Tombstone City Bandit Game .... includes nudges and some flashy effects

[TEXAS_JOE]

 

TOMB2.zip

 

Now has nudge feature. If you win nothing inside five turns, the nudges will kick in.

You get 3 nudges, it seems to want to give you a fourth nudge however that's just to turn off nudge mode (dont ask , it rotted my head why)

 

So enjoy. All that's needed now is the theme music from Tombstone City. (Im crap at music)

 

 

Edited March 30, 2012 by TEXAS_JOE

[TEXAS_JOE]

The original Tombstone City game is met with much criticism over it's gameplay, and I notice also there are one or two videos on Youtube with comments such as "I don't know the objective to this game" and so on, so I thought I'd just add this.

 

To successfully play Tombstone, we have to look at where the Morg bases spawn. They always spawn where two cactuses (cacti?) are touching next to each other.

So we have to line ourselves up nearby, and wait for the Morg to appear from the white base. Blast the son of a bitch right next to as many cacti as you can, and you will notice that the cacti disappear along with any Morg near them.

 

Also, whenever we shoot a Morg they turn into a cactus right? So to be clear, sometimes the "shooting the Morg near the cacti" doesn't work if the cacti and the dead Morg cacti touch each other diagonally. If this is going to happen, make sure you draw the Morg further away, so that his Cacti will stand alone.

 

When all Cacti are stood alone, not touching each other, the Day will progress to Day 2, 3 , 4 or whatever.

 

Shooting the tumbleweed is not necessary but is fun and gets it out of the way of any Morg bases.

 

I hope this helps if anyone is stuck with the game. It was once labelled as "Incomplete" but I really don't think that's the case once you know how to play it!

[sometimes99er]

Hehe, I love it ! Very nice effects et al.

 

Never thought much of the original Tombstone. I think I had it back in the day, but I'm not all sure. The few times I've picked it up (to play it), I don't expect to have given it more than 10 minutes. Your info will come in handy the next time I have a go.

[sometimes99er]

BTW - did you rip the graphics or draw them (again) ?

[TEXAS_JOE]

I drew them (again.) Pixel by pixel each character had to be just perfect. I wanted it that way. Thankyou for you're nice comments ....

 

The most difficult and awkward character to draw was the tumbleweed ... five or six attempts to get them the right size!

[TEXAS_JOE]

Also, I had Tombstone for my TI-99 back in the day. (about 1985 I first got mine) and it's taken me until now to realize how to successfully play it.

[sometimes99er]

Ripped the graphics from both (hope you don't mind)

 

[TEXAS_JOE]

I don't mind at all! Actually, that will help me .... because, looking at those side by side I seem to have made the Schooner (Tombstone main character) a little bit too large, I thought so at the time and now that confirms it. I'm happy to see that I did get the tumbleweed correct in the end.

I'll use this as reference to fix the characters, nice one Karsten .... you are indeed a talented individual!

[rocky007]

great job ..and pretty fast gameplay !

[sometimes99er]

I'll use this as reference to fix the characters ...

 

Your graphics are more than fine as is.

[TEXAS_JOE]

I've fixed the Schooner (tombstone main player char) that was about it. I've also added a routine for the end of game, when the TOMBSTONE CITY letters fall from the top to bottom, the ones that are rested on the blue box eventually push the box including the fruit machine symbols down to the bottom of the screen!

 

I set about doing this and thought "How on earth do I retain the characters in the box if I am to animate everything falling?"

 

So after some thought, I decided to use variables for ALL characters within the box to capture them in memory, for example

 

A1=106::A2=64::A3=129::B1=112::B2=112::B3=106::C1=64::C2=64::C3=128

 

So that when we animate the chars of the box falling, we can implement these variables to go inside the box as it falls and it retains whatever characters you left there at the end of the game.

 

I now need to work out a way to implement a 'Nudge' feature whereas every five turns, the player is offered a choice of 3 symbols to nudge.

