Sprybug Posted July 31, 2013 Author Share Posted July 31, 2013 Good news! This can be the first Atari 2600 64KB single game (not cartridge, Stella's Stocking is 64KB of more than one game). It wasn't too hard to switch over, was it? Too bad real hardware will have to wait for a real cart. Will you be able to release a World in 32K like with PR? The way this game plays out is different than PR. Princess Rescue plays in a sequence. 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, etc. Zippy plays out more like SMB3. You start on an overhead map, going from spot to spot chasing after Eggman who's occupying one of the levels that you got to get to to get a gem back from. Then once you do he goes to another part of the map and the chase continues until you get all 5 gems, so it's possible to beat without playing all the levels. A demo would consist of a hardset configuration that every time you played it, it would play out the same and would end once you get a gem. The real game changes where Eggman will be every time you power on, so even where you start may be different than the time before. One time you may start on Hill Zone, another Star Zone, etc. As far as a 32K demo goes, that's going to be a tall order, because in order to do the different zone configurations, soundtracks, and the map routines, It's going to have to have 64k. I would have to program a completely different demo version instead. The level data is only going to take up 8k in total. The music probably about the same. Another bank for all the sprites and Batari's kernel, one more bank for all the playfield graphic configurations for the 4 different zones, and the rest for all the code and tables. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 (edited) Is there some kind of way to flash the Harmony cart to 64k using the updater? Isn't there some kind of 512kb boot chip; could they use that instead of the 32kb flash? Perhaps a custom Melody board with the miniUSB Harmony updater could be provided to Sprybug for testing on real hardware... Edited July 31, 2013 by stardust4ever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprybug Posted August 1, 2013 Author Share Posted August 1, 2013 Good news! This can be the first Atari 2600 64KB single game (not cartridge, Stella's Stocking is 64KB of more than one game). It wasn't too hard to switch over, was it? Too bad real hardware will have to wait for a real cart. Will you be able to release a World in 32K like with PR? Oh Iespota, I almost forgot to tell you about the switchover. Once we figured out what was going on it's a snap, almost. I put the update in it's own folder inside my Atari 2600 folder. Then in VbB, I had to tell it where the new one was in the settings. Copy over SED and DASM from your old place to this one (it doesn't have it in there). And for myself I had to change the compatibility settings for the new Atari2600.exe to work in XP SP3 mode so it wouldn't crash all the time. In your code for the Romsize line put in 64k and it'll compile at 64k with 16 banks. One thing I did have to do is make sure all my returns in my routines had a thisbank or otherbank attached to them case depending. I had that on about 85% of my returns already so it wasn't that time consuming. RevEng took care of my custom score_graphics file to work with 64k and that was about it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprybug Posted August 4, 2013 Author Share Posted August 4, 2013 Here's another thing for you guys to look at while I continue on with making the game. It's a test title screen. Title.bas.bin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iesposta Posted August 4, 2013 Share Posted August 4, 2013 Sprybug, It sounds like it was even easier that I thought to switch to 64K. I am so glad this all came about at the right time. I have a lot of thoughts down for a review of Princess Rescue, should post it in the store soon. I just wish I was creative to make something with great gameplay using the non DPC+ kernel. Can't wait to check out this title. I also hate the word demake. You are basing a game on an established idea, however you are creating from scratch the physics of the gameplay and the graphics, and recreating the sound within the limitations of the hardware. Kudos for releasing the binary AND the source for your first game. With other authors worried about stealing and piracy, folks like you and pacman+ give freely and I hope you continue to make sales long into the future. I was thinking today of someone coming across an antique Atari 2600 like 200 years from now and finding cartridges dated 1977, 1986, 1992, 2006 and 2012 and wondering what kept it going for so long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted August 4, 2013 Share Posted August 4, 2013 Very nice work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted August 4, 2013 Share Posted August 4, 2013 Since bB with native 64k cart support is the fixed up DPC+ version of bB, are you going to use the DPC+ stuff so you'll have a bunch of multicolored sprites and a more detailed playfield? [Never mind. I got reminded by CPUWIZ in another thread that you can't use 64k with DPC+.] