25 replies to this topic

[jbs30000]

OK, first off, I know I'm starting a lot of threads, but after this week I'll be starting spring term at my college and won't have much time to post any more.

Anyway, as I've stated in another thread, I'm working on a QBert game. I'll use this thread to get your opinions and post updates.

Where I'm at right now is that I have the playfield set up and QBert can jump from cube to cube using the joystick. Right now, if he jumps off of a cube he'll fall to his doom and everything resets. If he lands on a disk he'll be flown back to the top cube.

There are no sound effects or music yet, but I'll be playing with Random Terrain's program to come up with some.

I'd like your opinions on how to improve what I already have. My own opinions are that I need to improve the jump routine as he just moves diagonally instead of looking like he's actually jumping, and I'll probably also see about making better QBert sprites. At least the left and right facing ones (There's also up/left, up/right, down/left, down/right which I think look OK).
Also, I know that 4 cubes across isn't very much, but it's the most I can do. And also, sadly, I can't make the top of the cubes different colors than the walls of the cubes. This means for rounds where QBert has to change the "cube color" twice he'll basically land on it the first time, and fill it, then land on it again and empty it.

So fire away with any questions, comments, and criticisms. Thank you.

Attached Files

•  QBert.bas.bin   16K   55 downloads

Edited by jbs30000, Sat Mar 29, 2008 5:05 PM.

[jbs30000]

OK, here's something slightly better. The sprites for QBert not jumping are slightly better than before, although I'll probably have to re-do the sprites of when he jumps down/left or down/right.

Also, his jumps look like jumps now, although it takes a little longer than the arcade or 2600 versions.

Attached Files

•  QBert.bas.bin   16K   136 downloads

[Random Terrain]

Have you read this post:

http://www.atariage....s...t&p=1483436

See anything there that might make your game even better? I hope you won't have to wait too long for the new version of bB.

[retrogeek]

jbs30000, on Sat Mar 29, 2008 10:15 PM, said:

OK, here's something slightly better. The sprites for QBert not jumping are slightly better than before, although I'll probably have to re-do the sprites of when he jumps down/left or down/right.

Also, his jumps look like jumps now, although it takes a little longer than the arcade or 2600 versions.

Impressive job! I'm a big fan of Qbert and I would like to see more of your project.

[jbs30000]

Random Terrain

256K is cool, but I don't need that much memory for a QBert game . I'm not sure what he means by "use a missile as a 'fake player' by varying the width" I thought that was what NUSIZ0 and NUSIZ1 are for. And shifting a player object per line might be useful, if I knew what that meant (I've never played Stampede, or Dolphin).
But I'm certain that the improvements will help on future games.

retrogeek

Thank you. I hope to accomplish a lot more this weekend because once Monday rolls around I'll be spending a lot of time on my college classes, and even though this program won't be as big or complicated as my Tron game, so far working on it has been trickier than I thought.

[mos6507]

I think it's great that you've been able to do this with bBasic, but your time would be better spent writing something original. The existing Parker Brothers Qbert is good enough.

[jbs30000]

mos6507, on Sun Mar 30, 2008 1:16 AM, said:

I think it's great that you've been able to do this with bBasic, but your time would be better spent writing something original. The existing Parker Brothers Qbert is good enough.

I know it is, but I still want to take a crack at it anyway.

[Random Terrain]

jbs30000, on Sun Mar 30, 2008 3:50 AM, said:

mos6507, on Sun Mar 30, 2008 1:16 AM, said:

I think it's great that you've been able to do this with bBasic, but your time would be better spent writing something original. The existing Parker Brothers Qbert is good enough.

I know it is, but I still want to take a crack at it anyway.

Crack is not the answer!

How did they get each section to light up in the Parker Brothers version of Q*bert? That can't all be done with sprites can it?

[jbs30000]

Random Terrain, on Sun Mar 30, 2008 3:07 AM, said:

Crack is not the answer!

It isn't? Well now you tell me

Random Terrain, on Sun Mar 30, 2008 3:07 AM, said:

How did they get each section to light up in the Parker Brothers version of Q*bert? That can't all be done with sprites can it?

