In Development "Jutland Skies" Atari 2600 Historical Airplane Game

[kikipdph]

In development is a game for the Atari 2600, which currently lacks a defined storyline. It revolves around an airplane, and so far, the airplane is programmed to fly with another plane approaching it. Over time, the plane approaches an island. That's the extent of it for now. You can download a test BIN file if you wish. A 3D environment consumes a lot of resources, so at this point, I'm unsure how much can be achieved within the 32-kilobyte limit. However, I'm hopeful that the game will turn out to be decent both in terms of graphics and gameplay.

plane.bin

Edited October 20 by kikipdph

[Zonie]

Looks sort of "Activision-esque"

[LatchKeyKid]

7 hours ago, kikipdph said:

In development is a game for the Atari 2600, which currently lacks a defined storyline. It revolves around an airplane, and so far, the airplane is programmed to fly with another plane approaching it. Over time, the plane approaches an island. That's the extent of it for now. You can download a test BIN file if you wish. A 3D environment consumes a lot of resources, so at this point, I'm unsure how much can be achieved within the 32-kilobyte limit. However, I'm hopeful that the game will turn out to be decent both in terms of graphics and gameplay.

plane.bin 32 kB · 20 downloads

It's definitely already good in terms of graphics!  I like how the LOD changes on the approaching airplanes.  Nice!  What are your potential ideas for gameplay ideally assuming technical limitations don't stop you?   Will this be a shooting game or more acrobatic flying for example?

Edited October 10 by LatchKeyKid
Saw in Stella you're using DPC+

[kikipdph]

2 hours ago, LatchKeyKid said:

It's definitely already good in terms of graphics!  I like how the LOD changes on the approaching airplanes.  Nice!  What are your potential ideas for gameplay ideally assuming technical limitations don't stop you?   Will this be a shooting game or more acrobatic flying for example?

The game should be a shooter, but I don't yet have a storyline for the game. The idea is to have ships and airplanes as targets that you shoot at, and slowly make your way to an island. The island should have some significance.

[LatchKeyKid]

31 minutes ago, kikipdph said:

The game should be a shooter, but I don't yet have a storyline for the game. The idea is to have ships and airplanes as targets that you shoot at, and slowly make your way to an island. The island should have some significance.

Ah, ok and sounds cool.  The airplane looks like a barnstormer to me so I didn't know if you were doing flying acrobatics and piloting like a flight sim or combat like a WW1 aerial combat game.  Regardless, I'm looking forward to seeing what comes in the future.   I saw you're using DPC+ in Stella; out of curiosity, what does that extra hardware boost let you do that you'd otherwise not be able to?   I have zero issue with cartridge enhanced games but am just curious as a non-programmer myself.

[kikipdph]

6 hours ago, LatchKeyKid said:

Ah, ok and sounds cool.  The airplane looks like a barnstormer to me so I didn't know if you were doing flying acrobatics and piloting like a flight sim or combat like a WW1 aerial combat game.  Regardless, I'm looking forward to seeing what comes in the future.   I saw you're using DPC+ in Stella; out of curiosity, what does that extra hardware boost let you do that you'd otherwise not be able to?   I have zero issue with cartridge enhanced games but am just curious as a non-programmer myself.

DPC+ additional hardware support provides better graphics, which may not be particularly necessary in this game because a 3D environment uses more graphic resources. Therefore, a decision must be made whether to have lower graphics but more gameplay elements or vice versa

The original concept of the game was intended to be set during World War I.

[kikipdph]

Now we have a ship

 

[glurk]

Looks good.  My suggestions: It should be a series of islands.  Sometimes you have to land and re-arm / re-fuel.  Other times, you have to bomb and shoot enemy targets.  You don't know if it's a friendly island or an enemy island at first.  In the sky between islands, you fight planes and ships.  This goes on as long as you can, getting progressively more difficult.

 

Just some ideas. "Blue Max 2600" LOL....

[+littaum]

The perspective looks a lot like Afterburner.  Maybe you can also add a target sight for shooting?

[LatchKeyKid]

6 hours ago, kikipdph said:

DPC+ additional hardware support provides better graphics, which may not be particularly necessary in this game because a 3D environment uses more graphic resources. Therefore, a decision must be made whether to have lower graphics but more gameplay elements or vice versa

The original concept of the game was intended to be set during World War I.

Thanks.  Obviously this is very early on and you've likely already thought of this (and it's definitely been mentioned above already) but I'd add the crosshairs as well to better reflect that wartime feel rather than potentially a flight sim.

[kikipdph]

2 hours ago, glurk said:

Looks good.  My suggestions: It should be a series of islands.  Sometimes you have to land and re-arm / re-fuel.  Other times, you have to bomb and shoot enemy targets.  You don't know if it's a friendly island or an enemy island at first.  In the sky between islands, you fight planes and ships.  This goes on as long as you can, getting progressively more difficult.

 

Just some ideas. "Blue Max 2600" LOL....

I had a suggestion to land on an island, but for now, it's too early to say. First, I would create a battle before the island. There is also an idea for something like fast rockets that would be a significant challenge in the game, as well as a fight against the main enemy, but I haven't thought too much about the complete game scenario yet.

[kikipdph]

1 hour ago, littaum said:

The perspective looks a lot like Afterburner.  Maybe you can also add a target sight for shooting?

That's a good idea. One option could be that the airplane moves left and right with the joystick, and by moving it up and down, you adjust the targeting. Another option is to shoot, and when, for example, you pull the joystick back and press a button, it targets and bombs ships and other ground targets.

[kikipdph]

53 minutes ago, LatchKeyKid said:

Thanks.  Obviously this is very early on and you've likely already thought of this (and it's definitely been mentioned above already) but I'd add the crosshairs as well to better reflect that wartime feel rather than potentially a flight sim.

