No problem, Baggers.· I'll post the source tonight after work.·· Don't know why I never got around to it earlier; just need to figure out how to tell people how to rebuild the HAM image from scratch so that they can get the assets into upper EEPROM.· The way HAM saves its .ham files today (i.e. its assets maps) the file locations are fixed paths, so if I post my .ham file it won't do anyone a bit of good.· I'll probably just have to post all the assets along with a screen shot of their proper arrangment in HAM and people will just have to drag and drop them into HAM to create a memory map which looks just like the screenshot.
Hi epmoyer, if the .ham file is a text editable file, it's not really an issue [noparse]:)[/noparse], you can just remove the path from it, so it takes the files from the current directory [noparse]:)[/noparse] or just add in the paths. so it's not an issue for me, i'll find a workaround, even if I have to make a .ham modifier [noparse]:D[/noparse]
Ok, the source post is finally up. Instructions for how to build it all are in the zip, along with all the assets you'll need.
Baggers, the .ham file is binary, although the paths are visible if you dump it. I haven't tried modifying it but I'm guessing that the binary pieces probably have string lengths and stuff in them, so if you mod the paths manually and change the lengths then it is unlikely to work. The instructions I wrote up should be detailed enough for you to regenerate your own asset map.
It probably would be better if HAM used relative paths, and if those paths were relative to the directory in which the HAM project file was stored. That would make it much easier for people to exchange HAM projects. Oh well; the birth-pangs of something new [noparse];)[/noparse]
I took the 2.5 release as an opportunity to try out HAM finally, and I must say that the process of loading SpaceWar! was quite painless. I didn't try to build it, but I did look at the build instructions (I didn't see anything about bass fishing, though).
Not having anyone to play with at this late hour, I spent some time blowing up my spaceship while trying to establish a stable orbit.
Kudos, EPM!
Cheers epmoyer, will have a look at it in a mo, just gonna post my latest PROP vid [noparse]:)[/noparse] like the oxygen demo, but BETTER as it's 16bit graphics [noparse]:)[/noparse] on one prop, using 1 cog for tv driver, 2 for feeding the driver, one for SD, and 1 for spin for the demo. So still have 3 cogs spare [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Glad you like it! Say, are you hearing the theme song during the main gameplay? Is everyone else out there too? I have been away from this project for a while and when I came back to it to do the source release I reloaded the 128K HAM image and didn't hear the main theme music. I haven't chased down why; not sure if the posted 128K image was incorrect or if I had a glitch when I loaded it. When I rebuilt from source to do the release everything worked fine.
If anyone out there is experiencing that same problem I'll track it down and release a new 128K HAM image.
I just loaded it up and it feels pretty solid. Sound, music, menu, opening screen, pretty complete. Nice work! Also this was the first time I tried out HAM and it was pretty good as well. I was expectinng something much crappier. ·
I'm sure Keebler will be elated to hear your shining endorsement of H.A.M. ! Maybe someone like Volvo should pick that up as their new corporate slogan. I can see the Super Bowl commercial now... Volvo - I was expecting something much crappier!
Yeah, HAM is actually a very well written utility.
Got it working on hybrid, just a change of clock, keyboard, and joypad routines [noparse]:)[/noparse] and works a treat. nice 1 plays well too well done matey nice game.
It probably would be better if HAM used relative paths, and if those paths were relative to the directory in which the HAM project file was stored. That would make it much easier for people to exchange HAM projects. Oh well; the birth-pangs of something new [noparse];)[/noparse]
Ah, good feedback. I'll add that to my list.
Feel free to email ideas like this directly in case I miss a forum thread.
JT Cook said...
I just loaded it up and it feels pretty solid. Sound, music, menu, opening screen, pretty complete. Nice work! Also this was the first time I tried out HAM and it was pretty good as well. I was expectinng something much crappier.
Lol, ok that sounds more like a slam than a compliment after re-reading it. What I meant was I was expecting something that was clumsy and sloppy, but it turned out to be really polished. The feature I really like is that you can just load Propeller loading app right onto the board with the tool instead of going into the Propeller tool, loading it manually, then loading up HAM.
