peteym5

I added weapons that have advantages and disadvantages. Bow and Arrow have a delay simulating how an actual archer will need to put a new arrow in his bow and aim it.

"Secretum Labyrinth Dark Castles" is a Role Playing Game for the Atari 8-bit, using my Adventure Role Playing Game programming that I started developing around 2011. I have been optimizing the programming for drawing each screen to open up more room in the RAM to allow more stuff to happen. This game will feature stuff like currency and markets, spells, items to get past points in the game, and many other things. New music is being composed. A new and different interactive story is being worked on. The text you see in the video is of a real early draft. We need to keep this part a secret because there is some proprietary information in there that may be under copyright. We will reveal the final draft when the cartridge is ready.

I decided to make up a new video in HD video of "Secretum Labyrinth The Legend" using same techniques I used for HeliCommander and Putt 18 that end up looking really good on YouTube. I really want to make this into my flagship game series and have something similar "Legend of Zelda" here on the Atari 8-bit for everyone to enjoy. This is a 15 minute long play showing a possible way to get extra experience points and to a higher skill level faster. I am glad that I kept things positive between myself and the AtariAge and Atari.IO communities. I believe by providing the first game in the series "Secretum Labyrinth Kings Gold" as a beta/demo provided something for people to try and let people decide if they would like to show some support with the purchase the cartridge. I have been working on some programming that could potentially go into the next Secretum Labyrinth game. Optimizations, getting the routines to do more different functions and be not take up much more room. I have been going over my list of things I like to try make possible in the next game. Larger maps and more monsters, to start with. See what I can do to make the graphics better with using Super IRG and Multiplexing the sprites. Of course I cannot disclose all my ideals with you all right now. You know I did throwing the hammer at a wall to open a secret exit, but need to come up with something with "detect hidden" to let the player know there is something hidden in the room. Maybe have to get a device first.

https://youtu.be/2-QSJtpnTfA I am working on some tweaks, updates, and late bug corrections. I slightly altered the color palette for the clouds, which everyone who seen it before I posted it here stated it looks much better and more realistic based on the limits we have for the Atari. When the Helicopter is at the bottom, it is now landed and cannot move horizontally. You need to be landed to be able to rescue people from the ground. I added some beginning and end level short tunes, and the sound effect for extra life had been replaced with an actual music piece. Now adding stuff like music is a work in progress. Since I see many people here are eager for the release of the game, I am going to limit what I am going to modify. See what I can do in the next few weeks. I did open up some space on the cartridge so I can add the sound effects routine that supports short music tunes.

https://youtu.be/5TUiTdOk5xY Here is a new long play video of HeliCommander. We are hoping to have it available sometime in February 2018. Hope you enjoy the game.

I have 5 different games I am putting together for the Atari 8-bit and will be available on cartridge. To help me decide which ones to do first, I decided to put this up to a vote by those who will be buying the game cartridges. I have already have these programs started and duplicated them from a template. Will be plugging in programming, graphics, and sounds, as they become available. So far we have 2 screen shots completed. By the way, I am intending to complete all 5 games, it is a question which games will have priority.

Here is a Long Play Video through the first 3 levels. Game is available from Video61, www.atarisales.com for $39.95. On Cartridge.

Here is the next WIP video now we have an arrow in bow that shooting when pressing the joystick button.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=-NC1TxY7-zk Here are some new videos of Putt Eighteen Miniature Golf. Some minor updates, but the game works great. Game now features FOUR eighteen hole courses.

Here is the next WIP video now we have treasures and Winkys bow changing direction. I still need to work on the arrow sprites, but hope to have that done soon.

Here is the next set of the extra 4 dungeons that were present on the Atari 8-bit version of Venture. These only get played if you choose challenger mode.

Here are some screen shots from Map 3, the Yellow Levels. We are making excellent progress with the game now.

Here are a few more screen shots of Venture being made for the 7800.

Here are some more work in progress screen shots for Venture. I am starting to work on the individual dungeon rooms where you need to go in and get the treasures. I am sure I can make things multicolored at 160 resolution.

