Alien Pinball

[winkdot]

Thanks Zack.

 

I have made a modification to the top wall. I played it multiple times and did not see the error so it "might" be fixed. There is so much going on in this code that when testing I see new stuff all the time that never happened before.

I removed the old version 0.6 and replaced it with the new code but with the same name. So 0.6 is the current version.

As for improving the ball, I'm don't think it will ever be like a real pinball machine. I don't think the Atari Video Pinball game was even close. Midnight Magic was closer but nothing like a real pin. The only video game I've seen even close is the Pinball Arcade and that is only if you have a pretty good PC so there is no lag. I will keep trying though. Currently space is extremely limited and I would be shocked to find a free variable

[+Random Terrain]

Currently space is extremely limited and I would be shocked to find a free variable

Are you using all of the sprites? If not, you could kill some to get their variables:

 

randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-batari-basic-commands.html#dpc_variables

 

[winkdot]

Are you using all of the sprites? If not, you could kill some to get their variables:

 

randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-batari-basic-commands.html#dpc_variables

 

 

Thanks RT, but I'm using every sprite I could get me grubby little hands on and wishing for more And my variables are doing double duty where possible.

[iesposta]

Are you using RevEng's build where you get var0 thru var8 as 9 extra ram variables?

[winkdot]

Hey iesposta,

 

Yup A-Z and var0-var8.

[Mountain King]

Yeah, I found the same thing as Zackattack. If you hold up on the flippers you can keep the game going, not forever, but for a while. But the flippers look great now!

[ZackAttack]

Maybe you could include the flipper animation state in your collision detection and only deflect the ball at full speed if the flipper is in its upswing. You could probably do that without anymore variables.

 

Pseudocode:

if collision(Ball, LeftFlipper) AND LeftFlipperState == MovingUp then BallDirection = UpFast

[Papa]

FUN! If it's any consolation, the Atari VCS library of pinball games (all 2 of them being Midnight Magic and Pinball) are not known for their dynamic real-world pinball physics! You're game is very fun, and extremely good! I like that the balls are big and there is a good arcade look and feel to it. I got a pretty good score the first and second time I played it! Sweet!

[winkdot]

Papa that you have enjoyed this game, makes it worth the work. That you have taken the time to make a post about it, makes me very happy! Appreciate it! I'm just trying to make something on a system that I have always loved, that I would want to play.

I did find a way to free up a couple of variables and work continues, but now I have a severe space limitation and currently don't see a way of putting in the additional flipper code I have done. I was somewhat successful in adding code where the player can catch and hold (small bounce) the ball. But it it makes it hard to play as you must release and re-fire the flipper quickly before the ball slides from the flipper into the center of no return. More realistic, but not much fun and scoring suffers greatly. I will be doing a newer version either way. Even if it's just bug fix release.

Edited February 27, 2015 by winkdot

[winkdot]

Asking for opinions on this.

 

Does this simple graphics change distract from the look of the game. Is it distracting or do you like it better?

 

I'm sort of torn on it. On one hand I like the more colorful playfield, on the other the background lines go beyond the border of the playfield.

 

What do you think?

 

 

[Mountain King]

I'm torn as well. It's sometimes hard to differentiate between the back round and the playfield on the Atari. Do you have a new Binary I can try?

[Papa]

It's a sky for a city-scape! So, have you tried to use the border code and then match the outside color to eliminate the spill over? It might encapsulate the effect and keep it more background-ish looking?

 

PF0=%11111111 (before the playfield color declaraton or the playfield itself..)

 

I'm thinking it's maybe in there already somewhere, and I'm not sure how your code is, but I know this will create a border that extends to the edges of the screen (less 1's will bring it inward). If you already used it for you're existing border colors, then it's obviously out of the question, but if not, then you may be able to cancel out, or extend beyond the edges of the table.

 

If it's a playfield up front and playfield collisions are used to redirect your ball, then the edge colors at that point (black) would then extend to the edge of the screen. Depending on what kernel options your using, this could create unwanted effects, though.

[winkdot]

Just got back from fixing The Grand Lizard.. Wahoo.. nothing major just a dirty switch.

