KnechtRuprecht Posted November 22, 2011 Share Posted November 22, 2011 Not sure if this deserves a new topic header, but I thought it more appropriate than posting Kroz progress under the Kroz demo release topic.... Anyhow, as of November 2011 a few things have happened: - Valter Prette has kindly put together a short list of user suggestions for the game which I will go through over the next month or so. Most importantly, the puzzles need to be simplified and the controls need to be smoothed out. Thanks everyone who participated in that process and especially to Valter for taking the initiative and helping me out. - I'm about 75 per cent finished putting together a windows-based Kroz level editor that will make the designing process much less arduous. I have to admit, even as its programmer, designing raw Kroz levels is scripting hell. The editor will allow for custom game designs and I may release it when Kroz programming is put to bed. That's it for now. The winter months are here and I tend to spend more time programming when it's too cold to go outside but not cold enough to work on the backyard ice rink -John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Thanks for the update. Is the level editor user generated, right? What about a ramdom level generator? is that even possible? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atari5200dude82 Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Will this game be on cart in the near future. Maybe complete in box. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cmart604 Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Excellent news John, thanks for posting an update. I'm really looking forward to this one! I'm hoping for a COLD winter back east this year. Stay away from the outdoor rink, you'll just get a concussion like Crosby. Stay inside programming where it's safer and warm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted November 23, 2011 Share Posted November 23, 2011 Excellent! I'll be willing to play-test a new version whenever it is ready. -dZ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnechtRuprecht Posted November 23, 2011 Author Share Posted November 23, 2011 Thanks for the update. Is the level editor user generated, right? What about a ramdom level generator? is that even possible? It will be user-generated, yes. A random level generator is possible, but the level scripts would only be as good as the programming of the generator. The beast I'm putting together is more or less a quick hack to get the scripts out quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnechtRuprecht Posted November 23, 2011 Author Share Posted November 23, 2011 Will this game be on cart in the near future. Maybe complete in box. If it's good enough, I think so. I'm currently in talks and I have support. But the game needs a lot of work before then. I've wanted to publish an inty game since I first got the system in the Christmas of 1981 (or was it 82?), but I'd hate to have something on cart that was below par. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnechtRuprecht Posted November 23, 2011 Author Share Posted November 23, 2011 Excellent news John, thanks for posting an update. I'm really looking forward to this one! I'm hoping for a COLD winter back east this year. Stay away from the outdoor rink, you'll just get a concussion like Crosby. Stay inside programming where it's safer and warm. A concussion might afford me time to program even more! That was a joke, knock on wood! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnechtRuprecht Posted November 23, 2011 Author Share Posted November 23, 2011 Excellent! I'll be willing to play-test a new version whenever it is ready. -dZ. Thanks as always DZ. Hopefully soon. Possibly mid-winter. I look forward to your comments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted November 24, 2011 Share Posted November 24, 2011 Will this game be on cart in the near future. Maybe complete in box. If it's good enough, I think so. I'm currently in talks and I have support. But the game needs a lot of work before then. I've wanted to publish an inty game since I first got the system in the Christmas of 1981 (or was it 82?), but I'd hate to have something on cart that was below par. By all means, take your time and make it perfect! if/when you do release in cart form, you know you will have a good support base and it will sell good. Us intv fans are rabbid! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted December 12, 2011 Share Posted December 12, 2011 (edited) Excellent! I'll be willing to play-test a new version whenever it is ready. -dZ. Thanks as always DZ. Hopefully soon. Possibly mid-winter. I look forward to your comments. By the way, I decided to play your old demo again this weekend, this time on my Intellivision I Master Component. I noticed that the controls weren't very responsive. I had a lot of trouble when attempting to go downward. I thought it may have been my disc controller slowly dying, but when I tried other games, it seemed to work fine. I wonder if there is some issue with the input decoding? Perhaps it's not as granular as it should be... By the way, I'd be willing to share my 4-way disc decoding routine used in Christmas Carol if you're interested. -dZ. Edited December 12, 2011 by DZ-Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnechtRuprecht Posted December 13, 2011 