Popeye 7800: Mini-game

[SlidellMan]

I use Atari Dev Studio's Built-in Sprite Editor.

[RevEng]

1 hour ago, darryl1970 said:

I did use the tiled map, but I couldn't seem to get a  40 width to work. Are you saying that it will essentially map it in two parts for me if I do it right?

Yep, that's exactly what it will do. To display the map, be sure you're using plotmapfile, rather than plotmap. If it's still a problem, maybe post the details. (here or in another thread, it's all good)

[Lost Monkey]

Can't really add anything to this discussion, but it looks like you are having fun with this.  Good job so far.  A good version of Popeye is always welcome.

 

 

Edited August 24, 2020 by Lost Monkey
Brutus = Bluto

[+SmittyB]

5 minutes ago, Lost Monkey said:

Pretty sure the character's name is Bluto, though - not Brutus.

The character's name changed from Bluto to Brutus at one point for reasons I won't go into, so by the time the arcade game was made the character was known as Brutus so that's what it calls them. I prefer Bluto personally, but it's a trivial matter so who cares these days.

[RevEng]

For anything made in the 60s and later, like the arcade, it's Brutus...

 

 

 

(original source, though there's awful lot of other sources on the internet)

[+darryl1970]

Really quick map "Hack". Obviously this will take some more work.

 

Things won't be as squished. I can also widen the area to find the top and bottom of the staircases.

 

[Jinks]

I always called him Bluto. That is what the cartoon told me his name was.. 

[+darryl1970]

6 minutes ago, Jinks said:

I always called him Bluto. That is what the cartoon told me his name was.. 

 

You are correct that there was a Bluto. I personally remember BOTH from the cartoon. Although they are the "same" incarnation, there were distinct differences.

 

Bluto just wanted to bully Popeye for no reason. He didn't seem to want to "court" Olive as much. He seemed to just want to harm her.

Check out this synopsis:

Popeye takes Olive Oyl to a carnival and pays the peacock 10¢ and Bluto blows off all of the peacock's feathers. ... Bluto then abducts Olive Oyl and ties her to a railroad track, using the track itself as "ropes", in order to cause a train wreck to kill Olive, where a train is approaching.

 

Brutus was trying to get between Popeye and Olive. I distinctly remember that difference. He would offer flowers. He would get upset when Olive rejected him. He was more sensitive.

 

Bluto was "Cro-Magnon", and Brutus was kind of a dainty tough guy. Brutus had a very "proper" sense about him, but he was still kind of a bully when he'd get butt-hurt.

 

The arcade machine instructions use "Brutus".  If you observe the arcade character's mannerisms, you'll see that Brutus is a better fit than the "Bluto" version.

[Trebor]

35 minutes ago, darryl1970 said:

...

Brutus was trying to get between Popeye and Olive. I distinctly remember that difference. He would offer flowers. He would get upset when Olive rejected him. He was more sensitive.

 

Bluto was "Cro-Magnon", and Brutus was kind of a dainty tough guy. Brutus had a very "proper" sense about him, but he was still kind of a bully when he'd get butt-hurt.

 

The arcade machine instructions use "Brutus".  If you observe the arcade character's mannerisms, you'll see that Brutus is a better fit than the "Bluto" version.

The Arcade nailed this correctly.  The intro in the Arcade original has Brutus offering his heart while on (sliding) bent knee.  Olive rejects, calling for Popeye instead, while Popeye gives her a flower.  Then she wants him to catch her 'hearts' (objects of affection).  This infuriates Brutus and the game begins.

 

Bluto would have pulled a Donkey Kong*, and just grabbed/abducted her from the get-go and took off.  There would be no bent knee and offer of his heart.

 

Another plus here Darryl, thank you for not extending that middle ladder to the bottom - something that really bugs me with the NES port whether playing Game A or Game B.  That middle ladder is a one way down trip only, just like it is in the Arcade.

 

*For those that know, knows...Interesting to think if the "Donkey Kong" game was made instead, would that game rightly have called him Bluto instead of Brutus?  Or perhaps the intro to Donkey Kong may have been different to better represent Brutus' personality and style.

[TrekMD]

Had a chance to try this out.  Looks great!  The gameplay is good too, though the hearts fall a bit too fast, I think.  Nonetheless, really nice!  Thanks for sharing!

[+Cafeman]

I haven't emulated 7800 since I rebuilt my laptop with SSD and Win10 ... what emulator are you guys using to play 7800 games? 

 

[RevEng]

Usually it's either A7800, BupSystem, or JS7800. (links here)

 

A7800 is mostly accurate and has an up to date XM implementation. It's forked from MAME, so it has the MAME interface.

BupSystem is also mostly accurate, but doesn't support XM right now. It has an interface similar to ProSystem emu.

