[Final] Monkey King

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

Hi Coolcrab! Looks like a fun two player game. I'd love to play it on our show ZeroPage Homebrew but it's a little too jittery on real hardware at the moment. I recorded a short video of it playing on my VCS.

 

The line count for the game seems to jump in the range from 262-276. It jumps to 264 when the screen scrolls down and a big jump to 271 lines when a piece of the tree disappears off the bottom of the screen. You can check out your line count in Stella by pressing ALT-L (on windows). You can analyze it frame by frame by jumping into Debugger mode (~ on Windows) and clicking 'Frame +1' over and over to see it in action.

Also, as you can see in the video I noticed you can get six powerups in a very short amount of time by going right to the top of the tree.

Other that that, keep up the good work. Looking forward to updates!

[Coolcrab]

Thanks for the tip! This is a very useful way to check scanlines.

I have fixed it up (I hope) and fixed the second player so you should be good to go for a test run. (bin in main post)

 

It still needs a proper start screen and sounds and maybe a 1p option. Maybe an AI.

Not sure if that will fit on 4k, we will see.

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

Wow, that was quick work! Looks like you fixed up everything I talked about and it's completely playable now on real hardware for the stream, thanks!

 

I'll include the game in an upcoming episode of ZeroPage! :-)

 

Thanks for the tip! This is a very useful way to check scanlines.

I have fixed it up (I hope) and fixed the second player so you should be good to go for a test run. (bin in main post)

 

It still needs a proper start screen and sounds and maybe a 1p option. Maybe an AI.

Not sure if that will fit on 4k, we will see.

[Coolcrab]

I'll be glad to hear how it plays with 2p. Also how the powerups work and the speed. Oh and if the powerup dot appears often enough now. (It should motivate people to stay high on the tree, which is more risky)

 

I'm still unsure about whether or not to turn some around or introduce new powerups all together.

 

So looking forward to the let's play!

When is the next episode?

[Coolcrab]

Update 16/8/18: Added a start and kill screen, a pause button (B/W switch) and ironed out some glitches. I think that the switch power is still an issue though. Gameplay is left unchanged.

789 bytes left for music. Is that doable?

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

I've scheduled Climb the Tree to be on our next episode of ZeroPage Homebrew on Wednesday August 22nd! :-) I don't have the exact time it'll start but probably around 3-4PM PT, hope to see you there!

 

Here's the upcoming schedule of shows.

 

So looking forward to the let's play!
When is the next episode?

[Coolcrab]

Cool, looking forward to it!

[Coolcrab]

Game is updated to have sound and some minor glitches are ironed out. I think it is not done enough to be in Beta.

I also gave it a backstory to explain why two monkeys are climbing a tree.

 

Comments welcome!

 

 

[Coolcrab]

New version up! Added coconuts as suggested by Thrust26 on the Zeropage homebrew livestream.

Slowed down the speed a bit and fixed some minor things. Stones and coconuts now can appear on both sides of a tree.

 

Coconuts can be turned off with rightdifficulty switch.

 

Should I remove the last two powerups?

Edited August 22, 2018 by Coolcrab

[Coolcrab]

New update, game now has sprites for powerups

 

1) Slows down time for both monkeys. (Scrolling slows down)

2) Removes all branches on your screen on your side

3) Heals your head. (Gives a life.)

4) Makes opponent invisible. (So he can't see where he's going?)

5) Ads a branch to enemies tree at height of player on the left for Player 0 and on the right for player 1.

[+Random Terrain]

Looks like it goes over 262:

 

Keeping Track of the Scanline Count with Stella

 

Seems like the sound for the coconuts doesn't happen until they are on the screen. You might want to start the sound a little before they appear so the player can climb down a little and get ready.

[Coolcrab]

Framerate fixed, I'll try the coconut thing tonight.

