Revontuli Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 (edited) Harpy's Curse You are a harpy - swift of wing and vicious in nature. Banished to a deadly labyrinth, you are tasked with defeating the four keepers of the maze - only then can you face the Great Sphinx who exiled you here. The labyrinth contains legendary artifacts - feathers of legendary birds and beasts that might aid you. Great power might be found here, but you truly wish for escape, and the only way out is through the machinations of the Sphinx. New! Beta version with Saving capability (SaveKey or AtariVox or similar peripheral required): HarpysCurse_8_18_2023.bas.a78 HarpysCurse_8_18_2023.bas.bin -Explore a vast scrolling maze made up of over 500 screens! -Fly and fight your way to find new abilities and powers! -5 Bosses to find hidden among the winding passages! -Password and saving capabilities to keep your progress! The elevator pitch is: "Joust meets Metroid" I've had a thread in the programming forum, back when this was a "proof of concept" (I wasn't sure I could pull it off initially), but since I plan on having a playable demo at PRGE, I figured I could start a devoted thread to the full game in the main 7800 forum. While I plan on refining the level design and enemy behaviors, aside from music it's largely "feature complete" and I've had folks manage to play through the entire game, collecting all the items and defeating the bosses. I'm experimenting with adding POKEY-compatible audio, which is the next phase in development, plus the thousand other little things one needs to do to get a game from being "finished" to finished. Some more screenshots: Edited August 19, 2023 by Revontuli 21 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+cjherr Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 Wow! Looks great! 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecernosoft Posted October 5, 2022 Share Posted October 5, 2022 (edited) 3 hours ago, Revontuli said: Harpy's Curse You are a harpy - swift of wing and vicious in nature. Banished to a deadly labyrinth, you are tasked with defeating the four keepers of the maze - only then can you face the Great Sphinx who exiled you here. The labyrinth contains legendary artifacts - feathers of legendary birds and beasts that might aid you. Great power might be found here, but you truly wish for escape, and the only way out is through the machinations of the Sphinx. -Explore a vast scrolling maze made up of over 500 screens! -Fly and fight your way to find new abilities and powers! -5 Bosses to find hidden among the winding passages! -Password and saving capabilities to keep your progress! The elevator pitch is: "Joust meets Metroid" I've had a thread in the programming forum, back when this was a "proof of concept" (I wasn't sure I could pull it off initially), but since I plan on having a playable demo at PRGE, I figured I could start a devoted thread to the full game in the main 7800 forum. While I plan on refining the level design and enemy behaviors, aside from music it's largely "feature complete" and I've had folks manage to play through the entire game, collecting all the items and defeating the bosses. I'm experimenting with adding POKEY-compatible audio, which is the next phase in development, plus the thousand other little things one needs to do to get a game from being "finished" to finished. Some more screenshots: Please .a78 file @Revontuli?? This game looks freaking awesome. Edit: And is there a minus world? I like seeing stuff like that since I think it's cool. Edited October 5, 2022 by Ecernosoft 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revontuli Posted October 6, 2022 Author Share Posted October 6, 2022 I'll see about posting ROM stuff after PRGE - there's still a lot of elements I want to fix up, as well as a few hardware elements I want to verify before seeing what would be involved in making the ROM emulator-friendly. As for minus worlds - there might be a few places where you get contrive to get yourself shunted through a wall (although I'm working on plugging those up) and you might find non-level ROM information being used as level data. In practice you're usually stuck in one or two blocks, so there isn't much to explore, and I usually try to get folks back onto the main level if they leave the screen, but it's theoretically possible to enter a glitchspace. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted December 5, 2022 Share Posted December 5, 2022 FYI, for those not viewing the Programming forum, there have been several updates since the beginning of October, including this recent one: 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+jgkspsx Posted December 7, 2022 Share Posted December 7, 2022 Super exciting!! 3 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astro Rabby Posted December 7, 2022 Share Posted December 7, 2022 Looks cool! I love games with non-human protags. Does it scroll at all or is it flip screens? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revontuli Posted December 7, 2022 Author Share Posted December 7, 2022 (edited) 4 hours ago, Astro Rabby said: Looks cool! I love games with non-human protags. Does it scroll at all or is it flip screens? The game scrolls horizontally, but is also divided into several sections separated horizontally and vertically (think Legacy of the Wizard for NES) There's a little bit of footage of the scrolling engine working in the Programming forum thread Trebor linked to above. I'm aiming to release a beta version on the forums sometime this week as well (fingers crossed!) Edited December 7, 2022 by Revontuli 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revontuli Posted December 8, 2022 Author Share Posted December 8, 2022 For some reason I can't edit the original post, but the public beta is released! You can download it here: HarpysCurse_12_6_2022.bas.a78 HarpysCurse_12_6_2022.bas.bin How to Play: Controls are configurable from a menu on the title screen - one button to jump/fly, the other to attack/swoop (or down + button if you set the controls to a 1-button joystick). You can hold down the jump button to fly, which will be handy when exploring or lining up for an attack. -Defeating an enemy drops their heart, which you can consume to refill lost health. -Large hearts can be found in the labyrinth, which give you a permanent increase in maximum health. -Keys can also be found, which unlock doors matching their color. -Feathers of legendary beasts will bestow further abilities if found - you will get a description of what they do and how they might be used if you can collect them! -Tablets will refill your health, provide a checkpoint if you fall to the dangers of the labyrinth, and give you a password that can bring you back even if you turn off the game. -4 Guardians must be found and defeated before gaining access to the Sphinx, and her defeat means your freedom from the labyrinth! You can find more info on the progress of the game in the programming forum thread as well! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Karl G Posted December 8, 2022 Share Posted December 8, 2022 Awesome! I'm looking forward to trying this out very soon 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jinks Posted December 8, 2022 Share Posted December 8, 2022 (edited) Sphinx eh?? In my mind I am playing....... Desert Falcon 2 Please do not tell me any different and let my fantasy live on. 😁 Edited December 8, 2022 by Jinks 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Back Posted December 8, 2022 Share Posted December 8, 2022 Ok I've played a little bit of this now to where I've encountered 2 bosses and beat 1, found 1 heart and one attack upgrade. This game definitely feels epic especially for a 7800 title. I love how the tiles change designs and then colors; really giving a sense of in progression across multiple screens. The attack is hard to get used to but it does work well when you learn it. I love that you didn't give him the standard sword or gun attack. It really gives the game a feel of its own. A good learning curve I feel. And while I think the enemies can be a tad easy I've definitely encountered a very challenging regular enemy and some of your enemy placements really made me have to work to get the advantage. Brilliant in that regard. And the TIA sound is brilliant to me. I know you said your considering pokey but I really like what you have here. Brilliant game all around. I haven't encountered any glitches yet but I'm going to play a lot more this weekend. I also don't like how if you miss a dive attack on a wide open screen you end up traveling off screen into a new area or sometimes across two screens. That was the only aspect that I had happen in one particular area that I wasn't thrilled with. But that's a gripe, overall I think the game is brilliant so far. Bravo. I'll update with any glitches or recommendations if I come across any. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambler172 Posted December 8, 2022 Share Posted December 8, 2022 Hi Rev yep...another great game, but the Attack is heavy. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Back Posted December 8, 2022 Share Posted December 8, 2022 2 hours ago, gambler172 said: Hi Rev yep...another great game, but the Attack is heavy. Heavy is a great way to describe it. Again, I love the non traditional attack as it gives this game so much more character and identity. But when I was learning the attack, if I missed my target I would plummet like an anchor, sometimes down several screens. As long as your on target or in a corridor the attack feels good. Still heavy, but good. But in open space a miss can really disorient you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revontuli Posted December 9, 2022 Author Share Posted December 9, 2022 (edited) 6 hours ago, Silver Back said: But when I was learning the attack, if I missed my target I would plummet like an anchor, sometimes down several screens. You can "cancel" out of the attack by jumping - it's not instant (you're still committed to a bit of a swoop, so try not to miss whatever you're aiming at ), but it will keep you