Pro Bowling ( 2600 early W.I.P)

[easmith]

 

 

Most recent update :

 

https://atariage.com/forums/topic/295918-pro-bowling-2600-early-wip/?do=findComment&comment=4401409

 

I have the  germ of a bowling game . have a basic graphic layout .  No gameplay yet.  A lot of figuring out needs to be done . But I thought I would share an early  screenshot ......

 

 

Edited November 30, 2019 by easmith

[imstarryeyed]

I like the look of it, the only gameplay input I would initially give you is if possible can a randomness or something be implemented where the player does not memorize the positioning, power and throw to ace the game?  In my opinion a lot of bowling games lose their flavor quick as once you figure out the sweet spot you can almost always get a strike.

 

Would it be possible to add maybe a warped floor feature like golf games use on the greens?  It may be fun to "read" the alley like we read the greens in golf games?

 

Maybe having a mischievous someone or a clumsy waitstaff drop by every so often and "accidentally" spill liquid on the alley or obstacles falling onto the alley (lights etc) or are crossing it?

 

If you rumble the screen randomly you can make an earthquake alley, why bowl in an earthquake? Cause its something almost no one as ever done and sounds wild!

 

How about a jungle alley where monkeys drop peels and other animals get in the way while rolling coconuts which are wobbly.

 

Heck I can even see the joy of having the Kaboom mad bomber, slide along that red part of the screen drop a bomb or bombs on your alley and you have to roll back a bomb before it explodes.  Of course if the 2nd player can also control him and drop bombs on player ones alley.. hummm haha.

 

I realize I am really going out of the typical bowling game but they are just some ideas I just thought of.

 

In any case good luck and I am looking forward to playing your game.

 

One more thing, can we get a girl choice in that game too?  

[easmith]

Very interesting suggestions indeed!  Long way to go before I can even think about those kinds of frills.?.  I do have an unused P0 graphic in the lane. Yes on female option for sure.

I updated the screenshot to show all places where ball will be shown at different times  ( testing kernel for viability).

The idea is to have a 3 digit Score where the X ( strike , spare indication) is .

 

The idea for basic gameplay is this :  

  The player will move left and right to line up shot . Then there will be a shot meter similar to my golf game, where you can shoot straight on , or time the release ( on purpose or accidentally )  to drift the ball right  or spin the ball left .

 

The ball will contact the rack ( whose graphic will change based on pin status) , unless the ball contacts the gutters.  

 

Then the current plan is to show the overhead view of ball interacting with pins ( this is the top part of screen).  This will be the tricky part of the whole thing and will make or break the game.   I am unsure at this point if I can get this part worked out to a satisfactory level.  The ball contacting the pins and then changing the active pins should be relatively easy. But getting pins to hit other pins ( or simulated hits since the pins won't move) will be tricky. This will depend on the angle of contact and impact location, etc.  Also the ball should slightly change direction also if it is to be realistic . 

[imstarryeyed]

Your approach sounds really fun and already much better than than the original bowling being offered.  I cannot say how happy a girl being in there makes me!

 

I am sure whatever approach you take it will be awesome, I am just happy someone is taking on sports that have kind of gotten forgotten in the age of homebrew.

[MemberAtarian]

Looks like really cool. If you would add a zoomed mode as the ball hits the pins, that would be really awesome.

[+TrekMD]

Cool!  The original bowling is fun on the 2600 but we've needed a version with a visual update form some time!

[Simon Bit]

On 9/11/2019 at 8:06 PM, easmith said:

I have the  germ of a bowling game . have a basic graphic layout .  No gameplay yet.  A lot of figuring out needs to be done . But I thought I would share an early  screenshot ......

 

 

Please, can this be for European people as well I love original bowling and this 3d bowling heaven. 

[classicgamer74]

I would mash the "Love" button if I could.  I can't wait to see this!!

[easmith]

finally made enough progress to post something "playable".  Important to read the directions below.

 

I have it now to where you can bowl one shot only  and then the game must be reset.

 

There is a glitch in my score graphic timing, and there are a few times when  the score is incorrectly counted. But still a lot of progress in a week.

