+Andrew Davie Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Please contribute bug reports to http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/184968-boulder-dashr-bug-reports/ Atari 2600 Boulder Dash ® Thank you for checking out our implementation of First Star Software's Boulder Dash ® on the Atari 2600. We are Andrew Davie and Thomas Jentzsch, joint programmers. Together, we have been working on-and-off on this game for about six years. The program is 32K in size, though it can nominally fit in 16K. This demo version includes the most challenging two levels of the original version, those that push the capabilities of our program to the limit. It demonstrates all of the 'creatures' and 'features' available in the original game. This includes butterflies, fireflies, an amoeba, magic walls and of course boulders and diamonds. We would like to acknowledge First Star Software's role in bringing this to you as a free playable version. Throughout, we have had contact and support from First Star Software, Inc. in our efforts to develop this game. Boulder Dash ® is their intellectual property, and it is with gratitude that we acknowledge their generosity in allowing this version to be distributed to the Atari community free of charge. Please respect their ownership of the Boulder Dash ® property. Andrew Davie -- andrew@taswegian.com Thomas Jentzsch -- July 2011 ================================================================================ ======== Controls ======== Special Switches ================ ABORT GAME Hold down RESET and SELECT switches (Stella: F1+F2) at the same time. SUICIDE Sometimes you get stuck, or make a mistake, and want to re-start the cave. Except for waiting until the time runs out the only way you can do this is by suicide. Hold down RESET switch (Stella: F2) to kill Rockford. NTSC/PAL TV Right difficulty (Stella: F7/F8) switches between NTSC and PAL versions. There are trade-offs between each. The NTSC version has nicer colours. The PAL version has more processing time. So, you might say the NTSC version looks better and the PAL version is faster. Thomas and I have different preferred versions. They both play OK. MUSIC Left difficulty (F5/F6) toggles the music on/off during game=play. The original did not have music, so this option is off by default. Moving Rockford =============== Joystick UP, DOWN, LEFT, RIGHT move Rockford BUTTON + Joystick GRAB/SNATCH in the direction of the joystick. You can grab diamonds and snatch out soil without moving to the square by holding the button and then pressing the direction. Rockford will not move while the button is pressed. Looking Around ============== You can look around the cave without moving Rockford by holding down the SELECT switch (Stella: F1 key) and using the joystick. The background colour will change to a dark cyan when you are looking around. The cave timer still counts down during look-around. To quit from the look-around mode, release the SELECT switch. The view will scroll back to the location of Rockford. You may move immediately, even when Rockford is not visible on=screen. After Dying ----------- BUTTON press the joystick button to continue -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- =========== THE DISPLAY =========== The top line has three display types, as described below. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DISPLAY TYPE 1: Player/Lives/Level The display/scoring area shows this display when first starting, or resuming after death. This display shows the player number, life counter, and cave level. A. PLAYER NUMBER ================ When first starting a cave, the display shows the player number (top left). This version of Boulder Dash ® only allows for a single player so this is always "P1". B. LIFE COUNTER =============== The number of lives is displayed top-middle, alongside Rockford's head. You start with three lives, and you lose a life every time you... a) Have a boulder or diamond fall on you b) Touch a butterfly c) Touch a firefly d) Are too close to an exploding firefly or butterfly. e) Commit suicide (pressing RESET) f) Run out of time for completing the cave If you lose a life while the time is still running, Rockford explodes and dies, and the cave continues. Press the joystick button to continue. C. CAVE LEVEL ============= The top-right of the display shows the cave letter followed by the level number. Cave letters range from A to P inclusive. These correspond exactly to the original Boulder Dash ® levels, with the exception of a small reduction of the number of butterflies in level M. This demo version contains two caves ("Funnel", "Apocalypse"). Level number ranges from 1 to 5. On completion of all caves, the level number is incremented and the caves are repeated. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DISPLAY TYPE 2: The score. The score is displayed center top of screen, as a 6-digit number. You earn points every time you collect a diamond, based on your current cave and level. You earn bonus points if you have time remaining at the completion of a cave level. The score is briefly displayed every time you earn points. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- DISPLAY TYPE 3: The diamond counter, and the remaining time counter. A. DIAMOND COUNTER ================== The diamond counter is shown top-left of screen and has two modes. 1. When shown alongside a diamond shape with a "-" inside it, the number indicates the number of diamonds you must collect before the exit door will open. 2. When shown alongside a diamond shape with a "+" inside it, the number indicates the number of diamonds, MORE than the required number of diamonds for the level, that you have collected. B. TIME FOR COMPLETION OF LEVEL =============================== The time for level completion is shown at top-right of screen, and counts down to 0. You must complete the cave (collect all the diamonds and reach the exit door) before this timer runs out. For the last 10 seconds of time, a sound with increasing pitch will play. If you do not complete the cave in time, you will lose a life. The speed of the timer count-down is based on the level. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ========= GAME PLAY ========= Snatch/Grab ----------- Rockford can collect diamonds (or dig dirt) in adjacent squares through the use of button + joystick direction. When this combination is used, the square in the given direction (if it's a diamond or dirt) is 'grabbed' by Rockford. Pushing Boulders ---------------- If a boulder is in your way, you can push it to the left or right by placing Rockford alongside it and moving towards the boulder. When the boulder moves, Rockford moves to the square where the boulder was. You can also push boulders without moving to their square; hold the joystick button down as you are pushing, and the boulder will be pushed without moving Rockford. You can only push boulders if there is a gap for them to move to. Bonus Life ---------- Every 500 points you get a bonus life. The bonus life is shown by a pattern of coloured dots in the background (cosmic ark star effect, for those who want to know how it's done). The effect stops after a few seconds. Running out of time ------------------- When less than 10 seconds remain on the time clock, an ascending tone is played every second. You better hurry! Collecting Diamonds ------------------- The aim of the game is to collect the number of diamonds shown in the diamond counter. You collect diamonds by walking over them (if they are stationary), or by grabbing them using snatch/grab. When you have collected sufficient diamonds (the diamond counter reaches 0), then the background will briefly flash white and the exit door will open. The exit doorstarts flashing when you can go through it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ======================= CREDITS & LEGAL NOTCES ======================= Boulder Dash® is a registered trademark of First Star Software, Inc. The name and likeness of Rockford are trademarks of First Star Software, Inc. Copyright © 1984-2011 First Star Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Boulder Dash ® was created by Peter Liepa with Chris Gray. BoulderDash100.bin 19 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eshu Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Wow!! looking forward to it :thumbsup: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 (edited) wrong here, nevermind Edited July 13, 2011 by Thomas Jentzsch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emehr Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Glad to see this project is still alive! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LS_Dracon Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 It's a great news! One of the best Atari 2600 project I ever saw! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScumSoft Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Looking forward to it! Using the DPC+ chip for this one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wickeycolumbus Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 Can't wait to play it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dino Posted July 13, 2011 Share Posted July 13, 2011 This will be the best release for the Atari 2600. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Very cool! Looking forward to it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Using the DPC+ chip for this one? Nope. Not extra hardware power, just extra RAM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maiki Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 I hope you will have that cool intro music someone made a couple of years ago... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cebus Capucinis Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 WOW! Very cool! Can't wait to be able to get it on a cart! Such masterful programming from the PROGRAMMING GREATS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shannon Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 /me checks calendar to make sure it's not April 1st. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Glad to see this project is still alive! We had a hint over a week ago: http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/149154-lines-of-code/page__view__findpost__p__2316232 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Andrew Davie Posted July 14, 2011 Author Share Posted July 14, 2011 Three more sleeps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayhem Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 Wow... keeping the faith... bring it on! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keilbaca Posted July 14, 2011 Share Posted July 14, 2011 This is still alive? Awesome! I can't wait for this, I remember the tech demos from a while ago... and they were super impressive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pis Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrandviewCoin Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 This is still alive? Awesome! I can't wait for this, I remember the tech demos from a while ago... and they were super impressive. I want this sooo bad also! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Helmet Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Great news! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrianC Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Awesome news! I love the A800 Super Boulderdash (1 and 2 on a double sided disk). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dino Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Three more sleeps. Andrew, Is the end game an official release by First Star? If so, this will be the first official retail (non-homebrew) game release on the Atari 2600 for many years.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tremoloman2006 Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 HOLY S**T!!! I don't friggen believe it!!! Hats off to Andrew and Thomas!!! I can hardly wait to give this a go! I thought this would never see the light of day based on Andrew's previous posts. I'm so happy there has been a change of heart. This will easily be on of the best games released for the 2600... EVER. You guys just totally made my day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Andrew Davie Posted July 15, 2011 Author Share Posted July 15, 2011 Andrew, Is the end game an official release by First Star? If so, this will be the first official retail (non-homebrew) game release on the Atari 2600 for many years.... It's a fully functional, free, playable demo of two caves of Boulder Dash® -- released with permission from First Star Software. The demo has the two most difficult caves installed (in terms of difficulty in programming on the '2600). It is not a retail version. You don't pay anything. It's totally free. Two more sleeps! Cheers A 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dino Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Andrew, Is the end game an official release by First Star? If so, this will be the first official retail (non-homebrew) game release on the Atari 2600 for many years.... It's a fully functional, free, playable demo of two caves of Boulder Dash® -- released with permission from First Star Software. The demo has the two most difficult caves installed (in terms of difficulty in programming on the '2600). It is not a retail version. You don't pay anything. It's totally free. Two more sleeps! Cheers A I guess my question is whether it is intended to ultimately be turned into a full game and released by First Star? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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