40 replies to this topic

[jrok]

GroovyBee, on Sat Jul 11, 2009 5:01 PM, said:

jrok, on Sat Jul 11, 2009 9:45 PM, said:

Does this version roll?

Nope. Colours are out tho. Grass is blue, sky is pink, knight on first level is red, border around the radar is green on title page and white while playing. Other than that it looks good.

Yeah, I'll have to do a PAL palette conversion eventually. Thanks for the test.

[sandmountainslim]

I am getting a little better! I scored this by killing the knights and didn't zap the first dragon in the game.
Wp

[Thomas Jentzsch]

if r >= 0 && r < 32 then dragon1x = spawnpoint1
  if r >= 16 && r < 32 then dragon1x = spawnpoint2

The r<32 in the 1st line looks like a bug.

Not sure what you can do in Basic, but probably you could shift r right 4 times (or divide by 16) and then look up the spawn point from a table.

[jrok]

Thomas Jentzsch, on Sat Jul 11, 2009 5:42 PM, said:

if r >= 0 && r < 32 then dragon1x = spawnpoint1
  if r >= 16 && r < 32 then dragon1x = spawnpoint2

The r<32 in the 1st line looks like a bug.

Thanks Thomas.

Thomas Jentzsch, on Sat Jul 11, 2009 5:42 PM, said:

Not sure what you can do in Basic, but probably you could shift r right 4 times (or divide by 16) and then look up the spawn point from a table.

Ah, I think I see. So something like:

  
  r = rand
  r = r/16

  dragon1x = spawntable[r]

I feel like such a dunce for missing that. I was actually in the process of devising an offset table to run additional simultaneous dragons that functions in a similar way, so I feel doubly dumb for wasting all those cycles. Thanks again!

Jarod.

EDT: Yes, that works extremely well. Much better. Cheers!

Edited by jrok, Sat Jul 11, 2009 3:59 PM.

[batari]

Thomas Jentzsch, on Sat Jul 11, 2009 4:42 PM, said:

if r >= 0 && r < 32 then dragon1x = spawnpoint1
  if r >= 16 && r < 32 then dragon1x = spawnpoint2

The r<32 in the 1st line looks like a bug.

Not sure what you can do in Basic, but probably you could shift r right 4 times (or divide by 16) and then look up the spawn point from a table.

Agreed, but there is no need to divide here since he's using a random number - just mask off the upper 4 bits.

There needs to be a special case for "spawnpoint4" though, as its window is 8 units wide while the others are 16, and a special case for "offscreen" might save a little space as well.

Something like this should work, assuming "spawnpoint(1-10)" are constants:

  temp1=rand
  r=temp1&15
  if temp1>152 then dragon1x=offscreen:goto SkipStartDragon
  if temp1>144 then dragon1x=spawnpoint4 else dragon1x=spawnpoint[r]
  data spawnpoint
  spawnpoint1, spawnpoint2, spawnpoint3, spawnpoint5, spawnpoint6
  spawnpoint7, spawnpoint8, spawnpoint9, spawnpoint10
end

If "spawnpoint(1-10)" are not constants, it can still be done but requires slightly different code.

[jrok]

batari, on Sat Jul 11, 2009 6:02 PM, said:

Thomas Jentzsch, on Sat Jul 11, 2009 4:42 PM, said:

if r >= 0 && r < 32 then dragon1x = spawnpoint1
  if r >= 16 && r < 32 then dragon1x = spawnpoint2

The r<32 in the 1st line looks like a bug.

Not sure what you can do in Basic, but probably you could shift r right 4 times (or divide by 16) and then look up the spawn point from a table.

Agreed, but there is no need to divide here since he's using a random number - just mask off the upper 4 bits.

There needs to be a special case for "spawnpoint4" though, as its window is 8 units wide while the others are 16, and a special case for "offscreen" might save a little space as well.

Something like this should work, assuming "spawnpoint(1-10)" are constants:

  temp1=rand
  r=temp1&15
  if temp1>152 then dragon1x=offscreen:goto SkipStartDragon
  if temp1>144 then dragon1x=spawnpoint4 else dragon1x=spawnpoint[r]
  data spawnpoint
  spawnpoint1, spawnpoint2, spawnpoint3, spawnpoint5, spawnpoint6
  spawnpoint7, spawnpoint8, spawnpoint9, spawnpoint10
end

If "spawnpoint(1-10)" are not constants, it can still be done but requires slightly different code.

Thanks batari. "spawnpoint4" width was a typo on my part. The only special case is "offscreen," and this bitmask works well too.

This is a little off-topic, but is there a way to define fractional values in a data table? I have one long case routine that sets a fixed-point variable to a series of 16 fractional constants. It seems like this would be much better suited moving a pointer through an array, but the "data" statement doesn't appear to accept fractions.

[sandmountainslim]

A new personal hi score for me

Wp

Edited by sandmountainslim, Sun Jul 19, 2009 2:29 PM.