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprybug Posted August 5, 2013 Author Share Posted August 5, 2013 Since bB with native 64k cart support is the fixed up DPC+ version of bB, are you going to use the DPC+ stuff so you'll have a bunch of multicolored sprites and a more detailed playfield? [Never mind. I got reminded by CPUWIZ in another thread that you can't use 64k with DPC+.] LOL. He beat me to it. I was about to say, isn't DPC+ not capable of going to 64k since it's a harmony board thing? Maybe in the future Harmony can go beyond 32K and we can have 64K DPC+ games. I would like to experiment with DPC+ in the future, but when I do I have to make sure I won't need more than 32K. Everything I am doing with Zippy requires more than 32k. If I was just doing a standard scrolling platformer like PR then I could probably get away with 32K, but this one's a bit more involved. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 First Space Invaders, Missile Command, Asteroids, Ms. Pac-Man, Centipede and now Mario (Princess Rescue) and Sonic..... Atari 2600 has the best games! Nice work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 First Space Invaders, Missile Command, Asteroids, Ms. Pac-Man, Centipede and now (30 years later...) Mario (Princess Rescue) and Sonic..... Atari 2600 has the best games! Nice work! Fixed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bongomeno Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 This is really cool. I with my supercharger could play 32k games.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimefighter Posted August 5, 2013 Share Posted August 5, 2013 Oh my lord, he did it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprybug Posted August 19, 2013 Author Share Posted August 19, 2013 Hey guys. Thought I'd show this to you. It's what the cover art for Zippy is going to look like minus the art in the middle. Haven't done that part yet. The design for this is an homage to the early Sega Genesis style meshed with the Atari Red style. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetroFiends Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 You have no clue how much this excites me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 You have no clue how much this excites me. No photos, please. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godzilla Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 wow this looks great Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted August 20, 2013 Share Posted August 20, 2013 Sprybug, label art is looking good. I was amazed at how well the Zippy program worked when I played through the first level, despite I can't stand playing on an emulator. Maybe I could try it on my Ouya? Anyway now that the remodeling on my house is partially complete (well, at least the walls are done painted) I am slowly moving all of my retro systems back into my bedroom. Pretty soon I will be able to load Zippy into the Harmony cart and play it on real hardware as intended. Oh crap, I forgot it's gonna be a 64k rom... Well, in that case, I really can't wait for the carts to be released this time around!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprybug Posted August 25, 2013 Author Share Posted August 25, 2013 (edited) Alright, I spent most of today and some of last night working on the first version of the cover art. Take a gander. Edited August 25, 2013 by Sprybug 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted August 25, 2013 Share Posted August 25, 2013 Programmer art gets a bad rep. I think we should turn that reputation around for homebrew. I've got a mega-tonne more respect for the developers of old who did it all themselves. Hope this box art gets the thumbs up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprybug Posted August 26, 2013 Author Share Posted August 26, 2013 Programmer art gets a bad rep. I think we should turn that reputation around for homebrew. I've got a mega-tonne more respect for the developers of old who did it all themselves. Hope this box art gets the thumbs up! Well, I am an animator first, and programmer second, so I have a huge background in art and motion essentially. I need to do more with the hills in the background though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 Well, I am an animator first, and programmer second, so I have a huge background in art and motion essentially. I need to do more with the hills in the background though.You may want to tweak the shape too. Zippy looks a little off compared to official artwork. Still though, I like the homebrew look of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Gemintronic Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 I thought he was going for a youthful style. The lines are too clean to truly be amateur but the proportions are kinda off like a kids drawing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bomberpunk Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 i like it. almost a Dr. Suess look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sprybug Posted August 26, 2013 Author Share Posted August 26, 2013 You may want to tweak the shape too. Zippy looks a little off compared to official artwork. Still though, I like the homebrew look of it. I don't want to be perfectly on model with Sonic. I've added little personal touches and made it a tad imperfect. I do need to make the background darker or something so he pops out more. The contrast between the back and front are too similar. His body is also bigger in size compared to Sonic too. Sonic has a big ass head compared to the rest of his proportions, where in this one I made it a touch more even. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LS_Dracon Posted August 26, 2013 Share Posted August 26, 2013 (edited) Well, if you want something more real life like... Edited August 26, 2013 by LS_Dracon 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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