easmith Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 (edited) most recent version: one of my favorite board games as a kid was Dark Tower . i am thinking of trying to adapt this to 2600. I don't think this has been done before on 2600 but do not want to step on anyone's toes or steal anyone's idea . I am not concerned about copyright issues ( should I be??) . I do not intend to make any money off it ( if it ever even gets done). I know someone did an updated version of the board game recently. I think it would be fun if I could pull it off just to play it myself ......! Sadly , I sold my original game many years ago Edited July 25, 2023 by easmith 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
s0c7 Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 (edited) 3 hours ago, easmith said: I am not concerned about copyright issues ( should I be??) . Yes. Just make some changes to it and call it something else. Don't go for a 1:1. Edited January 27, 2022 by s0c7 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr SQL Posted January 27, 2022 Share Posted January 27, 2022 Very cool! Dark Tower was an awesome board game I'm looking forward to seeing this. One idea could be to have the 2600 replace the Dark Tower computer and keep the board and the cards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted January 27, 2022 Author Share Posted January 27, 2022 The idea would be to show the board and the tower on screen, then cut to screens that show what the tower would show when the player moves. Cut scenes for the different locations and events ( frontier , bazaar , tomb, etc). Also an inventory screen that shows whether you have pegasus , sword, beast , etc. Could do some cool backgrounds like Kevin Mosley did for our Kung Fu Combat 2. I think it would doable in 32 K with my limited graphical abilities, but will be a long haul . I can't imagine any company would care if it is similar with different name . I have seen that there is ios game and a new board game , don;t know if they are licensed or not . So few people will ever see the game ----it is small potatoes . 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted January 29, 2022 Author Share Posted January 29, 2022 definitely off and running . I have a basic proof of concept for navigation .... should be able to do a fairly accurate simulation. Lot to do still but it just might work . each kingdom has 30 territories 30 27 28 29 24 B 26 20 21 22 23 15 16 17 R 19 8 T 10 11 12 13 14 1 2 3 C 5 S 7 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted January 29, 2022 Share Posted January 29, 2022 Those mockups look great! Like you, DT has always been one of my favorite games! My 3 brothers and I use to play all the time, and I would play it as a 1 player game with just the tower... good memories! This is going to be hard to believe, but back in 2002 (when I was first learning 2600 programming) I started a Dark Tower game and it was very similar to what you've designed (except I didn't have a design lol - I'm better at porting games than designing them as it turns out... ). I still have the code; I was just learning how to draw the playfield and the big orange bar is a sprite I was working on - I still hadn't figured out how to 'turn it off' so it goes down the length of the screen: This is obviously just a few hours work but I wanted to do something with the board as you described where you would move your army around and switch to a new kingdom by crossing the 'frontier' on either side. Looking in my files, I also found this mock up I did (which is obviously a modified screenshot of Atari's Krull): I remember wanting to make the battles interactive, where your warriors would be on the bottom and the brigands attacking from the top, and the two front rows would battle (you could pull back to 'retreat'). I also envisioned the tomb, sanctuary and bazaar being interactive screens like you proposed up above. One other idea I had was having the 'riddle of the keys' be a screen with your man at the base of the tower with the 3 locks and you would have the 3 keys on the bottom, pick them up one by one and insert into the locks in the correct order. I also recall that I was going to have 4 keys on the harder levels so it would be more challenging (16 possibilities instead of 8 ) and also maybe have clues as to the key order scrawled on the walls of the tombs. Lots of ideas but sadly I didn't have the tech skills at the time to follow up with them (or the design skills to make it more coherent ). Anyway, I can't wait to see this one progress and let me know if you I can suggest any more of my 'great' ideas! Good luck! John 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted January 30, 2022 Author Share Posted January 30, 2022 16 hours ago, johnnywc said: This is going to be hard to believe, but back in 2002 (when I was first learning 2600 programming) I started a Dark Tower game and it was very similar to what you've designed (except I didn't have a design lol - I'm better at porting games than designing them as it turns out... ). Ha ! Great minds think alike I guess I also played many games with just me and the Tower . I have a picture at my mom's house somewhere of me assembling the game after Christmas. I have asked her to find it ... I also thought about doing something more for the riddle , like having to find a scroll or something that has the answer . The idea of having it on a tomb wall or something is also good . One thing I cannot seem to remember or find is what a typical price range is for the items for sale at the bazaar other than food. Gold is limited to 99 bags so the prices cannot be too high , but I would like to get it close to original . Right now I am proceeding with a 1 player version but maybe could make it more later if space allows . I hope to have something to show in the near future and feedback is certainly appreciated ! