Project: Spydriver

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

EDIT: Lastest version in at end of thread, keeping all earlier versions for others to study.



I'm thinking that the ACS_Generic mods should allow for a simple driving sim.

I'm thinking of something along the lines of reading the last line of the section,
display it on the first lines, scroll, etc. I could use a little starter to get the
ball rolling.

I've attached a non-working sample of what I have in mind.

OBC

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Post Edited (Oldbitcollector) : 11/16/2008 11:16:23 PM GMT

trodoss

@OBC,
[noparse][[/noparse]Edit:] Also... Can't say I am an expert...

Sounds like conceptually you have an idea about how the scrolling would work; scroll down the screen, then 'draw' back in the area that has been scrolled down with the next line of data.

If you are planning on using the 'Scrolling' as implemented in AIGeneric, when you scroll down the screen you will be inadvertently scrolling down your player's car as well (possibly off the screen). It would be a case where you would have to keep track of where the car 'moved' to in the scroll (if it was not pushed off the screen) and then redraw what should be under it, then reposition your car where it should be on the screen--nice and complicated [noparse];)[/noparse] Really though, it would be more of a use-case for a sprite construct that could 'float' over the backdrop as it was scrolling.

There is another (primitive) way of implementing scrolling, which would be to redraw the background with each game loop, and then place your car (and other obstacles) back on the screen. It would avoid having to use sprites, but would mean that it would be your job to know 'where' you are in your background array.

If you are working in the confines of "character-based" (meaning trying to adhere to the 8 pixel/character functions), scrolling is going to look a little "choppy" (especially when there is constant relatively fast scrolling, in a game like "Spy Hunter") moving 8 pixels at a time. You may want to investigate more advanced graphics functions so that you could place your graphics/characters with more pixel precision. Also, 'clipping' the images would be important.

If I have some time I may try to come up with an example of how you could get it to work, at least staying in 8x8 scrolling (and maybe with pixel scrolling too, but would take longer). Right now it is too late/early [noparse];)[/noparse] As far as the DAT section, it should just be a matter of traversing your data, as you had described, and keeping a pointer to where you are.

[noparse][[/noparse]Edit:] I guess I need to make a "proper" graphics engine out of what I have [noparse];)[/noparse]· Sounds like you would find it useful as well.

Post Edited (trodoss) : 11/16/2008 3:45:56 PM GMT

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

EDIT: Lastest version in at end of thread, keeping all earlier versions for others to study.

Alex,

I'm doing some testing to see if page-flipping will become an issue here.
Attached is a modified copy of the original AiGeneric_2.1 (the non "cf" version which loads font files)
with your _ACS mods. (Took me a while to find all your changes)

I've also switched out the AiGeneric_TV.spin for the larger font settings.

This is a simple character test to see what things will look like.
Controller moves hero around, clipping not unreasonable considering. [noparse]:)[/noparse]

Unlike LOADRUNNER, I'm going to leave the files uploaded from the "process"
for others who might want to give this method of game creation a go.

OBC

Edit: Link to Alex's font converter used to make characters in this project

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Post Edited (Oldbitcollector) : 11/25/2008 4:49:37 PM GMT

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

trodoss said...
@OBC,
[noparse][[/noparse]Edit:] Also... Can't say I am an expert...

You are further up the chain than I am... Before Propeller, my programming was limited to
HTML, PERL, and various forms of BASIC. [noparse]:)[/noparse]

I'm hoping this discussion may encourage others to jump in and give this a try.

OBC

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Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

EDIT: Lastest version in at end of thread, keeping all earlier versions for others to study.

I am again amazed by what can be accomplished with this chip..

I came up with a simple method of moving the road.. It's fast enough for now,
but I may have to come up with a better trick as code is added.

For the moment the illusion of movement has been achieved.

OBC

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Post Edited (Oldbitcollector) : 11/25/2008 4:49:54 PM GMT

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

EDIT: Lastest version in at end of thread, keeping all earlier versions for others to study.

