Finished: FACE VERSUS HEEL (Pro Wrestling game)

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Barney
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Post by Barney »

I hate to say it, but image #4 almost looks pornographic. I love it.
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darkatx
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Post by darkatx »

This reminds me of the WWF wrestling programs for the with digitized pics.
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Ghislain
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Post by Ghislain »

I'm still working on the animations for the game. I post here a list of wrestling holds that will be featured:

THROW PUNCHES
KNEE STRIKES
GRAPPLE
KNOCKDOWN OPPONENT with strikes
PICK UP fallen opponent
KNEE DROP
PIN
SLEEPER HOLD
GET UP
AVOID KNEE DROP
KICK OUT (FROM PIN)
ESCAPE (FROM SLEEPER)
KNEE LIFT from headlock
IRISH WHIP to the ropes
SNAP MARE
LIFT
ESCAPE from headlock
BACK SUPLEX
POWER SLAM
ATOMIC DROP
BACK BODY DROP
DROP KICK
BATTERING RAM
RUNNING POWER SLAM
KNEE against opponent that's ducking
DUCK underneath DROP KICK
DUCK underneath BATTERING RAM
BODY SLAM
SUPLEX
AIRPLANE SPIN
PILE DRIVER
ESCAPE from lift
CHAIR SHOT

I could probably fit even more moves, but I don't want to over do it too much. It won't be as varied as a FIRE PRO WRESTLING game but will probably feature the most wrestling holds for an 8-bit game.
"A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him." -- Ezra Pound
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orion70
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Post by orion70 »

It will be a fun game - I wish my grandma was still alive... She would have loved it :) .
Ghislain wrote:the most wrestling holds for an 8-bit game
Yet another record broken by the VIC :wink: .
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Ghislain
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Post by Ghislain »

orion70 wrote:It will be a fun game - I wish my grandma was still alive... She would have loved it :) .
Ghislain wrote:the most wrestling holds for an 8-bit game
Yet another record broken by the VIC :wink: .
Thanks. I may have spoken too soon about my claim for "most wrestling holds for an 8-bit game"... There may have been some Nintendo NES games with more wrestling moves, however. (WCW Championship Wrestling comes to mind).

I was making more a comparison to 8-bit home computer wrestling games.

The game mechanics will be fairly simple, you just use 4 keys:

F1 - easiest move
F3 - second easiest move
F5 - second most difficult move
F7 - most difficult move

The player can choose moves from different circumstances (standing, grappling advantage, grappling disadvantage, off the ropes) so all the player has to think about is pressing one of four keys. The function keys are placed in a user-friendly way on the VIC keyboard, and I want to take advantage of them. There will be probably an emulator version that substitudes F1,F2,F3,F4 for the above keys.

As for a two player option, I'm not sure how I would pull this off. I could designate keys 1QAZ for player 1 and keys 0P:/ for player 2.

My biggest worry right now is memory. I've got about 2/3 of the wrestling moves finished and I'm already using 1850 bytes. I'll assume that the entire data of the moveset and graphics will go up to 2500 bytes or so. To add text descriptions of the moves will probably mean an additional 300 bytes. Another 200 bytes for sound effects and the pixel-accurate stamina bars and other routines.

That leaves me about 512 bytes or so for the rest of the game engine.

I will definitely be using the 673-767, 828-1023 memory areas and probably even the 37888-38399 (512 4-bit nibbles of unused color memory) area.

I like using the unexpanded VIC-20 as a canvas, but it can be limiting sometimes. But I will make this game fit and work, someway, somehow.
"A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him." -- Ezra Pound
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Mayhem
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Post by Mayhem »

Well, don't worry about expanding it (memory wise) if you have to, after all a bit of extra memory is quite natural in today's age ;)

But I understand why you're trying to fit it in 3.5k heh...

How about two player action, one player is using the joystick and moves up/down/left/right to select the moves? The other player stays on the function keys...
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Ghislain
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Post by Ghislain »

Mayhem wrote:Well, don't worry about expanding it (memory wise) if you have to, after all a bit of extra memory is quite natural in today's age ;)

But I understand why you're trying to fit it in 3.5k heh...