Still a very long way to go.     Have much honing to do on the randomness of pins hitting other  pins / achieving a strike, etc. 

No sounds yet .  Have to work on additional graphics for frame number. Have to make graphic for spare, strike , etc.  Have to adjust pins in first person view to reflect  overhead view.  Currently  have file at 16k but am only using   8 so far . 

 

A note about how to bowl the ball :

Line up your bowler to where you want to be ( left/ right).

Push UP on joystick . This starts shot meter at bottom.   The meter will expand and then return to zero as YELLOW, then will expand again as GREEN 

 

Push button to release ball .   Where the meter is when the ball is pressed determines shot .  Note the red notches on the shotmeter.

 

For now there are 5 possibilities:

                                     red notch                                              red  notch

           *************   |     ****************************** | **************     meter outside notches and YELLOW = strong spin right

 

 

                                      |        **************************   |                                  meter inside notches and YELLOW   = weak spin right

 

 

                                       |                                                         |                           meter at zero = no spin

 

                                       |          ************************* |                                 meter inside notches and GREEN  = weak spin left 

 

        **************** |    *****************************|        ************ meter outside notches and GREEN = strong spin left     

 

 

Edited September 21, 2019 by easmith

[+cjherr]

Very nice! I like where this is going. Even at this stage, I keep wanting to try just one more time...

[easmith]

update :

 

now have basic gameplay pretty close. I am fairly happy with it .   See above post for shot mechanics.  Still only using 8K although the file is set up for 16K.

 

Current build has 10 playable frames .

 

Still have not implemented proper bowling scoring or bonus frames after frame 10 ---  WIP.

 

So scoring now is just raw pin total.

 

Also need to add flourishes after spare/ strike .  

 

Also need to make it possible to pick up spares with split pins . 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 21, 2019 by easmith

[Arenafoot]

55 minutes ago, easmith said:

update :

 

now have basic gameplay pretty close. I am fairly happy with it .   See above post for shot mechanics.  Still only using 8K although the file is set up for 16K.

 

Current build has 10 playable frames .

 

Still have not implemented proper bowling scoring or bonus frames after frame 10 ---  WIP.

 

So scoring now is just raw pin total.

 

Also need to add flourishes after spare/ strike .  

 

Also need to make it possible to pick up spares with split pins . 

 

 

 

ProBowling92019.bin 16 kB · 6 downloads

Still haven't bowled a strike yet, but did get a spare in the first frame though! Improved 20 pins for the first try to the second!!

[easmith]

changed color palette.  Also added screen flashing after strike or spare.

 

The last big hurdle is to figure out proper scoring........................

 

Edited October 3, 2019 by easmith

[Arenafoot]

10 hours ago, easmith said:

changed color palette.  Also added screen flashing after strike or spare.

 

The last big hurdle is to figure out proper scoring........................

ProBowling92119.bin 16 kB · 13 downloads

colors = much better..... finally got 3 strikes and like the flashes..... not getting any pin action on splits though

[easmith]

1 hour ago, Arenafoot said:

colors = much better..... finally got 3 strikes and like the flashes..... not getting any pin action on splits though

Thanks . 

I’ll get to picking up splits after I get the scoring down and a few other things polished .  

To do the splits correctly will take some thought . For example , the point and angle of contact need to be considered to make it somewhat realistic . 

[+TrekMD]

Gave this a spin today.  I still have to learn the control better but I like it so far!

[easmith]

update :

 

I now have proper bowling rules and proper scoring added . So it is a full playable game at this point . 

Still need to work out split capturing and a few other options , such as  kids version with bumpers instead of gutters. 

this is a nice check for score :

https://www.bowlinggenius.com/

 

If spare in frame 10, then 1 bonus shot awarded

If strike in frame 10, then 2 bonus shots awarded .

 

Game will be 8K game ( ROM is currently structured for 16 k but only 8K used ) 

Shot mechanics again :

1. move left or right to position bowler

 

2. push up on joystick to start approach

3. Push button to release ball .   Where the meter is when the ball is pressed determines shot .  Note the red notches on the shotmeter.

