Super Pro Dracula?

[Rickster8]

Now THIS would be cool..... 

 

My suggestions on how this game can be improved... 

 

1). Instead of REALLY limiting the bat usage. I would make a time limit that you are allowed to use the bat, similar to the way Atlantis lets you use the saucer. Time counts down while using and revvs back up when NOT using it. If the time runs out in Atlantis, the saucer explodes. Do the same with the bat... that round if the timer runs out the bat explodes and is unusable until the next Evening.... 🤷‍♂️

 

2). Make it so it's more obvious if a victim is out running... It's a pain in the neck knocking on a bunch of doors and then seeing the reason nobody is coming is because there's already a jogger out and about... This is stupid....

3). Make more victims, maybe an old lady carrying groceries, lol, or a pretty blonde woman jogger...  

4). Make it so there can actually be two or even three victims out at a time. 

5). Instead of having to use two controllers for the zombie mode, make Dracula turn into the zombie with the bottom right side button... Once the zombie gets the night watchmen then make the zombie turn back into Dracula. 

6). Make it so the night watchmen can actually accidentally stake the victims and if he does he goes to jail for the remainder of that one evening.... So you can try and lure him to make this mistake, lol....

7). Lose the purple vulture and the white dog / wolf... They don't belong in this game... BEAT IT BABY, JUST BEAT IT!!!! 🤣

 

Even adopting just a few of these changes would make this mundane game MUCH better...

 

Calling everyone named David Harley... Hahahahahaha  

 

@intvdave

 

 

 

 

Edited November 9 by Rickster8
Wording

[JohnPCAE]

Maybe also work in a way for a cross or garlic to have a dimension in the game.

[+DZ-Jay]

5 hours ago, Rickster8 said:

Now THIS would be cool..... 

 

My suggestions on how this game can be improved... 

 

1). Instead of REALLY limiting the bat usage. I would make a time limit that you are allowed to use the bat, similar to the way Atlantis lets you use the saucer. Time counts down while using and revvs back up when NOT using it. If the time runs out in Atlantis, the saucer explodes. Do the same with the bat... that round if the timer runs out the bat explodes and is unusable until the next Evening.... 🤷‍♂️

 

I thought that is how it worked:  You have a lot tied lifeline/energy (blood), and the bat consumes it faster.  I think his makes sense within the logic of the game.  Having the bat restore its energy by just turning back into Dracula seems undiegetic, as if the bat's life is disconnected from Dracula's.

 

5 hours ago, Rickster8 said:

2). Make it so it's more obvious if a victim is out running... It's a pain in the neck knocking on a bunch of doors and then seeing the reason nobody is coming is because there's already a jogger out and about... This is stupid....

 

I like this suggestion:. Those hidden joggers annoy me, especially because you just run out the clock and your energy just walking towards the houses not knowing here is a victim running around already.

 

5 hours ago, Rickster8 said:

3). Make more victims, maybe an old lady carrying groceries, lol, or a pretty blonde woman jogger...  

 

Yes!

 

5 hours ago, Rickster8 said:

4). Make it so there can actually be two or even three victims out at a time. 
 

 

There may be sprite limitations that would prevent that.  However, having victims appear more often may help.  What about knocking on a door and two victims come out?

 

5 hours ago, Rickster8 said:

5). Instead of having to use two controllers for the zombie mode, make Dracula turn into the zombie with the bottom right side button... Once the zombie gets the night watchmen then make the zombie turn back into Dracula. 

I hate he need for the second controller.  It was great when I was playing with a friend, because it let us both participate, albeit occasionally, but these days it is next to impossible to have a second player available.

 

Maybe the zombie should use AI to run after victims.  To give a sense of agency to the player, it could work like this:

• The zombie follows the player around, like a faithful puppy.
• When the player gets close enough to a victim, the puppyzombie goes after them like an attack dog.
• If there is more than one victim on the screen, the zombie goes after the closest one, and the other has a chance to run away and get the policeman.
• If the victim gets too far, the zombie gives up and goes back to puppy mode.

This lets Dracula and the Zombie gang up on victims.  It also maintains the player in danger, because the player needs to chase after the victims, giving a chance for a policeman to show up.
 

5 hours ago, Rickster8 said:

6). Make it so the night watchmen can actually accidentally stake the victims and if he does he goes to jail for the remainder of that one evening.... So you can try and lure him to make this mistake, lol....

