+Mitch Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Find attached the latest version :- Changes in this release :- 1) Added fire button debouncing on menu. 2) Optimized the physics algorithm. 3) Added another two dummy/test levels. The 4th level contains 100 objects and the 5th level has 150. Both object counts are less than the first two levels. Could NTSC CC2 owners test these levels and compare them against levels 1,2, and 3 for horizontal and vertical scrolling speed? The 4th level can be accessed with code 10000 and the 5th level with code 15000. No changes need to be made to the CC2 configuration file. Levels 3, 4 and 5 seem to have the same speed as each other when scolling up and down but 5 is slightly slower than 3 and 4 when scrolling left and right. I'm still trying to compare them with 1 and 2 but they seem fairly close. I can't time them like I could with the other levels. The menu seems to working good now with my custom joystick. I'll try to dig out some more joysticks to test with. Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted July 20, 2009 Author Share Posted July 20, 2009 Levels 3, 4 and 5 seem to have the same speed as each other when scolling up and down but 5 is slightly slower than 3 and 4 when scrolling left and right. I'm still trying to compare them with 1 and 2 but they seem fairly close. I can't time them like I could with the other levels. Thanks for the feedback. It sounds like the last round of physics optimizations have given me some breathing room in CPU cycles on both platforms. The menu seems to working good now with my custom joystick. I'll try to dig out some more joysticks to test with. Thanks Mitch. Can you add to the thread what joysticks you try out? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted July 20, 2009 Share Posted July 20, 2009 Quick question. Are the playing fields for each level the same size? The reason I'm asking is because I'm using a stop watch to time how long it takes to go from one end to the other. Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted July 20, 2009 Author Share Posted July 20, 2009 (edited) Quick question. Are the playing fields for each level the same size? The reason I'm asking is because I'm using a stop watch to time how long it takes to go from one end to the other. Yep! All the levels are the same size. EDIT: In terms of the number of objects (involved in physics algorithms) they are in the following decending order :- Level 2 Level 1 Level 5 Level 4 Level 3 If the scrolling is smooth enough with level 2 I'll fix that number of objects as the upper limit in the level conversion tool. Edited July 20, 2009 by GroovyBee Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 OK, I've been playing levels 1 and 2 a lot to see if I can tell a difference and it seems like 1 may be just slightly slower than 5 but not very noticeably. Level 2 seems like it is a bit more sluggish than 1 but noticable slower than 3. It's kind of on the border of being too slow. As a compromise, you may want to arrange the levels so that there are not two levels right after each other that have a wide difference in the number of objects so the difference in speed is not obvious. I also tested a few more joysticks and they all worked fine. I have tried so far: My custom joystick, Atari FB2 joystick, Wico bat handle joystick and a standard Sega Genesis gamepad. Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted July 21, 2009 Author Share Posted July 21, 2009 OK, I've been playing levels 1 and 2 a lot to see if I can tell a difference and it seems like 1 may be just slightly slower than 5 but not very noticeably. Level 2 seems like it is a bit more sluggish than 1 but noticable slower than 3. It's kind of on the border of being too slow. As a compromise, you may want to arrange the levels so that there are not two levels right after each other that have a wide difference in the number of objects so the difference in speed is not obvious. Thanks for the feedback. I don't think the game's real levels will be as simple as 3. It was just a small number of objects to check the speed difference. Is this version of the game smoother than the previous ones? I'll fix the level conversion tool to throw out levels with a greater number of objects than in level 2. Does level 2 get quicker as you eat more apples? When I was testing on my machine it would be sluggish on some levels (not included) until you ate enough fruit and then it would speed up to a reasonable speed. I also tested a few more joysticks and they all worked fine. I have tried so far: My custom joystick, Atari FB2 joystick, Wico bat handle joystick and a standard Sega Genesis gamepad. I'll leave the debouncing as it is unless anybody else reports any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambler172 Posted July 21, 2009 Share Posted July 21, 2009 Hi Mark Yes,i found out that too.Id you eat more,you get faster. greetings Walter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted July 23, 2009 Author Share Posted July 23, 2009 Find attached the latest version :- AppleSnaffle_23_07_09.1.27.a78AppleSnaffle_23_07_09.1.27.bin Changes in this release :- - Displays a high score table if you leave it on the menu screen for long enough. - More colours on the title screen. - Physics optimizations. Could NTSC CC2 owners please test the scrolling speed of level 2 against the others? Hopefully it'll be pretty close between them all now. No changes to the CC2 configuration file are needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted July 25, 2009 Author Share Posted July 25, 2009 Having just tested the game on my own NTSC 7800 level two is still slower than the others. Since there is still some way to go with the game I'm going to leave optimizing the physics routines again until near the end. Until then any new levels will always