32 replies to this topic

[Mr SQL]

I just picked up a copy of Fred's batari basic 1.0 and I think it's fantastic!
I wrote commercial games in assembly and basic in the 80's but the Atari was before my time.

Here is a sequel to a port of Blitz that I had written a commercial version of in 6809 assembly in 1985; Blitz was originally released on the Vic-20 a few years before that.

Please enjoy this game and let me know what you think of the quality; I had some friends over poking fun at the old 2600 who ended up playing it for hours and thought the action was great (after the first screen).

Here's the scenario for City Scape:

You pilot a Fighter Plane over a rainbow spectrum of enemy cities and blast them into smithereens. Your plane swoops lower and lower with each pass, kind of like space invaders only you are the invader. You can accelerate (turbo) which turns up the action, particularly when things get interesting as you progress through the spectrum and an Artillery ground unit starts defending the cities (again like space invaders in reverse). Watch your speed and timing, the ground unit will chase you and try to blast you down. It's heavily armoured but you can stun it for a brief respite if you hit it just right.

Also curious if anyone knows if there exists a port of the original Vic-20 Blitz game ( it was like this game is on the first screen).

Attached Files

•  cscape.bin   8K   66 downloads

Edited by Mr SQL, Thu Sep 8, 2011 12:17 PM.

[disjaukifa]

I'll check it out tonight when I get home. I always enjoy playing new 2600 games

[Random Terrain]

You might want to check out this thread:

http://www.atariage....nt-with-stella/

[Mr SQL]

Random Terrain, on Tue Sep 6, 2011 12:08 PM, said:

You might want to check out this thread:

http://www.atariage....nt-with-stella/

Thanks RT; I think this is an intermitten bug - you will notice that screens with a lot more action can be rock solid while sometimes even the first screen (which has less happening) shimmers a bit. I haven't tracked it down but it doesn't affect playability too much and usually goes away on the next screen

[purduecrum]

A canyon-bomber type of game with the possibility of crashing rather than a quest to earn as many points as possible in each round (as your aircraft flies safely above the canyon).

Any chance you'll post the source code?

[RevEng]

Mr SQL, on Tue Sep 6, 2011 11:54 AM, said:

...Also curious if anyone knows if there exists a port of the original Vic-20 Blitz game ( it was like this game is on the first screen).

There was an unfinished port of Blitz by SeaGtGruff.

Good job with your game - a great first effort!

[Mr SQL]

purduecrum, on Tue Sep 6, 2011 12:33 PM, said:

A canyon-bomber type of game with the possibility of crashing rather than a quest to earn as many points as possible in each round (as your aircraft flies safely above the canyon).

Any chance you'll post the source code?

purduecrum,
Absolutely, I'll post the source tonight. Good description, glad you liked the game! When I played with friends the other day the objective quickly became seeing how many cityscapes we could get through with the liberal use of Turbo without crashing or getting blasted.

[Mr SQL]

RevEng, on Tue Sep 6, 2011 1:12 PM, said:

Mr SQL, on Tue Sep 6, 2011 11:54 AM, said:

...Also curious if anyone knows if there exists a port of the original Vic-20 Blitz game ( it was like this game is on the first screen).

There was an unfinished port of Blitz by SeaGtGruff.

Good job with your game - a great first effort!

RevEng,
thank you, it was a ton of fun writing it and development went really fast - built it over the weekend. Batari Basic is really RAD for building 2600 games!

SeaGtGruff's Blitz cover looks pretty cool and is very close to the vic-20 version. It's functional too, I was just playing it.

[jsmith73]

Seriously fun. I just downloaded it to my phone. Thanks so much for sharing this with us!

[Yart]

This is awesome and addictive. I had to be pulled away from it.

This needs to be on cart.

[Mr SQL]

jsmith73, on Tue Sep 6, 2011 1:57 PM, said:

Seriously fun. I just downloaded it to my phone. Thanks so much for sharing this with us!

You're welcome JS, I'm glad you like it!

Yart, on Tue Sep 6, 2011 2:31 PM, said:

This is awesome and addictive. I had to be pulled away from it.

This needs to be on cart.

Thanks Yart, that's a great compliment!
Has anyone tried it on a real 2600 yet?

