Alter Ego

Use this forum to share and discuss Uzebox games and demos.
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paul
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Re: Alter Ego

Post by paul »

Team Australia, formed on Australia Day (Jan. 26). :twisted:

It sounds like a fun idea, but however one slices it, teaming up means I have certain obligations even on a tentative schedule. Not that I intend to go AWOL randomly, but things come up these days that didn't in college (eg I haven't even released Puzzle Wizard even though it's been finished for ages). So if it's a commitment that has no time frame or other expectations, then I'd be happy to team up with you. When I have time, I will contribute. When I don't, I won't; and won't apologize for it :P

Still interested? If so, I vote for a port for the reasons mentioned earlier. It doesn't have to be Contra (I've never even played Contra), but hopefully it's something that looks like it shouldn't work on Uzebox. I thought also of Rambo, but even though I played it often as a kid, I never much liked it. It was too hard. And I know ports can seem lame at times, but Uzebox is about coding 90% and playing 10%. Plus ports are recognizable outside the community and offer a metric for the system's capabilities compared to other systems of a bygone era.
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paul
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Re: Alter Ego

Post by paul »

uze6666 wrote:Hey Paul, cool to see you around! :)
But with all of the new Uzebox features (which I'd need to explore first), perhaps Platz can be modified to make Contra possible. LePlatz should also allow for tile editing and automated level compilation (for the most part). Then I think it would be a go-to tool for platformers. Currently it's kind of a half solution that expects too much from the unfamiliar user.
I always though Platz didn't get its fair chance to shine. And it's kinda of shame, since it was so complete with the editor. If you get to work on it again and add some of the latest kernel stuff, I'd jump in to finally make that Super Mario Bros. port I always wanted. I'd have tons of questions for sure.
I'm nostalgic for my many hours wiled away coding for Uzebox. :)

Super Mario Bros. is a difficult carrot to resist, so perhaps Platz will rise from the ashes yet! I do think Platz is somewhat antithetical to the Uzebox DIY mindset, but, then again, if it was in perfect working order and I was planning a platformer, I wouldn't hesitate to use it.
CunningFellow
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Re: Alter Ego

Post by CunningFellow »

paul wrote:So if it's a commitment that has no time frame or other expectations, then I'd be happy to team up with you. When I have time, I will contribute. When I don't, I won't; and won't apologize for it :P

Still interested? If so, I vote for a port for the reasons mentioned earlier. It doesn't have to be Contra (I've never even played Contra), but hopefully it's something that looks like it shouldn't work on Uzebox. I thought also of Rambo, but even though I played it often as a kid, I never much liked it. It was too hard. And I know ports can seem lame at times, but Uzebox is about coding 90% and playing 10%. Plus ports are recognizable outside the community and offer a metric for the system's capabilities compared to other systems of a bygone era.
Sure, Not a game for UCC then. Just something with no set deadline.

As long as it is going to be awesome. Something that pushes the hardware to the limit.

Yes I am all for ports/remakes/reinterpretations.

Can't say I ever enjoyed contra/gryzor much myself, but I will try do something awesome video wise if thats what we decide on.

As far as games I did play/enjoy back from my Amstrad/Amiga days, the list (excluding a title I am already thinking about a Uze version)

Spindizzy
Gauntlet
R-Type / Nemesis / Gradius
International Karate
Way of the exploding fist
Into the Eagles Nest
Sorcery
All the "Ultimate" isometrics (knight lore etc)
Heartland
Ikari Warriors / Who dares wins
Glider Rider
Bomb Jack
Quake
Thrust (which I already have kinda done)
Head over Heals
Bubble Bobble
Renegade
Karateka
1942
Tau Ceti
Barbarian
Cauldron
Impossible Mission
The magic knight series (knight tyme etc)
Uridium
The Sacred Armour of Antiriad

And I cut these ones out of the list above as probably being too hard to do any kind of justice yet.

