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saimo
Registered: Aug 2009
Posts: 36 |
HOC INIT EXIT - should I resume its development?
Hello,
every now and then, when I happen to have some free time, I toy with the idea of resuming the development of HOC INIT EXIT: eventually, I always give up because I can't really allow myself to waste time, especially for something that, probably, isn't of much interest to others. So, I thought some feedback could help me decide and, maybe, provide some motivation.
The game is basically missing two things:
* a special closing phase for each level (it's a slight variation of the gameplay, identical for all levels);
* sound (I haven't decided whether to go for sound effects or music, but currently I'm leaning towards the latter).
What do you say?
Cheers |
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saimo
Registered: Aug 2009
Posts: 36 |
Hi friends, as promised I'm back to give you some details regarding what I'd like to add. As I said, I'd like to tackle the audio part.
MINIMUM OBJECTIVE: 1 piece of in-game music*.
BETTER OBJECTIVE #1: 2 pieces of in-game music**.
BETTER OBJECTIVE #2: 1 piece in-game music, sound effects***.
BETTER OBJECTIVE #3: 2 pieces of in-game music, sound effects.
IDEAL OBJECTIVE #4: 1 piece of music for the start screen, 2 pieces of in-game music, sound effects.
* Obviously, looping ad infinitum.
** One for even levels, one for odd levels.
*** Effects to start with: one for jumps, one for falls, one for catches.
However, since I'm using BASIC, there are of course a few requirements (I don't think I'll say anything you don't already imagine, but anyway...):
* music must be located somewhere in the BASIC RAM (I'd put it right at the end, f.ex. at 0x9000 if the total size is 4 kB);
* it must be possible to start/stop music/sounds by means of SYS/USR calls;
* it would be highly preferrable if sounds stopped automatically;
* it would be great if all sounds and music were contained in a single file (so that it can be loaded once and for all at startup).
RAM availability is not a problem for now (I have 16+ kB free) neither is raster time (I haven't measured it precisely, but there must be some 40 lines free) - it goes without saying that the less resources are used, the better, as those could be used to improve the gameplay and/or add more graphics. The replay routine(s) can be called regularly at every frame without problems.
Anybody is welcome to contribute, although Richard and Wisdom (in this order) are the first in line ;)
Cheers |
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Richard
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 619 |
@Saimo, putting music at $9000 should hopefully be no problem I'll see what I can do in Goat Tracker. To be able to play music in your game, you would need to add an interrupt player, but I can make one for you and give quick instructions on how to use it. :) |
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Ventura
Account closed
Registered: Jan 2006
Posts: 67 |
Saimo: Nicing up the gameplay would really do it for this one.
I really like to see how this turns out. |
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saimo
Registered: Aug 2009
Posts: 36 |
@Richard
If the interrupt is needed for just calling the play routine at regular intervals, then it's not needed as long as, frequency-wise, it's sufficient to call the replay routine every frame, thanks to the fact that the game is already fully frame-synchronized (I'm saying this to avoid making things more complicate than needed).
That aside, are multiple songs and sounds possible (like in .sid files) with GoatTracker?
@Ventura
Sorry, for now I don't plan to make any gameplay enhancements. |
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Richard
Registered: Dec 2001
Posts: 619 |
Title music is done. I shall sort out the in game music later on this week :)
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saimo
Registered: Aug 2009
Posts: 36 |
@Richard
That's great, thanks! Could you send it my way (saimobvq at interfree.it) so I can start experimenting with it?
I plan to try the following (assuming the music has been relocated at 0x9000):
POKE 780,0
SYS 36864
...
SYS 36867 (every frame)
That aside, I've found in GoatTracker's documentation (section "5.2 Playroutine 2: Gamemusic (with sound-FX support)") also the answer to my own question regarding sound effects. It looks like it's very quick & easy :)
(By the way, the documentation I checked was part of an old port, so maybe things have changed... I'll have a look at the current documentation later.) |
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saimo
Registered: Aug 2009
Posts: 36 |
Hello guys,
I just wanted to inform you that Richard provided a nice tune for the start screen and that everything works perfectly - it looks like it won't take long before a new preview with sound will be out ;) |
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saimo
Registered: Aug 2009
Posts: 36 |
I thought I'd give you a little status update...
The game now has:
* title screen music;
* in-game music;
* a little fancier title screen (but it's still nice and simple as the old one);
* a "GAME OVER" notification;
* a new kind of food (fish, which replaces the Coke can);
... and a few bits have been improved here and there.
I'm thinking that once also sound effects are in place, I could release the second preview... |
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saimo
Registered: Aug 2009
Posts: 36 |
Hi all,
I just wanted to inform you that the new preview is now available: check it out here.
List of changes:
- added music (by Richard Bayliss);
- added hiscores;
- added game over notification;
- improved graphics in a few places;
- made title screen colorful.
Enjoy! |
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saimo
Registered: Aug 2009
Posts: 36 |
Hello,
again I'd just like to inform you that a new preview is available. The changes are minor, so I just edited the previous release. More precisely, this is what changed:
* fixed color flickering occurring when the "GAME OVER" string was flashing and the pig was on the first or second platform;
* retouched graphics slightly;
* sped-up a little platforms generation. |
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