RE: [stella] Oystron, Tetris26, etc. What a difference a day makes!

[Robert "A." Colbert <colbertb@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

>Reply to your message of 9/16/97 7:53 AM
>
>I've been short on time to try out many of the new games and demos.

>4. Multi demo
>
>I like the colored sprites in the earlier version and was a bit
>disapointed when they were replaced by x's in the controlable version.
>Otherwise this would make a great screensaver for a game. :-)

Well, I did the monochrome color because I was modifying the color routine.  I wanted to be able to control the colors for each sprite on a line-by-line basis rather than just using gradiants.  The x's and the background are present only to show me that I'm not slipping over the allowed 76 cycles per scanline.  Attached is the new and improved Multi Demo:

Changes:

	Unique shapes for each sprite (any sprite can have any shape).
	Each shape has colors defined for each line.
	Added non-flickering player 1 that flies diagonally.
		(to show that I can place player 1 anywhere)
	There are 9 copies of player0 and 1 copy of player 1.

Changes anticipated next:

	Add a ball graphic - I need to squeeze 1 or 2 more cycles to do this!
	Make sprites animated (Easy - the kernel has support built in!)

Changes I'm contemplating:

	Allow variable sized sprites, right now all sprites are 7
	double-height pixels high.

	Allow multiple copies of sprites. (you know like X X X)

I really want to get the kernel solid before I start making a game out of it.

Just a note, while I realize that there is a fair amount of flicker here, this demo is showing a worst-case scenario -- that is the maximum number of sprites are floating freely around the screen.  In a real game, I would most likely place sprites fairly strategically so as to reduce flicker.  The kernel will allow me to break a lot of 2600 rules though!  For instance, I could have a couple rows of planes flying by, and then every now and again they could dive bomb you...

			Let me know your thoughts!

				Thanks,
					Bob
	

Wanna write a game for the Atari 2600?
Check out http://www.novia.net/~rcolbert

Attachment: multi02.bin
Description: Binary data