PentaGo

[+darryl1970]

It's PentaGo!

The full version has Novice, Arcade, and Expert difficulty levels.

Each difficulty has its own high score board, when used with a high score save device. (One combined scoreboard when no device is present)

 

Difficulty Levels: (Demo does not have multiple difficulty levels.)

Novice:

# of Pengos = 5; Extra Pengo = 30,000; Snow-bees start off at very slow speed

 

Arcade:

# of Pengos = 3; Extra Pengo = 30,000; Snow-bees start off at standard pace. Average intelligence.

 

Expert:

# of Pengos = 3; Extra Pengo = 50,000; Fast snow-bees

 

Demo:

# of Pengos = 2; Extra Pengo = 30,000; Arcade difficulty; # Of Playable Levels = 4

 

 

I tried to take the best of the arcade and 5200 versions, to make what I feel to be the most balanced conversion. I feel that the arcade can be brutally unfair. The arcade collision heavily favors the snow-bees. It is easier to miss with an ice block, especially on higher levels. Also, the wall stun is delayed in the arcade version. If Pengo stuns a snow-bee that is next to him, the arcade snow-bee will slide into Pengo, kill Pengo, and then it will be stunned.

 

Pengo is momentarily unable to move after pushing or crushing an ice block. My version has a slightly lesser delay after Pengo pushes a block or crushes an ice block. The arcade delay seems to get longer as the snow-bees get insanely fast. It makes the game feel impossible at times. I think the game is difficult enough already. If Arcade Mode is too easy on this version, Expert more than makes up for it.

 

I have not yet decided what to do about the rounds. The arcade game has 16 rounds. The arcade game becomes almost impossible after round 14. It becomes harder to hit the snow-bees with the ice, they crush the ice before the player can push a cube, and they are much faster than Pengo. After round 16, the game loops to level 1, and the difficulty is back to level 1 difficulty. I believe this is because the game is so difficult and cheap at that point, the programmers never expected anybody to get that far.

 

I currently allow the game rounds to continue on indefinitely. I kind of like it this way.

 

The game has 12 different intermissions. The last two intermissions alternate after level 12.

 

Unlike the arcade game, this version does not reset to level 1 after level 16.

 

This version has the button pause option in the settings menu. It defaults to off, and the most recent setting saves to the HS Device. It has some clean-up over the previous too.

 

Found more Bugs. Also added Pause from joystick (Need feedback on Pause, but read conditions in post!!)

 

Title and "Got Bonus" tune update - 4-17-2023

 

Pretty Big Update - 4/14/2023

 

Update 9/29/2022

• Updated for PRGE
• All options are now moved into the menu. The difficulty switches no longer control the tune that plays. It is now selected from the SETTINGS menu.
• The chip is now selected from the SETTINGS menu. (TIA/POKEY)

 

      Here is the post!

 

Update 07/24/2022

• Arcade difficulty is easier. The difficulty has been adjusted to ramp up more slowly on the arcade setting. The arcade is ruthless from the beginning, and I want this to be enjoyable. I hope I found a good balance.
• New on-screen indicators for HS Devices, TIA or POKEY selected (Left Difficulty SW), and more...
• Updated sound effects.
• Code cleanup, allowing extra features.
• The code, "up, down, up, down, left, right", can be entered on the Title screen. This changes the Penta title to an alternate name. This change is saved on your HS device.
• Another code will unlock the ability to play in CHEAT MODE. This unlock is also saved to your HS device.
• New Settings page. I was not TRYING to please @ZeroPage Homebrew , by making the game couch compliant, but it's a cool side effect! Some settings are unavailable in the demo.
  • Bonus Levels * - Select Blob mode, @ZeroPage Homebrew mode, and cheat mode (unlocked with code).
  • Force Tune - Previously set with code. This will force the background music to one song. The song is selected by changing the right difficulty. Once forced, the song can be changed mid-game. Left difficulty still switches TIA and POKEY selection.
  • Level Select * - Select starting level and which board layout to play. Select at the beginning of each round.
  • Invincible * - Pento doesn't die when hit by a sno-bee.
  • Reset Unlock ** - Go to page to delete game parameter saves, such as the title change or once cheat mode has been unlocked. New Page!
  • Reset Scores ** - Go to page to delete high score saves for each difficulty. No longer necessary to hold Select and Reset on power-up.

