Iconic Shooter

[happymonster]

I'm really not sure what forum to post this in. I had an Atari 800XL when I was much younger and although I can't program on it anymore, I can do similar games for the PC. So, I'm doing a little shoot'em'up in the style of a game that would be possible on the Atari 800XL. It 'uses' graphics mode 2 (Antic 7) to do a 5 colour character based game with hardware scrolling and 'tile' based character gfx.

 

I currently have a 4 level demo done with a few different features introduced each level. In terms of the concept it draws inspiration from Fire Fleet, Powerdown, Dandy, River Raid and other games which use tile based gfx.

 

I made a couple of mistakes due to remembering things incorrectly:

 

1. I use a 240 height playfield instead of 224 pixels.

2. I didn't remember about how the colours were split between 4 x 64 characters, but I don't use more than 64 characters in one colour anyway.

 

It doesn't do anything that is not possible on a real Atari, and it wouldn't use much of the CPU at the moment either, certainly less than Dandy and Boulderdash I think.

 

The demo is for Windows on a PC and tries to open a screenmode of 1280 x 1024. You can edit the display.ini text file to alter the screenmode. It uses OpenGL, so screenmodes of 320 x 240, 640 x 480, 800 x 600 (with border), 1024 x 768 (with border), 1280 x 960 and 1280 x 1024 (slight borders) work.. (fullscreen or windowed)

 

EDIT: REMOVED due to no interest.

Edited February 9, 2008 by happymonster

[happymonster]

No replies and only 3 downloads? I must admit, I thought people would be interested in this as it would be possible on the Atari..

[potatohead]

Well, it's not ON the Atari.

[happymonster]

So? It could be DONE on the Atari, that's the whole point!

[almightytodd]

Hi Happymonster,

 

I'm a professional Windows programmer so I have an appreciation of the thought and work that goes into game programming for any kind of system. I just downloaded your game and I'll give it a try. Don't be discouraged by the somewhat cold response you've received so far. From what I've seen in the forums here over the past year that I've been a member, there are so many projects going on at once, with some really amazingly talented people churning out these games that push the hardware of the 30 year-old VCS so far beyond it's originally designed capabilities... ...I think it makes it hard to compete for attention.

 

But I also think there are a lot of friendly, considerate people here as well, who will offer encouragement and support for anyone interested in extending the legacy of the original video games that we grew up with.

 

I've seen many helpful and encouraging posts here for new programmers trying to create something for the VCS using Batari BASIC, or getting down and dirty with 6507 assembly language and understanding the TIA chip.

 

There have also been discussions of homebrew programming for non-Atari systems like ColecoVision here, so you shouldn't be made to feel like an outcast for trying to create something with the "feel" of a vintage video game, just because you're developing it on a system that you're already familiar with. Every time a programmer makes a move from a system and language that he/she already understands, to something different - be it something new like .NET or Java, or 1970's era 8-bit hardware, it is YASTL - Yet Another Syntax To Learn.

[potatohead]

To be fair, I didn't mean to diminish the game. Sorry if it came across that way. Doing one in retro style is cool. Good on you for that.

 

I like to play retro stuff on retro machines, or modern limited ones that deliver that retro feel, that's all.

 

Suspect that's why so few downloads, and that's all I meant with my post.

 

I agree with the above post. Makes sense to give it a play, and I will do just that.

 

Peace!

Edited February 1, 2008 by potatohead

[happymonster]

Peace.. I think I overreacted a little to the lack of responses. This is the only way I can do games which would be possible on the Atari I used to have.

 

I hope you enjoy the demo after trying it.