Space Battle

[intvdave]

Is there someone out there who is a big fan of Space Battle? I am working on updates and would like ideas on how to make the game better. One idea I have is to make it like BattleStar Galactica where you never beat the cylons. The game will track how many cylons you shoot down.

[Tinman]

Yep, one of my favorites!  Not sure I’d like the variation where it never ends.  I tend to like the feeling of accomplishment that comes from finishing a game.  

[Sinjinhawke]

Yeah.  Space Spartans is great but knowing every time I’m going to lose keeps me away.  Space Battle and Star Raiders keep me coming back because I can win.  
 

The only thing that bothered me was that the game does not feel like a fighter.  Feels more like a turret on the Millennium Falcon or Beeeee Seventeeen Bawmer which is also cool.  
 

Maybe better simulate the fighter affect with stars that move based on your reticle and turn the current view into a turret defence on the star base (mothership). 

Edited November 22, 2019 by Sinjinhawke

[Utopia]

It was the first game I got with the system at Christmas all those years ago and is still a favourite.

Different speed options would be good and how about a range of armaments to select from?

[mr_me]

Space Battle is one of my favourites.  Level 5 is still challenging for me, I probably win more often than I lose.  Anyone find level five too easy?

 

The only thing I'd change is some indicator of the level being played.

Edited November 22, 2019 by mr_me

[+Special Teams]

How about adding Intellivoice:

• "Frak!"
• "Felgercarb"
• "Go rust yourself"
• Cylon saying "By Your Command" and "Extermination"

 

[Bamse]

If you are going to adhere to the original intended theme of Battlestar Galactica, you could add the 3 buttons and their functions from the original Viper controls?

That would be Fire, Thrust and IM (reverse thrust).

You could map them Fire top buttons, Thrust bottom right and IM bottom left.

[IntyFanMatt]

2 hours ago, Utopia said:

It was the first game I got with the system at Christmas all those years ago and is still a favourite.

Different speed options would be good and how about a range of armaments to select from?

When you say “different speed options”...there are already 5 different speed options for the game. Are you aware of that?  Or are you talking about something else?

Edited November 22, 2019 by IntyFanMatt

[intvdave]

Instead of endless, maybe make it an option how many cylons need to be shot down? 5 squadrons always has seemed to be to little.

[mr_me]

The game is about dealing with alien squadrons attacking at the same time.  You can't have more than eight total squadrons (five alien, three home).  You can increase the difficulty by increasing the number of alien fighters per squadron, or increasing the rate or speed of enemy fire during battle, or speed alien squadrons move towards the home base.

[wolfy62]

Because of this thread,I played Space Battle last night for the first time in almost 40 years!

The hard part is definitely keeping your convoys of ships deployed correctly and not too far from your base.

Nice it's not a shoot the enemy only game and has some strategy,although the shoot them down part is fun.

How to make it better? I personally have no idea,but Dave if you come up with something it is always welcome for sure!?

 

[Sinjinhawke]

3 hours ago, mr_me said:

The game is about dealing with alien squadrons attacking at the same time.  You can't have more than eight total squadrons (five alien, three home).

Couldn’t defeated enemy squadrons be replaced by a new enemy squadron?   Also maybe an elite boss enemy fighter that takes more hits and fires more rapidly. 

[Humblejack]

I can't wait. I have my cart all ready for it.

[Bamse]

50 minutes ago, Sinjinhawke said:

Couldn’t defeated enemy squadrons be replaced by a new enemy squadron?   Also maybe an elite boss enemy fighter that takes more hits and fires more rapidly. 

Yes, a cylon base ship ?

[+intvsteve]

Having a winnable game is one of the unique aspects of Space Battle. Taking that out alters one of the key characteristics of the game IMO.

 

Here's a mashup of some ideas from here and hopefully a few new ones:

• Multiple 'waves' of 5 enemy squadrons - number of waves selected at game start
• Between waves, some of your damaged squadrons can be replenished if they're out in the field (reinforcements arrive)
• Subsequent waves have heavier weaponry that can make it harder to dodge (think similar to the exploding bombs in Space Armada or Demon Attack), guided missiles
• Tougher enemy fighters, like @Sinjinhawke suggests that take more hits (a variation of the 'death' sound in Night Stalker comes to mind for the sound effect)
• To balance heavier weaponry from the enemy, perhaps limited use tools like smart bombs, armor / shield, 'EMP' (stuns enemies on screen) (inspired by @Utopia); some kind of replenishment would have to work out, e.g. make 'return to base' have more meaning; you'd need indications of your supply levels though
• After finishing a wave, you face a 'boss' - maybe a Basestar (@Bamse posted while I was typing this up!); insane would be to have it be Dreadnaught Factor - like; more realistically it could be more like the Pandemonium fight in Demon Attack, but horizontal; the fighter from D.F. could act as a good basis for your ship 
• Subsequent bosses also become stronger (this could just be a speed-of-defense-forces thing, or perhaps instead of just issuing fighters, the Basestar itself fires or has more armor, etc.)
• After defeating the selected number of waves, it's 'ALL CLEAR' ... for now!

Of course all this piles up into quite a lot more work, and lots of tuning and embellishment would be necessary.

 

Apologies if I took on someone's idea and forgot to give credit!

[intvdave]

I appreciate everyone's feedback. Sorry if I do not implement them but your suggestions help me figure out how I want this game to end up.

 

I already have where an new enemy squadron appears when you wipe one out. Hence the idea of there being a never ending swarm of enemies coming after you. Some of you like the idea of the game ending so continuing squadrons does not work for you.

