Omegamatrix

@SvOlli, Maybe try to store some digits in ram, and then try repositioning after the 48 bit display is drawn. Things get tricky with VDELPx though.

@Eshu, I remember Supercat saying that before, but I think it was in another thread. That was the first I heard about it too. It might be color blending like Darrell is showing though. I'd have to find a program I tried it in to remember.

@Darrell, the bars looks great! Have you considered adding any effects to them? How about a subtle shine? Nothing to bright as to distract the player, but just enough to add a little eye candy so that if they are looking right at the score when they get a new life then it makes all the better. I made a quick demo to illustrate the idea. It's not fully functional as I don't have the time... but it conveys the idea.

 ShinnyBars.png   2.74K   11 downloads
 ShinnyBars.zip   3.25K   9 downloads


It's constructed with the ball, so only one player can get a shine at a time. Maybe if both players get a new life at the same time randomly choose who one gets the shine effect. If a player gets a new life while the shine is going on for the other player, then switch the shine immediately to the player who just got the life. Kinda brings out the competition, like the other person just one up'd ya.


Anyhow, I thought I'd share the idea to see if you like it, or maybe it'll give you some other ideas. There are lots of things you could do with those bars. As it is SpaceRocks is already damn impressive. I played for a while today, and I do love how the asteroids rotate. Very good job!!

I haven't tested your rom yet, but chopping off the left edge of the bars seems like a good idea. If you do get rid of hmoves then maybe that's where the left boundary should start (4 pixels in)?


Since you are in score mode while drawing the bars you could further create the illusion of symmetry by adjusting where each color starts. Chop out the middle PF blocks, have the background color the same as the left side, and have the ball colored the same as the right side and align it 2 pixels off center.


I also notice on a real TV that games which use score have a bright middle pixel where the color changes. This might fix that too.

Darrell, do you have a Fast Fetch register available? I think you can store to NUSIZ0 earlier (I haven't tried). So, no need to use Y, use A and then load the graphics. Then you can do the loop and have a free cycle left too.

;old

#@58
  lax DS_PF0L_ENAM1 #4 62
  sta PF0		   #3 65
  ldy DS_NUSIZ0	 #4 69
  lda #<DS_SCORE8   #2 71
  sta GRP0		  #3 74
  asl			   #2 76/0
  sta GRP1		  #3  3
  sty NUSIZ0		#3  6

;new
#@61
  lax DS_PF0L_ENAM1 #4 65
  sta PF0		   #3 68
  lda <#DS_NUSIZ0   #2 70
  sta NUSIZ0		#3 73
  lda #<DS_SCORE8   #2 75
  sta GRP0		  #3 2
  sta.w GRP1		#4 6   1 free cycle

I'm using '#' to keep the spacing aligned in the code box.


Edit: # still didn't work. The forum software really screws the code box up.

You can gain 2 cycles by using REFP1 before the loop starts. Then you can use the same value for GRP0 and GRP1, and get rid of ASL and LSR. When you draw the sides the new value will be $22.


So down to 1 cycle now.

Congrats Dino! Good to see a fellow Canuck win the Stanley Cup in overtime, eh?

Good on you mate, and welcome to Canada.