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted January 30, 2022 Share Posted January 30, 2022 2 hours ago, easmith said: Ha ! Great minds think alike I guess 2 hours ago, easmith said: I also played many games with just me and the Tower . I have a picture at my mom's house somewhere of me assembling the game after Christmas. I have asked her to find it ... Playing with my brothers was always the best, but playing the Tower like it was a handheld game was always a blast! 2 hours ago, easmith said: I also thought about doing something more for the riddle , like having to find a scroll or something that has the answer . The idea of having it on a tomb wall or something is also good . Cool, finding an item would be better. Maybe you could have the riddle in the inventory screen. It would be 3 (or 4) empty squares and as you found clues it would fill them in, but they would be hidden (kind of like secret doors) so the hints are required but just helpful for the riddle. Of course, if you don't solve the riddle you should have the brigands come out and attack like in the board game. 2 hours ago, easmith said: One thing I cannot seem to remember or find is what a typical price range is for the items for sale at the bazaar other than food. Gold is limited to 99 bags so the prices cannot be too high , but I would like to get it close to original . Hmm, I'm not sure but I do recall them being as low as 4 to start for warriors and sometimes as high as 8. You would then haggle and could get it down to as low as 3 I think (unless he kicked you out). Not sure if you've seen it, but there is a real cool Android app called Droid Tower that simulates the tower perfectly; you should be able to play that for a bit to get a better idea of the min/max values, etc. 2 hours ago, easmith said: Right now I am proceeding with a 1 player version but maybe could make it more later if space allows . Sounds cool! I recall part of my design was a 2 player option where you could battle the other player if you occupied the same space. Of course, now that we have the QuadTari you could do a true 4 player game.. Easier said than done of course; I use CDFJ for most of my games so having the ARM, 32K and 6K of RAM makes it easier to add those things in.. If you ever want to join the 'dark side' of ARM development, let me know and I can get you fitted for a storm trooper helmet 2 hours ago, easmith said: I hope to have something to show in the near future and feedback is certainly appreciated ! Great, I'm following this thread and look forward to seeing your progress! Good luck! John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted February 4, 2022 Author Share Posted February 4, 2022 I have been at this pretty obsessively over the last week. I now have a fully playable 1 player game with the basic original game logic pretty much done . Pretty pleased with the outcome so far . I am excited about it ! I would post something , but right now I just have placeholders for all the graphics. There will be separate backgrounds for every type of location . Separate graphics for every graphic the tower would have shown. So a lot of graphics work to do . Also a lot of fine tuning of difficulty . Also there are currently no sounds . Might add some easter eggs if there is space . But I am thinking I will keep it a fairly straight forward adaptation of the board game . I am asking Kevin Mosley to do the graphics . He did all of the backgrounds for my Kung Fu Combat 2 game . Might take a while, as he is very busy and there are many different scenes and graphics to create . But this will happen and be finished ..:) 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted February 8, 2022 Author Share Posted February 8, 2022 I have been spending about every spare minute over the last 10 days or so plugging away. I now have a working 1 player game that is pretty much true to the original game. I caught a glitch in the dragon graphic while making this video , but otherwise pretty good for a start . My placeholder graphics are ok but will be improved. Note : All screens with black backgrounds ( including the blank screens) will have a background designed by Kevin Mosley when it is all done. Should be of similar quality to the graphics he did for Kung Fu Combat . Also right now there is no Title Screen, no screens for Safe move ( just blank now) , Citadel, Sanctuary, and Frontier. Also no sounds yet . Need to tweak difficulty also to make it winnable but not easy . 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted February 18, 2022 Author Share Posted February 18, 2022 A few updates ... I have the game fully programmed as a 1 or 2 player game ., including the wizard/ curse for 2 player games. I also have sound effects added. it will be called "DARK KEEP". I have played through it a few times and think I have worked out all of the bugs. I think I have the difficulty very close to right. Also have a final score like the original game if you are able to defeat the tower . I have kept it very true to the original game rules, with all of the features and logic of the original game with just a few exceptions: -- Pegasus can only be used within current kingdom. -- In 2 player mode, player dies if they lose all warriors, and the other player can continue their game . --- You get little more generous aid at the Sanctuary and you start out with just a bit more supplies than the original, but it is close. --- for the riddle