Tempest is possible

Use this forum to share and discuss Uzebox games and demos.
User avatar
uze6666
Site Admin
Posts: 4801
Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2008 9:13 pm
Location: Montreal, Canada
Contact:

Re: Tempest is possible

Post by uze6666 »

Here's some little tests I made. All the cards were bought at Best Buy so I assume they are not knockoffs.
  • Tried the Wiki's .UZE and data file on two SDSC Sandisk 2G and it works fines on both. One of them though has very occasional hiccups in the BG.
  • Tried the t3k.uze from this post and level data provided on the wiki (+5.0.11 bootloader) on the same 2G cards and it works fine.
  • Tried t3k.uze on a Sandisk SDHC 32 GB 30 MB/s card and the data file (+5.0.11 bootloader) is found but BG severely glitches.
  • Tried t3k.uze on a Kingston 64GB SDXC card and the data file (+5.0.11 bootloader) works flawlessly. Note I had to create a 4G main partition in order to format it in FAT32 (was exFat by default).
Hope that helps.

One thing I noticed is that one of the lead instrument in the title if very faint now. Is it possible that one or more waveforms were removed or changed?
CunningFellow
Posts: 1445
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2013 8:08 am
Location: Brisbane, Australia

Re: Tempest is possible

Post by CunningFellow »

With space I have saved from recent optimization I could include an SD card test function in the code. Warn if the card is too slow to stream the webs.

My ears don't work great so I never noticed the lead instrument on the title being faint. I did notice the "play" sample seemed to have disappeared at some point though. I'll try investigate this.
User avatar
uze6666
Site Admin
Posts: 4801
Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2008 9:13 pm
Location: Montreal, Canada
Contact:

Re: Tempest is possible

Post by uze6666 »

With space I have saved from recent optimization I could include an SD card test function in the code. Warn if the card is too slow to stream the webs.
That would indeed be a very nice feature! Btw, for reference, the instrument in problem is that tubular sounding patch that starts at 14 seconds in your youtube video.
CunningFellow
Posts: 1445
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2013 8:08 am
Location: Brisbane, Australia

Re: Tempest is possible

Post by CunningFellow »

Slow and not very steady.

Did the gradient "2000" that Jubatian provided
New2000.png
New2000.png (49.83 KiB) Viewed 2476 times
Looks really good on screen. Not sure I picked the correct colour for the lightest blue about 2/3 of the way down it.

Having to use a spreadsheet to work out hex values to cut and paste into the code is not the most efficient way to do these things.

I've also done a quite a lot of optimizations in the background to save more code space and can add a few features. So Should have a new release soon.
Uzer2000
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 11:03 pm

Re: Tempest is possible

Post by Uzer2000 »

Excited to hear you are still working on it! :D
User avatar
danboid
Posts: 1935
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2020 12:14 am

Re: Tempest is possible

Post by danboid »

Thanks for the update CF!
CunningFellow
Posts: 1445
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2013 8:08 am
Location: Brisbane, Australia

Re: Tempest is possible

Post by CunningFellow »

I hope to finish the polishing and will do a new release of the source code that is a lot more readable.

One thing I am not having much luck with is finding out what happened to the music/audio.
CunningFellow
Posts: 1445
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2013 8:08 am
Location: Brisbane, Australia

Re: Tempest is possible

Post by CunningFellow »

From the June 19 2020 list updated a bit - and new estimates for size to complete after latest refactor.
CunningFellow wrote: Fri Jun 19, 2020 3:17 am
Not done
  • PCM channel has gotten very quiet at some point viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1905&start=530#p16783
  • Proper behavior on some of the higher level enemies (Demon Head, Mutant Flipper and Pulsar) [est. 50 bytes per behavior]
  • Selectable start level viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1905&start=380#p15111 [est. 100 bytes]
  • Increase powerup dwell time based on Z [est. 64 bytes]
  • More vibrant "game over" screen with more colour and maybe its own animated background [est. 0 bytes]
  • More vector text "Caught You" "Avoid Spikes" "Eat Electric Death" [many hundreds of bytes each]
  • a "Meet the Enemies" screen in attract mode shows the enemies and some brief text [est. 30 bytes per page]
  • Extra audio channels so music and SFX can play at same time (new 8 channel audio system)
  • User defined volume for SFX and Music
  • AI Driod as player two (new object type #define OBJ_Player2_droid 2) viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1905&start=420 [est. 100 bytes]
  • Make the super zapper look like a lightning bolt striking each enemy[est. 150 bytes]
Already done
  • Enemy count gets corrupt and level will not end viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1905&start=440#p15318FIXED
  • Some times speed moderation fails (wait VSync does not keep the game at steady slow speed) FIXED
  • Drawing random green lines on the screen when super zapper active and spikes exist FIXED
  • Can not catch powerups while zooming FIXED
  • Powerups and enemies should not wrap past zero FIXED
  • Distance to enemy (or spikes) distorted while zooming (apparent when "outta here" happens) FIXED
  • Random graphical glitches on screen IDENTIFIED
  • Flippers will flip onto lane 16 on open webs (and float in space) FIXED
  • Ai Droid will jump open lane when first created if no enemies to chase FIXED
  • Demon heads are still fatal even when even when superzapped Think it's fixed not 100% sure
  • Avoid spikes delay when an "outta here" is collected DONE
  • Gradient on the 2000 on the title screen viewtopic.php?f=5&t=1905&start=450#p15505 DONE
Things I maybe could do now with extra flash space
  • ADPCM audio compression to fit extra samples
  • Bonus Levels
  • Extra songs
From optimizing/changing-things/refactoring I have been able to get 2140 bytes free right of this moment.

Next thing I am working on tonight is new meet the enemies screen for the attract mode. Here is my awesome MSPaint skillz showing off how I envision that looking.
MeetEnemies.png
MeetEnemies.png (20.6 KiB) Viewed 2437 times
Uzer2000
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Sep 03, 2012 11:03 pm

Re: Tempest is possible

Post by Uzer2000 »

Nice!
User avatar
danboid
Posts: 1935
Joined: Sun Jun 14, 2020 12:14 am

Re: Tempest is possible

Post by danboid »

Extra audio channels so music and SFX can play at same time (new 8 channel audio system)
This caught my attention! 8 channels would be pretty impressive. What would this entail? Would this involve an upgrade to the UB OS/ROM? Would each channel be able to play samples?
Post Reply