At first I thought that maybe the top part of the cube that QBert lands on was right above or below the walls, so it's possible to use the technique of coloring rows separately like bB's pfcolors does, but upon closer inspection that can't be it because there are clearly pfpixels in the same row but are different colors. Maybe the parts that can change color are missiles?
(The picture below is from the Parker Brothers version)

Oh, and on an unrelated note, here's another update of my version. It now starts out with a demo, just like the arcade...well, not JUST LIKE...but anyway....
Also, I added a sound effect whenever QBert lands on a cube.

Attached Thumbnails

• 

Attached Files

•  QBert.bas.bin   16K   68 downloads

[Fort Apocalypse]

What you've done so far is really great. If regular Q-bert gets tough to do, maybe you could put a new spin on it somehow.

[gambler172]

Hi JBS
plays really well;even the joystick control is good.
Hope to see more soon.....
greetings Walter

[gambler172]

mos6507, on Sun Mar 30, 2008 3:16 AM, said:

I think it's great that you've been able to do this with bBasic, but your time would be better spent writing something original. The existing Parker Brothers Qbert is good enough.

Hi
I do not agree.The Parker version has a really bad control.....
greetings Walter

[supercat]

jbs30000, on Sun Mar 30, 2008 5:32 AM, said:

At first I thought that maybe the top part of the cube that QBert lands on was right above or below the walls, so it's possible to use the technique of coloring rows separately like bB's pfcolors does, but upon closer inspection that can't be it because there are clearly pfpixels in the same row but are different colors. Maybe the parts that can change color are missiles?

Almost any TIA register may be changed at any point in a row to take immediate or almost-immediate effect. Most likely, Q*Bert works by changing the playfield color mid-line. This requires a specialized kernel; it most likely isn't a particularly complicated kernel, but none of bB's kernel options offer anything so specialized.

Incidentally, my very first Atari 2600 cartridge didn't use any sprites or playfield or anything. All it used was COLUBK; it displayed a nice grid showing all the 2600's colors (one row per chroma value; eight luma values per row, plus grey side borders).

[jbs30000]

Fort Apocalypse

Thank you. It's getting easier to work on now and I'm making progress pretty fast. Of course, that's mostly because I haven't added any other characters yet. I'm expecting that to be slightly challenging. But adding a twist is a good idea. I know, maybe once I finish the regular game, I'll make an upside down version. I bet that would take a while to get use to

gambler172

Thank you for the kind words. I'm trying to make it like the arcade version as much as possible. I think the joystick control is different on the 2600 version than on the arcade, so I went with arcade version.
Since there are some limitations with bB, I'll have to try and compensate. For example, since the bottom row is only 4 cubes across instead of 7 like the arcade, each level will be easier to complete. Therefore, I'll have to have the enemies be a little more aggressive to make up for that.

supercat

Yeah, I keep forgetting about different kernels and that they programmed in assembly or machine code, so they could do a lot of tricks.
Oh well, except for the fact that I can't use different playfield pixel colors for the top and sides of the cubes, I still think that my playfield looks better than Parker Bros playfield

E.T.A Oh yeah, almost forgot to ask, do you have a copy of the rom on-line for download? I'm interested in seeing it.

Edited by jbs30000, Sun Mar 30, 2008 2:46 PM.

[jbs30000]

SECOND TO LAST UPDATE

OK, I have completed everything except for adding other characters.

Here's what I have:
_1) 3 levels with 4 rounds a piece.
____a) On the first level simply jump on all of the blocks once to clear the round.
____b) On the second level, you have to jump on them twice.
____c) You only have to change a square once, but if you jump on it a second time you clear it and have to jump on it again.

_2) On the left, QBert faces that show how many lives you have. If you fall, they disappear. You get 3 lives.
_3) On the right you see which level and round you are playing.
_4) Before each level, there's a little demo, like in the arcade game.
_5) The disks have different y positions on each round, although it's the same for all 3 levels.
_6) For now, when you complete all 3 levels, you start back at level 1 again.

Now, I know that only having the playfield 1 color sucks, but I can't do anything about it. It's OK until the second level. In the real game, you have to change colors twice. Since I can't change colors what I did was, the first time QBert lands on a square, it's partially filled in as normal. The second time, it completely fills in. It isn't pretty, but it works.
Also, there's only 2 disks throughout the game, instead of some rounds having 3 disks like in the arcade and 2600 versions.

