+nanochess Posted October 14, 2017 Author Share Posted October 14, 2017 Thanks! Surely I'll ask for help. I'm almost in the final steps and I'm trying hard to stay in 8k Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Tarzilla Posted October 21, 2017 Share Posted October 21, 2017 (edited) It is alive! Not for sale but running on a real console. Edited October 22, 2017 by Albert Rotated image. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted October 24, 2017 Author Share Posted October 24, 2017 It is alive! Not for sale but running on a real console. So cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Nathan Strum Posted October 24, 2017 Share Posted October 24, 2017 I haven't looked in on this in awhile, and it's coming along great! I'd just like to add my voice to the chorus of people asking for the joystick directions to be handled a bit more forgivingly when trying to get into gaps. If you could have it so diagonals worked like turning ahead of a corner in Pac-Man, I think that would really help a lot. I find myself dying too often, just trying to get the tongue to go into the (you know... no matter how I write the rest of this sentence, it just sounds weird). Also - the arcade game does let you double back on yourself, so it would be great to see this here as well. Handy for worms. Excellent work - looking forward to the next update! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted November 1, 2017 Author Share Posted November 1, 2017 Released the 9th version demo'ed at PRGE 2017, check the >big< list of changes in first post BTW, glad to say Thomas Jentzsch is now aboard and he has improved vastly my display kernel and also I'm going to implement some awesome features to the core game Also I'm going for a F8SC kernel because these features really deserve it So expect more news soon 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted November 2, 2017 Share Posted November 2, 2017 This will definitely be on my list to buy when it comes to the store... 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted November 5, 2017 Author Share Posted November 5, 2017 At last I can show a picture from the most recent display kernel by Thomas after lots of fixing ins and outs to interface it to the core game and moving to F8SC mapping. It includes multicolor sprites, assymetrical holes in tunnel floors and textured floors. Edit: forgot to say the number of tunnels is now 8 like the arcade 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Cannot love this enough! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 This looks great! I had a chance to play the M-Network version back at one of the CGEs in Vegas (2K3 maybe?) and this one at PRGE and this is leaps and bounds above that one. Looking forward to the finished game! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted November 5, 2017 Share Posted November 5, 2017 Wow! Very cool!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hizzy Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 Waaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!! Yes! Yes! Yes!!!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conjurershand Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 Very nice. I like the attention and multi color to the ants. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Konqrr Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 Looks and plays really great! I am having one problem though. When i play a stage that has two paths down in the exact same place (x position), it is very difficult to only go down one level instead of two. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cvga Posted November 6, 2017 Share Posted November 6, 2017 This looks great! I can't wait to be able to buy this game!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted November 6, 2017 Author Share Posted November 6, 2017 Looks and plays really great! I am having one problem though. When i play a stage that has two paths down in the exact same place (x position), it is very difficult to only go down one level instead of two. I'm working in a solution 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ZeroPage Homebrew Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 What a great visual upgrade, it looks amazing! I love playing the WIP versions and can't wait to buy the full copy on cart! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEBRO Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 Hi there, I've been out of the scene for a while and not fully following all the new games and development coming to the VCS. I must say, this looks and sounds great. Great job on this game. I am curious why the extra RAM and ROM are needed. Could you share why they're needed? I've been more interested in code and construction of VCS ROMs.I really miss [stella]. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 The RAM is mostly needed for the eggs and the tongue in the tunnel. There are 8 tunnels which require 6 bytes for the eggs and another 6 for the tongue. That's already 96 bytes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEBRO Posted November 8, 2017 Share Posted November 8, 2017 Hi Thomas, The RAM is mostly needed for the eggs and the tongue in the tunnel. There are 8 tunnels which require 6 bytes for the eggs and another 6 for the tongue. That's already 96 bytes. Are all the bytes needed for the tongue? Only thinking of the left side at the moment, if the tongue has reached PF1 then you know PF2 would be filled. Also, if the tongue has reached PF0 then you know both PF1 and PF2 are filled. Using Tod Frye's Pac-man as an example, he used 16 bytes to represent a set of player wafers in the game by using the RAM values as pointers into data in the ROM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 ^^Extra RAM / ROM adds bells and whistles to the gameplay. They don't all need to use 4kbytes with stock RAM. BTW your Pacman was awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted November 9, 2017 Share Posted November 9, 2017 (edited) Hi Thomas, Are all the bytes needed for the tongue? Only thinking of the left side at the moment, if the tongue has reached PF1 then you know PF2 would be filled. Also, if the tongue has reached PF0 then you know both PF1 and PF2 are filled. Using Tod Frye's Pac-man as an example, he used 16 bytes to represent a set of player wafers in the game by using the RAM values as pointers into data in the ROM. I have thought about using such pattern to reduce memory. But since the anthills are random and therefore the layout can vary a lot, the number of patterns required I calculated became huge. There also is little to none time inside the kernel* to do any pattern handling. *The tunnel kernel has 2 single line, multicolored sprites and a full size asymmetrical playfield. So there is no time for index accesses for the PF. Therefore free cycles in the floor kernel are used to copy tunnel PF data from RAM to a fixed RAM address. Edited November 9, 2017 by Thomas Jentzsch 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cd-w Posted November 13, 2017 Share Posted November 13, 2017 This game is looking great! Would you be interested in adding a high score table? If so, I could write a version of F6SC that saves the high scores onto the Harmony/Melody cart (like Star Castle Arcade). Thomas - I think we could port across the high score code from Star Castle Arcade without too much difficulty? Chris Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted November 13, 2017 Share Posted November 13, 2017 I think so. But I will leave it up to nanochess for which bankswitching he decides. SaveKey support would be the other option. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AtariLeaf Posted November 13, 2017 Share Posted November 13, 2017 I only recently heard about this game and had never heard of the original. I'm very impressed with it and look forward to a physical release to purchase. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamrodHare Posted November 13, 2017 Share Posted November 13, 2017 I think so. But I will leave it up to nanochess for which bankswitching he decides. SaveKey support would be the other option. I don't know about everyone else, but I would prefer savekey support. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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