+SpiceWare Posted October 1, 2017 Author Share Posted October 1, 2017 Just whipped these up to give y'all some ideas: Cohabitation Boxed In Libra, The Scales Big Dipper Do note that #2 would be disqualified because it causes jitter on later levels when the stations launch E-Type missiles. draconian_20170930_SpiceWare.bin sectors.txtNOTE: sectors.txt was created on a Mac. You might have to load/save it using WordPad for dracsec on Windows to work with it 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamrodHare Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 I'm going to see what I can come up with tonight. Hopefully others will do the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+stephena Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Sorry I wasn't able to contribute, but game design isn't really my forte, nor do I really have enough time outside of work and Stella to do anything else anyway. But I do understand the feeling of throwing a lot of your time and energy into something, and then feel like it's all been a waste of time since nobody seems to be interested anyway (it probably isn't that way, but sometimes it feels that way). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted October 1, 2017 Share Posted October 1, 2017 Just wanted to put in my two cents that making compelling levels is hard, if my experience with Mario Maker is any correlation. Some levels were amazing, some sadistic, and some just made you say wtf? I didn't participate because I felt I had little to contribute, but I enjoy playing these games. So don't bash your head in because few submissions were made. Draconian is absolutely amazing and I cannot wait to see it to fruition. It feels like I am playing a 7800 game, not 2600, and that is a testament to how far the graphics have progressed. Please do not beat yourself up over it. Just understand that the program you provided may be difficult for novice users to figure out, and I see much brilliant design in the stages you have added. I cannot wait to hold the final product in my hands (and no, a rom on a harmony cart does not do it justice). Congrats on making what is perhaps the most fantastic homebrew I have seen to date. You should be proud. I know I will be to play the final build upon physical release. :thumbsup: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 It's way too late in the game for me to get into any level design. Let alone learn the editing schema. But in thinking about levels, I have the following names swirling in my head with nebulous layouts in mind. Microchip Lunar Capella Dronager Retrieve Battery Emulsion Rotational Deep Layer Sub Filter Bounce'N'Cruise --- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Manybe a fifth sector Epsilon with procedurally generated levels could exist. Every freaking stage is different, no two alike. Never play the same level twice, ever! The randomization algorithm could be handled in ARM code... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 I noticed that the dracsec program is compiled for 64-bit CPUs, both the Linux and Windows binaries. While the majority of people probably have upgraded to those new-fangled 64-bit CPUs by now, some of us still might be sticking with 32-bit systems on which the program won't be executable. For fun I whipped up four sectors during the lunch break but as I'm sorry to say my work computer is terribly trailing edge, I can't patch or try the designs until later. Perhaps this is a problem unique to me and shouldn't really affect the ability to enter sectors into the contest as most people have upgraded their PC in the past decade. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devwebcl Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 So, I can only send one entry with 4 levels. Right ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted October 2, 2017 Author Share Posted October 2, 2017 Manybe a fifth sector Epsilon with procedurally generated levels could exist. Every freaking stage is different, no two alike. Never play the same level twice, ever! The randomization algorithm could be handled in ARM code... A 5th Quadrant? Hmm, that doesn't sound right for some reason, but I do like the idea. I'll look into adding this, though it does depend on there being room for the routine after I drop in the final sound effects from iesposta. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted October 2, 2017 Author Share Posted October 2, 2017 I noticed that the dracsec program is compiled for 64-bit CPUs, both the Linux and Windows binaries. Too bad nobody mentioned this sooner, that's an easy fix. I'll post 32 bit builds this evening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted October 2, 2017 Author Share Posted October 2, 2017 So, I can only send one entry with 4 levels. Right ? That was the original plan but, in light of the situation, feel free to submit additional entries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 I noticed that the dracsec program is compiled for 64-bit CPUs, both the Linux and Windows binaries. While the majority of people probably have upgraded to those new-fangled 64-bit CPUs by now, some of us still might be sticking with 32-bit systems on which the program won't be executable. For fun I whipped up four sectors during the lunch break but as I'm sorry to say my work computer is terribly trailing edge, I can't patch or try the designs until later. Perhaps this is a problem unique to me and shouldn't really affect the ability to enter sectors into the contest as most people have upgraded their PC in the past decade. My vacation home is equipped with a lot of older technology for reliability and the simplicity of it all. Including a 32-bit PC that can sit for a few months, and fire up without complaining about updates and all that. Power efficiency be damned. It's like those power boards in washing machines. A mechanical timer has much longer life, whereas I've had to replace a board, and so have friends and family members. