+Andrew Davie Posted June 8, 2005 Author Share Posted June 8, 2005 Could we possibly have a sample of the title music as an mp3 file? (for us poor souls who can't attend the show...) 870379[/snapback] Yes, I think that could be arranged. In a day or two. Cheers A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tickled_Pink Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 Amazing videos. Not-Rockford seems to move really, really fast though, compared to Boulder Dash. Will this change? 870064[/snapback] The game attempts to maintain a frame rate of 10 fps. This seems to give a reasonable falling-speed for boulders and diamonds. And since Rockford® can move down at the same speed as boulders, that's the speed he needs to move at, too. So depending on which video you're looking at, the answer is no. 870372[/snapback] The speed reminds me of the BBC Micro Boulderdash clone, Repton. Nice piece of work. And for your next trick ... Alternate Reality? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+batari Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 This is all just absolutely freakin' amazing. But what else is new? If you ever get to sell this, please tell us in this forum first so we can get our grubby hands on the game before anyone else does! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 Hi there! Not nearly enough. I have a full-time job and two young children. So all my programming is done late at night and weekends. I typically get 5-6 hours of sleep. I acutally *need* more like 8 or 9 -- so I get pretty burned out when doing these sorts of projects. 870376[/snapback] Wow, that's amazing! I normally can't force myself into doing that, since I find when working more than 10-12 hours a day I start doing more things wrong than right. So I'm mainly depending on weekends and other free days. Greetings, Manuel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heaven/TQA Posted June 8, 2005 Share Posted June 8, 2005 Andrew, that's exactly why I can't code everyday... working 10 hours min per day + private life + World of Warcraft (which i havent touched for nearly 2 weeks...) + Xbox live! + socialising...does not give too much free time...and for game coding you need as well passion and "mood" imho... so the progress in BD is amazing in such given short time frame... take a break... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Andrew Davie Posted June 12, 2005 Author Share Posted June 12, 2005 Well, it's been a frantic week preparing the show version -- and now I've run out of time so what I have will have to do. Many thanks to Thomas for his excellent assistance and 'hardwork' helping me out. The version coming to the show should be pretty good (untested on NTSC, but hey... fingers crossed). I have done some MPGs of the first three levels to show just how it looks... Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 The above levels were played using the standard difficulty. The game has 5 difficulty ramps -- not only does each level have a completely different layout of boulders and diamonds, but also the speed is much faster. The sample below shows gameplay with difficulty 5. I keep getting killed, sorry I don't post complete MPGs. The first level shows play to completetion. I'll be sure to put in a cheat/egg so I can be master of the game whenever I play it Level 5 - difficulty 5 There are quite a few things that didn't make it -- so this must be considered an early alpha. Things like butterflies and fireflies don't kill you when they are nearby... some boulders fall on you when they shouldn't (I know what the problem is, I just don't have time to fix it)... diamonds falling on you kill you (!)... you can't 'reach' for diamonds, some graphics are not present (explosion shapes, door, etc). It's a few months away from a releasable version, but as I said I'm very proud of what is there right now. It's quite playable, and I hope to see you enjoy playing it at the show too. Cheers A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted June 12, 2005 Share Posted June 12, 2005 I keep getting killed, sorry I don't post complete MPGs. Very funny watching you trying your own game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Slocum Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 mp3 of the current version of the music: http://www.qotile.net/audio/boulderdash.mp3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djmips Posted June 13, 2005 Share Posted June 13, 2005 mp3 of the current version of the music: http://www.qotile.net/audio/boulderdash.mp3 873257[/snapback] I'm enjoying this tune. I'm enjoying it on looped play. 8 times in a row. That's a good sign. :-) Great work Paul. And with only two voices. You make it seem routine. Guess you're the Rob Hubbard of the 2600! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moderntimes99 Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 mp3 of the current version of the music: http://www.qotile.net/audio/boulderdash.mp3 873257[/snapback] I'm enjoying this tune. I'm enjoying it on looped play. 8 times in a row. That's a good sign. :-) Great work Paul. And with only two voices. You make it seem routine. Guess you're the Rob Hubbard of the 2600! 873271[/snapback] Hmm... while the soundtrack is both catchy and technically impressive (it definitely sounds like a lot more than only two voices!) I still think that a rendition of the classical Boulder Dash tune from "Boulder Dash I" would suit this project better. Everything else is so close to the original that I find it strange to have anything else in it... Regards, Moderntimes99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 Hi there! I still think that a rendition of the classical Boulder Dash tune from "Boulder Dash I" would suit this project better. 