Trebor Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 I just wanted to highlight, that even though the 'limited color' 320 mode is being utilized, if you are playing your 7800 on a CRT there is the bonus of NTSC artifacts (PAL users have artifacts too, but I believe not as pronounced). An effect of such is the illusion at times of multiple colors when only one is being used as well as twinkling stars. There is also something known as phosphorescence which adds that 'trailing' effect you may notice on a CRT. MESS contains CRT emulation with a proper aspect ratio which helps to better demonstrate how this game will appear on a typical CRT. Granted settings are not 'perfect' and there may be some slowdown due to the video performance of CRT emulation on top of recording the video, but to give you a better idea of how awesome Bob has incredibly developed the look of this arcade game on the 7800, here's ~45 seconds of the 'attract mode' running... http://youtu.be/xEkUPnSpcvg 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 And some in-game action trying to highlight various game and display features: http://youtu.be/FWNkRCajGgQ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriel Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 Has anyone gotten the Paint Scraper bonus to trigger on docking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted January 4, 2014 Author Share Posted January 4, 2014 I have You guys are awesome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaynz Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 Gabriel > Yep, a couple of times now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gabriel Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 OK, I'll keep trying. I haven't been able to get it to trigger yet. I have a suggestion for the difficulty switches. Difficulty A is exactly how things are right now. Difficulty B changes the Game Over events (running out of fuel, crashing while docking) into just a loss of a single ship. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 Pfft, difficulty switches are so 90s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinks Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 Pfft, difficulty switches are so 90s.80s you mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 80s you mean. 70s you mean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaynz Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 Yeah, I can't think of a console launched after 1980 that included them. Did the 5200 have them? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ransom Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 Yeah, I can't think of a console launched after 1980 that included them. Did the 5200 have them? No. Of course the 7800 has them. I don't know of any others though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinks Posted January 4, 2014 Share Posted January 4, 2014 (edited) I just thought most games with difficulty switch functionality were made in the 80s ANd a ton of 2600s made and launched in the 80s had them jr is the best example. Of course the 77 h6er was the first. Tons of handheld vid game systems had difficulty switches in the 80s that I remember. Edited January 4, 2014 by Jinks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 Hi Guys:Well, I've got good news and bad news.I have speech in the game, but it basically can only fit the initial attract mode sentence (I can also fit '1', '2', and 'ships', but not 'remaining' or 'play over' - so it doesn't make sense to keep 1/2 a sentence).I've added sounds to this game, although the player shot and enemy shot were more difficult that I anticipated. I got them as close as I could.The only sound I have to add is the enemy ship 'buzzing' sound. Enemy buzzing sound added.I will try and optimize ROM and see what else I can squeeze in, but it's not looking too promising. Bob AstBlstr.A78 AstBlstr.bin 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+evg2000 Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Bob, Just wondering, do you use any compression for game data(graphics, sounds, voice, etc)? I think for CV games they use compression, I was just wondering if for 7800 dev it's used. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Yeah, are you using ADPCM, or just straight PCM encoding? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NIKON Posted January 5, 2014 Share Posted January 5, 2014 Bob, love the sounds now.. but game starts on the meteor stage in sector 1???? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted January 5, 2014 Author Share Posted January 5, 2014 oops - left my 'test mode' in. sorry I also added the enemy buzzing, as well as fixing the game to start at level 1 Please re-download the game in the above post. To answer the question, I believe it's straight PCM encoding. The sample playing code I got from Schmutzpuppe. To be brutally honest, I'm not sure how to compress the sample (voice) data. Let me see if I can make some more room. Thanks, Bob 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Wow...Sounds great! I especially love the whole ship docking and then fueling up choices. You've really done a fantastic job; not that it comes as a surprise, but still should be noted 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaynz Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Almost bliss.. only thing I would change would be the attract greeting "Pilots needed in sector wars"... just AFTER the title screen loads. Hate to have the only sound off once. Sounds are great! Not really sure what to recommend about the voice - it doesn't FEEL like it's missing, really, but it would be a nice addition if at all possible. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted January 6, 2014 Author Share Posted January 6, 2014 (edited) Hi Guys: Thank you again @Trebor - Thank you I actually took the wave file from the 'secret bonus sound' and the 'fuel refill' and went sound by sound to try and get it as close as possible. The refuel is a bit off because of notes that were missing in the 2600. But I figured as long as it had a rising slope it would serve the purpose. @Jaynz - I originally had it there, but I was afraid it would get too repetitive and annoying. I put the voice back to the splash page, and what I did now was make each page of the Attract Mode last longer. Hopefully that helps. I found that the 'fuel meteors' weren't triggering the explosion sound, so I fixed that as well. Also, sector 8 as an Easter Egg has been added, although I don't think many of you will find it (aside from looking at the code). Thanks! Bob EDIT - to make the first few sentences more legible. AstBlstr.A78 AstBlstr.bin Edited January 6, 2014 by PacManPlus 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaynz Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 In all reality, you could call this one 'done' at this point. Anything from here on out is just going to be gravy. As for the voices, you might be able to shave off a fraction of a second after "Astro Blaster" before the wav's final 'pop'. The other alternative is to see how badly lowering the sample rate of the wavs would effect the output. Right now it's perfect sound, which isn't small as we all know. It's a balancing game, though, would 1/2ing the sample rate still work and also allow you to get some of the other voice in, or would it sound too choppy for the 7800? It could go either way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 The refuel is a bit off because of notes that were missing in the 2600. But I figured as long as it had a rising slope it would serve the purpose. The missing notes are not a focus as the rising slope is where the attention is drawn. Quite honestly, you nailed it...Bravo. I'm still awe-struck at the speed of development; seriously floored by how fast we have another amazing arcade port from PacManPlus! To echo Jaynz, anything more is gravy at this point. You've done it again...WOW! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 (edited) To answer the question, I believe it's straight PCM encoding. The sample playing code I got from Schmutzpuppe. To be brutally honest, I'm not sure how to compress the sample (voice) data.How about cutting the volume resolution from 4 bits to 2? For lo-fi digital audio, it might provide acceptable quality. Or it might sound godawful. It seems that getting game over while warp is active breaks the attract mode. When it goes to the gameplay demo, it just shows a blank screen for a few seconds then goes back to the title screen. Edited January 6, 2014 by ZylonBane 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Oberhäuser Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 The gameplay of the latest version on easy is perfectly fine for elder people like me 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PacManPlus Posted January 6, 2014 Author Share Posted January 6, 2014 Thanks guys I appreciate the feedback and compliments (as always). I fixed the bug that ZylonBane found, and replaced the bins in the above post. I think I actually may call this *done* unless other bugs are found... Bob 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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