This is pretty nice! However, had you ever considered adding scalling so that the ships could go really close or far from the screen/in orbit around something? Really, it'd make it look all the more interesting [noparse]:D[/noparse] Imagine being able to fly a vector character through a universe instead of on a flat screen.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔ Realize that I am really a mad scientist··· and
Perhaps you can still add some color by modifying the video driver so it can displaying some scan lines in one color, and others in another color.
The simplest implementation would be to display all the scanlines before a variable "scanline_switch" in one color and all the scanlines after the variable scanline in a second color.
For example the text "Space War" on top of both menus could then be displayed in a different color from the rest of the screen, and in the playfield screen you could display the two "gouges" on top in color and the rest in white.
The effect would be comparable to early video games that used colored plastic "overlay sheets" to add color to monochrome CRT games,
Bah, that's just an erroneously titled Star Trek game. David H. Ahl himself says
David H. Ahl in The Best of Creative Computing said...
...I published it under the name SPACWR (Space War -- in retrospect, an incorrect name) in my book 101 Basic Computer Games. (emphasis added)
I considered doing coloring that would mimic the plastic overlays of our youth but I decided to put color on the back burner and focus on gameplay instead. There are still some more options worth coding, but I have my head down on another project right now so I haven't touched SpaceWar in a while. My thinking was that I'd probably end up going to full color with an E512K version; but that too is on the back burner at the moment.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Living on the planet Earth might be expensive but it includes a free trip around the sun every year...
Experience level:
[noparse][[/noparse] ] Let's connect the motor to pin 1, it's a 6V motor so it should be fine.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] OK, I got my resistors hooked up with the LEDs.
[noparse][[/noparse]X] I got the Motor hooked up with the H-bridge and the 555 is supplying the PWM.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] Now, if I can only program the BOE-BOT to interface with he Flux Capacitor.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] I dream in SX28 assembler...
This is my first post in the Propeller forums, and it is appropriate that it is in the Spacewar thread. I was intrigued by the Propeller chip, but when I saw someone had written a version of Spacewar for it, I knew I just had to buy one!
I have had a lot of fun playing with the Propeller and Hydra for the past couple of weeks, but this is my first attempt to do something serious - serious for us dedicated Spacewar fans, that is!
Thanks to Eric Moyer for a really great version of this game, and also for encouraging others to hack about with it. While I love Eric's version, I wanted more - specifically, I wanted more a version much more like the Cinematronics arcade version that I remember so fondly.
The attached zip file is a 128k eeprom file containing a VGA version of Spacewar. I have replaced the graphics and display components, but otherwise not changed much of Eric's original gameplay, so I think it should still be called version 2.5 of the game. I am in the process of tidying up the code, and will post it when I have done so.
Note that you will need to load the eeprom file using the Hydra Asset Manager.
This version uses an 800x600 version of the VGA graphics driver. This driver is 2 colour only (like Eric's TV driver) but gives you higher resolution. I am working on a 1024x768 version, but that's still "a work in progress".
I have tweaked various internal game settings to compensate for the much larger playing area, and also to make the game "feel" more like I remember the Cinematronics version to be - but this is very subjective since it's based on my memory of a game I last played 20 years ago.
A few other minor changes:
- I have replaced the ships with more "historically accurate" versions.
- I added some background stars - the bigger screen looked a bit too empty.
- You can now be destroyed by your own missiles. I also enabled Eric's code to bounce missiles off shields, so watch out!
- I added an option to disable sound effects. I needed an extra cog for the high resolution graphics, so something had to give - but I found I could run the SFX manager on the same cog as the main game. However, this means the sound effects slow the game down a little, so I added an option to turn them off. Note that since the graphics are now VGA (not TV) you need to explicitly plug a speaker into the audio port of the Hydra for sound.
Here is a version of Spacewar that runs on a VGA display at 1024x768 resolution. It works fine on my MAG 17" analog monitor and also on my Acer LCD monitor, but fails on my Palsonic LCD monitor. If anyone has any problems with other monitor types or has the means to investigate what's wrong with the VGA timing, please let me know - I took the vga parameters from the Parallax high res VGA text driver, so I'm not sure what's wrong.
