Sinclair ZX80 / ZX81 Forums

[bobs]

Happy new year all!

Can anybody have a play of the game at the link below, and let me know what they think please?

http://www.bobs-stuff.co.uk/extras/dom81.zip

The ZIP contains a .P file which is a conversion of a Spectrum game I wrote a few years back, and is my first for the ZX81. I *think* it's all working, but have only tested it using EightyOne so far, and the keyboard does play up every now and again, but I'm not sure if that's the emulator or how I've written the code...

All feedback much appreciated!

[bobs]

New build (WIP#2) uploaded - same link as before - with keyboard de-bounce added to rotations, and debug starting score removed.

[siggi]

Hi Bobs

I played the game on a real ZX81 and it works fine
Really a nice game!

One hint: if there is one location in the program, which determines its speed (a delay-loop or something), it would be nice to give European players (those in the 50 Hz world) the same chance like for American players (in the 60 Hz world), since their TS1000 is running slower (interrupted 60 times instead of 50 timers per second) and so playing fast games is easier for 60 Hz players.
You could use the system varible MARGIN (16424) to check, where the Zeddy is running. And set a delay, to make the games running at the same speed here and over there ...


Siggi

[bobs]

One hint: if there is one location in the program, which determines its speed (a delay-loop or something), it would be nice to give European players (those in the 50 Hz world) the same chance like for American players (in the 60 Hz world), since their TS1000 is running slower (interrupted 60 times instead of 50 timers per second) and so playing fast games is easier for 60 Hz players.
You could use the system varible MARGIN (16424) to check, where the Zeddy is running. And set a delay, to make the games running at the same speed here and over there ...

True - I was going to put up another post regarding that sort of thing - about NMIs, INTs, and timings - and make the appropriate changes...

[bobs]

Going to upload a version which runs at the same speed on both the 50Hz & 60Hz machines soon. It was really an eye opener to see how little time you get per frame on the Timex 60Hz machines compared to the 81.

[bobs]

New build uploaded - same link as before...

* Keyboard now de-bounced for all movement & rotation.
* 50Hz version (ZX81) slowed to a similar speed to the 60Hz version (Timex 1000/1500)
* Option added to invert the tile graphics.

All feedback much appreciated.

[siggi]

Hi Bob
I tried the "DIRECTNL" mode, but I found it a little bit complicated to press 2 keys togehter to rotate the tile. I would prefer 5 single keys for
move left/right
turn left/right
drop

Maybe the 5th key "drop" could be a double key-press (e. g. "move left" + "move right" together), because you need it only once per tile.

Siggi

[bobs]

Will have a play...

[bobs]

Have uploaded a new build - WIP#4 - which has a "Specific" rotation mode, and a "bomb" tile.

In the Specific mode, the Drop key is renamed and performs rotate left, and the Fire key is renamed and performs rotate right. This mode doesn't currently have a method to quickly drop the tile.

The "bomb" tile is a tile marked as ** and will remove all existing tiles it finds in its path before reaching the bottom and disappearing. The bomb also moves a lot quicker than the normal tiles. There is currently a 1/16 chance of getting a bomb, and it appears in all skill levels.


All feedback much appreciated.

[siggi]

Hi Bob
I played the game using the "specific" mode. I like that version best

I got enough points to get to the last position of the hiscore list. Is it possible (how) to save the game with the new hiscore list?

Siggi