84 replies to this topic

[johnnywc]

Hello all,

Here's a sneak peek at a game I'm finishing up. It's a rewrite of the game Wizard of Wor. Although it's already available for the 2600, I personally have never been able to play it for more than a few minutes due to the insane flicker. I started this project a few years ago but somehow got distracted and the maze engine was used for another game...

Anyway, here's a few pics and what I hope to include in the game:

Game screen:


Double score dungeon:


Some features I hope to include (or have already implemented):

- better graphics with animation (thanks to Nathan )
- bigger missiles instead of just dots
- better flicker management
- text display of current dungeon, dungeon name, etc.
- better sounds
- AtariVox support for high scores & speech
- improved radar display
- improved score display
- timer display when starting a level
- more mazes
- special mazes (the Arena, the Pit, Worlord levels, etc)
- improved escape tunnel display
- transition screens (Double Score Dungeon, Get Ready/Go, etc.)
- cool title screen
- and most importantly: better gameplay!

I hope to have a playable demo soon.

Edited by johnnywc, Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:07 PM.

[gambler172]

Hi Johnny
hope to see a playable demo soon.
greetings gambler172

[Lord Helmet]

Holy crap

This looks great!

[SpiceWare]

Add the star field from Cosmic Ark and you'll be even closer to the original!

[Nognir]

looks great!
Also the fact that you could take a screenshot with all game elements says that flickering is not as heavy as in the original

[Vic George 2K3]

Looks good so far.

[espire8]

nice make over John! If you give this game the kind of attention to detail as you did with LB then despite that it's already released would'nt matter!. Nathan did a great job with the look of the maze and the player sprites, I'm happy to see him with you again on another one of your projects! Although I don't see any of the monsters yet I have an idea how they may look like.

Darrell's starfield idea sound like a cool idea as well.
Great looking stuff!

Edited by espire8, Wed Apr 25, 2007 2:29 PM.

[SpiceWare]

On second thought - it may not work that well. The star field is draw with the ball, which would be the same color as the maze.

One work around would be to flicker them - draw the maze on odd frames, the star field on even.

[johnnywc]

SpiceWare, on Wed Apr 25, 2007 4:34 PM, said:

On second thought - it may not work that well. The star field is draw with the ball, which would be the same color as the maze.

Actually, the starfield in Cosmic Ark is drawn with M0, which as it turns out I'm not using (M1 and the ball are used for the player and enemy shots). The problem is squeezing in the HMOVE/HMM0 at the right point (kernel is pretty tight right now). I've looked into it but I need to finish my repositioning in the kernel before I can see if that will fit.

Quote

One work around would be to flicker them - draw the maze on odd frames, the star field on even.

That would work, but flickering the entire maze to show the starfield would not be worth the tradeoff IMO, especially after the maze flickering I had to put into Lady Bug! I don't want to be personally responsible for a seizure epidemic...

Thanks for the suggestions!

Edited by johnnywc, Wed Apr 25, 2007 2:51 PM.

[jboypacman]

Now thats just sweet! I would love to see this for sale in the AA store sometime.Put me down for one when it is made into a cart.

[NE146]

Holy canoli man.. looks great! Looking forward to seeing more Champ style quality put into more 2600 stuffs

[Nukey Shay]

Looks better than the A8 Roklan version...for a 2600 game, that speaks volumes!

BTW will you be including game bugs? The cool ones are having a missile on the exact spot where the Wizard will appear (different flash screen), and Wizards that stay visible longer on certian dungeons.

[Dan Iacovelli]

can't wait to see this game, next to tempest , Wizard of wor is my second favorite game.(the one game I got hooked on playing at the bowling alley next to my high school) insert one gay coin

[Nathan Strum]

espire8, on Wed Apr 25, 2007 1:27 PM, said:

Nathan did a great job with the look of the maze and the player sprites, I'm happy to see him with you again on another one of your projects! Although I don't see any of the monsters yet I have an idea how they may look like.

I can't take credit for the maze, John did that.

I've already done the first pass at the monsters (except for the animation - which will be pretty minimal). I just need to get the files over to John so he can start adding them in.

