digress Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 (edited) Making 1 more game. It's mostly working already. 32kb size or less for a standard colecovision I played this game when it was new in the arcades of the time in a camping park somewhere in the USA. 1977 Boot Hill. Simple but fun game. there will be a.i. but not in there yet Skip to 1:00 minute mark to see the gameplay https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XZiDizk0SA Edited January 28, 2018 by digress 13 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPR Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Oh, man! LOVE IT!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youki Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Excellent!!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phattyboombatty Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Great looking game and fantastic music! I like seeing these old classics ported over to such a great platform. You're implementing the vision many of us really had for the ColecoVision! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Special Teams Posted January 28, 2018 Share Posted January 28, 2018 Two words: Awe some!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imstarryeyed Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 Hey that game looks great, I see that you went with a Gun Fight style, where the characters stay the same size and don't scale from the top of the screen small to bigger at the bottom. Do you think you can add the feature where the dead body gets dragged to the top of the screen getting smaller only to turn into a gravestone like in the original game? Do you know if the stagecoach can run you over? I was not sure if it could damage you in the arcade, but it might be interesting to deal with that element.. I grew up on both Boot Hill and Gun Fight / Gun Fighter and loved those games so much, I so thank you for bringing a very old great game from my childhood back! Please keep up the great work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthkur Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 This is excellent. I remember first seeing Boot Hill at a camp ground near Hershey, PA in the late 70's. Very cool game. How are you managing the separate arm movement independent of player character movement with the CV controller? The Astrocade port manages this with the paddle controller being integral with the joystick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digress Posted January 29, 2018 Author Share Posted January 29, 2018 You know your games. Gun fight the character sprites do not scale. I'm considering putting that in depending on space. I exepect I can get it in there and still keep in under 32kb. I don't want to go over that if possible. The body going up to boot hill & the grave stone is definately going in. In the original you can't change you facing direction or even cross the road. So I'm adding that in as optional selectable from the game setup screen. This way you can play the original style and I can make a couple of variations. You can face left or right if you choose to make that option. I'm adding the stagecoach shrink as it drives up the screen today and the cactus / trees will scale somewhat as well. If you notice anything else please let me know when I post the next video so I can make it as right as possible. Hey that game looks great, I see that you went with a Gun Fight style, where the characters stay the same size and don't scale from the top of the screen small to bigger at the bottom. Do you think you can add the feature where the dead body gets dragged to the top of the screen getting smaller only to turn into a gravestone like in the original game? Do you know if the stagecoach can run you over? I was not sure if it could damage you in the arcade, but it might be interesting to deal with that element.. I grew up on both Boot Hill and Gun Fight / Gun Fighter and loved those games so much, I so thank you for bringing a very old great game from my childhood back! Please keep up the great work! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digress Posted January 29, 2018 Author Share Posted January 29, 2018 fire button 1 shoots At the moment you hold fire button 2 down when you want to change your aim position and it'll match your current walking up down or forward motion. You release fire button 2 and it'll stay in that aiming position til you hold fire 2 again. works good for me. if you want you can hold button 2 forever and it'll just match the way you are walking. I might add in another option but no keypad or second stick though . perhaps superaction buttons 2,3,4 and 1 to fire. This is excellent. I remember first seeing Boot Hill at a camp ground near Hershey, PA in the late 70's. Very cool game. How are you managing the separate arm movement independent of player character movement with the CV controller? The Astrocade port manages this with the paddle controller being integral with the joystick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
darthkur Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 fire button 1 shoots At the moment you hold fire button 2 down when you want to change your aim position and it'll match your current walking up down or forward motion. You release fire button 2 and it'll stay in that aiming position til you hold fire 2 again. works good for me. if you want you can hold button 2 forever and it'll just match the way you are walking. I might add in another option but no keypad or second stick though . perhaps superaction buttons 2,3,4 and 1 to fire. Having it mapped out using the super action controller buttons is a great idea. Either having 2 = up, 3 = middle position, 3 = down or just having 2 making the arm rise and 3 making it descend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imstarryeyed Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 It's so great to have developers care about their fans to get their opinions on refining games. I wish the big devs in the industry today would do a whole lot more community reach out when developing.. I got interested in trying to jog my memory and saw this