My first game: an arkanoid clone

[belial]

Hi,

after reading the tutorials in this forum and some other i found on the net i started to code my first game for the atari 2600, an arkanoid clone. Its not finished, its more an alpha version, buts its already playable. At the moment, u have 3 lifes, which are not dislplayed and theres only one level. Not to forget ito say: it's coded for PAL.

I started with arkanoid becoz i thought its quite easy o implement, but its not so easy when u realize, u have no trigonometric functions, no floating point unit, etc . Okay, enough said, here it is, and im interested in ur opinions.

breakout.bin

[cd-w]

Hi,

after reading the tutorials in this forum and some other i found on the net i started to code my first game for the atari 2600, an arkanoid clone. Its not finished, its more an alpha version, buts its already playable. At the moment, u have 3 lifes, which are not dislplayed and theres only one level. Not to forget ito say: it's coded for PAL.

I started with arkanoid becoz i thought its quite easy o implement, but its not so easy when u realize, u have no trigonometric functions, no floating point unit, etc . Okay, enough said, here it is, and im interested in ur opinions.

897692[/snapback]

 

This looks great. I presume that you have seen this other thread on implementing Arkanoid for the 2600? Are you planning to add other features, such as powerups and enemies? I see that you are already emulating the dodgy ball/bat collision detection from the original

 

The game is currently using a few too many scanlines (316 according to Z26) when it should use 312 for PAL. Is there any reason why you went for PAL first? I usually code for NTSC to start as there are less scanlines to play with and the code needs to be tighter.

 

Anyway, great effort, and I am keen to see how this turns out. The 2600 scene is really getting busy these days!

 

Chris

Edited July 24, 2005 by cd-w

[belial]

I started with PAL becoz i have a PAL atari 2600 at home and sometimes i write my code on a rom and look at it on a real machine. That rocks. No, i didnt look at the other arkanoid project, but i will now. Im not sure what thigs will be implemented in futre. The things which are planned:

- sound

- start screen

- displaying lifes

- level editor

Perhaps i will do some other things too, but im not sure. This game isnt coded very well, it contains some things which arent designed so good. So, i think, i will start soon a new game, becoz i know now much things i can do bedder.

[vdub_bobby]

Looks nice, but no paddle support?

 

Nice ball, by the way: round, even!

[belial]

Looks nice, but no paddle support? 

 

Nice ball, by the way: round, even!

898237[/snapback]

 

What do you mean with paddle support?

Btw, the round ball has some disadvantiges. In the game logic, i have not enough time to to make a good ball/block collision detection, so sometimes, the ball does some funny things after ball/block collision. And a friend of mine found a bug which makes it possible to "trap" the ball into the paddle. Seems there are still lots of things to do.

[vdub_bobby]

What do you mean with paddle support?

Paddles.

Btw, the round ball has some disadvantiges. In the game logic, i have not enough time to to make a good ball/block collision detection, so sometimes, the ball does some funny things after ball/block collision.

In coding my own arkanoid-clone demo I found that, besides the kernel, the hardest thing to do was to figure out what should happen when a ball hit a block. I.e., which way the ball should go. In the current version of the demo that is still buggy and I don't know why. That's why I haven't released the current version yet.

[belial]

Hey these paddles look realy nice. Is there any description how prouce code which can use them?

I used a very simple algo for my collision. When u want i can give you the code. I havent it published yet because it contains some rather nasty design flaws. I can only excuse that with the fact that it was my first try in coding for the atari and i was still learning about the 6502 while i was already coding.

[vdub_bobby]

Hey these paddles look realy nice. Is there any description how prouce code which can use them?

Look here: http://www.qotile.net/minidig/docs/2600_ad..._prog_guide.txt

and here: http://alienbill.com/2600/101/docs/stella.html

 

Also search the [stella] list.

I used a very simple algo for my collision. When u want i can give you the code.

I'd love to see it!

[belial]

Thanx for the paddle tutorials, i will try to add paddle support in an advanced release. Here is the sourcecode . Its a bit updated, i fixed a bug und added support for the reset and select buttons.I think the next step will be sound and after all, a level editor which creates a bin with the new level AND the source code, so its easier for me to hardcode lets say 10 level into the game.

breakout.zip

[belial]

Okay, here is now the final version of my arkanoid clone. I dont think i will continue working on it, its rather complete. The only thing left is paddle support, but i have at the moment problems implementing this. The game itself contains 10 levels, has some sound, etc...

I wasnt able to play it with stella, becoz stella thinks its NTSC, i dont know why. But on real atari 2600 or with z26 it worked fine. If some people are interested, i can code a level editor to load new levels into the bin file. Let me know your opinions about the final game and if u want a level editor.

breakout.zip