Nukey Shay Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 NOTE: I'd strongly advise to have the program tested on actual hardware (via Harmony, for example) at least once before any kind of production...just to be sure that the code changes work as they do in emulation. Even better would be to test it across platforms known to operate slightly different (i.e. compare woody VCS to Jr.VCS & 7800). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithbk Posted March 1, 2011 Author Share Posted March 1, 2011 I've got a prototype copy coming soon and I will test it across the platforms. Already covered Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tubular Gearhead Posted March 1, 2011 Share Posted March 1, 2011 Definitely count me in on this one if it gets released on a cartridge! Looks great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
4ever2600 Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 Please put me down for a boxed complete set. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saldo Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 I know you asked about the name in your begining posts and I haven't seen too many response about that. If it hasn't been decided yet, honestly I would keep it as "Another Adventure". I think it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithbk Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 I know you asked about the name in your begining posts and I haven't seen too many response about that. If it hasn't been decided yet, honestly I would keep it as "Another Adventure". I think it works. Yes, we're sticking with "Another Adventure." Okay, quick update: 1) Prototype cartridge arrived and was tested in both the Atari Junior and the Atari 7800 and it works perfectly. I have paid to have cartridges made and will give an update as to when they should be ready as soon as I know more. 2) Manuals are completed and ready to be shipped with the cartridges when they arrive. 3) We are looking into the boxes for those who want boxes. Artwork is completed, we just haven't settled with a printer yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinMos3 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 I think before you make the cartridges, you should adjust the starting position of the player. It needs to be lowered by at least one pixel so it doesn't get hung up when trying to go left or right from the start. Also, many of your screens look great, but leaving the maze untouched doesn't quite go with your overall theme. I hope you would consider adding some kind of detail to the mazes so they fit the look better. Take a look at what I did to the mazes as just one idea... or feel free to copy. I like where you were going with this hack, I just think it still needs a bit of polish, (like the issues named above). It would be even better if you moved your changes over to Nukey's newer assembly and took advantage of the multicolor playfields and/or sprites. I'm not trying to be a buzzkill. It looks like you're putting a lot of effort into the cartridges, labels, and manuals, (especially if you go through with the boxes), so I'd like to see you make the most of this hack before committing to burning those ROMs. You owe it to yourself and to those who will be making the purchase. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithbk Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 I agree completely with the pixel issue, that could be made better. I think I can get that change made with no difficulty. While I kept the hedge maze intact (changing it to green), I made the biggest change in the lower straightaway that leads to the Black castle (a change that makes the bridge particularly helpful in bypassing the entire maze once you locate it). My goal wasn't to completely re-do the maze, but to tweak it a bit. Honestly, this is the version of "Adventure" I always wanted on the 2600, which keeps with an honest homage to the original without feeling too much like "Oh, he changed a sprite or two." I seriously gave consideration to multi-colored sprites, but decided that for this game it would detract from what I was hoping to accomplish. That being said, I am starting to conceptually work on a different game that will use a lot of those changes (one that will contain both an "overhead map" and individual regions). The goal is to make it into something that does NOT resemble Adventure as we know it, but more along the lines of Intellivision's "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons." Meanwhile, I would love to see what you are referring to as a different type of maze idea, as I may want to make the changes to this game if it feels right. I've struggled with the Dragon graphics as well, but settled with an animated dragon that uses two frame movements while chasing. I personally like it, but that's me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinMos3 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 That being said, I am starting to conceptually work on a different game that will use a lot of those changes (one that will contain both an "overhead map" and individual regions). The goal is