Electrobots Going Underground (Elk, Beeb, Windows)

[0xC0DE]

Electrobots Going Underground is out now. My new 8bit game for Acorn Electron and BBC Micro. It can even be played on Windows with the self-contained EXE. Download from: https://github.com/0xC0DE6502/electrobo ... d-releases

[ChrisB]

We done. A charming puzzle platformer. Could I ask for a couple of quality of life items? I think it's not obvious when you lose a "life" as energy just keeps going down. Another noise - or a screen flash might help you realise this. Secondly - could you mention that Escape does more that pause?

[oss003]

Great game .... nice scrolling.....
Does the windows version use an emulator?

Greetings
Kees

[marcusjambler]

Wow looking awesome 0xC0DE...

Is it meant to be like this? Running in BeebEM 4.14

Marcus

[jubber]

The graphics are full of character - really nice looking game. And a good jump motion as well. I especially like the contrast between the yellow Level text and the stark white game graphics.

What mode is it running in? The position on screen is quite unusual. It feels like a half height Mode 4

[lovebug]

very nicely done

[paulb]

What mode is it running in? The position on screen is quite unusual. It feels like a half height Mode 4

It looks like mode 4 with some palette switching. It's worth mentioning that the reduced height display is something that became rather more common on later Electron games, taking advantage of the interrupt timing to blank areas of the screen where data is stored, so I suspect that this is what is being done here. That it is also being done when running on the Beeb might well be just a matter of replicating the timing in the Beeb's rather more flexible interrupt handling scheme, as opposed to reworking stuff to use various properties of the 6845.

I only mention this because Beeb users might not be aware of how some Electron games looked. Adverts often just showed the Beeb versions, occasionally putting in a single Electron screenshot where the game's appearance was noticeably different, such as with games like Repton where the scrolling occurred in a window and not the entire screen.

[0xC0DE]

We done. A charming puzzle platformer. Could I ask for a couple of quality of life items? I think it's not obvious when you lose a "life" as energy just keeps going down. Another noise - or a screen flash might help you realise this. Secondly - could you mention that Escape does more that pause?

Done and done!

[0xC0DE]

Does the windows version use an emulator?

Yes, a minimal "kiosk" version of my Electron emulator!

[0xC0DE]

Is it meant to be like this? Running in BeebEM 4.14

Yes, it is supposed to look like this. The Electron is my main target and there are technical reasons for this screen layout.

[0xC0DE]

What mode is it running in? The position on screen is quite unusual. It feels like a half height Mode 4

The title screen is MODE 5 + MODE 4. The game itself is in MODE 4 with some colour palette switches. The screen layout is due to technical reasons on my main dev target: the Electron.

[0xC0DE]

What mode is it running in? The position on screen is quite unusual. It feels like a half height Mode 4

It looks like mode 4 with some palette switching. It's worth mentioning that the reduced height display is something that became rather more common on later Electron games, taking advantage of the interrupt timing to blank areas of the screen where data is stored, so I suspect that this is what is being done here. That it is also being done when running on the Beeb might well be just a matter of replicating the timing in the Beeb's rather more flexible interrupt handling scheme, as opposed to reworking stuff to use various properties of the 6845.

I only mention this because Beeb users might not be aware of how some Electron games looked. Adverts often just showed the Beeb versions, occasionally putting in a single Electron screenshot where the game's appearance was noticeably different, such as with games like Repton where the scrolling occurred in a window and not the entire screen.

What Paul said
Title screen is MODE 5 + MODE 4. Game itself is MODE 4 with double screen buffers which you can't see due to strategic colour palette changes. I use my Machine Auto Detect code to determine on what real machine or emulator the code is running so I can tweak the delays for the colour palette switches.
My main dev target is always the Electron but I enjoy making my games work on the Beeb as well. (single binary, multi platform).

[ChrisB]

I use my Machine Auto Detect code to determine on what real machine or emulator the code is running

Is this available anywhere please - my current project seems to exhibit issues on different emulators and it would probably be useful?

[0xC0DE]

I use my Machine Auto Detect code to determine on what real machine or emulator the code is running

Is this available anywhere please - my current project seems to exhibit issues on different emulators and it would probably be useful?

I suspect you won't be interested because it is for Electron emulators only, but here you go https://github.com/0xC0DE6502/machine-a ... t-releases

[Pernod]

I suspect you won't be interested because it is for Electron emulators only, but here you go https://github.com/0xC0DE6502/machine-a ... t-releases

So what do you do differently that depends on which machine/emulator is detected? Ideally all emulators should be detected as real hardware, clearly some emulators are closer than others. Looks like CLK has the same numbers as real hardware, so how is that detected?

