New version of Frogger (was: A demo of what is looking like a new Frogger for the beeb)

[tricky]

I confused myself with which keys did what and why!

OK, here is RC2 with working joystick (untested on master and compact).
You can choose any four keys by editing LOADER, and adding another or changing the 8 digit hex number, it is just the four internal key codes in hex.

Lading screen, only really there so you know you can't start yet (and as a nod to the original attract screen)


Menu screen, allows you to press I for instructions or the fire button for joystick control or choose from three keyboard layouts.


Instructions screen, not really sure why I added this


Finally, gameplay screen - you should all know what this looks like


the attached zip contains the .ssd disc image incase RS is too far to go!

I'm still taking bug requests reports!

[lurkio]

Ruddy brilliant, tricky!



Typos in instructions:
- delete comma after "starting"
- "virtical" should be "vertical"

[tricky]

Thanks, I must get a hex editor with built in spelling and grammar checkers

[Arcadian]

Maybe lose the spaces on the 2nd, 5th and 10th lines of instructions?

Observation re: crocs in homes posted to Retro Software.

Awesome, awesome work - Tricky!

[tricky]

Will do, that's what happens when you write text in a hex editor

[chrisn]

I had a few goes last night of your RC1 version, and it's great. The extra features you've added recently are a big improvement!

My only suggestion is to add a bit of colour to the instruction screen - for the "FROGGER" and "SCORING" headings and the "Press SPACE" line. But that's such a minor thing ... otherwise it's looking terrific, well done.

I'm looking forward to playing this in the high score challenge!

[tricky]

Comments from here and RS incorporated, so this should be the final version!

[lurkio]

In BeebEm, "Game Over" is displayed at the start of a new game! I think this is new behaviour since RC2 above?

[SteveF]

This is very cool indeed!

It's a small point, but (at least on BeebEm emulating a Master 128) when I press CTRL-BREAK to exit the game it's somehow stuck with ADFS as the filing system (even though I booted from the DFS game disc and DFS is the default filing system). Is this just me? It would be nice if you didn't have to power cycle the machine afterwards to get it back to normal.

Cheers.

Steve

[tricky]

I do play a bit free and easy with memory, I'll have a look.
RichTW did warn me.
I believe a *fx 200,3 then break should sort it out in the mean time.

[Rich Talbot-Watkins]

As long as you can ensure you have bit 1 of ?&258 set, you should be good. Looking fantastic Richard, bravo!

[JoolsH]

In BeebEm, "Game Over" is displayed at the start of a new game! I think this is new behaviour since RC2 above?

That's deliberate... you're not technically at the start of a new game at that point - it starts on attract mode with "Game Over" displayed like after turning on an arcade machine. The game doesn't actually start until you move for the first time (at which time your timer and lives are reset) - as Tricky said on the RS forum:

You do have to press a key to start again, attract mode just looks suspiciously like playing a game without moving if you give it a few seconds, the music will stop and then a new game will start when you move.

[tricky]

As long as you can ensure you have bit 1 of ?&258 set, you should be good...

Thanks Rich, I've shuffled the music around so that &258 has 3 in it. Do you have any current beeb plans - finishing bone cruncher would be nice

Thanks JoolsH for joining the tech support team and I look forward to seeing you win a Frogger high-score challenge.

Attached should be identical except not needing the *fx200,3 when you BREAK. Why would anyone stop playing before they had to turn off

Off to update the RS thread.

[davidb]

Excellent work! Quite the polished game in the end. Well done!

[leenew]

Brill!
I have just played it on my real beeb with datacentre and found the following:

1) the first screen still needs a delay or a keypress as it disappears from view far too quickly.
2) when playing with joysticks there is quite a lot of screen "jitter" that isn't present when playing with keys.
3) although this doesn't bother me too much, it does wreck the beeb when I quit playing and hit break. It reports "Language?" and the screen rolls!! I have to power cycle to get things back to normal

Excellent, excellent work

Lee.

[tricky]

Lee, Could you describe the jitter,I didn't see anything on my issue7.
Was the language? with the last version (16k fix) or the penulimate one?
I don't have a datacentre, so can't really tell if that has anything to do with it.

