28 replies to this topic

[Random Terrain]

Since people seem to want some kind of activity in this forum, here's the beginnings of a game that I have been working on whenever I get a chance. It's not even close to being a finished game, but here it is anyway for you to look at.

This is a scrolling game where you fly through an opening in each force field. The force fields are blue right now, but I'll probably change the color to something else later. If you miss an opening and bust through a force field instead, the energy bar will decrease.

The scrolling will become faster if you press and hold the fire button. That will be important so you can hurry to the next energy thingy that doesn't exist yet. Remember, there are no sound effects, enemies, or bonus items so far. Right now, if your energy bar runs out, the game automatically reboots.


Here's a screen shot:



Latest Version:

Here's the .bin file to use with an emulator:

 gyvolver_2010y_09m_26d_0614t.bin   4K   169 downloads

Added a couple of sound effects and a brainless random bonus item. Again, not much has changed. I was just testing out things and seeing what is possible. It's not even close to being finished.





Older Versions:

Here's the .bin file to use with an emulator:

 unnamed_scrolling_game_2009y_12m_15d_0706t.bin   4K   109 downloads

(Not much has changed, except for the ship/bug or whatever that thing is.)

I won't post the .bas file yet since the code isn't cleaned up enough.

---------------------------------------------------------------

Here's the .bin file to use with an emulator:

 unnamed_scrolling_game_2008y_06m_14d_0127t.bin   4K   175 downloads

---------------------------------------------------------------


I'll eventually have the openings get smaller over time, the force fields will get closer together, and the default speed will increase a little. I was also thinking about having the openings kind of near each other at the beginning and then have them spread out more over time (right now they're just random).

I'm trying to figure out things about the game so I know what other objects to make. I'm not sure if the thing you control is a ship or a bug yet. When I figure that out, I can then figure out what the other objects should be. If anyone has ideas about what the object I created is suppose to be, please let me know. If you have any other ideas, I'd be glad to read those too.

My next game after this will be a platformer using these thin force fields as the platforms instead of the thick platforms we usually see in bB games. I can't wait to get started on that game, so that might be why I'm having problems with this scrolling game. It's hard to keep my mind from wandering to the next game.

Edited by Random Terrain, Fri Dec 9, 2011 2:02 PM.

[MausGames]

Pretty cool, I'm impressed with your first game project so far. How'd you get those skinny playfield lines? Are you cycling through a ton of different pfheight tables, or does the pfheight table now scroll with the playfield? Or is it something I just never thought of?

As far as the sprite, all I can suggest is what I'd do with it, which usually isn't good for much. I'd make it a top down/angled view of a "running man with gun" and change fire to fire his weapon, with up and down moving the direction he is facing/firing 360 degrees. Maybe slow him down a little when he's running backward. That way he can still shoot enemies that he's moved past, and maybe allow him to shoot powerups to collect them.

I immediately assumed that the gaps in the field would move, because of your question regarding shifting bits in variables. Is this the case? If so, I'd make it so that the field absorbs weapon fire, making it a real challenge to shoot powerups/enemies through already-passed gaps while trying to maneuver toward oncoming gaps.

Also don't forget that when using colored sprites, you can still access the respective missile as a full height bar in a thickness designated by NUSIZx. If you don't do that, the missile variables are open for other uses. You can also consider using PF0 = $00010000 to create thin bars to the left and right. These go outside of the current field, so they add to it and don't take any space away.

Good luck with this!

Edited by MausGames, Sat Jun 14, 2008 9:09 PM.

[Random Terrain]

MausGames, on Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:08 PM, said:

Pretty cool, I'm impressed with your first game project so far. How'd you get those skinny playfield lines? Are you cycling through a ton of different pfheight tables, or does the pfheight table now scroll with the playfield? Or is it something I just never thought of?

It's pretty simple. No complicated tricks. It was just sitting there waiting for us to use it. Remember the following thread from not too long ago?

How do I get the icing off my cake? (no_blank_lines and pfcolors)

Although the 'icing' can be a pain in the butt for some games, I figured out that it could also be a blessing for other types of games. Instead of fighting it, I used it. So now I can use the 'icing' for walls, force fields, platforms, or whatever I might need thin lines for. I spent many days trying to figure out how to have the front of the bug/ship collide with the 'icing.' I eventually discovered that the position of the bug/ship needed to be adjusted so playfieldpos would match up perfectly with the collision detection.