[0xC0DE]

I suspect you won't be interested because it is for Electron emulators only, but here you go https://github.com/0xC0DE6502/machine-a ... t-releases

So what do you do differently that depends on which machine/emulator is detected? Ideally all emulators should be detected as real hardware, clearly some emulators are closer than others. Looks like CLK has the same numbers as real hardware, so how is that detected?

The example program (https://github.com/0xC0DE6502/machine-a ... ample.6502) shows how you might need slightly different delays or timings on different emulators. If you know what emulator your code runs on you can select the correct timing/delay. For timing a precise colour palette switch for instance.

None of the Elk emulators is perfect and all have different imperfections that allow me to distinguish them from each other and from a real Elk.

[jms2]

This is a really beautifully put together game! I really like it. The way it walks you through a series of introductory levels is very nice and quite novel for a game on the BBC/Elk.

Also... you've possibly been doing this for ages but I wanted say I like the little easter egg you have left in the file attributes!

[0xC0DE]

Also... you've possibly been doing this for ages but I wanted say I like the little easter egg you have left in the file attributes!

You are the first to notice and mention it

[Simon]

What a wonderful game, love the scroll effects. Nice to have another game that works great with the plus 3 thank you very much.

[sydney]

Another great game!
I'm loving the alternative keyset, absolutely perfect for use on a laptop whose keyboard layout makes the traditional beeb/elk default keys unusable.
I've always loved mode 4 stuff, the extra resolution more than makes up for the lack of colour. A few of my favourite games from back in the day are Starship Command, Plan B 2 and Imogen which look fantastic and probably wouldn't benefit from additional colour.

[Ptolom]

It is amazing how a game with such limited resources can be so immersive. I got stuck on level 5 trying it out in b-em but I shall be getting the Electron out later to give it a proper play through.

[0xC0DE]

Thanks everyone for the positive reactions to my game!

[oss003]

Are you using hardware scrolling in the playfield?

Greetings
Kees

[0xC0DE]

Are you using hardware scrolling in the playfield?

Everything is done by software scrolling, i.e. pushing bytes around!

[davidb]

Everything is done by software scrolling, i.e. pushing bytes around!

Then that's some fast plotting! Did you experiment with making a version that uses hardware scrolling?

[0xC0DE]

Everything is done by software scrolling, i.e. pushing bytes around!

Then that's some fast plotting! Did you experiment with making a version that uses hardware scrolling?

It's doing less than you think. The pebbles/rocks at both sides of the mineshaft enhance the illusion of a wider scrolling window.

I haven't experimented with hardware scrolling in this particular case, though I know it is possible. I'm also using double screen buffers for flicker free sprite plotting.

[Cybershark]

Damn, this game is smooth! Feels like a great spiritual successor to the Plan B games but the lack of shooty action and the added dynamic of the crates really set it apart

And that scrolling is wonderful, if occasionally rather troublesome! I don't entirely love the way that gravity can soon overtake a downward scroll, and you'll then be waiting a second or two to find out where you ended up.

I did appreciate that the levels are not timed, and the way you can stand on the edges of the spiked floor without taking damage. The level restart option was also most useful. I did, however, find it very odd that the draining of one player life rolls straight into the immediate decline of the next.

Took me a while - with a lot of savestate use - but I have now completed all 16 levels (with a score of 65500)

Well done, and thanks so much for creating it!

[0xC0DE]

Took me a while - with a lot of savestate use - but I have now completed all 16 levels (with a score of 65500)

Congratulations! You are the first person (that I know of) to have completed the game. Also thanks for mentioning the things you like and dislike about the game play!

I did, however, find it very odd that the draining of one player life rolls straight into the immediate decline of the next.

This is fixed in v0.3b after feedback from another player. There is a very clear indication (sound + colour flash) that you lost a life now.

[jms2]

I can't get past level 5 - I'm struggling with the jump at the upper part of the level, where it seems obvious what you need to do, but it doesn't work - anywhere close.

[!FOZ!]

This is a beautiful game highly polished indeed! I just got back from travel and resisted playing on emulation to play for real on my recently resurrected ( ) Elk this morning.

I am also up to level 5, but honestly as a bit of scrolling message junky, so I also love gazing at the title scree with the silky smooth scrolling message. You also didn't have to do scrolling level and game over messaging either - but again it just raises the bar of the quality and polished nature of the game in my view. The graphics also really pop in a way that makes one ever wonder if color is really needed at all.

I guess this is what happens when a crack demo coder also has a clear flare for game creation as well! Bravo sir, a credit indeed to the humble Electron - the only place I will be playing this game!



P.S. I just fitted an RGB2HDMI device on my Elk which makes enjoying this game an even better crispy pixelated treat!