[+Gemintronic]

Not sure if it'll help. AND it uses a variable for each sound effect. But, I'll just leave this here

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/260179-very-simple-sound-engine-with-example/

[Coolcrab]

Updated game to have a simple AI and added a keep going option that allows the remaining player to keep playing after the other died.

left switch to go from 1p to 2p and right switch to toggle the keep going mode.

[fluxit]

The RNG on the coconuts seems a bit too random at the start of a new game. Sometimes I'll go 30 seconds or a minute before I see a coconut. Then there are the games that start with an instant coconut to the face, followed immediately by two more coconuts.

 

This is shaping up to be a fun game. The power-ups seem to work well.

 

--edit-- ...except for the slowdown. It occurs too often, and allows you to slow the game to the point where you could go for a snack and come back without being in danger of hitting a branch.

Edited August 30, 2018 by fluxit

[Coolcrab]

The RNG on the coconuts seems a bit too random at the start of a new game. Sometimes I'll go 30 seconds or a minute before I see a coconut. Then there are the games that start with an instant coconut to the face, followed immediately by two more coconuts.

 

This is shaping up to be a fun game. The power-ups seem to work well.

 

--edit-- ...except for the slowdown. It occurs too often, and allows you to slow the game to the point where you could go for a snack and come back without being in danger of hitting a branch.

 

I think that has to do with the 2600 RNG. The coconut has a 25% chance of falling and otherwise spawns right below the screen and tries again. I might lower the chance a bit to make it less annoying, but I fear that they will always cluster a bit due to how the RNG works.

 

I'm glad that you like the power-ups. Note that they are not random. You need 2 dots for the 2nd power-up and 3 for the 3rd, etc. I might change it to become random but that removes a bit of the strategy.

Maybe I'll put it in as an option.

 

I plan on adding at least 4k and a menu with game options, so that should allow for more game types.

[Coolcrab]

New update with better AI and less bugs!

 

Play online here: http://pietrow.net/atari/monkeyking/

[+Karl G]

 

I think that has to do with the 2600 RNG. The coconut has a 25% chance of falling and otherwise spawns right below the screen and tries again. I might lower the chance a bit to make it less annoying, but I fear that they will always cluster a bit due to how the RNG works.

 

I recommend using the 16-bit random number generator for better results. It requires that you set aside one of your variables, though. E.g.:

 dim rand16 = z 

[Coolcrab]

 

 

I recommend using the 16-bit random number generator for better results. It requires that you set aside one of your variables, though. E.g.:

 dim rand16 = z 

I have an empty variable ® but it just gives errors when I say dim rand16 = r Should it be at the top or something?

[+Karl G]

I have an empty variable ® but it just gives errors when I say dim rand16 = r Should it be at the top or something?

 

The docs say so, at least. Put it at the top with your other variable declarations, and then use rand as normal.

[Coolcrab]

It works now thanks! I also made a PAL version but I am not sure if the speed is the same.

If you just change the colors, does that make it PAL or PAL60?

[+Random Terrain]

It works now thanks! I also made a PAL version but I am not sure if the speed is the same.

If you just change the colors, does that make it PAL or PAL60?

 

It says "recently, it has been discovered that PAL televisions will play NTSC binaries without any problems except different colors. Optionally, you may prefer to create a PAL60 binary, which uses the NTSC timing but PAL colors. To do so, use the NTSC TV format but specify the colors from the PAL palette" on the bB page.

[Coolcrab]

 

It says "recently, it has been discovered that PAL televisions will play NTSC binaries without any problems except different colors. Optionally, you may prefer to create a PAL60 binary, which uses the NTSC timing but PAL colors. To do so, use the NTSC TV format but specify the colors from the PAL palette" on the bB page.

Yes I looked at that. How do you set it to pal or NTSC? Is it that little drop-down in the vbb program or do you need to add some kind of code?

[+Karl G]

http://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-batari-basic-commands.html#tv

[Coolcrab]

Yea ok the game is pal60 now. That's perfect.