SkullStar (space shooter)

[2018jh]

Been getting back into bB after some years, and threw this simple space shooter game together to re-learn it. I feel like I've got a good grip on things now, and am excited to try out some more ambitious projects!

 

Premise:

The objective of the game is to shoot at the "SkullStar" mothership to earn points, however, the SkullStar is defended by a deflector shield, which self-destructs upon impact with your missiles, taking your ship out with it. At the same time, you must dodge a constant barrage of enemy missiles. There are also barriers to be cautious of, and they will explode your ship on impact. Press 'fire' to start the game on the title screen, and press 'fire' to restart the game once it ends. Apologies for any bugs you might run into!

Once the SkullStar has been destroyed, you will move onto the next level, with slightly higher difficulty.

 

 

 

 

 

skull-star-2-11-2024.bin

Edited February 12 by 2018jh
Updated binary

[alfredtdk]

Your game is really cool. Congratulations.
Are you using the standard kernel? Do you want to add new challenges to this game? Can the big skull be destroyed somehow?

[2018jh]

8 hours ago, alfredtdk said:

Your game is really cool. Congratulations.
Are you using the standard kernel? Do you want to add new challenges to this game? Can the big skull be destroyed somehow?

Thank you! Yeah, its the standard kernel. As for challenges, the the speed of the missile and enemy player should slightly increase at 100, 200, and 300 points. I thought about having the skull (playfield) "chip away" every time its shot, just need to figure out the best way to do that other than hardcoding the playfield for each of the skull's states.

[8bitPoet]

Nice! Scored 320 points after several plays.

 

It's a challenging game when your ship is collateral damage from exploding shields and barriers. Have you considered adding a Life counter to the game or maybe a damage meter that drains from shooting the shield or touching the barriers?

 

I can't tell if there's an explosion sound at the end of the game. I just hear a constant buzzing/rumble while the screen flashes. 

 

Maybe you could change the playfield color when the difficulty increases, to give the player some visual clue.

 

There's an undocumented Screen Shake feature in bB that you might find useful in your game. Check it out! 

 

[2018jh]

On 2/1/2024 at 1:35 PM, 8bitPoet said:

Nice! Scored 320 points after several plays.

 

It's a challenging game when your ship is collateral damage from exploding shields and barriers. Have you considered adding a Life counter to the game or maybe a damage meter that drains from shooting the shield or touching the barriers?

 

I can't tell if there's an explosion sound at the end of the game. I just hear a constant buzzing/rumble while the screen flashes. 

 

Maybe you could change the playfield color when the difficulty increases, to give the player some visual clue.

 

There's an undocumented Screen Shake feature in bB that you might find useful in your game. Check it out! 

 

Thanks for all of the suggestions! I've fixed a few bugs with difficulty/sound, plus added some color changes on difficulty adjustment. Took a look at shakescreen, it seemed like a good effect to add to the game end screen so I threw that in as well. I've replaced the .bin in the original post with the new version.

[+Karl G]

A good start! I also have a couple of suggestions. It doesn't look like you are using the ball yet, so maybe you could have the deflector shoot, too, using the ball object for additional challenge. I would also like to see the effect where you lose a life be for a limited time, but still have the button unpause play like you do now.

 

On 1/31/2024 at 9:37 PM, 2018jh said:

I thought about having the skull (playfield) "chip away" every time its shot, just need to figure out the best way to do that other than hardcoding the playfield for each of the skull's states.

Since you are using the standard kernel, you should be able to have playfield pixels disappear on hit using pfpixel. The only tricky part is converting missile coordinates to playfield pixel coordinates, but there is an example in the bB guide that shows playfield pixel destruction:

 

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

 

[2018jh]

On 2/5/2024 at 11:22 AM, Karl G said:

A good start! I also have a couple of suggestions. It doesn't look like you are using the ball yet, so maybe you could have the deflector shoot, too, using the ball object for additional challenge. I would also like to see the effect where you lose a life be for a limited time, but still have the button unpause play like you do now.

 

Since you are using the standard kernel, you should be able to have playfield pixels disappear on hit using pfpixel. The only tricky part is converting missile coordinates to playfield pixel coordinates, but there is an example in the bB guide that shows playfield pixel destruction:

 

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

 

Thanks for the info, pfpixel was exactly what I needed. Had some weirdness when converting the missile coordinates to the pf coordinates, but I was able to get it to more or less work correctly with a pretty ugly subroutine. I've been considering adding the ball, possibly when difficulty is increased. The highest difficulty level currently has the enemy missile/shield moving so fast that its nearly impossible, so it might be preferable to have an additional enemy object rather than just a faster missile/shield at higher difficulty levels. Will test this out next time I work on this, as well as possibly adding a life counter.

 

Also, I've updated the .bin in the original post again. This time I've added the 'chip away' feature for the skull, and every time its cleared a new level begins with a slightly higher difficulty. I really like this addition, it makes it much more playable imo, and gives it more of a Breakout/Arkanoid kind of feeling.

[2018jh]

Updated the binary again in the original post; fixed a few bugs and added a life counter.