Popeye 7800

[+darryl1970]

5 hours ago, SearsRoebuck said:

Hey without going through the whole thread (went through a few pages and didnt see it mentioned), but does the port have the animation of Olive angerly pointing if you leave a heart at the bottom too long? Always bugged me that the NES version was missing the little details like that. 

I do not have any room for additional sprite frames, so I used this in order to represent:

[+sramirez2008]

This version has everything!

[+darryl1970]

15 hours ago, sramirez2008 said:

This version has everything!

Thanks!

 

Updated to 2.6 on the first page:

1/23/2021 - RC 2.6

This version has major tile re-work. I started cleaning up the first level. This simulates the lower-res look of the arcade. In doing so, this cleans things up. Bricks are no longer 1px apart vertically, the stairs have 2px underneath. The floors are thicker, including the bottom level. I am unable to color the bottom blue, but I have a water shadow of sorts, to keep in the arcade spirit.

 

On the logic side, I adjusted Brutus's randomness. He is less likely to jump down, based on difficulty, round, and number of items collected. This may not be obvious, because he will still jump down a decent amount of the time.

 

Changing logic meant adjusting the demo play. The demo play now starts with an example of a heart falling into the water.

[+Karl G]

1 hour ago, darryl1970 said:

Thanks!

 

Updated to 2.6 on the first page:

1/23/2021 - RC 2.6

This version has major tile re-work. I started cleaning up the first level. This simulates the lower-res look of the arcade. In doing so, this cleans things up. Bricks are no longer 1px apart vertically, the stairs have 2px underneath. The floors are thicker, including the bottom level. I am unable to color the bottom blue, but I have a water shadow of sorts, to keep in the arcade spirit.

 

On the logic side, I adjusted Brutus's randomness. He is less likely to jump down, based on difficulty, round, and number of items collected. This may not be obvious, because he will still jump down a decent amount of the time.

 

Changing logic meant adjusting the demo play. The demo play now starts with an example of a heart falling into the water.

 

Some good stuff. I honestly prefer the stairs the way they were before, though. Since you are using background instead of a darker color in between them, I think some of the 3D illusion gets lost with a thicker gap. Just my personal preference, though.  ?

 

[SlidellMan]

So Darryl, what are your plans once Popeye is complete? (Just curious.)

[AtariBrian]

8 minutes ago, SlidellMan said:

So Darryl, what are your plans once Popeye is complete? (Just curious.)

Word on the streets is that he will make Qbert arcade with pokey sound. ??

[+darryl1970]

4 hours ago, SlidellMan said:

So Darryl, what are your plans once Popeye is complete? (Just curious.)

I am not sure. I am sure I'll get drawn back into something, but I don't know what.

4 hours ago, AtariBrian said:

Word on the streets is that he will make Qbert arcade with pokey sound. ??

Haha. I think BnQ is already pretty great. POKEY sound would be nice. Maybe even some AtariVox.

 

I can't take credit for the POKEY sound in Popeye though.

[Defender_2600]

Hey Darryl, nice work with this latest update, I appreciate that you are continuing the development without rush. Therefore, you have caught my attention on the layout of the first level, in which I see that you still have room for improvement. What I think is a weak point compared to the arcade version, and that I would be grateful if you have the possibility to solve it, are the proportions of the stairs (too wide) and above all the really too close distance between the four lower stairs. These proportions of the stairs not only affect the aesthetics but also the gameplay and fun, in fact it often happens that, in different circumstances, Popeye has not even finished descending one of the lower stairs and is immediately forced to go back. It would be great if you could improve these proportions so you get closer to the arcade version. If it helps, I have carefully prepared a mock up in which I also show you some graphic details in the upper area of the screen that I have made more proportionate and faithful to the arcade version. A last note on the colors, if I can be honest, I think that the yellow of the steps of the stairs and of Popeye's house is really too intrusive as well as completely different from the arcade color and, if you really don't like arcade palettes, I would recommend at least returning to the colors of the previous version. As always, thanks for your attention.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Atariboy2600]

3 minutes ago, Defender_2600 said:

Hey Darryl, nice work with this latest update, I appreciate that you are continuing the development without rush. Therefore, you have caught my attention on the layout of the first level, in which I see that you still have room for improvement. What I think is a weak point compared to the arcade version, and that I would be grateful if you have the possibility to solve it, are the proportions of the stairs (too wide) and above all the really too close distance between the four lower stairs. These proportions of the stairs not only affect the aesthetics but also the gameplay and fun, in fact it often happens that, in different circumstances, Popeye has not even finished descending one of the lower stairs and is immediately forced to go back. It would be great if you could improve these proportions so you get closer to the arcade version. If it helps, I have carefully prepared a mock up in which I also show you some graphic details in the upper area of the screen that I have made more proportionate and faithful to the arcade version. A last note on the colors, if I can be honest, I think that the yellow of the steps of the stairs and of Popeye's house is really too intrusive as well as completely different from the arcade color and, if you really don't like arcade palettes, I would recommend at least returning to the colors of the previous version. As always, thanks for your attention.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

NICE

[+darryl1970]

4 hours ago, Defender_2600 said:

Hey Darryl, nice work with this latest update, I appreciate that you are continuing the development without rush.

