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Taipan   [2011]

Taipan Released by :
JCB

Release Date :
20 January 2011

Type :
C64 Game

User rating:*********_  8.8/10 (8 votes)   See votestatistics

Credits :
Code .... JCB
Graphics .... STE'86

Download :

Look for downloads on external sites:
 Pokefinder.org


User Comment
Submitted by JCB on 21 January 2011
RND replacement will just be my own routine based on timers. The problem with a seeded RND IS that gives the same results every time. That's not necessary in a game like this (too many turns to remember what you did) and seems to be not wanted (for people playing on VICE and saving state files for example).

Using the SID is the oldshcool standard way and would be a way to init a seed but if then still using a RND algorithm (if for example SID is being used) you'd get a sequence again. Basing it off a timer means you're never likely to hit a key even once at the same time you did the previous game, so each move you make will produce a new random number.

Could of course use RND(0) and let the c64 do it from the clock but like I said earlier, everything is generally being replaced with asm stuff.
User Comment
Submitted by e5frog on 21 January 2011
I read a little about the RND function, seeding is recommended, adding a RND(-TI) initially in the BASIC listing may help and also using RND(0) instead of RND(1). Using the SID however sounds like an excellent idea.
User Comment
Submitted by JCB on 21 January 2011
@Richard, if that's an offer and you can do something in a suitable style then please do :)
User Comment
Submitted by Richard on 21 January 2011
Although I am not into these type of games, I quite enjoyed this one. I feel that there's something missing to give the game quite an atmosphere. Music :) You could have a swash-buckling style of theme for the options, and an action style tune for the battles. :)
User Comment
Submitted by enthusi on 21 January 2011
Nice gfx,
I dont like the game too much, though. It seems to have strange inner logic and in general appears to be pretty random. But the crowd seems to differ ;-)
User Comment
Submitted by Tao on 20 January 2011
@Steve: Great job on that picture!
User Comment
Submitted by JCB on 20 January 2011
I've got an asm input routine that I wrote for the first version of this port (massively over-engineered and was taking too long to finish) so I could just replace it with that. The BASIC stuff is slowly being replaced with asm as I add new features anyway :)
User Comment
Submitted by TheRyk on 20 January 2011
Promising new compiled(?) BASIC game! Thumbs up!

I think a few fixes are necessary, e.g. I'd really avoid using INPUT if I were you. It's easy to replace it with a GET$-Routine (adressed via GOSUB throughout the program) which won't allow cursor-movement or cause ?REDO FROM START ERRORs. Shouldn't be a problem for you, otherwise just PM me and I'll try to help, did sth the like when fixing Mafia.

So I'm really looking forward for a fixed and improved version! Good job, anyway!
User Comment
Submitted by The Human Code Machine on 20 January 2011
@JCB Here's a simple way to generate a random seed based on white noise generated by the sid chip:

RNDINIT SUBROUTINE
LDX #$18
LDA #$00
.1 STA $D400,X
DEX
BPL .1
LDA #$80
STA $D418
LDA #$FF
STA $D40E
STA $D40F
LDA #$81
STA $D412
RTS

Call RNDINIT at the beginning of your basic program and use this line to randomize your seed:

B=PEEK(54299):FOR I=0 TO B:A=RND(B):NEXT

You can do everything in basic if you like. I used this code for Starbyte Super Soccer.
User Comment
Submitted by JCB on 20 January 2011
This game could do with music and sound fx, especially some nice fx. I've done some for the next release but they're far from good... Any offers please let me know.
User Comment
Submitted by JCB on 20 January 2011
atm there's no point to retiring, it doesn't get you anything apart from having to start again which is why there's not been a fix as yet. Don't see the point of uploading a bugfix version with just that in.