to make it into something that does NOT resemble Adventure as we know it, but more along the lines of Intellivision's "Advanced Dungeons and Dragons." Sounds excellent. I look forward to seeing that. I have an idea for a much more in depth project as well once I finish my current one, although you'll probably complete your's well before I ever get around to mine. Meanwhile, I would love to see what you are referring to as a different type of maze idea, as I may want to make the changes to this game if it feels right. I was just saying it would "fit" the theme better if you gave it some touches like the other screens. You have some nicely detailed screens and then you have... the plain ole block maze that feels kinda out of place. If you were to add some dots to the playfield graphics like you did with the borders of your screen with the 2 trees, that would probably look good. If you're going for a hedge maze, then aim for a hedge looking pattern. If brick, then a brick look, etc. For an example of what you "could" do, you can look at my hack-in-progress. I left the original mazes as well, but gave them a little more detail. Of course this is just my taste, so take it for what you will. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accousticguitar Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 You probably already figured this out, but you can change the 2s to 1s in the room bitmaps to make even smaller bricks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Using this kernel, yes**. If such a screen were to redefine all lines in a display, a monocolor playfield definition would occupy a whoppin' 384 bytes (4 bytes x 96 2lk scanlines). Multicolor playfield definition @ 480 bytes. **But not in any of the newer ones that require "caching" the next data line in memory (they must have at least 1 opportunity per band of playfield). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
accousticguitar Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Using this kernel, yes**. If such a screen were to redefine all lines in a display, a monocolor playfield definition would occupy a whoppin' 384 bytes (4 bytes x 96 2lk scanlines). Multicolor playfield definition @ 480 bytes. So what? We've got 16K! **But not in any of the newer ones that require "caching" the next data line in memory (they must have at least 1 opportunity per band of playfield). Good to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithbk Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 (edited) I lowered the player ball in the opening screen, and I did another color change reversing the Ice Castle's background and foreground colors. I started messing with the maze, then didn't like anything I was doing, and reverted back to the original. Personally, I always liked the original maze (apart from the blue color). I gave serious thought to it, but then I talked myself out of it. I tried rounding the corners, but then it started effecting everything else and all the internals, so I backed off the idea. It was a great suggestion, worth considering, but I only ever wanted to change the color of the hedge maze and nothing else, apart from the lower section of the straight path to the castle (which I use ALL the time now; makes the bridge a VERY worthwhile item). The next project will be a totally different story, but I feel this one is exactly what I was trying to accomplish. I realize I could make more rooms and an even bigger kingdom; there are lots of people doing that. But the expansion of the kingdom was a way to work around the original "unsolvable" game issue in game 3, with a new "backdoor" entrance into the White Castle's interior through the new volcano. The bat was the biggie; giving him the power to bring back dead dragons just made the game so much more fun, in my opinion. Anyway, the orignal Adventure was my favorite Christmas Gift as a child, and I have a photo of it with my Star Wars AT-AT I received the same year. Funny, I liked Adventure even more than all my Star Wars toys. I've tried to play every "tweaked out" version people have introduced in recent years, and many have been nice while with some I just ask, "Why?" This project was personal, so I've settled on the final version. Anyway, this is the Adventure I always wanted to play. And thanks for all the suggestions and help! Edited March 5, 2011 by keithbk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 I started messing with the maze, then didn't like anything I was doing, and reverted back to the original. Personally, I always liked the original maze (apart from the blue color).Interestingly enough, W.R. hates the mazes he did. Tho I think that he did a great job with them...effectively linking 2 joining sides with a single screen in some areas. Such an "impossiblity in 3 dimensions" quality gives the game an otherworldly feeling about it that's difficult to describe (and was fun to explore). I have yet to see a hack make use of this effect that well. So take a note to make any custom mazes logically-impossible, I guess I gave serious thought to it, but then I talked myself out of it. I tried rounding the corners, but then it started effecting everything else and all the internals, so I backed off the idea.Can you elaborate? You should only experience problems if screen borders don't share the same bitmap pattern with the linked room. