pirx Posted September 27, 2022 Share Posted September 27, 2022 (edited) After a very difficult struggle with memory requirements and help from @miker we have a version of Scorch (Scorched Earth demake) ported for 5200. Unfortunately I do not have the console, so testing with emulators only. And here is the problem - the game works OK in the atari800 emulator (and derivatives), but fails miserably in Altirra. I guess it will fail on the real hardware as well, because of @phaeron prowess and the Altirra emulation accuracy. By fail I mean it does not recognize joystick being in a neutral position. For analog->digital conversion I used @JAC! procedure from Alien Swarm (almost) verbatim, but I guess I am doing it wrong (had to change POTx to PADDLEx because of using deferred VBI - POTs seem to be depleted in deferred) Anyways, could you try the attached ROM on the real machine? The source code is here: https://github.com/pkali/scorch_src/tree/develop, to compile 5200 version you need to change `TARGET` in scorch.asm. The joy division starts at line 1240 in the same file. The game itself right now uses only joystick and a single button. The texts are from A800 version, will be adjusted. pressing the trigger for a longer time in the game drops you to an inventory where you can select weapons. in the inventory and shop move joy left to switch between defensive and offensive weapons, joystick right selects a weapon. fire gets you back to the game. We'll probably employ numpad keys for easier access to different functions, like on A800. All comments welcome. scorch.bin Edited September 27, 2022 by pirx 9 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phaeron Posted September 27, 2022 Share Posted September 27, 2022 The issue in Altirra at least is that you have CONSOL bit 2 off -- this is the trackball calibration/detection bit. It needs to be set for 5200 controllers to work. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirx Posted September 27, 2022 Author Share Posted September 27, 2022 Thank you sir! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ryan Witmer Posted September 27, 2022 Share Posted September 27, 2022 This was the first thing I thought of when I read your post, but didn't have time to investigate. It's funny that in the 5200 programming tutorial video I posted a couple days ago I warned about this exact thing and how a lot of emulators don't handle that bit correctly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirx Posted September 27, 2022 Author Share Posted September 27, 2022 Thanks again, fixed version attached. Please check if it works on a real hardware. Missed this small print requirement and you know, it worked for my base emulator (unfortunately I'm on Schmubuntu and atari800 is easier to integrate with WUDSN)... scorch.bin 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted September 28, 2022 Share Posted September 28, 2022 2 hours ago, pirx said: Please check if it works on a real hardware. Seems to work fine Stock 2-port 5200, Atarimax SD cartridge, 19" CRT TV. Two things I did notice (and disregard the static; that's a problem on my end and nothing to do with the game): It looks as though the top score / status line is overscanned off the top of the screen. Also, are the black horizontal stripes starting at about the halfway point on the screen and repeating below that point intentional? Haven't looked at it in emulation, so am not sure if known issue, new bug, or totally normal. Oh, the copyright date on the bootup splash screen shows as 197A. Again, not sure if known, etc. Three suggestions: Have the option of using either one stick for all players or one stick per player (up to four players - beyond that, one stick for all). In the pre-game configuration menu, it'd be a plus if the options could be selected by holding the stick up or down, rather than having the selection move one line at a time and no more. With the 5200's non-self-centering controllers, you have to pull down, move one line, push back to centre, pull down again, etc. On the Difficulty screen, allow name entry with the keypad. This could be done like the old T9 method of text entry for SMS messages. Plays very nicely, by the way. I like it a lot, particularly the music. Excellent job 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirx Posted September 28, 2022 Author Share Posted September 28, 2022 (edited) Thank you! it is nice to have it working on the real deal! 197A means 1900 + $7A = 1900 + 122 = 2022 NOT Y2K COMPLIANT MACHINE!!! :)))) Lines are intentional, it was an honest attempt to make the background a little bit more lively in the 80's style, too bad we couldn't really make it more colorful because it was interfering with tanks. 