of the keys, instead of just random guessing, a scroll is randomly placed in a territory in home kingdom. The scroll can only be found after you have returned to your home kingdom . It reveals the solution to the key riddle . -- If you choose to try to guess the riddle instead of finding the scroll, and if you guess incorrectly, you will be penalized worse than in the original game . I have turned it over to Kevin for all the background graphics. There are 17 scene background/ PF graphics that need to be drawn: title screen, game over screen, game won screen, citadel, sanctuary, tomb, ruin, bazaar, tower, battle in open country, lost, plague strikes, dragon attacks, safe move, frontier, tower, scroll. So it might take a while but I am pretty excited about how it will end up . I hope to have something to share soon . Am reluctant to put out a rom at this point only because there is so much still to do . ES 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted February 25, 2022 Author Share Posted February 25, 2022 early draft of updated gameboard screen for kingdom 1. Each kingdom will have a slightly different screen in terms of colors . Still almost 20 screens to do and Kevin is very busy, but this is an idea of the value he can add -- worth the wait. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ledzep Posted February 25, 2022 Share Posted February 25, 2022 Man, that sounds cool! Always heard of Dark Tower (the Vectrex has a game based on the board game, yes?) but never played the original. Hopefully this will be a full cart/box/instructions release because no way could I guess how to play that, hahaaha. As for easter eggs, an obvious/goofy one might be the Adventure dragon (duck) appearing at some point if a certain sequence of goals are reached? Maybe in place of the normal dragon (I have no idea if that could be done since I don't know how a dragon is used in the original). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted February 25, 2022 Author Share Posted February 25, 2022 7 hours ago, ledzep said: Man, that sounds cool! Always heard of Dark Tower (the Vectrex has a game based on the board game, yes?) but never played the original. Hopefully this will be a full cart/box/instructions release because no way could I guess how to play that, hahaaha. Thanks. I have purposely avoided looking at any other adaptations , but I think there is a vectrex game , yes. I have attached a manual from the board game . The gameplay will be same except for a few small differences . darktowerrules.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted March 1, 2022 Author Share Posted March 1, 2022 Dragon Attack ! 16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+ZeroPage Homebrew Posted March 2, 2022 Share Posted March 2, 2022 22 hours ago, easmith said: Dragon Attack ! Holy crap, this full screen PF animation from Kevin is next level! I can't wait to debut Dark Keep on ZPH! - James 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted March 9, 2022 Author Share Posted March 9, 2022 a few more screen shots from CRT TV : dragon one of the citadels battle in tomb title screen Me setting up the game after Christmas '81 14 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClassicGMR Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 This. Is. AWESOME. 'nuff said. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+SpiceWare Posted March 9, 2022 Share Posted March 9, 2022 On 2/28/2022 at 10:12 PM, easmith said: Dragon Attack ! You might not have the ROM for it, but by rotating thru a few color tables for each frame you might be able to enhance the effect of the fire blasting towards the player. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted March 10, 2022 Author Share Posted March 10, 2022 14 hours ago, SpiceWare said: You might not have the ROM for it, but by rotating thru a few color tables for each frame you might be able to enhance the effect of the fire blasting towards the player. Agreed . If there is space I will try to get that included . Thanks 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted March 16, 2022 Author Share Posted March 16, 2022 Update 3/16/22: game coming together very fast . Hope to have a playable beta in the next few weeks . Only a few screens still need designing . Want to wait until there is at least a close to final draft for all screens . I will stop posting screen shots since that is probably annoying with no game to play . Game will be a very true adaptation of original with only a few minor differences. For example , the riddle of keys will not have to be guessed but can be discovered . I am excited to share something in the near future . 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted April 5, 2022 Author Share Posted April 5, 2022 Update 4/05/22. BETA rom will be ready for release soon. In final testing / graphics tuning stage . 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+johnnywc Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 11 minutes ago, easmith said: Update 4/05/22. BETA rom will be ready for release soon. In final testing / graphics tuning stage . Looks awesome, can't wait to try it out! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Slikatel Posted April 5, 2022 Share Posted April 5, 2022 (edited) looking forward to this! Thank you! Edited April 5, 2022 by Slikatel 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClassicGMR Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 8 hours ago, easmith said: BETA rom will be ready for release soon. In final testing / graphics tuning stage 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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