Since it only goes to 4 cubes across, and the arcade had 7, I'll make up for it with the following:
_1) Red balls can now chase you up the pyramid, unlike in the arcade where they can only move down.
_2) There will be no randomness. Enemies will aim directly for you, and the beneficial green ball that freezes time will run away from you.
_3) In the arcade and 2600 version, on the second level there's a round where the walls of the cubes disappear. In this game, a round in the second level has the whole pyramid invisible.
_4) You get 3 lives only. No extras.

Well, guess that's it. I won't be posting another update until the other characters are added (and I'll also try to add a "splat" sound when QBert or Coily fall to their doom).

Attached Files

•  QBert.bas.bin   32K   65 downloads

Edited by jbs30000, Tue Apr 1, 2008 3:50 AM.

[gambler172]

Hi JBS
great work.Really great.Plays much better,than the Parker version.Cannot wait to see more.
greetings Walter

[jbs30000]

Thank you.

[Fort Apocalypse]

Awesome!

[jbs30000]

Thanks again. And actually, I decided on one final change.

I think filling in the top of the cubes completely in level 2 makes the playfield too ugly, so making a change.

In the picture posted, the leftmost side is what I currently have, and the middle is what the cubes will now look like instead when QBert has to jump on a cube twice.
And to the right of that is what a cube looks like when he jumps on a cube once, and then of course, the cube on the very right, is what the cubes look like before QBert lands on them.

Attached Thumbnails

• 

[Random Terrain]

jbs30000, on Wed Apr 2, 2008 11:29 AM, said:

Thanks again. And actually, I decided on one final change.

I think filling in the top of the cubes completely in level 2 makes the playfield too ugly, so making a change.

In the picture posted, the leftmost side is what I currently have, and the middle is what the cubes will now look like instead when QBert has to jump on a cube twice.
And to the right of that is what a cube looks like when he jumps on a cube once, and then of course, the cube on the very right, is what the cubes look like before QBert lands on them.

I'd have to see it in action to be sure, but The totally filled in ones don't look that bad to me. A different configuration of pixels instead of just being filled in all of the way might confuse some people.

[jbs30000]

You can download the program in one of the above posts to see for yourself. All you have to do is jump on all of the squares for 4 rounds and then you'll be at the second level. Kind of boring, but it's the only way.

While a few totally filled in squares doesn't look too bad, the more you fill in, the worse it gets. When the whole pyramid is filled it looks really awful. At least in my opinion.

And I think that there's enough of a difference in the new way I'm thinking of doing it, to tell when you've landed on a square once or twice.

[Random Terrain]

jbs30000, on Wed Apr 2, 2008 6:12 PM, said:

You can download the program in one of the above posts to see for yourself. All you have to do is jump on all of the squares for 4 rounds and then you'll be at the second level. Kind of boring, but it's the only way.

While a few totally filled in squares doesn't look too bad, the more you fill in, the worse it gets. When the whole pyramid is filled it looks really awful. At least in my opinion.

And I think that there's enough of a difference in the new way I'm thinking of doing it, to tell when you've landed on a square once or twice.

I saw the filled in version, but I'd have to see the new version in action before I could say for sure that it sucked. I didn't think the filled-in version was bad. It was still easy to make out the shapes. I had no trouble with it. A different configuration of pixels might be too confusing, but I'd have to try it to be sure.

[jbs30000]

OK, here's an alternate version with the updated level 2. I think it looks better, but since this thread is titled "Give me your honest opinion"......well, go for it

Attached Files

•  QBAlt.bas.bin   32K   62 downloads

[Random Terrain]

jbs30000, on Thu Apr 3, 2008 3:05 AM, said:

OK, here's an alternate version with the updated level 2. I think it looks better, but since this thread is titled "Give me your honest opinion"......well, go for it

It's like I thought. Too easy to confuse the second one with the first.

And when you jump on a blank cube, the first change is immediately noticeable since the change can be seen around the outside of Q*bert and the second change, when it was solid, was also immediately noticeable. The new second change happens under Q*bert, so it's not immediately noticeable. The only way you can see the change is to move away.

My vote is to have the second change be solid for two reasons: the solid second change is noticeable as it happens, and it also cannot be confused with the first change. You can see the differences at a glance.

[Impaler_26]

I just tried this game and i have to say it's quite impressive for a bB-game.
I'm Looking forward to see this develop!