 

For now there are 5 possibilities:

                                     red notch                                              red  notch

           YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY   |  YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY | YYYYYYYYYYYYY    meter outside notches and YELLOW = strong spin right

 

 

                                      |        YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY  |                                  meter inside notches and YELLOW   = weak spin right

 

 

                                       |                                                           |

 

                                       |    GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG  |                                 meter inside notches and GREEN  = weak spin left 

 

          GGGGGGGGGGGG |    GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG  |   GGGGGGGGGG    meter outside notches and GREEN = strong spin left     

 

For now strong spin shots not  very useful, but will be needed when I get logic for capturing splits ironed out. 

 

 

ENJOY !

 

Edited October 3, 2019 by easmith

[Arenafoot]

3 hours ago, easmith said:

update :

 

I now have proper bowling rules and proper scoring added . So it is a full playable game at this point . 

Still need to work out split capturing and a few other options , such as  kids version with bumpers instead of gutters. 

I'm getting better.....

[easmith]

I usually can get over 150 .

 

Wanted to post a shot that shows the pins and how they match ( well kinda) the overhead .  Getting this to change as the pins are knocked down is one of the touches I am most proud of .

 

[easmith]

Probably last update for a while..

i think gameplay is pretty much complete . 

 

I have now added the following splits pick up options ( will not always happen , though) :

 

hitting pin 2 with weak spin left    can knock down pins 6 and 10 

hitting pin 3 with  weak spin right can knock down pins 4 and 7 

 

hitting pin 4 with strong spin left can knock down pin 10

hitting pin 6 with strong spin right can knock down pin 7 

 

7-10 split can be picked up ( rarely ) by hitting pin 7 or 10 .

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 30, 2019 by easmith

[MissCommand]

Fantastic! Are female bowlers available in the latest ROM?

[Arenafoot]

23 hours ago, easmith said:

Probably last update for a while..

i think gameplay is pretty much complete . 

 

I have now added the following splits pick up options ( will not always happen , though) :

 

hitting pin 2 with weak spin left    can knock down pins 6 and 10 

hitting pin 3 with  weak spin right can knock down pins 4 and 7 

 

hitting pin 4 with strong spin left can knock down pin 10

hitting pin 6 with strong spin right can knock down pin 7 

 

7-10 split can be picked up ( rarely ) by hitting pin 7 or 10 .

ProBowling8K.bin 8 kB · 15 downloads

Awesome improvements!!! and my game is getting better too!! (First try)

[carlsson]

I'm not trying to troll, but how would a female bowler visually differ from the male bowler with those amount of pixels? Longer hair, wider hips? It is not like bowling is played in skirts (*) anyway. A brief test shows the game so far is single player anyway, so added characters probably comes later when it supports more than one player.

 

(*) Ok, after a bit of image search it seems some women may play in knee length skirts so that is an option, as well as shorts.

Edited September 26, 2019 by carlsson

[MissCommand]

10 minutes ago, carlsson said:

I'm not trying to troll, but how would a female bowler visually differ from the male bowler with those amount of pixels? Longer hair, wider hips? It is not like bowling is played in skirts (*) anyway. A brief test shows the game so far is single player anyway, so added characters probably comes later when it supports more than one player.

 

(*) Ok, after a bit of image search it seems some women may play in knee length skirts so that is an option, as well as shorts.

 

  In appearance, in would be exactly the same as in his Pro Golf game... usually longer hair, skirt, brighter colors (maybe pink).  It's not intrinsic to the gameplay, just a nice feature. ?

 

  BTW, I just notice the bowling ball going to the pins on the upper display... really cool! ?

[easmith]

47 minutes ago, MissCommand said:

 

  In appearance, in would be exactly the same as in his Pro Golf game... usually longer hair, skirt, brighter colors (maybe pink).  It's not intrinsic to the gameplay, just a nice feature. ?

 

  BTW, I just notice the bowling ball going to the pins on the upper display... really cool! ?

The collision detection is based on upper pins (overhead ) . The pins in the first person perspective frame are just for visual.    So I would aim based on overhead pins . 

 

I can do a skirt and longer hair for female. I am a little concerned that it will appear sexist but I don’t know of any other way to obviously distinguished ?