UPDATE: I found the problem and have corrected the VGA timing. The game now works on all my monitors. Also, I have implemented a "hyperspace" option. When things get too hot you can press the gamepad down arrow (or the keyboard 'S') to enter hyperspace. You emerge at a random location with speed zero, but there is a 1/5 chance of blowing yourself up every time you do it. I'm working on the "damaged ship" option (as per the Cinematronics version) and will post the source for the whole thing when I get that working.
To get the graphics working at these resolutions I have had to disable the sound effects completely because I ran out of cogs (again! very disappointing). Memory is also getting a bit tight. But because it has no sound effects, this version does not need to be loaded using HAL - it is a 32K eeprom image and can be loaded using the normal Propeller IDE.
Steve Russel is a friend of mine, he actually did the foreword for the HYDRA book that comes with the kit. I bet he would really like to see this game since he is both familiar with SpaceWar! (having written it) and the HYDRA, so this would be cool for him. Anyway, he works at the Computer History museum part time in mountainview, california, you can email him there. It would be cool if you did a youtube video of this maybe with credits of the developers of the HYDRA version of spacewar! put it up there and sent him link, he would get a kick out of that.
Will do. I want to spend a little time adding in a few more of the original Spacewar elements to the gameplay first, though.
Ross.
P.S. I now have a version that works at 1152x864, but this will always be little more than a novelty - there's no room left for anything except the graphics! Even so, I'm astounded at what's possible with the Propeller and the Hydra - thanks to all concerned for a fantastic little piece of hardware.
Comments
Baggers, the .ham file is binary, although the paths are visible if you dump it. I haven't tried modifying it but I'm guessing that the binary pieces probably have string lengths and stuff in them, so if you mod the paths manually and change the lengths then it is unlikely to work. The instructions I wrote up should be detailed enough for you to regenerate your own asset map.
It probably would be better if HAM used relative paths, and if those paths were relative to the directory in which the HAM project file was stored. That would make it much easier for people to exchange HAM projects. Oh well; the birth-pangs of something new [noparse];)[/noparse]
Not having anyone to play with at this late hour, I spent some time blowing up my spaceship while trying to establish a stable orbit.
Kudos, EPM!
Glad you like it! Say, are you hearing the theme song during the main gameplay? Is everyone else out there too? I have been away from this project for a while and when I came back to it to do the source release I reloaded the 128K HAM image and didn't hear the main theme music. I haven't chased down why; not sure if the posted 128K image was incorrect or if I had a glitch when I loaded it. When I rebuilt from source to do the release everything worked fine.
If anyone out there is experiencing that same problem I'll track it down and release a new 128K HAM image.
Michael
·
Yeah, HAM is actually a very well written utility.
Got it working on hybrid, just a change of clock, keyboard, and joypad routines [noparse]:)[/noparse] and works a treat. nice 1 plays well too well done matey nice game.
Baggers
Ah, good feedback. I'll add that to my list.
Feel free to email ideas like this directly in case I miss a forum thread.
richbensonATgmailDOTcom
Um. hmm. Thanks? [noparse]:)[/noparse]
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Realize that I am really a mad scientist··· and
Don't forget it!
http://raydillon.com/Images/Illustration/GameArt/WildIsle/WildIsle-Ink-ScientistClose.jpg
·
The simplest implementation would be to display all the scanlines before a variable "scanline_switch" in one color and all the scanlines after the variable scanline in a second color.
For example the text "Space War" on top of both menus could then be displayed in a different color from the rest of the screen, and in the playfield screen you could display the two "gouges" on top in color and the rest in white.
The effect would be comparable to early video games that used colored plastic "overlay sheets" to add color to monochrome CRT games,
Ahhhh, but the original SPACWAR.BAS was text based.
No visual explosions.
Just long range sensors
102 | 2 | 4
|---- |
204 | 3 | 2
|---- |----
2 | 307 | 3
short range sensors
*
+++ *
* >!<
COMMAND:_
I considered doing coloring that would mimic the plastic overlays of our youth but I decided to put color on the back burner and focus on gameplay instead. There are still some more options worth coding, but I have my head down on another project right now so I haven't touched SpaceWar in a while. My thinking was that I'd probably end up going to full color with an E512K version; but that too is on the back burner at the moment.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Living on the planet Earth might be expensive but it includes a free trip around the sun every year...
