[comp.sys.handhelds] Joust bugs and suggestions

das9674@usl.edu (Stephenson Daniel A) (06/07/91)

BUGS:

The eggs sometimes fall through a level.
The bouncing eggs sometimes forget to fall when they go past a ledge.
The bonus round IS goofy. Sometimes I whiz right THROUGH eggs!

SUGGESTIONS:

These are to help you remember what the original game was like,...

In the arcade version, a hand comes out of the lava to grab you if you get too close.

Eggs, if left too long, turn into new buzzards (basically)

Pterodactls on some levels swoop across and are VERY difficult to kill,...

Maybe 3 buzzards could be on the screen at once.

Since you've got them there, maybe some of the 'levels' on the the screen could disappear now and again.

The arcade version had wings that 'flapped'. Is this possible? But the 0 button would still perform the same.

Also, I think the lava in the arcade was on the sides, not in the middle. The middle was dry, cool ground.

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Thanks!

And, BTW, what IS that game you are working on now?

AND: Maybe consider Columns (Tetris clone) or Qix as possible chip games.

Thanks!

Dan Stephenson


Dan Stephenson
3188569909

catto@author.ecn.purdue.edu (Erin S Catto) (06/08/91)

Dan Stephenson writes:

>BUGS:
>
>The eggs sometimes fall through a level.
>The bouncing eggs sometimes forget to fall when they go past a ledge.
>The bonus round IS goofy. Sometimes I whiz right THROUGH eggs!

For my version of Joust I decided to let the eggs fall thru the ledge
if the rival jouster is right above the ledge.  Why?  One, it was
easier this way, and two, it makes the game more challenging because you
have to chase the egg (the only item worth points).

To save on space I used the same routine that keeps the jousters on the 
ledge to make the eggs bounce.  Now the jousters are wider than the eggs
but S-CHIP doesn't know that; so when an egg bounces off the left edge of
a platform it appears to make one bounce in mid-air.  I could fix this 
but I don't think it impacts the game enough to merit the effort.

On the bonus round; yes, due to the new bitmaps of v2.2 the bonus round isn't
quite right.  I think I will fix this, but until then you can pick up the 
eggs by moving across them coming from the left.

Dan also mentioned a number of features that would help my Joust more fully
emulate the original Joust.  However, having twenty revisions to this game
does not interest me.  Especially now since I'm working on another S-CHIP game
which will feature scrolling and animation.  It will be an action/adventure
game with changing perspectives.  The new scrolling features of S-CHIP v1.1
are incredible!  They add so much potential to game writing.


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