video.. I noticed that the player 1 or the left player when shot plays a different "peppy" tune than the "death" tune, while the 2nd player or the right player plays the familiar "death" dirge.. Is it just me or does this video show these cowboys moving quite a bit faster? I wonder if you add some more speed to them if it would make it a more zippy fun experience, or perhaps an option? I personally like the fast movement... It might be fun to consider adding progressively more random things to slow down the cowboy like holes, mud, cow patties or something, that would make some fun strategy to try to force your opponent to slow down while you are fast.. In this video I also noticed that later in the video like a bit after half ways, the right player ; which I assume the computer, does not run out of ammo? When I first saw this I thought how unfair, maybe this version on MAME is set differently or just sped up a bit, but the more I see it, the more I like it. It seems like a challenge to deal with and that speed seem to look pretty fun. I don't see a timer on the colecovision version, I am not 100% sure but I think the timer pushes the game along but I think there might be a timer if both cowboys use up all of their ammo before a reset of cowboy position and ammo? Can the timer(s) be added as maybe an option, this would be good for competition and to force players to not just evade for forever. Here is the DIP switch settings for the timer on the arcade if you wanted to see them as a reference... Time SW.3 SW.4-----------------------------------------------60 SECONDS ON ON70 SECONDS OFF ON80 SECONDS ON OFF90 SECONDS OFF OFF I wonder if having an option for a random timer of these times (or less) would make the game fun as well? Do you know what end of game is at this time in your game? The arcade looks like the highest score is 9 or 1 digit, but I could be wrong. Is your game set to a score to end? I wonder if you would consider the tournament option of, must win by 2 points? I can imagine 2 player games going on without the timer, might be fun. The last thing I might suggest is that an option be set if you can change the color pallet of the screen objects from white to yellow to allow Boot Hill or Gun Fight colors.. I did not realize that Boot Hill is the sequel to Gun Fight, as Gun Fight was only a 2 player game, while Boot Hill added fun backgrounds, tombstones, 1 player mode, etc. In any case thank you for asking for my input, I really love helping devs out, it brings me back to my QA days at Sony making games! Keep up the great work, I am so going to buy your game when you make it available? Do you have artwork made up for the box and book? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digress Posted February 2, 2018 Author Share Posted February 2, 2018 I updated a bunch of things. Timer is next. Due to space with 32kb. I might trash the title screen and add in a second game mode instead with the room I'll save. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=abmqdUPaqF0&feature=youtu.be 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imstarryeyed Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 That is a really great improvement you have made! The fast mode looks really more fun now and I love the way you "scaled" the stagecoach by using smaller sprites, that is very clever... The choose your color cowboy is great too.. I was thinking between white and amber but you have a full color pallet there, that is great! The colors really pop... I think your changes really go a long way to make this a lot more fun.. You were talking about another mode? If I can suggest maybe a one player target mode like in the atari 2600 game of Outlaw? If you think that may be a bit dull, maybe adding a mode where you have to shoot up the stagecoach before it reaches the top a number of times or have the other cowboy protect the stage while the other shoots.. Just wanted to add a few suggestions.. I am sure any mode you add would be great.. Keep up the great work! Its looking really great!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digress Posted February 3, 2018 Author Share Posted February 3, 2018 (edited) The original gameplay is already there. I have a little extra room so ... I was thinking about a target mode yes. But more of a Z-mode. Basically the 1 or 2 cowboys would defend against hordes of running zombies progressively getting faster and more of them. with stats of how you did at the end of course. you'd both stay behind baricades on one side of the screen and probably put ammo or perhaps dynamite options that you might have to run out and grab as they fall from the zombies in the field. If I got room of course. i decided to leave the option for any of 15 colours. Basically you can choose black or green and almost disappear into the bg like the predator. i made it a bit more colourful too. Edited February 3, 2018 by digress 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
retroillucid Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 The original gameplay is already there. I have a little extra room so ... I was thinking about a target mode yes. But more of a Z-mode. Basically the 1 or 2 cowboys would defend against hordes of running zombies progressively getting faster and more of them. with stats of how you did at the end of course. you'd both stay behind baricades on one side of the screen and probably put ammo or perhaps dynamite options that you might have to run out and grab as they fall from the zombies in the field. If I got room of course. i decided to leave the option for any of 15 colours. Basically you can choose black or green and almost disappear into the bg like the predator. i made it a bit more colourful too. Great job! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imstarryeyed Posted February 4, 2018 Share Posted February 4, 2018 Well I think the latest screenshot looks great! I love the Z - Mode idea!! It sounds really fun! I love the idea of you having to fight off zombies but I love the idea that you have to leave the barricade / shelter to pick up item(s) they drop. Will the zombies shoot? Do you know if they can chip away or break down your barricade? If so can it be repaired by an brick, rock or item they may drop piece by piece? I think your game is working out to be quite excellent! I am looking forward to seeing it progress even more! Keep up the great work!!