+Philsan Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 Thanks to +Adam+ post on the 8-bit forum, I found this beautiful WIP game. It would be nice to open a thread in the Homebrew forum; not every programmer follows Atari 2600 general forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 It would be nice to open a thread in the Homebrew forum; not every programmer follows Atari 2600 general forum. Good idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JamesL Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 Bravo! This is a great concept and great looking game! I would buy it in cart form. As a suggestion, (I know nothing about programming, so I don't know if it will fit), in addition to faces, how about characters from other 2600 games, like Frogger, Pac-Man, Yar, Space Invader aliens, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enthusi Posted September 9, 2013 Author Share Posted September 9, 2013 Known game heroes as "faces" is indeed a funny idea About a new thread in the more general homebrew forum: should I just link to this thread there or basically 'copy' this one? Quite frankly I mostly just check the 2600-specific section myself, so I am not too familiar with the proper way how to deal with that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted September 9, 2013 Share Posted September 9, 2013 A link is the minimum. No reason to duplicate content. But be prepared that some discussion may happen in the new thread too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enthusi Posted September 10, 2013 Author Share Posted September 10, 2013 Thanks for your suggestion. Just opened the general homebrew thread. And I feel prepared for discussion This is actually why I waited to this rather advanced stage of the game development so Im not freaking out and be overwhelmed by alternative approaches and ideas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
photonstorm Posted September 10, 2013 Share Posted September 10, 2013 I'm the developer of the original game it was based on, and I just wanted to say this is looking amazing 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enthusi Posted September 11, 2013 Author Share Posted September 11, 2013 Thank you This means much to me. Your concept made quite some rounds *g*. Flash, C64, Atari XE, Atari 2600 ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enthusi Posted September 27, 2013 Author Share Posted September 27, 2013 (edited) Here is some (again silent) video material of the as-good-as-final version: The lack of sound is just due to my way of recording this. There ARE (simple) sounds in the game by now Featuring now 8+1 faces/figures by ptoing. Revealed every 1000 points 8 different speed-up settings with setting 0 as "kid ONLY mode" *g* with no speed increase at all... Please note the smooth timer bar now PS: shown here is the NTSC version PPS: had to post at PI time Edited September 27, 2013 by enthusi 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkiker2089 Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 Is it possible to get a part that can't be used, ex a right leg when all the creatures have one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Necron99 Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 Is it possible to get a part that can't be used, ex a right leg when all the creatures have one? my guess from the video is yes, but the counter in the top right corner is how many parts you can throw away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptoing Posted September 27, 2013 Share Posted September 27, 2013 You will always get a part that will fit into an empty space. The game never forces you to lose a life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enthusi Posted October 8, 2013 Author Share Posted October 8, 2013 (edited) There are some pics that Albert took including Assembloids2600 from the Portland Retro Gaming Expo (PRGE): http://atariage.com/forums/topic/217449-photos-of-the-atariage-booth-at-prge-2013/ I hope do have some video footage including audio ready later today Meanwhile I managed to squeeze out some more 20 bytes with an approach described well in Thomas' blog here: http://atariage.com/forums/blog/144/entry-10014-optimize-data-overlapping/ I used it before in c64 related software but I never went for a full analysis and just arranged by eye or simple checks. However, I wrote an own tool to find the best sort for all 11 live counter digits with maximum overlap. 11! ~ 39 Millioen possible combinations If you are interested, the optimal solution (one of them) is here: http://pastebin.de/36550 Edited October 8, 2013 by enthusi 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 However, I wrote an own tool to find the best sort for all 11 live counter digits with maximum overlap. 11! ~ 39 Millioen possible combinations For just 11 values, I doubt the result was any better than doing it by hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enthusi Posted October 8, 2013 Author Share Posted October 8, 2013 (edited) it was much more fun though much beyond 12 is kinda out of reach for this approach anyway as you know. However, Im quite satisfied with the posted result (you could get those free bytes simpler elsewhere probably still . If you want I can post the unsorted data and you can give it a try by eye? I should have made it a challenge, damn. PS: here is the video (very low volume - sorry): I will need a brighter green in the game Edited October 8, 2013 by enthusi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted October 8, 2013 Share Posted October 8, 2013 If you want I can post the unsorted data and you can give it a try by eye? Nah, DOOD will try for me. BTW: I suppose you are already using reflection? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enthusi Posted October 8, 2013 Author Share Posted October 8, 2013 Nah, DOOD will try for me. BTW: I suppose you are already using reflection? Yeah Otherwise I woudnt fit in 9 faces there. I started out with asymmetric gfx but now its just in there to allow for the 'game over' message at the end which I quite like (naturally twice the size of a 'face' now). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enthusi Posted October 10, 2013 Author Share Posted October 10, 2013 Yay, I was able to cram in an attract mode that plays 16 moves. Thomas, now its 12 small live-counter gfx that I tested (12! is a bit ugly, took more than 4 CPU-hours) Do you want to run DOOD or your eye on it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted October 10, 2013 Share Posted October 10, 2013 Sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enthusi Posted October 12, 2013 Author Share Posted October 12, 2013 (edited) Ok, this time a proper video via capture card from a real PAL Atari 2600 junior including audio and the new attract mode, slightly modified colors and some game play: This is basically the final version I think I recorded the PAL version. The NTSC version looks pretty identical and used different values for the timer-speed(up), so they should be pretty comparable in gameplay and scoring. After a couple of seconds, it enters the 'Attract mode' with automatic gameplay, it loops back to title and I play a couple of tiles including a 'board clear'. Every 1000 points a new gfx is introduced (final version might change that to 2000 pts actually . The timer decreases faster and faster but is restored to slower speeds on any lost life as demonstrated at the end of the video. It will be available at atariage.com at some point. Enjoy Edited October 12, 2013 by enthusi 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vprette Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 We are interested to port this game on Intellivision, either by you coding it or by getting the atari source from you to find another developer to port, and reconnaise revenues to you, just send me a pm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Adam+ Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 Slightly off-topic: on Sunday the results of ABBUC Software Contest 2013 for 8-bit Atari were announced and our "Assembloids XE" game took 2nd place (with very small point difference to the winner "X:8"). The game looks like this: and can be downloaded here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr Manhattan Posted October 29, 2013 Share Posted October 29, 2013 I don't mean to interrupt all this serious coding talk but is there any word on a cartridge release for the 2600? I loved this game at PRGE and came back to play it several times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enthusi Posted October 30, 2013 Author Share Posted October 30, 2013 Hi Dr Manhattan Yes, it will get on cart. Im having serious trouble to contact Albert in a successful way but meanwhile the game is complete There will probably be a prototype presented at the Sillyventure party and I consider making a playable demo available as well. So Albert if you read this, read my messages Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted October 30, 2013 Share Posted October 30, 2013 Hi Dr Manhattan Yes, it will get on cart. Im having serious trouble to contact Albert in a successful way but meanwhile the game is complete There will probably be a prototype presented at the Sillyventure party and I consider making a playable demo available as well. So Albert if you read this, read my messages I will hunt your message down--I have a large backlog of PMs at the moment! ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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