109 replies to this topic

[Goochman]

Cafeman, on Thu Feb 9, 2012 9:00 PM, said:

phonedork, on Wed Feb 1, 2012 12:57 AM, said:

Hows it going Cafeman? I keep coming back here every week to see if there is an update.

Lookit you, all duded up in your new Avatar pic!

I won't abandon it, I worked on the game last night a bit more. "how's it going" posts remind me/motivate me about the project.

Hows it going?

[DracIsBack]

My XEGS is dying. It's lonely. It needs Adventure II to revive it ...

[Cafeman]

DracIsBack, on Wed Mar 14, 2012 8:25 PM, said:

My XEGS is dying. It's lonely. It needs Adventure II to revive it ...

My goals for the project:

1. Get it working on A8 as 64K bank-switch software. (done)
2. Change the hiding locations of 3 secret dots for every game variation (done)
3. a few minor maze & graphics tweaks including new font on title/win screens (done)
4. Improve the engine performance which took a hit due to the porting process (collision issues on busy screens / visual DLI color change errors on some screens - I've been working on this for a few weeks but haven't had a lot of time to devote to it).

5. New rankings along with stats on the win screen (75% coded).
6. (secret addition #1) - I don't want to reveal it, but it involves a new dragon showing up sometimes. (don't know if I'll do this now that I've taken too much time already)
7. (secret addition #2) - basically changing what & where the 'secret screen' is after you find all 3 dots. (not started, not sure if I'll do it now).
8. New sounds & Music - (40% done. It's all set up with 1 or 2 new sounds. I just need to type in the data and fine-tune it. I'll do this last).

Keep checking in. Once I figure out the engine performance, the rest will be more 'fun work'.

[accousticguitar]

Thanks for the update.

[phonedork]

Cafeman, How we looking? I am just itching to play this on my Atari 1200XL!

[Cafeman]

It took a while, but finally I found a certain bug and was able to stop it from occurring, and in doing so I got rid of some patch-code that was causing performance issues on the A8 port. Now I'm back to actually working on buttoning up the game again, the fun stuff! Here's an update on my goals and what comes next, bold text is new:

My goals for the project:

1. Get it working on A8 as 64K (XE-format) bank-switch software. (done)
2. Change the hiding locations of 3 secret dots for every game variation. Also change hiding locations (more randomness) for items. (done)
3. a few minor maze & graphics tweaks including new font on title/win screens (done)
4. Improve the engine performance which took a hit due to the porting process (collision issues on busy screens / visual DLI color change errors on some screens ) Done as of 4/28/2012. There still might be the occassional DLI 'flash' but its much better and I consider it done, moving on...
5. Work with Tep392 to program dual-bankswitch schemes - XE cart scheme AND the more common Ram-cart scheme. Once this is accomplished, I'll post some demo's for any interested parties to play with, this will also help with finding any bugs.
6. New rankings along with stats on the win screen (75% coded).
7. New sounds & music - The 'engine' is already in, now I need to transcribe my musical ideas (from half a year ago) into code.
8. Just a few more additions. What I still intend to put in: changes to the 'secret screen'; changes to what happens when you win the game; and I want to put in 1 new 'secret' dragon which players will need to 'trigger' its appearance. (and ohh... she's mean!)
9. After than, some thorough testing sessions on real hardware to make sure it all works and no new bugs! Then I consider it done.

[accousticguitar]

How random will the objects be?

[Cafeman]

accousticguitar, on Mon Apr 30, 2012 2:57 PM, said:

How random will the objects be?

I'm starting to suspect that accousticguitar is concerned about the amount of randomness.

Okay, here's your answer, don't tell anyone!

LDA SKRES
AND #%00001111
STA ItemLocation

Seriously, some restraint must still exist - I don't want to force the player to trek from one distant corner of the game world and back again. I plan on continuing to tweak this as I play-test it. There are all levels of players, so I have decided to go for a title-screen toggle switch between normal and 'very random' modes.

Normal random games: (just pick a level and press START) - if you're familiar with the 5200 version, you'll immediately spot differences and have to go huntin' round.

"Very random" games: (a certain key press will toggle this on-off. You'll see an indicator on the title screen so you know for sure). In this mode, all items will be distributed around more widely. Some of these games could be very tough to beat, especially playing on harder variations.

EDIT - you know what, my previous reply was too much detail. Edited down.

Edited by Cafeman, Tue May 1, 2012 6:13 PM.

[accousticguitar]

"Very random," I like the sound of that! Can't wait for this to come out!

[phonedork]

accousticguitar, on Wed May 2, 2012 6:12 AM, said:

"Very random," I like the sound of that! Can't wait for this to come out!

Me toooooo!!!!!!