Yars' Return and Caverns of Mars - Sneak Peak

[Curt Vendel]

Another Sneak Peak...

 

 

Yars' Return

 

 

 

 

Caverns of Mars.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Curt

[purenergy]

More stuff to drool over....

 

I can't wait until Saturday, to possibly see this in person, at OVGE!

 

Thanks

[geosteve]

Sweet :!: This continues to get better, thank for the images

[+johnnywc]

Curt - thanks for the pics - looks awesome!! It's going to be a long 2 months before I can buy this thing...

 

 

 

Thanks again!

[SteveW]

There was a hack of Yar's Revenge called Yar's Return that I assumed would be the version on the Flashback 2.0. I'm glad that this one's a new game, squeezing even more out of the 2600 than the original. Cool!

[birdie3]

Those look great!! Looking forward to it..

[+Mitch]

Hmm, now what game does Yars' Return remind me of?

 

Mitch

[Big Player]

Both look great. I wonder who programmed the games? Can you give us any hints, Curt?

[ZylonBane]

No, they do NOT both look great. Yars' Return looks great, but I'm sorry-- Caverns of Mars looks like a damn two-week hack job by someone who's only seen a blurry picture of the original. Look, below is a screenshot from the original Atari computer version. This game is perfectly suited to the 2600's limitations-- Vertical scrolling instead of horizontal, only one object per scan line, thick solid-colored backgrounds... heck, even the player ship is just a single-colored double-wide player. Aside from some resolution loss on the cavern walls, the 2600 should be able to handle a dead-perfect port of this game without even breaking a sweat.

 

So look at the screenshot I've attached. Now scroll up and look at what we're supposedly getting. It's like 2600 Pac-Man all over again.

 

I'm grateful to Curt for sharing the screenshots, but as far as I'm concerned, Caverns of Mars has just been crossed off the "things to look forward to" list.

[xeex]

There aren't any other objects in the screenshot, so I'm not sure where that criticism is coming from. I see the "resolution loss on the cavern walls" you talk about, but that's to be expected. It looks just peachy to me. Comparing the port to the original 2600 Pac-Man is needless cruelty!

 

Can't wait for this thing.

[birdie3]

No, they do NOT both look great. Yars' Return looks great, but I'm sorry-- Caverns of Mars looks like a damn two-week hack job by someone who's only seen a blurry picture of the original. Look, below is a screenshot from the original Atari computer version. This game is perfectly suited to the 2600's limitations-- Vertical scrolling instead of horizontal, only one object per scan line, thick solid-colored backgrounds... heck, even the player ship is just a single-colored double-wide player. Aside from some resolution loss on the cavern walls, the 2600 should be able to handle a dead-perfect port of this game without even breaking a sweat.

 

So look at the screenshot I've attached. Now scroll up and look at what we're supposedly getting. It's like 2600 Pac-Man all over again.

 

I'm grateful to Curt for sharing the screenshots, but as far as I'm concerned, Caverns of Mars has just been crossed off the "things to look forward to" list.

873129[/snapback]

 

 

After giving a bit more thought.. I agree with you somewhat. What about gameplay? We will have to wait and see.

[ZylonBane]

There aren't any other objects in the screenshot, so I'm not sure where that criticism is coming from.

You need to read better. That wasn't a list of criticisms, it was a list of reasons why the 2600 should be able to handle a perfect port.

[xeex]

Where did I say it was a *list* of criticisms? Maybe you should "read better."

 

You said the game looked like "a damn two-week hack job." I don't understand where that criticism comes from after looking at a single screenshot.

[sidcrowe]

Great. Thanks Curt. More

[scogey]

Wow...thanks for the screenshots. Yars Return looks very good, I will have to see. Ive never played Caverns before. Who could be dumb enough to judge an entire game on one screenshot? Just kidding. The one I cant wait to see a peview of is Lunar Lander.

 

This is a good time to be a classic game nut like me. Its like Christmas Eve type anticipation for us. Thanks again to Curt for this little nugget.

 

 

P.S. I still have my fingers crossed for Video Pinball nd Breakout as hidden games!

[Curt Vendel]

I didn't want to stray too far away from the winning formula of the original Yars' but at the same time, I took HSW's description of what he was originally supposed to code to heart, which was Star Castle... so the idea was to add a little more dimension to the original game, keep all of the key elements but make it much more difficult on the player then the original, so the Ion Zone is a full wrap and the Yar cannot fire at the shield when within or on the inside of the Ion Zone, you start off with 2 nasty drones and the Qotile is far more agressive in its firing spiral warnings. Yar cannot wrap around, limiting his movement around the ion zone to shoot and wait till you see the rotating shield levels, the shields are much larger and take a lot more time to punch open a decent hole to shoot a Zorlon cannon shot through.