JS7800 is a bit less accurate on the base system (no DMA penalties) but has an up to date XM implementation. It's an online browser-based emu, with shared hi-score tables for players, so you can compete for top spot.

[+darryl1970]

Update in first post.

 

Updated the the characters to follow a full-width screen, as well as other tweaks.

 

Edited August 25, 2020 by darryl1970

[gambler172]

Hi Darryl

plays very well....not really easy,but i made it till Level 2....would be great to see the other screens ?

keep on the good work

 

greetings Walter

[Trebor]

Excellent! The wider playfield makes a world of difference.  Another great feature with this mini-game is after eating Spinach and chasing down Brutus, Popeye automatically punches him when in range (just like the Arcade), instead of just walking into him, as seen under other ports of the game.

 

Curious if any consideration or trial was done in utilizing $33 instead of $25.  For the roofs and sign post, $25 does appear to be a great choice.  For Olive's outfit and the hearts though, a little more red may go a long way and even make the screen 'pop' further.  Also, there's a lot more focus on the hearts and Olive than the houses and sign post.

 

Going to have to agree with Walter here though...it would be great to see the other screens.  Still, thanks for providing this taste of Popeye.

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

We'll be checking out Popeye 7800 on tomorrow's (Fri Aug 28) ZeroPage Homebrew stream LIVE on Twitch at 6PM PT | 9PM ET | 1AM GMT! Hope everyone can watch!

 

Twitch Stream: https://www.twitch.tv/zeropagehomebrew/

 

Games:

• Popeye 7800 (2020 WIP | 7800) by @darryl1970
• Robotron: 2084 (2020 Exclusive WIP Update) by John Champeau (@johnnywc) (Coding & Design) of Champ Games, Nathan Strum (@Nathan Strum)  (Art & Graphics), David Brown (Music & Sounds)
• Spire of the Ancients (2020 WIP Update | 7800) by @SmittyB

 

 (SET VIDEO TO 1080P60 FOR FULL QUALITY)

 

 

 

Edited August 30, 2020 by ZeroPage Homebrew

[+sramirez2008]

On 8/23/2020 at 3:58 PM, darryl1970 said:

If the above go well, I may consider refining the logic, to consider a full game.

Do it...do it...do it! ?

 

Seriously though, thank you for sharing this. It's already a great mini game.?

[TrekMD]

Oh yes, please, please!  What you've made so far is really good!  I'd love to see the full Popeye on the 7800. 

[Jaden (JRH)]

I agree with the above comments. Popeye is one of my favorite arcade games ever and the progress you've made so far is already fantastic. I'd definitely consider doing the full game if that's possible.

[+darryl1970]

Thanks @ZeroPage Homebrew and all who encouraged further development.

I was a little nervous, since it's far from production-ready. I appreciate all the kind words more than you know.

 

Here's a video I recorded on my actual system. This is prior to the changes below! There are examples of the bucket catching Brutus.

 

As for progress...

I am going to see what I can do. It's going to be a big task, and it will take some time.

 

I don't have any bottles yet, but I do have 3 lives and multiple hearts.

 

I have a few more things to clean up behind the scenes, to better assess things. Some things have to break to add on. ?

 

After that, I will shoot for some bottles.

 

--Darryl

 

Edited August 30, 2020 by darryl1970

[christo930]

Looks great.  I really hope you decide to finish it.  The 7800 needs some love.

[Synthpopalooza]

Guess I'd better do POKEY or TIA music for this ... lol

[Synthpopalooza]

If POKEY ... it will be 100% arcade authentic.  If TIA ... that'll be a challenge.

[+darryl1970]

Update on First page. Beta 3

 

Added extra elements: Sea Hag, bottles, & multiple hearts. Character movement is tweaked.

 

Roadblocks

1. I also cannot understand why the garbage is popping up on the screen.
2. I added frames for Brutus to sweep his hand down. That is 6 frames. The game displays a black screen if I "incgraphic" more than 4. I don't get a memory error, and I have not added any code to use the frames.
3. I reserved enough bottle registers for Brutus to be able to throw them. However, 1 Sea Hag, Popeye, Brutus, and a can of spinach is too much. I had to chop off the top of the ladder, in order to keep the bottle from disappearing.
4. I tried to wrap hearts around Olive at the level clear. There are too many items displayed at the top of the screen. They will not all show. So, what I ended up with is due to a limitation of the number of sprites per line.
5. I updated the bottom locations (not yet the top locations) of the stairs in a table, as a test. I am able to navigate Popeye with dynamic locations. I would still need to handle the tops, as well as adapt Brutus to use these.

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[+darryl1970]

18 hours ago, Synthpopalooza said:

Guess I'd better do POKEY or TIA music for this ... lol

That would be cool. I'd have questions.