The color scrolling is similar to what I posted in your Tunnels Of Zeta thread.

MausGames, on Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:08 PM, said:

As far as the sprite, all I can suggest is what I'd do with it, which usually isn't good for much. I'd make it a top down/angled view of a "running man with gun" and change fire to fire his weapon, with up and down moving the direction he is facing/firing 360 degrees. Maybe slow him down a little when he's running backward. That way he can still shoot enemies that he's moved past, and maybe allow him to shoot powerups to collect them.

Thanks for the ideas. I had the ability to slow down by pulling back on the joystick in there, but I yanked it out a couple of versions back. I can plop it back in at any time, though. Your idea would make a good third game (after the platform game I need to make next), but what I'd like to do with this first game is have nonstop movement where there is no choice but to go forward. I also like the idea of having no shooting and no killing in my first game. I know that you'll be able to grab bonus items along the way, but I need to figure out what the 'bad guy' will be and do. While typing about it just now, the idea popped into my head that the bad guy might be similar to Evil Otto in Berzerk (instead of being a creature you'll you have to fight in the usual way). And instead of killing you, it will knock your energy down my one notch each time it touches you (like an energy vampire), so you need to speed up to get away from it. Besides an energy bonus item, I'm thinking that you could also get items that you can drop behind you when you pull back on the joystick if the creature gets too close and that will stun it or trap it for a certain amount of time. As you mentioned here and in another thread, I might also be able to use missile0 as a 'stun ray' or something like that if it doesn't look too strange.

I'm glad I posted about this because I'm forming the game as I type. I've been kind of stuck for weeks trying to figure out what I should do. I still need to figure out what you are. Are you a giant bug, kind of ripping off the Yar, or are you something else?

MausGames, on Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:08 PM, said:

I immediately assumed that the gaps in the field would move, because of your question regarding shifting bits in variables. Is this the case? If so, I'd make it so that the field absorbs weapon fire, making it a real challenge to shoot powerups/enemies through already-passed gaps while trying to maneuver toward oncoming gaps.

Moving gaps would be good for the idea you posted, but for this game, the force fields are going to get closer together, the default speed is going to increase, and the gaps will get smaller, so that will probably be tough enough for this game. By the way, shifting bits from one playfield variable into another is how I place the gaps. Instead of doing some complicated math to figure out how to place an adjustable gap within or between the 4 playfield variables of the hidden row, I just create the gap on the left side and slide it into position. That way the gap can be anywhere on a row (except for the edges) and no brain busting calculations are needed.

MausGames, on Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:08 PM, said:

Also don't forget that when using colored sprites, you can still access the respective missile as a full height bar in a thickness designated by NUSIZx.

I remembered what you said in another thread and missile0 might make a good 'stun ray.'

MausGames, on Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:08 PM, said:

If you don't do that, the missile variables are open for other uses.

Yep, I'm using missile1 as extra variables since I don't have a reason to use it in this game.

MausGames, on Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:08 PM, said:

You can also consider using PF0 = %00010000 to create thin bars to the left and right. These go outside of the current field, so they add to it and don't take any space away.

I can't use PF0 when using these thin lines. You get ugly bars on the side. Since I leave the edges of the force fields alone, the player will be able to tell where the borders are. I didn't limit how far to the left and right the ship can go yet (for testing purposes), but that will be added soon.

MausGames, on Sat Jun 14, 2008 10:08 PM, said:

Good luck with this!

Thanks. I hope it will become a fun game that people will like.

[Impaler_26]

I just tried this out, nice work so far! I would prefer to control a flying Bug or another kind of animal/creature in the game, there are already enough games where you control a spaceship on the 2600.
The Player-sprite also should be animated. I don't have any other ideas for the game yet...

[Random Terrain]

Impaler_26, on Sun Jun 15, 2008 2:57 PM, said:

I just tried this out, nice work so far! I would prefer to control a flying Bug or another kind of animal/creature in the game, there are already enough games where you control a spaceship on the 2600.
The Player-sprite also should be animated. I don't have any other ideas for the game yet...

