A li'l game...kinda fishie...

[retrocon]

Love this game. Have played the flash version many times.

 

Here are some name ideas:

 

Feeding Frenzy

Fishtank Antics

What's Eating Nemo?

Fish Food

 

 

And having played other versions of this game, the big improvement I would suggest is to focus on the fishie's movements and try to simulate as best as possible a fish actually moving through water. The movement of the game was always the best part of it. And also the cool swallowing sound when you ate a fish.

 

 

Good job!

[vdub_bobby]

(I don't think you should go so far as to die).

If that was done, when would the game end?

I think StanJr means that you could still die by being eaten by a bigger fish, but that you couldn't die by taking too long to eat something.

 

And thanks for the comments and suggestions, everyone...current request list looks something like this:

 

-title screen

-sound effects

-better difficulty progression

-bubbles

-life meter/timer

-speed burst with fire button

-electric eel/jelly fish

-shark changes direction

 

And I have my own list, of course.

[vdub_bobby]

And having played other versions of this game, the big improvement I would suggest is to focus on the fishie's movements and try to simulate as best as possible a fish actually moving through water. The movement of the game was always the best part of it.

Anything specific I should change?

[Jess Ragan]

The version I'd played was somewhat repetitive and devoid of any real artificial intelligence. Fish swim across the screen in a straight line, then you eat whatever ones are as small or smaller than you. That's pretty much it. The game needs smarter, less predictable fish badly. It would go a long way toward making the gameplay more fun and addictive.

 

JR

[vdub_bobby]

The version I'd played was somewhat repetitive and devoid of any real artificial intelligence.  Fish swim across the screen in a straight line, then you eat whatever ones are as small or smaller than you.  That's pretty much it.  The game needs smarter, less predictable fish badly.  It would go a long way toward making the gameplay more fun and addictive.

 

JR

True enough...but:

 

-the game that this is based on (http://www.ebaumsworld.com/fishy.html) has the same game mechanics: fish swim across the screen horizontally and you eat the ones that are smaller. It isn't real complicated and, to be honest, I've never been that enamored of it. I chose to make a 2600 version because I thought it was a good candidate for a 1k game. See above in the thread for the 1k version, which is (essentially*) complete.

 

-Giving the enemy fishies the ability to move vertically would require a complete rewrite of the kernel, probably require flicker (The horror!), and wouldn't really be like the game it is based on. Aside from the flicker (Ahhh! Noooo!) it would probably be a better game, as you said. Because of the work involved in rewriting the kernel I won't be doing that. Probably.

 

-All that said, I am probably going to add some limited AI to some of the fishies - allowing some of them to switch directions mid-swim. Probably the shark, at least, will at some point acquire the ability to chase you

 

*I might go back into the 1k code at some point to try to free up some more bytes so that I can add some of the features that were removed to get it down to 1k. Most notably, the music.

 

Thanks for the comments.

[neotokeo2001]

 

-All that said, I am probably going to add some limited AI to some of the fishies - allowing some of them to switch directions mid-swim.  Probably the shark, at least, will at some point acquire the ability to chase you

 

 

In staying with the original Flash game and also Shark! Shark!, I really don't think the gameplay needs to change much. The Shark having a chase ability and fish changing directions would really be the icing on the cake.

[vdub_bobby]

 

-All that said, I am probably going to add some limited AI to some of the fishies - allowing some of them to switch directions mid-swim.  Probably the shark, at least, will at some point acquire the ability to chase you

 

 

In staying with the original Flash game and also Shark! Shark!, I really don't think the gameplay needs to change much. The Shark having a chase ability and fish changing directions would really be the icing on the cake.

Well...when I say the shark will be able to chase you, I mean that he will change directions to get you. He won't be chasing you vertically

[Emehr]

Very nice work! I was going to suggest having the other fish change directions but I see you already thought of it.

 

I would also see about having them change speed. Having a fish speed up as you're chasing it will certainly raise the excitement. Conversely, having a bigger fish speed up while chasing you will also heat things up. I think this would help justify the aformentioned speed boost.

