Menu Please

Sunday 24th May 2009

It was another programming session for me today. But I can take a break from it tomorrow :) This time it was for me to program a disk menu for the disk version of The Last Amazon trilogy. The first thing I had to do was import all of the data which I was supplied, into the cross-assembly project. Before I could do that, I had to invert the 2x2 font, as the letters are going to be using raster colour bars.

As soon as all of the data was converted to the ACME cross assembler project folder. I started working on the code. The first thing I did was a simple test, which was to display 2 splits. One of which was for the bitmap and the other which was for the 2x2 charset. I put those inside an IRQ interrupt and then assembled those. The split worked.

Now my next job was to put all the raster bars over the 2x2 text. Which I managed to do. So now my next job was to get those raster bars straight by using timing tables. This took some time to do because when I tried to time the rasters, I ended up with the flickering moving all over the place. Once all the rasters were timed, I could add a scroll text routine in to the code and get it scrolling across smoothly.

Then I added a subroutine to read the keyboard, then routines for turning off the IRQ loader, etc and loading in the game, using a black screen and thin blue stripes - to show the disk loading. I was happy with the final result.

Update: I got an email about this menu and Psytronik Software was impressed with the work I done with this menu. I bet they were surprised at how fast such a menu project was. Just a few hours or so :)

Last Amazon - Tape Mastering+Linking

Saturday 23rd May 2009

Weather is ever so nice today, but I had nothing to do, nowhere to go to meet people. So I decided to do some more of The Last Amazon trilogy project. This time something completely different. I took a look at the latest IRQ tape loader source code by Martin Piper and decided to alter it to make the loader slightly shorter and also base the loader on the same loader I used for Joe Gunn tape version.

I dug out the ACME cross assembler and first of all, I altered the loader's flashing border methods. Rather than have the classic cyber load colours, I wanted something much different. So I changed the Cyber load colours to something like this:

COLOURBASE: LDA #$06
STA $D020
LDA #$00
STA $D020

then I changed the INC $D020 where the check sum counts, to INC COLOURBASE+1 so that after each check sum, the loader will change the colour of the thin stripes per load.

Once I done this, I decided to make some additional features to the routine. Starting with altering the speed of the tape loader to medium/fast speed, because duplication can be a problem if the speed of the loader is too fast. Secondly I updated the scroll text routine, and removed the on screen messages "NOW LOADING LEGION OF THE DAMNED" to shorten the loader in size.

Also to shorten the size, I deleted the routines that saves and loads the loader's flashing sprite, and the counter routine. Both of those were not required for this TND/Psytronik loader. I linked the program files of the music, picture data and then game data and assembled the source to get a tape master.

Now I test the assembled tape master file and assembled it to a .prg file and run it in WinVice. I created a test .tap (or tape image as you would prefer to call it) and started to extract all the data on to the .tap image. I tested the loader, and it worked nicely. So I did the same mastering for different games. Then created a disk menu for the master.

The other job which I did was linked all the loader pics (With press space message) to each Last Amazon game. So I created my very own Picture Linker program, which will link pictures made with the Vidcom to TNDPic converter (Only for my personal use :o)). Then I inserted all the TNDPic files into the directory of my Picture Linker source. Then I added all the C64 files (Music, the games, etc) to the source. I assembled the source and linked the picture to each file successfully. Those featuring the linked pictures (With the press space message) will only be for the disk version.

This Last Amazon Trilogy project is nearly finished, all I need to do is program a special disk menu for the disk version of the game and then that's it :)

A Last Amazon master

Monday + Tuesday 31st March 2009

After tea this evening, I decided to work on a loading tune for the first Last Amazon game. So I dug out the DMC V5.0+ music editor and loaded in one of my old work tunes. Kenz fancied a Matt Gray(esque) style tune for the tape loading music. So I loaded in one of my tunes that I done for Last Amazon 2, and then I made a new atmospheric Matt Gray(esque) tune for the loader. Once I was very happy with it I worked on the main tape mastering for the game.

But there was something I just could not resist for the tape loader. Because Martin Piper had done a turbo tape loader routine with a flashing/pulsating sprite. I thought to myself, hmm. I could do a tribute to the classic Cyberload tape loader, but without the CYBERLOAD NOW LOADING GAMENAME thing and draw my own flashing square sprite (But make it look different to the original Cyberload sprite). I positioned the sprite at the bottom and in the middle of the screen and then linked the game music, loading picture and game files into the source code of my version of Martin's loader and then compressed the assembled source and data using the Exomizer, and tested the tape master. Magnificent. I was very pleased with the loader result. I will send this off to Kenz to check out to see what he thinks of it.

