+johnnywc Posted November 16, 2015 Author Share Posted November 16, 2015 My only complaint is that my thumb is aching from playing it so much this evening. If you have space, one option you could add with something like a difficulty setting is rapid-fire so those who don't like to press and let go of the fire button so much can just hold it down. I also believe auto/rapid fire should be an option. anges there (to increase difficulty) would make it more frustrating. Thanks for the suggestions about auto-fire... I have implemented this and it will be in the next release. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted November 16, 2015 Author Share Posted November 16, 2015 Hi Eric! Hey, I don't want to play it to the bones now. Want to preserve that excitement for when I have the physical cartridge release! Lol this is the one negative of making these games... I never get to enjoy the finished product as a 'new' experience That's also why I look so forward to other developer's games being released - it's always quite a thrill! I gave the game several more runs on the emulator, yet with all the points you raised, I still can't really find any notable weaknesses. Menu, controls - work great Sound effects - seem to be spot on, as far as the 2600 allows. Gameplay - smooth and fast. Difficulty levels, ramp up, replay value - 3 levels seem to be sufficient, but ok, I sure would not complain if there were a couple more to warrant longevity. Scoring, Score recording, Bonus lives - seem to follow the arcade original point for point. Don't see what more one should ask for. Differences to the arcade version - I noted the missing stars background. Would be nice, but attributing this to the VCS limitations, I can very well live without it. New features - Scramble is THE classic horizontal shooter, the game that invented the genre, and a well-rounded game experience anyway. Adding features would just detract from the joy of having such a faithful translation of an essential arcade classic on the VCS . If one wants to expand on it (and consequently change it) then give us "Super Scramble". But leave this game experience as pure as it is now. Thanks for the feedback! I'll probably stick with the 3 settings but try to add in more options for each to keep the game fresh. I always wanted to add the stars but I knew implementing everything else would take up most of the processing power (and it did!). I still have a little more room in the kernel so it's still possible... If John can be tempted to work on a follow-up game (such as Sea Dragon or Tail of Beta Lyrae known from the 400/800 or the obscure arcade game Scorpion from zaccaria), that would be the opportunity to suggest new features/ideas/levels and expand on the original game Hmmm I haven't heard of either of those games, but I have considered using the engine to update Super Cobra (aka Super Scramble ), and the original intention was to make another Coleco vaporware title (Cosmic Avenger). That will probably be enough side scrollers (for my lifetime anyway ... Thanks! John 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted November 16, 2015 Author Share Posted November 16, 2015 This seems relevant Wow great find Darrell! I think that was just a few weeks after I had finished Lady Bug and was looking for my 'next project', and here we are 9 years later! Except for the 'missiles/ball used for the ground objects' it looks like I stuck to my original assumptions (even if I didn't know I'd have DPC+ and ARM to work with ). Thanks, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted November 16, 2015 Author Share Posted November 16, 2015 (edited) I can't get enough of this game, but while playing it yesterday, I couldn't help but wonder if John could also hack it into Comic Avenger. He already gave us one of Colecos vapourware titles "Ladybug". I in no way understand programming and I don't want to derail this topic, but I was just curious. Thanks for sharing the demo, it definitely gives me an idea on what Cosmic Avenger could have looked like. your talent is truly impressive. Hi! As Darrell said, the original plan was to make Cosmic Avenger. It all started when Nathan, Al and myself were putting together the collectors (Coleco) edition of Lady Bug and were looking at the old Coleco catalog that had promised Cosmic Avenger. After a few days, Nathan had sent me some mock ups and I got a basic demo going, but quickly figured out that a decent port could not be done without a little help from DPC+/ARM. I reached out to Darrell who was very helpful in getting me up to speed and provided the awesome demo above. After a couple of weeks, I decided that learning the DPC+/ARM *and* figuring out Cosmic Avenger was a bit too much, so I took a step back and decided to focus on Scamble since it is seemed to be simpler to implement and I had played it 1000 times in the arcade. So, that's how Scramble came to be, but Cosmic Avenger is still a possibility. Thanks, John Edited November 16, 2015 by johnnywc 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VectorGamer Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 I will fire this up tonight and give it a go. Thanks for posting the ROM. I didn't see this in your description: can you add a continue feature? It would be nice to continue the game to the end for us less skilled players. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 I once had suggested the same, but the game is short enough that you can get through it with a little practice. And now it also has a NOVICE level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 It all started when Nathan, Al and myself were putting together the collectors (Coleco) edition of Lady Bug...What's that anyway? Can you talk about it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted November 16, 2015 Author Share Posted November 16, 2015 What's that anyway? Can you talk about it? Sure! It was announced on the front page about a month ago for the PRGE and is described in this post: PRGE AtariAge announcement It's basically a 'collector's edition'; the game play is exactly the same. The ROM has only been modified to include a COLECO title screen, the start up ROM OK/RAM OK displays a unique serial #, and it is packaged in a Coleco cartridge case with a wonderful Coleco label, box and instruction manual designed by Nathan and put together by Al. There are a few other things included; the details are in the link. John 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Holy crap I just tried this out in Stella and it is amazing to me how this is possible on the VCS. If there's someone out there who's had thoughts about Scramble on the 2600 for the past 3 decades it's ME right here.. and I'm blown away The thing that gets me too is it plays very close to the arcade as well (which I have to say I'm pretty decent at).. Friggin another amazing job. But as you might know I'm a long time fan of Champ games since your pc arcade ports in the mid 90's.. so I aint surprised. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atarigmr Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Great game, congratulations! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SIO2 Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Will the cart release include a coin box so I have someplace to put my quarter? Excellent game my friend. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Interesting idea... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 I hope a PAL60 version of this awesome game (and of Conquest of Mars too) will be released; only colors need to be changed. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mayhem Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Had a play of it over the weekend, to continue what people have said already, considering the limitations of the 2600 and what the arcade performs, this is a terrific version. Scrolling is a little off, but I don't expect it to be silky smooth! In fact, the only thing I really noticed was that the fireballs seem to come closer to the rocks than in the arcade, or it's harder to dodge vertically to avoid them. I found stage 3 a bit harder than I find the arcade! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FujiSkunk Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 This past weekend at the Houston Arcade Expo was the first time I saw 2600 Scramble. I have to say, very well done! The game is impressive, right down to the title screen. It took me a while to figure out how you made the logo so colorful without flicker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 (edited) The coarse scrolling requires a little anticipation of your moves as you navigate the narrow corridors prior to blowing up the base. There are times if you cut the corners close that the terrain will jump into you and blow up your jet. An incongruence or difference because the jet is smooth scrolling. Edited November 16, 2015 by Keatah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Been playing this quite a bit... has anyone else noticed your bullets intermittently disappearing in the cavern/UFO stage? Seems the UFO's follow each other too closely as well. No, but I did see a couple of collision detection misses today in that stage (my bombs passed right through a mystery target and a fuel tank). I'll try to capture video of it later, if I can reproduce it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 Her hi-score was somewhere in 300,000 range. How many ships can you build in reserve? Because right now it seems to be 3. We got to discussing destroying the base. A tricky little fucker to be sure. But there seem to be three ways to attack it. A high pass and a low pass. The low pass is easier but less consistent. The high pass allows you a 2nd chance to set up and come in for a late low-pass. And it seems absolutely essential to get the final fuel tank just prior to the atariage text. If the tank is present, it is not on some levels. So you better get the base on the first pass. Just because there seems to be ample fuel in the corridors leading up to the base; there is yet a technique for maximizing your fuel, it appears to get you one or two more "|" "||" vertical bars. Which can make a difference. On some occasions we ran out of gas and began dropping. Then the game registered the successful destruction of the base. I'm almost certain that's what happened. I can see the possibility of auto/rapid fire messing up the high pass bombing method. Because you need to fire two shots with a delay in between them. Not absolute close maximum rate. But still quick. And then of course the third way of blowing up the base is a costly no-brainer. Maybe we'll make screenshots on how it it all works. But that'd be a spoiler! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted November 16, 2015 Share Posted November 16, 2015 A tricky little fucker to be sure. This made me laugh out loud. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 I can see the possibility of auto/rapid fire messing up the high pass bombing method. Because you need to fire two shots with a delay in between them. Not absolute close maximum rate. But still quick. I'm sure that rapid-fire users will strategically let go of the fire button when they need to. They can hold it down when they want to and let go when they want to. Freedom is nice because you can do what you wanna do, say what you wanna say. Live how you wanna live, play how you wanna play . . . youtube.com/watch?v=ZqzrFHfCnyg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqzrFHfCnyg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 I'm sure that rapid-fire users will strategically let go of the fire button when they need to. They can hold it down when they want to and let go when they want to. Well yes, as long as even the shortest of button presses doesn't complete a full cycle of blaster-bomb-blaster-bomb. As long as you can interrupt it in such a way that you can exactly specify when a bomb is to be released, then yes it should work. Hopefully the gameplay feels right. And if you interrupt it right after the blaster fires, will another blaster fire? Or will it hold true to blaster-bomb-blaster-bomb sequence? And will auto/rapid fire apply to the two-button controller? Are our programmers are thinking about such minutiae? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Well yes, as long as even the shortest of button presses doesn't complete a full cycle of blaster-bomb-blaster-bomb. As long as you can interrupt it in such a way that you can exactly specify when a bomb is to be released, then yes it should work. Hopefully the gameplay feels right. They could be a small delay before auto fire starts repeating. Like on your keyboard. That way you can create single shots or you can fire at a constant maximum rate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rodrigo Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Amazing! But I suck at it too... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 That could work. On collision detection. I can absolutely positively state 100% I saw two misses. Both were bombs aimed to hit a Fuel tank. I could see them go straight through the tank. One straight down the middle. The other a grazing shot, but within the boundary of the Fuel tank object. These were two separate instances and not the same tank. The instances were separated by a minute or two of gameplay. There was another time it happened much earlier in the day, but I considered it a near-miss at the time. Now in retrospect it was a failed detect. It seems to be a rare occurrence. One out of a hundred bomb hits maybe? It happened once in the UFO Saucer section, and once in the Fireball section. Unfortunately I do not recall with certainty if the bomb exploded when it hit the surface or not. I think it did. But it definitely went through the tank with no effect. The Jet was in no position to try again, unfortunately. So I don’t know if a 2nd bomb or bullet would have knocked it out or not. I tried recreating it with various tricks and conditions to no avail. A lot of objects on-screen, single bombs and double bombs. The only thing in common was the Jet was in the lower half of the screen. Didn't matter if it was full forward, in the left third, or totally against the left side. I have yet to observe a laser/bullet fail collision detection. But I wasn't really looking for it till now. Hey wait! Maybe they're holographic bombs, after all this is only a videogame..! I'm not going to try screenshotting it or making a savestate unless I can find a way to reliably repeat the issue. So this will have to do. The Fuel tank location and terrain shape is arbitrary and the collision detection failure could happen anywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 (edited) I uploaded a short video which shows a miss at a fuel tank. Maybe I found the reason: It seems like the bomb mores down completely vertically and then the playfield scrolls and the bomb with it. Edited November 17, 2015 by Thomas Jentzsch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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