New version of Phoenix for the BBC

[tricky]

After much debugging practice, getting there is the easy part I ended up giving myself more lives just to check the bonus message appears

[RobC]

This is awesome - I can't believe it looks so good on a Beeb!

[leenew]

Awesome!

** little bug report - on the first bird level, I had a copy of the top part of my ship moving vertically - up and down - near the bottom of the screen to the left of where the real ship was.

Cheers Tricky,

Lee.

[tricky]

** little bug report

Thanks,
Thats a mini-game, you have to try to erase it with your ship

[dominicbeesley]

Excellent!

[tricky]

I have been asked for the source, so here it is, if you use it, please post here what you have used it for.
The source is particularly ugly as I have abandoned this project about five times now!
I use visual studio to build and debug, which uses an NMake project, which just runs the command line:

Code: Select all

beebasm.exe -i Phoenix.asm -do Phoenix.ssd -boot GAME

[dominicbeesley]

Thanks tricky!

D

[tricky]

I've done a bit of packaging on Phoenix so that the PHOENIX file can be loaded as a sideways ROM and started with *PHOENIX or if loaded in to SWR bank 0, it will auto-boot. I think that the first socket of a cartridge in the back slot on a master is bank 0.
If you load it on the loading screen for 20 seconds, it will start alternating between John's "sideart" and my dodgy mode 7 screens.
Let me know if there are any issues (other than the sprite routines need replacing).
Dethmunk, if you would like your credit changing, please let me know.

[tricky]

Just updated the MODE 7 instructions toggle screen properties to match the first showing of it.
The toggle settings PHOLOAD lines 100 to 206 move the screen up and re-enable the cursor, the fixes are:
1. Change line 170 to set R7 to &1B instead of &1C, this move the screen down to match the default.
2. Change line 206 to set the VideoULA to 10 instead of 74, which hides the cursor (b765=000).
Please let me know of any bugs or incompatibilities other than I need to re-write the sprites to avoid disappearing explosions and to remove the flicker on them.

NB Sorry, moved from the AstroBlaster thread that I posted in by mistake!

make_mode7_basic is the BBC BASIC program that I used to convert the instructions splash screen from mode 7 binary to BASIC code to include in the loader to reduce the number of files needed.

[Michael Brown]

Hi Tricky!

Great work!
Just one small thing, your surname seems to be missing a 'r' in the splash screen!

regards,
Mick.

[tricky]

[tricky]

Fixed my name and added a Disc title using my ssd_titler from my AstroBlaster thread.
Game play should be unaffected and should still work on B, B+, Master and Compact with keyboard and/or joystick.
SHIELD is up or down on compact - I can't remember witch!

[doom99]

wow, very playable, great job you're doing here mate. I remember playing Phoenix in the local club as a kid and this is looking to be a great clone.I bought a bbc about 6 months ago, the game feels great on it.

[tricky]

Glad you're enjoying it, have you tried any of my others?
Does your beeb have any add-ons?

[pau1ie]

have you tried any of my others?

You can of course find Tricky's other games by following the link in his signature, but I couldn't resist the opportunity to point out that you can also find them by searching on bbcmicro.co.uk!

[tricky]

Thanks pau1ie, do you think phoenix is ok to go on bbcmicro.co.uk? Maybe as unreleased?

[pau1ie]

do you think phoenix is ok to go on bbcmicro.co.uk?

Absolutely.

Awesome

I tend to leave adding new games to Lee, but am happy to if he doesn't want to.

[lurkio]

do you think phoenix is ok to go on bbcmicro.co.uk? Maybe as unreleased?

Added:

• http://bbcmicro.co.uk/game.php?id=2719

Is that okay?

[Pablos544]

pretty amazed at that it had gone a long way since the Cambridge ABUG middle of last year and the one in Oct in St. Giles Hotel, Feltham

[edit] sorry I think I'm a bit behind here, that Cambridge ABUG was two years ago

[tricky]

Thanks guys, I thought frogger was only about 6 months ago!

[Pablos544]

yea the frogger one was about six months ago. that was unbelievable too, coudn't stop playing that. you've now got two games that have touched me deeply as some of the best versions of those games I've seen, Frogger and Phoenix. The Phoenix one I was first in the Cambrige ABUG (and wasn't that about 1.5-2.0 year ago? memory seems a bit fuzzy now) yes certaintly the Frogger one was around 6 months ago.

[EDIT] when I saw Phoenix in Cambridge ABUG it was pretty good, smooth, nicely done but it was nowhere nearly as finished and a damn right playable stomp as the when I saw it in Feltham, St. Giles Hotel back in Oct i think it was

[doom99]

Hi Tricky
No I haven't played any of your others yet, but looking at this thread I think maybe frogger is going to need some attention.
I bought my bbc from retro clinic with a data center, it's a bit of a steep learning curve but having fun.

[tricky]

The code in Phoenix has hardly changed for the last 2 years, I added the shield and game over screen with the word Phoenix made out of Phoenix sprites, but the rest only changed a few hundred bytes.
There are videos for about the first 20 evenings work on Phoenix linked, so you can see how much it stalled!

I think we played the finished Frogger as last years holiday hi-score challenge, but I don't think it had been finished for long!

Centipede was also coming along nicely, but that has now been stalled for quite a few months (the code I added at ABUG was already in, I had just forgotten!).

[leenew]

Hi Richard,
Would you mind checking the details of your games on bbcmicro.co.uk please.
Here they are: http://bbcmicro.co.uk/index.php?rt_R=&r ... rst&sort=b
Please confirm we have the release details correct, and whether you prefer "Self-published" or "Public Domain" as a publisher.
We haven't categorised Rip Cord. Could you advise please?

Cheers,

Lee.

[tricky]

As far as I know, all my games work on B, B+, master and compact, all with joystick support.

I'm happy to have RetroSoftware on any of my games, but self published is fine; PD is also fine.

Space Invaders
Works on master.

AstroBlaster
Works on master, but the latest tweaks haven't been tested on hardware.

Frogger
Works on master

Carnival
Works on master
Joystick optional.

Circus / acrobat TV
Requires analogue joystick or paddle.

[tricky]

Acrobat TV is an alternate name for Circus.

[leenew]

Cheers Tricky, I will check we have everything correct in the morning.
What about Rip Cord?
I was hesitant to classify it as PD in case Exidy had something to say... Am I being over cautious?

Lee.

[tricky]

You could call them circus emulator and ripcord emulator. The ROMs they use are on the mame sight available for free download, but don't actually give permission to distribute them.

I did ask for permission, but it was after the person who started Exidy had died (I didn't know this at the time).

If you feel happier, you could take them down and I will try again to get permission.

[leenew]

Nah I am happy to leave them up.
I will of course remove them if anyone connected with the copyright holder asks me to.
Cheers.
Lee.

[tricky]

OK, I don't remember it saying anything about distributing them when I looked before.
I should probably add a front page (if I don't already have one) showing the options with a note about mice and beeb emulators and I may even add basic keyboard support, RipCord certainly would be OK.