Thanks. OK, I'll go with a bug or creature of some kind. It has color 'animation' when you press and hold the fire button, but I wasn't sure how to do the real animation for it until I knew what it was. I'll play around with the shape and see what might look cool and then maybe that will tell me what it is. In case anybody else wants to try to create an animation for it, here's the code:

  player1color:
  $00
  $42
  $F6
  $C6
  $C8
  $CA
  $FE
  $46
end

creature
  player1:
  %00000000
  %10000010
  %10000010
  %10111010
  %11111110
  %01111100
  %11010110
  %01000100
end

And here's the VbB sprite file if you don't want to copy and paste:

 creature.zip   224bytes   162 downloads



Thanks.

[yuppicide]

Looks good so far. I like the sprite of your player.

I'm trying to accomplish something similar to what you are doing, but a different game entirely.

http://www.atariage....howtopic=129164

Just trying to learn to get one playfield line to scroll down the screen for now would be nice for me to learn.

[kamakazi]

Nice work!!! I haven't played the game yet...but what I see I like! Good luck with the game. For now, I'm going to call your game Bug Raid...cause the character reminds me of a Spider and the blue bars could be jets of Raid. Just my opinion...sorry if it offends.

I'm currently learning the 7800, and have never learned assembly until recently thanks to the thread on here. I'm used to Atari BASIC, but I've never programmed outside of BASIC or on anything other than an Atari 8-bit computer.

Hope to find some people here to help me learn assembly. Again, nice game, good luck with it!

[Random Terrain]

yuppicide, on Thu Jul 24, 2008 12:51 PM, said:

Looks good so far. I like the sprite of your player.

I'm trying to accomplish something similar to what you are doing, but a different game entirely.

http://www.atariage....howtopic=129164

Just trying to learn to get one playfield line to scroll down the screen for now would be nice for me to learn.

It's pretty easy to get a line to scroll down. You can use the playfield variables to make a line on the hidden row like this:

var44=255 : var45=255 : var46=255 : var47=255

And use pfscroll down at whatever speed you want.

You can also make your program add a line whenever you want instead of one right after the other. Have small gaps or large gaps between each line. It also helps to make sure you have the latest files if you don't already have them:

http://www.atariage....s...t&p=1517363

That stuff gets rid of the crazy scrolling jitter problems and other things.

[Random Terrain]

I'm in the mood to work on a bB game and I was told that I should work on this first. Thought you might want to see where I left off:

 unnamed_scrolling_game_2009y_12m_15d_0706t.bin   4K   151 downloads

(Not much has changed, except for the ship/bug or whatever that thing is.)


Question: Do you like the animated ship/creature/thingy the way it is or do I need to work on it some more?

[yuppicide]

Actually, I like the animation as it is. It looks like it's spinning in a circle. Maybe seeing other choices and giving a choice of 2 or 3 different ones would be nice, but as it is I like it.

[Random Terrain]

yuppicide, on Wed Dec 30, 2009 10:40 AM, said:

Actually, I like the animation as it is. It looks like it's spinning in a circle. Maybe seeing other choices and giving a choice of 2 or 3 different ones would be nice, but as it is I like it.

Thanks.

[Philsan]

Very very nice Duane!
I like scrolling's and animation's smoothness very much!
It looks very professional.
If you want, you should continue working on this game.

Edited by Philsan, Sun Sep 26, 2010 3:08 AM.

[Random Terrain]

Philsan, on Sun Sep 26, 2010 2:36 AM, said:

Very very nice Duane!
I like scrolling's and animation's smoothness very much!
It looks very professional.
If you want, you should continue working on this game.

Thanks. I was working on it a little before I started working on Seaweed Assault:

http://www.atariage....g-along-part-1/

http://www.atariage....g-along-part-2/

http://www.atariage....g-along-part-3/

http://www.atariage....g-along-part-4/

http://www.atariage....g-along-part-5/


It has a couple of sound effects and a brainless random bonus item, but that's as far as I got. Once Seaweed Assault is finished, I'll try to turn this into a finished game. It will probably be called Gyvolver.

I added the latest version to the first post.

[TrekMD]

Very nice. Thanks for sharing!

[Brian O]

Just saw this for the first time. Really nice sprite animation for the ship! Looks like the start of another awesome game.

-B

[Random Terrain]

Brian O, on Thu Oct 27, 2011 6:15 PM, said:

Just saw this for the first time. Really nice sprite animation for the ship! Looks like the start of another awesome game.