 

Note: In "Cheat Mode" Penta can die, but will never lose a life. In this mode, the "Select" button will automatically clear a level. This was my debug setting. This mode is also available in Popeye, but it is only available in the full version of the games

 

*   -   These modes will disable the high score functionality.

** -   These options are only available if a high score device is present.

 

Click here for link to game demos.

 

 

Update 11/13/2021

• Fixed issue where sno-bees travel through star blocks and blocks with eggs hidden inside. I wasn't going to change this, because it can happen in the arcade. I still allow it at level reset, if a sno-bee is trapped in its corner.
• Fixed issue with sno-bee randomness. This makes the sno-bees a little less predictable. It's been broken for a while. "Pento" can no longer hide on the other side of a star block when all of the sno-bees are on the same vertical or horizontal path.
• Updated the banner to match the arcade bootleg, "Penta".
• More TIA harmonies & updated Pokey alternate tune. Other sound tweaks.
• Minor cosmetic changes

 

PentaDEMO(11-13-2021-AM).a78

 

PentaBUP(11-13-2021-AM).a78

 

 

Update 11/06/2021 - Many updates

• Refined controls. Smoother navigation. Button action now mimics the arcade, so it can not be held down indefinitely.
• Credits screen has been added
• Snow-bees hatch faster
• Tighter snow-block collision. (Almost too easy now!)
• Intermission penguins walk from off-screen now. Music is sync'd to where it plays the full tune after level 6. The arcade ALWAYS cuts the tune off. (The intermission can be skipped with the joystick button once the penguins are half-way across the screen.)
• Additional level layouts: 16 regular and 2 hidden (ZPH & Blob mode)
• Minor cosmetic changes
• The most noticeable updates:
  • Refinements to POKEY music. Thanks again @playsoft for the engine and Popcorn POKEY.
  • Intermission has dedicated POKEY music @Pat Brady
  • Brady updated and refined the TIA Engine, adding dedicated harmonies. He reworked the TIA tunes (LEFT DIFFICULTY selects POKEY/TIA)
• I have no issues with my versa-cart or Dragonfly.
• POKEY sound is fixed on Concerto (At least is works on my cart). TIA sound also works on Concerto. I did have one issue where the game would crash when I tried to start the game. I erased the game off of my card and recopied it to the card. It has been running on my Concerto for 3 hours now in invincible mode. It's now up to level 80, since the snow-bees forfeit after 2 minutes of inactivity. Half has been in POKEY mode, and half in TIA.

 

PengoDemo(11-06-2021).a78

 

PengoBUP(11-06-2021).a78

 

 

Update 10/23/2021 - Alternating BG tunes; Updated TIA Popcorn

• This version alternates the background tunes per-round. I start with the Popcorn tune, since that appears to be the original tune used.
• This also includes an updated Popcorn tune for TIA
• A new cheat code has been added. This one can be accessed inthe demo: At the title screen: {right, right, right, left, left, left} toggles the ability to force the background tune. This just unlocks and locks the right difficulty switch, to be used as the versions prior to the alternating tune.
• Tighened up the collision when an iceblock catches a snow-bee
• Added a sfx when a snow-bee is crushed

 

PengoDemo(10-23-2021-AM).a78

 

PengoBUP(10-23-2021-AM).a78

 

Update 10/22/2021 - TIA Popcorn, for those without POKEY.

Sorry for the quick post, but this may be the last for a while. A lot came together, and I think I am winding down to more of a maintenance mode, unless I decide to alternate the background tunes. This contains general clean up in sound. Key Pokey harmonies from a table.

PengoDemo(10-22-2021-MD).a78

 

PengoBUP(10-22-2021-MD).a78

 

*** Bonus: There are 6 hidden modes that are unlockable in the full version. I compiled a couple into a demo. Pengo doesn't lose any lives, but the demo is only limited to a number of level clears.

