Pirate!

[s0c7]

WIP game... WIP name....

 

This started life earlier this evening as a proof of concept test to determine whether a Bard's Tale or Telengard type game is possible. I like it enough that I'm going to try to finish it up and try to squeeze it onto the end of the F-4 bin.

 

This is similar to any number of the primitive adventure games you used to find in the really old computer game books. You have landed on a 5x5 island looking for the treasure of the dreaded pirate Upchuck LeDuc. Upchuck has been dead for awhile, but his spirit still haunts the island.

 

You need to wander the island, first looking for a shovel. On the right of the screen will be a diagram showing which directions you are allowed to move. Tap the joystick to move. When you find the shovel you can pick it up by hitting fire. The screen will change color to indicate you have the shovel. Now find (if you haven't already) the X. When you find the X and have the shovel, hit fire and you will dig up the treasure & win.

 

Upchuck wanders the island looking to protect his treasure. He moves every time you move. If you encounter him, you have the option to fight by hitting the fire button. Fighting is pretty much a 50-50 affair. If you win, his spirit will be laid to rest and he won't bother you anymore. If he wins, you die. At the moment you can simply move away and ignore him. My thinking is to make it where your only options are to fight him or move back in the direction you came, thus making you waste time.

 

A score is kept. It is the total number of moves it takes for you to complete the game.

 

You should be able to play a complete game in about a minute. Nothing fancy. My attempt at tropical foliage is probably very goofy looking if you aren't sure what it is supposed to be.

 

Anybody have any great, smallish ideas? I am happy to say you should be able to do any number of adventure type games if you keep the world small enough.

 

BTW - it's not readily obvious, but you will need to hit reset the 1st time you play.

Edited August 22, 2005 by s0c7

[gambler172]

Hi

Nice little game.Maybe a nice ending sequenze,when found the treasure, would be good.Or how about some more bad Guys?

greetings Gambler172

[uosipa llamxew]

Cool game idea! It kind of reminds me of Hunt The Wumpus

 

Is there any way to make the island grid bigger than 5x5? I'd like a more visual map on the screen. I didn't quite understand what the 4 cursor-like squares were?

 

I like the idea of having to have a shovel to dig up the treasure. I think that it might be cool if after you dug it up, you had to find a sword or gun to fight and kill the pirate. Then take the key to the treasure chest from around the pirates neck back to the chest to collect your treasure. I also like the idea of other enemies... perhaps a crocodile?

 

Maybe that's a little too complicated. Anyways, if you haven't played it before, the way Hunt the Wumpus plays is that you are given visual/color clues (depending on the enemy or hazard) when you come within one or two tiles from it. A green circle might mean that there is a pit in the next tile over (but you don't know if it's to the north, south, east, or west of you), a red circle means that the Wumpus is within two tiles of your character. The boards are each randomly generated, so sometimes you are forced into confronting an obstacle instead of taking the safest path. There are some other nifty options in the higher difficulty modes as well.

 

I think that this game could work out quite nicely using similar color clues.

 

Here's the TI-99/4a Hunt The Wumpus ROM (playable with MESS). Maybe it give you some more ideas... or heheh... maybe you'll hate the game and decide to go another route altogether.

 

Cheers

 

[edit] I understand what the "cursors" are now. Maybe these are what could change color to warn you of what may be ahead?

Edited August 21, 2005 by mojofltr

[+Random Terrain]

Speaking of adventure games, will we eventually be able to make a game like Adventure or E.T. with batari Basic?

[potatohead]

Speaking of adventure games, will we eventually be able to make a game like Adventure or E.T. with batari Basic?

915720[/snapback]

 

I think you could do Adventure right now. Was kicking that around the other day and I think it's doable. If you go the block route for the character, you are left with two sprites to display things.

 

Multiple items are going to flicker, but that's easy to do in bb. There is the other missile too. That gives you three things to interact with.

 

The ram based playfield could do interesting things as well. Touch a wall (marked by the missile maybe) and another one opens allowing you to pass...

[+Random Terrain]

Speaking of adventure games, will we eventually be able to make a game like Adventure or E.T. with batari Basic?

915720[/snapback]

I think you could do Adventure right now. Was kicking that around the other day and I think it's doable. If you go the block route for the character, you are left with two sprites to display things.

 

Multiple items are going to flicker, but that's easy to do in bb. There is the other missile too. That gives you three things to interact with.

 

The ram based playfield could do interesting things as well. Touch a wall (marked by the missile maybe) and another one opens allowing you to pass...