Thanks.

4 hours ago, Defender_2600 said:

Therefore, you have caught my attention on the layout of the first level, in which I see that you still have room for improvement. What I think is a weak point compared to the arcade version, and that I would be grateful if you have the possibility to solve it, are the proportions of the stairs (too wide) and above all the really too close distance between the four lower stairs. These proportions of the stairs not only affect the aesthetics but also the gameplay and fun, in fact it often happens that, in different circumstances, Popeye has not even finished descending one of the lower stairs and is immediately forced to go back. It would be great if you could improve these proportions so you get closer to the arcade version.

The tightness of the screen has been something I've struggled with. One of the problems I have is that I lack room for any more tiles. I need to reuse the same tiles on each side. The problem isn't the concept as much as the idea that I may run out of tiles. I made a copy of the game code. I am going to see if I can shift tiles around. This idea would have been overwhelming from the first set of tiles; but, if I can shift things around, I may be able to achieve the proportions.

 

If that works, I will have to reprogram Popeye and Brutus's step-climbing slope.  It will be a lot of work, but would ultimately be more accurate.

4 hours ago, Defender_2600 said:

If it helps, I have carefully prepared a mock up in which I also show you some graphic details in the upper area of the screen that I have made more proportionate and faithful to the arcade version. A last note on the colors, if I can be honest, I think that the yellow of the steps of the stairs and of Popeye's house is really too intrusive as well as completely different from the arcade color and, if you really don't like arcade palettes, I would recommend at least returning to the colors of the previous version. As always, thanks for your attention.

 

Thank you. I agree that the yellow is quite bright on emulation. I have been back and forth on that, because the other colors look so dull on my CRTs. However, the backgrounds are somewhat drab on the arcade, which is part of the reason the sprites "pop" like they do. I will consider this too.

 

--Darryl

[+darryl1970]

Here's a start. Thanks for the nudge, @Defender_2600.

 

I have adjusted Popeye and Brutus to the new climbing slope, which means I am committed to changing this on all level.

 

I had to forgo the quasi water shadow at the bottom.

 

Once this is complete (Hopefully I have enough tiles on the ship level. That has been my concern!), I will need to "teach" Popeye and Brutus where to find the stair tops and bottoms again!

 

I will then need to rework the self-play demo, because the stairs are moved.

 

I'll check the color later. I have to follow my inertia.

 

Edited January 24, 2021 by darryl1970

[Defender_2600]

Great, this update will make a big difference, thank you very much!

 

Just one consideration, I had made the stairs a little wider than the arcade version because the 7800 sprites / screen are wider than the arcade version.

Edited January 24, 2021 by Defender_2600

[+-^CrossBow^-]

One issue I noticed on actual hardware last night was when switching difficulty on the title screen, many of the graphics titles along the top will glitch out and then immediately correct. Anyone else seen this yet? This is through my DF cart.

 

I can capture it later but was curious to see if anyone else has experienced it first.

 

[+darryl1970]

11 minutes ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

One issue I noticed on actual hardware last night was when switching difficulty on the title screen, many of the graphics titles along the top will glitch out and then immediately correct. Anyone else seen this yet? This is through my DF cart.

 

I can capture it later but was curious to see if anyone else has experienced it first.

 

I heard about this. I do not know why this would be, since it doesn't do it on a versa-cart.

 

I am hoping that my DragonFly comes this week, so I will be able to see it first hand. Maybe I'll notice something that could be different.

[+darryl1970]

1 hour ago, Defender_2600 said:

Great, this update will make a big difference, thank you very much!

 

Bad growing pains...

[+-^CrossBow^-]

8 minutes ago, darryl1970 said:

I heard about this. I do not know why this would be, since it doesn't do it on a versa-cart.

 

I am hoping that my DragonFly comes this week, so I will be able to see it first hand. Maybe I'll notice something that could be different.