 

That seems overly convoluted.  It may be diegetic and logical, but it would be hard to convey within the constraints of the limited game-play mechanics.  It would just look like at some point in time, the policeman stopped showing up, with no indication of it being connected to any game event.

 

It would also reduce one of the threats to the player, making the game too easy.

 

5 hours ago, Rickster8 said:

7). Lose the purple vulture and the white dog / wolf... They don't belong in this game... BEAT IT BABY, JUST BEAT IT!!!! 🤣

The vulture has got to go!  But the wolf ... I like the wolf.  We should keep him.  He is easy to avoid anyway.  That vulture, though ... 😡

 

And, of course, my own personal enhancement request for all these classic games from the Mattel era:  fix the darn controller handling and make it smoother and more responsive.

 

That's it!  Make it so.  

 

I love Dracula as is, it is one of my go-to games whenever I bring the console out.  However, it could use some improvements. 

 

     dZ.

 

[+DZ-Jay]

3 hours ago, JohnPCAE said:

Maybe also work in a way for a cross or garlic to have a dimension in the game.

Add a church as sanctuary!

[ZillaRUSH]

Add in Frankenstein in place of the wolf.

[+DZ-Jay]

5 hours ago, ZillaRUSH said:

Add in Frankenstein in place of the wolf.

 

Add Frankenstein instead of the vulture, and keep the wolf.

 

If you get rid of the vulture, turning into a bat to avoid the wolf becomes less of a challenge.

 

    -dZ.

[Rickster8]

@DZ-Jay

 

Yes I agree with most of your points. I probably didn't explain myself well enough regarding the bat. I meant he doesn't have a lot of time to be the bat because of that damn vulture... And the controls are bad when he is the bat. I played a game the other day, had a great game going. Changed to the bat, the vulture came and then the button failed to stop being the bat and the game ended bcuz the vulture carried the bat off-screen... 🤬 The whole concept of this is flat out stupid... there should be no vulture that does this... Dracula should be allowed to be the bat for more than 3 seconds... That vulture comes out right away, again, can't stand it.. One of the worst inclusions to a game on the Intellivision IMHO. 

 

Yes I agree the night watchmen staking a victim is a bit much and would be a goofy add in, but it would be funny...  

 

Not sure what 'diegetic' means, sorry I don't think I've ever heard that word before and you used it twice in the same post..... 😜

 

 

 

[+fdr4prez]

12 minutes ago, Rickster8 said:

Not sure what 'diegetic' means, sorry I don't think I've ever heard that word before and you used it twice in the same post..... 😜

Google knows what it means. 

 

Go ahead, I double dog dare you to search for the word. 

[Rickster8]

5 minutes ago, fdr4prez said:

Google knows what it means. 

 

Go ahead, I double dog dare you to search for the word. 

But do you triple dog dare me?  

 

Edited November 9 by Rickster8
Formatting

[+nanochess]

This is a Rev's conspiration to make Super Pro games for each of the 125 Intellivision games

[+DZ-Jay]

1 hour ago, Rickster8 said:

@DZ-Jay

 

Yes I agree with most of your points. I probably didn't explain myself well enough regarding the bat. I meant he doesn't have a lot of time to be the bat because of that damn vulture... And the controls are bad when he is the bat. I played a game the other day, had a great game going. Changed to the bat, the vulture came and then the button failed to stop being the bat and the game ended bcuz the vulture carried the bat off-screen... 🤬 The whole concept of this is flat out stupid... there should be no vulture that does this... Dracula should be allowed to be the bat for more than 3 seconds... That vulture comes out right away, again, can't stand it.. One of the worst inclusions to a game on the Intellivision IMHO. 

 

I don't have as much hatred for the vulture as you -- I think it has its place -- but I agree that it gets in the way and it is annoying, so I wouldn't mind casting it off.  Once you get rid of the vulture, the bat will be a more useful mechanic.

 

I think the point of the vulture is because the game is so devoid of other threats to Dracula, other than running out of blood or nighttime; so the game is reduced to merely trying to meet your blood quota before the timer runs out.

 

In my opinion, adding more victims -- either concurrent or faster spawning -- would help keep the game interesting and challenging, and then the vulture is not that necessary.  It could still have a place, maybe reducing his speed and spawning incidence.

 

1 hour ago, Rickster8 said:

Yes I agree the night watchmen staking a victim is a bit much and would be a goofy add in, but it would be funny...  

