Re: [stella] JoustPong: feedback please on ball speed

Subject: Re: [stella] JoustPong: feedback please on ball speed
From: KirkIsrael@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date: 5 Mar 2004 19:17:23 -0000
> 
> >Are you suggesting that up/down joystick totally determines the angle,
> >or just influences it, adds a little english?
> >And if that's the case, does a "flat" joystick leave the ball going 
> >directly horizontal?
> 
> What I would suggest would be to essentially do both:
> 
> If the joystick is not pushed, then behave as in traditional pong (ie: where the ball strikes the paddle determines the direction of the bounce).

I don't think the traditional Pong "curved surface" paradigm
work in Joustpong, since accurate positioning of the player vs.
the bar is well-night impossible, given the "always moving" nature
of JoustPong.
 
> If the joystick is pushed then add some english to the bounce. 


I think I like adding english a lot better than totally determining
the angle.
 
> You could also use the left and right joystick to increase and decrease the ball's speed and try to throw your opponent's timing off.

Ugh, that really breaks the idea that you influence the ball only 
when it hits you...remote control ball isn't unprecedented in Atari
land (I'm thinking the pitching in M-Network's version of baseball)
but given the amount of stuff going on overall in JP, I think that 
might be too much.

 
> 
> Just use the same formula as above, but, randomly add the english except as the AI difficulty increases make it more likely that the english and positioning of the paddle will be used to bounce the ball away from the player (ie: If the player is at the bottom of the screen the AI should try and bounce the ball towards the top of the screen).

Given the relatively slow speed of the ball, the other player usually
has plenty of time to get to wherever it is, as long as Pterry isn't there
to interfere...I'd either do it "randomly" (like maybe up or down
based on AND %00000001 of something going on in the game) or neutral.

Right now I'm worried that my once-too-smart players are now 
too dumb, their simple triggering algorithm not dealing well
w/ multiple angles.


-- 
KirkIsrael@xxxxxxxxxxxxx    http://kisrael.com
"Uncertainty in the pressure of vivid hopes and fears is painful, 
 but must be endured if we wish to live without the support of 
 comforting fairy tales."  --Bertrand Russell


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