 

 

Curt

 

Hmm, now what game does Yars' Return remind me of? 

 

Mitch

873082[/snapback]

[Feralstorm]

Now THAT's what I'm talkin'bout! Now where's that Space Duel screenshot?

 

Yar's Return looks interesting. If it wasn't already dismissed, I might've assumed that was a finished-up version of an earlier prototype, back when the intent was still to do a port of Star Castle.

 

Can't really tell much on Caverns of Mars yet, especially since I never player the original. Only criticism I'd make is that maybe the player's craft could use a smidge more detail to better match the computer version. Either way, if the game is fun, that's all that will really matter.

 

And Asteroids Deluxe! gimme a pic of that too!

[tillenterprises]

It would be cool to have these games available on a cart or at least for download to use with Cuttle Cart and play it on a real 2600. I'm sure Atari would never allow that, though.

[DEBRO]

This game is perfectly suited to the 2600's limitations-- Vertical scrolling instead of horizontal, only one object per scan line, thick solid-colored backgrounds... heck, even the player ship is just a single-colored double-wide player. Aside from some resolution loss on the cavern walls, the 2600 should be able to handle a dead-perfect port of this game without even breaking a sweat.

873129[/snapback]

I agree. The object's in CoM are vertically separated as they're not in the same "kernel section" so the players could be re-used. As for a solid PF I'd like to see that but I'm okay with not having it.

 

The caverns in CoM are not reflected so you'd have to draw the PF again halfway during the display. Add to that the code to switch out players in kernel zones and repositioning them horizontally and I see a PF more like Thrust where it's drawn every 4th or 8th scan line.

 

If the programmer can pull this off with a solid PF (and better graphics) then my hat is off to them.

 

And just for the record...I'm not the programmer doing this. I would have loved to have been able to do it though.

[Cybergoth]

Hi there!

 

I agree. The object's in CoM are vertically separated as they're not in the same "kernel section" so the players could be re-used. As for a solid PF I'd like to see that but I'm okay with not having it.

873406[/snapback]

 

Seeing that the playfield is solid strongly indicates that there is no repositioning code. While it is still possible, I don't think a programmer delivering a playfield with the bottom line displaying garbage is able to do that. (The black HMOVE line before the status display also shows poor 2600 programming skills.)

 

So I'd assume that without any repositioning code the tunnels are either completely empty (as indicated by the screenshot) or they show only one object at a time or flicker...

 

Greetings,

Manuel

[ZylonBane]

Who could be dumb enough to judge an entire game on one screenshot? Just kidding.

You can actually tell quite a lot.

 

You can tell that the author didn't care enough to match the colors or shapes of the original game, even though the 2600 could have done both perfectly.

 

You can tell that the game gives the full bottom third of the screen over to the status display. Since this is a vertically-scrolling game, this will seriously degrade the player's ability to look ahead.

 

Since the cavern walls are solid, you can tell that there will be nothing or very little to shoot in the caverns (the original's caverns are packed full of targets). The 2600 can't reposition sprites and display an asymmetric playfield at the same time. This is why, for example, 2600 Thrust only displays the background every fourth scanline.

 

In fact, I've often thought that the Thrust kernel would be perfect for a Caverns of Mars port. It already supports everything the game needs.

[Shaggy the Atarian]

Thanks for the pics Curt! I especially look forward to Yars Return. I'm not sure aobut Caverns of Mars, not because of how the port looks from the pic but since I have yet to play it, so I wouldn't be sure what to expect.

[Flojomojo]

Thanks for the preview, Mr. Vendel!

 

ZylonBane, thanks for pissing in our soup.

[ZylonBane]

Hey, better to complain now than when it's too late to change anything.

 

(actually it's probably already too late, but oh well)

[Curt Vendel]

Thanks for the preview, Mr. Vendel! 

 

ZylonBane, thanks for pissing in our soup. 

873610[/snapback]

 

Nah, Bane's comments are quite constructive, actually the game code freeze is on the 24th, so while there's time, its always good to get some feedback and trying to give a few extra finishing touches to the games and add any last minute improvements.

 

 

 

Curt