 

Hehehe, I agree.  Maybe there is something there:  how about if when the policeman stakes a victim, he slows down or gets paralyzed, making it easier for Dracula to get to him; but because he has been impaled, he has a lot less blood for Dracula.  Maybe the victim has a limited time before he collapses and bleeds to death.

 

In my mind, this adds the following variation to the game mechanics:

• The policeman can make a mistake that helps Dracula catch his victim.
• At the same time, he is impairing Dracula's success by reducing the amount of blood he will extract from the victim, potentially even removing the victim as a viable target for Dracula, causing him to waste precious time.
• This gives the incentive to the player of trying to catch the victims as soon as he can when a policeman is around, lest he wastes his time on a futile attempt.

 

1 hour ago, Rickster8 said:

Not sure what 'diegetic' means, sorry I don't think I've ever heard that word before and you used it twice in the same post..... 😜

 

Sorry, it means that it is integral to the plot, story, or narrative.  I meant it as the difference between a game element or mechanic that is just there to make things harder or easier, versus one which is part of the Dracula narrative or world-building.

 

In my view, every game mechanic must be explained as part of the game's world logic.  For most games, such logic can be whatever the author wants.  However, in the case of Dracula, there is an establish rich lore that should be followed, and diverging too far from it could distract or annoy the player.  For example:

• Dracula can turn victims into zombies?  It fits within the horror genre and sort of follows Dracula's typical use of his hypnotic powers to force victims to do his bidding.
• Dracula uses lasers to kill policemen and runs away in a spaceship shaped like a bat?  Probably not.  (Although now I want to see this game!!! 😆)

 

     -dZ.

[Rickster8]

@DZ-Jay Also I should've explained.... When I play Dracula it's usually on HARD level, so that game offers a much different gaming aspect than just Easy or Medium... So the main reason I hate the vulture is because on the Hard level you are vying for speed... The vulture ruins that speed because he doesn't let you be the bat... Going from house to house works much better (FASTER) LOL [Suddenly I'm thinking of Steve Austin Six Million Dollar Man] when Dracula is the bat... Also on the hard level is the Constable... Who stakes Dracula and slows him down with each staking.... Just today I played a game on Hard Level (bcuz we are playing it on the Intellivision Invasion - FB challenge). I had like 6,300 points and had all victims bitten.. I was in front of the graveyard trying to enter it and the constable staked Dracula twice and the game suddenly ended. It was only like 5:12am...... I think there's a glitch playing Dracula where sometimes the game just ends while trying to enter the graveyard... 🤷‍♂️

 

Also cannot remember if I mentioned it, but trying to go up in this game is a disaster.... I press up to knock on doors and Dracula goes really slow... He also goes very slow when you press up on the disc trying to get him to enter the graveyard.... I can't stand it, SOOOOOOOOO annoying..... 

 

One more thing that slows Dracula down.... When you knock on a door and a victim comes out. There's like a full second pause before Dracula moves again... With a game that is built on speed (Hard Level)... I CAN'T STAND THIS!!!!!! 🤬

Edited November 10 by Rickster8
Wording

[+DZ-Jay]

On 11/9/2024 at 11:24 PM, Rickster8 said:

@DZ-Jay Also I should've explained.... When I play Dracula it's usually on HARD level, so that game offers a much different gaming aspect than just Easy or Medium... So the main reason I hate the vulture is because on the Hard level you are vying for speed... The vulture ruins that speed because he doesn't let you be the bat... Going from house to house works much better (FASTER) LOL [Suddenly I'm thinking of Steve Austin Six Million Dollar Man] when Dracula is the bat... Also on the hard level is the Constable... Who stakes Dracula and slows him down with each staking.... Just today I played a game on Hard Level (bcuz we are playing it on the Intellivision Invasion - FB challenge).

 

I know.  I play on HARD level too.  I do not like the vulture, but I think it has its place.  I think the problem is that it comes in too quickly, then flies too fast, and the hand-controller is not very responsive; so you do not have much time to free yourself or avoid it.  So, for me, fixing the controller to be more responsive, and making the vulture come in less often and fly slower, would work better, while still keeping the intended challenge.  That said, I wouldn't mind getting rid of it altogether.

 

The "Constable" is what I was calling the "policeman" before -- the one who can stake Dracula.

 

On 11/9/2024 at 11:24 PM, Rickster8 said:

I had like 6,300 points and had all victims bitten.. I was in front of the graveyard trying to enter it and the constable staked Dracula twice and the game suddenly ended. It was only like 5:12am...... I think there's a glitch playing Dracula where sometimes the game just ends while trying to enter the graveyard... 🤷‍♂️

 

I haven't encountered that myself.  Could it be that you ran out of blood?