{cue: Spyhunter Theme...}

Almost to playable level:

Controller works
Seasons change
Fire works (A)
Side crash detection
Stole characters from Coleco verison

OBC

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Post Edited (Oldbitcollector) : 11/25/2008 4:50:12 PM GMT

Baggers

OBC, I have a scroll helper for PropGFX, like the bitmap cogs have poly renderers the charactermap screens have scroll helpers, IE you can have your charactermap, and can have 1x1, 2x2, 4x4 or 8x8 blocks, and your Map which indicates a block.
you can send it a command list, like set map X Y position, scroll screen charmap up and update edge and the update edge will do all the map and block and character handling for you.
all mapbase, blockbase and characterbase offsets are editable too. [noparse]:D[/noparse]
finalising testing tomorrow, then will start shippin.

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Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

@Baggers:

This Smile version is to allow some additional learning while I'm waiting for the PropGFX to arrive.
(besides, I'm curious just how far this driver can be pushed.. <smirk>)

I know a good version of SPYHUNTER will be created with the new goodies!
There's even room on the SD for the theme.

OBC

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trodoss

OBC,
Great to see that things are coming along! I will see tomorrow if I can get the "FontGenerator" cleaned up, maybe put some documentation around it, and put the MIT license on it so it is a little more "legitimate."

Hmm, might mean that a future thread needs to be added just for examples [noparse];)[/noparse]

I need to work on my little project as well (as I should have more time) and we might see all sorts of games showing up. Keep up the great work!

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

Last post for the night...

Truck now drops off the car, feels a little more like spyhunter.

OBC

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trodoss

@OBC,

Looking great!··Queue the ·Peter Gun spy theme...

As far as for the road, if you put the occasional pic of maybe a tree or bush·scrolling past, it will look that much more convincing (it would catch your eye a little more than changing grass patterns).· Just food for thought though.·

Looks like you are well on your way for how to manage the 'highway.'·Looks like you planning on seting up multiple section 'patterns' (such as a fork in the road, curve left/right?) and then just have an array of patterns per level.· If you add to that when the enemy cars 'appear' (as in which 'section' do you make x enemy active) it should be mangable.

Keep up the great work!

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

I've got just enough space left in the font to do a tree or two.
Definitely on my TODO list.

Roads shouldn't be too tough to change with my existing structure.
Extending them will be on the end of the list after I get some traffic, baddies, and sounds working.

Actually I didn't think I could get as far as I have using this text driver.
I'm running this at 96Mhz, and I really should drop it down and see what it looks like at 80.


Next up to program some traffic..

OBC

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trodoss

@OBC,

I have been testing it at 80Mhz, and it looks good.·

You can do a lot with a 'primitive text' driver [noparse];)[/noparse]· A lot of old 8 bit computers and game systems only had a crude pattern/font table, and even the original NES used·256 character 8x8 pattern tables.· Considering that you have a basic scrolling system and implement page flipping,·you actually have a·"game engine," it just may not be "industrial strength."· Sometimes "simple" is not bad--it is just simple.

I am suprised that no one has started asking for screen shots [noparse];)[/noparse]

JT Cook

Doh, I was thinking about doing a version of Spy Hunter for the Prop. I was hoping to pull one together after finals.

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

Do it!

This version is amateur hour.. [noparse]:)[/noparse] Hence the name "Spydriver"
I'm simply using this to continue my learning of spin and game creation.
Spyhunter is one of my favorite games. It was either do Spyhunter or SpaceTaxi.

There's no reason not to do a 2nd.. (With your experience, it'll look better.)

