Mini Motors

[Dacobi]

I just moved "Mini Motors" to its own GitHub repo. The link is in the main post.

[Dacobi]

I just uploaded a new SD image, which has an initial version of jump physics with accompanying sprite animation and sound effects.

At the sides of test track 2 there are tree logs which will cause the player to jump. It's still a very early version, but the general mechanics are there.

[voidstar]

Nice updates!!

Though an issue on the hardware: when I START the game, it seems like the "count down" happens while graphics are still loading. And then what happens is, the "AI" gets to start first - while I'm still at a blue loading screen. So the AI is already "playing" by the time things load in, and the focus has followed them and I'm quickly out. From there I can watch the two AI players do the laps - which is neat all on its own.

I was trying with K1/K2, no gamepad yet. But that's just how it seems: the AI players are running in the background while some kind of track loading is happening? I don't get enough time to start/react, they are too far ahead by the time the loading is done.

EDIT: So the start is a little broken, if I can anticipate it right I can keep up with one AI... and I got to see that jump on TRACK2. Haha, that's great!! But yeah, the count down beeps are happening while I'm at a blue screen waiting for something to become visible.

[Dacobi]

Thanks for the feedback : )

Though an issue on the hardware: when I START the game, it seems like the "count down" happens while graphics are still loading. And then what happens is, the "AI" gets to start first - while I'm still at a blue loading screen. So the AI is already "playing" by the time things load in, and the focus has followed them and I'm quickly out. From there I can watch the two AI players do the laps - which is neat all on its own.

I have no idea why this would happen on the actual hardware. I've never encountered this problem in the emulator, I'm currently using r44. I don't know the first thing about how the emulator works and how it could be different from the actual hardware.

The "count down" function is called after my "load level" function so can't see why it would start before the track is loaded.

Edit: Could it have something to do with my SD image being too small or otherwise incompatible or did you copy the files to your own SD card/image?

Edit2: Would you be able to record a video of the problem?

[Dacobi]

I just uploaded an SD image where the game is now in its own folder, so to start the game you have to enter the folder first.

Code: Select all

DOS "CD:MINIM"
LOAD "MINIM.PRG"
...
RUN

[voidstar]

I've packed my X16 up for travel to VCF, so can't get a video for a few days now.

I did try it under the R44 emulator, and it does play a bit better/differently there - in terms of: in the R44 emulator, yes there is a blue screen for a bit after selecting START from the menu, and the countdown music doesn't start till the blue screen goes away and all the track players are shown. That's different in the hardware, where during that blue screen I could hear the start-up countdown beeps, and the AI accelerating away from the start before the blue screen ended and the game scene started.

I do have the VERA FX stuff loaded onto my hardware - I wouldn't think that'd make a difference, but noted just in case. Not sure how to tell if R44 has that built in or not.

[Dacobi]

in the R44 emulator, yes there is a blue screen for a bit after selecting START from the menu, and the countdown music doesn't start till the blue screen goes away and all the track players are shown. That's different in the hardware, where during that blue screen I could hear the start-up countdown beeps, and the AI accelerating away from the start before the blue screen ended and the game scene started.

The blue screen during level load is normal, since I use most of the VRAM I can't display anything while loading.

I do have the VERA FX stuff loaded onto my hardware - I wouldn't think that'd make a difference, but noted just in case. Not sure how to tell if R44 has that built in or not.

I guess it could be a bug in the FX firmware. In any case the bug doesn't make any sense. I only call the "count down" function after level load is completed and the display output and VBLANK interrupt are enabled.

Edit: Maybe I'm not setting VERA up correctly for the FX version? So that some FX features are enabled that shouldn't be?

[Dacobi]

I just uploaded a new SD image that has an initial version of a "Load Screen" between the menu screens and the tracks.

I'm getting some flicker when the "Load Screen" is first shown, which I don't understand since DC_VIDEO is set to '1' when the tilemap is loaded.

Edit: I've fixed the flicker by waiting for VBLANK before enabling the "Load Screen". There's a new SD image on GitHub, which also has a better font.

[Jeffrey]

As long as you dont set DCSEL to anything other than 0 or 1 (or 63), the VERA FX should not act any differently than the older VERA firmware.

This sounds like a difference between emulator and hardware. To be entirely sure you would have to check on the older VERA firmware to compare.

[voidstar]

Here is an unlisted preview of MiniMotors on real hardware.

Build from 9/11; 34022 bytes. Seems to be working ok (I mean, no AI early start or blue screen). Tracking still a little glitchy, but that's ok, work in progress. Don't think any VERA FX issue here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=shGd-pdjsG0