107 replies to this topic

[PacManPlus]

Bakasama, on Sun Aug 5, 2007 3:04 PM, said:

PacManPlus, on Sun Aug 5, 2007 10:08 AM, said:

3) Implement tethered (connected) ship gameplay (Replacing Cooperative Mode). This one is going to be a nightmare so I'm leaving it for last. There will not be a single player tethered ship option. Did anyone actually play that version and like it?

I rather liked that option, it made single player games easier since you had two ships for double the firepower.

Wow - never saw it from that perspective... Ok Baksama, you are right. Let me see what I can do.

...

Thanks everyone for the warm regards. She will be getting another test to make sure the infection is not around her heart. She will have to swallow a camera so they can look for it. I don't quite understand how swallowing a camera would allow them to check the heart, but as long as the infection (if it's there) is taken care of, it's fine.

I've just been working on this a little at night because I can't sleep anyway, and I need to take my mind off of the infection for a little while or I'll go crazy.

Thanks again,
Bob

[Marc Oberhäuser]

Based on Atariboy2600's label:)

[Gregory DG]

Nice boxes!

Now we just need an online box creator like the Online 2600 Label Maker!

[gambler172]

Gregory DG, on Fri Aug 10, 2007 1:37 PM, said:

Nice boxes!

Now we just need an online box creator like the Online 2600 Label Maker!

Hi
Yes,this would be great
Marc`s boxes are really great and are best quality.I know this,because i own all the 7800 boxes,he made.
greetings Walter

[mimo]

anyone know what settings I need to use for the CC2?

[gambler172]

mimo, on Sat Aug 18, 2007 6:53 PM, said:

anyone know what settings I need to use for the CC2?

Hi Mimo

use this.

Gamename(tab) Filename(tab) HSC_32K(tab) HSC

But remember;Space Duel runs only perfect with NTSC systems.
greetings Walter

[mimo]

@Walter, thanks, it works great on my NTSC 7800
@Bob, wow, awesome work, you are the Boss

[Jet-X]

this just really kicks ass - as a gamer back in the day, you always wondered "what would (insert game) look like on my system", and now that's happening.

But as a bit of alternate reality, I think the games getting put out now are actually better than if they were put out back then - it's dedicated guys like you that make these games shine, rather than having to rush out the door to make a street date.

[Feralstorm]

Helps the games to not have tight schedules, and to have a board full of beta-testers with internet-speed feedback.

I actually hope the game is a little easier than the arcade. Playing on MAME, it seems like every last thing is trying its damndest to kill you as quickly as possible once the score hits about 40,000 or so.

[PacManPlus]

gambler172, on Sun Aug 19, 2007 6:31 AM, said:

mimo, on Sat Aug 18, 2007 6:53 PM, said:

anyone know what settings I need to use for the CC2?

Hi Mimo

use this.

Gamename(tab) Filename(tab) HSC_32K(tab) HSC

But remember;Space Duel runs only perfect with NTSC systems.
greetings Walter

Hi:

It really doesn't work in PAL units? I tried to start with the code that was in the BIOS so it would auto-detect... Damn. I think I'm going to need some help in converting these games (Pac-Man Collection, Asteroids Deluxe, Space Duel) to PAL format.

Ok, my girlfriend is home from the hospital, and doing better. She needs to get her strength back up (after being in the hospital for 3+ weeks) but she's positive. (thank God)

Now - here is the newest version I worked on last night and this morning. Changes:

1) Added bonus round
2) Started players in a random position, like the arcade
3) Tweaked mine and fuzzball AI
4) Corrected scoring. Apparently it works like this: base score + level * 10 e.g. 1st level big rocks are 30, medium rocks are 60 and small ones are 110. UFOs are 310, and mines are also 110. On the third level, big rocks are 50, medium rocks are 80, and small rocks are 130, and so on, up to level 9 where it maxes out.

