atari7800 It's Conner time! The final version is here.

[+ZeroPage Homebrew]

 ZeroPage Homebrew is playing It's Conner Time on TODAY's stream LIVE on Twitch, hope you can join us!

 

Fri Oct 21, 2022 @ 6PM PT | 9PM ET | 1AM GMT+1Day

WATCH LIVE: https://www.twitch.tv/zeropagehomebrew/
WATCH LATER: https://youtube.com/zeropagehomebrew/

 

Games:

• Space Race (2022 7800) by Michael Myers @saxmeister
• Freeway (2022 WIP | 7800) by Michael Myers @saxmeister
• It's Conner Time! (2022 7800) by Ecernosoft @Ecernosoft

[Ecernosoft]

4 hours ago, ZeroPage Homebrew said:

 ZeroPage Homebrew is playing It's Conner Time on TODAY's stream LIVE on Twitch, hope you can join us!

 

Fri Oct 21, 2022 @ 6PM PT | 9PM ET | 1AM GMT+1Day

WATCH LIVE: https://www.twitch.tv/zeropagehomebrew/
WATCH LATER: https://youtube.com/zeropagehomebrew/

 

Games:

• Space Race (2022 7800) by Michael Myers @saxmeister
• Freeway (2022 WIP | 7800) by Michael Myers @saxmeister
• It's Conner Time! (2022 7800) by Ecernosoft @Ecernosoft

Dude.... thanks. 😃

Also, please review my 2600 version!!

So sorry about the glitches, and the half missing shellcreeper sprites- but I've learned more about being a programmer. AND, ICT4 on 7800 (And 5200? Or maybe it will get ICT3) will be out after ICT3 on 2600!

 

Edit: There is also a level select (On the title screen, hold select) and you start the game by pressing a direction.

 

Edit Edit: @ZeroPage Homebrew, It's pronounced Ec-er-no-soft.

Edited October 22, 2022 by Ecernosoft

[Silver Back]

Congrats on having ZPH feature your game. I hope you come back to this game and expand the levels and improve on the code. I really think you have a good basis here but it needs cleaned up. More levels, improved the handling of Conner, get the boomerang working and clean up the glitches. You have a lot of talent but I get the impression that your racing to the finish. Really take your time, take years (if you must) and just continue to improve.

 

All this is meant as encouragement, you are really good at making games given your age and experience, you just need to tighten everything up if that makes sense.

[Ecernosoft]

55 minutes ago, Silver Back said:

Congrats on having ZPH feature your game. I hope you come back to this game and expand the levels and improve on the code. I really think you have a good basis here but it needs cleaned up. More levels, improved the handling of Conner, get the boomerang working and clean up the glitches. You have a lot of talent but I get the impression that your racing to the finish. Really take your time, take years (if you must) and just continue to improve.

 

All this is meant as encouragement, you are really good at making games given your age and experience, you just need to tighten everything up if that makes sense.

Well, I both am and am not.

1. I am not since I have learned a lot about game programming. I've come up with more effective compression methods, and therefore, I think it's better that I do an "ICT3" sequel to the 2 finished, good games on the 2600 with more achievable plans instead of the insane feat I was trying to do here.

2. I am since I am currently working on ICT3, sequel to the 2600 games. The 2600 games show more of what I can do than this sloppy mess. The thing is, I wasn't really coding this well.

I didn't know much of the 7800's power (Remember, this was my first game!) or features (The biggest one being I didn't know about 4 byte DLs), and I was trying to make a "Mario 7800". I was trying to beat something I couldn't beat. I think the open-world platformer style of ICT2 2600 will be the style for ICT3, combined with some somari stuff (I am a fan of somari, and can enjoy it, although there are some nitpicks that the Sonic improved romhack hopefully fixes.). 

The reason ICT1 never got finished was because I just couldn't. The thing is, I thought:

"Oh, SMB1 took half a year, something slightly cut down could be finished over summer break"

I was trying to push the limits, but I just couldn't. And with my terrible level-compression routine, making designing (And encoding) a pain, I decided to go back to my 2600 roots. 

There, I learned by making something small, but polished, it would do better than quantity. (The reason ICT2 isn't better than it is however, is due to memory limitations)

Having 4 amazing zones (OF a good size of course) is better than 32 "It's good, but could be better" ones, right?

Therefore, ICT3 might not be the biggest game ever. My plans for it were to have a world similar to ZELDA but in a platformer style. Save the princesses (Remember, there are 6, and 2 get saved in ICT1 and ICT2 combined, so 4 more), fight Turbo, and restore peace to dreamland!

 

That's my plan.

 

Oh yeah, right: I had to make the graphics. BY HAND. I had no tool to make my gfx for me, so I had to make the binaries myself. Now I have Gorf (Now banned)'s 7800graphics tool which has been a life-saver so far. Graphics took the longest (The only other thing that took so long was the stupid level compression system I made) and now I don't need that.

; As you can see in this image, I've decided to make a taller Conner sprite (He looks somewhat fat in the origonal ICT) as well as 2 palletes (The red, tan, and white one won't change even with the varia suit or the high jump suit, therefore 2 pixels of Conner's hair will be a different color when he gets a powerup, unless the colors don't change) and the one for the head will be reused for the score and possibly other enemies using those colors. The one which replaces white with Blue however, is reserved for the Conner sprite. 

 

I hope you'll understand this. You'll probably still see some ICT1 assets, but more will be special to ICT3. 

 

Edit: I was also beyond excited when ZPH reviewed my game.

Edited October 23, 2022 by Ecernosoft

[Ecernosoft]

Hey guys, is ICT3 an improvement over ICT1? I understand ICT3 isn't done yet and ICT1 is even LESS done than ICT3 (ICT1 isn't getting finished, sorry) but is ICT3 better? (Note: The vertical momentum from ICT1 is coming back, but the horiz momentum will stay stagnant at 1/2 pixels per frame)