Jump to content
IGNORED

EggVenture 2600 (Beta testing feedback WIP)


ScumSoft

Recommended Posts

EggVenture 2600 Current version (RC4)

 

RC4 Version notes:

Bounce physics have been adjusted so that it reflects correctly, thanks to Thomas Jentzsch for pointing me in the right direction.

Bug fixes and adjustments to gameplay mechanics were made.

Quackers should no longer be picky about landing.

Screen transition clipping should be minimized, its still not 100% prevented, so try not to collide in the corners while moving from screen to screen.

Holding Fire down is hover mode allowing you to maintain height, holding fire and using the D-pad is now the correct way to move around.

Snake spitting and Dragon battle has been tamed a bit.

Some items have had their artwork redone.

Lots of performance optimizations, scanline count should hold at 262 except for a few known cases.

 

A lot has changed since the games inception in 2011:

Artwork has been completely redone and improved greatly

Levels have been improved and more were added

The intro and ending sequences have been greatly improved

There are now secrets to discover and multiple endings to achieve

Puzzle items and logic have changed and some are Red Herrings

Multiple Game Modes to play in have been added, Basic, Full and Crazy mode

 

Gameplay mechanics have been greatly improved, you no longer die touching the playfield and can even land!

Landing will allow Quackers to gulp down air making him light enough to fly, this is indicated by the Power meter in the bottom right of the screen

He can bounce around giving him a speed boost

 

If Quackers finds himself not wanting to move because he found a nice comfy spot to be lazy in, then pressing the GameSelect switch will respawn him back in the Chicken Coop, this will not use up a life if playing in the Full or Crazy game modes.

 

Instructions for play:

JOYSTICK: Controls Quackers flight left and right, down will make Quackers fall faster, Up will slow his descent

                 Holding down Fire and using the D-pad to maneuver is recommended

 

JoystickUP+FIRE: Will activate a PowerFlap boost, this drains his Power meter and can only be used for a limited time, land to regain his energy

[On 2 button controllers]

FireButton(B): Is normal flap and does not consume energy

FireButton[C]: PowerFlap

 

LeftSwitch(B): Basic mode, this mode has unlimited lives and the puzzle items are given in a linear sequence, they can be skipped if not wanted

There is only one ending allowed in this mode, and the extra level areas and sequences are not available. Keeps things short and simple, great for learning the game mechanics.

LeftSwitch[A]: FullGameMode, this mode has only 5 lives, but allows for the full game experience, the items and puzzles are not linear, all puzzle sequences are available, and all endings are achievable.

 

RightSwitch(B): Disables CrazyMode

RightSwitch[A]: Enables CrazyMode, this mode changes the level layout to be more challenging, and there are a few added surprises awaiting. All endings and secrets are achievable in this mode.

(in this mode FullGameMode is NOT automatically enabled, you can thus practice the mode with unlimited lives and linear puzzle items or enable FullGameMode (left switch A) to play a real challenge)

[NOTE] Be sure to press reset or power off/on when changing the game switches to another mode!

 

Color/BW: Pauses the game

Reset: does what it says, hold reset to reset the game.

 

NOTE:

During the ending sequences the Reset and joystick Fire buttons are disabled until the ending reaches a state of looping, at which time pressing reset or HOLDING DOWN the Firebutton will reset the game, tapping fire will not reset it for you.

 

I hope you enjoy this much improved version of the game!

 

There are secrets in the game and multiple endings, red herrings and FUN FUN FUN!!!

Remember you can only see the whole game and endings if playing in Full Game Mode.

 

Special thanks to my Wife for her continued support and encouragement through the long coding hours and for helping with the new gameplay and GFX's

Special thanks to DrKirth for some thorough beta testing

Special thanks to ZeroPage Homebrew for rekindling my interest in this game, coding on the 2600, and supporting this wonderful community's homebrews

Thanks to Philsan 10 years overdue, for helping me get started with the original physics code, it has since evolved but still has some of the original in it!

Thanks to RevEng for his continued support of Batari Basic all these years

Thanks to Batari for Batari Basic and the awesome development carts

and a Thank You to all play testers! you poor guinea pigs you! ;)

 

Coop.JPG

Moon.JPG

 

 

EggVenture_2600_(NTSC)(2021_ScumSoftware_RC4).bin

Edited by ScumSoft
Updated 01_17_2021 to version RC4
  • Like 10
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

They better be nice, they are modified based on your LEMs physics code. Which of course I will credit once a credit page it done for it :)

Very modified!

I really like the way your character moves!

 

My L.E.M. for Atari 8-bit computers has physics, VCS version hasn't physics!

But I am happy if my program in some way has inspired you!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yep, I've learned a bit from your code. Didn't know bB supported floats till I saw your source and then looked it up on Random Terrains site. It's a learning experience for sure. Game design isn't my forte but I've always wanted to do this, so I'm working diligently on completing this game before the month ends.