Author Share Posted December 13, 2011 Excellent! I'll be willing to play-test a new version whenever it is ready. -dZ. Thanks as always DZ. Hopefully soon. Possibly mid-winter. I look forward to your comments. By the way, I decided to play your old demo again this weekend, this time on my Intellivision I Master Component. I noticed that the controls weren't very responsive. I had a lot of trouble when attempting to go downward. I thought it may have been my disc controller slowly dying, but when I tried other games, it seemed to work fine. I wonder if there is some issue with the input decoding? Perhaps it's not as granular as it should be... By the way, I'd be willing to share my 4-way disc decoding routine used in Christmas Carol if you're interested. -dZ. Yes, it's a known issue and you've nailed the reason for it. The four directions currently require absolute values, which works well for the keyboard but not the disk. It's one of those things I set up quickly to get things going and it keeps getting pushed to the bottom of the list. I fully expected more comments about the movement. That said, I do recall seeing something earlier about your controller routine. I filed it to the back of mind, meaning to check it out. Now that you've brought it up, I certainly wouldn't mind looking at it and possibly using it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted December 14, 2011 Share Posted December 14, 2011 Excellent! I'll be willing to play-test a new version whenever it is ready. -dZ. Thanks as always DZ. Hopefully soon. Possibly mid-winter. I look forward to your comments. By the way, I decided to play your old demo again this weekend, this time on my Intellivision I Master Component. I noticed that the controls weren't very responsive. I had a lot of trouble when attempting to go downward. I thought it may have been my disc controller slowly dying, but when I tried other games, it seemed to work fine. I wonder if there is some issue with the input decoding? Perhaps it's not as granular as it should be... By the way, I'd be willing to share my 4-way disc decoding routine used in Christmas Carol if you're interested. -dZ. Yes, it's a known issue and you've nailed the reason for it. The four directions currently require absolute values, which works well for the keyboard but not the disk. It's one of those things I set up quickly to get things going and it keeps getting pushed to the bottom of the list. I fully expected more comments about the movement. That said, I do recall seeing something earlier about your controller routine. I filed it to the back of mind, meaning to check it out. Now that you've brought it up, I certainly wouldn't mind looking at it and possibly using it. Below is the actual 4-way "joystick" decoding routine from my P-Mach engine demo. You should be able to adapt it to your own game. It expects two parameters: the input disc bits from the controller register (complemented), and the last direction decoded. The decoded direction is returned as a four-bit vector. The important part is the look-up table, which contains the heuristics of how to interpret the new input based on the last known decoded value. This allows the user to slide his thumb around the disc, and returns the expected value. ; Sprite Directions CTRL_DIR STRUCT 0 ; Direction Vector @@None EQU %0000 ; Direction Vector: @@Up EQU %0001 ; 3 2 1 0 @@Right EQU %0010 ; +---+---+---+---+ @@Down EQU %0100 ; | < | v | > | ^ | @@Left EQU %1000 ; +---+---+---+---+ ; Diagonal Direction Marker @@Diagonal EQU %1111 ; Axes @@AxisX EQU (@@Right OR @@Left) @@AxisY EQU (@@Up OR @@Down) ENDS ;; ======================================================================== ;; ;; .JOYSTK_DECODE ;; ;; Function to decode hand-controller input information and convert it ;; ;; into a 4-direction vector, like an old-fashioned Joystick. ;; ;; ;; ;; INPUT for .JOYSTK_DECODE ;; ;; R1 Hand-controller input register. ;; ;; R2 Sprite's current direction. ;; ;; ;; ;; OUTPUT ;; ;; R0 Trashed. ;; ;; R1 New decoded direction. ;; ;; R2 Trashed. ;; ;; ======================================================================== ;; .JOYSTK_DECODE PROC MOVR R1, R0 ; Keep a copy of the raw input register ADDI #@@__dir_tbl, R1 ; Use the input as an offset into the Lookup Table MVI@ R1, R1 ; Get the Lookup Table value CMPI #CTRL_DIR.Diagonal, R1 ; Check if this is a diagonal BNEQ @@__done ; If not, we're done. ; Compose @@__diag_tbl look-up index: ; +---+---+---+ //... ; | A | INPUT | ; +---+---+---+ //... ; ^ ^ ; | `----> The 2 Least Significant Bits of the input ; `----------> The MOB's orientation axis ; 0 = Vertical ; 1 = Horizontal @@__diag: MVII #@@__diag_tbl, R1 ; Set up look-up table base address ANDI #3, R0 ; Keep only the first two bits ANDI #CTRL_DIR.AxisX, R2 ; \_ Check the sprite's current axis of movement BZE @@__vert ; / @@__horiz: ADDI #%100, R0 ; Horizontal = %100 @@__vert: ADDR R0, R1 ; Vertical = %000 MVI@ R1, R1 ; Get the new direction @@__done: WRET .JOYSTK_DECODE ; ------------------------------------------------------------- ; This Look-Up table was submitted by Joe Zbiciak as a better ; way to identify user intent from the raw controller input. ; I've modified it slightly to improve the decoding, and added ; heuristics for perfect diagonals. ; ---------------------------+----------------------------+---- ; | Bit #: 4 3 2 1 0 | ; | Direction: / < ^ > v # | ; +----------------------------+ @@__dir_tbl: DECLE CTRL_DIR.None ; 0 0 0 0 0 - 0 DECLE CTRL_DIR.Down ; 0 0 0 0 1 - 1 DECLE CTRL_DIR.Right ; 0 0 0 1 0 - 2 DECLE CTRL_DIR.Down ; 0 0 0 1 1 - 3 DECLE CTRL_DIR.Up ; 0 0 1 0 0 - 4 DECLE CTRL_DIR.None ; 0 0 1 0 1 - 5 DECLE CTRL_DIR.Right ; 0 0 1 1 0 - 6 DECLE CTRL_DIR.None ; 0 0 1 1 1 - 7 DECLE CTRL_DIR.Left ; 0 1 0 0 0 - 8 DECLE CTRL_DIR.Left ; 0 1 0 0 1 - 9 DECLE CTRL_DIR.None ; 0 1 0 1 0 - 10 DECLE CTRL_DIR.None ; 0 1 0 1 1 - 11 DECLE CTRL_DIR.Up ; 0 1 1 0 0 - 12 DECLE CTRL_DIR.None ; 0 1 1 0 1 - 13 DECLE CTRL_DIR.None ; 0 1 1 1 0 - 14 DECLE CTRL_DIR.None ; 0 1 1 1 1 - 15 DECLE CTRL_DIR.None ; 1 0 0 0 0 - 16 DECLE CTRL_DIR.Down ; 1 0 0 0 1 - 17 DECLE CTRL_DIR.Right ; 1 0 0 1 0 - 18 DECLE CTRL_DIR.Diagonal ; 1 0 0 1 1 - 19 << SE $13 DECLE CTRL_DIR.Up ; 1 0 1 0 0 - 20 DECLE CTRL_DIR.None ; 1 0 1 0 1 - 21 DECLE CTRL_DIR.Diagonal ; 1 0 1 1 0 - 22 << NE $16 DECLE CTRL_DIR.None ; 1 0 1 1 1 - 23 DECLE CTRL_DIR.Left ; 1 1 0 0 0 - 24 DECLE CTRL_DIR.Diagonal ; 1 1 0 0 1 - 25 << SW $19 DECLE CTRL_DIR.None ; 1 1 0 1 0 - 26 DECLE CTRL_DIR.None ; 1 1 0 1 1 - 27 DECLE CTRL_DIR.Diagonal ; 1 1 1 0 0 - 28 << NW $1C DECLE CTRL_DIR.None ; 1 1 1 0 1 - 29 DECLE CTRL_DIR.None ; 1 1 1 1 0 - 30 DECLE CTRL_DIR.None ; 1 1 1 1 1 - 31 @@__diag_tbl: ; Vertical: DECLE CTRL_DIR.Left ; - - 0 0 0 - NW DECLE CTRL_DIR.Left ; - - 0 0 1 - SW DECLE CTRL_DIR.Right ; - - 0 1 0 - NE DECLE CTRL_DIR.Right ; - - 0 1 1 - SE ; Horizontal DECLE CTRL_DIR.Up ; - - 1 0 0 - NW DECLE CTRL_DIR.Down ; - - 1 0 1 - SW DECLE CTRL_DIR.Up ; - - 1 1 0 - NE DECLE CTRL_DIR.Down ; - - 1 1 1 - SE ENDP 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Any update? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Any update? Isn't Caves Of Kroz an upcoming release from Elektronite? Knecht, did the controller decoder work for you? -dZ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Yeah, I think it's listed a 2013 release. We all know how fast that will be here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vprette Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 (edited) 2013 :-) be patient there are many titles in 2012 Edited July 1, 2012 by vprette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cmart604 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 2013 :-) be patient there are many titles in 2012 Valter, isn't D1K, D2K and Minehunter the 2012 releases for Elektronite or am I forgetting something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intymike Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 maybe there are a few surprises or he includes the releases from the other "companys". Alltogether it will be the busiest year since mattel electronics times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DZ-Jay Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 maybe there are a few surprises or he includes the releases from the other "companys". Alltogether it will be the busiest year since mattel electronics times. It's definitely a great year to be an Intellivision fan! Not only are there numerous new titles and re-releases coming out, but various new projects were started with great enthusiasm. We just know that 2013 and 2014 are going to be awesome years too! -dZ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Or...2013 and 2014 will be the drought years after all these games hit in one year!!!! (i hope not) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 (edited) Has anyone attempted to contact the original developer of Kroz (Scott Miller)? http://www.linkedin.com/in/dukenukem I'm sure he'd be delighted his early work is still inspiring people. Also, the source has been released under GPL 2: http://www.3drealms.com/news/2009/03/several_old_games_released_as_freeware.html Edited July 3, 2012 by theloon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rev Posted July 3, 2012 Share Posted July 3, 2012 Maybe he shouldnt be contacted... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Games For Your Intellivision Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 Bob Newstadt (A Blue Sky Ranger) told me that he played Carol at CGE and was very impressed with the control. Better than many of the original games. He said the game was very slick. Kroz has been licensed (thanks Valter) and John has full freedom to do whatever he likes with the game that is based on the original. I have been told that we can expect it to be ready by February 2013........we will start working on the game materials now. If anyone can suggest a good artist, or point me in the direction of original packaging/art, that would be appreciated. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cmart604 Posted August 27, 2012 Share Posted August 27, 2012 Bob Newstadt (A Blue Sky Ranger) told me that he played Carol at CGE and was very impressed with the control. Better than many of the original games. He said the game was very slick. Kroz has been licensed (thanks Valter) and John has full freedom to do whatever he likes with the game that is based on the original. I have been told that we can expect it to be ready by February 2013........we will start working on the game materials now. If anyone can suggest a good artist, or point me in the direction of original packaging/art, that would be appreciated. Wow, that's very good news indeed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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