Short review of 2022 ABBUC entries

[darwinmac]

Obviously, this is just my opinion. However, I have been playing the contest games for a little while and I have some questions and opinions on the programs:

 

Midicar player - Unfortunately, I don't have the Midicar hardware so I can't test the player.

 

List-XEX - I was able to get it to work, but I'm not a developer so the information it gives me doesn't mean anything to me.

 

Battle of Eris - I'm not good at games where the terrain can kill you. However, I seem to do better at the game when playing in PAL on my MiST. Unfortunately, my XEGS is only NTSC. I've had some weird collision detection issues where I seem to go through an area that hasn't been cleared out.

 

Arcadia - Really nicely done Zuma clone for the 8-bit. The graphics are well done and I was surprised that using the joystick to control the pointer works quite well. I've gotten beaten easily in the Normal mode. However, I'm getting a bit better with each game I play

 

Trax - @shanti77 - I have collected as many objects on the ground as I can. I have used keys to open up parts of level 1. However, I have not been able to find an exit to go to another level. I have shot the planet inhabitants. Unfortunately, I end up wandering around level 1 with nothing to do. What am I missing? 

 

Retro Dschump - I need to play this game more to get better at my timing. However, the instructions are clear and it looks like a well made game.

 

Der Schraenker, Der Schraenker 2 - It took a while to figure out how to open the doors (I didn't know I would have to press fire several times in order to open a door). I'm hoping the instructions are translated to English after the contest. They are nice little platform games where you can spend a few minutes. I have had problems saving the instructions as text files from the menu. I assumed the problem was because the ATR is almost full. However, when I deleted several files, I still had problems saving the instructions as a DOC. If I could do that, I could use Memo Pad to export the ATASCII file as an ASCII file that can be used with Deepl Translate to translate the instructions.

 

Break It 2022 - This one really surprised me. I was expecting yet another Breakout clone. I wasn't expecting an Arkanoid clone. For those of you with PAL Ataris, you can play the commercial version. However, Arkanoid is really unplayable on NTSC Ataris. This game plays perfectly on NTSC and with my paddles. I can quibble with the fact that the ball is square and the shots from the "L" pill are square instead of round, but that's just being picky. There are some new pill effects that are different from Arkanoid so it isn't a 100% clone. In addition, the pills can be destroyed by a ball or other obstacles so that is different than Arkanoid. A number of the early screens seem to be taken directly from Arkanoid. I'm ok with that.  I hope the developers make a couple of minor changes after the contest (change the key to move past the splash screen from the space bar to either the fire button or the Start key, allow you to enter your initials on the high score screen and save your high scores to disk.

 

PacMen Evolution - Ok, it's PacMan but it's still done very well.

 

Bunny Hop (PAL and NTSC) - I've only played this a couple of times because it requires 128K. That means I can't play it on my only Atari (64K XEGS). I have to play it either in emulation or on my 8-bit MiST core. I tend to only do that when I want to test something in PAL. If I had a 128K Atari, I would play this a lot more. From what I've read, the early levels were meant for kids but it gets more difficult as the levels increase.

 

Binary Parasite - @matosimi - I did not quite understand the game until I watched Saberman's YouTube review. Then, after watching the video for about 20 seconds, the game made perfect sense. It's a nice puzzle game. I am hoping that after the contest there are more levels (there are supposedly only 4 levels - I have not gotten through them all yet) and the ability to hit the Esc key to restart a level. Right now, if I drop a box off of a ledge, I have no way to complete the level and I end up restarting the Atari in order to restart the game. I don't remember if there is a way for me to kill my binary parasite off so I can start over.

 

Dark Keep - @popmilo - I appear to have the worst luck ever with your game. Every time I play, the Gorgon appears almost immediately before I can reach an exit and I die yet another death since there appears to be no weapons to pick up to defend myself. I need to play it some more though. 

 

Dye Heritage Edition - A follow-up to the nicely done and unique Dye game from a couple of years ago. @Irgendwer - I hope there will be a way to select another adapter in case the SNACK adapter is incorrectly detected. That's an incompatibility with my MiST and not the fault of your game. On my XEGS, it works great. I'm disappointed in my performance though (stuck on level 2). Your game makes me think. That's always a good thing even if I'm not thinking well.

 

Moon Quest - I haven't gotten too far in this adventure. However, it's nice to see a new graphical adventure on the 8-bit. 

 

Hi-Res Transfer - Unfortunately, I do not have any graphics to convert so I have not tried this utility.

 

For those of you who aren't ABBUC members, you have some very nice games to look forward to. 

 

Bob C

 

 

 

 

[shanti77]

@darwinmac

To pass the level you have to destroy all statues,

 

->

then the holes are the exit.

 

->

Entering there will take you to the store where you can exchange the coins for a stronger shot, better cover or extra lives.

