Hacking Games to Make Them More Playable

[Miss 2600]

While participating in the 2600 HSC, I've played several games that would be very fun BUT for some very annoying features. One problem is my guy getting stuck to walls in games like Shark Attack, Tutankham, and the current game Entombed. Another problem is just games with bad controls. Spike's Peak graphics-wise and concept-wise looks like a really good game, but the controls are terrible. Everything has to be precise to the point where, for some players, it is almost unplayable. I know nothing about programming games to understand what causes these things, but have there been examples where programmers have hacked a game not to change the graphics or enhance it in anyway but simply to make a game easier (in the sense of better controls and smoother game play) to play.

[+Random Terrain]

I know nothing about programming games to understand what causes these things. . .

I haven't played enough hacks to know, but I do know that if the the sticking on walls thing isn't on purpose, the reason is probably because they're just using regular collision detection. Sprite hits wall, bounce sprite back from wall. A lot of batari Basic users do the same thing, but here's a simple example made with batari Basic where the sprite doesn't stick to walls:

 

http://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-batari-basic-commands.html#sprite_ball_miss_coll_example

 

 

And here is Pac-Man style non-sticking:

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/185717-32-x-24-maze-example-program-with-pac-man-style-sprite/

Edited August 14, 2011 by Random Terrain