* Made the game over trigger as soon as the belly meter becomes zero (before
there was a grace period of about 5 seconds, but the fact that the game
continued while the belly meter was zero looked plainly wrong).
* Changed the main color of Zampo's dark skin.
* Added 4 more baddies.
* Added a zone-complete transition.
* Made the portals sides graphics unique to each zone.
* Made many speed and memory optimizations.
* Touched up some music instruments.
* Started adding the logic to limit the zones selectable in the frontend to
those already reached.
* Fixed an off-by-one bug in the cartridge driver that caused an additional page
to be copied from ROM to RAM when the section size was an exact multiple of
256.
* Fixed an off-by-one bug in the sprites multiplexer, which caused multiplexing
to be done one line too early, thus corrupting the bottom line of sprites in
some cases.
* Fixed/optimized the collision detection of Zampo against food/drinks (a change
made just before releasing the previous preview could cause the collisions to
be missed when the objects were flickering before disappearing).
* Fixed the collision detection when Zampo is incorporeal (Zampo could collide
against food/drinks/baddies as a consequence of the system for handling
Zampo's skin introduced by the previous preview).
* Fixed the permanent flashing of Zampo when he caught a spinach can while he
was already in STEEL mode and the mode was about to expire.
* Fixed the portals graphics update and a CPU load peak in the FUN PARK zone (a
routine was missing a closing jmp, so the portals graphics update was
triggered also when it should have not been).
* Fixed the abort function (it did not work properly when Zampo was not in
normal mode and did not zero the belly meter).
* Wrote the FUN PARK and FORTRESS zones music.
* Worked on the FUN PARK zone map:
* expanded it;
* improved/extended the graphics.
* Worked on the CLIFFS zone map:
* made it 80 pixels taller (now it is 2048x928 pixels);
* extended a lot the underground part;
* added a portal connected to a new location;
* added a puzzle related to the new portal (the portal is broken and Zampo
must repair it after finding the missing piece);
* changed the design in some places;
* improved the graphics.
* Worked on the FORTRESS zone map:
* made it 32 pixels taller (now it is 2048x880 pixels);
* extended the underground part;
* touched it up in a few places.
* Worked on the frontend:
* changed logo design slightly;
* improved vertical spacing of elements.
* Worked on the documentation:
* extended/improved the manual;
* changed slightly the color scheme of quickstart guide and manual.
* Worked on the intro: fixed a couple of things in the text.
* Worked on the zone introduction screen: fixed the initial colors of the
letters (they were all black).
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
Lately work has been done in parallel on all the RETREAM games. It began with the objective of aligning the technically similar ones for PC so that they would handle data saving the same way, but it soon went out of control and brought uniformity and improvements to the installers, the documentation, the web pages and even to code and internal files - and, just as importantly, it brought new features as well!
After Blastaway, Huenison and KOG, BOH got updated as well.
CHANGELOG * Re-added joypad thumbsticks support, as at times Windows treats D-pads as thumbsticks. * Added internal graphics screenshot function (assigned to [F1]; the visible graphics are now captured with [F2] and themes are cycled with [F3]). * Reworked assignments of the kind *p++ = ... *p ... (as they are miscompiled by some versions of gcc). * Worked on (registration for) records submission to the online standings: fixed server side issues and added SITE.PORT configuration option for future use; improved information/instructions for the registration procedure; disabled registration procedure when SDL_net is not initialized. * Optimized static strings definitions. * Simplified data files access code. * Moved configuration and missions directory to the program's. * Replaced version string with an AmigaOS-style one. * Updated/improved user's manual, developer's manual and soundtrack booklet. * Made various other minor changes. * Made installers preserve the submission status of records, so that those that had already been submitted will not be submitted again after a re-installation/update. * Added to Windows installers code to clean up leftovers. * Added portable version for Windows. * Dropped support for Linux and MacOS (maintaining those version can no longer be afforded; moreover, MacOS dropped 32-bit applications support a long time ago; anyway, the Windows version of BOH, since the very beginning, has always been working perfectly under Wine, and now it is even easier to run BOH thanks to the portable version).