To do:
1) Dual UFOs
2) Tethered ships

Now the good news - I've been talking to Owen Rubin (through e-mails) - the person that wrote the arcade version of Space Duel - and he is going to try and help me with the tethered ships option (he said if he can find his listing). I've been trying to talk him into joining here, don't know if he will or not, but it would be cool if he did.

Bob

Attached Files

•  SPACDUEL.ZIP   21.73K   92 downloads

Edited by PacManPlus, Sun Aug 26, 2007 7:24 AM.

[gambler172]

Hi Bob
Here a little information,if you play Space Duel on a Pal system.
You can play it only a few mínutes.But it is really fast and after some minutes,it crashes.
greetings Walter

[PacManPlus]

BTW, Thanks guys for the compliments above

[tjb]

Wow, I just finished playing your latest build and it's fantastic! It really captures the feel of the original. It also happens to be alot of fun to play! Keep of the great work!

tjb

[kenfused]

PacManPlus, on Sun Aug 26, 2007 9:07 AM, said:

It really doesn't work in PAL units? I tried to start with the code that was in the BIOS so it would auto-detect... Damn. I think I'm going to need some help in converting these games (Pac-Man Collection, Asteroids Deluxe, Space Duel) to PAL format.

How I detect PAL in my games is set up a blank screen with a DLI set to fire at a number of scanlines greater than the count displayed for NTSC, but less than PAL. The DLI just sets a flag. I let the thing go a frame or so. Is the bios rom even available once the game gets started?

Then for PAL add some blank lines at the start and end of the screen and adjust game speed as necessary.

Without the above, at the very least adding enough blank lines after the normal lines should at least eliminate any garbage, and any crashes probably usually attributed to DLI's being triggered you don't want.

--Ken

[Eckhard Stolberg]

kenfused, on Mon Aug 27, 2007 1:58 AM, said:

PacManPlus, on Sun Aug 26, 2007 9:07 AM, said:

It really doesn't work in PAL units? I tried to start with the code that was in the BIOS so it would auto-detect... Damn. I think I'm going to need some help in converting these games (Pac-Man Collection, Asteroids Deluxe, Space Duel) to PAL format.

How I detect PAL in my games is set up a blank screen with a DLI set to fire at a number of scanlines greater than the count displayed for NTSC, but less than PAL. The DLI just sets a flag. I let the thing go a frame or so. Is the bios rom even available once the game gets started?

Then for PAL add some blank lines at the start and end of the screen and adjust game speed as necessary.

Without the above, at the very least adding enough blank lines after the normal lines should at least eliminate any garbage, and any crashes probably usually attributed to DLI's being triggered you don't want.

--Ken

You can switch to the BIOS ROM until your game locks the mode of the 7800. But what PacManPlus is talking about is the Asteroids game that is build into the PAL 7800. It detects which type of console it is running on and adjusts it's display accordingly. For the test the game waits until VBLANK ends and then counts the scanlines until VBLANK starts again.

Adding all the extra blank lines (50 to be precise) at the bottom of the normal display only would prevent the game from crashing on a PAL console, but the top of the normal display might not be visible on some PAL TVs. So you shouldn't have any important information there, if you used this method.


Ciao, Eckhard Stolberg

[mimo]

can confirm Walters findings, it does not work on PAL, but is still awesome on NTSC!!

[PacManPlus]

Thanks guys, for the testing and the compliments. And thanks Kenfused and Eckhard for the info on PAL.
Now, if I understand this correctly, there are three things that must change to convert from NTSC to PAL:

1) Colors
2) 50 Extra Scanlines
3) Slow Down game play

Am I correct on this? If this is the case, I know how to handle 1 and 2. Number 3 might be a problem for me. I guess I could put in some kind of delay? Like a NOP loop?
I think I should be able to split up the extra scan lines from 25 on top and 25 below, correct? This way the screen in centered?