 

My name ideas...

Fishtastic (a conglomeration of 'fish sticks', 'taste', and 'fantastic' )

Fishtactic (Fish + tactic, of course)

 

- Jason

[vdub_bobby]

I would also see about having them change speed. Having a fish speed up as you're chasing it will certainly raise the excitement. Conversely, having a bigger fish speed up while chasing you will also heat things up. I think this would help justify the aformentioned speed boost.

Now there's an interesting idea...hmmmm...

 

[StanJr]

maybe, but I think the physics and movement of the player fish make this part challenging enough. The reversing action will probably provide enough challenge, yes?

[~llama]

call it "Scarfing Nemo"

[+Nathan Strum]

I would also see about having them change speed. Having a fish speed up as you're chasing it will certainly raise the excitement. Conversely, having a bigger fish speed up while chasing you will also heat things up.

 

I like those ideas. Maybe being within a certain radius would trigger the speedups. Perhaps the other fish would have to be facing the player, too.

[retrocon]

Hmm, hard to describe exactly.

 

1) Swooshing movement of fish through the water. There is inertia when swimming. I would describe it as more like riding a bike than walking.

 

2) clever animation so the fish appears to be moving through water. Slow gliding turns when the fish reverses direction.

 

There is a guy on this forum that does great 2600 graphics and animations. I bet he could wipe up a wonderful fish animation that would put the flash game to shame.

 

Great movement and physics is what makes Man Falls Down my absolute favorite 2600 game of all time and sets it apart from the competition. I think this fishie game if done right would fit right in the same category.

 

Good luck!

[Godzilla]

I don't know if someone mentioned this or not, but the shark in the Shark! Shark! can be defeated by nibbling many times on his tail. I'm a huge fan of shark! shark! and love to see something similar on the 2600.... maybe the awesome can music can get a slocum translation for this game? It would be great as BG music during the game.

[vdub_bobby]

Here's the latest and, er, greatest, just in time for the weekend

 

Changes:

-There are now 13 sizes for you to grow through (there were 7 before)

-All the fishies are animated now (some better than others)

-There are now three non-fishie characters - all deadly: jellyfish, eel, and shark

-You'll only see fish who are close to you in size at any time

-The shark has some...aggressive behaviour

-The smallest fishies will flee from you

-Maybe some other stuff that I can't remember

 

Let me know what ya think.

fishies.zip

[Nukey Shay]

Any possibility of having the sprite bands (as a group) shifting upward & downward as they move across the screen? This would help kill the ability for the player's being able to hide behind a larger fish...and that offset could be added to the player's vertical position. Alternately, you could make it impossible for the player to "rest" on the same band height as an enemy fish (so you are always having to deal with 2 potential threats at a time). Or maybe the fish won't eat unless you are facing the opposite from the intended meal

[vdub_bobby]

Any possibility of having the sprite bands (as a group) shifting upward & downward as they move across the screen?  This would help kill the ability for the player's being able to hide behind a larger fish...and that offset could be added to the player's vertical position.

That's an interesting idea...I suppose it is possible. Actually, hiding behind a larger/slow fish doesn't concern me too much - its the sniping from the reeds near the bottom that concern me more. But that could solve that problem, too.

 

In fact, the more I think about that, the more I like it

 

Though I'm not sure what you mean by this: and that offset could be added to the player's vertical position

 

?

[Nukey Shay]

So that the bands of fish would bob up and down as they move across the screen, but the player's height remains unchanged unless the joystick is moved. i.e. like Jungle King's gator stage without the player's automatic upward floating Maybe using a variable number of WYSNC's right below the water surface, and the inverse of that number just above the reeds. When checking to draw the player, the same inverse number would need to be added to the "real" vertical location. This would help liven things up when the screen is filled with slow larger fish...keep people on their...um...fins. And make it a bit tougher to catch meals.