 

I got bored of the game because it was to easy to wipe out 5 squadrons. The game play was to fast similar to Star Strike (maybe another game that can be tuned). My goal is to bring a twist to Space Battle that breathes life into the game. Your suggestions help.

[intvdave]

10 minutes ago, intvsteve said:

Having a winnable game is one of the unique aspects of Space Battle. Taking that out alters one of the key characteristics of the game IMO.

 

Here's a mashup of some ideas from here and hopefully a few new ones:

 

 

Thanks for the ideas! I like the one of having backup fighters available. Updates continue....

 

[+intvsteve]

43 minutes ago, intvdave said:

I like the one of having backup fighters available

The keypad is pretty full already but a 'distress call' at '0' would be kinda neat.

 

Scenario:

Your squadron is down to its last fighter, and you're in battle against bad odds. If you hit the SOS button, depending on how far away you are, and whether your reserves are depleted (yet another variable to track), if you can survive long enough, reserves can arrive.

 

Here's a stab at "Reserves" rules:

• There are a maximum number of reserves you can summon per wave (e.g. 3)
• A reserve fighter must be at home base to be summoned
• Your squadron must be down to its last fighter in order to issue a distress call
• Only one reserve fighter can be summoned at a time (per squadron)
• If you win the battle before the summoned reserve fighter arrives, the reserve fighter is immediately considered a permanent part of your squadron
• If your last fighter is destroyed before the reserve arrives, when you go back to the radar screen, you will see the reserve fighter begin making its way back to base
• A reserve fighter returning to base is a neutral color (e.g. gray) to indicate it is not part of any squadron
• A reserve fighter that was "stranded" must return to base before it can be summoned by another squadron
• Number of remaining reserve fighters could be indicated as a gray digit on the radar screen
• You regain one reserve fighter at the end of each wave (if multiple waves is implemented)
• The maximum number of reserves is 5 (e.g. you make it through a wave without needing any reserves)

 

The technical challenge is: what do you show on the screen in the most pathological case -- all three squadrons are down to one fighter, all three have summoned reserves, and you switch to the radar screen. IIRC MOBs are used for the enemy and player squadrons, meaning all 8 sprites are used.

 

Either flicker happens, or you end up with tiles that show the reserve fighters using the same color as the radar lines when they are actively moving toward their target squadron. Actually, that works nicely - you can use background tiles to "animate" that activity (generate necessary tile in memory directly), and the color indicates directionality as well. The gray proposed above, using a MOB, works because you've lost one of the squadrons.

[1980gamer]

I played this game a lot BITD.  I even started making it for the TI99,  Need to finish this some day.

The fastest speed has always been to hard for me.

 

I did like that is was beatable.  I was going to ad sonar ping to the map screen in my game.

Also, when you "won" the game, you would simply get the all clear and then move further into space and encounter more cylons.

 

I though about a transitional mini game between waves, but never really finished the initial game... so.  PLEASE update this!

Voice would be cool.  That crazy stage in tron kind of reminded me of the cone-head cylon with his eyes shooting.

 

A little Berzerk type game, 1 screen then back to the map or something.  That game always reminded me of cylons.

 

Actually, could you sneak some of night stalker in with the robots looking more cylon-ish?  Color pallet is tough in the Intellivision though.

 

Wow, I am dreaming!  These are unreasonable additions.  Not modifications....

 

 

[gunoz]

I'd agree that having a beatable game was a big draw, though it was definitely over too quickly. To me, this was one of the quintessential Intellivision games, so I'm really looking forward to whatever ideas you come up with.

[fsuinnc]

I  like that it's beatable but it could use one more level of difficulty (at least). How about a reverse, where you are the attackers and after defeating the alien squadrons you attack their home base, like a Boss level. (maybe sort of like star strike, but with fun added).

[+cvga]

1 hour ago, fsuinnc said:

I  like that it's beatable but it could use one more level of difficulty (at least). How about a reverse, where you are the attackers and after defeating the alien squadrons you attack their home base, like a Boss level. (maybe sort of like star strike, but with fun added).

I like the idea of attacking the alien's home base when if you defeat their squadrons. It goes well with my idea of fighting the aliens on our planet if they defeat us. The "Space Battle" would only be half the battle either way.

[mr_me]

19 hours ago, Sinjinhawke said:

Couldn’t defeated enemy squadrons be replaced by a new enemy squadron?   Also maybe an elite boss enemy fighter that takes more hits and fires more rapidly. 

You could have a new alien squadron enter as soon as one is defeated.  But dealing with alien squadrons coming in at different times is straightforward.  You could multiplex sprites to have more than five alien squadrons attacking at the same time but that might require significant code changes.

 

I'd prefer any game that has progressive levels/waves of difficulty to let you skip directly to any level; rather than having to play lower levels you've already mastered.  For example, I'd like to start Space Spartans at level six or whatever you call the second round in speed five.

[intvdave]

Most of you may not like the changes I have implemented so far but here it is for the fun of it.

 

sa.rom

 

Edited November 25, 2019 by intvdave

[Sinjinhawke]

On 11/25/2019 at 1:15 AM, intvdave said:

Most of you may not like the changes I have implemented so far but here it is for the fun of it.

 

sa.rom 16.06 kB · 17 downloads

 

Ok that is a fun change.  Got a little stressful but fun.   Must remember to put my overlay in when I play this.  Thank you.  This has a permanent home on my LTO.