Krull - Recreation of Arcade Game

[+saxmeister]

I had posted some test work on this before, but I started getting a little more serious with this. A test started coming together rather nicely, so I'm going to attempt to recreate the arcade version of Krull on the 7800 as closely as possible.

 

This is my first "big" game, so it will take some time. I'm learning with each step, so it will come slowly. I'm learning how to properly structure the game and learning things such as collision detection and bank management. It's a lot to learn at once, but if I can do it, many of you can as well. The 7800basic environment is amazing! I can't thank the devs enough for this tool.

 

I don't have the original source code to work from, so I'm winging it here.

 

• Ripped the graphics from the arcade
• Ripped the font from the arcade
• Recreated the title screen with the limitations of the 7800
• Recreated the first level and I'm working on the AI of the rolling boulders
• Got the movement of the lead character "Colwyn" working with all frames of animation ripped from the arcade machine
• First collision detection of the shards of the glaive and added scoring for this

 

FIRST TESTS

Link to JS7800: https://raz0red.github.io/js7800/?cart=https://atariage.com/forums/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=919271

 

VERSION 0.4

Link to JS7800: https://raz0red.github.io/js7800/?cart=https://atariage.com/forums/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=926309

Edited March 18, 2022 by saxmeister

[SlidellMan]

I have to say that you have made good progress on this proof of concept.

[BydoEmpire]

Looking good!

[Tempest]

Awesome!  Krull was always one of my favorite arcade games.

[gambler172]

an a78 file would be great

[Eagle]

17 minutes ago, gambler172 said:

an a78 file would be great

https://atariage.com/forums/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=926309

[+Muddyfunster]

I love the lettering / runes on the title screen. Nice progress, looking forward to seeing how this develops!

 

 

[gambler172]

Hi Saxmeister

Looks good on real hardware.

Greetings Walter

[+saxmeister]

1 hour ago, Muddyfunster said:

I love the lettering / runes on the title screen. Nice progress, looking forward to seeing how this develops!

 

 

I ripped that font and the runes directly from the arcade version myself. The only thing missing on that title page is the glowing runes. The hardware for the arcade version could do more colors per pixel than 320A mode can so making them glow would require making the runes as graphics, placing them in the exact spot, and then color cycling reds. I may try that if I find time. It would look really cool.

[+saxmeister]

A few updates this evening.

• Sprite collision with the glaive shards, boulders, and bushes
• Colwyn now slows down when running through the bushes
• Better music for the glaive pickup (and added random pitch changes to each one)
• Added some version of the boulder rumble (I wish I had the original hardware for that beautiful distortion)
• Started ripping the graphics for the next level while taking a break from coding

 

Still to fix:

• Colwyn remains at slow speed even after leaving the bushes until the joystick is completely let go of
• Better collision detection
• Fixes to the boulders and the randomness - the way they do it on the arcade game is weird but very cool
• Needs much better random numbers - every time I start the game the random items are in the same place
• Visual glitches
• Better music/sfx
• ALL OTHER LEVELS

JS7800 Link: https://raz0red.github.io/js7800/?cart=https://atariage.com/forums/applications/core/interface/file/attachment.php?id=926821

 

krull_06.bas.bin krull_06.bas.a78

Edited March 20, 2022 by saxmeister

[TheDevil'sCompass]

This looks very cool. How are you going to handle the twin stick controls of the arcade original?

[+saxmeister]

I thought about trying to do the Robotron thing with two joysticks, but that isn't as common as I would like. So I will stick with one stick for moving and aiming.

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

On 3/20/2022 at 1:50 AM, saxmeister said:

I thought about trying to do the Robotron thing with two joysticks, but that isn't as common as I would like. So I will stick with one stick for moving and aiming.

Hopefully you'll be able to make it an option for those who have twin stick setups. ?

 

- James

[TrekMD]

Oh, this is cool! 

[Tempest]

Anyone have pictures?

[+saxmeister]

[ColecoGamer]

1 minute ago, saxmeister said:

Oh my!! You are making my dream come true!

[Dire 51]

Oh man. This is great!

[ColecoGamer]

Just asking if someone could please post a video of their play test of Krull? This is one game I would love to own on my a7800!

[TrekMD]

The New Retro Show posted gameplay video...

 

[Gunther]

Got to have Pokey/Custom music and fx.

Jaguar 3-, and 6-button (S.N.E.S) control-schemes using the Wolf adaptor (featured on the 7800 forum) for a quality twin-stick solution for the 7800.

It would be perfect.

Edited March 26, 2022 by Gunther

[ColecoGamer]

1 hour ago, TrekMD said:

The New Retro Show posted gameplay video...

 

Thank you for sharing. It’s looking great!

[Traxx]

Looks good

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I saw the same graphic issues in that video when using A7800 emulation as well. I also had it lock up once with just the yellow screen between levels at one point. It will also start to register being hit by a boulder if you start to walk into the graphic corruption areas I've found. Still, looking good!

 

[+Muddyfunster]

Yellow screen sounds like a gosub is getting lost perhaps or is being incorrectly called (wrong bank maybe). The graphics glitches , i'd start by checking how the screen is refreshing (drawscreen, doublebuffer flip, etc).