The idea was that the targets on the ground and in the water should be bombed, while shooting at those in flight, but it's still too early to say. The second option of having a target is not a bad idea either.

[+littaum]

Some other ideas that the plane could do - have rings in the air that the player has to fly through, similar to the flying stage in the Commodore 64 Aliens game (although I'm not sure how that would tie into any sort of story...)

 

 

[kikipdph]

I have arranged the first stage of the enemies in the game. Those who like to follow the game development steps I will put a bin file with the new progress. Right now, only airplanes and ships are arranged in one part of the game, and after that, something else should appear, perhaps submarines. The enemies will not go outside the screen to the left and right as they do now.

plane.bin

[LatchKeyKid]

The shadow in the water at the bottom of the ship sprites is a nice touch.

[alexander.christian.moser]

It reminds me to River Raid.
What about River Raid 3D?
Maybe a similar game but in first player perspective?

[kikipdph]

It is now possible to shoot at enemies on the ground and bomb targets on water and land. Bombing might not be perfectly executed, but it's Atari :).

Hitting enemies hasn't been implemented yet. The fire button on the joystick is used for shooting, and for bombing, you pull the joystick handle backward and press the fire button. A targeting reticle appears during bombing.

How it looks can be seen in the video via this link.
https://www.facebook.com/mirsad.sarajlic/videos/685335556602124/?idorvanity=29814905254&notif_id=1697106956925761&notif_t=video_processed&ref=notif

Or you can download the Bin file

plane.bin

Edited October 12 by kikipdph

[LatchKeyKid]

I like the idea of scaling the size of the bullets and bombs depending on distance.    Are you using the Batari Basic DPC+?  I'm not sure there is another version as I'm not a programmer so figured I'd ask.   If so, is it possible to use one of the alternate player sprites for the crosshairs instead of the missile or ball?   Are you prioritizing avoiding flicker?

[kikipdph]

1 hour ago, LatchKeyKid said:

I like the idea of scaling the size of the bullets and bombs depending on distance.    Are you using the Batari Basic DPC+?  I'm not sure there is another version as I'm not a programmer so figured I'd ask.   If so, is it possible to use one of the alternate player sprites for the crosshairs instead of the missile or ball?   Are you prioritizing avoiding flicker?

Yes, the game is being developed in Batari Basic DPC+. I don't like it when flicker happens in an Atari game, so I'm trying to design games to avoid it as much as possible.

[LatchKeyKid]

8 hours ago, kikipdph said:

Yes, the game is being developed in Batari Basic DPC+. I don't like it when flicker happens in an Atari game, so I'm trying to design games to avoid it as much as possible.

Totally reasonable and I understand.  I figured that might be the reason.  When I first fired it up, I thought the bomb was the reticle because I just pressed down and it appeared/disappeared instantly with the button press.  It wasn't till a bit later that I pressed the fire button and saw the actual bomb drop, lol, and figured it out. 

[kikipdph]

I've made it so you can hit the enemy, and there will be some sort of animation for hitting the target later.

To shoot at airplanes, use the fire button on the joystick, and for bombing ships, you must pull the joystick  backward and then press the fire button on the joystick.

 

plane.bin

[LatchKeyKid]

I'd probably recommend making the ships move noticeably slower than the planes if possible.  The planes are heading towards the player for added speed whereas the ships are sideways in the water so not.  From a gameplay perspective, firing at them is a two step process so it might be better to be a bit more lenient in terms of timing.   Regardless, great progress!

 

From a programming perspective with DPC+, what options do you have for size/shape with the ball/missiles available?   I see that they're different widths but I was curious if they can be more than one line high.

 

edit:  Answered my own question with some research and it looks like only the multikernel has the restriction I vaguely remembered.  The reason I was asking was to see whether you could make them taller/longer to look more like bombs for the bomb and to better differentiate the attack from the guns.

 

https://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-batari-basic-commands.html#missiles

Edited October 15 by LatchKeyKid

[kikipdph]

4 hours ago, LatchKeyKid said:

I'd probably recommend making the ships move noticeably slower than the planes if possible.  The planes are heading towards the player for added speed whereas the ships are sideways in the water so not.  From a gameplay perspective, firing at them is a two step process so it might be better to be a bit more lenient in terms of timing.   Regardless, great progress!

 

From a programming perspective with DPC+, what options do you have for size/shape with the ball/missiles available?   I see that they're different widths but I was curious if they can be more than one line high.

 

edit:  Answered my own question with some research and it looks like only the multikernel has the restriction I vaguely remembered.  The reason I was asking was to see whether you could make them taller/longer to look more like bombs for the bomb and to better differentiate the attack from the guns.

 

https://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-batari-basic-commands.html#missiles

The width is limited, but the height can be as large as the screen.

These are cosmetic matters and can be adjusted later after the gameplay is done

[guppy]

8 hours ago, LatchKeyKid said:

I'd probably recommend making the ships move noticeably slower than the planes if possible.  The planes are heading towards the player for added speed whereas the ships are sideways in the water so not.  From a gameplay perspective, firing at them is a two step process so it might be better to be a bit more lenient in terms of timing.  

As well, see if it makes the game better if the ships take several hits to sink.  They're considerably more sturdy than a fragile wooden and fabric biplane from WWI.

 

As you continue developing this, banking when moving left/right, sound effects for the engine, guns, explosions, would be nice to see.  As well as ways for the enemy to kill you.

For the title, I like Dawn of Aces.  "Dawn" suggests the early time period in the history of aviation, and "Aces" directly conjures the aerial combat of WWI.

Edited October 15 by guppy