Denial

chysn wrote:Title: TRBo: Turtle RescueBot
Author: Jason Justian
Genre: Arcade Game, Puzzle, Strategy
Requirements: Unexpanded VIC-20, Joystick
Code: Machine Language
Released: April 27, 2020
Download: https://github.com/Chysn/VIC20-TRBo/releases
License: Creative Commons

TRBo: Turtle RescueBot is a game for the unexpanded VIC-20, completed on April 26, 2020. The video below lacks sound, because I'm too dumb for QuickTime. Source code and program file are available at GitHub:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/embed/PYThw24BKys?controls=0[/youtube]

That's a really nice first "Full Release"!

I downloaded it yesterday and made it to the second level on my first try. It's really cute how the turtles follow you around when you have collected them with your bot. The weapons of the enemy tanks somewhat remind me of Impossible Mission.

However I think the surface should serve as safe spot. It is somewhat frustrating to lose the turtles on the home stretch. Likewise, when the enemy tanks are on the surface, they also can completely block access to the ship. (I admit I did not find out yet how digging holes works - maybe that alleviates this issue).

Cheers,

Michael

a very nice unexpanded game with vibes of those early Vic releases

nice grafics, sound and the gameplay is also really good.
i like it.

.. and it is for an unexpanded machine !!

is it a port of an existing game or your own idea?

more from that, pls

aitsch

Mike wrote: ↑Wed Apr 29, 2020 9:52 am That's a really nice first "Full Release"!

I downloaded it yesterday and made it to the second level on my first try. It's really cute how the turtles follow you around when you have collected them with your bot. The weapons of the enemy tanks somewhat remind me of Impossible Mission.

However I think the surface should serve as safe spot. It is somewhat frustating to lose the turtles on the home stretch. Likewise, when the enemy tanks are on the surface, they also can completely block access to the ship. (I admit I did not find out yet how digging holes works - maybe that alleviates this issue).

Thanks for trying it, and for your comments. As for the surface, the current version makes it slightly safer. I used to have a patrol camp out at the top, but now they all follow the same rules. Once they hit the surface, their "goal" changes from "move up" to "move down." Still, the "mad dash for the ship with a chain of turtles" builds the tension, I think. Patrols can't fire through each other, so only the closest one is a threat. And it takes them a while to recharge (that time getting shorter with each level). Sometimes you need to sacrifice one turtle to get the rest out of there.

To dig, you hold the joystick in the direction you want to dig, and press fire. You can only dig into walls, and I added some broken wall graphics to make it look cooler.

beamrider wrote: ↑Wed Apr 29, 2020 12:31 pm a very nice unexpanded game with vibes of those early Vic releases

Thank you!

aitsch wrote: ↑Wed Apr 29, 2020 1:31 pm nice grafics, sound and the gameplay is also really good.

Thanks for trying it! I'm especially proud of the sound engine. The game has 9 musical themes and 8 sound effects, and every one of those is parameterized to be described in 2 bytes and run by an IRQ handler, including tempo changes and fade-outs.

is it a port of an existing game or your own idea?

I used to say that all arcade games are Pac Man variants.

It's a stew of concepts. I have a hard time thinking of game ideas from the top down. I first wrote a maze generator based on the "sidewinder" maze algorithm. This created mazes that looked to me like underground lairs. The physics of the game flowed from that. I wanted to do a weaponless rescue game, you going into hostile territory with nothing but your wits. My son loves turtles, so it had to be turtles. Kittens and ducklings were also on the table. The first concept was just collecting turtles, but that felt like too much like Pac Man, so I added the turtle chain, which is the game's defining mechanic.

The new version is here https://github.com/Chysn/VIC20-TRBo/releases/tag/vBeta5, which should be the final version unless any crippling bugs come along. I have to move to the next thing.

Any chance of a post compiled PRG to play here?

Mayhem wrote: ↑Thu Apr 30, 2020 9:03 am Any chance of a post compiled PRG to play here?

I'm not sure, the forum didn't like the .prg extension, nor did it accept the extensionless name.

But just click here and you'll get the most recent version!

https://github.com/Chysn/VIC20-TRBo/blo ... r/vic/trbo

Put that onto an SD card, insert it into SD2IEC, and then do


LOAD "TRBO",8
RUN

Once I get a few games done, I might start selling cassettes.

Keep in mind that I'm a VICE n00b, but you can install it into a .d64 file with c1541 from the command line like this:

c1541 trbo.d64 -write trbo

Should be fine to attach if you archive it to ZIP or 7z or similar.

Mayhem wrote: ↑Fri May 01, 2020 6:34 am Should be fine to attach if you archive it to ZIP or 7z or similar.

Thanks!

I've added a d64 image to the repo:

https://github.com/Chysn/VIC20-TRBo/blo ... c/trbo.d64

And attached to this post.

Edit: Image file updated on May 4, 2020. Just cosmetic stuff, like improvements to the sound engine and some color on the instruction screen.
Edit: Image file updated on May 7, 2020. Calibrated (i.e., dialed down) the difficulty a bit at higher levels.

Excellent, thanks so much for that!

I think I've got this game pretty much in its final version. I made some adjustments to difficulty levels. So you have a previous version, please get the newest .d64 file above!

If you like this effort, then look for my upcoming project Helix Colony. The second game in the Anzu Trilogy, Helix Colony is a planetary exploration/world-building game for unexpanded VIC-20. Michigan's stay-at-home order has been extended to May 28th, so nose to the ML grindstone!

TRBo: Turtle RescueBot is now available on cassette at https://www.etsy.com/listing/856412053/ ... for-vic-20

Such a great fun game. Works great! Thank you for making this. Great job!

grondinm wrote: ↑Fri Dec 11, 2020 8:01 pm Such a great fun game. Works great! Thank you for making this. Great job!

Thanks for trying it!