 

On 11/9/2024 at 11:24 PM, Rickster8 said:

Also cannot remember if I mentioned it, but trying to go up in this game is a disaster.... I press up to knock on doors and Dracula goes really slow... He also goes very slow when you press up on the disc trying to get him to enter the graveyard.... I can't stand it, SOOOOOOOOO annoying..... 

 

To me, it's the entire hand-controller handling that is very sluggish, not just going up.  I think the speed going up is slower because of the perspective.

 

Also, Dracula moves slower when the wolf bites him.

 

I love Dracula, but it suffers from the same problem of the old Mattel games:  sluggish and glitchy control handler, which makes the gaming experience very frustrating.  If someone could fix that first, I think the game would be a much more enjoyable one.

 

David did a great job with the King Of The Mountain game, making the hand-controller work better, so perhaps there is hope for Dracula as well.

 

 

On 11/9/2024 at 11:24 PM, Rickster8 said:

One more thing that slows Dracula down.... When you knock on a door and a victim comes out. There's like a full second pause before Dracula moves again... With a game that is built on speed (Hard Level)... I CAN'T STAND THIS!!!!!! 🤬

 

I believe that's in the manual, and it is diegetic.  From the manual:

Quote

When Dracula finds a house where there's an unwary victim, the door opens so fast that the Count is stunned for a couple of seconds, and cannot move immediately.

 

I suppose the intention is to add to the challenge.  I do not mind that too much, although maybe the delay could be tweaked a little.  It is supposed to be an atmospheric thriller game, not really an action one.

 

     -dZ.

[cvga]

On 11/9/2024 at 12:48 PM, nanochess said:

This is a Rev's conspiration to make Super Pro games for each of the 125 Intellivision games

But some of the 125 are already Super Pro. Does that mean we're going to get Super Pro Super Pro games? Yay!

[Rickster8]

1 hour ago, cvga said:

But some of the 125 are already Super Pro. Does that mean we're going to get Super Pro Super Pro games? Yay!

While we are on the subject... How about making Super Pro Space Armadillo? Instead of fighting Warlords, you fight against Armadillos... 32 of them (8 columns of 4 each) and instead of bombs they drop Texas size poops on to Earth that explode on contact... So many great ideas I have for games.... The possibilities are ENDLESS.... 🤣🤣😜

Edited November 11 by Rickster8
Wording

[Crash7]

If I ever get the money I think when I would do is make Super Pro Sea Battle so it's a one player game with the difficulty of the one player game on All Star Baseball. 

 

But I like the concept of Super Pro Dracula also.

 

Not real good at Dracula but I'm learning. 

[Rickster8]

1 hour ago, Crash7 said:

If I ever get the money I think when I would do is make Super Pro Sea Battle so it's a one player game with the difficulty of the one player game on All Star Baseball. 

 

But I like the concept of Super Pro Dracula also.

 

Not real good at Dracula but I'm learning. 

I think we need a SUPER PRO Flash Cart that turns all the 125 into Super Pro carts / roms....  

[Crash7]

18 minutes ago, Rickster8 said:

I think we need a SUPER PRO Flash Cart that turns all the 125 into Super Pro carts / roms....  

 

There you go. 

 

The "SPO Flash" 

[JohnPCAE]

If you're going to propose an improved Dracula, why not go the extra mile? What if you had to go inside some houses to find victims? That could open up an entirely new dimension to the game with a completely different set of challenges.

[+DZ-Jay]

4 hours ago, JohnPCAE said:

If you're going to propose an improved Dracula, why not go the extra mile? What if you had to go inside some houses to find victims? That could open up an entirely new dimension to the game with a completely different set of challenges.

Well, the thing about these “Super Pro” versions that David makes is that they are hacks on the original ROM — so essentially updated routines and data to fix some bugs and make a few enhancements, but not brand new games in their own right.

 

Then again, this is merely an invitation for someone to make such a game; it is not clear someone ever will.

 

    dZ.

[+Lathe26]

18 hours ago, cvga said:

But some of the 125 are already Super Pro. Does that mean we're going to get Super Pro Super Pro games? Yay!

No, they to call it Mach Turbo Mega Extreme Super Pro games.  Then, it needs to be announced by a WWE wrestler!

[Rev]

Someone make this!