Here are some work in progress screen shots for Venture on the Atari 7800 I have the first 3 map screens put together. I am planning to make this more like the arcade verses the 2600, Coleco, Intellivision, or even my 8-bit/5200 version. It may have several modes, default being arcade, other modes being home console, 8-bit challenger mode, and 7800 challenger mode. The issue I had with the 8-bit version was I could only dedicate 6 sprites for the enemies inside of each room. 7800 that can be extended to 8 or 10 maybe, or have something else like flames or energy bolts bouncing between walls. Many ideals are being considered.

Tile Smashers is my latest Retro Video Game release for the Atari 8-bit computer. This is a combination of Breakout, Pinball, and even a little Pong thrown in there. Have to smash all the tiles on both the upper and lower sections to open up the top to get to the next level. 16 Different Tables, Power Ups, Obstacles, and fast action to challenge you. Paddles are the default controller, but can be played with joystick, trackball, and 2600 driving controller. Available on Cartridge from Video61 www.atarisales.com http://members.tcq.n...1/whatsnew.html I created this thread to answer any questions you may have for the game. The game runs on any Atari 8-bit computer, works with either the 400/800 OS to XL/XE. Does not use the RAM under OS or extended RAM. There is no known issues with other hardware modifications, however as usual modifying the Atari is always at the end users risk. I know there is demand for games to support different controllers, but since Tile Smashers is a paddle game, that is the recommended controller for this game. Joystick and other controllers can be chosen, but you need to be more careful following the ball.

Here is a Video showing the latest work in progress for Amok Bots, Delta Space Arena, Laser Blast X, Putt 18, and Venture. It took me awhile to figure out a way to multiplex 8 sprites within a horizontal zone. Keep in mind I am forcing more sprites than usual to one horizontal zone, so for the most part, you will not likely see much flickering with my games ported onto the 7800. Some games have the character set written over several times in the background. This is to test to see how many sprites can be displayed over a background. The Multiplexing manager routine prevents crashes or the graphics becoming corrupted if too many sprites are displayed in the same horizontal zone.

Here are some updated screen shots of Secretum Labyrinth Xenogenesis. I have been working on this game Xenogenesis for the last few months. This will be a new and exclusive game for the 5200. Video 61 originally wanted to call it "Secretum Labyrinth X" to reflect the the 5200 was originally called Video System X. I suggested maybe a word the starts with an X or an X in the word. Figured Xenogenesis was fitting because we had these mad magicians doing crazy genetic engineering to make these monsters that inhabit the dungeons. I altered the dungeon map, scroll texts, and item placement, from Kings Gold, so this game will have a new solution. There are also new tasks you need to do to get past certain points inside the dungeon. Of course I am not going to tell you what they are or how to get past them. That challenge will be for you to play the game and figure out.

I really want to do something special with the Secretum Labyrinth series on the 5200 with this Xenogenesis game. I know Adventure II has been done, but no one else has stepped up and offered anything within that category. I am adding a few more similar RPG elements like Stamina where your character starts getting fatigue and slows down when swinging the sword too long. Something the improves with advancement of skill level and adds some challenge to the games. Thinking about trading item for item to get past a certain point in the game. Like getting a key to open a certain door. But some feed back on what people like to see inside a game would help.

I finally decided to go public with this alternate technique for drawing the "Floor" inside the rooms for the next Secretum Labyrinth games. I am using an altered version of "Secretum Labyrinth Kings Gold" which is smaller adventure game that fits inside 64K and used for a demonstration for this game series. This new technique will be used for the Atari 5200 cartridge and the next cartridge game for the 8-bit. It is intended to improve the appearance of the game on PAL/SECAM displays, or simulated HDTV displays running at 50hz. Some people reported that background (non-moving) graphics flickering was noticeable. The new pixel pattern is visible in many rooms. It alternates between two characters that just has 1 pixel lit up, so there will be the same number of pixels being changed between each from. Different spacing and color patterns are done in different rooms. Moving objects (sprites) may still flicker if move than 2 objects share the same vertical position as this is due to the limitation of the Atari 8-bit computer only having 4 players that are overlapped to make 2 multicolored players. I am offering this update of "Secretum Labyrinth Kings Gold" freely to the community members in exchange for their support they have shown for my games and for their assistance for helping me improve my games. So please try this game out. This Adventure / Role Playing Game engine is something I intended to be an ongoing process and I stay open about what I am doing so I can get some feed back. Always looking for ideals of what to put inside these games. I am working on more stuff to do to get past certain points in the game, like answering riddles, exchanging items, or performing specific actions. There are many different computer based role playing games across many different platforms, but very few had been bought to the Atari 8-bit. I am aware of the Ultima series, Alternate Reality, Dungeon Hunt, and many others. Everybody has a different approach. I am also looking forward to Adventure II on the 8-bit. The 5200 Cartridge will be a little more involved, I am adding more character attributes and more traps inside the rooms. I will also be looking to have more going on with the next cartridge game for the 8-bit. I am not going to go with the Advance Dungeon & Dragons character attribute system, like having Charisma, Constitution, Wisdom, etc. or make it into a turned based game. I like to keep the action going and fight the enemies with the joystick, more people think that is more fun. I am looking over many ideals for the next 8-bit cartridge to add more depth and make the adventure games more intense. SLKG20160630.ZIP

