Vectrex Academy 2023 - final releases available

[Peer]

Here is the next update. Project "Wetcat" has also reached alpha status, and project "Get in Shape" has already implemented some of the suggestions from hcmffm 's feedback. Including "Happy Bird", there are now 3 alpha RCs available. 

Latest modifications and change log:

• Alpha RC binary and new demo video of project "Wetcat" uploaded on 05/25/2023 at 16:40
• New alpha RC binary and demo video of project "Get in Shape" uploaded on 05/25/2023 at 16:20
• New demo video of project "Fly High" uploaded on 05/25/2023 at 16:20

We also tested several other projects on a real Vectrex in class today. I think "Cliff Jump", "Vecdrift" and "Fly High" could be the next ones to release alpha RCs in the near future.

Many Cheers,
Peer

[hcmffm]

Thank you for the latest updates, Peer. Looks like I'll be busy playtesting alpha releases on Whitsunday. ;-)

[hcmffm]

Happy Bird

This feedback is for "Happy Bird" which is under programming by "MRX". Alpha version can be played online in browser or downloaded and played in emulator or real hardware, see Vectrex project gallery.

· GENERAL NOTES

Happy Bird is a clone of Flappy Bird. The original Flappy Bird was developed in 2013 by vietnamese developer Dong Nguyen as a smartphone app. Flappy Bird was a great success and in the meantime it has been ported to many platforms. On the Vectrex platform there is Veccy Bird which was developed back in 2014.

During past years I've played quite a number of games on various platforms. For some reason I don't exactly know I don't like games with very limited controls and a single life that much. E.g. there is the great game Release! which has fantastic graphics but to be honest I don't like it very much. And you guess it: Same applies for Flappy Bird and its clone. But people are different and success of Flappy Bird shows that there are people with better nerves and different taste than me.

· WHAT I LIKE
+ Soft scrolling with no/little flicker

+ Vector font used for messages/score

+ Start screen "PRESS FLY TO START" with animated bird.

· BUGS

Note: This is an alpha release so it doesn't make too much sense to report bugs.

No crashes. No serious bugs found or experienced.

· SUGGESTIONS

Below, please find various suggestions which came on my mind. Currently, it is an early alpha release of Happy bird and I assume that various things mentioned below are on the to do list of you (developer MRX), anyway.

Fly with all buttons
Currently, button 4 starts the game and is used for flying.
Suggestion: Button 4 is used in most games and often this button is worn and doesn't react 100% anymore. It would be good if all four buttons could be used for flying.

Game over with score and flight time
Currently, at the end of the game it says "GAME OVER"
Suggestion: Apart from "GAME OVER" the achieved score would be interesting. In addition, the flight time might be displayed, too, this would be a cool extra info.

Bird graphics
Currently, graphics of bird looks a bit coarse/square, large and vertically stretched. It looks as if end point of lines do not 100% match the start point of the next line.
Suggestion: Not quite sure what to do about this. Perhaps it's just my impression, or perhaps just my Vectrex.

Column graphics: small variation
Currently, the right vertical line of some columns is a bit too long. At first I considered this as a bug but I think it's a good feature.
Suggestion: Vertical lines of column may always vary a bit. This way graphics have more variety in it and looks more appealing.

____|    |____
|        |    |
|             |
|_____________|

- o -

[hcmffm]

Get in Shape (2)

Few days ago, Alpha 2 release of Get in Shape became available. I've tried it out and it's great to see the progress of the game. There's a statistics page, now, and during the game you see the current weight which increases steadily while playing. A major leap forward, well done, 0xC001D00D!

I've thought about the game play a bit more and following game play and screens came to my mind:



Notes:

- Idea behind this, is that you're challenged over and over, again, and if you failed three times at a specific weight, it's game over. This is very much like the initial game play (with three lives) but I'd suggest to have three trials per weight instead of three lives during the whole game. I.e. if you failed twice at 10kg and then succeed, you have three(!) trials for 20kg.

- Whenever you miss a shape game stops immediately and message is displayed.

- From my point of view, there shouldn't be any non-matching shapes. Alternatively, in every set of shapes there should be at least one matching shape. And non-matching shapes should appear in higher level (weights), only. This will avoid unwanted periods of just sitting there and doing nothing.

- Instead of 3rd try it could say "last try". This would make it clear that it's really your last try.

- Initially, I had "(Initial) Challenge" screen after every "Fail" and "Success" screen. But this would result in two subsequent message screens which is a bit too many messages and too little playing.

- Within a level (=weight), difficulty doesn't change. Levels could be: 10 reps with 10kg, 20 reps with 10kg, 10 reps with 20kg, and so on. Initial difficulty should be low (for children) and difficulty should ramp up slowly (for fun).

Again, these are just ideas and screens and texts are just suggestions - no or low expectations from my side.