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
Lately work has been done in parallel on all the RETREAM games. It began with the objective of aligning the technically similar ones for PC so that they would handle data saving the same way, but it soon went out of control and brought uniformity and improvements to the installers, the documentation, the web pages and even to code and internal files - and, just as importantly, it brought new features as well!
CHANGELOG * Added field dark columns: the background is darkened, in an alternate columns fashion, by 50% in the first set of levels, by 25% in the second set of levels, by 0% in the third set of levels and by 75% in the last level (given that the columns match the virtual columns bricks descend along, they make for a precious visual aid to aim at the bricks). * Added 20 points bonus for when CRUSH brick lands on the ground. * Added function to use the RESTORE bonus to joypad (it had been forgotten!). * Added internal graphics screenshot function (assigned to [F1]; the visible graphics are now captured with [F2]). * Changed string requester so that entering an empty string means also "abort"/"reject" (depending on the context). * Considered also D-pad input for "press any key/button" requests. * Worked on online hiscores: improved/updated information texts; added possibility to retry up to 10 times if sending fails (in particular, when the email address registration has just been done, this makes it much easier to send the hiscores immediately thereafter). * Slightly changed level names. * Simplified data files access code. * Made a few little optimizations. * Replaced version string with an AmigaOS-style one. * Added to Windows installer code to import previous savedata and clean up leftovers. * Added Windows portable version. * Updated manual.
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
To be precise, I didn't fix anything: I just added a workaround to the fact that sometimes SDL reports D-pads as thumbsticks (the workaround being the addition of support for thumbsticks, which are treated as if they were digital). On Windows, the issue is often (maybe always?) Window's own fault: I have here a cheap SNES controller replica that Windows keeps on seeing as an analog device. On AmigaOS... well, I don't know.
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
I have just released yet another update, which features the following changes.
CHANGELOG * Worked on MILESTONE bonus: made notification more prominent by displaying the number of soldiers and/or the points awarded, both in-game and in the arena report screen; fixed handling of multiple milestones reached at the same time (the points awarded were considered by the very same check that decides whether to award those kind of points, thus potentially awarding too many points). * Moved the ALIVE SOLDIERS bonus notification from the last arena end screen to the game end screen. * Changed the design of the DOUBLE and TRIPLE bonuses marks from "x2" and "x3" to "2x" and "3x". * Added glowing to Czywor's eyes. * Simplified data files access code. * Set savedata directory to the game's own data directory also for the Windows installed version (which now is thus identical to the portable version). * Moved configuration file to the program directory. * Renamed savedata file (safe.raw -> safe.dat). * Added to installers code to import previous savedata and clean up leftovers. * Improved/extended manual.
Now, while preparing the update, I realized that I provided two wrong pieces of information in this thread, while the competition was running! First one: I said that the time bonus gets multiplied by the DOUBLE and TRIPLE SCORE bonuses - well, that's false! Those bonuses multiply only the points scored during play, not the points awarded after clearing an arena. Second one: there was no prize for completing the game - that's false as well, as the ALIVE SOLDIERS bonus (which was already there), upon game completion awards 1000 points multiplied by the number of alive soldiers! It's just that it was reported in the end screen of the last arena, so it passed unnoticed (now it's changed - see above).
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
Lately work has been done in parallel on all the RETREAM games. It began with the objective of aligning the technically similar ones for PC so that they would handle data saving the same way, but it soon went out of control and brought uniformity and improvements to the installers, the documentation, the web pages and even to code and internal files -and, just as importantly, it brought new features as well!
CHANGELOG * Added screenshots of internal graphics (now [F1] grab a screenshot of the internal graphics and [F2] of the visible graphics). * Added [ALT]+[F4] quit option. * Simplified data files access code. * Set savedata directory to the game's own data directory also for the Windows installed version (which now is thus identical to the portable version). * Moved configuration file to the program directory. * Added to installers code to import previous savedata and clean up leftovers. * Improved/extended manual.
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
Lately work has been done in parallel on all the RETREAM games. It began with the objective of aligning the technically similar ones for PC so that they would handle data saving the same way, but it soon went out of control and brought uniformity and improvements to the installers, the documentation, the web pages and even to code and internal files -and, just as importantly, it brought new features as well!