 

Blob Mode (Used to test the Blobs. After being on a level for two-minutes, this mode is activated in regular play.) - PengoBlobDemo(10-22-2021).a78

 

ZPH  @ZeroPage Homebrew  Mode (Every other board is the ZPH level) - PengZPHDemo(10-22-2021).a78

 

 

 

Update 10/21/2021 - Popcorn added for POKEY sound. LeftDiff  = POKEY On/Off; RightDiff = Alternative/Popcorn

PengoDemo(10-21-2021-PM).a78

 

PengoBUP(10-21-2021-PM).a78

 

 

 

Update 10/16/2021 - High Score saves (To clear corrupted high scores, hold RESET & SELECT on options screen.)

The previous demo skipped the high score entry screen. This is fixed, and music is added.

PengoDemo(10-16-2021-AM).a78

 

BUP does not support high scores.

PengoBUP(10-16-2021-AM).a78

 

Update: 10/13/2021

PengoDemo(10-12-2021-PM).a78

  

PengoBUPDemo(10-12-2021).a78

 

First Public Demo - 10/08/2021

PengoDemo(10-08-2021-PM).a78

 

 

 

 

 

[+Muddyfunster]

Very impressive as always Darryl.  ?️?

 

I was looking forward to trying this out after seeing it on the ZPH stream the other night, it's really coming together beautifully.

 

[+darryl1970]

30 minutes ago, Muddyfunster said:

Very impressive as always Darryl.  ?️?

 

I was looking forward to trying this out after seeing it on the ZPH stream the other night, it's really coming together beautifully.

 

Thank you!

[Giles N]

I just cannot wait ??

Pengo was one the games that made get the 5200.

 

And to have an upgraded version for the 7800 would really neat ‘n cool!

 

And looks very good so far @darryl1970!!

 

Congrats!

[+darryl1970]

14 minutes ago, Giles N said:

I just cannot wait ??

Pengo was one the games that made get the 5200.

I got Pengo for the 5200 when the market crashed. I was surprised at how much fun my friends and I had playing it. A local corner shop/arcade got a Pengo, and I was horrible at it. (I have since gotten better.)

It was a very impressive conversion for the time, and it made the 5200 shine. You didn't see that many multi-colored sprites on other systems of the time period.

14 minutes ago, Giles N said:

And to have an upgraded version for the 7800 would really neat ‘n cool!

Yes. I missed it. I thought it seemed like a good candidate for the system.

14 minutes ago, Giles N said:

And looks very good so far @darryl1970!!

 

Congrats!

Thank you!

[TrekMD]

Oh, that looks awesome!

[John Stamos Mullet]

Holy shit!

 

 

 

[+cjherr]

Beautiful!

[+DrVenkman]

Zoinks! ? 

 

What a great surprise out of the blue!

[gambler172]

Hi Darryl

 

Looks damn good,but not an easy game

 

Greetings Walter

[AtariBrian]

Looks great, maybe Synth or someone could make pokey music/sounds for this game as an option if the game one day gets put on cart... great job!!!!!!

[+darryl1970]

2 hours ago, AtariBrian said:

Looks great, maybe Synth or someone could make pokey music/sounds for this game as an option if the game one day gets put on cart... great job!!!!!!

That would be great!

 

I had an idea. Instead of picking out a separate set of POKEY tunes, I had an idea to play harmonies for the TIA music.

With this concept, I play POKEY harmonies, based off of the TIA note. The game figures out the background music.

 

I spent my entire day off playing with this idea, because it kept getting a little better.

 

In the end, I find that the extra processing needed is causing bad slowdown on the levels with 4 snow-bees. That's a bummer. I don't know that I'll be able to save this.

 

Here's the quirky Pokey version. It seems to play well on Dragonfly and emulation. For some reason, Concerto doesn't play well with it. The notes stick and lag with the Concerto.

 

The left difficulty switch can be used to disable the harmonies & POKEY sound.

 

--Darryl

 

PengoPokeyDemo(10-09-2021-Mid).a78

 

 

[+darryl1970]

Note on the POKEY Demo. The left difficulty switch needs set to "b", in order to hear the POKEY accompaniment.

[+swlovinist]

Looks amazing!

