442 replies to this topic

[opcode]

I feel kind of sad today. Even though I haven't cared about MJ's career or music for a long time, as someone growing up during the 80s it's hard to not think of his influence on the pop culture of the time and, thus, on me. His music was cool back then and his music videos even cooler. Today it's like something is missing...
There isn't much I can do to prevent this feeling that the 80s are now farther away to the point that sometimes I cannot identify the world where I used to live anymore. I don't know if I even recognize myself. So many dreams, so many change of plans… Not sure if what I am saying makes any sense...
Anyway, what can I do besides going back to my games?...
I hope to use this thread to post my progress with Donkey Kong Arcade, my port of the classic arcade game to the CV. I just resumed the game after a long hiatus, so for now you can enjoy a video of some very preliminary work to get stage 3 running.

[Corby]

Nice!! Can't hardly wait to get this and the opcode module

[akator]

As always, great work

[retroillucid]

Totally agree with you Eduardo


DK looks pretty nice on CV , keep up the great work (as always )

[tremoloman2006]

Eduardo,

I too felt the same emptiness and feel sorry for him.  I too never really cared for his music or career on a personal level but the man as a person seemed to be a lost little boy who never really grew up or found his way.  It does feel like a part of the 80s died yesterday with him.

On a more personal note the DK level looks killer - keep it up!  

[ten-four]

Hi Eduardo...

Sad about Michael, but we can always remember him through our CD's.



Your version of DK is many times better than the version we had from the start.

You have the ability to see many details in the production of a game.

Thank you and good work as always.

[ColecoFan1981]

This does look good! What I'd like to see next in regards to this conversion are:

*The intro screen and the "How High Can You Get?" screen.
*The rivets (blue) board.
*The conveyor belt board.

~Ben

[opcode]

Ok, time for updates

Stage 4:


More in a minute...

[Pixelboy]

opcode, on Sat Jul 4, 2009 6:19 PM, said:

Ok, time for updates

Stage 4:


More in a minute...

Wow! Now there's a sight for sore eyes! I just hope the flickering won't be too troublesome after the firefoxes have been added to the rivets level. Considering how unnoticeable the flickering is in Pac-Man Collection, I'm sure you'll do a great job with DKA too.

Good job so far!

[opcode]

Stage 2 or the conveyor belt stage...

[Pixelboy]

opcode, on Sat Jul 4, 2009 11:09 PM, said:

Stage 2 or the conveyor belt stage...

Another tantalizing demo!

So you're controlling Mario yourself in these latest videos? This would imply that you got the CV controller input routines working. From what I can see here, only the barrels, fireballs, firefoxes and springs are left to include, which I would expect is the really challenging part, mostly in terms of designing a sprite manager that will minimize flicker, but also adapting the enemy AI to the TV screen resolution. Looks like you got your work cut out for you, Eduardo.

By the way, is it just me, or is Mario's walking animation a little too fast? I know the hands are supposed to go back and forth at a rather high speed, but the feet seem to be flapping faster than WB's Tasmanian Devil. Maybe it's just me...

EDIT: Never mind, I just checked some DK arcade game footage on YouTube. So it IS just me.

Edited by Pixelboy, Sun Jul 5, 2009 4:50 AM.

[Murph74]

Awesome stuff as usual, Eduardo! I'm now a proud subscriber of your YouTube channel.

[brojamfootball]

Looking great, man! Maybe at some point I will FINALLY be the proud owner of a good home version of DK with all four screens!

Edited by brojamfootball, Sun Jul 5, 2009 12:42 AM.

[opcode]

Pixelboy, on Sun Jul 5, 2009 12:40 AM, said:

opcode, on Sat Jul 4, 2009 11:09 PM, said:

Stage 2 or the conveyor belt stage...

Another tantalizing demo!

Thank you. You know, porting DK isn't that hard after all. The graphics are a lot of work, more than Arkanoid, but game logic is much simpler.

Quote

So you're controlling Mario yourself in these latest videos?

Yep, I changed attract mode so I could select the stage and control Mario myself. I still need to post a video showing Mario using the elevators in stage 3. Pretty cool…

Quote

This would imply that you got the CV controller input routines working.