Thanks. Now that I have finished a game with a lot of help, maybe this one won't be so hard to finish. It would be cool if I could finish this one before 2012, but it will probably take at least until February before it's done.

[theloon]

I remember a thread you started asking for tips on animating sprites. Seems you've figured it out pretty well. I like the coloring of the player sprite and the rotating "legs" are quite hypnotic. Very arcade-like.

I think the force field really needs the 3D treatment ala Beamrider.

[Random Terrain]

theloon, on Fri Oct 28, 2011 8:18 AM, said:

I think the force field really needs the 3D treatment ala Beamrider.

Since I'm using the icing on the cake to make the thin lines, I don't think I can have a 3D look.

[Schizophretard]

I finally gave this a whirl. Interesting. So, what is a gyvolver? You already done a living submarine but Gyvolver's animation does look kind of like swimming. A spaceship? Nah, I can't see something like that flying through space. A bug? Yes, it looks bug like. I can see it being a small critter but the way it propels itself looks mechanical(reminds me of flagellum). The name also sounds mechanical. I'm thinking something smaller than a bug and mechanical. A little microscopic robotic "bug". I vote to call Gyvolver a nanobot/nanite.

If he was a nanobot then it would be easier to explain the force fields. On a microscopic level there can be all kinds of force field like conditions. He could be traveling through a wire or something and the openings in the force fields could be weak spots in the electromagnetic field. The possibilities for a story are endless.

You could even do something funny like having collectors in the future put Gyvolver nanobots in Atari carts to cure bit rot. The holes could fill in after he passes through them to show that he fixed it and hitting the lines could create new holes to show that he is messing up and causing bit rot. You could have the points increase every time you safely go through an opening similar to your combo points in Seaweed Assault. If you hit a line it can do damage to Gyvolver, open up a new hole, and subtract as much points as the line would have been worth with the combo points. You could also give him the option to shoot or drill(maybe the front spins like the back when you hit the fire button?) to make a new hole if it is obvious that he won't make it through with the benefit of not receiving damage from ramming into a line but the penalty of taking away more points than if you rammed it. Also, this game might make a great paddle game. With analog controls there could be openings on opposite sides of the screen and since you could move faster the game could scroll faster. You could even do things like make the holes show up randomly and move back and forth.

Anyway, I see the potential here for you to make another great game. Gyvolver is a cool looking critter!

[Brian O]

Could be an unofficial sequel to Yars' Revenge...

-B

[Schizophretard]

Brian O, on Mon Dec 5, 2011 6:48 PM, said:

Could be an unofficial sequel to Yars' Revenge...

-B

Maybe he could generate the gaps in the force fields using the games code like the neutral zone in Yars' Revenge?

[Brian O]

Schizophretard, on Mon Dec 5, 2011 6:56 PM, said:

Brian O, on Mon Dec 5, 2011 6:48 PM, said:

Could be an unofficial sequel to Yars' Revenge...

-B

Maybe he could generate the gaps in the force fields using the games code like the neutral zone in Yars' Revenge?

That would be sweet.

-B

[Random Terrain]

Schizophretard, on Mon Dec 5, 2011 6:38 PM, said:

I finally gave this a whirl. Interesting. So, what is a gyvolver? You already done a living submarine but Gyvolver's animation does look kind of like swimming. A spaceship? Nah, I can't see something like that flying through space. A bug? Yes, it looks bug like. I can see it being a small critter but the way it propels itself looks mechanical(reminds me of flagellum). The name also sounds mechanical. I'm thinking something smaller than a bug and mechanical. A little microscopic robotic "bug". I vote to call Gyvolver a nanobot/nanite.

If he was a nanobot then it would be easier to explain the force fields. On a microscopic level there can be all kinds of force field like conditions. He could be traveling through a wire or something and the openings in the force fields could be weak spots in the electromagnetic field. The possibilities for a story are endless.

