Tempest Elite coming soon to Atari 8-bit

[peteym5]

Tempest Elite works fine on Pal system. It is synced with the VBI cycle. No overscan mode used. Only major video trick is the Player/Missile multiplexer.

 

We are writing the manual now for the game and designing the label art. We do not use anything that is pre-glossed because when printed in a Laser or Inkjet, the ink smears when someone rubs their finger over the print. We will not be using any of those Sega Genesis boxes. That was KJMANN12 who had lots of old stuff laying around.

Edited December 22, 2016 by peteym5

[Gunstar]

This is actually pretty good timing for me, as I recently sold my Jaguar rotary controller and Tempest 2000 (since I hardly ever used them anymore, spending my free gaming time on the Atari 8-bit these days). Like I said earlier, I was about to buy Tempest Xtreem as an 8-bit substitute, but now I get to have Tempest on my 8-bit that uses rotary too, and still has good renditions of T2K stereo music and digital voice! And also just a bit better all around than TX. AND, I have been intending to get the VBXE, so I have even more reason now!

Edited December 22, 2016 by Gunstar

[peteym5]

Looks like we may have to extend the technical section of the manual just from the amount of questions posted so far. To make it clear, the program on the cartridge will detect if VBXE is present and if it is mapped at page $D6 or $D7. If NO VBXE is present, it will load the standard Player/Missile multiplexer into RAM and use that instead. This is done because the game Vertical Blank Interrupt (VBI) routine sets up the X/Y positions of everything on the screen. The P/M multiplexer or the VBXE draw sprite routine just places a sprite at the desired screen positions.

 

If people are managing to hook these Atari Jaguar Controllers up to the Atari 8-bit computer, there better be some documentation on how to get programs to read them, or else there won't be any games around that they can play the games with. Unless people make these things to convert to "Grey Code" or a joystick direction.

 

Indy 500 and TrackBall controllers both use this "Grey Code." A mouse hooked up to the joystick will also cause the ship to move. Megaoids also has a similar controller set up. I am working on another game for Video61 that will have multiple controller options.

[Gunstar]

Looks like we may have to extend the technical section of the manual just from the amount of questions posted so far. To make it clear, the program on the cartridge will detect if VBXE is present and if it is mapped at page $D6 or $D7. If NO VBXE is present, it will load the standard Player/Missile multiplexer into RAM and use that instead. This is done because the game Vertical Blank Interrupt (VBI) routine sets up the X/Y positions of everything on the screen. The P/M multiplexer or the VBXE draw sprite routine just places a sprite at the desired screen positions.

 

If people are managing to hook these Atari Jaguar Controllers up to the Atari 8-bit computer, there better be some documentation on how to get programs to read them, or else there won't be any games around that they can play the games with. Unless people make these things to convert to "Grey Code" or a joystick direction.

 

Indy 500 and TrackBall controllers both use this "Grey Code." A mouse hooked up to the joystick will also cause the ship to move. Megaoids also has a similar controller set up. I am working on another game for Video61 that will have multiple controller options.

I said I sold my Jaguar rotary, not that I intend to use it! Sorry if my calling the Indy 500 driving controller a "rotary" confused you, but that's what it is!

Edited December 22, 2016 by Gunstar

[Marius]

Does it include PAUSE feature this time?

[CRTGAMER]

I bought 5200 Tempest here when it came out and definitely interested Tempest Elite if a 5200 version gets coded. What are the different options in that options selection?

[peteym5]

Does it include PAUSE feature this time?

Yes, adding the pause was one of the first things I changed when adding new features and optimizing all the original code to get more out of the game. I added lane highlighting and when a flipper "grabs" you, all the enemies pull down the web just like the arcade game. You can also turn the music off.

Edited December 22, 2016 by peteym5

[peteym5]

I bought 5200 Tempest here when it came out and definitely interested Tempest Elite if a 5200 version gets coded. What are the different options in that options selection?

A different person and company is doing the 5200 version. We had little involvement in their project.

 

The different controller options are "Joy+Up", "Joy+Down", "Paddle", "Trackball", "Driving". When using something other than the joystick, the space bar activates the superzapper, escape pauses the game. When using the joystick, spacebar pauses the game, the "+Up" or "+Down" is the direction you need to press the joystick to activate the superzapper.

