New Release : BLUE STAR

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Thu Jan 24, 2008 7:28 am

nbla000 wrote:Hi Anders, may you share with us these floppies as d64/d81 image ?

Ok, I'll see what I have. Most of it has been downloaded from Denial, Zimmers, Pouët and so on so it is mostly a matter to put together a "master list" of recent releases. D64 images are cool too, since I managed to fill those up quite nicely. Aleksi Eeben compiled the first three disks of VIC-20 demos.

TMR · Post by **TMR** » Fri Jan 25, 2008 5:51 am

carlsson wrote:Apart from the big palette and I believe some hardware sprites, I always found VIC graphics superior to the 2600.

Oh, they are... there are two hardware sprites that are eight pixels across (where one pixel is equivalent to one pixel on the VIC), a couple of missiles and the ball object that are less defineable. You can recycle them down the frame (although getting them to even display anything is a bit of a fight) the the bulk of the display is handled by the playfield and that's 40 pixels wide (and in this case, one pixel is the same as four VIC ones).

gklinger · Post by **gklinger** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 4:21 am

I finally got a chance to try Blue Star. Wow. This game is really good. I think that had it been released on cartridge back in the day it would have been very successful. It reminds me of some of my favourite games (Montezuma's Revenge, Lode Runner, Tutankham) and has the same addictive quality.

I'm torn between continuing to play it now or waiting to play it on the MegaCart. It's only 5:21am so I'm going to make another cupper and keep going. Must... get... further...

hacky · Post by **hacky** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 7:25 am

nice game.

Is there a mega trained version out now ?

Kweepa · Post by **Kweepa** » Fri Mar 14, 2008 10:50 am

There are no cheats to turn on and off... The source code is downloadable though so have at it

It could be tricky to fit back into 3.5k.

Has anyone finished this on a real VIC? I have one report of game completion in VICE, complete with a GIF of a pencil-sketched map, but that's it.

fgasking · Post by **fgasking** » Sat Mar 15, 2008 4:31 am

Only completed on Vice at the moment - mainly for the OSG review which will be coming soon. Really enjoyed it btw, hopefully the scores will reflect that

nbla000 · Post by **nbla000** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 6:34 am

Hi Kweepa,

I've full and successfully tested "Blue Star" on MegaCart and i may confirm you that Blue Star will be present on the MegaCart in the TAPE/DISK section.

BTW testing it, i've discoverd an annoying problem present even if you start it from disk/tape.

If you hit the [RESTORE] key, the game freeze, maybe something wrong in the music IRQ routines, do you think to fix it so i may update the MegaCart too ?

Kweepa · Post by **Kweepa** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 7:09 am

nbla000 wrote: I've full and successfully tested "Blue Star" on MegaCart and i may confirm you that Blue Star will be present on the MegaCart in the TAPE/DISK section.

Great!

If you hit the [RESTORE] key, the game freeze, maybe something wrong in the music IRQ routines, do you think to fix it so i may update the MegaCart too ?

Hmm, I'll have to see what happens in VICE. I don't currently handle this situation at all. What should happen when I press [RESTORE]? Return to BASIC? Reset? Pause? Nothing?

carlsson · Post by **carlsson** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 2:38 pm

It depends on the application. Most programs do nothing when you press RESTORE.

nbla000 · Post by **nbla000** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 3:04 am

Kweepa wrote: Hmm, I'll have to see what happens in VICE. I don't currently handle this situation at all. What should happen when I press [RESTORE]? Return to BASIC? Reset? Pause? Nothing?

carlsson wrote:It depends on the application. Most programs do nothing when you press RESTORE.

Yes nothing, some games just prevent the RunStop+Restore combination to forbid return to Basic but is not required for me since MegaCart routines inhibit RunStop+Restore combination for all Tape/Disk games even if originally was allowed.

Kweepa · Post by **Kweepa** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 9:32 pm

Ok, I uploaded a new version of Blue Star that handles the NMI. It's pretty ugly since I had to rearrange the room data to fit either side of $318-9, then point to a $40 (RTI) that already existed as part of the room data. But it works

I also set the volume to 0 on the title screen to remove the bug of a hung note after a game.
Let me know if that works for you, and sorry about the error.
http://www.kweepa.com/step/games/BlueStar.zip

nbla000 · Post by **nbla000** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:55 am

I've brief tested it on Vice and now seems that works without problems, RunStop+Restore disallowed too, good.

Tomorrow i will do full tests on real hardware with MegaCart too.

Sorry but this evening i've a Champion's League Football macth on TV

Kweepa · Post by **Kweepa** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 3:40 pm

Hi everyone,
I was planning to have the game published by Cronosoft, with a box like this:

Unfortunately Simon at Cronosoft is having trouble getting the game onto a 1541 floppy so that he can master the tapes. Is there anyone in the UK willing to transfer the latest version of the prg
http://www.kweepa.com/step/games/BlueStar.zip
to a disk and send it to him, in exchange for a free copy of the tape? If so please reply or PM me.

Thanks all!

fgasking · Post by **fgasking** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 3:52 pm

I could probably sort that for you. Do you just need the .prg file transferring?

Also, is Simon having trouble getting the .prg file to work from an original disk on a real Vic 20? Or is it literally just wiring the .prg down to a real disk he's having trouble with?

Shaun.Bebbington · Post by **Shaun.Bebbington** » Thu Jul 10, 2008 4:02 pm

Kweepa wrote:Unfortunately Simon at Cronosoft is having trouble getting the game onto a 1541 floppy so that he can master the tapes. Is there anyone in the UK willing to transfer the latest version of the prg
http://www.kweepa.com/step/games/BlueStar.zip
to a disk and send it to him, in exchange for a free copy of the tape? If so please reply or PM me.

Funny you should say that as I've spoken to Simon about the user group that we're setting up in the UK being the official Cronosoft distributors for disk. We can do 3.5" disks too (1581/FD2000), but as there is way too much space on a 3.5" disk even for the C64, we hope to agree with the authors to have a "best of" complitation including all their C= releases (+4, VIC-20 and C64) on one disk.

Each copy sold will pay the same royalties as agreed with Cronosoft, so no one will loose out. I think they pay £1 per copy to the programmer, so it'll be the cost of disk + P&P + £1 per game were appropiate - a bargain I'm sure you'll agree.

Regards,

Shaun.