Assembloids 2600 (2600)

[enthusi]

Hi everyone,

I want to announce a new game in development for the 2600.
It is a fast paced reaction puzzler in 4k (I hope ).
Restricting myself to 4k was very important to me, since I consider it
the original spirit of the machine and indeed, I am now increasingly nervous about
the ROM size limit and fight for concepts and bytes already. Some space is left,
but sound fx and a few other things are still missing as well.
I am very confident, however, that it will see the light soonish.

There is a thread with some more details in the 2600 section:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/216403-new-game-assembloids-2600/

 

A first short video of me playing the game (slowly ) is here (however without sound effects so far):

 

The aim is to complete faces. The more colorful, the fewer points. The time limit per tile to set decreases with every move.

Graphics are not final yet but mostly The final game will be NTSC and PAL of course.

Missing right now aside from some smaller things: sounds fx and additional face-gfx that will change after certain goals in the game.

I hope you like it

Cheers,

Martin /enthusi

Edited September 10, 2013 by enthusi

[+Philsan]

Can't wait to play A8 and VCS versions.

 

I don't agree with the 4K limit, but you're the programmer, the important thing is that you enjoy making the game!

[Nognir]

just out of curiousity: Are there any news about the current process of the game?

[Albert]

just out of curiousity: Are there any news about the current process of the game?

Enthusi is hard at work on the game--it will be demoed at the upcoming Portland Retro Gaming Expo.

 

..Al

[Nognir]

Nice! So I suppose it will be also available in the store when it's done

 

@enthusi

 

will you also attend the eJagFest in Duisburg also this year?

[enthusi]

There is lots of news

Sound FX are in by now, also new faces but they are still not final.

Lots of new/shorter code to make room for additional gfx.

I am currently preparing a demo version for Albert.

But here's a shot from the new title which is probably quite close to the final version already:

(PAL version, NTSC working as well, but no colors set yet)

Edited September 24, 2013 by enthusi

[+SpiceWare]

(PAL version, NTSC working as well, but no colors set yet)

Are you using constants for your colors? I do this in my games:

 

NTSC            = 0
PAL             = 1
COMPILE_VERSION = NTSC
;COMPILE_VERSION = PAL

 IF COMPILE_VERSION = NTSC
 ; NTSC color values
GREY            = $00
YELLOW          = $10
ORANGE          = $20
RED             = $40
PURPLE          = $60
BLUE            = $80
CYAN            = $B0
GREEN           = $C0
WHITE           = $0F
 ELSE
 ; PAL color values
GREY            = $00
YELLOW          = $20
ORANGE          = $40
RED             = $60
PURPLE          = $C0
BLUE            = $D0
CYAN            = $70
GREEN           = $50
WHITE           = $0F
 ENDIF

...

ObjectColors:   .byte PURPLE + 6    ; 0=player 1
                .byte GREEN + 6     ; 1=player 2
                .byte RED + 6       ; 2=small saucer
                .byte BLUE + 10     ; 3=large saucer
                .byte WHITE         ; 4=score
                .byte 8             ; 5=asteroids (only used for monochrome)
                .byte ORANGE + 10   ; 6=satellite

All color usage is coded as COLOR_CONSTANT + LUMA. After that, changing the COMPILE_VERSION(move the ; to comment out the one you're not building) updates all colors. My builds have been PAL60, but if you're doing PAL with normal PAL timing then you can also define constants such as VERTICAL_TIME and OVERSCAN_TIME for to init the timer.

[enthusi]

Yeah, that's basically the way I do it now. Just via Makefiles but as a compiler flag non the less.

I just didnt set up the constants for the NTSC version yet for all cases

I refrain from 'naming' colors though as it just complicates communications with my graphician

Also given the available NTSC color spectrum, I might actually go for completely different color schemes, i.e. for the title logo.

We shall see

Edited September 24, 2013 by enthusi

[+SpiceWare]

Utilizing the larger palette would be nice. I don't normally think of it that way - I think of what colors will be lost when I convert to PAL

 

When I select colors myself I use color names. When I worked on Stay Frosty for the 2007 Holiday Cart I used constants with descriptive names like this as Nathan picked the color values for each element.

 IF COMPILE_VERSION = NTSC
ICE_TOP_COLOR    = $9E ; light blue
ICE_COLOR        = $9A ; blue
ICE_BOTTOM_COLOR = $96 ; dark blue
SUN_COLOR        = $18 ; yellow
DAY_SKY_COLOR    = $80 ; blue
FIREBALL_COLOR   = $38 ; reddish orange
HAT_BAND_COLOR   = $44 ; red
RED              = $40 ; red for level 32 message
GREEN            = $C0 ; green for level 32 message
 ELSE
ICE_TOP_COLOR    = $9E ; light blue
ICE_COLOR        = $9A ; blue
ICE_BOTTOM_COLOR = $96 ; dark blue
SUN_COLOR        = $28 ; yellow
DAY_SKY_COLOR    = $D0 ; blue
FIREBALL_COLOR   = $48 ; reddish orange
HAT_BAND_COLOR   = $64 ; red
RED              = $60 ; red for level 32 message
GREEN            = $50 ; green for level 32 message
 ENDIF

[enthusi]

yeah, but i.e. yellow is pretty ugly in PAL, so you would not want to use it at all I think.

Whereas for ntsc systems its pretty cool. With your direct one-on-one translation you end up with the smallest class of colors which work for both color systems.

If however you have graphics that dont refer to i.e. skin tones I think its much nicer to grab from the much smoother palette of ntsc whenever possible.

[enthusi]

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

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Did you try Bandicam for recording?

[enthusi]

No, running stuff on linux only. But soonish I can just record it from TV.

Rather the PAL version then, but they hardly differ

[enthusi]

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.

The 4k binary is still running from Harmony card though. I hope to construct some proto-type soon but it be available at atariage.com at some point of course.

 

Enjoy

[Dr Manhattan]

This was one of my favorite games at PRGE. I couldn't put it down. I just kept coming back to it. This game has great pick up and play value. I really look forward to the completed version. Outstanding work!