Thanks again,
Bob

[Mayhem]

Haven't had a chance to play properly, but looks great. A working PAL conversion, even better

If there are gonna be boxes... we need manuals too

[Eckhard Stolberg]

PacManPlus, on Tue Aug 28, 2007 2:06 PM, said:

Thanks guys, for the testing and the compliments. And thanks Kenfused and Eckhard for the info on PAL.
Now, if I understand this correctly, there are three things that must change to convert from NTSC to PAL:

1) Colors
2) 50 Extra Scanlines
3) Slow Down game play

Am I correct on this? If this is the case, I know how to handle 1 and 2. Number 3 might be a problem for me. I guess I could put in some kind of delay? Like a NOP loop?
I think I should be able to split up the extra scan lines from 25 on top and 25 below, correct? This way the screen in centered?

Actually you have to speed up the game play, because you only get 50 frames per second on PAL instead of 60 on NTSC.

Splitting up the extra scanlines evenly at the top and bottom of the display will center it. That would probably look best.

You probably don't have to adjust the colours though. The palettes of the PAL 7800 in 7800 mode is very similar to the one on the NTSC 7800. The only real difference is that PAL TVs don't have a tint control, and that the red-green balance seems to be fixed a bit on the greener side. Therefore the PAL palette will look like the NTSC palette with the tint control on the TV shifted so much to the green side that the turquise colours will move one row in the colour chart program.


Ciao, Eckhard Stolberg

[PacManPlus]

Thanks, Eckhard!

Here is the next version of Space Duel. It now has the 'Volleying UFOs' in it. The probability of the Volleying UFOs appearing increases with each level you clear (I believe that's how it is in the Arcade) - from *VERY* rare in the first level to most of the time when you reach level 30 or so.

I had to change a*lot* in the code for this to happen (adding a second, separate UFO was a bit of a pain), and I've playtested it quite a bit, so please let me know of any bugs.

I noticed that the UFOs come out a little more often in SD than in Asteroids, so I increased the frequency a little. To make up for it, I 'dumbed them down' a bit at the beginning.

Now, the only thing left is the tethered ships... I hope I can figure this one out!

Enjoy!

Attached Files

•  SPACDUEL.ZIP   22.21K   69 downloads

[gambler172]

Hi Bob
Plays very well.
greetings Walter

[PacManPlus]

Thanks, Walter

While playing it on the real thing, I noticed a slight *slowdown* when there were many objects on the screen... I guess that's better than a screen jump

Bob

*EDIT - I found two bugs, one where the 'red' UFO would actually start below the green one in 'Volley' mode, and another in the algorithm when selecting when to do the 'Volley' mode.

Fixed binary here. (Sorry)

Attached Files

•  SPACDUEL.ZIP   22.22K   99 downloads

Edited by PacManPlus, Mon Sep 3, 2007 6:54 PM.

[Retro Rogue]

PacManPlus, on Mon Sep 3, 2007 9:30 AM, said:

Now, the only thing left is the tethered ships... I hope I can figure this one out!

Enjoy!

flash version


That's my version of the tethered ships based on conversations with Owen. Up arrow to thrust, right and left arrow to turn.
Trust me, it wasn't fun figuring everything out and took a while. Especially considering his was a hack to begin with (i.e. didn't use equations, etc. because of having a single 6502, so he preplanned and "hacked" various behaviors a lot).

[Atariboy2600]

I got both SPace Dual and Astroid Deluxe boxs and they look soo good, now all I need are the two game carts that goes with the box yah Pac-Man Plus;)

[PacManPlus]

Thanks, guys

Although I may have some bad news; I don't think I'm going to be able to pull off the tethered ships. I've been trying to apply it to this version for a week now, and I guess I'm just not at the point where I can do something like this. There are a lot of little 'nuances' that go with this - even the advancement of the point values are different when you are using tethered ships.

Bob

Edited by PacManPlus, Wed Sep 12, 2007 4:28 AM.