Nukey Shay Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 (edited) ...or maybe it could be called Pitfall 1½? Pitfall Harry's South American adventure: New hack that has no end to the number of treasures. Once all 32 have been picked up, the game puts them all back. Since that would be pointless considering the original game's 20-minute time limit, I just altered the timer to run forward with no limit (it can keep track of 10 hours using 5 digits). To keep scores from rolling over too soon, I lowered the point values by 1 decimal place (so the ring is worth 500 instead of 5000). This won't affect gameplay at all with one exception...bumping logs still deduct points at the same rate (so it's more of a penalty in this game). Since there are many players who can routinely collect the full 114000 points in the original game, I increased the difficulty by featuring logs that roll in both directions, and resurrected Harrys to appear on either side of the screen I also added a bit to the scenery. One bug in the game...once the last treasure is picked up, you'll immediately collect it again when the game refills all the slots. Not really an issue...just something to keep in mind. Click HERE for the final version bottomless_pitfall.zip Edited June 18, 2010 by Nukey Shay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeybastard Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 Cool! Looking forward to trying this after work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susuwatari Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 That looks challenging, I'd have to try that one. Any plan to put that on cart form in the future? PS a possible solution to your bug: instead of resetting all treasures, the game waits until Harry leaves that last screen before resetting the treasures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted April 23, 2004 Author Share Posted April 23, 2004 PS a possible solution to your bug: instead of resetting all treasures, the game waits until Harry leaves that last screen before resetting the treasures. I thought of using that...but the effect would basically be the same. You'd just have to leave the screen for a split-second and then return to collect it again. A better solution is to have the computer automatically refill the slot that is exactly 16 treasures away when 1 is picked up (i.e. so that as the first bit is set, the 17th is cleared). This will end any attempt to recollect the same treasure...you'd have to move over 100 screens away to see the treasure that has been added. But it's pretty challenging this way in any case...ALL the treasures have to be picked up before you see anything added (which means that if you lose track of where you are, you could be hunting for it for a while). The game map is unchanged from the original, but that might change if I can find a better use for the underground tunnels...which run the risk of being underused with no time limit (perhaps put the treasures there so that they MUST be used?). But moving up top is certianly tougher now that the logs don't all roll to the left. Very small bug... If the minutes and seconds of the timer are both AT zero and you fall into a swamp or tar pit that second, you can escape without losing a life into the bottom cave just by bumping the stick when the death tune is playing (which means that there is a slight risk of being trapped between 2 walls). Since this will ONLY happen under those conditions, I didn't correct it yet. Possible enhancement: Since the treasure is unlimited, bumping logs is not much of a penalty. I could add in a routine that kills Harry if he'd bumped into them too often (like dying from injurys). Opinions? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uosipa llamxew Posted April 23, 2004 Share Posted April 23, 2004 Nukey Shay say Possible enhancement: Since the treasure is unlimited, bumping logs is not much of a penalty. I could add in a routine that kills Harry if he'd bumped into them too often (like dying from injurys). Opinions? I think that is a super idea! What if the crocodiles changed direction depending on which side of the screen Harry enters? This might make skipping across a little more difficult and interesting. :-) Would it be at all possible to add pits or vines to the underground? Maybe the brick wall could be changed into gnarled thorns that will kill Harry if he touches them - or possibly changed to have some other function... a pit that warps Harry to some other part of the world? The hack is nothing short of brilliant! Nukey, you never cease to amaze me! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted April 24, 2004 Author Share Posted April 24, 2004 OK...here it is. Mind those logs I'm looking at finding ways to add in reversable crocodiles as well...but their routine is much more complex. Basically, the program sets up boundries where it is ok to stand, and those would need adjusting as well as sending a signal to reverse the displayed sprites. Vines or pits could only be added to the underground by making major changes to the game kernal itself...I doubt that I could pull that one off Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out_of_Gas Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 Incredible. I wish I could hack like that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjk7382 Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 Wow. You've done some great work on this. I wasn't very