On a given option, press "fire" and then right / left increase / decrease (+ 0, + 1, ...) and confirm by selecting EXIT.

Weapons and covers each have up to 4 upgrades.

 

You can add that to the description of the game, maybe more people will have a problem.

Edited October 12, 2022 by shanti77

[darwinmac]

@shanti77 - Thanks. I saw the grate over the hole, but I did not know about the statues. 
 

Bob C

[+CharlieChaplin]

There are several sample/example gfx on the Hires Transfer disk (*.BMP, *.B, *.SCR, *.PRG, etc.). I could load all of them and wrote a short text how to do it, however I did not try to save any gfx in A8 (Gr.8) format. This text is also on diskside A of the magazine and can be loaded from the Abbuc menu (it explains how to load the AkteX.BMP file, Akte X = german for The X Files). Sidenote: The program is missing a directory function, so press the Break key and type DIR.

[Irgendwer]

16 hours ago, darwinmac said:

Dye Heritage Edition - A follow-up to the nicely done and unique Dye game from a couple of years ago. @Irgendwer - I hope there will be a way to select another adapter in case the SNACK adapter is incorrectly detected. That's an incompatibility with my MiST and not the fault of your game. On my XEGS, it works great. I'm disappointed in my performance though (stuck on level 2). Your game makes me think. That's always a good thing even if I'm not thinking well.

In case you like a little hint how to proceed, @Saberman plays here to level 7 (which is close to spoiling, but understandable while the "just another go/level" principle is in place   ):

I plan to release a dedicated NTSC and PAL version after the contest, update the "classic" dye too and - if nothing firmware-wise happened for the MiST - implement overruling the detection. I feel some kind of inner resistance to do so, but "customer is king"...

 

 

[darwinmac]

@Irgendwer - An override would be appreciated. The firmware developer has talked about a way to disable paddle input which would probably resolve the problem, but nothing has happened yet. 
 

My MiST is very useful for playing PAL games along with having an ST setup, but it’s not the same as the actual hardware. Especially for the ST, it is all I am willing to pay for based on ST process in the US. 8-bit prices are also getting more expensive here as well. 
 

Bob C

[Beeblebrox]

Looking forward to seeing these games - especially Trax, Bunny hop and binary parasite - latter looks very intriguing.

 

I am hoping (as happened with the Last Squadron), that Trax is developed further by Shanti if the will/desire is there.

Edited October 13, 2022 by Beeblebrox

[shanti77]

Work in progress ...

 

[TheNameOfTheGame]

Wow, very nice, @shanti77. 

[michomis]

On 10/12/2022 at 7:53 AM, darwinmac said:

 

Moon Quest - I haven't gotten too far in this adventure. However, it's nice to see a new graphical adventure on the 8-bit. 

 

 

Bob C

 

My game is quite a simple adventure game. All puzzles are reasonably logical and rationally explainable. This at least what I was trying to achieve. In many places, we encounter hints that are not immediately obvious. What's worth to do at begining:

 

- TALK to or actually listen to others (characters suggest many things)
- read the descriptions in the location quite carefully
- use the LOOK option to learn more about the location
- review items we collect and associate where or how they can be used
- check the environment (graphic screen), because sometimes there are hints or solutions to the problem on screen
- remember that items can often also be obtained from other people

 

The game consists of three main locations. Two of them are on Earth.

After releasing the games (there are three language versions: English, Polish and German) I will try to create a walkthrough or "hint book" for those who want to play the game and encounter a problem.

[darwinmac]

@shanti77 - Very nice. I can see the graphical upgrades from the ABBUC version. I assume the final version will require at least 128K. I hope I am wrong and it can be played on a 64k NTSC Atari, but I am not optimistic about that. 
 

With your multiple games (Bosconian, Last Squadron, Gacek), you are setting a standard for excellence in Atari gaming. 
 

Bob C

[darwinmac]

@michomis - I did not mean to say your adventure game was too hard. Unfortunately, I have limited time to play so I have to sometimes set a game aside if it takes more than a couple of minutes to get into. 
 

Your avatar reminds me that I want to get back to Adam is Me one of these days. 
 

Bob C

[Beeblebrox]

12 minutes ago, darwinmac said:

@shanti77 - Very nice. I can see the graphical upgrades from the ABBUC version. I assume the final version will require at least 128K. I hope I am wrong and it can be played on a 64k NTSC Atari, but I am not optimistic about that. 
 

With your multiple games (Bosconian, Last Squadron, Gacek), you are setting a standard for excellence in Atari gaming. 
 

Bob C

I agree. @shanti77 you really push the A8 and your games are a great balance between gameplay and eye candy. Pushing the limits in A8 games whilst delivering great gameplay is a real skill. I'd quite happily buy Trax as a commercial game on cart or digitally. Especially if new weapons and upgrades were a future feature.

