Release: Popeye

[beamrider]

Thanks Robert,... and of course benefiting in no small part from the excellent SSS!

[Ola H]

A first-rate conversion It has both more depth and more polish than almost all other Vic 20 games of its genre. It plays really, really well and I love the jingles and the little animations that would probably had been left out if it had been released back in 82-83
35 400 is my best so far. I mostly fumble around at random when I reach the third round, so I guess i just need more practice.

The arcade version became my ultimate dream game when i saw screenshots in the April 1983 issue of Electronic Games. I just couldn't believe the resolution of the sprites. I was the only kid in the neighborhood with a computer and when I droolingly showed the photos to a friend he just took a quick look and casually said "Why don't you buy it then?", "Well ..." I replied, "maybe I will ..." Partly, I couldnt' be bothered to explain that arcade games and computer games were not the same, partly I didn't want to admit that Popeye was well above the capabilities of my beloved Vic-20. (Can even the Amiga do a pixel perfect version?).

Well, if this version had been available I would have ordered it from the US at whatever cost. And despite the graphical limitations, I would have been supremely pleased! I mean, I loved Donkey Kong at arcades and was still happy paying for Anirog's Krazy Kong the same spring... This game, in contrast, is smooth, plays very faithful to the arcade version and has tons more depth and variation.

Great job!

[beamrider]

Thanks for the positive feedback. Glad you're enjoying

[beamrider]

I've submitted this to Retro-Gamer magazine for review. If someone would be kind enough to give me a heads-up if/when it gets to print so that I can buy a copy, that would be great.

Thanks!

[Ivanhoe76]

Good job beamrider!!! Excellent work! The game, graphically, is wonderful and looks much better than atari 2600 version (that use single color sprites), is really smooth and playable... Now we can really say that vic, if it was correctly supported back in the days, could have had a wider number of games running fairly well on it!

[pixel]

The word is spreading! Excellent!

Can't remember any other game published recently on the Homebrew Heroes page:
https://www.facebook.com/HomebrewHeroes/

[beamrider]

thanks for comments..

I hadn't seen that Facebook page before.

[orion70]

Reviews are coming... HERE's one from Commodore is Awesome. Reviewer Paulo Garcia says

I was planning to play 5 minutes in order to write the article, but I ended up playing it for almost one hour straight – Really good game

He also has

found Bluto A.I. not very smart, though. There were times that I could stay in the top platform catching all hearts while he would stay on one of the lower platforms.

Anyone had the same experience? I didn't notice that behavior.

[darkatx]

Might have been a quirk of how he played....maybe he kept changing sides (via the magical wraparound) so Bluto never was able to approach?

[Darryl1970]

Hey! Saw the project over at the AtariAge site.

My understanding is that you wanted feedback. Owning an arcade machine myself, I noticed a few key mechanics.

I love the AI you've implemented for Brutus. He should give a slight bit more warning before he jumps up to hit Popeye above.

The hearts fall a little faster, but they do stop when Popeye grabs the spinach. (this is key if a heart is falling into the water).
Also, all bottles disappear as soon as Popeye hits the spinach. He's invincible at that time.

I wouldn't worry too much about the up and down on the center ladder myself (as mentioned on AA). As you said, Revision F had that, as did the NES that people are familiar with.

I don't know if this is due to system limitations, but the Sea Hag never throws bottles on the top level of the first screen. On the second screen, she can only throw left to right. Also, on screen two, she cannot throw from the sea saw.

Maybe these are things you're working on, or maybe I got an older version. I just thought I would help out.

Thanks for a great game!
Darryl

[beamrider]

Thanks Darryl, all very good points especially about the Hearts freezing affecting game-play (countdown timer).

I did have some feedback that Bluto AI was actually a bit too easy with him wandering around in his own world sometimes.

I'll add these to the list for a possible future release.

[softensive]

Any chance for a cartridge release of Popeye?

[beamrider]

Sorry, I hadn't planned to and it would probably require a hybrid cartridge with 24K ROM and 8K Ram and I'd have to reorganize the memory usage.

Any particular reason you want it on cart?

[softensive]

Well, basically I am a collector and this version of Popeye is a nice collectible piece of software.
A cartridge (in a box) is much more attractive than a digital download. I definitely would pay 70+ USD
for a limited (100?) cartridge release.

Though, an official tape release with a nice glossy cover is the 2nd best option.

A physical release makes it a piece of history.

[tokra]

You probably don't want to open the copyright can of worms with that.