[Nukey Shay]

Edit: "player's height" -> "player's depth"

[vdub_bobby]

So that the bands of fish would bob up and down as they move across the screen, but the player's height remains unchanged unless the joystick is moved.  i.e. like Jungle King's gator stage without the player's automatic upward floating  Maybe using a variable number of WYSNC's right below the water surface, and the inverse of that number just above the reeds.  When checking to draw the player, the same inverse number would need to be added to the "real" vertical location.  This would help liven things up when the screen is filled with slow larger fish...keep people on their...um...fins.  And make it a bit tougher to catch meals.

Ok. That's kinda what I thought you meant. But I'll probably just draw the player during those buffer lines above and below the evil-fishie bands, so I wouldn't have to offset the player's height/depth/Yposition

[Nukey Shay]

Expanding on the "nibbling" idea:

In addition to the always-lethal fish, maybe only have fish that are the same size or smaller than you. And ram permitting, give each one an initial number of frames that the player sprite must hit before the enemy is eaten. Small fish would have a low initial hit-point value (so you just gobble them up)...but more chewing would need to be done as you go up the food chain.

 

But coupled with the bobbing idea, this might start treading into the "more frustrating than fun" dept.

[StanJr]

So that the bands of fish would bob up and down as they move across the screen, but the player's height remains unchanged unless the joystick is moved.  i.e. like Jungle King's gator stage without the player's automatic upward floating  Maybe using a variable number of WYSNC's right below the water surface, and the inverse of that number just above the reeds.  When checking to draw the player, the same inverse number would need to be added to the "real" vertical location.  This would help liven things up when the screen is filled with slow larger fish...keep people on their...um...fins.  And make it a bit tougher to catch meals.

 

kind of like in Seaquest?

 

Wow, have you added a lot! Can't wait to see what all has been changed! Let's not get too fancy, though, the best games are the simple ones....

[StanJr]

WOW! Loving some of the changes! Great stuff! Great stuff!

 

I love the Jellyfish being inedible. Great blockers.

 

I LIKE the seaweed refuge, its kind of like a built in pause or rest feature. Keep it. I love all the new fish and how HUGE they get. Wonderful.

 

A few ponderings:

 

Not enough little fish to eat at the start. It took me 5 mins to just grow one size. The game needs to start faster. I like having to dodge a lot, but there need to be a few more smaller fish so it doesn't take so long. (I do think the difficulty is ramping well, though).

 

More work on the music. I find that an average game takes me about 10-15 mins right now, and I spend most of that with the music off. Its very repetitive right now and gets annoying. (I like the music, it just wears on me)

 

How about an eating SFX? Some kind of chomp?

 

There is still something off about the player fish physics. The smaller incarnations should start and stop on a dime and move crazy fast (like little darter fish), the larger incarnations should be much harder to start and stop (inertia), and should have a top speed a bit less than the smaller incarnations. I think this is what I was trying to say before, but may have said wrong?

 

What is that big olive green fish? Yipes. Got to be a better sprite for that one.

 

On that note, while I can't say I've see all of the fish in the game yet, I can imagine it is getting hard to come up with new and different fish sprites. I've not seen the new shark yet. How about a hammerhead shark? A leviathan? Or even one of them Loch Ness Monster Dinosaurs?

 

Oh, and I know this name is probably too bland and plain, but I kind of like "Life in the Sea."

 

Thanks so much for all your incredible work on this great game, and for listening to all of our comments. Fantastic work!

[retrocon]

I love the changes. The fishie movies much better now.

 

The problem with the game right now is the challenge i think. There are not enough small fish to eat. Sometimes I have waited 2 minutes for a fish. Also, there is not much danger to the player. It is very hard to get killed. I think either the fish need to move faster, need to chase after you or many more fish need to be on the screen. Perhaps just making them much faster, like cars whizing by would be the easiest.

[StanJr]

It is very hard to get killed.

 

Early on this may be true, but once those really big and LONG fish start appearing and you get bigger, its hard to find a safe spot on the screen, especially when they pop out moving fast!