 

Wish me luck because I'm scratching my head trying to think!

[TEXAS_JOE]

TOMB2.zip

 

This is the 90 percent finished version

 

Includes nudges .... if you have'nt won anything inside 5 turns it goes into nudge mode.

 

You get three nudges , it seems to want to give you a fourth but thats only to turn off nudge mode (I can't fix that but it doesnt deter gameplay)

 

I say 90 percent because I still need to include the theme tune.

 

Also, if you search for Tombstone City on youtube, you can watch a video of it, I now have my own channel (joe morris)

Edited March 30, 2012 by TEXAS_JOE

[matthew180]

I guess I'm one of the few who actually liked to play Tombstone City? I never had the cartridge back in the day (I do now though, and it is one of the games I use for testing the F18A), but TI provided the complete source code for T.C. with the Editor/Assembler package so you would have an example of how to make something as complex as a game. I guess TI didn't think much of T.C. either... ? I used that source code many times for examples while I was learning.

 

As for game play, maybe I was also one of the few who read the manual? It is pretty easy: destroy all pairs of cacti. These are the details:

 

* A "pair of cacti" are any two cacti that are directly adjacent or diagonal to each other. These are all the pairs:

TT  T  T    T
    T   T  T

 

* A "mob" (bad guy) will spawn from between any pair of cacti. One of the cacti will "highlight" just before a mob spawns. A mob turns into a cacti when you shoot it.

 

* To destroy a pair of cacti, you have to shoot a mob when it is ADJACENT to a pair of cacti:

@@    @    @      @
@TT@  @T@  @T@    @T@
@@   @T@   @T@  @T@
      @     @    @

 

* Shooting a mob when it is DIAGONAL to an existing pair of cacti will only make things worse, since you will be creating more pairs of cacti:

@  @  @ @  @ @    @ @
TT    T    T @  @ T
@  @   T   @ T    T @
     @ @   @ @  @ @

 

* The mob A.I. is pretty simple, the mob will move towards you and never go backwards to get around an obstacle.

 

* The middle part is a safe area, but you CAN get yourself trapped and have to restart the game if you shoot mobs (turning them into a cactus) in front of all the openings.

 

* The "day" is over when all pairs of cacti are destroyed and you advance to the next day.

 

Hope this helps. It is a very simple game mechanic and can get repetitive, but it is fun for a little while anyway. :-)

 

[TEXAS_JOE]

Why did I think "Morg" .... dunno ... Yeah Matthew180 you're bang-on .... that's how it's done.

 

I like the game. I can only get to day 4 before I die though. So I don't know wether the game ever ends or not?

 

I have read somewhere that it was meant to be called "Saguaro City" and it had crosses instead of cacti.

[matthew180]

You probably called them "Morg" because that's what is says here in an interview with John Plaster:

 

http://www.videogamehouse.net/tombstone.html

 

I just call all bad guys and things you shoot in games "mobs".

 

The alternate name of the game is talked about on that page as well. Good info and back story on that site.

Edited March 30, 2012 by matthew180

[TEXAS_JOE]

That's right, that's where I also read about the Saguaro City prototype. I love this game. Dunno it just takes me back to when I was young (er).

 

Love the white hat with guns.

[TEXAS_JOE]

Oh and thanks Rocky007 ... I intend to do another game very shortly, might give the bandit theme a miss this time though, done a few now .... I have one or two ideas floating around and I'm gonna sleep on it.

[sometimes99er]

Absolutely lovely. Top quality arcade style. While simple and perhaps limited, it's enjoyable, playable, sounds and effects, basically spot on.

 

[TEXAS_JOE]

That's a very nice message to wake up to Karsten, and thankyou! I've got a little sound routine made for it, nothing special, but I'm putting it together now. Also, I might make the nudges happen either at random (although not too frequent), or say, every ten turns .... I also may work on the sound it makes when the nudges kick in. Thankyou for taking the time to play my game.

[TEXAS_JOE]

Oh shit Memory Full