"Ninja Kombat 2600"

[freshbrood]

There was a demo on Javatari. If it is not there now please wait for the next update. 

 

 

Edited April 10, 2022 by freshbrood
Freshbrood(at)Gmail(.)com for PayPal (donations make it happen sooner!)

[Gibstov]

So far it looks pretty cool.  Looking forward to seeing this as it comes together.

[MemberAtarian]

I discussed about this in my country, it got a mixed acception. Many said that the Atari is not suitable for even a MK demake, others said, why not? The only think that was really a topic of sceptism was the one button control (like on Amiga?)

In my opinion, it has a lot of potential, I was never a MK fan, but, I really love the way you make animations for example, really detailed and fluent. The flickering selection screen was a really neat idea.

Keep up with your work!

[freshbrood]

Thank you very much!  As you can see I feel it's very suitable! It just requires using only the most essential sprites in the correct combinations. 

 

I would like to try using Superchip ram to get more detailed backgrounds after I've perfected the game engine, if memory allows. 

 

Edited September 23, 2019 by freshbrood

[+cjherr]

I think even at this point it's an awesome job, and I'm going to be keeping an eye on this!

[KK/Altair]

Looks really great! And playing mostly on Amiga, I definitely prefer the 1-button controls.

I know this is far from being complete, but what really stands out right now is:
- no proper gravity when jumping (the character moves up and down),
- colors are broken on some moves (e.g. uppercut) - will this be fixed, or is it going to be some optimization (gfx reuse)?
- Raiden sprite lacks hat - another optimization?

- controls feel a bit unresponsive in general
 

But other than that, it starts looking great. Good luck!

 

(and PM me if you'd like some help with the msx/sound)

[freshbrood]

KK/Altair I would LOVE some help with the sound! Happy to give you full credit and throw you something for your help!

I will address each comment:

1) Proper gravity. Correct. The jump arc pattern is actually up, diagup, over, diagdown, down. It's not a perfect circle but mirrors extremely closely the perfect arc. This was a compromise on memory. The straight up/down jump can be easily adjusted, but I didn't think it was that bad. Be more specific please- -Does it go up too fast/fall too slow? Jumpkick/jumppunch?

A lot of the timing is out of whack. The kicks are too slow, and I am going to eliminate "turbo punching". Press button, attacks, stops. Lift finger off button, press button again, attacks again. Previous code was working that way but was altered when I started playing with colors. I will get there. Right now I want to perfect the engine. Once engine is perfected it's a simple matter of tweaking timing and hit strength.* Consider it done already.

*(So simple in fact that I could actually make a "create your own MK fighter game after this one!)

2) Each player actually only has one single column of colors that I simply shift up or down by a pixel or a few- if you notice the lower portions/feet tend to lose some colors while from the top down they are always consistent. It was the best balance of saving memory and aesthetics. The areas that they are still broken I just haven't bothered to adjust yet since I know it already works great on the ones it's not broken on. -just me being lazy/prioritizing engine over aesthetics. Consider it done already.

3) Raiden's famous hat. Yeah I tried a version where the default sprite had another pixel or two and set the player height higher on him with added colors. It looked -ok-, but it was also only on the standing frame. In order to implement his hat I would have to redraw many more frames, and graphic memory is nearly maxed out as it is.
Since I use the same sprites for every character and the only thing that distinguishes them are colors, speeds, strengths and specials, I'd rather add a few extra pixels on top and color them red/increase player0height when hit so it gives the appearance of blood when struck in the face. (E.g. when struck, standing player0height rapidly cycles from 21 to randomly between 22-24, revealing a few random red pixels above the head that look like blood spray for a second)

Compromises. Blame the VCS- not me. If you want Raiden's hat, are you willing to reduce the moveslist and animations for every other character? I certainly don't think it's worth it. Using the missile will always be the wrong color, still can only be square/rectangular shaped, and takes away from background effects.. (like the moon on the pit, blinking eyes in Goro's lair, the flying creature in the background, etc..)

His body torpedo sprite will also need to be compromised as well as Sonya's leg grab. I still want the sprites/replacement moves to at least cover the same timing/zoning.

(I.e. even if Sonya doesn't do a cartwheel and grab you bent upsidedown with her legs, it will still be a move that you can counter/dodge the same way- by ducking, sweeping, etc..)

Goro also won't be doing any long punches, uppercuts or grab & pounds. (He's already double stretched chunky pixels, 4x stretched looks like crap)

He'll still have his famous stomp, but the best compromise I could come up with that looked decent and still made him a challenge was to give him Shao Khan's "Shoulder smash". That way he still looks decent and at least has a forward attack, upper attack, missile and stomp. -compromise. Uses way less sprites too.

I'd rather have a full set of characters with slightly different moves and appearances than half the characters that look perfect, (as in the Game Gear /GameBoy versions- all style, way less substance. Check it out on youtube if you haven't). What do you think?

I suppose maybe if memory permits we might see Raiden throwing off his hat at the start of each battle.. maybe.

4) Controls are still directly related to issue 1). Simple fixes/timing tweaks. The biggest issue will be implementing fatalities, damage, level changes and of course sounds. *Keep in mind due to the very limited sprites, not every move can be "telegraphed" the same. With additional sprites you can see the animation begin to extend an arm, full extend the arm in the next frame, then contact. This just isn't possible with the memory, so to balance going from standing idle to fully extended punch, there are only two feasible options to add telegraphing balance: 1)Delayed press/reaction- you press button, waits a few milliseconds, then draws fully extended arm, or 2) Press button, instantly draws arm fully extended, creating p0/p1 contact, but counts a few miliseconds before registering "damage". I am still experimenting with these two options.

