Game Idea: Frantic Freddie 2600

[Feralstorm]

Possibly, though with some of the compromises discussed in the thread, like using repeated/mirrored playfield and ball and/or missiles for the pots of gold, RAM might not be quite as big an issue as it was in the earlier concept.

[vdub_bobby]

I don't think RAM is a problem for this game no matter how you do it.

 

Even assuming a fully asymmetrical playfield, that's only 6 bytes per platform; with 5 platforms that's only 30 bytes. You wouldn't need to store the entire bitmap in RAM, on a given platform every other row is the same. Best to use RAM to store the locations of the ladders and then use them to lookup into static tables. Faster in the kernel, too, once you get the values loaded (which would have to be done in-kernel).

 

But in any case I think a symmetrical playfield is the way to go.

 

Here's a mockup that mixes mirrored and duplicated playfield modes in one level.

 

And the problem with using the ball as the gold bricks is that there is only one ball. So multiple gold bricks on one level would require flicker.

 

What I would do is this:

Platforms/ladders are symmetrical, either duplicated or mirrored, mixing the modes on the same level.

Make the fruit and Freddie share a player, so they flicker at 30 Hz when on the same platform. Or draw the fruit with missile(s).

Other monsters share the other player, so they flicker when they are on the same platform. You could just accept a worst-case 20 Hz flicker for the monsters or don't let more than two monsters on any single platform to keep the worst case a 30 Hz flicker.

Use the ball for the gold bricks, put two on each of the five platforms and flicker them at 30 Hz.

 

A little flickery but not too bad.

[Feralstorm]

Sounds like the ideal way to handle things to me (in my non-programmer way)

 

I miss my old basic programming days on the C64 (and Gary Kitchen's Gamemaker - that was nifty)

Edited August 18, 2006 by Feralstorm

[Pac Munchkin]

Sounds like the ideal way to handle things to me (in my non-programmer way)

 

I miss my old basic programming days on the C64 (and Gary Kitchen's Gamemaker - that was nifty)

 

I had that that was good but still a little complex, so I mostly used Mastertronix Games Creator, but then I found Broderbund's Arcade Games Construction Set!!!!!! WOW was that great!!!!!!!!!

 

Very easy like Games Creator but you could make real arcade quality games with multiple levels and much more freedom of creation. That was so good I wish someone would have made something like that for other things like maybe for the Atari 2600

 

Wade

[Cybergoth]

How close/different of Space Panic is this one actually? Can someone possibly detail the differences/similarities?

[P.I.X.L.]

How close/different of Space Panic is this one actually? Can someone possibly detail the differences/similarities?

 

 

 

I think this game looks alot like one of my all time favorite obscure classic arcade games- PONPOKO!!!!

Ray

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[+batari]

How close/different of Space Panic is this one actually? Can someone possibly detail the differences/similarities?

FF has awesome music, and Space Panic doesn't. Surprisingly, there don't seem to be any .sid files for the music except for the title screen, though they were all popular songs, e.g. Crazy little thing called love, Kodachrome and a fifth of Beethoven to name a few.

[Feralstorm]

Whoa! thread re-zombied!

 

The gameplay of Frantic Freddie is stupid-simple - just run around the screen grabbing the gold (and occasional moving prize) and avoiding the monsters - no jumping, shooting, or anything. The only innovation to it is the ladders do not allow the players to walk past them. You would have to go up one side of the ladder, over the top, and down the other side if you wanted to cross to the other side of it. The monsters don't have this limitation though.

 

Don't know much about Pon Poko, but it's obvious there must be jumping involved. Space panic is totally different, since it's about digging pits to kill the monsters. (I wouldn't mind seeing a 2600 port of Space Panic or the home ripoff, Apple Panic, for that matter)

 

But correct, the main thing about FF is more the music than the game itself. I always thought there should've been a special bonus given to the player for holding out on finishing the level until the music ends/loops.

[zxretrosoft]

After a few years, but not me ...

Frantic Freddie IS NOT stupid-simple game. The enemy is decided on the ladder with 50% certainty, you must anticipate all their movements ... This can be trained.

It is essentially a mathematical imagination of probabilities.