CHANGELOG * Worked on MILESTONE bonus: made notification more prominent by displaying the number of soldiers and/or the points awarded, both in-game and in the arena report screen; fixed handling of multiple milestones reached at the same time (the points awarded were considered by the very same check that decides whether to award those kind of points, thus potentially awarding too many points). * Moved the ALIVE SOLDIERS bonus notification from the last arena end screen to the game end screen. * Changed the design of the DOUBLE and TRIPLE bonuses marks from "x2" and "x3" to "2x" and "3x". * Added glowing to Czywor's eyes. * Simplified data files access code. * Set savedata directory to the game's own data directory also for the Windows installed version (which now is thus identical to the portable version). * Moved configuration file to the program directory. * Renamed savedata file (safe.raw -> safe.dat). * Added to installers code to import previous savedata and clean up leftovers. * Improved/extended manual.
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
While updating Huenison I noticed that a bug in some versions of gcc could cause corrupted graphics and even memory faults. Although KOG didn't seem affected by that problem, I thought I'd better make sure - and, while at it, I also made a few more little changes.
CHANGELOG * Reworked assignments of the kind *p++ = ... *p ... (as they are miscompiled by some versions of gcc). * Removed assignment of function "back" to joypad first button (as that was confusing). * Added Windows portable version. * Worked on Windows installer: removed unused data directory; added logo to graphics.
Downloaded and installed. Thank you on your work and on update!
My pleasure!
Quote:
* Added FULL GAME bonus (completing the game starting it from the first arena of the first stage awards 50000 extra points).
..to late if you ask me I needed it previous month ;)
I know, I know, I added this feature precisely because of what you reported during the competition ;)
@AmigaOldskooler
Quote:
Thanks for the update! Nice work! Shared the news on my blog.
Cool, thanks!
Quote:
I think we should have another Blastaway competition this year now that an update has been released.
How about Huenison or KOG, instead? They're crazy score-oriented games - and Huenison even has an online chart that it automatically sends the scores to!
@all
While updating Huenison I noticed that a bug in some versions of gcc could cause corrupted graphics and even memory faults. Although Blastaway didn't seem affected by that problem, I thought I'd better make sure.
CHANGELOG * Reworked assignments of the kind *p++ = ... *p ... (as they are miscompiled by some versions of gcc). * Embedded AmigaOS version string in executable.
By coincidence, shortly after the release of the previous update, I received a test report from the Steam team, who had found of that Huenison didn't open automatically the virtual keyboard on their Steam Deck - of course it didn't: I didn't even know that the Steam Deck existed! While trying to address that issue, I also found out and fixed a few other ones.
CHANGELOG * Added experimental code to have the Steam on-screen keyboard open automatically when text entering is requested (totally untested due to lack of a Steam Deck; chances are it will not work, as the game is completely software-rendered; feedback welcome). * Reworked assignments of the kind *p++ = ... *p ... (as they are miscompiled by some versions of gcc). * Fixed (server side) registration for hiscores / hiscores receiving and added SITE.PORT configuration option for future use. * Improved/updated manual.
One more little update released: this one tries to address the issue of some joypads not being seen due to the fact that at times Windows reports D-pads as thumbsticks.
CHANGELOG * Added support for thumbsticks, as at times Windows treats D-pads as thumbsticks (this is just to support as many joypads as possible: using real thumbsticks is not a good idea anyway). * Touched up manual.
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
One more little update released: this one tries to address the issue of some joypads not being seen due to the fact that at times Windows reports D-pads as thumbsticks.
CHANGELOG * Added support for thumbsticks, as at times Windows treats D-pads as thumbsticks (this is just to support as many joypads as possible: using real thumbsticks is not a good idea anyway). * Fixed/improved manual.
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
CHANGELOG * Added support for thumbsticks, as at times Windows treats D-pads as thumbsticks (this is just to support as many joypads as possible: using real thumbsticks is not a good idea anyway). * Added journey map (at the beginning of each stage, a screen shows the previous stages, the current stage and, darkened, the next stages). * Added FULL GAME bonus (completing the game starting it from the first arena of the first stage awards 50000 extra points). * Added final score in game completion screen. * Touched up instruments volumes and effects in tunes. * Removed the "commercials" showing the other RETREAM games between stages. * Removed donation message from title screen. * Fixed handling of joypad presses and releases (under some circumstances outside of the game, a release could be handled as a consequence of a previous, unrelated press). * Improved/extended manual.
