PacManPlus

After I got rid of my Wii, I kept the 'Fighter Controller' because I had an idea for it.

I changed the overlay, kept only two buttons, and wired it up for the 7800:
 Dscn0806.jpg   1.15MB   84 downloads

Now, where it becomes different, is with the cable. I wanted the 'Select/Pause/Reset' buttons ('Home' being mapped to 'Pause') functional on the controller, so I used a D-Sub 15 Pin (VGA) connector:
 DSCN0807.JPG   762.7K   70 downloads

Pins 1 to 9 map to 1 to 9 on the 15 pin connection, but Start, Pause, and Reset map to 11, 12, and 13 respectively. When I want to use this controller with a standard 7800 (of course without the Select/Pause/Reset functionality), I made a cable to just pass the normal 7800 joystick pins:
 DSCN0808.JPG   728.69K   36 downloads

Now, any 7800 I want to use the controller with the entire array of buttons, I just wire up a male 15-Pin VGA connector (pins 1-9 stay the same, 11, 12, and 13 map to Select, Pause, and Reset, respectively) and use a VGA extension cable (a thin one if possible). I did that here:
 DSCN0809.JPG   432.36K   31 downloads
(sorry for the blurry pic but you can make out the connector on the right hand side)


Good idea?
Thanks,
Bob

EDIT - Didn't realize I kept writing 'Start/Pause/Reset' instead of 'Select/Pause/Reset'. Fixed.

Hi Guys:

I wanted to start on a game with more colors in the background so I was thinking about 160B (12-color mode), but quickly realized that you cannot fill the screen with this mode... The bit setting in the control register is either one or two bytes for each character read, which would not be enough for a tile in 160B mode (you would need 4).

Am I correct in assuming that I have to use 160A for background/tile/character mode and can only use 160B for sprites? Or am I missing something?

Thanks for the help,
Bob

Hi Guys:

I was hoping to be much farther along with this than I was (read: finished) but got stuck on one or two things.
Here is the WIP for Scramble for the 7800. I am about half-way through with it.

I have four major implementations left:
- shooting and bombing (and the results of those)
- making rockets take off
- add UFO and meteor enemies
- sound

I have two questions for you guys:

1. For the people who have played this extensively, how does the difficulty ramp up once you destroy the base?
2. I remember when I played this, I always used to hit the 'bomb' and 'laser' buttons simultaneously. Do I need to separate the two here? Or can I use one button for both (i.e. more controller compatibility)?

Thanks,
Bob

 Scramble_00.png   2.66K   65 downloads
 Scramble_01.png   1.96K   76 downloads
 Scramble_02.png   1.85K   70 downloads
 Scramble_03.png   2.51K   63 downloads
 Scramble_04.png   2.59K   69 downloads
 Scramble_05.png   2.15K   74 downloads
 Scramble_06.png   2.17K   61 downloads

Hi Guys:

I started what I thought was a 'quick' project a few days ago, but I think at this point I have to let it go.
I am using 320 mode for this, and the game requires scrolling.

I cannot use ROM for the level layout (like I did with FailSafe) because the levels here expand out to 33K alone. This means I need RAM for the screen data, and that also means I need to 'shift' the screen characters left every 4 frames. Unfortunately, moving 30 characters left for 24 zones (i.e. 720 chars) takes too much time within one frame, and that leaves no time to move the 'horizontal position' back to zero within the same frame so you now 'see' the shifting of the screen. I spent the last two days (of the four) trying to get this going.

I wish there was a way to use pointers instead of actually physically moving the data, but the problem there is 'wraparound'. I can't just increment the screen RAM indefinitely so at some point each zone has to wrap around back to the starting place.

I had planned on using this as a 'Happy New Year' surprise, and I got pretty far with it, but as you will see from the attachment it's not very pleasing.

Thanks,
Bob

NOTE - BTW it looks like MESS does not show the issue. ProSystem is more accurate in this case in that you can see the issue clearly. The same thing happens on actual 7800 hardware.

Hi Guys:

Just wanted to let you know that the 'Easy A/V Mod' found in the Atari 7800 forums also works on Stunt Cycle. The Ground, Video, and +5v are the same ones going into the RF modulator on the 7800 that go into the RF modulator on the dedicated Stunt Cycle.

Specifically my post (but you don't have to 'remove' any resistors for the Stunt Cycle mod): http://www.atariage....ost__p__1796143
Also, there already is an audio connector, so you don't have to worry about that either.

Just in case anyone wanted to know.

Bob