Super Hang On
Outrun
Operation Wolf
Virus / Zarch
The Sentinel
Total Eclipse / Driller
Stunt Car Racer

What were your favorite 8 bit era games?
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paul
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Re: Alter Ego

Post by paul »

CunningFellow wrote:
What were your favorite 8 bit era games?
LeMans (with the paddles)
Sid Meier's Pirates
Defender of the Crown
Rambo
The Great Escape
The Last Ninja
International Karate
Double Dragon
Skate or Die
Championship Wrestling
Green Beret
Spy vs Spy
Super Cycle
Test Drive
Outrun
Pitstop
Spy Hunter
Barbarian
Park Patrol
Purple Heart
Usagi Yojimbo


I never played "Bomb Jack", but it looks like a Pac-Man variation. We could make "Way of the exploding fist" because I don't think Uzebox has a polished fighter yet, and it was by Melbourne House. My picks so far (open to change) would be: Way of the exploding fist, Purple Heart (we'd probably need to be able to switch/extend tilesets from the SD card - I assume it is only music that works? But perhaps a small buffer could be spared for dynamic tiles), Rambo,1942, Gradius, or a platformer. All depending on viability.
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uze6666
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Re: Alter Ego

Post by uze6666 »

My vote would go for a beat em up! A Vigilante or double dragon would be terrific for the Uzebox, but I suspect some new video mode would be needed in order to have more ram tiles or sprites.
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paul
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Re: Alter Ego

Post by paul »

uze6666 wrote:My vote would go for a beat em up! A Vigilante or double dragon would be terrific for the Uzebox, but I suspect some new video mode would be needed in order to have more ram tiles or sprites.
I just looked at the pacman makefile for the first time in a while. . . 16 ram tiles. Donkey Kong is 27, and many of the sprites are tile-aligned. I remember something about 500 bytes of ram being freed up a while back -- which is nice -- but I suspect I've forgotten just how restrictive the Uzebox is. ;) I'll have to do some viability checks before deciding. Because you could probably do Purple Heart like Zombienator (I love that name), but I wonder how much justice would be done with such a port. Too many compromises is demoralizing and defeats the purpose of a port.
CunningFellow
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Re: Alter Ego

Post by CunningFellow »

Paul, don't feel limited by current screen modes.

Remember Tornado2000 is 256x224x2bpp and I have 128 RAMTiles. I could get rid of the SD card background and use the free clocks for 128 ROMTiles.

Most 8 bit era games were only 4 or 16 colours and the ones that were 16 had very low resolution.
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uze6666
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Re: Alter Ego

Post by uze6666 »

Hey guys, can you start a separate thread to continue this discussion? Thanks! :)
phiber
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Re: Alter Ego

Post by phiber »

Hey there. I'm trying to play Alter Ego on a real Uzebox and am getting the "SD ERROR". I copied the uze and bin files onto your "cheap ass SD card" which came with my kit. :) Is there a fixed version of the uze file for this game available for download?

Thanks,
Mark

uze6666 wrote:
Now I have another problem with my cheap ass SD cards...some of them will not run the game when launched from the bootloader ("SD error"). There must be someting with the bootloader and sd cleanup. I will have to find out why. In the mean time, I'd just like to implement a patch in your game so that it work with the card I ship with my kits (they are ready to ship).
OK, fixed. And I guess it should become a standard thing (bake it in straight in pff?) since so many card seems to take varying amount of time to initialize.
Added an attempt loop like you put elsewhere on the pf_mount() function:

Code: Select all

	for(uint8_t i=0;i<MAX_SD_ATTEMPTS;i++){
		res=pf_mount(&fs);
		if(res==FR_OK) break;
		WaitVsync(2);		
	}
	if(res!=FR_OK) SDCrash(6);
Works like a charm now!
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D3thAdd3r
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Re: Alter Ego

Post by D3thAdd3r »

I will check on this when I get home tomorrow, but I might need help verifying as I gave away my 256mB card. Which error number are you getting, 0?
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