VxTron32 release 1.0

[jaymzjulian]

So one near complete rewrite later, here's VxTron32 - as 3d tron game for the vectrex 32.  For the most part, it contains what it says on the tin - it's the tron light cycles game, for one or two players.  It also contains ducks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K1_07VBNwOY
another: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2bl8Syi6VA

Controls for one player (third person):

joystick - move camera
button 1 - turn left
button 2 - turn right
button 3 - zoom camera in
button 4 - zoom camera out

Controls for one player (first person):

button 1 - turn left
button 2 - turn right
button 3 - peek left
button 4 - peek right

Controls for two players on one controller:

button 1 - turn left
button 2 - turn right
button 3 - turn left (player 2)
button 4 - turn right (player 2)

Un-combined source is at https://github.com/jaymzjulian/vltron

ProTip: Generally I watch the map more than the 3d display when trying to judge distance, because there is still an amount of vector drift.  You can totally play it in pure 3d, and sometimes I do, but it helped me, at least!  That applies less in first person mode....

There is theoretical support for two players on two controllers, however since I don't own two controllers, who knows if it works.  I'll put out a patch release if it does not....

Note: You need to copy all of the files in the zip to your vectrex32 for this to run (except the README.md, it doesn't read that ) since, in order to conserve memory, certain items are streamed from the storage.

(My next game will definitely not take six months )

[Vectrex32]

Stunning! Absolutely stunning! And the "vocalized" countdown is brilliant!

I die really fast in this game. I'm going to need to work at it.

- Bob

[jaymzjulian]

update: the uploaded zip had a corrupted music player caused by the basic combiner (playback was at 70% speed) - oops .  I've attached a v1.1 with music that plays at the correct speed....

[jaymzjulian]

Stunning! Absolutely stunning! And the "vocalized" countdown is brilliant!

I die really fast in this game. I'm going to need to work at it.

- Bob

Yeah, that's why there's a speed option   You're not the first to suffer that....  one thought i did have, is maybe we need a way to write to the flash and save an options file, so you don't have to reset that every reboot. 

also, increasing the arena size can help with that - once you get away from the pack, you've got more room to maneuver

[Vectrex32]

maybe we need a way to write to the flash and save an options file

Already available. Check out FOpen() in the Vectrex32 manual (not the GS BASIC manual). You can read and write config files (and Top Score files).

- Bob

[Vectrex32]

Since there's a speed option, maybe the default speed should be dialed back a bit.

Drawing the cycle in the "attract" screen seems to be too much for the Vectrex. If it can't draw it well, maybe it just shouldn't draw it.

[jaymzjulian]

I'll give some consideration to both of these points.

On the speed thing, I was actually inclined to _increase_ the default - I dropped it back to the current level as a concession, but it's generally agreed in my household that it's more fun at the next fastest setting.  But, to be fair, they've had to put up with the game for a while .  But, if it makes the game inaccessible, then I possibly need to change it...  I thought about maybe dropping the speed back if your last game was less than N seconds, which is a possibility, and speed it up if things are the other way. 

On the title screen, I like the effect, but you're not the first to suggest that maybe it should be changed, so perhaps that is correct.... i'm deliberately drawing only part of it each frame because I like the effect of it doing that, so maybe I could have it draw even less per frame and reduce other flickering.  I don't find it a problem myself, but myself is not all people... i definitely hate it _without_ the background there (screen looked boring).  But maybe i'll try it again.

[Vectrex32]

I thought about maybe dropping the speed back if your last game was less than N seconds, which is a possibility, and speed it up if things are the other way. 

Artificial intelligence! I like it!

Alternatively, start slow and speed up as the game progresses. That's certainly a common approach in arcade games.

- Bob

[jaymzjulian]

Release 1.2
-------------

Changes:
* Settings are saved into vxtron_settings.dat , so you don't have to remember them every game
* A bug was fixed in the AY player timing where it would wait unnecessarily for 10 ticks in a couple of edge cases - this should prevent a couple of frame rate drops only noticable to me

Beyond that, nothing is interesting in this release - I found the player bug while finishing up my new game (running very late due to personal life reasons - yay - but should be finished in the next week or two!), and thought i'd add the settings save at the same time.

EDIT: the file is attached to the first post, so people don't get the old version by mistake! - the versions are at:

https://duckandkitty.com/vxtron32_1.2.zip
https://duckandkitty.com/vxtron32_1.1.zip

Since i can't leave both attached due to forum size limits