Salvo

[RevEng]

Hi all,

 

I'm working on a new 7800basic game called Salvo, which is an update on the classic computer game Crossfire.

 

The .a78 and .bin files at attached, and instructions follow.

 

Check this space for future updates. Cheers!

 

 

(latest version, September 10 2016)

salvo.bas.a78

salvo.bas.bin

 

 

Back Story...

The Time Traveler journeyed to the year 802,701 and discovered that humanity has split into two distinct species. Gentle humanoids called the Eloi are tended to as cattle by the other species - foul underground creatures called the Morlocks.

 

The Time Traveler attempted to free the Eloi from the Morlocks. Wave after wave of the evil creatures and their deadly machines moved in to destroy him, but somehow he managed to fend them all off, banishing them to eternity.

 

Standing on the eerie quiet of the battlefield he wondered to himself. Now that the simple Eloi were free, what would become of them? Would they learn to become masters of their own fate, or would mankind's feeble destiny fade away?

 

Deciding there was only one way to find out, The Traveler jumped into the seat of his machine and pulled a lever. Gears engaged and crystals spun as he jumped forward ten thousand years.

 

Waves of disgust overwhelmed him as he stared at the scene. Several grey figures crouched over their frail humanoid prey, which lay still on the ground. The foul Morlocks had somehow returned.

 

In T:ME Salvo, you take control of the furious Time Traveler, in his futile effort to break the cycle. Rage against the Morlocks. Rage against time itself.

 

 

Gameplay...

Shoot the enemies, and avoid being shot.

 

After some time passes in the level, humanoids will begin appearing. Your enemies will kill the humanoids if they touch them, but if you run into the humanoids they will follow you. Keep them safe until the end of the level.

 

Periodically you will need to refuel on ammunition. An alarm will sound, and you'll see the ammunition on the playfield. Run across the ammunition to pick it up.

 

If you see a smartbomb, run over it to wipe out every enemy on the battlefield.

 

Every 2 rounds you will reach the challenging stage, where 4 waves of enemies will race across the screen in patterns. If you shoot all 44 enemies you will earn an extra life.

 

 

 

Controls...

To move, push the joystick in the direction you want to go

To fire while remaining still, hold the fire button A down and tap the joystick in the desired direction

To fire while running, hold the joystick in the desired direction and tap fire button A.

You can also choose to use the "2-Stick" mode from the title screen. Left to move, right to fire.

 

====================================================

 

The AA cart version of Salvo features a Christmas themed easter egg. To celebrate Christmas 2020, I've attached a version of the Salvo rom with the Christmas theme permanently enabled, so that flash cart and emulator players can also join in the festive spirit. Enjoy!

 

christmas_salvo.bin christmas_salvo.a78

[Defender_2600]

Very cool, thank you for sharing!

[RevEng]

You're welcome!

[PacManPlus]

I like this game. Looking forward to seeing the little extras you put in.

[RevEng]

Thanks Bob. Me too!

[TrekMD]

Great, thank you!

[8th lutz]

It is addicting to play the way it is right now and I am looking forward to your updates on the game.

Edited April 19, 2014 by 8th lutz

[RevEng]

Thanks guys. The appreciative comments add to my motivation!

[CPUWIZ]

It's madness he finds time to work on this at all, with all the other crap we are cooking up. LOL

[Marc Oberhäuser]

Awesome!

[Stun Runner 87]

Put me down for a cart when you complete your mission.

[Mayhem]

Took one look at the screenshot, thought "looks like Crossfire" and then read the text

 

Oh and yeah, cart when available

[RevEng]

Thanks guys!

 

I posted a small information update here

[RevEng]

I've posted the latest Salvo WIP in a blog update.

[TrekMD]

Just downloaded it. Cool!

[Trebor]

Quite addictive and very challenging. This is shaping up fantastically.

 

*EDIT: OK...Found a better strategy for me is to 'babysit' rather than run around like a lunatic. Love the "Challenge" stage - caught me off guard and the summary at the end of it is SWEET. Died on Level 3, forgetting to heed my own (aforementioned) advice...lol.