[7800Knight]

I played the arcade version years ago in Italy.  It is a fun game and this 7800 conversion looks snappy!

[Trebor]

Prior to experiencing this never thought I would care for or even consider Pengo as a selection for an Arcade port I would want to see; however, I am very glad this has made me more than want it.  What a treat!  Just seeing that AtariAge.com intro alone is worth the price of admission, but really emphasizes from the start the attention and care to detail, as this port already does not disappoint. 

 

The Arcade intro is beautifully in place.  The POKEY sound is very nicely done and the graphics and animation look awesome.  Excellent job so far, and looking forward to the continued development!

[+darryl1970]

2 hours ago, Trebor said:

Prior to experiencing this never thought I would care for or even consider Pengo as a selection for an Arcade port I would want to see;

I didn't think Pengo looked very interesting back in the day, but the video game crash happened. We got 5200 Pengo for about $5 or something, and it quickly became one of my favorites. I find it a lot of fun.

2 hours ago, Trebor said:

however, I am very glad this has made me more than want it.  What a treat!  Just seeing that AtariAge.com intro alone is worth the price of admission, but really emphasizes from the start the attention and care to detail, as this port already does not disappoint. 

 

The Arcade intro is beautifully in place.  The POKEY sound is very nicely done and the graphics and animation look awesome.  Excellent job so far, and looking forward to the continued development!

Thank you. I appreciate your kind words.

[+sramirez2008]

On 10/9/2021 at 3:29 PM, darryl1970 said:

That would be great!

 

I had an idea. Instead of picking out a separate set of POKEY tunes, I had an idea to play harmonies for the TIA music.

With this concept, I play POKEY harmonies, based off of the TIA note. The game figures out the background music.

 

I spent my entire day off playing with this idea, because it kept getting a little better.

 

In the end, I find that the extra processing needed is causing bad slowdown on the levels with 4 snow-bees. That's a bummer. I don't know that I'll be able to save this.

 

Here's the quirky Pokey version. It seems to play well on Dragonfly and emulation. For some reason, Concerto doesn't play well with it. The notes stick and lag with the Concerto.

 

The left difficulty switch can be used to disable the harmonies & POKEY sound.

 

--Darryl

 

PengoPokeyDemo(10-09-2021-Mid).a78 144.13 kB · 32 downloads

 

 

The Pokey version sounds pretty good.  I prefer it over the TIA, but the TIA sounds are good too.  Most importantly, the game plays very well and looks great too.  

[TrekMD]

Hmm, I'm having trouble playing the game using BupSystem.  Is there a new version of that emulator? 

[+darryl1970]

12 hours ago, TrekMD said:

Hmm, I'm having trouble playing the game using BupSystem.  Is there a new version of that emulator? 

I didn't consider BUP. Pengo has high score support, and BUP System crashes when trying to access the High Score load/save routines. I have to disable hs and create a version specifically for BUP. I will do that with the next update, which I think will be soon.

[SearsRoebuck]

Pengo is one of those games I always had on my 5200 want list when I had the system simply because it was one of those 'weird arcade port' titles that I am attracted to, but I don't think I ever actually played it.  Just tried the demo and got completely creamed in about 30 seconds by the enemies - I think I like it. 

[Cousin Vinnie]

It make look all cutesy, but that is one violent game. LOL. Squishing heads with ice blocks... tsk tsk tsk 

[+bhall408]

I've tested it in Argon, both the TIA and POKEY versions work fine (it supports POKEY, and does it in stereo)

 

If you know it only ever uses cardinal directions, we can set a flag on the server side to make it play with a 4-way stick instead of the default 8-way.

 

On the high score screen, I think I would have expected up to increase the character rather than down, but that may be just me

 

Brian

 

 

 

[Paul Westphal]

I think it's a great game to port. It's randomness promotes replayability - You can play it differently everytime. I love the 8bit version, and I either play for distance, or for points. Nice work, D1970

[Cousin Vinnie]

1 hour ago, Cousin Vinnie said:

It make look all cutesy, but that is one violent game. LOL. Squishing heads with ice blocks... tsk tsk tsk 

I MAY look...

Jesus... English