Input routines were done long ago (in 2007), as were the preliminary sprite driver showing Mario. I just finished some of the animations in each stage,

Quote

From what I can see here, only the barrels, fireballs, firefoxes and springs are left to include,

Actually a lot more than that. Before I get to the sprite driver I still need to finish the fire animation over the oil barrel in stage 1 and 2, Mario handling hammers, Mario catching Pauline items, Mario death animation, barrels being removed from the barrel stack in stage 1 (that happens in the last 400 bonus points in that stage), DK scrolling in stage 2 and perhaps a few things more...
Most of the enemies like springs, fireballs, barrels etc are already implemented, but we won't see them till I finish the sprite driver, which for this game will be very complex.

Quote

which I would expect is the really challenging part, mostly in terms of designing a sprite manager that will minimize flicker, but also adapting the enemy AI to the TV screen resolution. Looks like you got your work cut out for you, Eduardo.

Actually the enemies were pretty easy to do; I ported them in an afternoon. The problem will be the sprite driver.
It's quite possible that this version will be the first one with enemies that behave exactly like the arcade, and I believe you will be able to see that especially in stage 1, with the "skull" barrels.
As for the sprite driver, since we have plenty of space in the MegaCart, I was thinking about offering the user the option to select between two different sprite drivers: for those who like colorful sprites (myself included), you can select enemies with two colors, though flicker could be a little more intense in some places, while those who absolutely hate flicker can select enemies with just a color.
Stage 1 will be specially challenging for the sprite driver, as that stage uses up to 16 enemies on screen. Considering 2 sprites per enemy, you have all 32 sprites allocated to enemies. So the sprite driver would need to deal with sprite multiplexing too. Of course that only happens in extreme cases, for a short period.

Quote

By the way, is it just me, or is Mario's walking animation a little too fast? I know the hands are supposed to go back and forth at a rather high speed, but the feet seem to be flapping faster than WB's Tasmanian Devil. Maybe it's just me...

EDIT: Never mind, I just checked some DK arcade game footage on YouTube. So it IS just me.

Animation is absolutely arcade perfect, both in terms of speed and graphics (except perhaps for colors). I have heard some Atari 800 users bragging that their version (aka DK with cavities) is the best one available on any classic system. So I hope this new port will show them why the CV is THE “arcade quality system”. Damn, I hope that even NES fans (which is a system I respect very much, btw) will be envy...

Eduardo

[Jess Ragan]

Yeah, then maybe you can make a ColecoVision version of Gorf that actually resembles the arcade game.

Hey, any plans for that ColecoVision BASIC you mentioned in passing earlier? That'd be pretty sweet. Martijn Wenting claimed that he had made a Vectrex BASIC, but I was never able to find it online at all... not on his site, not on any newsgroups, nowhere. A year later, I feel like he was full of hot air and that no Vectrex BASIC ever actually existed.

[Pixelboy]

opcode, on Sun Jul 5, 2009 11:06 AM, said:

Pixelboy, on Sun Jul 5, 2009 12:40 AM, said:

Another tantalizing demo!

Thank you. You know, porting DK isn't that hard after all. The graphics are a lot of work, more than Arkanoid, but game logic is much simpler.

Simpler than a paddle moving left and right, with a ball traveling in diagonal trajectories and hitting immobile bricks? I find that hard to believe.

Quote

Quote

So you're controlling Mario yourself in these latest videos?

Yep, I changed attract mode so I could select the stage and control Mario myself. I still need to post a video showing Mario using the elevators in stage 3. Pretty cool…

I'd bet!

Quote

Quote

From what I can see here, only the barrels, fireballs, firefoxes and springs are left to include,

Actually a lot more than that. Before I get to the sprite driver I still need to finish the fire animation over the oil barrel in stage 1 and 2, Mario handling hammers, Mario catching Pauline items, Mario death animation, barrels being removed from the barrel stack in stage 1 (that happens in the last 400 bonus points in that stage), DK scrolling in stage 2 and perhaps a few things more...

Wait a minute, DK scrolling in stage 2? You're going to do it after all?? That's great! I'm glad you changed your mind about that! I put a lot of work into those horizontal DK scrolling graphics... Same goes for DK's intro screen animations.

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As for the sprite driver, since we have plenty of space in the MegaCart, I was thinking about offering the user the option to select between two different sprite drivers: for those who like colorful sprites (myself included), you can select enemies with two colors, though flicker could be a little more intense in some places, while those who absolutely hate flicker can select enemies with just a color.

I can't speak for others, but I like that idea a lot.