[Chainsaw]

1) Happy Bird: Already looking good, but difficult to say if it's already good or if the steering needs some fine adjustments. Because: The steering of the bird is generally the "not easy thing" in this type of games, also in the original. At least it is not so hard, that you not already die in the first seconds. So I like it, but cannot say at the moment what is good and what not. (But this seems to be a good sign?!)  Edit: But I like what hcmffm suggested about the game.

2) Get in Shape. Already like it, even if it is not easy, or yes... I need training for this game :-)
a) If I don't press "start" in the title screen, the game jumps back to the Vec Flash menu after a few seconds. I'm not sure if this is good or not? If the game would be on a single cartridge, would it reset then, or restart the game, or would it crash? (Tested with one of the earlier Vec Flashs with USB connection.) But if I start the game with pressing "4" it is working without problems.
b) Did I miss something, or is there no feedback (yet), if I pressed the correct buttons or not during the game, and there is only a total score at the end of the game? Also I don't know how sensitive the game is / how exact the player has to press the buttons. But I think it's because the alpha version and it is still work in progress, so probably no problem.
c) By the way: Amazing title screen with the brain.
Edit: I have more thoughts about the game, but I don't want to write too much, because it is an alpha version, I wait for the beta until I give more inputs.

I noted on the Academy website, the first picture on the concept art is linked wrong to the second picture with the titlescreen. The correct link for the concept art with the game description should be: itwww.hs-pforzheim.de/daten/mitarbeiter/johannsen/vectrex_2023/gallery/vectrex_project_2_1.png (not project_2_2.png)

3) Wetcat. First I though it is too fast at the beginning, or the cat movement / steering would be too fast. But then I tried it on the console with original Joystick instead of the emulator and: It is great already. After 2-3 minutes, I learned the movement of the cat, and it is great. (If somebody has concerns about the steering / speed of the cat, try it on the original console. OK, if the cat would be a very little bit slower, it would also be no problem.)
- What I'm not sure is about scratching the mices: I learned it is dangerous to attack a mouse from below when she is holding a stone already, it sometimes also killed me then when I tried to attack. Also it seems, I don't need to activate "scratch" everytime, it is also possible to jump on a mouse to kill her. (What I like, because jumping / attacking and pressing scratch at the same time is more difficult.)
Will continue playing later again, maybe the scratching/attacking needs more "fine tuning" - or I need more experience.
But yeah, I forgot: It's an early test version, not the final game :-) And for a alpha version, it is awesome great already.

But I already like this game very much, also the title music is nice. I think, showing the high score on the title screen would be a nice feature for future versions, or at least, that the score screen keeps frozen, until the player press a button to return to the title screen. (Would be helpful, if the game will be maybe some time played in a Vector War).
And: When I read the concept with the ladders: Just my opinion: But I already like jumping from platform to platform, I don't know if you really need to add additional ladders in this game? If you do it, I think it is no problem. But if you run out of time, or it is difficult to add the ladders or the steering of the cat on the ladders, I think you can omit the ladders. (But just my opinion, the game is already great, if you add more features, all the better.)

[Chainsaw]

PS: A general thought on these games, after Peer has found so many Easter Eggs in old Vectrex games lately, each showing the developer's name or initials. The many games of the Vectrex Academy are really great. But somehow totally anonymous. I wouldn't mind if the programmers added their names or pseudonyms in the game. Just my opinion of course, but if I were developing a game, I would put my name or pseudonym into it :-)

[VectorX]

^And if you made movies you'd put yourself in them as cameos

[Chainsaw]

Mhhh did I exaggerate a little? I'm usually very modest myself, and I don't boast about myself when I do things. But why not mention the own name in a work? Or be listed in some credits? On a book is also the name of the author, whether the real name or a pseudonym? Why not in a Vectrex game? Or as the original Vectrex game developers did, hidden in an easter egg? Maybe you mentioned something else with your comment and I did understood it wrong. Or we have different opinions, what also is absolutely no problem :-)

But if you do a game for example and I play this on my Vectrex 10 years later. Then without credits I think "Wow, awesome game, who did this???". And with credits: "Oh this game was made by VectorX, I remember this guy from the vectorgaming forums" and "Let me check with this name, if he did other great games." Just an example. But... I'm writing too much.
In any case, I meant short credits and not that someone boasts and brags excessively

[VectorX]

May 29, 2023 17:50:06 GMT -5 Chainsaw said:

Maybe you mentioned something else with your comment and I did understood it wrong.

Yes, that it was just a joke.

[hcmffm]

Thank you for your long feedback, Stefan (Chainsaw). Really cool that you joined in writing up your thoughts and providing feedback.
From my point of view you're absolutely right with credits - title screen might be a good place to place at least initials. E.g. "MRX 2023" instead of "GCE 2023". I guess reason that this was not done before that title screen is very exposed and writing up code for something else (e.g. a scrolling text with credits and greetings) is quite some effort.

