Skeleton+ Rants

[EricBall]

This thread is for those people who feel cheated since they bought Skeleton, and now I've released Skeleton+.

 

Q1. Why now?

A1. As I mention on the Skeleton page on my website, the idea of a life counter came to me fairly recently. I realized that it would make Skeleton a much better game. As for why now, I had an opportunity to provide Skeleton via a different outlet and thought it was time to make Skeleton+.

 

Q2. I thought you said you'd never re-release a game.

A2. Yes, that is my desire. I have no wish to create bad feelings by re-releasing games (particularly "exclusive" releases which have little differences). But (as per my website), I realized after Skeleton's release that the game wasn't as good as it could be. I recently realized how it could be made significantly better and I was given a reason to make it better.

 

Q3. I thought you said you had run out of space.

A3. I had. When I decided to make Skeleton+, I went back through the code looking for places where I could focus my attention on space improvements. What I found were two color lookup tables which were taking up more space than was warranted for their importance. Removal of those tables provided the required space. (This also means that 95% of the rest of the code is unmodified.)

 

Q4. I just bought Skeleton, I want a refund/replacement.

A4. Contact either AtariAge or PackRat and they should be able to do something for you. Or find a collector out there and sell it as a limitted edition. (If you have a Hozer cartridge, that's a real limitted edition.)

 

Q5. I hate you, I hate you, I hate you.

A5. I'm not Billy Crystal, but have you considered anger management?

[SS]

Or find a collector out there and sell it as a limitted edition.  (If you have a Hozer cartridge, that's a real limitted edition.)

 

How many did you say that Hozer sold? Two? Now I wish that I had gotten one!

 

So, when might AA and PackRat start selling these? Hopefully the labels will be marked with the "+" so as to make a slight differentiation with the original release but I'll most likely be buying one.

[+cvga]

How many did you say that Hozer sold?  Two?  Now I wish that I had gotten one!

 

 

WooHoo! I wonder who bought the other one

[+Atarius Maximus]

WooHoo! icon_biggrin.gif I wonder who bought the other one  

 

I have a Hozer copy of Skeleton that I bought the same week Randy took his website down.

 

I'm really looking forward to getting Skeleton+, Eric. I love the original, I'm sure the update will be fantastic!

 

AM

[Spector]

I remember starting the thread called "Strugglin' with Skeleton" a while back, and pondered how much of a difference it would make if there was a score counter, and then others came on and started giving Mr Ball a good kicking. I thought it was alright, and now that he's done this, I'm very interested to play it. Well done for finishing the job off Eric - I'll cuttle this one soon and see how it goes.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I admit that I never really played the first release of this in emulation and still don't have a copy of the game for myself. However, after playing the "+" version earlier today, here is what I think.

 

Correct me unless I am wrong...but there are only 80 skeletons total to defeat? If that is the case then this newer version maybe a bit on the easy side. On my first play today...I managed to take out 51 skeletons total before they got me. I would have done better except that it took me a few sets of 10 hit points to be taken off before I finally figured out how the skeletons move.

 

I will admit that I am interested in getting a copy of this now however. hehe...

 

Pleiades and Revenge of the Apes are first on the list however.

 

[JCroniger]

Can I buy an autographed copy?

[Albert]

Can I buy an autographed copy?

 

I'd be glad to send Eric a label he could then autograph and send back to me, to which I could apply to the cart and send to you. That's up to him, though..

 

..Al

[Rob Mitchell]

But (as per my website), I realized after Skeleton's release that the game wasn't as good as it could be.  I recently realized how it could be made significantly better and I was given a reason to make it better.

 

 

Ahh! "Never Say Never Again" .. from Sean Connery's reprise as James Bond!

 

Thanks for your efforts to continue to make Skeleton totally more cool! It is still the only Atari 2600 game which makes use of the two audio channels as part of the gameplay!

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[EricBall]

Can I buy an autographed copy?

 

Sure, I will sign any Skeleton or Skeleton+ cartridges. Just pay for return shipping. I'm not sure about unattached labels though. I need to figure out why or why not. Easier to mail though.

[EricBall]

Correct me unless I am wrong...but there are only 80 skeletons total to defeat?  If that is the case then this newer version maybe a bit on the easy side.  On my first play today...I managed to take out 51 skeletons total before they got me.