Well not that this will help, but even E.X.O. does this on the title screens when it first comes up before switching to the official title screen. It is like the whole screen will briefly flash for a second and you can just glimpse some blocky titles in that flash. On emulation it doesn't do this.

 

[Defender_2600]

39 minutes ago, darryl1970 said:

Bad growing pains...

Thanks. Your efforts are appreciated.

 

[SlidellMan]

The best home version is about to get even better.

[+sramirez2008]

1 hour ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

Well not that this will help, but even E.X.O. does this on the title screens when it first comes up before switching to the official title screen. It is like the whole screen will briefly flash for a second and you can just glimpse some blocky titles in that flash. On emulation it doesn't do this.

 

I could have sworn that I had seen some artifacts too, but now that I’m testing with an unmodded console (RF output), I don’t see anything. When my S-Video modded consoles arrives, I’ll test again for this issue.

 

Btw, it’s been really cool to watch and play through the progression of this game. Amazing!

[+Muddyfunster]

3 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

Well not that this will help, but even E.X.O. does this on the title screens when it first comes up before switching to the official title screen. It is like the whole screen will briefly flash for a second and you can just glimpse some blocky titles in that flash. On emulation it doesn't do this.

 

I've not seen that on my Dragonfly with E.X.O. or Popeye and I've had no other feedback related to that on E.X.O. One of the Popeye demos from a few builds back would crash intermittently leaving random tiles on the screen, but I let Daryl know about that already.

 

What Crossbow describes sounds like display artifacts due to the palette not being blanked before calling something from another bank. I'm pretty sure E.X.O. does that (correctly palette blanking) but without a video or something, it's hard to say for sure what it might be.

 

Interesting.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Interesting...it is actually more than just the graphics glitching when choosing difficulty. If I do it quick enough I can get the pokey tune to start acting strangely, as if parts of it suddenly lag behind. I've captured this on video and in the process of editing now to length. I didn't get the stuff on EXO but I will in a bit. Although that one is much more difficult to capture because it only happens when the game first loads up and there is a quick flash of just partial corrupted graphics and then the screen with the facebook and twitter logos...

 

 

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Here are the issues I'm able to recreate with the current released build of Popeye 2.6

 

This is captured straight off my 7800 through DF cart. My DF has a PokeyMAX with YM2151 module installed. I have dual pokey enabled and the external RAM option set to forced if that helps?

 

 

 

 

Here is another example that seems to show how part of the tune resets while doing this as part of it finishes on time with the pipe blowing and then like a measure or two later the rest of it finishes. Notice however, that the credits screen still doesn't come up until the delayed portion is done playing at the end? 

 

 

[+DrVenkman]

After watching Jesse's (first) video (perhaps the second was added in an edit?), I loaded the new version on my Concerto + POKEY and do *NOT* see similar glitching when cycling the options. I tried it out both pressing a controller button on the menu to cycle, as well as the console button (which also cycles the player options). None of the glitches Jesse shows were present. I then played a couple rounds and didn't notice anything amiss, though I am admittedly not great at Popeye in any form so I didn't get very far. Then I power-cycled my console and loaded it up again and still no issues.

Could be a DragonFly issue or something related to PokeyMax? 

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Just now, DrVenkman said:

After watching Jesse's (first) video (perhaps the second was added in an edit?), I loaded the new version on my Concerto + POKEY and do *NOT* see similar glitching when cycling the options. I tried it out both pressing a controller button on the menu to cycle, as well as the console button (which also cycles the player options). None of the glitches Jesse shows were present. I then played a couple rounds and didn't notice anything amiss, though I am admittedly not great at Popeye in any form so I didn't get very far. Then I power-cycled my console and loaded it up again and still no issues.

Could be a DragonFly issue or something related to PokeyMax? 

Second video was added later as an edit yes. This is only place I've seen these issues. Also I would have to check but I don't recall this happening the first time I played it last night. But this morning I did use Drivesort to reorder the directories and files as I noticed the DF cart was starting to show things out of order. Likely because of file changes I've made on the SD card since I first got it. So maybe something in the drivesorting of the files did something to the rom image? I will have to redownload this again to do a hex compare between the files.

 

I've also been modifying the A78 headers by adding in the game titles within them so maybe that did something as well?

 

 

[+Muddyfunster]

I just ran the 2.6 standard version latest build on my Dragonfly both from the SD card and in developer mode (direct transfer of the A78 to the card via USB)

 

I got a start up glitch with the pokey tune being out of synch. That happened only once from SD, powered off it was gone, wasn't able to repeat it in at least 10 tests. 

 

No graphics glitches that I saw from either method of loading.

 

Using Dragonfly with 1.04 firmware are a PAL console.