[Peer]

Thanks a lot for your thoughts, hcmffm, Chainsaw, and VectorX. As always, this is much appreciated!

Please note that due to public holidays in Germany there won't be any classroom sessions this week and next week. The students will read your feedback and will continue to work on their projects, but I will see their results only in two weeks from now and won't be able to report on their progress any earlier.

[hcmffm]

WetCat

This feedback is for "WetCat" which is currently developed by "nop". The alpha release of WetCat can be played online in a web browser or downloaded and played in an emulator or real hardware, see Vectrex project gallery.

· GENERAL NOTES

In WetCat you try to escape the water by jumping from platform to platform and thus climbing up (it's worth while reading the game description). There are related games like Floor is Lava but WetCat has some variations which makes it unique.
I've played WetCat for about 10 minutes. I much like the game play, graphics and the idea behind WetCat. ATM, from the very start there's a lot of hectic and pressure in the game. In 10 minutes I died at least 20 times. My maximum score was 4 (in words: "four"). A softer, less difficult start would be good.
I'd be interested to know how other people score and think about initial difficulty of WetCat. Stefan/you (Chainsaw ) has mentioned the high speed but found it appropriate. I find speed too high even though that I know that you can jump two levels at a time.)

· WHAT I LIKE
+ Game title "WetCat" and the background story

+ Music (is it Boogie-woogie?)

+ SoundFx when jumping or dying.

+ In-sprite-animation: Cat wagging its tail

· BUGS

Note: This is an alpha release so it doesn't make too much sense to report bugs.

No crashes. No serious bugs found or experienced.

· SUGGESTIONS

Below, please find various suggestions which came on my mind. Currently, it is an early alpha release of WetCat and I assume that some issues mentioned below are on your (developer nop's) to-do list, anyway.

Button 4 is any button
Currently, it says "PRESS ANY BUTTON TO START". Game can be started with button 4, only.

Suggestion: Either change text or support all buttons to start game.

High difficult level from very beginning

Currently, game starts with a high difficult level and I guess most players' first game ends within five seconds.

Suggestion: Initial difficulty should be lower. Difficulty could be lowered by slowing down the game or less scattered platforms for example.

Blinking text

Currently, the text "PRESS ANY BUTTON TO START" blinks. Not sure about other people's Vectrex console but the buzz of my Vectrex depends on the displayed graphics; so the buzz also "blinks" which doesn't sound nice.

Suggestion: Add some permanent graphic so that the overall contrast on the screen is not that strong. Alternatively, the intensity of the text could be switched from a higher to a lower intensity. This way the text would blink but blinking wouldn't be that strong.

Points for platforms
Currently, you only get points when collecting a fish (perhaps when killing a mouse, too, but I haven't made it to the mice, yet). Result is that you can play for a short while and end up with 000 points.

Suggestion: Score should increase with every higher platform/level that is reached. E.g. every (higher) platform could score 1 point and fish could score 5 points. An alternative to scoring per platform it could be simply the play time which adheres strongly to the level.

Splash into water vs. explosion

Currently, when the cat falls into the water it looks as if the cat explodes (poor cat!).

Suggestion: Adjust game graphics so that it looks more like a splash into the water. Below please find a draft. Perhaps when splashing into the water, in addition to the "splash graphic" the amplitude of the waves of the water could increase temporarily - that might look really cool. EDIT: On the other hand, the current simple, geometric graphic is appealing, too, because it's "simple" and cartoon-like.

- o -

[nexus6]

I've tested Get in Shape and Wet Cat with the browsersimulator. hcmffm has already done very detailed reviews, so i don't have a lot to say

Wet Cat runs very smoothly and is fun. As already mentioned, the right-left-movement of the cat is very fast. That's why I often fell off the platforms unintentionally at the beginning. As here allready mentioned, it's supposed to run better with a hardware Vectrex. Is it designed for analogue control? The collision of the cat with the water seems a little early to me. Suggestions for additional functions (if there is enough time):

• Start with wide platforms and add more and more narrow platforms as time goes on.
  
• Put extras on the platforms that, for example, increase the jump height.
• Give points for the platform height played.

Get in Shape also runs well. Here, a suitable shape would have to fall down more often, as I sometimes had to wait a long time for this to happen.

[hcmffm]

Great that you've also had a look at the games and have posted feedback, Roland (nexus6). A lot of good and valuable feedback for authors "nop", "MRX" and "0xC001D00D". Feedback to support, motivate, and encourage - and not to set expectations high and put pressure on you developers.

[Peer]

The next alpha RC is available

Latest modifications and change log:

• Alpha RC and new screenshots and video of project "Vecdrift" added on 06/12/2023 at 14:40
• Screenshots and prototype videos of project "1024" updated on 06/12/2023 at 14:00

I will see the class coming Thursday and then report more.

Many Cheers,
Peer