have less objects than this level. I could easily make some optimizations if the game used RAM on the cart. However, due to PacManPlus's problem with some consoles running Jr. Pac-Man and accessing cart RAM I'm not going down that route just yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambler172 Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 (edited) Having just tested the game on my own NTSC 7800 level two is still slower than the others. Since there is still some way to go with the game I'm going to leave optimizing the physics routines again until near the end. Until then any new levels will always have less objects than this level. I could easily make some optimizations if the game used RAM on the cart. However, due to PacManPlus's problem with some consoles running Jr. Pac-Man and accessing cart RAM I'm not going down that route just yet. Hi Mark Oh,i saw,you checked the latest version yourself.Yes,level 2 is slower,than the others.but the more aplles you eat,the faster you can move.And this slower level plays well too.So i would not care,if any levels are slower than others.the most important thing is,that the game makes fun........ And it make a lot of fun.Cannot wait to see more... greetings Walter Edited July 25, 2009 by gambler172 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DracIsBack Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 Just installed last night and am going to give a more detailed whirl shortly. I'm really impressed with what I see though, GroovyBee. Great use of color, nice graphics, smoother scrolling than other games (at least on the first level ... haven't played the others yet), good use of POKEY. It's obvious a lot of care is going into this, relative to many of the commercial 7800 games! Looking at how Apple Snaffle is shaping up, I'm really excited to learn more about your RPG when the time comes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted July 28, 2009 Author Share Posted July 28, 2009 Thanks for the compliments. The game is taking longer than I'd hoped . I just need to get a few more things going before the level design contest starts. Hopefully there will be a 7800 game or two completed (not including Apple Snaffle) before the RPG starts. Thats all I'm saying along those lines . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
acelkin Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 Looks like a Diamond Run or Boulderdash type game to me...no? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted July 29, 2009 Author Share Posted July 29, 2009 Looks like a Diamond Run or Boulderdash type game to me...no? You could always "just play it" and find out for yourself . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Impaler_26 Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 Hopefully there will be a 7800 game or two completed (not including Apple Snaffle) before the RPG starts. Thats all I'm saying along those lines . How about 3? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted July 30, 2009 Author Share Posted July 30, 2009 How about 3? 3? You got me on the 3rd Imp You'll have to PM what it is . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MegaManFan Posted August 2, 2009 Share Posted August 2, 2009 I'm already looking forward to eventually being able to buy this in the AA Store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 just tried this on my CC2 on PAL and NTSC consoles. Is there supposed to be sound? I have POKEY installed but all is silent. PAL version is much faster than the NTSC version but you know that already! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 just tried this on my CC2 on PAL and NTSC consoles. Is there supposed to be sound? I have POKEY installed but all is silent.PAL version is much faster than the NTSC version but you know that already! Yep! There is sound. What are you using in your CC2 config file? I'll have another pass or two over the physics code (thats where much of the time is spent per frame) when I'm closer to the end of the project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 7800: Apple Snaffle(wip) APPLE 78SC_POK 78BIOS Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 7800: Apple Snaffle(wip) APPLE 78SC_POK 78BIOS That looks OK. Does the sound in Ballblazer and Commando work OK? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 (edited) oops POKEY was loose (not installed by me!!) much better with the sound!!!! Thanks, hope this one gets finished Edited August 13, 2009 by mimo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted August 13, 2009 Author Share Posted August 13, 2009 The only reason sound wouldn't work is if POKEY wasn't initialised correctly. Do you know what version of POKEY you have in your CC2 cart? No probs if you aren't comfortable opening it to find out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted August 13, 2009 Share Posted August 13, 2009 It's an original 1979 vintage Pokey, but as per my edited post above, it was not installed properly, I took it out, bent the pins back into shape and re-installed!! Will be showing off your games at a retro computer meet on Saturday Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GroovyBee Posted August 14, 2009 Author Share Posted August 14, 2009 Thanks, hope this one gets finished Yep! It'll get finished before the end of the year. It's an original 1979 vintage Pokey, but as per my edited post above, it was not installed properly, I took it out, bent the pins back into shape and re-installed!! How come Command and Ballblazer worked OK? Weird that. Will be showing off your games at a retro computer meet on Saturday If you could gather some feedback it would be appreciated. You should see what 7800 goodies are on my hard drive . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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