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithbk Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 Well, your final edit got things so tight, as soon as I started adding lines, everything started going haywire and I had to switch to another bank; this meant I would have to go and mess with objects as well, just to make the changes. When I realized I didn't find the changes I made an improvement, I stopped and reverted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinMos3 Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 I lowered the player ball in the opening screen, and I did another color change reversing the Ice Castle's background and foreground colors. I started messing with the maze, then didn't like anything I was doing, and reverted back to the original. Personally, I always liked the original maze (apart from the blue color). I agree. I like the maze layout as well... just thought it needed some sprucing up, but if you're happy with it, that's what matters. Anyway, this is the Adventure I always wanted to play. And thanks for all the suggestions and help! I always have plenty of suggestions! lol I'm never happy with anything I do, so don't take it wrong if I suggest something for you. ...speaking of which... You can add a title to your number selection screen. Here's a sprite for you if you want to use it: .byte $C0 ;XX .byte $A0 ;X X .byte $90 ;X X .byte $F0 ;XXXX .byte $90 ;X X .byte $00 ; .byte $CC ;XX XX .byte $AA ;X X X X .byte $A9 ;X X X X .byte $AF ;X X XXXX .byte $09 ; X X .byte $E0 ;XXX .byte $AC ;X X XX .byte $AA ;X X X X .byte $EA ;XXX X X .byte $0C ; XX .byte $E0 ;XXX .byte $4A ; X X X .byte $4A ; X X X .byte $4E ; X XXX .byte $04 ; X .byte $A0 ;X X .byte $AE ;X X XXX .byte $E8 ;XXX X .byte $AC ;X X XX .byte $08 ; X .byte $EE ;XXX XXX .byte $80 ;X .byte $CC ;XX XX .byte $8A ;X X X .byte $EA ;XXX X X .byte $0A ; X X .byte $C0 ;XX .byte $AE ;X X XXX .byte $A4 ;X X X .byte $C4 ;XX X .byte $A4 ;X X X .byte $00 ; .byte $0A ; X X .byte $0A ; X X .byte $0A ; X X .byte $0E ; XXX .byte $00 ; .byte $0C ; XX .byte $0A ; X X .byte $0A ; X X .byte $0C ; XX .byte $0A ; X X .byte $00 ; .byte $0E ; XXX .byte $08 ; X .byte $0C ; XX .byte $08 ; X .byte $0E ; XXX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byte Knight Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Wow, great job with the game - it doesn't even feel like a "hack" with all of the changes that you've made. The direction-changing sword is really cool. Again, great job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandmountainslim Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Haven't had time to play it all the way thru but I like what I see ALWAYS ready for a new Adventure game. Wp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithbk Posted March 6, 2011 Author Share Posted March 6, 2011 Wow, great job with the game - it doesn't even feel like a "hack" with all of the changes that you've made. The direction-changing sword is really cool. Again, great job! Thanks! And thanks should also go to Nukey who masterminded some of the coding, including the sword, after I shot him the idea. There really isn't much of the original Adventure coding in the game any longer. A few of the maps were retained, but that's for nostalgia BTW, I enjoy my cart of Evil Magician Returns. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithbk Posted March 17, 2011 Author Share Posted March 17, 2011 Another quick update... We should have these available sometime next week (perhaps as early as March 24, 2011). Everything is coming together nicely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Helmet Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Finally got around to playing last night. Great job! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+bfstats Posted March 21, 2011 Share Posted March 21, 2011 Count me in for a CIB. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithbk Posted March 25, 2011 Author Share Posted March 25, 2011 (edited) To purchase this fully boxed/shrinkwrapped (or unboxed), follow this link: Who North America This title can be purchased via PayPal, Credit Card, or through Amazon Payments via the Who North America website. Edited March 31, 2011 by keithbk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithbk Posted March 31, 2011 Author Share Posted March 31, 2011 (edited) The copies were made without the final tweaks I made, so the cartridge accurately reflects what is available in post #1. This does not in any way detract from the game, so the game is complete and available to purchase through the link above (boxed). Click for video of gameplay: http://www.youtube.com/embed/o-DrkqWsi-o Edited March 31, 2011 by keithbk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted March 31, 2011 Share Posted March 31, 2011 Awesome! Order placed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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