PICKLE

[easmith]

No one wants to give my Pickle any love ! Sorry , couldn't resist:).

 

Anyway, thought I would post in this forum now that it is getting pretty close to complete. Maybe somebody will have someone to play 2 Player games with at some point. If you are like me it is hard to find someone interested.

 

Thought about going for animations/ better graphics, but that would require 2 line kernel which I am a bit scared of. So for now it will be modeled after very early system titles in the hope that gameplay is fun.

 

Again, this is based on a game I used to play as a kid.

http://www.gameskids...ames/pickle.htm

The intention is a simple, 2K style 2-player game.

Object: Runner must steal as many bases as possible without being tagged out.

- First player to 20 pts ( 10 steals) wins.

Nuances:

1. The runner must be tagged with the ball while off base. Then the players switch roles AND MUST ALSO SWITCH JOYSTICKS.

2. While throwing, if the joystick is pressed up or down, the top and bottom throwers, respectively , will return to their bases after throwing. Otherwise they will stay in place.

3. Throwers cannot cross the midway line.

4. Thrower cannot stall------ must throw every 20 seconds

5. Runner must steal a base every 60 seconds

6. First one to steal 10 bases win

7. runner's initial lead off toward destination base is limited while that base's thrower holds ball

8. Occasional Random throwing errors will happen.

9. Runner will occasionally "fall" ( color will turn black and will be immobilized).

10. Ball can get "lost in the gutter." This happens in one spot if the catcher misses the ball. Play will reset after the 20 second throw timer expires ( this is a bug cover-up)

Again, if anyone gets a chance to play with a second player and has any feedback it would be appreciated!

Edited April 27, 2018 by easmith

[+D Train]

This was the game that I *thought* I was going to program when I got the basic programming cartridge in 1979 or 1980!

 

Of course, I never did.

 

So fun that someone else made it!

[easmith]

Made some additional improvements.

 

-fixed scoring to increment by 1 and timers to reset to correct value ( missing carry clears were causing timer reset to 13 and 61 instead of 12 and 60 , and score to inc by 2.

- changed throw timer to 12 seconds

- no longer need to swap controllers

- timers don't start until ball is picked up

- first to 11 wins

 

 

 

1. The runner must be tagged with the ball while off base. Then the players switch roles

2. While throwing, if the joystick is pressed up or down, the top and bottom throwers, respectively , will return to their bases after throwing. Otherwise they will stay in place.

3. Throwers cannot cross the midway line.

4. Thrower cannot stall------ must throw every 12 seconds

5. Runner must steal a base every 60 seconds

6. First one to steal 11 bases win

7. runner's initial lead off toward destination base is limited while that base's thrower holds ball

8. Occasional Random throwing errors will happen.

9. Runner will occasionally "fall" ( color will turn black and will be immobilized).

Edited May 15, 2018 by easmith

[easmith]

bug fixed where Player 2 runner would not fall . changing from switching controllers to not switching controllers complicated things. This should be pretty close to final I hope

Edited April 26, 2018 by easmith

[+Karl G]

My girlfriend and I got a chance to play this last night. It seems to be a pretty solid two-player game. Once we were able to catch on to the rules, it was fun and quite playable. I'm glad that you removed the requirement to switch controllers by the time I got around to playing it. We were thinking that the wild throws were a little too frequent, but the falling seemed about right. We didn't notice that player 2 never fell, so maybe you may want to consider reducing the probability of both by a bit.

 

Anyway, good game!

[easmith]

A few more updates.

 

I added an option for "pegs" , where the runner is out if hit by the ball. The runner can also sidestep the ball.

This option is if P1 difficulty is set to A.

 

Also, the lead off is now limited if P0 difficulty = B and not limited if P0 difficulty = A.

 

configuration :

P1

 

B A

 

B limited lead limited lead

no pegs pegs

 

P0 A unlimited lead unlimited lead

no pegs pegs

 

This ROM does not include this ( I imagine it could be cracked with debugger) , but I have programmed an easter egg/ riddle into the game .

My hope is to put out some carts at some point this summer (not a done deal yet.... ) , and have a contest with a cash prize for the first person who can solve it . $250 sounds about right. But still WIP. Stay tuned...

 

 

 

Edited May 15, 2018 by easmith