 

You have the option to play "Elite" or "Random" level set. "Elite" plays the webs in order 1 to 96, "Random" plays the webs randomly for each level.

Edited December 22, 2016 by peteym5

[tep392]

those Indy 500 controllers are fulll 360 degree. They read 2 bits in sequence grey code so it knows they are going left or right. The routine will read trackball controllers also. I understand there were 2 different versions of the way those trackball sent output to the system. Tempest Elite and Megaoids 2016 uses the "grey code." I am considering modifying "Delta Space Arena" and releasing it for those looking to play the game with other controllers as well.

The Atari CX22 and CX80 trackball's do not output grey code (quadrature). In trackball mode they output a direction and clock signal for each axis. Does Tempest Elite support this mode?

[peteym5]

The Atari CX22 and CX80 trackball's do not output grey code (quadrature). In trackball mode they output a direction and clock signal for each axis. Does Tempest Elite support this mode?

Nope all the inquires on the subject reported back to me they output grey code. I suspected there were two different formats of output because those things were made by different companies. I will see if Video61 will let me do another update before EPROMs start being produced. Any information on what bits are affected in PORTA?

Edited December 22, 2016 by peteym5

[tep392]

There was some confusion on the CX80 because people back in the day would modify their CX80 to work on the ST. Here's a recent explanation.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/259299-stella-473-released/page-2?do=findComment&comment=3654924

 

I've tested the trackball emulation in Atari800Win and it seems to work correcty for CX22/CX80. You can use that to test your game.

[tep392]

[Marius]

Although I don't have VBXE I think it is good thing that Peteym5 supports it. Hardware upgrades only make sense if people write stuff for it.

[peteym5]

There was some confusion on the CX80 because people back in the day would modify their CX80 to work on the ST. Here's a recent explanation.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/259299-stella-473-released/page-2?do=findComment&comment=3654924

 

I've tested the trackball emulation in Atari800Win and it seems to work correcty for CX22/CX80. You can use that to test your game.

What I need is to look at some ML code to read these controllers. I have to look at my hack of Centipede to see if that works. If I cannot find anything, people can just use "Joystick" mode or if the Trackball uses "Grey" code.

Edited December 22, 2016 by peteym5

[accousticguitar]

Will this work with the Indy 500 driving controller?

[peteym5]

Will this work with the Indy 500 driving controller?

That is one of the options for a controller to play this game. Label as "DRIVING" on the options screen.

[accousticguitar]

That is one of the options for a controller to play this game. Label as "DRIVING" on the options screen.

Nice

[peteym5]

What I need is to look at some ML code to read these controllers. I have to look at my hack of Centipede to see if that works. If I cannot find anything, people can just use "Joystick" mode or if the Trackball uses "Grey" code.

The bank where the VBI section is very compacted right now, I will need to re-optimize the routine to add in a different Trackball routine.

Edited December 22, 2016 by peteym5

[tep392]

Sorry, I didn't mean to make more work for you. I would probably use the driving controller anyways. Maybe put some weights in the knob so I can spin it. What's used for the super zapper in driving controller mode?

[+CharlieChaplin]

Well,

 

think he wrote it already in post 33: "When using something other than the joystick, the space bar activates the superzapper, escape pauses the game."

[peteym5]

I incorporated the Trackball routine into Tempest Elite from the Centipede hack I did a few years ago. Since I originally had Trackball and Driving controller as two separate options I can divert reading to the appropriate routine. We are still working on the manual so we have some time to get the cartridge to work.

[tep392]

This game has me seriously considering a VBXE. I have an Antonia 4MB on the way for my 800XL. If I can add the VBXE, I'd have a nice little machine.

[Yautja]

Hi,

 

Is there a difference with Tempest Xtreem?: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/212439-new-tempest-game-in-the-works-for-atari-8-bit/

 

Regards,

 

- Y -

[peteym5]

I bet many people on here would like to see some screen shots of the game. Here are some and maybe you can see some of the difference between Tempest Xtreme and Tempest Elite. I will provide more screen shots in the future.

Edited December 29, 2016 by peteym5

[Ransom]

Looks nice. What does it look like without VBXE?