915753[/snapback]

Cool. So now that I know a little more about the Atari 2600, E.T. didn't have flicker because it only had 2 sprites on the screen at the same time.

 

As you said, if you make a missile wider, that could be the player and the two sprites could be anything from enemies to treasure to scenery and the other missile could be something like a sword or a treasure chest. After the next version of bB comes out, I may never sleep again. I might even try to recreate E.T. for the fun of it if we can ever do multicolored sprites with bB.

[potatohead]

Speaking of adventure games, will we eventually be able to make a game like Adventure or E.T. with batari Basic?

915720[/snapback]

I think you could do Adventure right now. Was kicking that around the other day and I think it's doable. If you go the block route for the character, you are left with two sprites to display things.

 

Multiple items are going to flicker, but that's easy to do in bb. There is the other missile too. That gives you three things to interact with.

 

The ram based playfield could do interesting things as well. Touch a wall (marked by the missile maybe) and another one opens allowing you to pass...

915753[/snapback]

Cool. So now that I know a little more about the Atari 2600, E.T. didn't have flicker because it only had 2 sprites on the screen at the same time.

 

As you said, if you make a missile wider, that could be the player and the two sprites could be anything from enemies to treasure to scenery and the other missile could be something like a sword or a treasure chest. After the next version of bB comes out, I may never sleep again. I might even try to recreate E.T. for the fun of it if we can ever do multicolored sprites with bB.

915779[/snapback]

 

 

Well, if you are willing to either double up the sprites every other frame for two colors, or live with single colored sprites, you can get some pretty decent stuff done right now.

 

Here is a little code segment that demonstrates what would be needed to make this work. It's rough, but maybe might generate some ideas....

 

 rem adventure.bas by Doug Dingus
 rem this code is licensed under the GPL
 rem 
 rem Written for Atari 2600 in Batari Basic
 rem for more info:  doug@opengeek.org
 rem
 rem Compile with Alpha 0.2 --later versions will require 
 rem bit comparison tweaks... (Noted within)
 rem v0.1 core display kernel

 rem smartbranching on

 rem i, t, u tempoary vars

 rem draw some stuff to bump into:
 for i = 0 to 34
 t = playdata[i] : i = i + 1 : u = playdata[i]
 pfpixel t u on
 next

 data playdata
 10,10,11,10,12,10,12,9,12,8
 20,03,21,03,22,03,23,03,23,04
 23,05,23,06,23,05,22,06,21,20,05
 20,04
end


 rem setup both sound channels
 AUDV0 = 0 : AUDV1 = 0 : AUDC1 = 12 : AUDC0 = 8
 AUDF0 = 0 : AUDF1 = 0

 rem s = game flags 
 rem s(7) = display toggle, odd and even frames
 rem s(6) = multi object toggle on / off set to display 4 or two things.
 s = 0 : s(6) = 1

 rem set initial player position
 x = 50 : y = 50


gameloop
 rem CXCLR = 0
 missile1height = 10 : missile0height = 4
 NUSIZ0 = %00100000 : NUSIZ1 = $0
 COLUP0 = 34 : COLUBK = 2 : COLUPF = 14 : scorecolor = 55 : COLUP1 = 34
 player1x = 20 : player1y = 20
 player0x = 40 : player0y = 40
 missile1x = 60 : missile1y = 40 : missile0x = x : missile0y = y

 rem toggle sprite shapes to allow 4 things on screen

 if s(7) then goto oddframe
 player0:
 %00000000
 %00000100
 %00000010
 %11111111
 %00000010
 %00000100
 %00000000
 %00000000
end
 player1:
 %00111100
 %00011000
 %00011000
 %00111100
 %01111110
 %01100110
 %01000010
 %01000010
 %00000000
end

 goto framedone

oddframe
 rem kind of messy, but just wanted to show how it might be done.
 rem should control things with variables, set it all, then pick shapes
 rem for best space usage.