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ZeroPage Homebrew Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 (edited) That was the original plan but, in light of the situation, feel free to submit additional entries. Excellent!! Here's my second entry. :-) Sector 1: ZZZZZZZZ Sector 2: Check This Out! Sector 3: D.S. Sector 4: jr It's been a ton of fun play-testing my levels and also slowly making my way through the game on 'Hard' mode which is the perfect amount of challenge. Looking at the unbelievable feats you've accomplished with the Draconian game engine on the 2600 I'm remembering back to a Galaga screenshot you posted once. Draconian seems that it is much more complex than what would be needed for a Galaga port but many people have speculated that it would be incredibly difficult (or impossible) to create on the 2600. Do you think that there is any possibility that Galaga could be accomplished using the similar techniques you used in this game? draconian_20170929_cimmerian2.bin Edited October 2, 2017 by cimmerian 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 (edited) Btw, I found a computer with 64-bit Windows so no need to release additional patch binaries if nobody else but me was unable to use the existing ones. Edit: Well then, here are some filler sectors for you. They're mostly geometric figures. Sector 1: Crosshair Sector 2: Fuji Fun Sector 3: Good luck, Mr Gorsky Sector 4: Crazy Eights draconian_20170929_carlsson.bin sectors.txt Edited October 2, 2017 by carlsson 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted October 2, 2017 Author Share Posted October 2, 2017 added a win32 build of dracsec to the initial post. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DamonicFury Posted October 2, 2017 Share Posted October 2, 2017 Gave this a try when I saw you really needed some more entries. May try another set later, as these seem pretty basic. What an amazing programming feat this game is! draconian_20170929-sdamon.bin 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted October 3, 2017 Author Share Posted October 3, 2017 Manybe a fifth sector Epsilon with procedurally generated levels could exist. Every freaking stage is different, no two alike. Never play the same level twice, ever! The randomization algorithm could be handled in ARM code... Seems to work well. I have it set to conditionally compile in as it'll need 223 bytes of space. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted October 3, 2017 Author Share Posted October 3, 2017 added a 32 bit Linux build to the initial post courtesy of cd-w. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 Seems to work well. I have it set to conditionally compile in as it'll need 223 bytes of space. draconian_8.png draconian_11.png draconian_10.png draconian_9.png draconian_3.png I think you just gave me a nerd boner! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 (edited) Just a bug report. Having the overscan debug info on will be recorded to the high score upon your last life. I'm now starting designing some levels. My entry: draconian_kiwi_20170929.bin Sector 1: Dicey side 5(meant to be easy level) Sector 2: Out around the rader Sector 3: Side by Side gauntlet Sector 4: The hunt for the 4 mukors(as I saw in the other thread.) Edited October 4, 2017 by Kiwi 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted October 4, 2017 Author Share Posted October 4, 2017 Just a bug report. Having the overscan debug info on will be recorded to the high score upon your last life. That's by design - it shows 3 special values in the menu: A Sample Overrun value after START. F = 15 which means the digital audio routines went 15 bytes past the end of the sample before the routines could turn off sample playback (as samples will loop if you don't stop them). Using that I determined I needed to add 15 bytes of silence after each sample to prevent you from hearing a brief snippet of the next sample. Last Score shows detected console, 2600 or 7800, which is so it knows how to decipher the 2600's TV-TYPE vs 7800's PAUSE button to pause the game. The PAUSE button is wired to the TV-Type input but it's a momentary button, as opposed to a toggle switch, so must be handled differently in code. High Score shows ARM timer value that's used to detect if your 2600 is NTSC, PAL, or SECAM so the proper color values will be used. Set Left Difficulty back to B and you'll see the expected Last and High score values: My final entry in my To Do list is: To Do for Release Candidate set SHOW_DIAGNOSTICS = 0 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted October 4, 2017 Author Share Posted October 4, 2017 To make it easier for everybody to test the levels, I've been adding links to the contest entries to the end of the initial post. The download counts in each reply will continue to update as normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted October 4, 2017 Author Share Posted October 4, 2017 Another teaser: 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 The winner gets to lick thick icing off chocolate walls? Maybe I should rethink my laziness! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alex_79 Posted October 4, 2017 Share Posted October 4, 2017 My entry: draconian_20170929_alex_79.bin 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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