231 replies to this topic

[vdub_bobby]

Thomas Jentzsch, on Fri Apr 20, 2007 12:04 PM, said:

vdub_bobby, on Fri Apr 20, 2007 7:11 PM, said:

EDIT: Ok, try this.

A lot of code (e.g. DrawScore) looks perfect now, but the kernel still not.

Dang it! What tab settings are you using?

[Thomas Jentzsch]

vdub_bobby, on Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:15 PM, said:

Dang it! What tab settings are you using?

Usually 4, but I tried all settings between 2 and 12 on you old files without success.

[vdub_bobby]

Thomas Jentzsch, on Fri Apr 20, 2007 2:43 PM, said:

vdub_bobby, on Fri Apr 20, 2007 9:15 PM, said:

Dang it! What tab settings are you using?

Usually 4, but I tried all settings between 2 and 12 on you old files without success.

Ok: try, try again.

 ElevatorsAmiss20070419Source.zip   19.72K   46 downloads

This time I replaced all tabs with 3 spaces and then went through and lined up all the comments with cycle counts by hand.

Edited by vdub_bobby, Fri Apr 20, 2007 4:08 PM.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Works.

[vdub_bobby]

Yes!

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Why doesn't the maid stop in Child mode?

[Cybergoth]

Bob moved this feature to the NOVICE variant. Or are you asking _why_ he did that?

[vdub_bobby]

For the CHILD mode, I have in mind actual children: something like ages 2-5. Coincidentally, my two oldest kids are that age.

Anyway, they're old enough to make the connection between moving the controller and the moving object on the screen, but they have a hard time pressing buttons at the same time, pressing more than one button at once, and holding buttons down (to make Sonic walk on my genny, for example, they repeatedly press right on the D-pad rather than holding it down).

So, while the maid stopping when the joystick is centered is very easy for most gamers, I think it is easier for very small children if the maid doesn't require constant input to do something.

I haven't done much testing with them, though, so after I let them play it a bit I might change things around.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Some minimal cosmetic suggestions:
1. The maid should start 1 pixel away from the elevators. Currently it looks a bit odd that she risks standing so close to them.
2. The feet of the maid should (try to) touch the stairs. Maybe you could move the stairs one pixel further into the game.
3. While you are at it, make the stairs one step higher.
4. 'LVL' doesn't exactly match the ':' and the 'X up'. Why not use the (ROM) space for writing 'Level:'?

[vdub_bobby]

Update!

 ElevatorsAmiss20070430.bin   4K   104 downloads

Changes:

With Thomas' help, freed up a lot of space and then used some of that space to make the elevators and the maid move "through" the floors.

Please let me know what you think of this; IMO it looks a little weird but all in all I like it. Also, would someone (Manuel?) please give me an opinion on the elevator "tick" noise? To hear this, turn off the music (with B-W/COLOR switch) and start a game. I'm thinking about removing it to free up space, though that isn't much of an issue at the moment.

Also, could someone with a 7800 please verify that the 7800-detection code is working properly? You should be able to turn the music on/off by pressing the pause button if it is working. Thanks.

Still to do:
-check colors on hardware and make necessary tweaks
-see about adding SaveKey support (save high scores)
-gameplay tweaks
-music/sound tweaks

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Nice update.

Is it intentional that the elevators don't hide completely behind the floors?

And they get displayed completely at the bottom floor. Maybe just make them turn a few pixels earlier.

[vdub_bobby]

Thomas Jentzsch, on Mon Apr 30, 2007 9:24 AM, said:

Nice update.

Is it intentional that the elevators don't hide completely behind the floors?

Yes. They are supposed to be going through the floors, though maybe I should change that. Hm.

Quote

And they get displayed completely at the bottom floor. Maybe just make them turn a few pixels earlier.

Good catch.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

vdub_bobby, on Mon Apr 30, 2007 6:44 PM, said:

Yes. They are supposed to be going through the floors, though maybe I should change that. Hm.

I we look at this like pseudo 3D, then the elevators should be only visible at the "back" walls and not at the "front" floor.

[Cybergoth]

vdub_bobby, on Mon Apr 30, 2007 3:47 PM, said:

Please let me know what you think of this; IMO it looks a little weird but all in all I like it. Also, would someone (Manuel?) please give me an opinion on the elevator "tick" noise? To hear this, turn off the music (with B-W/COLOR switch) and start a game. I'm thinking about removing it to free up space, though that isn't much of an issue at the moment.