 missile1height = 10
 NUSIZ0 = %00100000 : NUSIZ1 = $0
 COLUP0 = 88 : COLUBK = 2 : COLUPF = 14 : scorecolor = 55 : COLUP1 = 21
 player1x = 90 : player1y = 40
 player0x = 110 : player0y = 60


 player0:
 %00000000
 %11100000
 %10101010
 %11111110
 %00000000
 %00000000
 %00000000
 %00000000
end
 player1:
 %00000000
 %00000000
 %00000000
 %01111110
 %01111110
 %01100110
 %01000010
 %01000010
 %00000000
end

framedone


 rem draw the picture 60 times / second
 drawscreen

 rem GameCode --have ~2500 cycles per frame to work with
 rem dealing with gosub bug, using gotos for right now...
 rem game logic lives here, per frame

 goto displaytoggle
displaytoggle1

 goto moveplayer
moveplayer1






 goto gameloop



 rem Subroutines Live below Here -------------------------


moveplayer

 u = y : t = x
 if joy0up then y = y - 1
 if joy0down then y = y + 1
 if joy0right then x = x + 1
 if joy0left then x = x - 1

 i = CXM0FB : i = i & 128
 if i <> 128 then goto dontmove

 if y = u then goto checkx
 if y > u then y = y - 2
 if y < u then y = y + 2

checkx
 if x = t then goto dontmove
 if x > t then x = x - 2
 if x < t then x = x + 2 

dontmove
 goto moveplayer1

displaytoggle

 if !s(7) then s(7) = 1 : goto flip
 if s(7) then s(7) = 0

flip
 if !s(6) then s(7) = 0
 goto displaytoggle1

[potatohead]

Pretty cool little game. I played it a coupla times and had some fun.

 

It took me a bit to really understand what you were trying to convey with the direction blocks. Once I groked it, things went fine.

 

Like the use of the dual display areas to communicate game information.

[retrocon]

Some ideas:

 

I had trouble navigating. Add a 'footstep' sound effect or something to indicate a move as occured. Also, I would add some variety to the graphics. I like the trees you did. I would ass maybe 3 or 4 more, maybe a beach scene, maybe another tree. Create some variety so it really feels like the player is moving.

 

I also had an idea that might make it more fun. Have an AI player that is moving around the screen looking for the treasure too. If the AI player finds the shovel first, the player will hear a warning beep and have to stop the AI player before he can dig up the treasure. Maybe something like that, I'm not sure exactly. Maybe there should be a map and a shovel. The player has to find the map first and then the X will show itself when he is in the right location and then he has to go get the shovel to go dig it up. Maybe the pirate could move things around like the bat in adventure.. Just some brainstorming...

[s0c7]

Ok.. this version is a little less "rough". Increased the island to 7x7 (it can really be any size, I'm just trying to keep it from getting out of hand. This is just a small little time waster.) The outer edge of the island now has a beach, with trees for the interior. If you run into the pirate, you now either have to fight or go back the way you came. Some of the more wonky problems associated with the 1st version have been fixed.

 

For people confused by the display on the right, sorry about that - should have explained. This is the equivalent of old text adventures saying "you can go south, or east", etc. Although the view in the other window is 1st person, the display on the right is saying you are allowed to go in the following directions by pushing the joystick that way. You are in position 1,1 on a 7x7 grid when you start the game. The display on the right indicates you can go east or south by pushing either right or down. Does that make any sense, or did I just confuse everybody more?

 

Everybody has good suggestions. Not sure how many I can implement. Mainly trying to keep it small.

 

Edited August 29, 2005 by s0c7

[s0c7]

Well... this was just going to be a simple little b-side game, but I guess I need to just break down and turn it into a full-fledged standalone. I've got some ideas, got some good suggestions, and still have a lot of room. So we'll see.

 

This is one of the things I like about bB. It allows you to do games that are non-traditional 2600 type games and more like something you'd see on an 8-bit.

[gambler172]

Cool game idea!  It kind of reminds me of Hunt The Wumpus

 

Is there any way to make the island grid bigger than 5x5?  I'd like a more visual map on the screen.  I didn't quite understand what the 4 cursor-like squares were? 

 

I like the idea of having to have a shovel to dig up the treasure.  I think that it might be cool if after you dug it up, you had to find a sword or gun to fight and kill the pirate.  Then take the key to the treasure chest from around the pirates neck back to the chest to collect your treasure.  I also like the idea of other enemies...  perhaps a crocodile?

 

Maybe that's a little too complicated.    Anyways, if you haven't played it before, the way Hunt the Wumpus plays is that you are given visual/color clues (depending on the enemy or hazard) when you come within one or two tiles from it.  A green circle might mean that there is a pit in the next tile over (but you don't know if it's to the north, south, east, or west of you), a red circle means that the Wumpus is within two tiles of your character.  The boards are each randomly generated, so sometimes you are forced into confronting an obstacle instead of taking the safest path.  There are some other nifty options in the higher difficulty modes as well.   