[supercat]

At present, the AtariVox would not be compatible with a second joystick. A straightforward "Y" adapter would allow either the Atarivox or joystick to be used independently, but moving the joystick would "jam" the Atarivox, and the Atarivox would always cause the joystick to seem to move down.

It shouldn't be overly difficult to design an adapter to allow a second joystick to coexist with the Atarivox. If the "half-full" output idled high instead of low, it could be done with a 74HC4066, two resistors, and a diode (use the "paddle dump" circuit to enable/disable the joystick). As it is, though, I would expect a microcontroller of some sort to be required. Anyone have any thoughts on the subject?

[Nathan Strum]

supercat, on Wed Apr 25, 2007 4:36 PM, said:

Anyone have any thoughts on the subject?

Yes. It would have been nice if that had been designed into it originally.

[supercat]

Nathan Strum, on Wed Apr 25, 2007 9:26 PM, said:

Yes. It would have been nice if that had been designed into it originally.

Well, yes, but Richard H. thought it better to get something out there than to have something rattle around forever in the 'theoretical' stage. Can't say I blame him. The question is where to go from here.

My thought is that it probably makes the most sense to design a general-purpose "Y" adapter which would NOT be AtariVox compatible, but would allow both joysticks on the left port. An alternative would be to use the AtariVox for speech only, using the paddle wires, and make a simple dedicated adapter for that (just two resistors and three connectors). Maybe I need to work more on my EEPROM cart design.

When all does the game use speech? Does it occur during play, or only at intermissions? It should be possible for a specialized kernel to output speech without blanking the screen if the display is fairly simple (e.g. maze and players only).

[vdub_bobby]

supercat, on Wed Apr 25, 2007 8:37 PM, said:

My thought is that it probably makes the most sense to design a general-purpose "Y" adapter which would NOT be AtariVox compatible, but would allow both joysticks on the left port.

I'd say the general rule is whatever is cheaper is better. That said, a general-purpose Y adapter which allowed two joysticks in a single port would probably attract far more interest from programmers.

[SpiceWare]

Ooh - 4 player combat

[sandmountainslim]

jboypacman, on Wed Apr 25, 2007 4:09 PM, said:

Now thats just sweet! I would love to see this for sale in the AA store sometime.Put me down for one when it is made into a cart.

Ditto!
Champ Games is the best thing going nowadays.
Could this be sold as Wizard of Wor on cart or would the name have to be changed?
WP

[Nukey Shay]

The gameplay would be in violation already if they chose to pursue it. A name change would have little difference. The reason to pursue would be greater if the characters or unique gameplay is currently in use (as in Futurama).
Given the sheer number of online games that exist which are based on popular classic games...I don't see that the name would even be a concern.
If it is, just change "wor" to "war"

[Robert M]

Nukey Shay, on Thu Apr 26, 2007 6:57 PM, said:

The gameplay would be in violation already if they chose to pursue it. A name change would have little difference. The reason to pursue would be greater if the characters or unique gameplay is currently in use (as in Futurama).
Given the sheer number of online games that exist which are based on popular classic games...I don't see that the name would even be a concern.
If it is, just change "wor" to "war"

How about "W.o.W."

[Lord Helmet]

sandmountainslim, on Thu Apr 26, 2007 7:11 PM, said:

jboypacman, on Wed Apr 25, 2007 4:09 PM, said:

Now thats just sweet! I would love to see this for sale in the AA store sometime.Put me down for one when it is made into a cart.

Ditto!
Champ Games is the best thing going nowadays.
Could this be sold as Wizard of Wor on cart or would the name have to be changed?
WP

I would imagine it would have to be changed since WoW is currently being released commercially as a part of classic compilations.

I'd call it "Incredible Wizard" like the Astrocade version

[Albert]

This looks fantastic, I can't wait to play it!

..Al

[Pixelboy]

Some possible titles:

- Dungeons of Wor - Wizard of Wor Arcade
- Return to Wor
- Wor 2600 Remix - Revenge of the Wizard
- Champ Wor
- Wor Arcade
- Champions of Wor
- Wor Time

My personal favorite in the list above is 'Champions of Wor'.