New homebrew called "Rocketeer"

[GroovyBee]

As an aside, will any of Nonner's art assets be making their way on to boxes, overlays and manuals? And if so, could we see some please?

A while ago, Nonner did show me the artwork prize he was thinking about for the Rocketeer high score contest winner and it looked damn good. You'll have to wait until the contest starts to see the final version of it .

[GroovyBee]

I think nonner is highly allergic to bee stings, which is why he produced so many awesome artwork for Groovybee.

 

 

I really dig the animation sequence. I did draw and code animation effects for Computer Space and Text Adventure for Colecovision. It was fun to script out the animation sequence. I wanted the ending to be like Ninja Gaiden FMV style where the player threw a sword at the dragon's heart, then turning the dragon into dust. I was overcomplicated things for myself and I think I could do it with the space I have left, which may have been 3-4 KB. I wind up having the sword come from off screen from the bottom left corner to the dragon's head. Then the dragon venetian blinds red(filling the colortable with color red and black), and venetian blinds fade away. Computer Space, each UFOs in the deluxe version has their own animation death sequence.

Thanks for the compliment. Its always fun to add nice flourishes to games. Luckily, I'm nowhere near out of space on the Bee3, so there is still plenty of breathing room. Having said that, I also understand why some programmers just want to get the game out the door after they've spent all their time on the meat of the project.

 

Is there a video of that sequence you described on youtube? I'm not a Coleco collector but I'd like to see it.

 

How are your IntyBASIC projects coming along?

[+DZ-Jay]

Hey, GroovyBee, could you offer some technical info on how the FMV sequences are implemented in your game? As a comparison, in P-Machinery, I implemented a scripting engine called "Auto-Pilot" that supports the scripting of sprite sequences. This was originally intended for Pac-Man cut-scenes, but eventually became the core of the Christmas Carol introduction sequences.

 

The engine includes some additional enhancements to support other autonomous animations (like for non-interactive background objects), but it's mostly a framework with a set of commands, such as "MoveToX," "StartAnimation," "ExecuteSubRoutine," "RepeatSequence," "Wait," etc. This, along with a basic "cut-scene" framework that handles some background processes common to all cut-scenes, is at the heart of Christmas Carol's animation sequences.

 

Obviously this supports the animation of individual objects, but not full motion movies. I'm interested to know what sort of techniques you employ.

 

-dZ.

[GroovyBee]

Hey, GroovyBee, could you offer some technical info on how the FMV sequences are implemented in your game? As a comparison, in P-Machinery, I implemented a scripting engine called "Auto-Pilot" that supports the scripting of sprite sequences.

Its nowhere near as sophisticated or as generic as that. Its a huge, event and table driven state machine in Rocketeer. Pretty much each state installs a corresponding ISR that places MOBs or reprograms GRAM cards on the fly as needed. Things also change from MOBs to BACKTAB cards on the fly too. For example, as the rocket lands it uses 7 sprites. Two for the dome and 4 for the engine and a higher priority, black, double width one (with its priority bit set so it sits behind BACKTAB cards) that resides in the bottom scrolling border. That high priority sprite clips the engine nozzles (as the rocket moves down) so I don't have to waste ROM with more pre-shifted and clipped graphics. As soon as the rocket completes its landing phase everything is aligned vertically to an 8 pixel border so the sprites are directly replaced with their BACKTAB card equivalents before being reused.

 

The comet uses a similar technique. A higher priority sprite is used to mask the comet tail in the top scrolling border and then the same high priority sprite is placed behind the rocket body at the comets strike point so that the comet can go behind the rocket and not be seen through the black gaps in it.

[nonner242]

Hmm... learn something new every day...I never knew that.

Now I must think of ways to reck havok to it...

mwahahahaha..hah

[nonner242]

Yes you are correct Groovy that is your art style..lol

But I like it...like your a master minimalist. Modern art master? The single red pixel on a white canvis type of guy...

[GroovyBee]

Yes you are correct Groovy that is your art style..lol

But I like it...like your a master minimalist. Modern art master? The single red pixel on a white canvis type of guy...

[Kiwi]

 

 

 

Thanks for the compliment. Its always fun to add nice flourishes to games. Luckily, I'm nowhere near out of space on the Bee3, so there is still plenty of breathing room. Having said that, I also understand why some programmers just want to get the game out the door after they've spent all their time on the meat of the project.

 

Is there a video of that sequence you described on youtube? I'm not a Coleco collector but I'd like to see it.

 

How are your IntyBASIC projects coming along?

 

Here's the gif of the sequences

 

The single screen of the hero walking down the stairs in the background while the dragon sleeps. The game over sequence if you chose poorly. And then the dragon death scene when you pick the right sequence.

 

 

[GroovyBee]

Here's the gif of the sequences

 

SlaytheDragon2.gif

The single screen of the hero walking down the stairs in the background while the dragon sleeps. The game over sequence if you chose poorly. And then the dragon death scene when you pick the right sequence.

Thanks for that. Looks good! How about an Inty version .

[wolfy62]

I love boxes overlays and manuals too Cmart!

[+cmart604]

I love boxes overlays and manuals too Cmart!

