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Scorch - full game for Atari 800 and up


pirx

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OK @Albert - I have discovered a cause for the "double post" forum bug.  I posted a reply to a message on page 2 (of 3).  Since my reply showed on page 3, I didn't see the post go through.  Clicked post again.

 

So - when you are not on the final page of a thread, and post a reply, you do ont get redirected to the last page, where you can see the reply has happened.

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I just noticed there has been a very tiny little tweak by the authors which in their own words didn't warrant a whole new release but I think is wrth highlighting. (So this isn't a new release as such but a tweak to the last release (v1.28)).

 

Now when playing the computer AI, when it's the computer's turn you now see a little computer icon on the dashboard at the top instead of a joystick, and a number indicating the difficulty level (1-moron ... 9-unknown) :

 

image.thumb.png.a285ca6cf046a86486b237c654334c49.png  

 

image.thumb.png.3ced9146c2c24fd32932887f32c6fc2a.png

 

I think this is a nice little tweak.

 

Get the updated v1.28 executables here:https://github.com/pkali/scorch_src/releases/tag/v1.28

 

And the original Atarionline.pl thread: https://atarionline.pl/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=6635&page=5#Item_23

 

Hope the authors don't mind me highlighting this :) Big thanks to them for the game again.

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If someone could test the following for me on a 5200 using the build @Beeblebrox linked to above, it'd be appreciated.

 

Start a game where all of the players are CPU-controlled; your choice as to how many players.  Try to break out of the game in progress and go back to the menu by pressing '*' on the first controller.  How difficult is it to bring up the 'Sure? Y/N' dialog?

 

I've tested this with two to six players, and get the same result: it's seemingly much harder to bring up that dialog when all of the players are the CPU.  If only one player (regardless of which number that player may be) is human, it's a lot easier.

 

This may be a sign of 5200 controller problems on my end, but I am using controllers that I rebuilt and it happens regardless of which joystick is in port #1.  It also hasn't happened consistently enough that I can definitively say that it's the controller, so a sanity check wouldn't go amiss.

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@Beeblebrox thanks for noticing it, @Pecus worked super hard to find 11 bytes required for this change :]]]]

 

@x=usr(1536) this is, unfortunately, normal - the keyboard is checked briefly only between bot turns. It is even mentioned in our drafty manual under `[ESC]` key. I think I did it this way to save some cycles (no keyboard check) or because of noone complaining before and it is simpler this way ;)))))))))))
Anyways, right now you have to press the button and keep it pressed..... 
BTW - I've bought 5200, looks pretty shmick! Must get the universal cart...

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  • 3 weeks later...
19 minutes ago, Probabilitydragon said:

After a bit of a hiatus, I'm back playing Scorch! Amazing work!

 

A question - how does one achieve 320 x 192 with so many colors in the splash screen?

I may be wrong but I think Piccalo was used. Or perhaps graph2fnt. 

 

Don't think Rastaconverter was used in this instance.

 

I am assuming you are familiar with all of these great tools? :)

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I could attempt explain but prob best look at the following :

 

 

 

Graph2fnt:

https://g2f.atari8.info/

 

Rastaconverter :

https://atariwiki.org/wiki/Wiki.jsp?page=Rastaconverter

 

Also recently we've had Rastaconverter images used in games, which is no mean feat given they take up extra resources and cpu cycles to squeeze these amazing colours out of the A8. 

 

Check out International karate RC and rcx games:

 

https://www.indieretronews.com/2023/04/international-karate-rcxrc-2023-remake.html

 

Love to see more Rastaconverter images in games. 

 

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@pseudografx thanks! we have changed it in the `develop` version already to display "HUMAN 1" or "MORON 2", etc. (names of robotank levels). It was to save memory (reuse of existing texts). And we needed memory to fix some other bug that I do not remember right now :))))

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I finally got to trying this, and I'm rightly impressed.  Nice work!

 

I've played the original DOS Scorched Earth too - it's nice to have a version that just works (the 386 I played the DOS Scorched Earth had issues with its keyboard routine).

 

One small feature request - would it be possible to add a Joy2B+ option so that Button 2 can switch weapons (instead of having to reach for the TAB key)?

For context: https://github.com/ascrnet/Joy2Bplus

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I'd love to see SNACK controller support in Scorch, but appreciate there is likely no space left for the code.

 

Great game to have in the A8 library. 

 

Wonder what the coder's will want to code for their next game, of indeed they do plan to code more games for a8 😁

 

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5 hours ago, Bobo Cujo said:

One small feature request - would it be possible to add a Joy2B+ option so that Button 2 can switch weapons (instead of having to reach for the TAB key)?

For context: https://github.com/ascrnet/Joy2Bplus

Hello, we considered this. https://github.com/pkali/scorch_src/issues/17

Possibly no problem at all, but one single issue - how to emulate it in Altirra or atari800?

And now pressing the button for a couple of seconds bring the weapon selection menu

 

the same for SNACK - where to get more info?

Edited by pirx
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2 hours ago, pirx said:

Hello, we considered this. https://github.com/pkali/scorch_src/issues/17

Possibly no problem at all, but one single issue - how to emulate it in Altirra or atari800?

And now pressing the button for a couple of seconds bring the weapon selection menu

 

the same for SNACK - where to get more info?

@Irgendwer can help

 

 

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After looking at scorch.xex in the Altirra debugger:

It looks Scorch is using the OS ROM's VBlank handler, which already calls STA POTGO at 60 (or 50) hz in order to scan the paddle lines.

 

Assuming that Scorch is scanning inputs at the same speed, it's mostly a matter of calling:

LDA PADDL0 (Button 2) or LDA PADDL1 (Button 3)  (and so on for the other controller ports)

and CMP #$E4 to see if the button was pressed.

 

(All of the hacks I wrote assumed Joy2B support - you may want to see what value comes out of these with a standard Atari Joystick to make sure that it works properly when the paddle lines are left floating.)

 

The absolute simplest code sample that I have comes from my earlier Joy2B hack of English Software's Air Strike, where I replaced the "press Space to bomb" code with "press Button 2 to bomb" - it involved a replacement of all of five bytes since the OS ROM was already calling STA POTGO:

 

; ORIGINAL
;--------------------------------------------------
    15D4: AD FC 02          LDA CH
    15D7: C9 21             CMP #$21            ; Was Space Bar pressed?
    15D9: D0 34             BNE $160F

 

; MODIFIED
;--------------------------------------------------
    15D4: AD 70 02          lda PADDL0          ; Get Button 2 state
    15D7: C9 E4             cmp #$e4            ; Was Button 2 pressed?     
    15D9: D0 34             BNE $160F

 

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I programmed a second button, but.... Joy 2B+ is an idiotic standard.

 

In this standard, a pressed button acts as an unplugged one, which means it is impossible to write a universal procedure that will work with both types of Joysticks.

We need to write routines for detecting the type of joystick (and remember, we have support for four ports in Scorch!) in each port, or add an option in the menu to select type.

 

Sorry no memory :)

 

Therefore, my code (the only one that fit) handles the second button in reverse.
That is, exactly as it should be (in my opinion) implemented in Joy 2B+ :P

 

Eventually this code will probably be removed.

 

Check develop.

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