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'Incoming' beta version

Started by Ben_Larson, Sep 3 2004 7:11 PM

20 replies to this topic

#1 Ben_Larson OFFLINE  

Ben_Larson

    Moonsweeper

  • 336 posts
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Posted Fri Sep 3, 2004 7:11 PM

I don't know if this has been very well publicized outside of the Stella list, but I'm pretty close to completion on my 4K VCS game 'Incoming'.

If you're unfamiliar with it, it's a game I started way back in 2001 - didn't work on for about a year at one point - and finally got around to finishing up. What it is, is a 1 or 2 player Sabotage / Scorched Earth - type shooting game, with dynamic, randomly-generated terrain.

I'm attaching the latest beta version (beta 3) of the ROM to this post for all who want to try it out or give feedback. It *has* been tested on real hardware (it's NTSC only at this point, BTW) and works fine. However, I think right now I'm the only person who has really tested it very much, and I was hoping to get some more feedback before finishing it. :)

One thing you will want to keep in mind is that the left and right difficulty switches, in combination, select the terrain roughness in the game - so if you play it on an emulator, all you will get is flat terrain initially until you change the difficulty switches.

Anyway, enjoy. FYI...I'm already at work on another game. Hopefully this one will not take 3 years to complete... :)

Ben

Attached Files


#2 Aaron OFFLINE  

Aaron

    Chopper Commander

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Posted Sat Sep 4, 2004 12:53 AM

Well, since you asked for some feedback, here we go.... :wink:

Graphically it's pretty simple, but very clean. Good job there.
The terrain generator seems pretty good too. Random, but no really jagged edges.

My only really major complaint is that there's no visible indicator of your firing angle. A single point that circled around the tank would be good enough... I don't think it would be that hard (space allowing), since you must already have a trig table in there somewhere, right?

Also, why is the 'A'ngle represented by an 'E'?

If there's room, a nice beefy explosion noise would be nice too :)

Quote

One thing you will want to keep in mind is that the left and right difficulty switches, in combination, select the terrain roughness in the game - so if you play it on an emulator, all you will get is flat terrain initially until you change the difficulty switches.
So... why not make the rougher terrain the default?

#3 StanJr OFFLINE  

StanJr

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Posted Sat Sep 4, 2004 12:55 AM

Aaron said:

Also, why is the 'A'ngle represented by an 'E'?


"E" elevation?

Looking great Ben, glad to see you didn't just let this baby go. :)

#4 Rob Mitchell OFFLINE  

Rob Mitchell

    River Patroller

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Posted Sat Sep 4, 2004 3:51 AM

Ben:

I've very much enjoyed playing your game on the Cuttle Carts over the past two years! So it is great to see a final version!

Just got through with 15 minutes of play!

1. I do not see the vertical bars that plagued the previous version when played on the 7800. :D

2. The various terrain selectable with difficulty switches is great! :)

3. One occasion a block of terrain was knocked out and a block remained stationary in mid air.

4. The gameplay is great and the AI is a challenge! Maybe an explosion and a graphic of an explosion would be nice. But as it is .. not necessary.

I really really like it! Thanks!

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

#5 Ben_Larson OFFLINE  

Ben_Larson

    Moonsweeper

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Posted Sun Sep 5, 2004 9:22 PM

Thanks for the feedback guys

Aaron, I agree that it would be cool to show a dot of some kind to indicate the angle. There's just no space left though, if it's gonna remain 4k. I guess I could make it 8k and add more features, but then I probably wouldn't be done for another 3 years... :)

Rob - were the 'vertical bars' you speak of really a series of little horizontal bars stacked vertically that would intermittantly appear on the left side of the screen? That was due a pretty nasty timing-related bug in the display kernel. It didn't show up in any of the emulators but DID when I tested it on real hardware not too long ago...which is always convenient. :)

As for the block remaining suspended in mid-air...that was actually how I intended it. I know some shooting games like Scorched Earth do the 'dirt falling' thing, but again, this was another feature that there was really no space left for, so I decided not to attempt.

Ben

#6 Rob Mitchell OFFLINE  

Rob Mitchell

    River Patroller

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Posted Tue Sep 7, 2004 3:52 PM

Ben_Larson said:

were the 'vertical bars' you speak of really a series of little horizontal bars stacked vertically that would intermittantly appear on the left side of the screen?  That was due a pretty nasty timing-related bug in the display kernel.  It didn't show up in any of the emulators but DID when I tested it on real hardware not too long ago...which is always convenient. :)

Yes .. exactly .. and these bars interfered with the firing! I'm glad that you got it fixed!

Is there any room for a brief explosion of sound? Or maybe a up/down whistle? As it is .. very enjoyable! Thanks!

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

#7 Gateway OFFLINE  

Gateway

    Stargunner

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Posted Sat Sep 11, 2004 6:00 PM

Just tried this latest version, and I like it! 8)

I agree, if an explosion for when you or your opponent is hit( even just an audio cue ) could be added, then I think that would be great.

As is, I found myself enjoying the game. Even experimenting with the Angle and Power levels. With no power and 90 degrees, you can punch a hole right underneath you! :D

I've tried your previous versions too in the past. I like the current one best.