 

Great stuff...RevEng, loving it!

[RevEng]

Getting to level 3 is a pretty good result. Ever since I added in the code for the humanoids I usually only make it to level 4, and I've played it hundreds of times by this point.

 

I'm pleased with how adding the humanoids turned out. Even though there's no penalty to letting them die at this point, I find it irresistible to leave the relative safety of the lower row to save them. Eventually I'll make it a strategic advantage to at least save some of them.

 

Thanks for the feedback, Trebor!

[Trebor]

...the relative safety of the lower row...

Exactly where I try to "babysit"

[godzillajoe]

This is coming along nicely. Good job. Do the humans just follow you around? It would be cool if you could drop them off somewhere and get a nice bonus for saving all of them. Or if they were "armed" and shot in the opposite direction of your shots. Kinda like picking up the second ship in Galaga. Gives you incentive to rescue them.

[Trebor]

This game is addictive and fun. The action and pace keeps you on your toes; however, you have to be cautious and patient (At least I need to be as I perform better with this title trying to apply that strategy :

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr4yhqvW1mc

 

I like godzillajoe's thought of providing some more incentive to rescue the humanoids. Even if nothing additional was done to change gameplay behavior regarding them, likely just ante up the point value in rescuing them could work wonders in motivation for not just the initial rescue, but also keeping them alive.

 

Perhaps something like instead of 100 points for each, bump it to 250-300.

If you save and preserve 3 alive you get a 1000 bonus with a 500 bonus for each additional humanoid above 3.

Something along those lines...

 

If contemplating gameplay changes to them, maybe turn humanoids into Progs instead of just death when Brains touch them as a possibility. And the Progs require additional shot(s) to kill, or/and as an(other) extra challenge, they pick up speed in their attacks as the levels increase.

[TrekMD]

This is indeed very addicting! I like the ideas Trebor has regarding the humans.

[Jinks]

You need bombs. Bomb bonus for each human saved. That does a bomberman full length and width kill..

[RevEng]

Thanks for the great feedback and ideas, guys. It very satisfying that people are getting into it!

 

Bomberman style bombs would be cool. I'm going to retool the way bonus items work in a future version and probably ditching hyperspace, so they may make it in there but I don't think I'll connect getting them with saving humanoids. I want all abilities to go through the new bonus item system.

 

Having humanoids as a shooting assist sounds like an awesome idea, but with all of the robots(11), robot shots(5), player(1), player shots(2), humanoids(1), and bonus objects(1), I'm starting to approach limits on the current number of moving objects. I have some ideas to try and raise the limits in future versions of 7800basic, but I also think the game has a nice amount of visual chaos already going on, so I'm going to let the limits guide me for now.

 

So far as losing all of the humanoids, I have negative feedback planned in the form it resulting in the "city" being destroyed (ala Defender) and having some additional enemies show up in the darkness, with perhaps a bump in aggressiveness for the regular enemies. I have a very basic idea of the new enemies being a set of red eyes that wait for you in the dark of the board, charging toward you if you cross their path. Sometimes the eyes will close and move around under the cover of darkness, reappearing elsewhere.

 

For positive feedback for saving those humanoids, Trebor, I like the idea of tweaking the scoring as you suggest. I considered turning them into Progs too, but if I go down that route I'd like for them to behave very different than the rest of the enemies. Maybe they turn into time bombs and head directly toward the player, and the player can only keep them at bay with continual shooting, hoping the ammo will hold out. Maybe. I'll mull it over.

[fandenivoldsk]

Would it be possible to use two joysticks, so you can walk in one direction and shoot in another at the same time? I think Crossfire for the C64 had this Robotron-styled feature.

Edited July 28, 2014 by fandenivoldsk

[RevEng]

Good idea! Robotron style controls are definitely doable. Since using dual sticks would give the player additional capabilities, I'll take a look at implementing them when I get to creating the title screen so they can be optional, tracked for high-score purposes, etc.