Mike wrote: ↑Wed Apr 29, 2020 9:52 am
That's a really nice first "Full Release"!
I downloaded it yesterday and made it to the second level on my first try. It's really cute how the turtles follow you around when you have collected them with your bot. The weapons of the enemy tanks somewhat remind me of Impossible Mission.
However I think the surface should serve as safe spot. It is somewhat frustating to lose the turtles on the home stretch. Likewise, when the enemy tanks are on the surface, they also can completely block access to the ship. (I admit I did not find out yet how digging holes works - maybe that alleviates this issue).
Thanks for trying it, and for your comments. As for the surface, the current version makes it slightly safer. I used to have a patrol camp out at the top, but now they all follow the same rules. Once they hit the surface, their "goal" changes from "move up" to "move down." Still, the "mad dash for the ship with a chain of turtles" builds the tension, I think. Patrols can't fire through each other, so only the closest one is a threat. And it takes them a while to recharge (that time getting shorter with each level). Sometimes you need to sacrifice one turtle to get the rest out of there.
To dig, you hold the joystick in the direction you want to dig, and press fire. You can only dig into walls, and I added some broken wall graphics to make it look cooler.
beamrider wrote: ↑Wed Apr 29, 2020 12:31 pm
a very nice unexpanded game with vibes of those early Vic releases
Thank you!
aitsch wrote: ↑Wed Apr 29, 2020 1:31 pm
nice grafics, sound and the gameplay is also really good.
Thanks for trying it! I'm especially proud of the sound engine. The game has 9 musical themes and 8 sound effects, and every one of those is parameterized to be described in 2 bytes and run by an IRQ handler, including tempo changes and fade-outs.
is it a port of an existing game or your own idea?
I used to say that all arcade games are Pac Man variants.
It's a stew of concepts. I have a hard time thinking of game ideas from the top down. I first wrote a maze generator based on the "sidewinder" maze algorithm. This created mazes that looked to me like underground lairs. The physics of the game flowed from that. I wanted to do a weaponless rescue game, you going into hostile territory with nothing but your wits. My son loves turtles, so it had to be turtles. Kittens and ducklings were also on the table. The first concept was just collecting turtles, but that felt like
too much like Pac Man, so I added the turtle chain, which is the game's defining mechanic.
The new version is here
https://github.com/Chysn/VIC20-TRBo/releases/tag/vBeta5, which should be the final version unless any crippling bugs come along. I have to move to the next thing.