 

I think that this game could work out quite nicely using similar color clues. 

 

Here's the TI-99/4a Hunt The Wumpus ROM (playable with MESS).  Maybe it give you some more ideas...  or heheh... maybe you'll hate the game and decide to go another route altogether. 

 

Cheers

 

[edit]  I understand what the "cursors" are now.      Maybe these are what could change color to warn you of what may be ahead?

915634[/snapback]

Hi ,is Hunt the wumpus for Atari 8 bit or for the 2600?

greetings Gambler172

[s0c7]

Hi ,is Hunt the wumpus for Atari 8 bit or for the 2600?

greetings Gambler172

916225[/snapback]

He was talking about the TI-99/4a one. It's like Star Trek, every old computer had a version of it. No 2600 version though.

 

on-line version

http://www.inthe70s.com/games/wumpus/index.shtml

 

Creative Computing

http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc1/showpage.php?page=247

Edited August 22, 2005 by s0c7

[gambler172]

Hi ,is Hunt the wumpus for Atari 8 bit or for the 2600?

greetings Gambler172

916225[/snapback]

He was talking about the TI-99/4a one. It's like Star Trek, every old computer had a version of it. No 2600 version though.

 

on-line version

http://www.inthe70s.com/games/wumpus/index.shtml

 

Creative Computing

http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc1/showpage.php?page=247

916244[/snapback]

Yes i know Wumpus for the Atari 8 bit.Would be great to see a 2600 version.

greetings gambler172

[vdub_bobby]

Hi ,is Hunt the wumpus for Atari 8 bit or for the 2600?

greetings Gambler172

916225[/snapback]

He was talking about the TI-99/4a one. It's like Star Trek, every old computer had a version of it. No 2600 version though.

 

on-line version

http://www.inthe70s.com/games/wumpus/index.shtml

 

Creative Computing

http://www.atariarchives.org/bcc1/showpage.php?page=247

916244[/snapback]

Yes i know Wumpus for the Atari 8 bit.Would be great to see a 2600 version.

greetings gambler172

917067[/snapback]

Actually, I'm kinda half-assedly working on a 2600 Hunt The Wumpus using bB right now.

[s0c7]

New version. New stuff.....

 

You ship was sunk in a hurricane on the way to the island. As such, you

now wash ashore the island at a random location. This also explains why

you don't have a shovel, etc.

 

The shovel is a leftover from another adventurer who met his fate on the

island while seeking the treasure. You will need it to dig up the treasure

(indicated by an x on the ground). If you encounter LeDuc while carrying

the shovel and you don't have the sword, he will steal the shovel (he is a

pirate after all) and give it to his equally undead parrot who will deposit

it somewhere else on the island

 

There is a sword laying around as well. This is the actual sword that

killed LeDuc in the first place. It is the only weapon you can use to lay

him to rest permanently. You are free to try to fight him without it, but

you will die. As he was an excellent duelist in life, fighting him with the

sword is not a sure thing either. A fight will be a 50-50 affair. Up to

you whether you want to try to avoid it or not.

 

You pick up items and fight/dig with the fire button. If you pick up the

shovel, the display will turn blue. If you pick up the sword, it will turn

yellow. If you have both, it will turn green.

 

As this caused a lot of confusion earlier, I'll explain the displays again.

Probably best to think of this as one of the old text adventures which

would draw a picture of where you are. This IS NOT a first person game in

the sense of something like DOOM. Pushing up on the joystick won't make you

go forward. The display on the left is a 1st person view of the area you are

in (but again, only in the sense of an old adventure game). The display on

the right is like an overview of the joystick which tells you which

directions you are allowed to move. Up on the stick is north in the game

game world, etc. The game world is a 7x7 island. The outer edge of the

island is beach, with the interior being trees and whatnot.

Edited September 4, 2005 by s0c7

[uosipa llamxew]

Cool!

 

Thinking out loud again... Perhaps, one square on the edge of the map is where the pirate's ship is (Like the shovel, sword, and pirate, this would change each game). The game becomes a race between you and the pirate to find the gold, but the pirate has a bit of an advantage because he can can dig with his hook while you need to find a shovel. Assuming the pirate finds and digs up the gold first, he will race towards his ship and you must try to find and fight him to the death for it. If the player digs up the gold first, you must race to steal the pirate ship and escape the island. In such a case, the pirate would need to try and stop you. To win a game, the player would need to escape from the island unscathed with the gold.