 

It can be done! I think :) been pulling all nighters lately. Seeing the sun rise was a rare thing for me you know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Really solid start ScumSoft!

 

To throw a few ideas out there, maybe you could have the playfield be always destructive, with your goal being to rescue a chick that's walking back and forth on part of the level.

 

The chick would only grab hold if he's nearby and you're hovering near his level. Once he's onboard, you need to take-off again.

 

There might even be multiple chicks, ala Flicky, which would make navigating the ascent even harder, though they might flicker a bit.

 

The other players might be used as roving enemies or dynamic parts of the playfield.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Neat idea, I might be able to do level based mini-games ala Wario Ware style instead of focusing on landing pad repetition.

 

I'll see what I can come up with. But for now my coding day has ended and it is time for some sleep. I'll cya in a couple hours or so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I gave it a run-through. Some observations...

 

  • I like the "bacock" graphic. Nice touch!
  • The titlescreen shading is nice.
  • The score seems to get messed up at certain values.
  • On the level with upper and lower paths to the landing pad, the chicken seems to float up on it's own when you start.

 

I'll take a look at the DPC bouncing tonight. I tried the first bB DPC beta and it ran smooth in harmony, but I haven't tried the second beta on real hardware... it's possible your scanline bounce is an issue with the beta itself.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I reversed the gravity on that level for a different touch, it may or may not appeal to many though.

 

It's odd, since none of the binaries I've posted worked on my harmony. I've tried many different DFxFRACDATA values for the playfield and different playfield heights, but they all bounced. I'm sure it's most likely some oversight of mine.

 

Thanks for helping me test.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I reversed the gravity on that level for a different touch, it may or may not appeal to many though.

It's not a bad idea, but there should be some sign that something is different... an upside down chicken or inverted colors or glowing purple walls or whatever.

 

Another spitball idea - you could have stuff that effects sideways velocity too, like the electric fans in Bubble Ghost.

 

 

I'm sure it's most likely some oversight of mine.

Not at all - I reproduced it with very simple code, and the first beta definitely wasn't doing that.

 

I submitted the bug report, so for now just stick to Stella.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I played for a while, and I'll be playing it again. This is very interesting! :thumbsup:

 

Some of the screens, like the castle, have a very thin bit of playfield at the bottom - to the beginner it's not entirely obvious if those are barriers or not until they kill you.

 

Phil, from ScumSoft's description it sounds like a DPC+ issue, so I'm not going to be able to be a great help. I'd raise it with batari... the fact that Stella differs from Harmony makes it sound like either a bug or some undocumented behavior.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The issue:

Player sprites start to get erased or misaligned.

Score color changes to a random color, mostly purple.

Background changes to same shade as score color.

 

My pointers are set as such:

DF0FRACINC = 32

DF1FRACINC = 32

DF2FRACINC = 32

DF3FRACINC = 32

DF4FRACINC = 64

DF6FRACINC = 64

 

Playfield size = 23 lines, 22 causes graphic artifacts in the score region, 23 seems to fit okay though, but there is that slim playfield line right above the score region.

Also at the top right of the screen.

PlayfieldColor and bkcolors tables are set to 23 bytes.

 

I make any changes to the pointers and things go wonky, this looks the most stable. I might just have everything set incorrectly. Close but no cigar. Stella seems to handle the pointers differently.

 

Scorecolor is missing for current release (waiting for fix from batari in next release), so I set the bkcolors all to $00 except byte 23 which falls in the score region, and reflects the difficulty setting.

Green = easy, Blue = hard

Edited by ScumSoft
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll do the conversion now before final release, so I can launch both versions at the same time once done.

 

Is there a PAL limitation in batariBasic? Setting the kernel to PAL doesn't position the score at the bottom of the screen and it still only produces 262 scanlines.

DPC+ support only for NTSC right now?

 

@abaudrand

This is something I've debated at length about, and I've decided due to the bugs collision against the playfield would cause that it's best if colliding simply kills the player instead of bouncing off the walls at low velocities. You can though safely bounce in your Home Tree.

Mostly because the player at max velocity is moving 2 pixels at a time, the player embeds themselves into the playfield far enough that my collision code would cause the player position to float through the playfield, thus causing issues on screen wrapping. Also allowing the player to gather the final egg before your supposed to be able to.

 

[edit]

Okay I posted a PAL version, but it is stuck to 262 scanlines right now.

Edited by ScumSoft
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is there a PAL limitation in batariBasic? Setting the kernel to PAL doesn't position the score at the bottom of the screen and it still only produces 262 scanlines.

DPC+ support only for NTSC right now?

Yes, I believe the bB DPC+ kernel is NTSC/PAL60 only at the moment.

 

I think PAL60 is good enough for most people with PAL sets. If you decide to go regular PAL your titlescreen will look more flickery and you'll need to adjust the internal speeds all around. (or let the game play at 83% of the NTSC speed)

 

In my second session I finished the game, though my score was pretty low - damned bat!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...