clth Posted February 12, 2021 Author Share Posted February 12, 2021 (edited) 15 minutes ago, ilmenit said: Sure, however switching to inventory, finding a pick axe on a long list, selecting it, pressing Use, only to find out that this rock is not breakable is a bit annoying. I think there were some items hidden in the breakable ones so as player not knowing how to progress I was spending very boring time trying to break all of them. Depends, we have already agreed that inventory and controls are far from optimal. Objections on using items can be solved by improving UI. Other thing is that making player to try every rock in level just to make essential progress further is very bad level design decision. Thats why only places where is pick axe usage needed are clearly recognizable as obstacle. Other cases are optional and upto player to be explored or not. Edited February 12, 2021 by clth 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 Keep the last used item at the ready or near the top of inventory to find again quickly maybe.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxl Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 the game crashes when loading it with Basic ON - not a problem but sometimes I forget to turn BASIC off... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilmenit Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 17 minutes ago, _The Doctor__ said: Keep the last used item at the ready or near the top of inventory to find again quickly maybe.. Good idea. Generally new items eg picked should appear on top. Clth, even when the UI has some issues it's already 10 times better than UIs of the games in 80s or even beginning of 90s. I tried to play a while ago some RPG classics and... oh boy, how spoiled are we after decades or trial and error, usability testing or research in game interfaces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clth Posted February 12, 2021 Author Share Posted February 12, 2021 2 minutes ago, ilmenit said: Clth, even when the UI has some issues it's already 10 times better than UIs of the games in 80s or even beginning of 90s. I tried to play a while ago some RPG classics and... oh boy, how spoiled are we after decades or trial and error, usability testing or research in game interfaces. Thats my point too. I wanted to avoid as much inputting obscure 3 letter commands or having special key for every operation etc. This is also reason I am not quite open to having specific keys. Another thing that if people see game behaving(and looking) more or less like something from advanced 16/32bit platforms, they kinda start to expect advanced platforms features - good example is hackish automapping working on 2x2 grid 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clth Posted February 12, 2021 Author Share Posted February 12, 2021 2 hours ago, xxl said: the game crashes when loading it with Basic ON - not a problem but sometimes I forget to turn BASIC off... Yes, i know it. Thats what i wanted to ask you but forgot - isnt there any way to disable BASIC in xBIOS without holding OPTION key on start? I am not very knowledgeable about OS internals so maybe it is not right question to ask ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+orpheuswaking Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 2 hours ago, xxl said: the game crashes when loading it with Basic ON - not a problem but sometimes I forget to turn BASIC off... Well that seems to be a you problem don't you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xxl Posted February 12, 2021 Share Posted February 12, 2021 org PORTB .HE FF at the beginning of the code should do the trick 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erroll Posted February 25, 2021 Share Posted February 25, 2021 That is really amazing. I would pay for this game. Give me 10 levels and we will call it 40$!!! This done in assembly, or what? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clth Posted February 25, 2021 Author Share Posted February 25, 2021 2 hours ago, Erroll said: That is really amazing. I would pay for this game. Give me 10 levels and we will call it 40$!!! This done in assembly, or what? Hah, havent really considered commercial release, unsure I will be that persistent to make so many levels :). Mostly done in C, only little of assembly. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invisible kid Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 14 hours ago, clth said: Hah, havent really considered commercial release, unsure I will be that persistent to make so many levels :). Mostly done in C, only little of assembly. Oh no! Please do, I will buy it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+skr Posted February 26, 2021 Share Posted February 26, 2021 On 2/12/2021 at 6:43 PM, clth said: Yes, i know it. Thats what i wanted to ask you but forgot - isnt there any way to disable BASIC in xBIOS without holding OPTION key on start? I am not very knowledgeable about OS internals so maybe it is not right question to ask ... You might want to check @JAC!s programming tipps: http://www.wudsn.com/index.php/productions-atari800/tutorials/tips If you scroll down a bit, you find a the topic "The program should switch off BASIC automatically, if it requires BASIC to be disabled". 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clth Posted March 15, 2021 Author Share Posted March 15, 2021 (edited) There were suggestions that monochrome graphics doesn't quite do justice to atari hardware ... So I've tried do kind of quick conversion to mode 4. It feels pretty different compared to B/W, environment clearly looks better but not so sprite graphics. What do you think? nhyrdemo_mode4.atr Edited March 15, 2021 by clth typos 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asommer Posted March 15, 2021 Share Posted March 15, 2021 I like it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Allan Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 I like it as well. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bocianu Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 Looks really good. I like it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tuf Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 I think the original looks great, as does the color version. Reminds me of a mono game on the ST. I vote for the higher rez, spritey B&W version - or perhaps both if you've got it in you 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+gnusto Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 Color version will look that much better when you replace the left over character graphic outlines with background color, but this already looks better! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ilmenit Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 Color + small changes in DLI? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.atarimania.com Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 Looks great but I hope you change the font. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clth Posted March 16, 2021 Author Share Posted March 16, 2021 9 hours ago, tuf said: I think the original looks great, as does the color version. Reminds me of a mono game on the ST. I vote for the higher rez, spritey B&W version - or perhaps both if you've got it in you Monochrome version has its charm but it lacks possibility of differentiation objects, richer UI, scene depth etc. unfortunately. 9 hours ago, gnusto said: Color version will look that much better when you replace the left over character graphic outlines with background color, but this already looks better! Yep, thats one of the point. Removing empty blocks around sprites would be kinda costly in terms of memory on B/W. With color mode this is much easier to be done. 4 hours ago, ilmenit said: Color + small changes in DLI? As you say, only that. Graphics had to be redone and there is still not used fifth color. 2 hours ago, www.atarimania.com said: Looks great but I hope you change the font. Thanks, what is the problem with stock font? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MARIO130XE Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 I would prefer the color version. I have never liked mono games. I think, Gr 0/8 are not game graphic modes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
www.atarimania.com Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 40 minutes ago, clth said: Thanks, what is the problem with stock font? It's not a problem, it just makes the game a bit bland and less attractive. I'll never understand why so many modern games on the Atari don't go for the extra touch that will make them stand out. I know people usually say the standard font is distinctive and everything, I think it looks outdated and makes you believe the Atari is inferior to other systems. Just look how creative coders are on other platforms for even simple games. Even though playability is essential, the artistic part changes the perception quite a lot. Just my two cents... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Philsan Posted March 16, 2021 Share Posted March 16, 2021 I agree on the fact a simple font change can improve the graphics a lot. Check out @FULS1307 fonts collection. To quickly check them use RECOIL picture viewer. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clth Posted March 16, 2021 Author Share Posted March 16, 2021 19 minutes ago, www.atarimania.com said: It's not a problem, it just makes the game a bit bland and less attractive. I'll never understand why so many modern games on the Atari don't go for the extra touch that will make them stand out. I know people usually say the standard font is distinctive and everything, I think it looks outdated and makes you believe the Atari is inferior to other systems. Just look how creative coders are on other platforms for even simple games. Even though playability is essential, the artistic part changes the perception quite a lot. Just my two cents... 8 minutes ago, Philsan said: I agree on the fact a simple font change can improve the graphics a lot. Check out @FULS1307 fonts collection. To quickly check them use RECOIL picture viewer. These are fair points, will have it on mind. I cant speak for others but in my case are custom fonts purely practical thing - ~400 bytes font is in situation when is left ~1500 bytes of ram kinda luxury. There is constant need of doing things "good enough" and there is lot other gameplay improving stuff to be more worth having than fancy font. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.