[Mr SQL]

PD,
Here's the source I promised to post.
RT,
I fixed the occasional raster scan bug you alluded too; not sure which version plays slightly better though, this one may be a tad harder

Attached Files

•  cscape.bas   7.39K   24 downloads

[sandmountainslim]

Fired it up after a visit to the dentist. GOOD ONE! Even took my mind off tooth discomfort and and a deadened mouth lol

[Cebus Capucinis]

Can we see some screenshots?

[Yart]

I don't have access to the game this very second, but I drew a pretty accurate mockup in everyone's favourite drawing program.

[KevinMos3]

Very nice. I like the sounds. It's fun to play, but just needs some type of scoring and lives counter.

[Impaler_26]

Very nice game!

It's already lots of fun to play, i especially like the boost and the enemy.
I think it would be even more fun with limited lives and a score. This could become a great game with some more fine tuning IMO.

A few screenshots for those who asked:

[Mr SQL]

KevinMos3, on Tue Sep 6, 2011 10:24 PM, said:

Very nice. I like the sounds. It's fun to play, but just needs some type of scoring and lives counter.

Thanks Kevin! IMO scoring and lives can potential detract from the action. Try this rebuild, the enemy is a bit more lively but it might be too tough. My friends had trouble getting through more than a couple of levels in a row.

Impaler_26, on Wed Sep 7, 2011 5:15 AM, said:

Very nice game!

It's already lots of fun to play, i especially like the boost and the enemy.
I think it would be even more fun with limited lives and a score. This could become a great game with some more fine tuning IMO.

Thanks Impaler! The rebuild may be a bit better tuned (or worse)

Attached Files

•  cscape.bin   8K   41 downloads

[jsmith73]

I downloaded and tried the rebuild, it seems a little smoother than the first iteration.

I am still having a blast with this! Mr SQL you rock!

[Random Terrain]

In case you want to know, it's still going over 262.

[Yart]

There's a minor bug.

When you die, the enemy's shot stays in the exact same spot. Sometimes it results in dying as soon as the level starts.

[Mr SQL]

jsmith73, on Wed Sep 7, 2011 11:21 AM, said:

I downloaded and tried the rebuild, it seems a little smoother than the first iteration.

I am still having a blast with this! Mr SQL you rock!

Cool, thanks jsmith!

Random Terrain, on Wed Sep 7, 2011 11:29 AM, said:

In case you want to know, it's still going over 262.

RT,
thanks, I tried the timing check you described with Stella. With the rebuild I had pulled out a loop that called pfreadpixel 30x with a single call, but I also pulled two band-aid calls to drawscreen during the iteration so perhaps I should put one back.

What's odd to me is the intermittance; many screens are rock solid and don't flicker even with the old build. Perhaps the luminance of the cityscape is a factor?

Yart,
the bug you found could also be involved. I'll fix that and we'll see what happens

[Random Terrain]

Mr SQL, on Wed Sep 7, 2011 3:53 PM, said:

What's odd to me is the intermittance; many screens are rock solid and don't flicker even with the old build. Perhaps the luminance of the cityscape is a factor?

The screen doesn't have to flicker to go over 262. You might want to try debug cyclescore:

http://www.randomter...ands.html#debug

[Mr SQL]

Here's a new build with the bug fixed that Yart had found and absolutely no flicker on any game screens

It's also tuned to be a little tougher. We just played it for a couple of hours with no crashes and having to reload. Comments on this build were that the different screens started to feel like colour therapy with a hypnotic pleasing effect, and that the cities looked martian

RT thanks for the info on the debug screenflash, that's a great utility!

Attached Files

•  cscape.bin   8K   60 downloads

[disjaukifa]

Mr SQL, on Wed Sep 7, 2011 8:36 PM, said:

Here's a new build with the bug fixed that Yart had found and absolutely no flicker on any game screens

It's also tuned to be a little tougher. We just played it for a couple of hours with no crashes and having to reload. Comments on this build were that the different screens started to feel like colour therapy with a hypnotic pleasing effect, and that the cities looked martian

RT thanks for the info on the debug screenflash, that's a great utility!

Just played a couple of rounds on the good ol 2600. Fun game, first time I've played it honestly, but it was challenging in a variety of ways. may I make a suggest? Don't have a ship on the bottom following you, make it so you have two or three on the bottom that are stationary but still shoot at you . . . just an idea.

Good job!