There will be new versions where retiring will have a point because there's a highscore table in the code now. I'll have to work out some penalty for dying rather than retiring so your score is diminished, else again, there'd be no point in retiring..

btw (@ Skate), the storm was outside the harbour you were leaving ;) that's why destination didn't matter... or some other made up but semi believable reason :)


If people really want a version where you can retire, I'll upload it but that of course means creating a new release page already..
User Comment
Submitted by Skate on 20 January 2011
Somehow Shift+Y didn't work for me. but poke 12457,89 (>30a9 59) seems to fix the Shift+Y problem. Finally I could finish the game as a millionaire. :)
User Comment
Submitted by Skate on 20 January 2011
@JCB: If there were no interaction, it would be really difficult to have different results from vice when you use autorun. But luckily, you have interaction at the beginning. So, instead of using entered name as a random seed, you can use the timer after a key press. not many people are able to press the key in the same milisecond passed from the startup, right? :)

but my comment was not focused on the random factor. i was trying to say that different locations doesn't affect the logic much i guess. i mean when there will be a storm, it happens whereever you go. so, if it happens, storm is everywhere, it's not related to where you go. ;) i would expect to have different probabilities for different cities (distances).
User Comment
Submitted by JCB on 20 January 2011
I kind of like the way it'll always play the same on first run atm. I was thinking of basing a random seed on the name you enter so you can always get the same game, or maybe asking you to type a code in and use that as the seed so you can replay the same game again but with a different name. I doubt people are that bothered though about playing for 30 mins, dying, restarting with the same seed and recreating their exact choices :) Over thinking it really..
User Comment
Submitted by chatGPZ on 20 January 2011
Quote:
VICE seems to always produce the same series of numbers...

so does a c64 after a power cycle =P to get really random numbers, you should initialize the random seed with some timer value that depends on user input (like the value of ti, after the title screen)
User Comment
Submitted by e5frog on 20 January 2011
In the supplied code at commodorebounty (for CoCo3 I've heard) it checks every time you're in Hong Kong if you have 1 million or more and ask if you want to retire. If you do, it displays a flashing message and then the rating. There's a point to not being able to retire whenever you want as things can happen when returning to Hong Kong. That's the way it was programmed from the beginning and that's the way it should work in my opinion.
The bug in the current version uploaded here is that there's no "y" filled into the IF check only "Y" so if you write SHIFT+Y then you'll see the "YOU'RE A MILLIONAIRE" text flicker by before it continues as nothing had happen. Reason for that is because there's a GOTO that is never reached probably because there's an INPUT statement before it in that IF statement. It's a very easy fix in the BASIC code but you will need to re-align the position that variables X and Y is read because the assembly program fetches these from a fixed address that is messed up if anything is changed in the BASIC listing (and maybe other things as well).
Not sure we will see a version with that fix, perhaps a hotted up and altered version is the next thing in line. :-(

Addictive game GREAT WORK porting, you deserve the bounty!
I believe I was up to 120 billion at one point but probably because I wrote E+90 instead of E+09 when entering that large number it had an overflow error and crashed.
User Comment
Submitted by TWW on 20 January 2011
Awesome Titlescreen! I looket at the source of the original and the only cool thing was that the titlescreen there was "code-drawn". Too many baloons in the air to look at it further though... But it looks like you got it right!
User Comment
Submitted by JCB on 20 January 2011
The whole game is basically driven off RND and VICE seems to always produce the same series of numbers...

The retire y/n thing is/was a bug but is also changed for the next release. The original asks (like this version) if you want to retire, but only once and it seems pointless to ask where it does so there's some tweaking/alterations going on so that you can retire when you want rather than when the game gives you the choice.
User Comment
Submitted by Skate on 20 January 2011
it's really fun to play. i earned 20603962 cash but then my ship sank in a storm. the thing is, i was taking snapshots from vice and when the ship sank, i returned to the previous state but whereever i tried to go, same thing happened. so, storm is not related to where you are heading to, it's completely random and whatever you do (for example trying to go to the same place you've already been) doesn't change this. your destiny is certain, there is no way to escape from it. :)

btw, i didn't get "do you want to retire?" thing. each time i entered yes (or just a "y" in short), nothing happened. is this an incomplete feature?
User Comment
Submitted by JCB on 20 January 2011
This is a "bounty release" version of the game (ie a playable mostly bug free port of the supplied code) and not final :) There will be a V1 and then probably V1.x after that to add features/tweaks that weren't part of the bounty.
User Comment
Submitted by The Human Code Machine on 20 January 2011
Nice work!
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