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digress Posted February 5, 2018 Author Share Posted February 5, 2018 Harder than it looks! every round is more zombies. up to 20 zombies chase you at a time. stage coach is a great help in thining the herd. but's its not active on every round when you run out of bullets more will appear... if you can reach them. timed game can play coop 2 player. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72ZXt8HHzJc&feature=youtu.be 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 I would suggest to draw everything in hidden screen and then switch pattern tables (VDP reg. 2) it would remove the flickering and would make this game perfect. Also I would suggest to draw the zombies from row 0 to 23 in order to be behind the others (not showing floating feets over other zombied) 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imstarryeyed Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Hey that looks great! This mode looks like a whole lot of fun! Looking at that level, I wonder, can the zombies show some sort of death or animation? The zombies just kind of disappear, and I was wondering if the sprite can change to a pile of bones or flesh or an explosion to signify they are dead? It might be a good idea to have a sound effect when you hit a zombie so it feels like he was hit. It is possible to leave the dead zombies bodies or small piles (zombies that have been shot) on screen as an obstacle? I think that zombies can "decay" away might be interesting. It might be interesting to have the dead bodies fade away unless you hit the body again, then it renews its decay sequence like the game Exidy classic arcade game Venture. I love the idea that these former cowboys from boot hill are coming back one more time... is it possible to maybe telegraph the number of zombies at a time by activating tomb stones icons at Boot Hill like 2 sec before the zombie(s) appear on the screen? I know it sounds kind of silly but it would signify that at that moment X number of zombies are "rising from their grave" and tell the player to watch out.. this might become more useful once the player is already shooting zombies and sees the gravestones appear to get ready. . In any case the changes are great and your game seems to be getting better and better all of the time. Please keep up the hard and great work! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digress Posted February 7, 2018 Author Share Posted February 7, 2018 updated. zombies are drawn on hidden screen and layered correctly. They now explode when killed. It took a while to get it working correctly 0:00 min video. first 2 mins is me trying to beat 20 zombies with only 6 shots. 2:00 mark :Normal progression from 1 zombies games is demoed at 2:00 minute mark https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcD9YFrA8GM&feature=youtu.be 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imstarryeyed Posted February 7, 2018 Share Posted February 7, 2018 Ha Ha I love the way the zombies explode and come apart, it looks great! It looks like a fun amount of chaos happening. I really like how they look like a horde coming after you now.. that is really a good change. The stagecoach strategy really is a great way to work on the horde.. I love the way it mows down the crowd, so great to see! I also like how easy it is to take it for granted and get run over yourself! I am looking forward to buying your game once it comes out, it really brings me back to my childhood at the movie theater playing Gun Fight with my brother! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digress Posted February 12, 2018 Author Share Posted February 12, 2018 I believe the game is complete as it has maxed out the 32kb room and I've got all the features in I planned. Bug testing seems to be done added new scenery to fight areas log style barriers. added a music timer option - you can play til the music stops then the game ends like musical chairs. Zombie opponent appears after round 5 of the zombies to make it extra hard. more zombie spawn points. in 2 player mode the zombies equally split to attack both players til one dies then they go after the remaining player. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83NUxZesYYs&feature=youtu.be 11 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imstarryeyed Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 Ha Ha, I could not stop smiling while looking at your video! You really did a great job on this.. I am with you.. I cannot think of anything else that would make this game better and keep the spirit of the original game intact as well. I was thinking about that 2nd cowboy coming out in the zombie level as just the right touch for the Z level. I also like you added another tune in the game and this one has a more "saloon" vibe to it.. Thank you for all of the great work, I am looking forward to your game! Do you know what you are going to do for box and manual artwork? Games like yours and the others here are the sole reason, I am so into Neo Retro in the first place! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youki Posted February 13, 2018 Share Posted February 13, 2018 what i enjoy in Digress's Games , is that they have a all the "Digress's touch" . they have a particular style i love! Hard to explain , but it is like you see some painting of great artist, what ever the picture you see you know who it is. Great job again ! 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imstarryeyed Posted February 14, 2018 Share Posted February 14, 2018 I have to say his game have a style that is unique to him. I like the uniqueness of his games, lots of wit to them... I watch anime and I have to say finding a "style" in that medium, like games is something quite difficult. I hope he continues to make such fun and interesting and unique games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.