You could even do something funny like having collectors in the future put Gyvolver nanobots in Atari carts to cure bit rot. The holes could fill in after he passes through them to show that he fixed it and hitting the lines could create new holes to show that he is messing up and causing bit rot. You could have the points increase every time you safely go through an opening similar to your combo points in Seaweed Assault. If you hit a line it can do damage to Gyvolver, open up a new hole, and subtract as much points as the line would have been worth with the combo points. You could also give him the option to shoot or drill(maybe the front spins like the back when you hit the fire button?) to make a new hole if it is obvious that he won't make it through with the benefit of not receiving damage from ramming into a line but the penalty of taking away more points than if you rammed it. Also, this game might make a great paddle game. With analog controls there could be openings on opposite sides of the screen and since you could move faster the game could scroll faster. You could even do things like make the holes show up randomly and move back and forth.

Anyway, I see the potential here for you to make another great game. Gyvolver is a cool looking critter!

Thanks. This is what I said in my blog in March of 2010:

Quote

I still don't know what the sprite is supposed to be. Is it a ship? A bug? Candy? A toy? I sure would like to figure it out because I won't know what type of sound effects to create unless I know what it is.

I may not know what the sprite is or what the game is about or what you're supposed to do yet, but at least real progress is being made after almost 2 years.

Like the Manatee, it's a sprite that kind of created itself. I started drawing with the Visual batari Basic sprite editor and let it go where it wanted to go. All I know is that the front doesn't move and the back part spins around.

Here's one piece of an idea I had for the game, but I'm not married to it:

Quote

Before Gyvolver can advance to a higher level of existence, a test must be passed. Gyvolver needs to get through a course filled with energy-draining barriers to qualify. The Prodvocate follows and if Gyvolver slows down for too long, the Prodvocate moves up and extracts a little energy from Gyvolver as motivation to speed up.

The story might change over time, but that's what I'm going with for now so I'll have something to work with. Now I have to figure out what the Prodvocate looks like.

All I know for sure is that some object is going to come up if you slow down for too long, no matter what the story turns out to be. There are three parts of the game that I know of so far:

• You will need to go through the openings as quickly as possible.
  
• You can try to grab the semi-random bonus item (don't know what will trigger it yet).
  
• You'll need to avoid the bad guy that is chasing you.

Over time, each hole you go through will get farther apart from the one before it. The placement of each hole will eventually become random at a higher difficulty (the previous hole will not affect the placement of the next hole). The holes will also get smaller over time.

I need to play around with the speed again to refresh my memory and see if anything can be done to get a range of speeds. If I can have a range, the game will be able to get faster over time, while also allowing the player to speed up whenever he or she wants.

Instead of just playing until the difficulty kills you off, I'd kind of like this game to be a little like Fantastic Voyage. Not in the way that you have to shoot things, but in the way things get more difficult until you beat the section, then you complete it and continue to the next section.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=d63uuf5UQjo

[Schizophretard]

I was imagining the opposite of each hole you go through getting farther apart from the one before it. I did think about the holes getting smaller though. I was thinking it would get harder if they got closer and closer and then they would get smaller and smaller after the lines are so close that they are a line away from touching so, it would eventually be like navigating through a tube. Which ever way you do it ,rather it is closer and closer, farther and farther, or different on each level, there could be times where there isn't a force field on screen yet and you will lose a sense of movement. There needs to be stuff on the edges to give a sense of movement. I recommend trying small "spikes" of force fields. That way there would always be a sense of movement and speed. Something kind of like this:



Since speed is important, how about rewarding points for each time you go through a hole and the faster you go through the higher the points?

Could the force fields change colors? I was thinking that maybe you could use the lines as the bonus item/s based on the color and/or flashing. That way you don't have to worry about the bad guy interfering with the bonus item and can always have the bad guy on screen chasing you at the bottom. You could have it that the faster you go the farther you are from the bottom and the slower you go the closer you are to the bottom so, if you just stop you will go down and the bad guy would get you. If you go as fast as you can then you would be near the top. That way you have to manage your speed by deciding if you want to be near the top and have less time to maneuver when you see a hole but get more points or be near the bottom and have a greater chance of the bad guy grabbing you.

That's funny you brought up Fantastic Voyage. I was thinking about that game when I was writing about nanobots. I can't wait for the Video Game Critic to play this for five seconds and then compare it to Fantastic Voyage. Eventually he will compare all your games to every Fox game.

[Random Terrain]

I started to reply yesterday, but a lot of things came up, so I'll have to reply some time tomorrow. I hope to also post a test version of the program to show why I can't have stuff on the sides.


Thanks.