good at the pitfall in the first place, so I didn't last too long on this one. I do like the different colors on the dirt, and the "deadly barrels" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted April 24, 2004 Author Share Posted April 24, 2004 This was actually pretty simple. Thomas has a heavily-commented file posted at The Dig. There are a number of ram locations that are either little-used or totally unused. In the timer routine, I used one of them to keep track of hours. Since I only needed the lower part of that ram location, I flipped the high bit of it whenever a new game screen is displayed. In the rolling logs routine, that is done in the original game by loading the log's horizontal position into the X register and then DEXing it. By looking at the high bit of the timer first, I can use INX instead... LFA5D: BIT $F9 ;3 check the hours BMI OPP ;2 if the high bit is set, branch to DEX INX ;2 ...otherwise, INX (roll to the right) .byte $24 ;3 BIT...skip a byte (the original DEX) OPP: A similar short patch was done when the resurrected Harry appears. When the high bit is set, it just loads a different horizontal location. Since this bit is flipped every screen, this will keep the logs on a certian screen rolling that direction each time you enter it. The added ocean scene is not a graphic image at all It's just the counter used for the loops passed to the accumulator, adjusted a bit, and sent to the background color register...like this patch for the horizon: ;remove the screensaver to grab a few cycles ; EOR $87 ;3 deleted ; AND $88 ;3 deleted LF26B: STA WSYNC ;3 STA HMOVE ;3 STA COLUP0 ;3 harry's top half color ;added lines--use those free cycles here instead TXA ;2 transfer the line counter to A... EOR #$9F ;2 ...and flip a few bits to add color STA COLUBK ;3 save it to the background Deadly logs are done by doing this... LF7A6: JSR LF3CD ;6 deduct a point (hit by log) ;added lines LDA $D7 ;3 Check the low byte of the score BEQ LFCCC ;3 If zero, branch to "killed Harry" routine Works a bit -too- well I might have to put in a delay for that what with these reversable logs! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fellow Atari Man Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 Humph...I'm near the end of the game, and I've got a little less than 6,000...114,000 vs. 6,000...gee, wonder which one I like better? Just revert the treasures to their original point spread, but minus a zero, and I'll be happy No, this is very cool, and I like the gray shading on the scorpion as well. Have to try it going right next! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bjk7382 Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 This was actually pretty simple. It may be easy for you I understood a small amount of that. I am still reading Andrew's tutorials, and struggling to comprehend some of this stuff. I am sure I will get into hacking someday, but even that seems impossible for me right now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted April 24, 2004 Author Share Posted April 24, 2004 Just revert the treasures to their original point spread, but minus a zero, and I'll be happy The original point spread is still used...less one decimal place. Even when you fall in a hole (-10 instead of -100). I might add in a seperate damage meter that has broader range. 100 hits is still too low for a crappy player like me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 Once again, genius, sheer genius. Nukey you are the man. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted April 24, 2004 Author Share Posted April 24, 2004 This was actually pretty simple. It may be easy for you I understood a small amount of that. I am still reading Andrew's tutorials, and struggling to comprehend some of this stuff. I am sure I will get into hacking someday, but even that seems impossible for me right now. Nono...I meant "simple" to mean "doesn't require pages of extra code to add in". The patches are just a few bytes each By looking at Thomas' code where he listed instructions that were not even needed at all, I was able to trim those out to provide space to add mine in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fellow Atari Man Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 Just revert the treasures to their original point spread, but minus a zero, and I'll be happy The original point spread is still used...less one decimal place. Even when you fall in a hole (-10 instead of -100). Whoops, it just seems WAY lower to me, I guess. I also occasionally don't get any sound when I hit a log...no biggie, but it happens occasionally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted April 24, 2004 Author Share Posted April 24, 2004 Heh...that falling in a hole part might save your butt (since the "damage" is only looked at when subtracting a single point - the hack above ignores the -10 points damage that should have killed Harry). So if you are at 106 pts., fall in a hole to make it 96 to give yourself move damage time for the rocks. Oh, and hitting a rock when at zero points is sudden death Gotta fix those yet. I suppose I could just round off the number when you collect a treasure...sort of like "healing" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATARI TROLL Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 Yet another hack I will be playing most of the evening....better get some coffee started. Thanks Nukey!