Edited October 13, 2022 by Beeblebrox

[Mclaneinc]

7 hours ago, shanti77 said:

Work in progress ...

 

Someone's a Chaos Engine fan

[TheNameOfTheGame]

7 hours ago, Mclaneinc said:

Someone's a Chaos Engine fan

Who isn't? 😄

[popmilo]

On 10/12/2022 at 7:53 AM, darwinmac said:

Dark Keep - @popmilo - I appear to have the worst luck ever with your game. Every time I play, the Gorgon appears almost immediately before I can reach an exit and I die yet another death since there appears to be no weapons to pick up to defend myself. I need to play it some more though. 

Thanks for trying my game !

Gonna tell you a secret... There is no weapon you can pickup in the game
Trick is to lure monster away from room where you want to go (stairs, treasure), trick it to follow you around chests for example, so you can run around it when it goes the other way.
You can keep doing that as long as you're faster than it. I've managed to reach level 17, and have seen some people manage even more.

Wish you happy running away

ps. Sorry for sfx getting strange sometimes, it's a bug that'll be fixed in version that I'll release after compo results come out.

 

[MichaG]

17 hours ago, michomis said:

My game is quite a simple adventure game. All puzzles are reasonably logical and rationally explainable. This at least what I was trying to achieve. In many places, we encounter hints that are not immediately obvious.

I've played it quite a long time. I think I have to pass the robot, but he doesn't want to let me... 

[michomis]

5 hours ago, MichaG said:

I've played it quite a long time. I think I have to pass the robot, but he doesn't want to let me... 

Spoiler

If you already have helmet, backpack and boots, you need to obtain suit which is past the robot. Before going toward rocket route you need to obtain launch codes and repair server as well. As for the robot you need to ocupy it with some object (notice it trys to calculate something) and then you can damage it with other object, so it will turn off. Let me know if you still have problem.

 

[+CharlieChaplin]

On 10/12/2022 at 7:53 AM, darwinmac said:

Obviously, this is just my opinion. However, I have been playing the contest games for a little while and I have some questions and opinions on the programs:

 

For those of you who aren't ABBUC members, you have some very nice games to look forward to. 

 

Bob C

 

 

 

 

 

Well,

in order to save the DOC files (e.g. diskside B) as ATASCII onto diskette do the following:

 

1) boot a DOS 2.x of your choice (there is no DOS on diskside B)

2) manually load the DOC file you want with LOA or option "L" binary load from DOS

3) insert a new (empty/formatted) DOS 2.x disk

4) press control-S to save the DOC file as ATASCII

 

On several disks, the DOC files are already in ATASCII format.

 

[Beeblebrox]

On 10/13/2022 at 10:37 AM, shanti77 said:

Work in progress 

@shanti77bravo... Just clocked your latest Trax progress video released 30mins ago on YouTube. Looks amazing. Love the new dashboard look. I also noticed one of the weapons upgrade too (3way bullets). 😍

 

Can't wait to play it:

 

 

[+CharlieChaplin]

ASC 2022 RESULTS:

 

place) program

 

16) List-XEX

 

15) HRG-Trans

 

14) MidiCAR-Player

 

13) Der Schraenker 1

 

12) Dark Keep

 

11) Battle of Eris

 

10) Binary Parasite

 

08) Der Schraenker 2

 

08) Trax

 

07) Moon Quest

 

06) Retro Dschump

 

05) DYE  H.E.

 

04) PacMen Evolution

 

03) Arcadia

 

02) Break it 2022

 

01) Bunny Hop

 

Alas, I do not have the points or rewarded money at hand.

(Yes, there is no place 9, we therefore have place 8 twice.)

 

Now we are waiting for the updates... hehehe.

[Beeblebrox]

Great competiton ... although not sure how Trax could possibly come 8th!? 

[TheNameOfTheGame]

Wow, that new Trax update looks great!  Lots of good entries this year, but yeah, I would have rated Trax higher.  Maybe the lower ranking is because it was just one level w.i.p.?

[Beeblebrox]

16 minutes ago, TheNameOfTheGame said:

Maybe the lower ranking is because it was just one level w.i.p.?

Maybe. Shame if so. 

[darwinmac]

@shanti77 - You were robbed! I needed help to find the statues, but your game is awesome. It certainly was a much better game than 8th place. It had more than one level (I died shortly after getting to level 2). 
 

I think I graded your game in either first or second place. Break It 2022 was huge for me because it is an Arkanoid clone that can be played on NTSC. 
 

I hope you continue to make quality games for the 8-bit. If your enhanced version is available as a digital download like Last Squadron eventually was, I would easily pay $15-$20 for it to support your work. 
 

Bob C

Edited October 29, 2022 by darwinmac