 

Correct, there are 8 mazes and 10 Skeletons per maze. However, each Skeleton is stronger than the previous one. So at 51 Skeletons, each Skeleton is requiring an average of 7 shots to kill. That will be around 10 shots per Skeleton for the last 10.

 

I would like to make Skeleton+ as good as possible, and difficulty level is a big part of why Skeleton+ exists. But too easy can be as bad as too difficult. Any suggestions? Less life to start? Higher damage? One idea I did come up with was to make the damage time based. So instead of 99 life, you can survive 9.9 seconds of contact.

[Video]

I enjoyed the first Skeleton and will buy this one when it comes out.

 

I'd say make a difficulty setting. You know, you said you can get touched 90 times, I figure you could keep this as say an Easy setting, a medium setting of something like 60. A hard setting somewhere around 30, and perhaps a master setting of 10? I think that would be the best. Then people can set their own difficulty for the game.

 

Just a thought, that may take to much space to fit on the little 4k cart though. :

 

Another thought I had is that there could be destinct colored skeletons. Certain colors take a certain number of hits, but I imagine this would take WAY to much space on the cart to do, considering you'd have to have something like 10 different colors for the skeletons.

 

I'll be waiting for the games when Atari Age gets them for sure. Heh, I'd most likely send it to you to autograph also. Thanks for doing that.

[JCroniger]

Can I buy an autographed copy?

 

Sure, I will sign any Skeleton or Skeleton+ cartridges. Just pay for return shipping. I'm not sure about unattached labels though. I need to figure out why or why not. Easier to mail though.

 

This is fine or as Albert suggested, he could send the label. It's up to you guys. Let me know

[Spector]

I'd say make a difficulty setting.  You know, you said you can get touched 90 times, I figure you could keep this as say an Easy setting, a medium setting of something like 60.  A hard setting somewhere around 30, and perhaps a master setting of 10?  I think that would be the best.  Then people can set their own difficulty for the game.

 

I think that's a very good suggestion indeed, if it can be done inside 4K.

[Xot]

I'd say make a difficulty setting.  You know, you said you can get touched 90 times, I figure you could keep this as say an Easy setting, a medium setting of something like 60.  A hard setting somewhere around 30, and perhaps a master setting of 10?  I think that would be the best.  Then people can set their own difficulty for the game.

 

I think that's a very good suggestion indeed, if it can be done inside 4K.

 

Exactly how is the damage assigned, anyways? By how long you touch the skeleton? Do they do more damage the higher you get?

 

I agree that the game now seems a tad on the easy side. Perhaps, if space limitations allow, keep the original game intact and then have things like the amount of damage taken and even the life counter itself be different game variations. I think you can keep the original game in there and call it Master mode or something.

 

As far as the new release vs. old release, I'm not sure what I'm going to do just yet. I'll definately at least update my cart, as to whether I'll purchase a completely seperate one to have both... I'm not sure yet.

[EricBall]

Exactly how is the damage assigned, anyways? By how long you touch the skeleton? Do they do more damage the higher you get?

 

Basically, if the player and the Skeleton occupy the same square, the Skeleton hits the player for 1-10 damage (random, but with a bias for 10) instead of moving.

 

I agree that the game now seems a tad on the easy side.

 

Have you been able to finish the game (all 80 Skeletons)?

 

Maybe an additional challenge is to see how much life you have left when you defeat all 80 Skeletons. Or turn off the direction indicator, and use the sound cues alone.

 

I will give some thought to possible difficulty variations (and how to implement them).

[Xot]

I agree that the game now seems a tad on the easy side.

 

Have you been able to finish the game (all 80 Skeletons)?

 

Maybe an additional challenge is to see how much life you have left when you defeat all 80 Skeletons. Or turn off the direction indicator' date=' and use the sound cues alone.

 

I will give some thought to possible difficulty variations (and how to implement them).[/quote']

 

I haven't finished it yet, but I haven't been killed yet either; I tend to run out of time to play before I run out of hit points. The hit points do allow you to run through the maze a LOT faster, I think, since you don't have to be absolutely certain nothing's around the corner. I STILL think I can beat the original given enough time and practice... assuming my count was correct I've gotten into the mid 30's.

[EricBall]

Can I buy an autographed copy?

I'd be glad to send Eric a label he could then autograph and send back to me, to which I could apply to the cart and send to you.  That's up to him, though..  

 

I've thought about this, and I'm fine with signing just the label.