OBC

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trodoss

@OBC,
I noticed that you have a lot of calls to the same 'DrawCharacter' procedure (4 to be exact, just for the car and not to mention all the other 'baddies' that will be the same). If you know that you are going to have a lot of 16x16 'characters' that are constructed of 8x8 blocks, it might be more efficient to change your procedure to always draw that:

PUB DrawChrBlock (character_x, character_y, color, chr_top_left, chr_top_right, chr_bot_left, chr_bot_right)
   text.pokechar (character_x, character_y, color, chr_top_left)
   text.pokechar (character_x, character_y+1, color, chr_top_right)
   text.pokechar (character_x+1,character_y,color, chr_bot_left)
   text.pokechar (character_x+1,character_y+1,color, chr_bot_right)

...you could further simplify the drawing with a structure that represents your 16x16 'character' blocks...I digress [noparse];)[/noparse]

[noparse][[/noparse]Edit:] Ah, Space Taxi!· <sigh!> there was a good ole' C64 game!

Post Edited (trodoss) : 11/17/2008 4:42:19 PM GMT

trodoss

JT Cook said...
Doh, I was thinking about doing a version of Spy Hunter for the Prop. I was hoping to pull one together after finals.

Definately, the more the merrier!· I am sure *both* renditions (OBC's and yours) will turn out great!· Maybe you could do "Spydriver II" - cloning SpyHunter 2 [noparse];)[/noparse]· OBC and I are in the "learning by doing" phase of Prop-based game making [noparse];)[/noparse]

trodoss

OBC,

Attached is a 'cleaned up' version of the FontGenerator program, with the MIT license included.

I had initially thought that I would start a thread of "DIY Tools," but if you and I are the only ones using a derivitive of AIGeneric, it may not be that useful.· I also have on my "to do" releasing a cleaned-up version of the "primitive" gaming engine (with the changes made thusfar included), since it is starting to diverge away from being "AIGeneric."· Maybe the OBC_ENGINE (or something like that).· Definately brings back fond memories of when·I fooled aroud with making 'games' on the TI/994A, C64, and later DOS-based games.· [noparse][[/noparse]Edit:] I wish I still had some of those old games though...<sigh!>· A lot of them were pretty sad, but would be interesting to see just what I was thinking at the time.· Also "game" would not be a fair description--things moving around the screen in sort of pattern with the occasional noise--and the inevitable something moving too far off the screen and locking up the computer...Good times.· Good times.

Post Edited (trodoss) : 11/17/2008 5:18:36 PM GMT

JT Cook

Well thank you for you blessing [noparse]:)[/noparse]

I have been kicking this around in my head for a while because the memory won't allow to have an arcade perfect version so I have been trying to think on how to have a good happy medium home port version.

Baggers

JT, what about a version for PropGFX?
That'll free up a LOT more memory for you?

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JT Cook

A near perfect arcade port could be made then. The only difference would be that the sprites would have lower resolution, but close enough. The only hard part would be that·it would be tough to do on the Hydra since you can have either SD or PropGFX (but I guess it does have 128K flash).

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

JT, I'll move to SpaceTaxi on the PropGFX if you'll do Spyhunter.
(Of course we're all waiting for the final release..) hint.. hint.. <smirk>

OBC

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Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

trodoss said...
OBC,
Attached is a 'cleaned up' version of the FontGenerator program, with the MIT license included.

Thank you for this! I will be moving my Spydriver graphics into the simple_font.bmp version of this file.

It might interest you to know that I run this in Unbuntu using "mono" at a bash prompt. Works Perfectly!
I use KolourPaint to do my editing, (It's nearly feature identical to Mspaint making character editing a snap)

Edit: BTW, there are some nice 8x8 previews in this gallery
which are easy to import into your tool by simply inverting the colors and pasting them into place.

OBC

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Post Edited (Oldbitcollector) : 11/23/2008 4:20:54 AM GMT