1. we were thinking about it, maybe something can be done! 2. noted! 3. will not be possible, we have just few bytes left, maybe ~50, no way to cram there anything complicated. I hope a simple keypad usage will fit. I've also noticed the game over sequence is glitching, possibly due to DLIs taking a bit longer on 5200. Should be an easy fix. We could lower down the status a bit, maybe then bottom of the screen would hide... Edited September 28, 2022 by pirx 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted September 28, 2022 Share Posted September 28, 2022 45 minutes ago, pirx said: Thank you! it is nice to have it working on the real deal! Glad to see it working! 45 minutes ago, pirx said: 197A means 1900 + $7A = 1900 + 122 = 2022 NOT Y2K COMPLIANT MACHINE!!! :)))) I was wondering if that wasn't the case 45 minutes ago, pirx said: will not be possible, we have just few bytes left, maybe ~50, no way to cram there anything complicated. I hope a simple keypad usage will fit. Completely understood. The current method works fine, so this would have been a nice-to-have but isn't anything that really affects gameplay. And, of course, there's that one more thing that popped up after hitting submit: If you leave the game idle long enough for the 5200's screen saver to kick in on either the title or difficulty screens, it doesn't properly go away until the game starts and the (presumably) new DLIs are set up. What I mean by this is that colours don't change back to the ones used by the game, but rather stay stuck on whatever the screensaver was last doing. This can leave the text unreadable on both screens. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aking Posted September 28, 2022 Share Posted September 28, 2022 12 hours ago, pirx said: Thank you! it is nice to have it working on the real deal! 197A means 1900 + $7A = 1900 + 122 = 2022 NOT Y2K COMPLIANT MACHINE!!! :)))) Lines are intentional, it was an honest attempt to make the background a little bit more lively in the 80's style, too bad we couldn't really make it more colorful because it was interfering with tanks. 1. we were thinking about it, maybe something can be done! 2. noted! 3. will not be possible, we have just few bytes left, maybe ~50, no way to cram there anything complicated. I hope a simple keypad usage will fit. I've also noticed the game over sequence is glitching, possibly due to DLIs taking a bit longer on 5200. Should be an easy fix. We could lower down the status a bit, maybe then bottom of the screen would hide... great game , thank you for porting it to the 5200 works like a dream on the real thing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greg2600 Posted September 28, 2022 Share Posted September 28, 2022 This is a port of Scorched Earth? Nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirx Posted September 28, 2022 Author Share Posted September 28, 2022 (edited) port is too big a word, they call it "demake" on the scene. it has got a nice number of features of the original game and some different ones like an electric eels powered hovercraft and a "Long Schlong" weapon.@x=usr(1536) creating tickets from your comments https://github.com/pkali/scorch_src/issues/140 https://github.com/pkali/scorch_src/issues/141 https://github.com/pkali/scorch_src/issues/142 Edited September 28, 2022 by pirx 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted September 28, 2022 Share Posted September 28, 2022 34 minutes ago, pirx said: an electric eels powered hovercraft I've always wanted my hovercraft to be full of eels - and now it can be! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirx Posted September 28, 2022 Author Share Posted September 28, 2022 we also planned Holy Hand Grenade from Antioch, but life too short 1 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+JAC! Posted September 28, 2022 Share Posted September 28, 2022 5 hours ago, pirx said: we also planned Holy Hand Grenade from Antioch, but life too short Brilliant - made my das - thank Pawel! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirx Posted October 17, 2022 Author Share Posted October 17, 2022 https://github.com/pkali/scorch_src/releases/tag/v1.16 2022-10-16 The official release of our game for the Atari 5200 SuperSystem. Grab the `scorch.bin` file and burn a cart! This is all thanks to @miker who supported us all this time of uncertainty and despair. Cramming the game into a 32KiB cart and 16KiB RAM was a big task - it required a rewrite of the RMT player, a crazy number of size optimizations, and counting each byte. The release is not perfect - we have a number of glitches and improvements to the 5200 controller procedures to work on, but the game is playable. Changes: * numerous, but not very visible 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirx Posted October 31, 2022 Author Share Posted October 31, 2022 New release, most noticed problems fixed https://github.com/pkali/scorch_src/releases/tag/v1.17 Mostly 5200 console port and NTSC improvements. * Updated songs from Miker do not require skipping frames on NTSC machines. Crucial for the next point. * Bouncy Castle bouncing of Funky Bomb fixed https://github.com/pkali/scorch_src/issues/129 * 5200 version had various graphical and sound glitches. Although mostly harmless, it hurt our sense of aesthetics. First of all the flickering credits roll is all good now. * Rare hang-ups on NTSC machines fixed * Screen lowered down by 7 scan lines to help top status line on NTSC CRTs. * 5200 ATTRACT mode not going away fixed * Autorepeat added to menus what should help 5200 users with their non-centering abomination of a controller. * DLI interrupts optimized, few cycles saved. * 5200 keypad sort-of-works. Please refer to manual for key bindings: https://github.com/pkali/scorch_src/blob/master/MANUAL_EN.md#4-the-main-screen-of-the-game 4 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirx Posted November 7, 2022 Author Share Posted November 7, 2022 Scorch release v1.18 This smells like the final version! Some ugly bugs fixed, 5200 keypad works nicely, etc. I am thinking about making a few carts, mostly for our team. What is the best path to get 5200 cart produced nowadays? 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted November 7, 2022 Share Posted November 7, 2022 6 hours ago, pirx said: What is the best path to get 5200 cart produced nowadays? @Albert could probably answer that question for you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirx Posted December 10, 2022 Author Share Posted December 10, 2022 This is the final binary of our game for 5200: ->link<-###### Version 1.212022-12-10We couldn't resist! This is the Senior Executive Director's Cut.By virtue of byte misering we squeezed in a few new features:* new selectable tank shapes - change the controller enough times to get a different tank model* lonely bad pixel after Liquid Dirt fixed* mountain colors (or shades) possible, switch with [Tab] in the main menu (or [5] in Atari 5200)* active controller number display in the game, store, and inventory screens* an extraordinary terminator mode for Moron 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aking Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+JAC! Posted December 11, 2022 Share Posted December 11, 2022 Very nice result and a very good presentation video you did for SV! And thumb for "this is the final - unless it's not" 🙂 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirx Posted January 1, 2023 Author Share Posted January 1, 2023 https://github.com/pkali/scorch_src/releases/tag/v1.23 The latest and greatest cart image! 5 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecernosoft Posted January 3, 2023 Share Posted January 3, 2023 On 9/27/2022 at 7:15 PM, pirx said: Thank you! it is nice to have it working on the real deal! 197A means 1900 + $7A = 1900 + 122 = 2022 NOT Y2K COMPLIANT MACHINE!!! :)))) Lines are intentional, it was an honest attempt to make the background a little bit more lively in the 80's style, too bad we couldn't really make it more colorful because it was interfering with tanks. 1. we were thinking about it, maybe something can be done! 2. noted! 3. will not be possible, we have just few bytes left, maybe ~50, no way to cram there anything complicated. I hope a simple keypad usage will fit. I've also noticed the game over sequence is glitching, possibly due to DLIs taking a bit longer on 5200. Should be an easy fix. We could lower down the status a bit, maybe then bottom of the screen would hide... Have you tried using illegal opcodes to save on memory? Ex. When you need to load 2 identical values into memory and have X available, use LAX instead of LDA and TXA when you need the value again. Sometimes you don't even need the TXA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pirx Posted January 5, 2023 Author Share Posted January 5, 2023 I cannot, I am just a permanent resident vel green card holder, I cannot do anything illegal or I get departed. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BIGHMW Posted January 5, 2023 Share Posted January 5, 2023 9 hours ago, pirx said: I cannot, I am just a permanent resident vel green card holder, I cannot do anything illegal or I get departed. We'll cover for you, nobody knows nothing if everyone stays quiet about it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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