How about two player action, one player is using the joystick and moves up/down/left/right to select the moves? The other player stays on the function keys...
I might have to consider allowing a joystick for the second player option.

I just finished designing the last few animation frames. Here is one of the frames used for the most devastating move, the pile driver:

Image
"A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him." -- Ezra Pound
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Ghislain
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Post by Ghislain »

I achieved a few milestones this weekend:

-pass a single value and an ML routine will animate the wrestling hold
-sound effects
-text is displayed when a move is executed
-"pixel precise" stamina bar is almost done (just need to do it for the computer). 1 stamina point = 1 pixel

Image
"A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him." -- Ezra Pound
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Ghislain
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Post by Ghislain »

I use the following memory locations:

673-767 -- Wrestling move damage data, wrestling move text spacing data, small ML pause routine

828-1023 -- routines to initialize the screen + pixel-accurate stamina bars

5120-7167 -- routines to display and animate the wrestling moves (103 frames of animation). Sound effects. Text data for wrestling moves

7168-7679 -- custom character data

37888-38399 -- Additional wrestling move data (this is the unused color screen memory map on the unexpanded VIC-20... though I can only really use 4 bits in every location, but that's all I need).

So as one can see, I'm squeezing every single bit and byte out of the above, and that still only leaves me 1023 bytes of BASIC RAM. I should be able to make a workable game with what I'm left with.

I did some work last night (even sacrificing a couple of hours of sleep time because I was having so much fun coding) and I was able to "play" the game with all of it's moves and transitions (example from standing --> headlock --> lift, etc). And I have 400 bytes left. All that's left to do is program the effects of the sleeper hold (submission) and pinfall (victory or kick out). And probably a bit of AI for the computer to go for a pin when a victory is near.
"A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him." -- Ezra Pound
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Ghislain
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Post by Ghislain »

I think I am pretty much finished with the main game program:

Image

I'll upload a demo in a day or two once I have a proper D64 image that can load the various parts of the program along with the main game program.

Things to do after this:

-create title screen
-create instruction screen

I don't think I'll be making a two player version. It's much better suited for solo play.
"A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him." -- Ezra Pound
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orion70
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Post by orion70 »

Thanks Ghislain, it will be a pleasure to smash people on the VIC's ring. I agree it's a game tailored for one player only, but maybe my opinion comes from the fact that I'm alone my VIC, my wife being less interested in retro-computing than playing flash games on the internet :cry: .
Which sound effects did you include?
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Ghislain
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Post by Ghislain »

orion70 wrote:Thanks Ghislain, it will be a pleasure to smash people on the VIC's ring. I agree it's a game tailored for one player only, but maybe my opinion comes from the fact that I'm alone my VIC, my wife being less interested in retro-computing than playing flash games on the internet :cry: .
Which sound effects did you include?
Sound effects are nothing more complicated than beep or thud. The "thuds" are played at the appropriate times of a wrestling move's animation (when a fist lands, wrestler crashes to the mat, bouncing off the ropes, etc).

Another reason why I'm not making a 2 player version is that the interface would have to somehow let which player know that they have a move to make. In the current version, the screen border changes to green as a signal to let the lone human player know that he can make a move (by pressing F1, F3, F5 or F7). After all the ML routines were done, I only had 1K of BASIC RAM left so I doubt that a 2 player version (with a more advanced interface) would be able to fit with only that much memory left.

It's not going to be a game of scintillating strategy or anything of the sort -- your success is determined by a random number generator. But, you can maximize your chances by executing wrestling moves that are easier at first (F1 or F3) and then wait until the opponent is tired enough to execute the more difficult wrestling moves (F5 or F7). The sleeper hold is pretty cool -- you can see the wrestler's stamina bar deplete 1 pixel at a time until he submits or escapes. It's also possible for matches to last only mere seconds if the wrestler is knocked down and stunned and the opponent scores a quick 3 count pin.

There is a time limit of 3 minutes. Basically, I picture this game more as a small diversion with interesting animations. But it was actually pretty hard to make--I've spent more hours working on this thing so far than I did on THEATER OF WAR. And I've still got a few optimizations to make (improve the interface) along with creating the splash, loader and instruction screens.