**Oh, and secrets- A hint; Hold up or down on both joysticks in the same area on certain screens..

Edited September 27, 2019 by freshbrood

[alfredtdk]

Congratulations on the game! I am a fan of MK 1 and I believe that this work that you are doing
 in converting a big arcade to the limited system of the 2600 is the maximum! The character selection
 Screen is simply amazing! Can we look forward to a future update? Thank you 

[Adventure1977]

I would pay for this.  It looks so awesome and would be a lot of fun 

[freshbrood]

Thanks guys! This Covid has made life hard, I've been out of work, but just started playing with the music again. (I could REALLY use some help with short simple beats that loop if you'd like to help) but I will get back to working on this soon! Your encouragement is motivating!
 

[Skwrl63]

I'm very interested in seeing this develop. Unfortunately I can't test it out any prototype ROMs.

 

But if and when the game ever gets complete, I'm hoping  you can make it available on cartridge or at the very least, you will give permission to have a custom cartridge made at the AtariAge store.

 

Looking good so far bud?

[freshbrood]

FRESHBROOD(a)Gmail,com if you'd like to help contribute to this project via PayPay. Anything helps.
 

[BladeJunker]

I tried it out not long ago and I think it's an excellent start. For one thing I can do a fireball move, the number of Famiclone fighters where you can't do that is staggering lol.

 

Have you thought about supporting the Omega Race protocol of paddles into buttons? retrogameboyz sells some ready made options.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Omega-Race-Atari-2600-Controller-Gamepad-Control-Pad-Joystick/264338016887 Not saying a one button mode isn't warranted but why do so few ever want to do what Omega Race did?

[freshbrood]

I'm not familiar with those controllers, but I didn't want to make a port where people needed to dig up additional hardware. I want to keep the one button for now. I've made a lot more progress.
 

[BladeJunker]

3 hours ago, freshbrood said:

I'm not familiar with those controllers, but I didn't want to make a port where people needed to dig up additional hardware. I want to keep the one button for now. I've made a lot more progress.
 

Oh good to hear about the progress, you're definitely the closest I've seen to getting a fighting game working well on the 2600.  I know it technically takes more space but only on an Atari will you find people fighting against adding options lol. The one button option for all would still be there and I wouldn't make a game myself without it. ?

 

It's nothing that didn't exist already in 1983, the 2600 wasn't without peripherals ijs. A Coleco controller works apparently too.

https://atariage.com/controller_list.php?SystemID=2600

 

http://arcarc.xmission.com/Web Archives/Deathskull (May-2006)/games/tech/2600cont.html

Here's some details on how it works, it's the basis for some controllers I intend to build next year, nothing too radical, Fire1, Fire2, & Start/Pause/Menu.

[freshbrood]

Maybe in version 2. The engine is working well enough that it could be an easy mod. I'm not sure you'll miss it. I'm working on making it very playable, not just a novelty.
 

[BladeJunker]

49 minutes ago, freshbrood said:

Maybe in version 2. The engine is working well enough that it could be an easy mod. I'm not sure you'll miss it. I'm working on making it very playable, not just a novelty.
 

Lol and I'm trying to turn that novelty into a standard, like how Sega had stock 3-button and then 6-button controllers when fighting games became popular. I know a lot of arcade ports struggled with one button on many platforms Egs. VIC-20 and C64 have the same pinout and same porting limitations from it.

Promise I'll shut up in a second lol but it's amazing how still after all the years away I've been from AA such platforms like 2600 continue to leave two paddle pins unconnected in the joysticks with not many homebrews adopting the Omega Race protocol. It's like one button is a Commandment or something when other solutions exist. ?

 

Don't get me wrong though, I think your one button controls are great, played a lot of handheld ports and Famicom pirate fighters but they don't usually control as smoothly as what you've got here.

[freshbrood]

Updated bin attached! Core engine is almost complete. Collisions reactions and colors should be (mostly) correct. 

Edited January 29, 2021 by freshbrood

[Shawn]

The Pit looks great, the courtyard looks bad. Too much going on for the 2600 to make it look good enough with the blocks for gfx like that. Removing the clutter with a cleaner background like you have on the pit would look so much nicer. Great work you keep showing on this for sure.

[Shawn]

Just played the newest bin and it doesn't run very well on Stella 6.0. Courtyard isn't stable. Lines on the floor jump around under player 1. Other elements seem messed up as well but it could just be the early state of the programming as well.

[freshbrood]

Hey Shawn I'm not sure I can eliminate that left side floor rolling using the batari kernels. If I did it might result in player0 having to be one soild color. I'm not sure that's a better tradeoff. 

 

It's not close to finished, but can you be specific about other elements? I know the player shows too wide for certain moments- I will get to that. 

 

Would you be able take a pic and show me what you see? I 

[freshbrood]

I like the way the courtyard looks. Maybe we should vote? It's a part 2 background anyway. I was just trying to use geometric shapes with the chunky blocks to add variety.

[][UNREAL][]

@freshbrood I found the right topic now! I want to help you. Maybe with char design.

[freshbrood]

On 3/12/2021 at 9:04 AM, ][UNREAL][ said:

@freshbrood I found the right topic now! I want to help you. Maybe with char design.

Do you know how to make music in Batari basic? 

 

There is 0 graphic memory left for backgrounds. It all went to the players, but I managed to squeeze 5 chunky backgrounds in. 

Edited April 10, 2022 by freshbrood

[][UNREAL][]

Any news about this project?