Re: [stella] ...

Subject: Re: [stella] ...
From: "Andrew Wallace" <apeboy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Thu, 1 Nov 2001 20:04:39 +1030
From: "Glenn Saunders" <cybpunks2@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>
> It works for me on the real thing (NTSC VCS).

Thanks for checking that for me Glenn.

Thanks to everybody else for your comments too.

>
> Looks very good.  If you ultimately go with paddles it may be too much
like
> Demons to Diamonds.

Have never seen Demons to Diamonds, I will have a look.

I doubt I will go for the paddles, but after the recent discussion of the
driving controllers on the list and some elegant code posted for using them
I might add an option  to allow choice between joystick and driving
controllers (with some inertia to add a little challenge).

>
> The problem with the 2600 is that the need for vertical separation yields
> lots of these horizontally oriented games.  It's the trademark of the
> system.  Visually speaking the tripled sprites make the game look a little
> too much like Oystron.

I suspect it is quite difficult to come up with a new game for the 2600
which doesn't remind someone of another game.

From: "Erik J. Eid" <eeid@xxxxxxxxx>


> Graphically the game appears impressive.  I like the use of many shades of
> color per object and many colors on the screen.  It adds to the flow.  I

The effect came about by accident, the colour changes per line were planned
to be more abrubt, but the accidental effect remains.

> also like that the targets move at different speeds, though the jerky
> up-and-down motion could get obnoxious after a while.

I found them looking a little boring when they didn't bobble up and down. If
I have any space left when the rest of the game logic is implemented I will
add some extra animation frames and take out the bobbling.

> Unfortunately, as Glenn Saunders pointed out, it does feel very similar to
> Demons to Diamonds right now.  I do like that game, so it's not
necessarily
> a bad thing, but it's not different enough to set it apart.  There's also
> not the challenge of having to hold the trigger down for a certain amount
> of time to reach a certain part of the screen, or of shooting an object
> shortly after one is shot for more points, or of avoiding shooting certain
> ones.

The main purpose of the game is to shoot the other player at the top /
bottom. The objects bobbling in between are there to block the shots, return
the shots or to hide behind, and sometimes to be destroyed, depending on the
difficulty level, energy levels and game type chosen.
Once the energy logic has been implemented the current energy level will
control how far the laser can shoot.

Of course I make no real claim to originality, as the starting point for the
game was a vague memory of an arcade game I played 20+ years ago (MAME has
at least 2 similar games, neither of them the one I remember, so this idea
has been used many times before).

I chose this type of game because it seemed like an good fit with the
capabilities of the machine and as such a good choice for a first 'warm-up'
game.

Andrew

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Current Thread
  • Re: [stella] ...
    • Andrew Wallace - Thu, 1 Nov 2001 04:44:42 -0500 (EST) <=
      • <Possible follow-ups>
      • apeboy - Thu, 1 Nov 2001 18:05:24 -0500 (EST)