Baggers

OBC, just added one or two last things, [noparse]:)[/noparse] lol
Was 16 colour fat pixel character mode and 4colour character mode or the Amstrad style driver [noparse]:D[/noparse]
And making the scroll helper for the character map displays have selectable block sizes, 1x1, 2x2, 4x4 or 8x8 character block sizes, so with 8x8 you can have a BIG sonic sized map with a small map data area, because each word will cover to 64x64 pixels in 8x8 block mode.
also, the scroll helper, can scroll the character map screen in any of the 8 directions, ( don't forget this is after the 8 pixel scroll offsets ) the scroll will blank the new edge, and you can then tell it to update, top, bottom, left or right edges, or you can just say, here's a new map position, update the whole screen [noparse]:D[/noparse] for that super fast sonic scrollability. and if done after vsync and sending sprites, it will do it all without screen tear [noparse]:D[/noparse] so you're games will be silky smooth.
you can even have a split screen, for a status panel, as per salamander type games.
the scroller modes were all tested last night, so should be ready for release tomorro, Coley has the first batch almost made up and ready to test, so should be able to start sending em out Wednesday/Thursday [noparse];)[/noparse] all being well.

edit:
last night I
added and tested 32x192 attributes mode to spectrum style drivers ( 32x192 attributes = spectrum hi colour mode ).
added·and tested charmap mode to spectrum style drivers ( so it'll be able to mimic a ZX81 display too )
added and tested split screen modes to spectrum style drivers, since there's·now more than one spectrum style mode.

Will·do some final testing tonight, and the FINAL V1.0 eeprom·be ready Thursday [noparse]:)[/noparse]

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Post Edited (Baggers) : 11/19/2008 9:33:47 AM GMT

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

Jim, you are killing me...

OBC

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Baggers

lol OBC, well, good news, I made THE FINAL image last night [noparse]:)[/noparse]
So ball is now in Coley's court to get em made n out. [noparse]:D[/noparse] happy days soon!!!

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trodoss

"Spydriver" hasn't made the offical "projects" thread yet?· I would have figured it would·have by now.

@OBC,
I am working on finishing up the example I had mentioned before dealing with the "road."· When I get that done I plan on posting it.· Well, that and at least one of the projects I am working on (in a very basic form).··I did not have much spare time this week.

Have you worked out how you are going to handle the "enemy" cars yet?·

·

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

It's been a very busy week for me, so I haven't put much time into SPYDRIVER.
(I need to win the lottery or inherit a large sum of money, not to be rich, just to get my time back.)

My unposted version has enemy cars appearing at random X locations at the top of the road, but
I'm looking for a bug in my fire detection code to blow them up. I've also been working on how
I will control down movement using looping timers. I'm thinking I'll need to create three different
speed detections on the loop to decide how fast to move trees and cars down screen.
Sometimes it takes me a couple days of mulling to decide how to handle problems like this.


OBC

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Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

Spent the afternoon playing Speccy games which also had similar limitations to the driver
we are using. Caught onto a trick for creating two-color simulated sprites using multicharacter
drawings and changing the color of them. End result in some nice 6 character, two color trees
for Spydriver. As soon as I get them moving intelligently I'll post an update.

Also noticed an embarrassing reversal of my X and Y position labeling.
Either you guys are being very kind, or it slipped under the radar. [noparse]:)[/noparse]

<---X---->
:
:
Y
:
:

Fixed with some global renames.. Rookie mistake.

OBC

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Post Edited (Oldbitcollector) : 11/23/2008 6:13:25 AM GMT

Oldbitcollector (Jeff)

EDIT: Lastest version in at end of thread, keeping all earlier versions for others to study.

New update!

Trees have been added.
Three speeds have added illusions of movement.

Baddie 1 now appears from time to time.
He will swerve to get you, but doesn't kill you yet.

(Currently working on shooting him and adjusting passing speed,
and issues with detecting if he was properly shot.)

Some traffic and gun sounds have been added.. Feels more like a real game now.

Score advances will moving much like the original game.

Weird color glitch happens when the tree trunks are drawn.
(changes my title color--still looking for this bug)

Still impressed by what can be accomplished with a text driver.

Edit: Aweful screenshot added, game looks better...

OBC

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Post Edited (Oldbitcollector) : 11/25/2008 4:50:59 PM GMT

Baggers

OBC, had my first look at it, sorry it took so long to look at it, but it's fab, you've done a great job of it so far, especially for a character map display.
ps, will email you some collission code.

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