Re: [stella] Help (Timing problems?)

Subject: Re: [stella] Help (Timing problems?)
From: "Andrew Davie" <adavie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 2 Aug 2001 08:57:54 +1000
> >>
> BTW: I don't think a screensaver mode is necessary any more. And it
"wastes"
> a lot of valuable space.
> <<
>
> If the game has the space left over, it goes a long way to adding that
> little extra bit of retro authenticity.  It also performs a utilitarian
> function, namely visually indicating when the game is over.  Space
Invaders
> a good example of that.  I like the way the game kinda still runs in that
> game even though the game is over.  It's like an "afterlife" mode.
>

I concur.  Qb had an attract mode, as it is called, and it cost something
like 10 bytes.
Cheers
A

--
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see my Museum of Soviet Calculators at                  (            \
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Qb: the latest retro video game!                          L,~'  "\__/
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Glenn Saunders" <cybpunks@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <stella@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, August 01, 2001 4:24 AM
Subject: Re: [stella] Help (Timing problems?)


> >>
> BTW: I don't think a screensaver mode is necessary any more. And it
"wastes"
> a lot of valuable space.
> <<
>
> If the game has the space left over, it goes a long way to adding that
> little extra bit of retro authenticity.  It also performs a utilitarian
> function, namely visually indicating when the game is over.  Space
Invaders
> a good example of that.  I like the way the game kinda still runs in that
> game even though the game is over.  It's like an "afterlife" mode.
>
>
> GLENN SAUNDERS===============================
> By Day - Web Developer - http://www.eUniverse.com
> ==============================================
> By Night - Producer - Cyberpunks Entertainment
> Personal homepage: http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/1698
> Cyberpunks Entertainment: http://cyberpunks.uni.cc
>
>
>
> >From: "Thomas Jentzsch" <tjentzsch@xxxxxx>
> >Reply-To: stella@xxxxxxxxxxx
> >To: stella@xxxxxxxxxxx
> >Subject: Re: [stella] Help (Timing problems?)
> >Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 09:23:55 +0200
> >MIME-Version: 1.0
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> >
> >Wade Brown wrote:
> > > I am working on a "shell" that I can use to flesh out some ideas I
have
> >-
> > > the idea being to have basic semi-reusable functions such as: b/w
color
> > > selection, screen saver timer, and score digits.
> >
> >That's a good idea, if you want to start programming the 2600. Later on,
> >you will find, that often you need more specialized or optimized code.
> >
> >
> > > BTW, I was trying to get a fairly optimal way to read diagonals from
the
> > > joystick - anyone out there see how I can improve this approach or has
a
> > > different take, I would really like to see...
> >
> >The code below is a bit more compact than yours:
> >
> >; check joystick:
> >     lda SWCHA
> >     asl
> >     bcc .noRight
> >     inc Player1X
> >     bcs .withJoy    ;3      always taken branch, saves 1 byte compared
to
> >jmp
> >.noRight:
> >     asl
> >     bcc .noLeft
> >     inc Player1X
> >     bcs .withJoy    ;3      always taken branch, saves 1 byte compared
to
> >jmp
> >.noLeft:
> >     asl
> >     bcc .noDown
> >     ...
> >     bcs .withJoy    ;3      always taken branch, saves 1 byte compared
to
> >jmp
> >.noDown:
> >     asl
> >     bcc .noJoy
> >     ...
> >.withJoy:
> >     ldy #0          ;       joystick moved
> >     sty SaverTimer
> >.noJoy:
> >
> >
> > > I would especially appreciate any help in the
> > > area of boundary detection (i.e detecting when the player/enemy is at
> >the
> > > edge of the screen).
> >
> >Here is a slightly better solution:
> >
> >; check x-bounds:
> >; I LOVE to use constants, because that makes the code more readable (for
> >me:) and I can much easier change the parameters
> >LEFT_BOUND      =  20
> >RIGHT_BOUND     = 140
> >
> >     lda Player1X
> >     cmp #LEFT_BOUND
> >     bcc .outOfLeftBound
> >     cmp #RIGHT_BOUND+1
> >     bcc .inXBounds
> >     lda #RIGHT_BOUND
> >     .byte $2c       ;       opcode for bit.w, this hides the next
> >instruction
> >.outOfLeftBound:
> >     lda #LEFT_BOUND
> >     sta Player1X
> >.inXBounds:
> >
> >You could also combine the joystick and boundary routines. This might
give
> >you more optimal solutions. But that's mixing two different basic
functions
> >and doesn't fit into your concept.
> >
> >Have fun!
> >Thomas
> >
> >BTW: I don't think a screensaver mode is necessary any more. And it
> >"wastes" a lot of valuable space.
> >_______________________________________________________
> >Thomas Jentzsch         | *** Every bit is sacred ! ***
> >tjentzsch at web dot de |
> >
> >
>
>___________________________________________________________________________
___
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> >plus 100 Euro ExtraPrämie: http://premiere.web.de
> >
> >
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