Experience level:
[noparse][[/noparse] ] Let's connect the motor to pin 1, it's a 6V motor so it should be fine.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] OK, I got my resistors hooked up with the LEDs.
[noparse][[/noparse]X] I got the Motor hooked up with the H-bridge and the 555 is supplying the PWM.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] Now, if I can only program the BOE-BOT to interface with he Flux Capacitor.
[noparse][[/noparse] ] I dream in SX28 assembler...
/Bamse
I have had a lot of fun playing with the Propeller and Hydra for the past couple of weeks, but this is my first attempt to do something serious - serious for us dedicated Spacewar fans, that is!
Thanks to Eric Moyer for a really great version of this game, and also for encouraging others to hack about with it. While I love Eric's version, I wanted more - specifically, I wanted more a version much more like the Cinematronics arcade version that I remember so fondly.
The attached zip file is a 128k eeprom file containing a VGA version of Spacewar. I have replaced the graphics and display components, but otherwise not changed much of Eric's original gameplay, so I think it should still be called version 2.5 of the game. I am in the process of tidying up the code, and will post it when I have done so.
Note that you will need to load the eeprom file using the Hydra Asset Manager.
This version uses an 800x600 version of the VGA graphics driver. This driver is 2 colour only (like Eric's TV driver) but gives you higher resolution. I am working on a 1024x768 version, but that's still "a work in progress".
I have tweaked various internal game settings to compensate for the much larger playing area, and also to make the game "feel" more like I remember the Cinematronics version to be - but this is very subjective since it's based on my memory of a game I last played 20 years ago.
A few other minor changes:
- I have replaced the ships with more "historically accurate" versions.
- I added some background stars - the bigger screen looked a bit too empty.
- You can now be destroyed by your own missiles. I also enabled Eric's code to bounce missiles off shields, so watch out!
- I added an option to disable sound effects. I needed an extra cog for the high resolution graphics, so something had to give - but I found I could run the SFX manager on the same cog as the main game. However, this means the sound effects slow the game down a little, so I added an option to turn them off. Note that since the graphics are now VGA (not TV) you need to explicitly plug a speaker into the audio port of the Hydra for sound.
Ross.
UPDATE: I found the problem and have corrected the VGA timing. The game now works on all my monitors. Also, I have implemented a "hyperspace" option. When things get too hot you can press the gamepad down arrow (or the keyboard 'S') to enter hyperspace. You emerge at a random location with speed zero, but there is a 1/5 chance of blowing yourself up every time you do it. I'm working on the "damaged ship" option (as per the Cinematronics version) and will post the source for the whole thing when I get that working.
To get the graphics working at these resolutions I have had to disable the sound effects completely because I ran out of cogs (again! very disappointing). Memory is also getting a bit tight. But because it has no sound effects, this version does not need to be loaded using HAL - it is a 32K eeprom image and can be loaded using the normal Propeller IDE.
Post Edited (RossH) : 7/17/2008 10:26:34 AM GMT
Steve Russel is a friend of mine, he actually did the foreword for the HYDRA book that comes with the kit. I bet he would really like to see this game since he is both familiar with SpaceWar! (having written it) and the HYDRA, so this would be cool for him. Anyway, he works at the Computer History museum part time in mountainview, california, you can email him there. It would be cool if you did a youtube video of this maybe with credits of the developers of the HYDRA version of spacewar! put it up there and sent him link, he would get a kick out of that.
Andre'
Will do. I want to spend a little time adding in a few more of the original Spacewar elements to the gameplay first, though.
Ross.
P.S. I now have a version that works at 1152x864, but this will always be little more than a novelty - there's no room left for anything except the graphics! Even so, I'm astounded at what's possible with the Propeller and the Hydra - thanks to all concerned for a fantastic little piece of hardware.
Post Edited (RossH) : 7/26/2008 5:10:36 AM GMT