 

Mountain King - I will have another binary pretty soon. Found a place I could re-use some code so I have a little space to play in. On the background, sometimes when I look at it, I like it, sometimes not. It's almost like breaking the 4th wall. Then again I don't think anyone is going to confuse this for real pinball

 

Papa - I'm using the DPC+ kernel. Tried the PF0 statement without much luck. On the left it created a stair step effect of playfield colors with with the 64 bite position on. The right can fill completely with no stair step. I also tried using it with various binary values but nothing looked good. Looks like only the last 4 bites are used with this. The colors behind the city-scape are made using the background colors. I don't see a way to limit their width. Good to know this is available though. I'm a noob to batari and this is my second program. I didn't know of this command. Could come in handy later. Thanks!

[Papa]

Ah..I thought maybe that was the ol' DPC+ going on in there! Best of fortune with your game, though! I love the way it plays. A bit like pachinko meets pinball with a bigger ball and stellar targets. Cool game! I would keep chipping away at it until your happy with it. The city graphics and animated target already separate it from previous pinball offerings on the VCS, so it's all good! The face is reminiscent of Midnight Magic, but the ball says it all.. Bigger and more like a pinball then the little dot graphics of yester-cade!

Edited March 1, 2015 by Papa

[+save2600]

FUN! If it's any consolation, the Atari VCS library of pinball games (all 2 of them being Midnight Magic and Pinball) are not known for their dynamic real-world pinball physics!

You're forgetting (or are not aware of) Bumper Bash.

 

http://atariage.com/software_page.html?SoftwareLabelID=59

 

 

...ball physics less than perfect with this one too, but a great attempt at 2600 pinball.

[winkdot]

Wow Save2600, I never knew this one existed. Grabbed and played a little. Was surprised they used paddle controllers. I ended up changing Stella to use the joystick so left and right were backward which impaired my playing a bit

 

Thanks for letting me know about this one.

[Papa]

Nope..that one slipped right through the radar! Looks pretty good, though, AND it has bigger balls!!

 

I'm spinning wondering how paddles worked for a pinball game, though!?! There were a lot of misadventures on old school Atari.

I remember that Kaboom was almost psychic in how fast it could get and still have a sense of connection with the action. After cleaning out my paddles I felt that same whirring kind of speed like my mind and hands were faster than my eyes when the bomber got so fast!!

I really LOVE video pinball, though, and have included flipper buttons on all of my cabinets that are set up for video pinball on several systems. SNES, Genesis (Dragons Revenge is awesome with flipper buttons), Atari, PC (reminds me I need to set up Creep Night pinball for that), 3DO, Saturn, and more recently, the Jaguar! Ruiner Pinball is extremely good with flipper buttons..

[+save2600]

 

I'm spinning wondering how paddles worked for a pinball game, though!?!

The paddles were used only as discrete flipper buttons is all. Pretty effective actually!

[neotokeo2001]

Asking for opinions on this.

 

Does this simple graphics change distract from the look of the game. Is it distracting or do you like it better?

 

I'm sort of torn on it. On one hand I like the more colorful playfield, on the other the background lines go beyond the border of the playfield.

 

What do you think?

 

 

 

I like the look that you have here. Looks like a HUD in a fighter.

[winkdot]

Alien Pinball version 0.7 (download on first post).

 

What's new:

 

Wall hit modifications (always)

Flipper modifications (always)

Some graphic changes.

For each level the space ship bumpers change their behavior.

 

Comments are always welcome.

Edited March 6, 2015 by winkdot

[Papa]

Getting better! The aliens seem to have it out for you now. I still scored pretty high. The ball is fast and gives a response like the outer field is lined with bumpers. Not bad! The Aliens help to keep the ball from entering a centered bounce back sequence and also frustrate like a nemesis should. Very cool!

[winkdot]

Thanks Papa.

 

Sometimes I score well, sometimes really really bad. After many games I think 150k is the right point for an extra ball.

[Mountain King]

Ok, your game is officially fun in my book. It kept me from getting work done on my own game for about a half hour. Haha. Like a good pinball game it strikes a balance between making progress in the game and getting royally hosed when you lose a ball you had no control over. On a side note your cityscape is not distracting even with the little spaceship flying by. Also was it intentional that the plunger moves off to the left side? It doesn't seem to affect anything. I was just curious.

[winkdot]

Thanks much Mountain King glad your liking it!

The plunger is doing double duty It's there for the plunge then moves to the left side. It will show you your 2x or 3x bonus. It changes to a 2 for 2x and a 3 for 3x. It's a 1 when it first shifts over there.

[Arenafoot]

To me it seems like the flippers need some work.....especially when both are hit at the same time. Its like they both will not respond when pressed at the same time - its either left OR right and not both.