Another trip to the Amazon

24th+25th March 2009

Yesterday, I managed to create a new front end for The Last Amazon - Special Edition. Pretty good result. However I felt that I should add an ending message to the game instead of the game looping. Well, it sort of worked, but I found it to be boring to have still text, so for the ending part I programmed a FLD routine, and the text moves up and down. Much better :o) There was still something missing. Waz did a couple of tunes that was exclusive for The Last Amazon, but we changed the music for the new version of the first game where title music was by me and in game music by Tonka. So we used Waz's tunes specially for this game. There was one tune I noticed in the HVSC which was originally for the first Last Amazon game, but it never appeared on the game, so I decided to use it for the end part of the game.

Later on, Kenz sent me a scroll text for me to add to the game. So I tried to import the scroll text into the cross-assembly project. Scroll text came in, but sadly there was not enough room for me to place the scroll text. I thought that I had to sacrifice the end tune as it had overlapped the scroll text message. Thankfully there was a lot of space in memory $1300-$18FF, as there was nothing there (As Sideways SEUCK scroll map data was originally at a different area). So I placed Kenz's scroll text at $1300 and it did not overlap anything else.

I wanted to do one more thing to the game before I classed it to be a finished piece. And that was to animate the waterfall background chars. First of all I had to dig out the Action Replay Graphics Support Disk and use the E.SS program to rip out the character set, and then load the character set into the Megaunit Char editor. This was so that I could work out where the waterfall background chars were.

Well, when I tried to animate the waterfall's background, I had a very bad result. Some of the chars that were used for the waterfall were also used for parts of the jungle's background. Sadly that meant I had to sacrifice the background animation for the water fall as the char rolling even happened with the green jungle background, as it used the same chars for it. Still, it should be alright without the animation.

Stuck in the Amazon - Episode 2

23rd March 2009

If you remember a few weeks back, I did a new front end for Last Amazon - Special Edition, but yesterday I received an E-mail from Kenz that the Special Edition could do with a new and better front end. So he sent me a mockup up of what himself and Alf would love to see for the new front end. Well, it seems I have another job to do so yesterday evening I got started on it and then felt a bit tired and called it a day.

Today I did loads of programming for this new front end. I was originally scratching my head wondering if I could get anywhere to matching Kenz's example. I estimated the number of raster splits that would have been required for the title screen for this game. It turned out that I needed 10 of those. So I made some test splits (Border colour splits) to work out the areas for where the splits lie, and where I should change the font for the text. Mainly because the text is mixed with 1x1 characters and also 2x2 characters.

After I done the splits, I worked on a few other routines, for example a routine that will the normal SEUCK title screen, so that whenever RESTORE is pressed or the player quits the game it will jump straight back to the new title screen code, not the old SEUCK title screen. Then I added the scroll text, with the colour detail. Then I programmed the options that gives the player to chose between 1 player or 2 plays, and to choose whether to have in game music or sound effects. I tested the front end. Looks very nice. I shall now send it to Kenz :)

Enter the cheetah!

1st March 2009

I read my emails and one of the messages was from Kenz, about the new front end for The Last Amazon that I sent him yesterday. There were a few things missing. I had forgotten to credit him for the logo and also I did not add the Last Amazon's eyes to the end of the fading text. So I worked on the front end a little more and added the missing elements. Now I tested the front end. All was okay, apart from the eyes. So instead of using the !SCR command, I used the !BYTE command, and set values for the eyes chars and .... it worked!

Now the front end (as far as I know) was finished, it was then time for me to add a game over routine for after the last life of the player is lost. Kenz came up with a great idea for the game over sequence, which is to have the Last Amazon running across the screen, and then have some cheetahs chasing after her (Din-dins for the cheetahs). So I ripped some sprites from the game, and stored those to $6c00-$6d00 and imported them into the game over source. I then programmed the game over screen in ACME cross assembler, making new interrupts and sprite expansion routines. Once I did all the programming for the end screen, I bolted it to the SEUCK game and tested it. The game over sequence works nicely.

For the final stage of this game, I programmed a small end screen, which shows just yellow text, using the 1x1 charset and linked the ending to where the SEUCK game scroller loop routine was. For the final test, I played the whole game in cheat mode to see if anything was wrong. It seems that everything was fine. Hopefully another Last Amazon front end finally finished. Finger crossed!

Now that was done, I dug out some tunes for The Last Amazon 2 (I will be doing a new front end and enhancements for this game when the first Last Amazon game has been given the OK), and relocated those. Then I loaded up the Last Amazon 2 SEUCK game and added the music to the game, and compressed it with Exomizer, disabling the effect when uncompressing the file and then I put both Last Amazon games on to the .D64 and sent it to Kenz.

I also could not resist playing The Last Amazon 2. It is another of Alf's memorable classic SEUCK games. Alf made many excellent SEUCK games with the great SEUCK editor. I have played many of Alf's classic SEUCK games in my time. I used to love games that were in the Cops series, and also Archetype was one of my all time favorites.