easmith Posted December 19, 2023 Author Share Posted December 19, 2023 1 hour ago, Mockduck said: This game is sweet on the 2020 VCS. Currently Christmas themed which turned out great. Question: is there a way to select male or female in the VCS rom? Also, is the xmas version something that needs to be patched back to normal or is it baked into the game? Hi, thanks for the kind words ! The game version should automatically switch back to the regular version after the New Year . I am actually not familiar with the new VCS . That was all set up by Kevin @KevinMos3, who I worked on the game with . Send him a personal message and I am sure he can help with the male/ female setting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted December 19, 2023 Share Posted December 19, 2023 13 hours ago, Mockduck said: This game is sweet on the 2020 VCS. Currently Christmas themed which turned out great. Question: is there a way to select male or female in the VCS rom? Also, is the xmas version something that needs to be patched back to normal or is it baked into the game? They had a Halloween themed version too, it did switch back, but it took them some time. So if it doesn't switch back after Christmas, they may need to be reminded Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhodgeshvs Posted December 22, 2023 Share Posted December 22, 2023 Please keep us posted on physical release 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted December 31, 2023 Author Share Posted December 31, 2023 Happy New Year . Here are the final game versions. The only real difference from previous is that this version has the newer shot meter like the Halloween and Xmas versions. StrikeZoneRELEASE_NTSC.bin StrikeZoneRELEASE_PAL60.bin 7 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChrisKewl Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 Hands down my favorite release of 2023, I played this a TON. Congratulations on a great game! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaun David Posted January 10 Share Posted January 10 Wow! it's incredible what you can do the good ol Atari 2600 thanks.👍👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 (edited) Has this been tested on real hardware? I noticed that the game is executing code within bankswitching hotspots. This might not work. I found out, because for the coming Stella 7.0, to prevent such potential coding errors, we added a check here. For hotspots random values are returned now. Which breaks the game. Edited January 29 by Thomas Jentzsch 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+wavemotion Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 40 minutes ago, Thomas Jentzsch said: I found out, because for the coming Stella 7.0 This didn't go unnoticed by this interested bystander! I know there was a bit of an extended break - glad to see there is still some fire in the old stove! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillDMatt Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 did this or any plans for this game to make it on a physical cart? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted January 29 Author Share Posted January 29 5 hours ago, Thomas Jentzsch said: Has this been tested on real hardware? I noticed that the game is executing code within bankswitching hotspots. This might not work. I found out, because for the coming Stella 7.0, to prevent such potential coding errors, we added a check here. For hotspots random values are returned now. Which breaks the game. The game works on my harmony cart. Co designer Kevin Mosley made a couple of test carts that worked ok. But I certainly want to know about any issues that need to be corrected. I am using same scheme I have used for the other 32k games I made and these have had no issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 28 minutes ago, easmith said: The game works on my harmony cart. I doubt that the Harmony emulates these details. 28 minutes ago, easmith said: Co designer Kevin Mosley made a couple of test carts that worked ok. Do you know what hardware he was using? 28 minutes ago, easmith said: But I certainly want to know about any issues that need to be corrected. I am using same scheme I have used for the other 32k games I made and these have had no issues. I am no hardware expert. But what I have learned in the past is, that the hotspot data cannot be reliably read. At least when using original hardware. Originally the bankswitching takes some time and during this period the bank is in an undefined state. It might still work, if the data is identical in all banks, but that's not for sure too. So if you want to create a game that would reliably work using old hardware, you better avoid using any hotspot data. Also your game(s) might not work anymore in future versions of Stella. In case of this game, the startup vector points to $fff2. The following jump touches $fff4. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted January 29 Author Share Posted January 29 ok thanks. I will ask about the cart build . I will have to go back and look at a few things and refresh my memory. I got the code for the startup vectors for 16k from Kurt Howe . I got advice from him on modifying it for 32 K but was not sure I did it correctly. I asked for clarification but sadly he had passed away . But whatever I did worked (I think) . The other 2 games using same scheme are Kung Fu Combat 2 and Dark Keep. Physical carts for kung fu combat work fine on real hardware . at any rate , I definitely want the games to work on newer Stella versions. So I will just need someone to give me the proper code for the end of the banks . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 Just move your initial startup JMP a few bytes, so that it doesn't touch the hotspots. And add the required hotspot access directly before the jump. E.g. Startup bit $fff4 jmp Init Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted January 29 Author Share Posted January 29 48 minutes ago, Thomas Jentzsch said: Just move your initial startup JMP a few bytes, so that it doesn't touch the hotspots. And add the required hotspot access directly before the jump. E.g. Startup bit $fff4 jmp Init Below is what I have as the code for the end of my banks . Again, I have not thought about this in a few years , and was trying to modify code I got from NukeyShay ( see bottom of message) , but it works on Real Hardware so far as I can tell. But I am happy to modify it as needed. ************************************** End of bank code: Bank 1 (0) : Reset ORG $1FF2 JMP CLEAN_START ; clean start is in bank 1 .byte 0,0,0,0,0,0,0 .byte $F2,$1F,0,0 Bank 2 : org $2F83 ; incoming from bank1 rorg $1F83 jsr bank2logic ldx $1FF4 ; back to bank 1 ORG $2FF2 RORG $1FF2 JMP CLEAN_START .byte 0,0,0,0,0,0,0 .byte $F2,$1F,0,0 Bank 3 org $3F93 rorg $1F93 jsr bank3logic ldx $1FF4 ORG $3FF2 ; I do not have RORG here . Problem? JMP CLEAN_START .byte 0,0,0,0,0,0,0 .byte $F2,$1F,0,0 Bank 4: org $4fA3 rorg $1fA3 jsr Bank4logic ldx $1FF4 ORG $4FF2 RORG $1FF2 JMP CLEAN_START .byte 0,0,0,0,0,0,0 .byte $F2,$1F,0,0 Similar for banks 5-8 ********************************************************** FROM Kurt Howe : Same method...only you have to move the JMP instructions 2 bytes lower (in 16k standard banking, the hotspots are $FFF6 to $FFF9). This string should be the final 12 bytes in all banks to start from the first one. ORG $FFF4 JMP Clean_Start .byte 0,0,0,0,0 .word $FFF4 .word 0 The JMP instruction occupies $FFF4 to $FFF6 in memory, so the program counter trips the hotspot for the first bank when reading the address to jump to. Just like most banking schemes, the last "word" in each bank can point to BRK interrupts, if you choose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 While this works on modern hardware and maybe some older hardware, I had negative experiences when developing Thrust. The code is smart and effective and I had the same idea back then. But it is only smart if it works reliable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted January 29 Author Share Posted January 29 7 minutes ago, Thomas Jentzsch said: While this works on modern hardware and maybe some older hardware, I had negative experiences when developing Thrust. The code is smart and effective and I had the same idea back then. But it is only smart if it works reliable. I guess we will see . If it crashes on newer Stella versions then I will have to change it , I will just need specific guidance on how to do so in each bank. I am happy to receive edits as needed but could probably not figure it out myself. I know there is an issue with this code on Flashback Portable for the issues you mentioned I think, but I never was able to change the code as Kurt passed before he could respond to my question. Thanks again for the heads up and again I am open to getting new code if you are offering ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted January 29 Share Posted January 29 (edited) This should work for all banks. ORG $1FEE ($2FEE, $3FEE,... for the other banks) RORG $1FEE Reset BIT $1FF5 JMP CLEAN_START ds 8, 0 .word Reset, 0 Edited January 29 by Thomas Jentzsch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted January 29 Author Share Posted January 29 35 minutes ago, Thomas Jentzsch said: This should work for all banks. ORG $1FEE ($2FEE, $3FEE,... for the other banks) RORG $1FEE Reset BIT $1FF5 JMP CLEAN_START ds 8, 0 .word Reset, 0 Cool I will give it a try . Thanks again . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted January 29 Author Share Posted January 29 3 hours ago, Thomas Jentzsch said: This should work for all banks. ORG $1FEE ($2FEE, $3FEE,... for the other banks) RORG $1FEE Reset BIT $1FF5 JMP CLEAN_START ds 8, 0 .word Reset, 0 This seems to work with BIT $1FF4 instead of $1FF5. When I said start up was in bank 1 , I meant first bank (0). Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted January 29 Author Share Posted January 29 3 hours ago, Thomas Jentzsch said: This should work for all banks. here is rom with your code , let me know if this checks out. I was unable to send PM to you . SZTJ.bin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted January 30 Share Posted January 30 Yup, works. 👍 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Yurkie Posted March 24 Share Posted March 24 Is there a way to select female or left hand bowler from any of the released roms? How about a special 3 pack ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easmith Posted March 25 Author Share Posted March 25 9 hours ago, Yurkie said: Is there a way to select female or left hand bowler from any of the released roms? How about a special 3 pack ? Female yes . TV type to BW. Left handed no sorry. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Yurkie Posted March 31 Share Posted March 31 @Thomas Jentzschand @easmithcould this awesome game and its 2 holiday hacks be made into a game selectable rom? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted April 1 Share Posted April 1 8 hours ago, Yurkie said: @Thomas Jentzschand @easmithcould this awesome game and its 2 holiday hacks be made into a game selectable rom? I have no idea why you are involving me here. I only helped a little bit with that bankswitching bug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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