 

Okay, I'm a loon!

 

I really dig the game so far. There is one thing that I'm not so sure about though. Whether or not the player is killed by the pirate seems to rely too much on luck. An idea: If you don't have the sword or shovel, you can still choose to run or fight, but your chance of winning a fight is something like 1:10. If you have the shovel and you choose to fight, your chances are 1:4. If you have the sword, 3:4.

 

Sorry... I tend to get a lot of weird ideas when I get excited about something! Thanks for sharing your game!

[s0c7]

I really dig the game so far.  There is one thing that I'm not so sure about though.  Whether or not the player is killed by the pirate seems to rely too much on luck.  An idea:  If you don't have the sword or shovel, you can still choose to run or fight, but your chance of winning a fight is something like 1:10.  If you have the shovel and you choose to fight, your chances are 1:4.  If you have the sword, 3:4.

 

The duel portion is something that I'm still trying to work on. There may also be an additional enemy in the future that will cause new complications.

 

I'm also going to put this question out - how important is sound in regard to this game? At the moment, I think I can stick a few Adventure type sounds in to indicate things happening as well as other stuff. But it may get to the point that it comes to a choice between audio and extra gameplay options. I would lean towards a silent release if it comes to that. Opinions?

[retrocon]

I'm also going to put this question out - how important is sound in regard to this game?  At the moment, I think I can stick a few Adventure type sounds in to indicate things happening as well as other stuff.  But it may get to the point that it comes to a choice between audio and extra gameplay options.  I would lean towards a silent release if it comes to that.  Opinions?

920843[/snapback]

 

 

I personally think having some sound is important because it will help flesh out the simple visuals. Sounds for indicating successful movement and encounters with the various objects and pirate, and sounds for winning and dying. So really I'm thinking you only need a handful of simple yet fun little sounds.

Edited August 30, 2005 by retrocon

[potatohead]

I'm also going to put this question out - how important is sound in regard to this game?  At the moment, I think I can stick a few Adventure type sounds in to indicate things happening as well as other stuff.  But it may get to the point that it comes to a choice between audio and extra gameplay options.  I would lean towards a silent release if it comes to that.  Opinions?

920843[/snapback]

 

 

I personally think having some sound is important because it will help flesh out the simple visuals. Sounds for indicating successful movement and encounters with the various objects and pirate, and sounds for winning and dying. So really I'm thinking you only need a handful of simple yet fun little sounds.

921207[/snapback]

 

I totally agree about the sounds. Making them is light code too. You can use your game loops and data statements to make pretty interesting sounds that change with a variable...

[s0c7]

Ok, sound it is. That will probably be the main new feature of the next release.

[s0c7]

Transitional release. Having to rework some things internally to free up some resources. Please report any bugs you encounter.

 

Also a partial sound release. Haven't finished yet. The odds are also now slightly in your favor if you fight the pirate with the sword (still wanting to work on this piece a little more).

Edited September 5, 2005 by s0c7

[s0c7]

Another new version. No new sound yet.

 

The following gameplay changes:

 

- If you run away from the pirate (with or without the sword) he will steal the shovel.

 

- When you pick up the shovel, the pirate will now make a b-line for the treasure.

 

- If you have the sword and fight the pirate, the odds are slightly in your favor. One hit will do him in. If he hits you once, you will be wounded. The 1st person screen will turn red to let you know this has happened. Another hit will kill you. At this point, the odds are more in his favor. Up to you if you want to keep fighting or withdraw (losing the shovel if you have it). Fighting without the sword is still instant death.

 

- There is now a flower on the island that has medicinal properties. If you are wounded, you can seek it out and use it to restore you to full health so you can have another go at the pirate. Using it when you aren't wounded just wastes it.

Edited September 6, 2005 by s0c7

[s0c7]

For the most part, I guess this is done....

 

What's new :

 

A few more simple sounds

 

A new enemy - the snake. Like most real snakes, he won't bother you if you don't bother him. But... he never leaves the area he's in, and he may or may not be on top of something you need. You can fight him with or without the sword. Odds are better with. Either way, the odds are better than fighting the pirate.

 

Fixed a bug in the fight routine that I didn't notice last time around.

 

Moved the pirate to the foreground so you can see him in all his "Pirates of the Caribbean" glory.

 

This was more or less the inspiration for this game. Anybody remember these?

Edited September 12, 2005 by s0c7

[gambler172]

Hi

Pirate is getting better with every new version.Simply great.

greetings Gambler172