873786[/snapback] Like this? Greetings, Manuel tsm.zip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Slocum Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 I'm not really interested in doing a port of the song. I just prefer to write my own stuff. If Andrew decides he wants to get someone else to port the song, I can just use that song for some other game. But it may not be possible to port the song to the 2600 and have it be in-tune. When I was doing those music hacks, I had to throw out a bunch of ideas because I couldn't find the notes for songs I wanted to do. -paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZylonBane Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 I'm not really interested in doing a port of the song. I just prefer to write my own stuff. Because it's harder for people to tell when you've messed up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uosipa llamxew Posted June 14, 2005 Share Posted June 14, 2005 I think it is perfectly natural for a musician to want to compose new music rather than to "cover" someone else's tunes. The sound on the VCS is very limited; to draft up anything at all that sounds good seems to be a feat in itself. I like everything of Paul's that I've had a chance to listen to; I think the new music lends itself quite nicely to Boulderdash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmpddytim Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 I like Pauls music better than the original BD music myself. -Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moderntimes99 Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 I'm not really interested in doing a port of the song. I just prefer to write my own stuff. If Andrew decides he wants to get someone else to port the song, I can just use that song for some other game. But it may not be possible to port the song to the 2600 and have it be in-tune. When I was doing those music hacks, I had to throw out a bunch of ideas because I couldn't find the notes for songs I wanted to do. -paul 874153[/snapback] It was not my intention to complain in any way, rather the opposite - I was just coming from the perspective where I highly admire your rendition of the Thrust theme and thought that if someone could do a good rendition of the Boulder Dash theme (that does not sound out of tune on the VCS!) it must be you... But as you say, it might not even be possible and a new composition is definitely better than a rendition that is out of tune... Regards, Moderntimes99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cybergoth Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 Hi there! I like Pauls music better than the original BD music myself. 874508[/snapback] Me too. The original BD tune is horrible. I really like how Pauls starts in that oldskool primitivness and then turns into magic Greetings, Manuel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 I really would have liked to hear the result of Paul's magic converting the original BD music. But I wonder if that hurdy-gurdy sound is possible for the Atari 2600 at all. And I like the new music a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carlsson Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 Dunno about computer musicians prefer to write their own songs.. in the VIC-20 productions I've composed for, I find it much easier to cover and re-arrange existing music than come up with a new tune. And the VIC chip also is pretty much out of tune, although maybe not as limited as the sound capacity in Atari 2600. Btw, I'm working on a jazzy/be-bop remix or arrangement of the Boulder Dash tune. The biggest drawback is that it is relatively short, so either it has to be repeated over and over, add some improvision sections or merge into another song.. maybe Boulder Dash 2, which probably is an even weaker tune. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moderntimes99 Posted June 15, 2005 Share Posted June 15, 2005 I made a new discovery while playing Boulder Dash today! The "reach for a diamond" functionality (i.e. to move in a direction while having fire pressed) can also be used for pushing boulders! I have always pushed boulders by just moving in the direction of the boulder with fire unpressed, not knowing that there was another way. Funny, I didn't think that I would discover new things in this game! Was everyone else aware of this feature? Regards, Moderntimes99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tsukasa Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 I was watching the demos and noticed that he taps his foot when he stands still for a while. Overall, I am incredibly impressed so far. I don't think I could ever write anything in assembler, there aren't any "If...Then"s. Also, I like anything that Paul does, (I have a couple of Treewave songs in my WinAmp playlist). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 I was watching the demos and noticed that he taps his foot when he stands still for a while. Overall, I am incredibly impressed so far. I don't think I could ever write anything in assembler, there aren't any "If...Then"s. He also blinks, if I remember correctly. Also, I like anything that Paul does, (I have a couple of Treewave songs in my WinAmp playlist). 876495[/snapback] The tune sounds great in the game.. ..Al Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bryan Posted June 18, 2005 Share Posted June 18, 2005 I don't think I could ever write anything in assembler, there aren't any "If...Then"s. 876495[/snapback] Sure there are. They're just written differently. cmp #10 beq label is pretty much the same thing as: If A=10 then goto label And you can test for all kinds of conditions. -Bry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindfield Posted June 19, 2005 Share Posted June 19, 2005 Fantastic! This'll knock 'em flat at the show. Though IIRC diamonds falling on you can kill you in the original, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moderntimes99 Posted June 20, 2005 Share Posted June 20, 2005 Hi there! I still think that a rendition of the classical Boulder Dash tune from "Boulder Dash I" would suit this project better. 873786[/snapback] Like this? Greetings, Manuel 874128[/snapback] Cool, but a bit out of tune I think... especially when the two channels should go together as in the original. Why not try to make a single channel version of the melody (like the one from the ZX Spectrum - see attachment below)? Then maybe the second channel could be used for percussion (or other rythmic elements)... boulderdash_zx_spectrum.mp3 Regards, Moderntimes99 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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