#8 Albert OFFLINE  

Albert

    Quadrunner

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Posted Sat Sep 11, 2004 6:42 PM

We'll the latest version of Incoming! running at AtariAge booth during the Oklahoma Gaming Expo next weekend. Hope to see some of you there! :)

..Al

#9 Ben_Larson OFFLINE  

Ben_Larson

    Moonsweeper

  • 336 posts
  • Location:Columbus, OH, USA

Posted Sun Sep 12, 2004 5:43 PM

Ok, I have new beta version, beta 4, which I'm attaching. This one fixes a bug with the sound getting 'stuck on' as well as a bug with the shot going through the top pixel row.

As far as the explosion sound - I will see what I can do. Honestly I'd like to make one more improvement to the AI first though - namely some logic so that he takes wind into account when computing his first shot (currently it's just ignored)...

Ben

Attached Files


#10 Rob Mitchell OFFLINE  

Rob Mitchell

    River Patroller

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Posted Sun Sep 12, 2004 8:07 PM

Ben_Larson said:

I'd like to make one more improvement to the AI first though - namely some logic so that he takes wind into account when computing his first shot (currently it's just ignored)...

Gosh! I need every advantage over the AI that I can get! :roll:

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

#11 Ben_Larson OFFLINE  

Ben_Larson

    Moonsweeper

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Posted Mon Sep 13, 2004 12:37 PM

Quote

Gosh! I need every advantage over the AI that I can get!

:) Honestly, it's kind of hard for me to judge how good the AI is. I tend to beat it most of the time nowadays...but then again I've been playing the game for a while now, so I have no real frame of reference left. Ideally I'd like it to be difficult, but not to the point of frustration.

What does everyone else think of the AI?

Ben

#12 Aaron OFFLINE  

Aaron

    Chopper Commander

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Posted Tue Sep 14, 2004 12:21 AM

Ben_Larson said:

What does everyone else think of the AI?
The first time I played it hit me on the first shot a couple times in a row, which was rather annoying...... I think that was just bad luck on my part though as it hasn't done that in a while.

But based on that experience, I'd say you probably shouldn't make it any more accurate, if that's what you were planning. I don't know if you've given the AI any memory or not... but if you could make it more difficult, it would IMO be better to introduce the extra difficulty gradually after every shot.

#13 Ben_Larson OFFLINE  

Ben_Larson

    Moonsweeper

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Posted Tue Nov 30, 2004 1:23 AM

* crawls out of woodwork *

I am back. Again. :) My latest excuse for not wrapping things up is that I started grad school and was pretty much occupied with that and work for the last 2 1/2 months. But I am free now for the time being on Christmas break, so I figured it's time to get this game formally done before I have to change the copyright to 2005. :)

With that said, I think I'm ready to release the game. Originally I was going to make some further tweaks to the AI but I decided against it (There's only 18 bytes left and I don't think it's going to be possible). I've tested it fairly thoroughly and I think it works pretty well. The latest version is Beta 4. I am going to make that the release candiate and release it as V1.0 within a week or so, barring no major objections from anyone.

The fixes from Beta 3 are that the shot no longer passes through the top row of the terrain and the sound no longer gets 'stuck on' in certain cases when you fire your shot.

Enjoy!,
Ben

Attached Files


#14 Rob Mitchell OFFLINE  

Rob Mitchell

    River Patroller

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Posted Tue Nov 30, 2004 1:47 AM

Thanks Ben! I'll give it a try on the Cuttle Cart2 in the morning.

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

#15 Thomas Jentzsch OFFLINE  

Thomas Jentzsch

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Posted Tue Nov 30, 2004 7:16 AM

Ben_Larson said:

* crawls out of woodwork *
Welcome back! :)

Quote

With that said, I think I'm ready to release the game.  Originally I was going to make some further tweaks to the AI but I decided against it (There's only 18 bytes left and I don't think it's going to be possible).
If you want, I can have a look at the code. I am sure I an find some bytes. How many would you need?

#16 Rob Mitchell OFFLINE  

Rob Mitchell

    River Patroller

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Posted Tue Nov 30, 2004 11:13 AM

Works on the Cuttle Cart2 .. but I did notice one problem . I knocked a block out from under the AI gun .. and it rested on top of one block which was suspended in the air. The one block and the gun did not fall.

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

#17 Ben_Larson OFFLINE  

Ben_Larson

    Moonsweeper

  • 336 posts
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Posted Thu Dec 2, 2004 12:14 AM

Rob - that's not really a bug, more of a 'design decision necessitated by constraints'. :)

Thomas - I will post the source on Stellalist sometime soon for you and other people to go over with a fine toothed comb. I've gone over it a couple times already doing optimizations and such, but I'm sure there are probably still places that can be trimmed...

Ben

#18 Rob Mitchell OFFLINE  

Rob Mitchell

    River Patroller

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Posted Fri Dec 3, 2004 12:06 AM

Ben_Larson said:

Rob - that's not really a bug, more of a 'design decision necessitated by constraints'. :)

Oh I love antigravity physics! ;)

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

#19 legeek OFFLINE  

legeek

    Dragonstomper

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Posted Fri Dec 31, 2004 12:23 PM

Very Nice! AI level seems good to me :)

Cheers,
Ben

#20 vdub_bobby OFFLINE  

vdub_bobby

    Quadrunner

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Posted Wed Feb 9, 2005 5:18 PM

Any update on this? Going to be released on a cart?

#21 Cybergoth OFFLINE  

Cybergoth

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Posted Mon Feb 13, 2006 5:24 PM

Any news on this project? :)
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