It's not the greatest game in the world, but I was able to fit in 68 animation sequences (34 wrestling holds/maneuvers for each wrestler). My previous attempt at making a wrestling game, RINGSIDE WRESTLING (made in 1990, which can be seen on side 2 of ROQ III) only had 16 animation sequences (8 wrestling holds/maneuvers for each wrestler) and was done in PETSCII graphics.
"A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him." -- Ezra Pound
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Ghislain
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Post by Ghislain »

Beta is available here:

https://sites.google.com/site/gdbsite50 ... ects=0&d=1

If I make minor changes, I will just change this file without making an announcement (such as a minor bug fix or tweaking the engine). For major changes, I will of course post a message.

Image

Some quick instructions:

There's a 5 minute time limit.

Press F1 to start the game.

When the border of the screen is GREEN, that indicates that the game is waiting for you to press a function key (F1, F3, F5 or F7). F1 being the wrestling hold that is the easiest to execute in the context that you're in while F7 is the most difficult.

A good tactic is to start off with using holds that are easy while your opponent's stamina is high, and moving on to more difficult holds while his stamina starts to go low.

The match can be won by submission (with sleeper hold) or by pinfall with a three count.

I list the following situations and the moves that you can execute:

Position: STANDING
F1: PUNCH
F3: KNEE STRIKE
F5: HEADLOCK
F7: DROP KICK

Position: OPPONENT IN HEADLOCK
F1: KNEE LIFT
F3: IRISH WHIP (to the ropes)
F5: SNAP MARE
F7: LIFT UP

Position: WHILE CAUGHT IN HEADLOCK (counter moves|)
F1: ESCAPE
F3: BACK SUPLEX
F5: COUNTER SLAM
F7: ATOMIC DROP

Position: OPPONENT IS KNOCKED DOWN
PICK UP
KNEE DROP
SLEEPER (if you reduce stamina to 0, you win)
PIN (if successful, you win)

Position: OPPONENT IS BOUNCING OFF THE ROPES
F1: BACK FLIP
F3: FLYING DROP KICK
F5: POWER SLAM
F7: BATTERING RAM

Position: WHILE LIFTING OPPONENT
F1: BODY SLAM
F3: SUPLEX
F5: AIRPLANE SPIN
F7: PILE DRIVER

Keep in mind that there may be adverse consequences if you miss a move. For example, if your attempt at a drop kick fails, you will suffer damage while you fall down. But a missed body slam will only mean that the opponent escapes from being hoisted in the air.

The chances of scoring a three count with the pin are greater if your opponent has low stamina.

Anyway, let me know what you all think. I'm not sure if I'm really satisfied with the result of this game, but that's because I got tired of looking at all the animations over and over again while testing it during the making of it. But even if it's not the greatest game in the world, it is an entertaining diversion if you're in the mood for just a few minutes of game playing.

From here forward I am going to work on intro screens and the like and fix any bugs that you or I will find along with tweaking with the engine and game difficulty.
"A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him." -- Ezra Pound
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Ghislain
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Post by Ghislain »

Here are some screenshots of the intros that I'm working on:

Image

Image
"A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him." -- Ezra Pound
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Ghislain
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Post by Ghislain »

I just finished making the loader screens. And I posted the announcement in "New Releases for 2010"

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Name: Face Versus Heel
Author: Ghislain
Released: December 18, 2010
Requirements: Unexpanded VIC-20 + Disk Drive.
Description: A pro-wrestling simulator where the outcome is determined by a random number generator, but good tactics can maximize your chances.

The terms "face" and "heel" originate from wrestling's carnival days in the nineteenth century. "Face" (short for babyface) means hero, while "heel" means villain. Instructions are included in a text file with the download as well as within the game loader screen.

Image

Download it here: https://sites.google.com/site/gdbsite50 ... ects=0&d=1

Discuss it here: http://sleepingelephant.com/ipw-web/bul ... 96&start=0
"A slave is one who waits for someone to come and free him." -- Ezra Pound
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