I'm sorry, I must've missed this info earlier. I think it's a lot better than complete silence

[vdub_bobby]

Quote

I'm sorry, I must've missed this info earlier. I think it's a lot better than complete silence

Thanks for the feedback!

Quote

I we look at this like pseudo 3D, then the elevators should be only visible at the "back" walls and not at the "front" floor.

Yeah, I agree with you.

EDIT: Source:  ElevatorsAmiss20070430.zip   20.84K   60 downloads

Edited by vdub_bobby, Mon Apr 30, 2007 12:02 PM.

[r_type2600]

Hello and hats off to this great little homebrew!
Cool how this had developed into a simple, instant fun and addicting action game!

A couple of suggestions, if allowed at this late stage:

- would it be possible to color-code a bit the various stats at the bottom of the screen?
In the heat of the action, it's difficult to locate the specific info you're interested in, with all being white right now.

- this is more difficult to consider for sure:
If there's anything missing in the game, it would be the reason why the maid is running up all the floors -
An idea, which is probably way too complicated to implement is to attach a vacuum cleaner sprite in front of the maid: that would explain why she has to clear all floors.
A simpler alternative would be to have her recover typical tools (broom, vacuum cleaner..) at the top left corner. Not very original but well proven; joining the long tradition of Donkey Kong, Kangaroo, Climber 5, etc...
I understand that tight ROM is a big issue, had to drop these thoughts nevertheless..

Cheers, Eric

[Albert]

I've fired off a label contest for Elevators Amiss! You can learn more about the contest and how to enter here:

Elevators Amiss Label Contest

I know there are plenty of talented artists amongst the members here, so I hope to see some pretty snazzy entries before the contest is over.

..Al

[vdub_bobby]

Quick update!

I took a few (too many) days off coding to, um...play Ninja Gaiden.

But I'm back at it, and not a moment too soon! I should have a final binary tomorrow morning. Will be mostly the same as the most recent version, just minor tweaks to the colors and gameplay, except it will (hopefully) support saving high scores to the AtariVox/SaveKey!

r_type2600, on Sun May 6, 2007 2:09 AM, said:

Hello and hats off to this great little homebrew!
Cool how this had developed into a simple, instant fun and addicting action game!

A couple of suggestions, if allowed at this late stage:

- would it be possible to color-code a bit the various stats at the bottom of the screen?
In the heat of the action, it's difficult to locate the specific info you're interested in, with all being white right now.

Thanks, and that's a great idea - made that change already.

[vdub_bobby]

Final Binary!

Changes:
-Supports SaveKey/AtariVox. How this works: it will load the high score when you turn the power on and when you press SELECT and when your game ends by losing all your lives. It will then alternate displaying the high score from the SaveKey and the last score. Note that when the power is turned on and when you press SELECT the last score is set to zero!
-Colors tweaked a bit
-Some minor under-the-hood stuff
-Fixed a big bug that Zach caught
-Fixed a rare (?) graphics glitch that Al caught

I think that's it.

If all goes well, it will be released this weekend at the MGC and will probably be available in the AA store shortly thereafter.

Thanks to everyone who tested, commented, criticized, and encouraged. And special thanks to those folks who took the time to contribute their time and creativity: David for the maid sprites as well as all the folks who created and submitted labels and, especially, Thomas for helping tremendously with optimization and coding!

Hope you enjoy the game!

Attached Files

•  ElevatorsAmiss20070607.bin   4K   102 downloads

[Zach]

Congratulations on your latest homebrew, Bob!

[espire8]

PressureCooker2600, on Sat Apr 14, 2007 12:07 PM, said:

Any thoughts on who's going to illustrate the manual or design it?

Maybe Nathan?

Wow, looks like your guess was right on PressureCooker...kudos! Talk about predestined! And thanks to you Bob for dedicating your time to completing this very unique game of yours.
Looking forward to the store release!

[Cybergoth]

Last night I noticed that the 9th level of Manic Miner, "Wacky Amoebatrons", works like Elevators Amiss!

You can see it on this screens picture, 3rd row first pic: http://jswremakes.em.../Mmt/map-mm.gif

[PressureCooker2600]

link don't work

oops....works now

Edited by PressureCooker2600, Thu Aug 30, 2007 8:59 AM.

[Cybergoth]

Silly policies... Ok, then how about clicking the "Manic Miner Screen shot-map" link on this page http://jswremakes.em.../Mmt/mmmaps.htm ? Does this work?

[PressureCooker2600]

it kinda does like alike except the "elevators" are big furry koosh-balls

miner looks kinda fun....i'll have to look it up and try it