stinkygoat: haha, I so should }:-)

stinkygoat (

stinkygoat) wrote,
@ 2008-02-01 00:47:00

haha, I so should }:-)
I've been thinking that one day, in some hypothetical future time when we actually have some free time and don't feel insanely pressured just to run on the treadmill as fast as possible to try and barely make a living, I'd quite like to do some VCS homebrew just for shits and giggles.

I made this label for a joke in forum but the more I think about it I so could make the game:

You'd have the meter onscreen and have to use the paddles dextrously to "run out" your engrams to a floating needle. In later levels you'd get more difficult chain engrams. You'd go up the Bridge as you went up the levels in the game, getting a special bonus for going Clear and then getting increasing super powers as you went up the OT levels until you're completely at cause over all 8 dynamics. OT3 would be a bit of a boss level getting through the Wall of Fire. You'd get clusters of BTs and all sorts as you went along. I could make the gameplay very trippy and trancy for that authentic being-brainwashed feeling.

2-player simultaneous mode would allow one player to be the PC and another to be the auditor. I'd have to get Xenu in there too really. Damn, I am sure there's a shit VCS game to be made out of this one day.

Haha, one day. }:-)

(Post a new comment)

	pinwizz 2008-02-01 01:07 am UTC (link)
	Seriously, I'd be more than enthusiastic, if you'd make any new 2600 game with all XXI century experience. And I think that tools that available today make the development faster than in early 80's. (Reply to this)

	shatterstripes 2008-02-01 03:27 am UTC (link)
	oh god yes. BONUS CLAM! (Reply to this)

	dungeoneer 2008-02-01 06:21 am UTC (link)
	Perhaps Operation Freakout and Operation Snow White levels to go between the Operating Thetan levels? (Reply to this)

	felixandrews 2008-02-01 06:38 am UTC (link)
	Hear that sound? Tom Cruise is sharpening his steak knives. I'd start running if I were you, boyo. Alun (Reply to this)

Actually I ..

gilesgoat
2008-02-01 10:49 am UTC (link)

I already coded and run some "basic stuff" ( it does some colour bars ) for the VCS.

When you'll be in the mood let me know I'll pass you the "toolchain" ..

Actually it's very simple, it's a 6502 ASM, the Stella Programmer's Manual and once you create the .bin you can run in in any VCS emulator ..

It's really *strafucking complex* anyway, any "silly game" on the VCS is already "a little miracle" by its own ..

(Reply to this)(Thread)

	Re: Actually I .. arron_shutt 2008-02-01 01:41 pm UTC (link)
	I had a quick breeze through the documentation over lunch and from what I understand - it's not easy. It's almost like writing an operating system from scratch over a hardware system that seems barely capable of running a game! (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: Actually I ..

gilesgoat
2008-02-01 01:50 pm UTC (link)

It's not even like that .. it's "worse" .. basically that stuff ( apart from 56 bytes IIRC ) has no memory.

You can make the cpu halt/start at the beginning of a video scan line and all your code has to fit inside a "big loop" that must be PRECISELY TIMED because *YOU* have to generate the video signal.

To make things "even more beatuyful" you have 56 CPU cycles to do something for every scanline, that, as you can see, are not many at all.

Basically the game is/has to fit within a "loop" where you constantly do stuff and generate the video signal the same time, there are some "sprites" and such but it's VERY simpified/ODD it's real challenge just to display ANYTHING not to mention to be able to poll sticks/paddles and such.

So when you see ANY game on VCS you really have to think "this is genius" because it really is.

Said that, in my recent z80 thing I made I've done all the serial communication by polling/outputting data using two bits "at the clock cycle" a try to see "if it can really be done well".

Despite being a task lot easier than VCS coding it took me two week ends and LOT of compute/modify/recompute to make all the loop and such fit within the clock cycles it had to ..

Put a nop there, remove that instruction there, no we are still out 2 clock cycles, no this jump exits with 3 more cycles I need to make all that symmetric,etc. ..

Now take this, make it 10 times more complex and you start to get an idea about what to code on VCS is ..

It's really big headache stuff ..

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

Re: Actually I ..

arron_shutt
2008-02-01 02:10 pm UTC (link)

Sounds great stuff - a true zen programming experience! :) If I ever get locked up in prison for a couple of decades, then I must give it a go!

I suppose after this, anything must be easier to program. Even the ZX81 with it's display lists and other misgivings would seem like a fun day out at the largest petting zoo in Europe with free vindaloo curry, proper italian icecream and decent beer - by comparison! :D

(Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	Re: Actually I .. rabitguy 2008-02-01 07:08 pm UTC (link)
	The ZX81 was a cool little system. My first zen programming experience was on the TS1000 (american version) but I don't recall anything about display lists, but I do remember you had to stuff all your machine codes into BASIC REM statements and pixel graphics were simulated using 2x2 characters. (Reply to this)(Parent)

arron_shutt
2008-02-01 12:40 pm UTC (link)

You could have some cutscenes between levels where Incident One and Incident Two are explained as proper LRH tech as the elron himself did in his own handwriting. No post-exterization tech realignment material allowed, you've got to use the Source Luke!

You'd probably need to have a EULA warning screen informing that if they aren't properly trained scienwotzits, they will experience a horrible death!

(Reply to this)

	the_stony_1 2008-02-01 06:10 pm UTC (link)
	Damn, I am sure there's a shit VCS game to be made out of this one day. Frankly it's amazing there are any VCS games at all that weren't shit. [b]Battlezone[/b] was a minor miracle! Stone (Reply to this)

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