Quote

Animation is absolutely arcade perfect, both in terms of speed and graphics (except perhaps for colors). I have heard some Atari 800 users bragging that their version (aka DK with cavities) is the best one available on any classic system. So I hope this new port will show them why the CV is THE “arcade quality system”. Damn, I hope that even NES fans (which is a system I respect very much, btw) will be envy...

I believe their envy will be directly proportionate to the quality of the sprite driver, and also the arcade-faithfulness of the sound output. For the rest, I'd say you're already on the right track.

Keep up the good work!

[opcode]

Stage 1, still missing barrels and fires...

[bgg]

Wow! Donkey Kong is really looking awesome. Great job.

[opcode]

Ok, now stage 3 with springs...



BTW, no sprite flickering routine yet...

Edited by opcode, Tue Jul 7, 2009 9:47 AM.

[Tempest]

I wonder if those 'new' levels that that guy made for the arcade version could be hacked into this? That is if he gave permission of course.

Tempest

[opcode]

Tempest, on Tue Jul 7, 2009 12:27 PM, said:

I wonder if those 'new' levels that that guy made for the arcade version could be hacked into this? That is if he gave permission of course.

Tempest

Which new levels?

[Tempest]

opcode, on Tue Jul 7, 2009 12:04 PM, said:

Tempest, on Tue Jul 7, 2009 12:27 PM, said:

I wonder if those 'new' levels that that guy made for the arcade version could be hacked into this? That is if he gave permission of course.

Tempest

Which new levels?

These: http://www.arcadesho...ongmultikit.htm

This is the guy who made it: http://www.jeffsromh...roducts/d2k.htm

I'd pay big money to play those levels. Currently the only way you can play them is if you own a DK arcade machine and have his hack installed, which isn't an option for most of us. They were fun levels, brutally hard, but fun. I got to play it at MGC two years ago.

Tempest

[opcode]

Tempest, on Tue Jul 7, 2009 1:08 PM, said:

opcode, on Tue Jul 7, 2009 12:04 PM, said:

Tempest, on Tue Jul 7, 2009 12:27 PM, said:

I wonder if those 'new' levels that that guy made for the arcade version could be hacked into this? That is if he gave permission of course.

Tempest

Which new levels?

These: http://www.arcadesho...ongmultikit.htm

This is the guy who made it: http://www.jeffsromh...roducts/d2k.htm

I'd pay big money to play those levels. Currently the only way you can play them is if you own a DK arcade machine and have his hack installed, which isn't an option for most of us. They were fun levels, brutally hard, but fun. I got to play it at MGC two years ago.

Tempest

Interesting. Actually I saw a video showing the game a few days ago. Who knows, I would try to contact the creator and ask for permission...
On the other hand I have those many original levels that Pixelboy created a couple of years ago that would also be very entertaining. But lets see how much time the original game takes to port and how enthusiastic I would be about adding more stuff after that...

[Trebor]

Tempest, on Tue Jul 7, 2009 12:08 PM, said:

Currently the only way you can play them is if you own a DK arcade machine and have his hack installed, which isn't an option for most of us.

That is incorrect. They play perfectly under MisFitMAME 0.127F. It has been available and plays fine since 0.127D [Released Nov 3 2008]. You just need to download and install MisFitMAME:

http://www.mameworld...t...part=1&vc=1

...And of course locate the ROMs

-Trebor

[Tempest]

opcode, on Tue Jul 7, 2009 1:37 PM, said:

Interesting. Actually I saw a video showing the game a few days ago. Who knows, I would try to contact the creator and ask for permission...
On the other hand I have those many original levels that Pixelboy created a couple of years ago that would also be very entertaining. But lets see how much time the original game takes to port and how enthusiastic I would be about adding more stuff after that...

A 'Super' Donkey Kong cart with new levels would be awesome. Something that would add replay value to those of us who have played the original DK to death.

Trebor, on Tue Jul 7, 2009 1:41 PM, said:

Tempest, on Tue Jul 7, 2009 12:08 PM, said:

Currently the only way you can play them is if you own a DK arcade machine and have his hack installed, which isn't an option for most of us.

That is incorrect. They play perfectly under MisFitMAME 0.127F. It has been available and plays fine since 0.127D [Released Nov 3 2008]. You just need to download and install MisFitMAME:

http://www.mameworld...t...part=1&vc=1

...And of course locate the ROMs

I wasn't aware that the ROMs had been dumped. Interesting...

Tempest