You know who else loves boxes? Thankfully....Nonner. That bodes well for us getting cool boxes to go with what appears to be a great game, particularly from an artist who is a self professed box nut.

[nonner242]

You know who else loves boxes? Thankfully....Nonner. That bodes well for us getting cool boxes to go with what appears to be a great game, particularly from an artist who is a self professed box nut.

I have absolutely no idea where you picked a that up from cmart.

Actually it is quite the opposite as I stated in threads before.

I frankly hate boxes and want nothing to do with them. They are a waste of space and harmful to the environment. The use of resources is just wasteful and can be put to much better use than something that has no real purpose than being on a store shelf.

Its a different world now and we have to try and change from our old ways. .go green.

we are even experimenting on green carts made of recycled tires..pcb boards of mdf and all the metal from traces to screws are also recycled from used cell phones. One day I hope that the cart will become 100% biodegradable so we have no more landfill tyoe incidents. Our Boxes are bad campaign will be up in a few weeks or so. I encourage ppl to please sign up to help save the whales.

[+JasonlikesINTV]

I have absolutely no idea where you picked a that up from cmart.

Actually it is quite the opposite as I stated in threads before.

I frankly hate boxes and want nothing to do with them. They are a waste of space and harmful to the environment. The use of resources is just wasteful and can be put to much better use than something that has no real purpose than being on a store shelf.

Its a different world now and we have to try and change from our old ways. .go green.

we are even experimenting on green carts made of recycled tires..pcb boards of mdf and all the metal from traces to screws are also recycled from used cell phones. One day I hope that the cart will become 100% biodegradable so we have no more landfill tyoe incidents. Our Boxes are bad campaign will be up in a few weeks or so. I encourage ppl to please sign up to help save the whales.

I also heard that Groovy is working on a solution code pollution. Supposedly after playing Rocketeer for a reasonable amount of time, the code will degrade back to 1s and 0s.

[+DZ-Jay]

OMG! GroovyBee, did you forget to give nonner his medications?

[nonner242]

Maybe he doubled them?

 

[Rev]

I want all future cart shells to be made from whale oil.

[nonner242]

I want all future cart shells to be made from whale oil.

Only if they are cute..

 

I was think of a recycled box idea a year ago.

a few that might work are:

A happy meal box

A empty Kleenex box

A kraft macaroni and cheese box.

 

And the best part is we can leave them they way rhey came and have you guys fancy them up any way you like. Maybe even make a contest out of it?

 

Here is a example.

 

[+JasonlikesINTV]

True story...I take my lunch work in an empty granola bar box. When it wears out (or I get a new box) I recycle the old one. Green.

[nonner242]

Thats GREAT Jason!

 

See every little thing you can chage is a plus for us all.

 

I started my Go GREEN OCD last year.

 

I took all my Atari 7800 boxes and shredded them thru a paper shredder one by one. The with a egg white and some other all organic stuff i made mixture for a glue. I took the shredded box parts in a tray, spread them out to a size of a box. Tgen coated it with the egg glaze. Took a peice of wood to flatten and condense it. Waited for it to get hard enough to flip and glaze the other side. Folding it was a pain but a little water or if you want urine does the trick to soften it enought to fold.

Then I take some thick tipped permanent markers to recreate the art of the original box. They end up a little bumpy but the egg glaze makes the look so nice and glossy.

 

For games that had no boxes like some homebrews. Recycled toilet paper works nicely and is less of a chore. Just harder to draw on without tearing or bleeding.

 

That just two of the many ways you can go gaming green. Give it a try.

[+cmart604]

Holy sh!t! I was in the line at Wendy's about to order my lunch as I read this and I started laughing out loud. People looked at me.

[Rev]

Holy sh!t! I was in the line at Wendy's about to order my lunch as I read this and I started laughing out loud. People looked at me.

Don't get the Wendy's "chili"....it recycles through you in less than an hour.....forget going green...go brown!

[+cmart604]

Bacon Cheeseburger. No chili.

[Kiwi]

I have absolutely no idea where you picked a that up from cmart.

Actually it is quite the opposite as I stated in threads before.

I frankly hate boxes and want nothing to do with them. They are a waste of space and harmful to the environment. The use of resources is just wasteful and can be put to much better use than something that has no real purpose than being on a store shelf.

Its a different world now and we have to try and change from our old ways. .go green.

we are even experimenting on green carts made of recycled tires..pcb boards of mdf and all the metal from traces to screws are also recycled from used cell phones. One day I hope that the cart will become 100% biodegradable so we have no more landfill tyoe incidents. Our Boxes are bad campaign will be up in a few weeks or so. I encourage ppl to please sign up to help save the whales.

Maybe they makes those Genesis type of plastic DVD boxes that may fit a Intellivision game. The thick plastic case that came with Atari 2600, Mean Santa, fit an Atari 2600 games perfectly.

 

I probably need to make you game called, Dr.Mario to treat your insanity. Take care.

[+cmart604]

Nonner loves his boxes, he's just ashamed to admit it.

[nonner242]

Holy sh!t! I was in the line at Wendy's about to order my lunch as I read this and I started laughing out loud. People looked at me.

See recycling makes everyone happy. Its a good think.

Now go home a make another person happy about recycling.

Go Atari...umm. go GREEN!