[jrok]

I've been able to squeeze a bit more out of the standard RAM, so I'm trying to expand the depth of gameplay here a bit. There are a couple of different directions this project could go in, so I'm a little curious to hear some feedback on some of these ideas from people who are playing the game. Some of these are already implemented, but I won't post the changes until they are fully debugged.

1. Foot Soldiers

These are mostly implemented right now, and will be a part of the next build I post. This is an alternate enemy ground unit; Essentially the weaker, more prevalent sibling of the Knight. They travel more slowly then the Knight, and are easier to hit. Each successful hit diminishes their rank by one (25 pts) until there are no soldiers left. A dead center hit, however, wipes out the entire unit with a single strike for bonus points (150pts) and a temporary speed boost in the direction you are moving.

Over time, I had the thought that an alternate, stronger Soldier variant might begin to appear who can lay siege to castles and eventually overtake them. Unlike a destroyed castle, Enemy Castles will erect walls that impede your movement around the kingdom and release a powerful Wizard who must be destroyed to free the castle.


2. Castle Repair and Upgrade
This is partially implemented right now. At the start of play, each castle has 18 hit points which diminish to zero as they are hit with dragonfire. In between waves, each castle automatically recieves 4 hit points of repair (during which a little contextual tune plays letting you know how the kingdom is doing overall.) This counts for destroyed castles as well, which are ressurected and restored to four hit points. If you protect your castles well in a round, even destroyed castles can eventually be restored to abundant health.

Here's the part that isn't implemented, but that I'm partial towards experimenting with. Although Castles begin at 18 health, they will continue to add health between rounds, even if their total hit points exceed 18. However, when a Castle reaches a ceiling of 30 hit points, it is automatically upgraded to one of four possible "Super" Castle types:

The Monastery

This castle type functions as a sort of "gas station" for the Knight's health bar, gradually healing his wounds while the sprite is touching it.

The Ballista

This castle attempts to wound/kill any nearby dragons with a giant crossbow.

The Fort

This castle has special fortifications that shield your knight from incoming dragonfire when positioned near it.

The Wizard's Tower

This castle will teleport your knight to within a screen length of a dragon when the sprite is touching it and the player presses the fire button.
EDT: Teleport the knight to any position in the kingdon. Touch the knight to the castle, press and hold the fire button, then move left or right to rapidly scroll the screen in either direction. Release the fire button to teleport to that position.

Like normal castles, these will gain health between levels, but if they drop below the 30 hit point ceiling, they will revert to standard castle forms. This sort of system might add a layer of strategic depth to the game, particularly in the later levels when you will have to make snap decisions about which castle to defend. I am still unsure if I can steer multiple dragons without the aid of the SARA chip, but I am fairly confident I could implement something like this within the standard RAM limit.

Any thoughts?

Edited by jrok, Tue Jul 21, 2009 4:49 PM.

[yuppicide]

I like all of your ideas! Except the "Wizard's Castle" thing. I like the upgrades and the pictures you posted.

[jrok]

yuppicide, on Mon Jul 20, 2009 1:39 PM, said:

I like all of your ideas! Except the "Wizard's Castle" thing. I like the upgrades and the pictures you posted.

Hmmm... what if you could teleport to wherever you want instead? The function would be that you would press and hold the fire button while positioned on the tower, press left or right on the joystick to scroll through the world at high speed then release the button to warp to that position?

[yuppicide]

Wait and see what other people think. I just didn't like teleporting at all in a medieval game, but that's just me. I do realize there were wizards in a lot of movies.

[jrok]

yuppicide, on Mon Jul 20, 2009 6:35 PM, said:

Wait and see what other people think. I just didn't like teleporting at all in a medieval game, but that's just me. I do realize there were wizards in a lot of movies.

Hrmmm... aw c'mon though, they're always doing hocus pocus in those King Arthuri Tales of Yor I mean, If I called it "Braveheart," I could see your point...

I was just trying to think of four unique (and useful) game mechanics, but I suppose I wasn't really thinking about theme that much. If you can think of something that covers both, I'm definitely open to suggestions.

Thanks,
J

[yuppicide]

I think I just need to try the game out with the teleport thing in.. see how it works into the gameplay. That'll probably make it fit right in for me. I'm pretty sure I'll like just about anything as this game is just that good.

I think for me it's just a matter of how it will work into the gameplay.

Edited by yuppicide, Tue Jul 21, 2009 7:41 AM.

[Legend]

I like the ideas for the four towers. The wizard idea is cool. Maybe an alternate would be to let the wizard powerup let you shoot horizontaly as well for a limited time after you touch it instead of teleporting. Any updates?

[cd-w]

Any progress on this? It was coming along very nicely.

Chris

[Legend]

I'm also wondering if there has been any progress. It's quite a fun game and I'm really hoping to see it get finished and see the new features mentioned earlier put into action.