2015 Retrochallenge Winter Warmup, Retrochallenge

Retrochallenge 2015/01 – Final Post

Posted on by 16kram in 2015 Retrochallenge Winter Warmup, Retrochallenge

(This is the final part of the chronicle of my Retrochallenge 2015/01 submission, which is to port the modern-day Apple II game, Structris, to the Atari 8-bit home computer using an obscure language called PL65. The mediocrity starts here.)

Before really jumping into it. Here are links I want to share:

Success! (that’s what I’m claiming)

I couldn’t have cut it any closer to the deadline, but I declare victory over my Retrochallenge 2015/01 project. Since the previous post, I’ve been able to put finishing touches on the game. These include:

  • Level advancement
  • Throttled game loop
  • Scoring
  • Level 11 and beyond
  • Allow movement after collision
  • Loading Time screen

Level Advancement

Each level range (1..10, 11..12, …) has a target number of rows to be collapsed before advancing to the next level. The game now tracks the rows collapsed and when the goal has been reached, play temporarily ends, and the playfield is animated to first drop all the pieces to the bottom, and then collapses the remaining pile. The Tetris well is cleared and re-drawn to be smaller than before. Levels 10, 20, 30, … are the most constrained.

Unfortunately my ongoing PL65 bug occurs during the animation sequence. The bug seems to occur when I use STRING datatypes. From my vantage point the PRIOR/GPRIOR register is being trespassed for some reason and the graphics mode will shift to either 8, 9, or 11 (or if I’m lucky, the desired mode, 10, will appear). It’s beyond my skill to find a solution for this one. I’ve decided to leave the bug in as Noahsoft’s artistic contribution since it does provide a startling exit to the current level and the graphics returns to normal when the game resumes.

Throttled Game Loop

The assembly code version of the “Scroll” routine is way too fast to allow running wide open. I played the original Apple version of the game and measured (crudely) the time it takes for a game piece to fall from top to bottom for a small sampling of levels. I derived a linear equation to variably adjust the game loop to match the timing on the Apple. I wouldn’t be surprised if I’m off and the Apple II’s speed increases with each level on a curved path rather than linearly. All I can say is it’s very playable.

Scoring

Simple. You get one point per row cleared. No bonuses for collapsing multiple rows at a time. Score is displayed in the text frame.

Level 11 and Beyond

Play advances beyond level 10, to match the competition version of Structis. The well returns to its level 1 size but your blip becomes mostly invisible, appearing maybe once every 5 seconds. If you make it to level 20, it’s even more invisible. But who’d go that far?

Allow Movement After Collision

I modified the keyboard routine to allow side-to-side movement after your blip comes into contact with a descending game piece. This feature is found in the Apple version but wasn’t working on my Atari version until now. This allows for some daring escapes.

Load Time Screens

Added the equivalent of the Apple’s version of the boot screen that contains abbreviated instructions and credits. Modified the “title” screen to include my name.

What’s Different?

Here’s some differences I’ve noticed between my version and the Apple version:

  • On the Atari version you can not descend faster than a falling piece. On the Apple version you can out-race a descending piece for an especially skillful escape.
  • The pink “S” shaped piece occasionally misses its cue. You may notice a pause when this piece is supposed to appear. If you stay where you are, it will appear on its second chance.
  • Level “cut-scene” animation glitches – but now it’s a feature.

Thanks, Retrochallenge!

Ton o’ fun. But now I need to get outside.

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