"Secretum Labyrinth Kings Gold" is a freeware/demoware game I made for the 8-bit a few years ago so people get a taste of what I am developing. "Secretum Labyrinth The Legend" is a 64K ROM cartridge that uses the 64K of RAM on the 8-bit, that is has a much larger dungeon to explore, and many more things to do. When it came time to port some games to the 5200, I decided, why not also attempt to port the Secretum Labyrinth engine over also. I started with porting using the database from "Kings Gold" so I have some test data to compare it to. But later in the process I decided to come up make something new I can add to this series of games. I had all this stuff I was experimenting with for optimization, improving the graphics, game play, and fitting more into a smaller space. So I applied that to this 5200 cartridge. I have been looking to add other RPG (Role Playing Game) and Adventure like elements into this. So this will have some things we had not yet seen in the prior Secretum Labyrinth games.

Many of the monsters require multiple hits to kill. I am working out a system of what damages each weapon causes.

Here is a Work-in-Progress video for Secretum Labyrinth Xenogenesis that will be a game within the Secretum Labyrinth series. It will be an Atari 5200 specific game because it is geared toward using 32K ROM + 16K RAM, instead of 64K ROM + 64K RAM on the 8-bit versions. It is set up to use the controllers, joystick + keypad. I have considered 64K to 512K ROMs, but from what I understand, that extra logic chip may up the price of the game. So I tried to make more extensive use of Deflate/Inflate compression, and other optimization techniques so there is more going on with the game. Like the other Secretum Labyrinth games, this is Role Playing Game inspired. If anybody wants to see more RPG like features added, let me know. Work on this game is on-going for probably until October 2017. Then we start working on making the cartridge and make sure it works correctly. I wanted something with X in the title since the Atari 5200 was also known as Video System X.

Anyone who is looking to purchase Tempest Elite and play it on their VBXE system, please hold off until we get this latest update checked by our beta tester. There appears to be some issues with other hardware present, such as Ultimate 1MB, other memory upgrades, and with various versions of the firmware. There is something called a color map which allow VBXE to change the color registers in different areas of the screen. Similar to a Commodore 64 color screen map, or think of doing DLIs, but able to split sections vertically. The color map set up of Tempest Elite had to removed because it was cause the sprite overlay map not to appear on top of the web. May possibly not working with certain system hardware configurations. In VBXE mode the web background will be a strait 320x192 mode without any lane highlighting and the spikes will be a dotted line to distinguish them from the web lane lines. VBXE has the ability to make the pixel and background two true separate colors.

I managed to convert 9 different games I have the rights and make them playable on the 5200. Amokbots, Delta Space Arena, HeliCommander, Laser Blast X, Megaoids 2016, Putt 18 Miniature Golf, Surround'Em, Tile Smashers, and Venture. The only game that is still in the process of being ported is a version of Secretum Labyrinth. I originally wanted to port "Secretum Labyrinth Kings Gold" over. However since that game was a free download for the Atari 8-bit area, I decided to make it worthwhile for people to purchase and change things around inside its realm. It will have a new room map, and stuff moved to all new locations. A new store is being written with a new sub title. Include a few features I had been developing for next cartridge game for the 8-bit.