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
Naaah, it was just me not thinking straight! Anyway, you can forget about the test executable: I have just uploaded a whole new package which also brings some nice additional features (including the points bonus upon game completion mentioned earlier in this thread) ;)
CHANGELOG * Added support for thumbsticks, as at times Windows treats D-pads as thumbsticks (this is just to support as many joypads as possible: using real thumbsticks is not a good idea anyway). * Added journey map (at the beginning of each stage, a screen shows the previous stages, the current stage and, darkened, the next stages). * Added FULL GAME bonus (completing the game starting it from the first arena of the first stage awards 50000 extra points). * Added final score in game completion screen. * Touched up instruments volumes and effects in tunes. * Removed the "commercials" showing the other RETREAM games between stages. * Removed donation message from title screen. * Fixed handling of joypad presses and releases (under some circumstances outside of the game, a release could be handled as a consequence of a previous, unrelated press). * Improved/extended manual.
I never had any issues with USB gamepads on Windows with Blastaway but my issue is my Bluetooth gamepad which is not seen by Blastaway. Tried this new exe but same issue with Bluetooth gamepad not being seen.
In this case, evidently there's a disconnect between Windows and SDL. Unfortunately, that's nothing I can help with :/
EDIT On second thought, there's one more thing I could try: not checking the presence of D-pads/thumbsticks (hats/axes in SDL terminology) at all and simply accepting any joypad that has at least 1 button - basically, accepting all joypads. Then, if for some reason SDL manages to read the joypad output (be it digital or analog), the joypad will work. Can you download the latest executable (same link) and let me know, please?
@all
I remembered that I had already done a little investigation about this and found the relevant thread. Basically, other users report the same behaviour I noticed here, so I'm confident the executable solves the issue.
Edited by saimo on 2022/7/18 11:27:14
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
I have received reports about the fact that Blastaway wouldn't see joypads on Windows. This is a general issue that I had noticed even before making Blastaway: at some point, at least here, Windows started to see/report D-pads as thumbsticks. For example, I have here a cheap SNES joypad replica which Windows (10) sees as an analogue controller that can even be calibrated. Searching around the net, I found that the issue is broader: some people report D-pads and thumbsticks swapped around or not working together, etc. My AmigaOS 4 / Windows games query (through SDL) the OS for joypads with D-pads, so joypads do not get seen when Windows reports them incorrectly. I have now produced a test executable of Blastaway that accepts also joypads which are reported to have only a thumbstick. It is based on what the tests with the aforementioned joypad showed - more precisely, SDL reports these signed 16 bit values: * UP/LEFT: 0x8000 * DOWN/RIGHT: 0x7fff Curiously, the center position is said to be 0xffff (-1) instead of 0, so I'm not relying on that. My impression is that Windows tries to unify D-pads and thumbsticks handling, so it treats the former as analogue controls that output only the maximum values. If that's the case, then the current code is good enough already. If not, then I'll have to add a calibration option. Could you test the new executable and let me know, please? You can download it from https://www.retream.com/_temporary/Blastaway.zip - just unpack it in your game folder.
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
* Made Zampo jump only when he is not moving upwards already (before, if Zampo's
legs were on a solid tile while he was already moving upwards and the joystick
was pushed up, he would jump again, thus continuing the upwards movement; this
increased the chances of unwanted double-jumps).
* Changed the portals/teleporting behaviour:
* when Zampo uses a portal, he is now automatically teleported to the right
location (this simplifies the gameplay, as before misusing portals was too
punishing - i.e. it made completing a zone impossible);
* they are now activated with [DOWN] insted of [FIRE] to reduce the chances
of activating portals unintentionally (as [FIRE] is used for turbofarting,
whereas [DOWN] is used for ducking, which is a much less common action).
* Accelerated the relocation of Zampo to checkpoints.
* Worked on the collision detection against the background:
* made more precise and relative to Zampo's movement and aspect;
* extended the detection area for some tiles, so that picking up items and
operating switches is easier.
