suits perhaps just red and black? How about a green background portion at the cards to illustrate a green felt casino table? TiN[]BoX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandmountainslim Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 LOVE it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevEng Posted February 26, 2011 Author Share Posted February 26, 2011 (edited) Heh, I was really thinking about 1, although 2 is a possible solution. I like the way it operates, but you have slight pauses in there, and then there is the moment where it emits the "win" or "lose." sound effect. When someone gets accustomed to the controls, he or she might like to hustle things along through the hand and to the next hand. If you could allow the player to OPTIONALLY speed the prompts by pressing fire (and leave the operation as it is for novices or those that prefer a relaxed pace) that might help. As well the "lose" sound effect could be played faster. Sounds good! I'm getting tight on rom space where that code is, but I'll give it a shot. And the lose sound can definitely be sped up. A red+black card display would be tricky. The cards are drawn with players, which are a single color per line - white in this case, with the black number part of the card just being the playfield showing through. While it's possible to put red playfield blocks in arbitrary places (aka asymmetric playfield), there aren't enough cycles in the scanline to do that and draw all 6 cards. I tried a green background before in one of my tests, but I wasn't happy with the card numbers being dark green. LOVE it!! Thanks, slim! Edited February 26, 2011 by RevEng Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tin_Lunchbox Posted February 26, 2011 Share Posted February 26, 2011 Thinking about it, RevEng, instead of use of fire button to hustle things along, left-push-joystick could be used. The power players could then zippity-zip through 8 or 10 hands a minutes, and mere leisure travelers could enjoy the sound effects and a relaxed pace. Ah, I did not realize a green background would mean the fonts on the cards would have to be green. I don't recommend that. Thanks again for listening to your players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevEng Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 Yeah, left/right on the joystick is a better idea. It's less likely to be falsely triggered and will save me some debounce code. You're welcome, and thanks back at you. I'm always glad when people take the time to share their ideas! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandmountainslim Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Is a ROM available without the tasteful bars? Wp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevEng Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 Is a ROM available without the tasteful bars? Wp So far the only release without the bars was a "sneak preview" Atari User did with the last issue. I'm not against releasing the full goods in the thread, if Al is good with it. I'll send him a PM and see what he says. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the.golden.ax Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Make it a subscribers only post AX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevEng Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 Make it a subscribers only post AX Really I'm leaving with Al to make the call. It's his forum, so it's up to him if and how it gets posted. The PM has been sent. In my mind Custer's Revenge is more objectionable than my little homebrew, but I respect that other people may feel differently. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandmountainslim Posted February 27, 2011 Share Posted February 27, 2011 Is a ROM available without the tasteful bars? Wp So far the only release without the bars was a "sneak preview" Atari User did with the last issue. I'm not against releasing the full goods in the thread, if Al is good with it. I'll send him a PM and see what he says. Thanks much amigo I am REALLY diggin' the game. Played it seven times today so far lol Wp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevEng Posted February 27, 2011 Author Share Posted February 27, 2011 No problem - glad you're enjoying it! Al was cool with an uncensored release, so I've added the latest release to the first post. The game is pretty much done now I think, except for the remaining AtariVox work in progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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