from dive-bombing several screens when you do miss. I'm still messing with the mix and "feel" of the attack (and the control/feedback with how it relates when you get some of the other power ups). It's an ongoing process, and I want to make sure that the mix of inputs doesn't result in any "locking" or have odd buggy behavior in some combination, so even small adjustments take time to test. 22 hours ago, Silver Back said: while I think the enemies can be a tad easy I've definitely encountered a very challenging regular enemy and some of your enemy placements really made me have to work to get the advantage Very much on purpose - most enemies aren't a big deal on their own, which gives folks time to get used to the controls. Getting health pickups from them usually means a 1-to-1 exchange even if they get in a lucky hit. On the other hand, groups of enemies in combination with other obstacles and certain enemies further away from the starting area can certainly pose a problem. Glad you like the game so far - thank you for giving it a try! Edited December 9, 2022 by Revontuli 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Back Posted December 9, 2022 Share Posted December 9, 2022 42 minutes ago, Revontuli said: You can "cancel" out of the attack by jumping - it's not instant (you're still committed to a bit of a swoop, so try not to miss whatever you're aiming at ), but it will keep you from dive-bombing several screens when you do miss. I wasn't aware I could cancel the attack. I'm off work tomorrow so I'm going to dedicate the morning to playing it. Like I said if I encounter anything to report I'll add to my post. 43 minutes ago, Revontuli said: Glad you like the game so far - thank you for giving it a try! No thank you for making it. I'm a fan of the dragon trilogy so I always intended to give this a try. I'm really enjoying it. I think it's your best yet. I'm torn between wanting to play it and wanting to wait for the cart lol 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revontuli Posted December 23, 2022 Author Share Posted December 23, 2022 A new build/beta (Copied from thread in "Programming" forum): HarpysCurse_12_22_2022.bas.a78 HarpysCurse_12_22_2022.bas.bin A first pass on the Pokey soundtrack. I want to test the system for cueing/queueing the music as much as the music itself (which I'll likely be tinkering with for a while anyway). The TIA option is there, and I tried it on my POKEY-less Concerto and it seemed to do fine (except for subtle graphical noise during bank switching that I thought I took care of in a more general sense.) A few other little features and bug fixes as well. There are a few secrets and a potential "Second Quest" in the works, so watch this space! 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revontuli Posted February 4, 2023 Author Share Posted February 4, 2023 Found out yesterday! Thanks to everyone for playing! Take a look at the nominated games here and cast your votes for the games of your choice here! 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MarcoJ Posted May 27, 2023 Share Posted May 27, 2023 Just tried this out today. Nice! There's many places to go, and freedom is strong. Loving the Satie Gnossiene 4 theme, suits the mysterious and creepy world. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrunchyTC Posted May 27, 2023 Share Posted May 27, 2023 Sweet game. Will try it out later tonight. Need games like this on the 7800 for sure! 😀 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Revontuli Posted May 28, 2023 Author Share Posted May 28, 2023 I’m aiming for an update to the game soon-adding, among other things, an instruction screen telling you that you can only attack while flying in the air (you’re a bird of prey-you swoop to attack!). Watching some streams, it seemed folks took a while to figure that out. Also bringing in support for saving your game through SaveKey/AtariVox. If that gets to be too much trouble, I may just stick with the password option 2nd quest is still in design phase-I’ve been sidetracked by day job stuff, but will try to make progress this summer. 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrunchyTC Posted May 28, 2023 Share Posted May 28, 2023 Very cool game so far! I got through the first 2 bosses, and and having a great time great stuff! 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Propane13 Posted June 6, 2023 Share Posted June 6, 2023 This is one of my favorite WIPs. Glad to hear it's still actively being worked on. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sixersfan105 Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 On 12/7/2022 at 7:31 PM, Revontuli said: For some reason I can't edit the original post I'm sure @Albert would be happy to give you unlimited duration edit privileges for this thread! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted June 7, 2023 Share Posted June 7, 2023 @Revontuli - You can now edit the first post in the thread indefinitely. ..Al 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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