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HexaVic

Posted: Tue Aug 23, 2022 11:59 am
by thegg
HexaVic is a puzzle game based on the paper puzzle Hexa-Trex. It is the third of my puzzle based games that I have used to develop my VIC-20 ML programming knowledge. The other two being Domino Challenge (https://sleepingelephant.com/ipw-web/bu ... 10&t=10253) and Concentrate (https://sleepingelephant.com/ipw-web/bu ... 10&t=10222).

This game required a lot more logic than the other two and hence has an 8K memory requirement. Instructions are provided in the attachment along with the game PRG. The program should work on both PAL and NTSC VICs. However, it has been developed using VICE and not tested on native hardware. If anyone tries the program on a real VIC, I would be grateful for confirmation that the program runs okay.

Any feedback appreciated. This game will probably be my last in this genre as I am going to have a go at an arcade game next.

Download:
HexaVic.zip
(54.14 KiB) Downloaded 139 times

Re: HexaVic

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 8:40 am
by huffelduff
Hi there thegg,

I had a look at your game and something I really liked about it made my mind wander a bit, and that is: The way you used hexagrams as a frame to display a number or operator.
The tile size is 3 x 2 which means that numbers and operators required one half on the top row and one half on the bottom. Custom character work which I thought was interesting.
Now I was thinking about hexagrams because I recently saw a lot of table top games employing hexagram tiles.
So I doubled the size of your tiles to 6 x 4 and presto, now one has a 2 x 2 character space inside.
Maybe unnecessary for a puzzle game such as yours, but pretty neat for something such as an RPG:
Image - RPG using Hexagram tiles #1.png
Image - RPG using Hexagram tiles #2.png
Now these are just mock ups of the idea you gave me, so one day maybe when I have the time.
Oh another thing I liked a lot was your main sound effect. Well done.

Anyway all the best with your arcade adventure.

Greetings

H

Re: HexaVic

Posted: Thu Aug 25, 2022 12:51 pm
by Rich
Nice to see games keep popping up for the old VIC, makes me feel young again trying them out for the first time :lol:

Thanks for your time and effort to share this game.. waiting for the next one....

Re: HexaVic

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 3:01 am
by thegg
Thanks for taking the time to comment on my effort guys. It is nice to know that people are trying the game out.

H - one of my sons is a keen table top gamer and I too have noticed that hexagonal tiles are often used in those games. Sound effects are something that I was attempting for the first time in HexaVic and quite a challenge to produce something more than a beep. So it is nice that a technical aspect was acknowledged.

Thanks again for the feedback.

Re: HexaVic

Posted: Fri Aug 26, 2022 7:49 am
by Orac
Cool game. It's nice to play something mindbending. A very pleasant diversion! :)

Re: HexaVic

Posted: Sat Aug 27, 2022 3:32 pm
by thegg
Orac wrote: Fri Aug 26, 2022 7:49 am Cool game. It's nice to play something mindbending. A very pleasant diversion! :)
Thank you very much. I get my pleasure from putting together programs that interest me, which I am only too happy to share. However, it is really gratifying to hear that the program has entertained someone else as well.

Re: HexaVic

Posted: Sun Aug 28, 2022 4:13 am
by Lechuck
Great game. Very challenging. Harder than I had first expected, even in the Easy level :) . I like its randomness very much.

Just tried in my actal (PAL) VIC and works perfectly OK.

Cheers

Re: HexaVic

Posted: Mon Aug 29, 2022 12:25 pm
by thegg
Lechuck wrote: Sun Aug 28, 2022 4:13 am Great game. Very challenging. Harder than I had first expected, even in the Easy level :) . I like its randomness very much.

Just tried in my actal (PAL) VIC and works perfectly OK.
Glad you are enjoying the game. When I put it together it was clear that it would be an 'occasional dip in game' rather than one with a defined start and end. So I tried hard to to make each dip different. I'm pleased that you appreciate that aspect.

Thanks for the confimation the game works well on a real VIC.

Hope you continue to enjoy the game.

Re: HexaVic

Posted: Fri Sep 02, 2022 1:23 pm
by chysn
Neat game, fun to play. Challenging.

The keyboard controls stung me a few times. I was figuring stuff out, making progress, and then pressed S instead of E or D!

Re: HexaVic

Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2022 11:54 am
by thegg
chysn wrote: Fri Sep 02, 2022 1:23 pm Neat game, fun to play. Challenging.
Thanks.
chysn wrote: Fri Sep 02, 2022 1:23 pm The keyboard controls stung me a few times. I was figuring stuff out, making progress, and then pressed S instead of E or D!
During the development of the game, S was used to select a tile and the menu options were selected by using CTRL and option letter. When I modified the menu section to give subsets following a successful/ unsuccessful attempt at a solution, the CTRL seemed unnecessary so I took it out and changed tile selection to the space bar. On reflection, perhaps the original design was better. Hope it didn't irritate too much.

Re: HexaVic

Posted: Sun Sep 04, 2022 9:32 pm
by chysn
thegg wrote: Sun Sep 04, 2022 11:54 am Hope it didn't irritate too much.
Not at all. I don't even touch any controls until I've almost figured it out, I just sit and stare. So while seeing the solution was a surprise, the solution itself was not.

Re: HexaVic

Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2022 4:15 am
by Komoda & Amiga plus
Cool game :) One of our editors spent several hours with it and wrote a review that will appear in the upcoming issue #22 of our magazine.

Re: HexaVic

Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2022 10:31 am
by thegg
Thanks for the comment. I'll look out for the review.