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Post by garryg on Apr 23, 2015 14:51:59 GMT -5
Thanks for the detailed critique, hcmffm. (did I post the name and not the rank this time?)
There are a lot of good suggestions in there...
I had already changed the 'DEAD' text to 'GAME OVER' along with some other text changes.
This game is relatively based on the 'Circus Atari' concept, which was a version of the Circus arcade cabinet game, and the design more or less follows that template. Although I am open to making changes. The ATARI game didn't have 'levels' as such...
The bounce physics routines are mostly in there now, but aren't properly tweaked yet, so the acrobats jump pattern may change, probably with less of a down angle. Although I'm not sure that a too realistic bounce would improve things.
Sorry you think it's too difficult to catch the angels, my high score is around 1600'ish and that meant clearing each line a few times. I thought it too easy as it is just now, and was thinking about making it harder! I'd be interested to hear how difficult others thought it was. You should try to flip the see-saw to have the up angle facing the oncoming man as it makes it easier to judge the angle. Oh, and there is an extra life at 1000 points.
By the way, the moving line objects are now simple lines but there is much less flicker... this may change.
Thanks again for playing, and for the useful comments.
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Post by 50tbrd on Apr 23, 2015 17:27:54 GMT -5
The balloons aren't in line, some times they are far more staggered and spaced than this so it almost looks like 6 lines. Sometimes the images stack on top of each other on the left side (perhaps as you catch them). This is evident on both the Mateos Multicart and VecMulti and I tested it on two of my Taiwanese units. 11157799_10100337519939762_1039757038_n.mp4 (595.56 KB)
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Post by ls650 on Apr 23, 2015 19:33:01 GMT -5
"I thought it too easy as it is just now, and was thinking about making it harder! "
One man's easy is another man's difficult...
I'd make the game ramp up in difficulty. Set the first level so even your grandma can finish it, then ramp up the second level to give a bit of challenge. Make each level progressively harder.
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Post by garryg on Apr 24, 2015 7:55:46 GMT -5
Thanks for the feedback 50tbrd. I didn’t see the staggered balloon lines on my Vectrex, and will have to look into that. However I can probably get rid of the ‘stacking’ fairly easily.
Hi Is650, the original game didn’t have ‘levels’ as such, but I may look at putting something in, maybe one line to start with and slow down the movement?
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Post by garryg on May 15, 2015 7:49:07 GMT -5
I've not had a lot of time to work on this lately, but now ther is 'music,' sort off, continually playing on the title screen, and the difficulty ramps up (by increasing the game-play speed - space invader style) as you clear the 'baloons.'
This means things go pretty fast if you only have one item per line left, but you can slow things own by clearing a line and getting all the 'balloons' back again.
There's also definitely less of a flicker on my Vectrex now, and I may release another 'in progress' binary soon, hopefully with some improved bounce physics, and although it still isn't finished yet it does seem to be more playable.
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Post by VectorX on May 15, 2015 7:59:30 GMT -5
Good to hear; thanks for the update
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Post by garryg on Jun 19, 2015 19:28:33 GMT -5
I've updated my blog page for this one, but though you may be interest in what has changed since the last BIN. BUG FIXES: 1) Fixed the occasional HI score overwrite bug. 2) Fixed the 'short jump' bug, where you appear to fall off the seesaw. 3) Fixed the flicker both on the title screen and on the main game screen. 4) Fixed continual tone bug, when the game first starts. UPDATES: 1) Play continual music on the title screen (only ROM music for testing just now) 2) Updated bounce and hit movement, but still using bouncing-ball type movement, not a realistic jump. 3) Added simple bounce and hit sound efects to the main game. 4) Changed missed seesaw screen layout and re-centred the seesaw after a fall. 5) Changed the main game screen to only show the current score, and line objects are now simple lines. I hope to get a game-play video and a new BIN out soon.