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted April 24, 2004 Author Share Posted April 24, 2004 I've got it pretty much finished (gave up on the crocodiles...no biggie). When Harry dies, the score is rounded down (so you get a full 100 "hit points" on each life). I also increased the starting score to 300 so that each life has all of them if you don't get any treasure. The money bag has been changed into a first aid kit that will restore your current hit points + 100 if you have any missing, or give you 200 if you are still in perfect health (small bonus for staying healthy). Logs and falling in holes still function as they did in the previous version, but falling in holes can also kill you now. The bars have been changed into gold and silver idols...kind of the "finder of rare antiquties" theme. I was at odds whether to change the diamond ring because it looks kinda modern, but rings existed throughout the ages anyway...and any bitmap I added would end up having to share it's color info with the golden idol. So I just left it alone (I moved it a bit higher tho so the colors matched up better). I was also going to change the logs into rocks at first, but I decided to just leave those as they are as well. The bug of being able to fall thru pits when the minutes and seconds are both zero has been left in...a little "curse" for the marathon players to worry about This is done...I gotta start wrapping up other unfinished projects! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted April 24, 2004 Share Posted April 24, 2004 I don't know, rocks would be pretty cool. Glad to see you changed the treasures! Another winner from Nukey Shay... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted April 25, 2004 Author Share Posted April 25, 2004 Thx...it's possible to hack the logs into larger sprites so that they are harder to clear. That would provide the incentive to use the lower tunnels, but it might make the game more frustrating than fun So I just left them alone. Binary up top. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmpddytim Posted April 25, 2004 Share Posted April 25, 2004 I was at odds whether to change the diamond ring because it looks kinda modern, but rings existed throughout the ages anyway...and any bitmap I added would end up having to share it's color info with the golden idol. So I just left it alone I like the idea of changing the diamond ring. Ancient Southamerican empires did not use diamonds (they did use turqouise, obsidian, amber...). How about changing the ring to a golden chalice. Like the ones some cultures used to catch the blood of the sacrificed? That could easily share the same color as the golden idol. Just a thought... -Tim P.S. Great hack been playing during typing breaks. Ironically I'm actually typing a 30 pager about South American empires and pot hunters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmpddytim Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 Anyone else notice that if you die at the first set of crocs you reapear on the right side of the crocs instead of the left side where you entered the screen? Just wondering. Also, I played the original to compare it with this one and WOW! Why couldnt Activision make the game look this good when it came out. I think I like this one way better. As for rocks vs logs...could you make one difficulty setting rocks and the other logs? I think extra challenge would be great! Thanks for the great hack! -Tim Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATARI TROLL Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 rocks would be a nice touch. It would be awesome if you could throw the same rock behavior from Jungle King's .....well wishful thinking..Nukey this rocks no matter what! Had to say that ...no pun intended Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted April 26, 2004 Author Share Posted April 26, 2004 Anyone else notice that if you die at the first set of crocs you reapear on the right side of the crocs instead of the left side where you entered the screen? Just wondering.Yeah, it's supposed to (to eliminate the "easy" solution of just running to the left). Since you can now reappear on either the left or right, running to the left is no longer an advantage (besides the crocodiles). As for rocks vs logs...could you make one difficulty setting rocks and the other logs? I think extra challenge would be great!That would be pretty difficult to add in, since all the game's images need to be located in a single 256-byte stretch of memory. An easier solution to make objects that are more difficult to jump over is to use the difficulty switch to choose the vertical position of the object (so that the log is harder to jump over). But as I said, early tests with larger objects seemed to be more frustrating than fun (IMO). Damage from the logs in general adds enough challenge to keep it interesting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nukey Shay Posted April 26, 2004 Author Share Posted April 26, 2004 rocks would be a nice touch. It would be awesome if you could throw the same rock behavior from Jungle King'sTiming is the main issue here. In order to feature rocks or logs that bounce over Harry's head, some free time would be needed in the game "kernal" that is already devoted to drawing Harry and the lower portion of the vine (the latter eats up quite a bit). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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