Everyone, please can anyone who plays just add a reply saying if it worked on their machine, what modely they have and any issues they had. If possible, please try with and without joystick.

I would suggest finishing by pressing CTRL-BREAK, it may not make any difference, but as I have trampled over everything, other roms and hardware are less likely to be confused.

[leenew]

Hi Tricky,
This is with the latest version,
If i play with keys, it seems fine, but if I play with joysticks, there seems to be some tearing of the sprites.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=5t9RqAOheFw

Lee.

[tricky]

Thanks Lee, I'll have another look, I only have a green screen at the moment, and it's hard to see most things, but that should be easy to spot. The timing is tight in places, I will try changing it slightly and see if I can trigger it on my beeb.

[SteveF]

Cheers tricky, I just tried the latest version (BeebEm, Master 128 mode) and CTRL-BREAK works great now!

[lurkio]

This is with the latest version, If i play with keys, it seems fine, but if I play with joysticks, there seems to be some tearing of the sprites. https://youtube.com/watch?v=5t9RqAOheFw

I'm getting the same symptoms as Lee. I'm on a Model B with DataCentre and CRT. It plays fine on keyboard, but I get the same glitches if I use a joystick. The glitches on the logs seem more obvious than in Lee's video.

[tricky]

Thanks, I'll do some digging

[tricky]

The timing is extremely delicate there and as I currently have only 1 byte to spare, options are limited.

I have moved the time later by 4 ticks, which gets rid of the displaying bits of cars at the wrong time, but it does cause flicker on the central grass area.

The original timer value was 21, this version has it set to 25 and has a small tweak to remove the flickering on the bottom grass with the timer change.

If you like, you can "play" with the timer value to get the compromise that is best for your beeb, as there seems to be very slight variation.

To change the Value, add a line 55 to the FROG_LD program: ?295D=21
21 was the original value and 25 is the default in this build, I would suggest picking one between 21 and 25 inclusive.
If this isn't for you, just pick the one that works best for you.

I will try to work out a better solution.

[tricky]

Scratch all that, I had accidentally enabled the ADC interrupt when enabling the joystick on the bbc and it was the interaction between that and the timer that was causing the glitches.

Here is hopefully the final release, I fixed the central grass which was being draw wrongly.

[danielj]

Looking rather bloody good! Installed on the MDFS for Wakefield (I love a bit of Frogger, I do )

d.

[tricky]

Glad to hear it, daniel, just sorry I don't think I can make it this year.

Everyone, sorry about all the bugs!, my QA department is rather small and the cat doesn't really pull her weight

I've been testing the joystick with a paddle with the knob doing left/right and some quirk of the wiring (I think I used the wrong earth) makes fire move forwards, but I wouldn't recommend it as a control method for a high-score competition unles someone needs handicapping

[paulv]

I've not had much time to look at this but finally got to play it in an emulator at least today. It's amazing!!!

I only really played the Superior Software's Frogger BITD and this is just so much better than that!

Very, very nice work.

Paul

[leenew]

Played again with Keys and joysticks on my datacentre-beeb.
Loverrrrly
No glitching at all.
*It still kills my beeb when CTRL-BRKing after playing though

Lee.

[Arcadian]

Tricky's Frogger conversion is running at the PLAY it! video gaming event, supported by European Gaming League at the Museum of Science and Industry, Manchester.

It opened yesterday and runs until Sunday 17th April.

More details here: http://www.msimanchester.org.uk/playit

[Bagpuss]

Fantastic work, Tricky!
Frogger was one of my all time favourites in the arcade back in the 80's.
Going to really enjoy playing this.

[Bagpuss]

Just moved my Beeb onto a flat screen TV in my study, and the vertical position is slightly different from my CRT screen.
Sadly, the flat screen won't let me adjust the display downwards, so the top line or so of the screen is off the top.
I can usually deal with this using *TV255, which is what the BEEB.MMB menu does.

For Frogger, I've tried the following in the !BOOT:
*KEY10 G%=&4E00:CH."FROG-LD"
*TV255
CALL&D9CD

This appears to have the desired effect on the initial screens that are in MODE 7, but when the game starts, the screen setup routines seem to move the screen upwards again. This means the score line can't be fully seen.

Any idea how I might fix this?

Thanks,

Andy.