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Post by VectorX on Jun 19, 2015 19:45:28 GMT -5
These dudes are like Spike or something in appearance Nice to hear of an update.
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Post by garryg on Jun 19, 2015 19:50:35 GMT -5
Yes, they are spike'esque.... I actually started writing separate 'man' sprites as Spike and Molly, but they took too much processing to draw. here is a link to my latest BIN: drive.google.com/open?id=0B3fXRo4EaQ5iSC1mQTc5OVhzRTA&authuser=0This still sometimes shows a slight flicker on my Vectrex, and the lines are still very slightly out of alignment (sort of arched instead of straight) Oh, and I'm hoping to be able to compose some better title music.
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Post by garryg on Jun 29, 2015 14:27:17 GMT -5
Some more updates:
It now plays a short 'tune' when you clear all 'balloons' from a line. I've also written the title music that I wanted, although the sound envelope still needs a bit of tweaking.
The 'balloons' are still lines, I like it like that. It can get pretty hectic now, as it goes quite fast when you don't have much 'balloons' on the screen.
I will try and get a video of it playing on the Vectrex soon...
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Post by VectorX on Jun 29, 2015 15:43:28 GMT -5
The 'balloons' are still lines, I like it like that. It can get pretty hectic now, as it goes quite fast when you don't have much 'balloons' on the screen. It probably doesn't really matter. I'm harboring a guess here, but I think the tops of the lines were taken out of the blocks on Breakout from when it was on Patriots to when it appeared on Vecmania so the game ran faster. You had ducks for dragons on Atari 2600 Adventure and no one really cared, among many other video game examples where things didn't look like how everyone imagined them in real life.
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Post by 50tbrd on Jun 29, 2015 17:31:11 GMT -5
I gave it a good long play today on a real Vectrex. The lines of balloons are much better but I had a lot of collision detection issues. Sometimes the guy makes a jump through all the balloons without taking out a single one.
One thing that bugged me is the fact that when your guy drops at the beginning of a life, it drops straight to the middle of the see-saw. Unless you move immediately, it causes instant death. This is not a big deal if you are ready when it drops but while you control when it drops on the first life, after that you have to wait the "You missed" screen to go away and then it drops immediately. Can you make it to where your guy hovers until you press a button to drop or can you make it so a button moves you through the "You missed" screen?
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Post by garryg on Jun 29, 2015 18:00:17 GMT -5
Are you playing the version where the see-saw restarts in it's original position after you miss, if not... it does that now. Now the man drops slightly left of centre, so he does hit the see-saw if left alone. Maybe I should make the man drop a bit more off centre. Does the version you have beep when you hit the 'balloons?'
Sorry for all the questions, but I'm not entirely sure how much changes were in the last uploaded bin.
Cant say I've seen a problem with the collision detection, but I'll have a look. Then I know exactly where the collision box is, maybe I need to make it a bit bigger. Will have a look, but it is very possible for the man to go between things without hitting. The hit box is along the length of the line and cover the space upwards, slightly, so you have a vertical and horizontal area above the line you can hit.
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Post by 50tbrd on Jun 29, 2015 19:02:16 GMT -5
I downloaded the most recent version before playing.
It does beep when the balloons are hit. It does not restart from where you miss and does not drop left of center. So apparently there has been adjustments since the last public BIN.
I'd be interested in playing the new BIN before making changes based on my experience but if you are interested in making difficulty options, larger collision boxes for an easier difficulty setting would be nice for more casual players.
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Post by garryg on Jun 30, 2015 12:58:26 GMT -5
The Y position of the row hit is limited, the x size covers the whole object. It is quite east yo miss on the Y axis. I will have a look at the Y hit positions, to see what I can tweak.
I will put up the last revision I have tonight. This will possible be the last in-progress bin dump before I finish the game.
I've started writing down the workings my next test project; it's just a basic concept/engine yet, not a game; so I hope to have Circus Vectrex finished soon.
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