Years ago there were only a handful of personal computers out there. The Apple ][ computer is the one I especially remember fondly.
In this I have created the "Applecart." A series of programming events that take old Apple ][ games and refurbish them written in Pico-8. And it's not just by one person.
Every Sunday I have given my team a challenge to write a particular Apple ][ game as well as they can in Pico-8. The only stipulation is it must follow the flow of the original game and try to keep the original sound effects if at all possible. Although creativity is definitely encouraged.
For instance I had remembered one game that I played by reading it off of audiocassette that had a UFO that played a sound that got lower in pitch the lower to the screen it was and higher, the higher it was. It would randomly shoot out a laser and try to hit the player. So the challenge was to hit the UFO fast and hard before the timer gave out, and there were a few ways you could play.
Either wait until the UFO was at the top of the screen where it rarely fired and then just peg it constantly, or wait until it comes low and dangerous and then try to sneak a shot in for higher points knowing that each time you were hit you lost 5-seconds of time.
You also could not fire your laser if you missed hitting your target until the UFO fires again. So it was definitely a strategy game.
And also if you did hit the UFO, you had to get out of there in a hurry as there was always retribution with him firing back. Thus like the original game it has the same controls. A paddle joystick or in this case, your mouse.
. . .
This week (12-29-19) we have the entries. While I couldn't find an exact Youtube video of it there was still one member who wanted to take a crack at it. Please enjoy:
if this is supposed to be an ‘educational’ cart - then suggest to at least adhere to modern pico:
- _update/_draw loop
- sensible variable names
- interesting constructs like nested tables (sx/sy???)
I have to roll my own eyes at you, @freds72. I just looked at the latest cart you wrote and you had ZERO remarks in it. You may have some variables like "shkx" and "shky" in your cart if you think those are more descriptive than my own variables, but with zero remarks or even helpful tabulation for loops - few people are going to understand HOW your code interacts with your "descriptive" variables at all.
So you just sit there on the side line and kibitz about my code here which has full descriptive and helpful remarks on every line and don't even look at your own code for readability.
And this is not the first time (nor likely the last) you have come to negatively criticize something I have done that I am proud of. Just quit it, will you please ?
@Nosnibor28, please do ! You're welcome to join. There will be all kinds of programming styles. You code in the way you like best, using the standard _draw() and _update() - or spaghetti code with FLIP() - there are no critics here. :)
Well ... there may be one, @freds72. Here's hoping he leaves ...
We already have an early contender for this new Saucer Invasion cart, may I present to you the very fine work that @Nosnibor28 has done.
PLAY GAME
Here is my own offering found directly in this message:
If you check the source you will see that I have described absolutely every single command line in it. I want this to be an educational experience as well as fun. And no, there's no counting off for the way you code it. You code it anyway you want - as long as someone can easily read your cart source that's two big thumbs up from me.
The next week (12-30-19) to (01-05-20) we are working now on Saucer Attack which does have a Youtube video example which will make it easier to code.
In this game you can see it's no simple shooter. You must gauge the distance of your missile to hit the target and notice that the target slows down and speeds up often ruining your well-placed shots. Simple games to program but definitely fun to play.
And if you want to join in the programming fun on these retro-carts you are more than welcome to. You don't need to post your cart here, make it a new post and I will find it. If you need some sprites to start, I have them here for you.
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Next Sunday I'll show all entrants for this new cart and we'll explore each of them, their differences from the original and what was improved or creatively written in the new cart.
The actual game can be found and seen HERE:
I was looking at that UFO I doodled up for this next project and it seems a little squat. Here, now it takes 3-sprite characters at 24x8.
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That should do it. Hope to see you there !
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