iesposta Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 "Guys, the current sounds are just placeholders as I was playing with them early on. I only need to finish sounds and speech. As always, I will try and get them as close to the arcade as possible." That's the fun with the harsh sounds of the TIA. Without extreme programming (find Better Than Pitfall 2) sound can be done right (find Joe Musashi's D.K. VCS or Byte Knight and my DK Arcade 2600) or done wrong (the TIA sound in 7800 Donkey Kong). Samples are easy, but consume lots of ROM. You just throw bytes at the Volume register -it uses 4 bits and ignores the rest- , left shit 4 times for the other 4 bits. I know Bob will do a great job because all his works sound great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriel Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 I need to check this, but I'm not sure if one of the secret bonuses is working. On Wave 2 of Sector 1 there are tiny spinny enemies with a pattern where they fly a loop, shake, and fly down the screen. In the arcade they're rainbow colored. In this version they're yellow. When playing the arcade version in MAME I often get a secret bonus if I shoot them all before they do their second flight down the screen after their shake maneuver. I haven't been able to get this bonus to trigger in the 7800 version. I always thought this was a "shoot them quickly" bonus. Perhaps I'm not understanding the bonus correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YANDMAN Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Played it............Loved it!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Perhaps I'm not understanding the bonus correctly. Breakdown of all bonuses and the triggers: http://donhodges.com/Astro_Blaster_Secret_Bonus_01.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaynz Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Bob, sorry if I sounded like I was unduly pressuring you. I KNEW those weren't the final sounds. I just meant that it made the game a little hard to play 'cause the damage it does to my delicate ears. This. I'm hoping that the sound effects are close to the arcade not 2600 games like Megamania. The reason I picked those two sounds was because they're pretty close (though not exact) to the arcade game and already sound good on the 7800. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted January 2, 2014 Author Share Posted January 2, 2014 Hi Guys! Thanks as always for the kind words. @Trebor - thank you also for the link to Don's page - I referred to that repeatedly when I started coding this game. @Jaynz - That wasn't directed at anyone, there were a few people who mentioned the sounds... I appreciate everyone's input! @Gabriel - The only secret bonus that should be available on that wave is #13, and I think I know why you aren't seeing it: I actually had to line up the enemies backwards for that wave so you would actually have to shoot the *last* one that appears first, and so on in reverse. I will fix that. Bob 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Colored text looks great! Very nitpicky little technical issue-- after the docking sequence, the mothership changes to a different color for a single frame before disappearing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoctorTom Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 Bob, great to hear about the sounds. Really the game is excellent, and we appreciate your efforts as always! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted January 2, 2014 Share Posted January 2, 2014 I will fix that. The attention to (Arcade) detail (as usual)...Love it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stun Runner 87 Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Maybe PmP is a cyborg or robot. No human creature on earth can replicate these arcade games with such speed and accuracy. Where does PmP get this alien technology? PMP must be some sort of machine with these arcade chips already downloaded inside his computer brain. Or purhaps he IS THE 7800 HIMSELF......MY GOD JIM!!! AMAZING! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIKON Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Maybe PmP is a cyborg or robot. No human creature on earth can replicate these arcade games with such speed and accuracy. Where does PmP get this alien technology? PMP must be some sort of machine with these arcade chips already downloaded inside his computer brain. Or purhaps he IS THE 7800 HIMSELF......MY GOD JIM!!! AMAZING! WE ARE THE BORG RESISTANCE IS FUTILE!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted January 3, 2014 Author Share Posted January 3, 2014 You guys are too funny - thank you. @ZylonBane - took care of the discoloration for 1 frame after successfull docking. @Gabriel - fixed the order of the enemies to shoot for secret bonus 13 Also, I figured out how to sneak one more little addition in there. Bob AstBlstr.A78 AstBlstr.bin 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gorfcadet Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Bob, you are awesome. I can't play it until you put it on a cart (you know I want one right?) because my 12 year old winxp finally died and I'm not setup on my mac to emulate. Still, it is really cool to read the updates and look at the screenshots. I'm about to dedicate one of my collection drawers to PMP games. Its like the Bob wing at the museum. Thanks again for what you do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 I'm not setup on my mac to emulate. Hoping this helps MESS for Mac OS X - 32/64-bit Intel http://sdlmame.lngn.net/ I am a Windows user, but the structure/configuration should be (very) similar: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/197484-are-you-having-trouble-running-atari-7800-under-mess/?do=findComment&comment=2515071 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gorfcadet Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Thanks Trebor! I'll try it out when I get home! Helpful as always! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Also, I figured out how to sneak one more little addition in there. Bob Twinkle, Twinkle... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriel Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 I just played a little in ProSystem and a little in MAME for comparison. The 7800 version is a little bit easier. But to me that's not a bad thing. The place where it is most obvious is the asteroid segment. The arcade is a bit denser and less fair with it's obstacle dispersal. Of course, the colors are different, but both the arcade version and your 7800 port play so close that the play experience is almost identical. The warp seems to run out a couple of ticks faster in the arcade version. There's barely enough time in the arcade to wipe out those horizontally zooming enemies before warp runs out. In the 7800 version there's often 2 or 3 seconds remaining. Or maybe it's just that the voice in the arcade makes things more stressful. In any event, it's just an observation, not something I'm complaining about at all. I need all the help I can get. And yes, Secret Bonus 13 is working for me now. And... My god, it's full of stars! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bakasama Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Hoping this helps MESS for Mac OS X - 32/64-bit Intel http://sdlmame.lngn.net/ I am a Windows user, but the structure/configuration should be (very) similar: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/197484-are-you-having-trouble-running-atari-7800-under-mess/?do=findComment&comment=2515071 I rather use Wineskin and put the Prosystem emulator inside the wine wrapper and just run the exe. I just consider SDLMess, well a mess to use. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIKON Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 (edited) You guys are too funny - thank you. @ZylonBane - took care of the discoloration for 1 frame after successfull docking. @Gabriel - fixed the order of the enemies to shoot for secret bonus 13 Also, I figured out how to sneak one more little addition in there. Bob for some reason this latest build does not work on any of my 7800 emulators including 2 versions of MESS it was my emulators ini file that was pooched...all works good now.. sorry for the false alarm Edited January 3, 2014 by NIKON Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 Make sure you have the latest version (0.152): http://mamedev.org/release.html During the 0.149u cycle a lot of updates/improved emulation was added. It includes the proper address maps for things like XM/XBOARD POKEY and high score saving/cart (Although the latter is not fully functional...yet ) If you have 0.150 (Sept 2013) or newer, it will run fine. Latest 'MESS UI' aka front-end/GUI available here: http://messui.the-chronicles.org/ Some additional help/needed files here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/197484-are-you-having-trouble-running-atari-7800-under-mess/?do=findComment&comment=2515071 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckH Posted January 3, 2014 Share Posted January 3, 2014 PacManPlus, on 03 Jan 2014 - 07:24 AM, said: Also, I figured out how to sneak one more little addition in there. Bob Twinkle, Twinkle... The background of falling stars? This game is just a great version of the arcade game. Very fun to play. I don't think there is another version out there of this game but the arcade. The voice and sound should put it over the top as a great game for the 7800. As a suggestion, maybe you could add that phantom 8th stage as a bonus. Not that I could get to it anyway. I'm not very good at it. Chuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted January 3, 2014 Author Share Posted January 3, 2014 As a suggestion, maybe you could add that phantom 8th stage as a bonus. Not that I could get to it anyway. I'm not very good at it. Chuck http://atariage.com/forums/topic/219854-fighter-pilots-needed-in-sector-wars/?p=2892105 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 The 7800 version is a little bit easier. By default the difficulty is set to "Easy". Have you tried the "Medium" or "Hard" difficulty? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChuckH Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 Bob, I guess I missed that you are to include the 8th stage. Bravo. That will truly make it special. Chuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriel Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 Yes, I've tried it on all difficulties. I was comparing Medium against the 2nd version of the MAME rom. I do tend to play the Easy mode because I think that 3rd rom version was the one that was in my local 7-11 back in the day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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