* Worked on food/drink items:
* added 3 new types (which affects the gameplay, as it makes the appearance
of the spinach can and of the Gasorade bottle less likely; this has been
counterbalanced with the following changes);
* made the Gasorade bottle restore the turbofart meter entirely;
* made the cake (one of the new items) restore the belly meter entirely;
* avoided that they spawn on some tiles where they would be uncatchable;
* redrawn the spinach can.
* Worked on the PIG-OF-GOLD mode:
* enlarged the area checked for the activation, so that Zampo no longer
requires to be placed too precisely;
* avoided that it is re-activated when it is already active not only because
conceptually it makes no sense, but also because it could interfere with
the PIG-OF-STEEL mode.
* Added the PIG-OF-GOLD and PIG-OF-STEEL modes tunes.
* Added a simple sound effect for teleporting (music gets paused in the
meanwhile; this is the only case where a sound effect is used; the reason is
that it is the simplest and least memory-hungry way to susped the PIG-OF-GOLD
and PIG-OF-STEEL modes tunes, when such modes are active a portal is taken;
anyway, it is quite appropriate as Zampo, when teleporting, is indeed in a
kind of suspended state).
* Added the zone exit icon (a thumb-up icon that blinks constantly to indicate
the point Zampo has to reach after collecting all the potties).
* Extended the tile-related events triggering mechanism (and used it for various
purposes in the existing maps).
* Added a mechanism for making a switch appear with a brief blinking.
* Added a mechanism for making a generic tile blink.
* Added a mechanism for performing real-time, progressive, arbitrary changes to
memory (and used it for various purposes, especially in the existing maps).
* Sped up the removal of barriers by 1 frame per tile.
* Reworked the handling of Zampo's appearance by implementing a centralized
mechanism which:
* takes a few cycles more, but saves memory and makes the code cleaner;
* allows each tile to have lighting properties;
* allows checkpoints, portals and portals destinations to be also in places
where the lighting is shady/dark;
* solves (elegantly) the clashes between the GOLD and STEEL modes relatively
to Zampo's colors;
* provides a centralized way to make Zampo flash.
* Slown down the flashing of Zampo when the PIG-OF-STEEL mode is about to end.
* Made Zampo say: "YEA" when he catches the cake; "WOW" when he catches the
Gasorade bottle or the spinach can; "YUM" when he catches another food item.
* Ensured Zampo is visible when a game is aborted.
* Slown down the blinking of potties.
* Worked on baddies:
* added 2-frame animations;
* added the "explosion" animation.
* Added (support for) dynamic tilesets.
* Made the head-up display taller to make room for the information relative to
the zone-specific features.
* Fixed Zampo's X speed in couple of places (it was 1/16 off due to an inverted
sign).
* Fixed the Zampo Y correction relatively to collisions with obstacles above (it
pushed Zampo 1/32 pixels below the character he was in, instead of keeping
him in that character by just 1/32 pixels).
* Fixed the baddies X initialization (the spawning code is distributed across
multiple frames to spread the load, but it defined the X before the final
position was validated; given that, in the meanwhile, the screen most likely
scrolled, at the time of spawning the X could have been unsuitable - and thus
caused the baddies, in some circumstances, to appear out of nothing).
* Fixed the sprites clipping code (the fact that the screen is narrower/shorter
due to scrolling was not taken into account because of some wrong labels and a
constant was off by 1).
* Fixed the bug that allowed to use the portals frames to teleport.
* Fixed the horizontal alignment of icons in the head-up display (was off by 1
pixel to the left).
* Fixed/optimized some instruments in music.
* Extended/improved the intro text.
* Wrote the outro text.
* Changed the design of the 'I' in the logo, to match the font's (which needs
that letter to be easily readable).
* Saved some memory by moving some sprites graphics and other data to the unused
space in the charset.
* Made many speed and memory optimizations.
* Made the [F1] check in the pause routine more robust (the CIA registers were
accessed continuously, but my C64 did not like it).
* Renamed meters:
* "belly satisfaction meter" -> "belly meter";
* "turbofart charge meter" -> "turbofart meter".
* Renamed the FACTORY zone as the TOWERS zone (as now there is an idea of how it
will play and look like).
* Made a few other minor changes.
* Worked on the FUN PARK zone:
* started the map;
* added "FUN" to the name.
* Worked on the CLIFFS zone:
* added the cross subquest;
* added 2 checkpoints to make it easier;
* improved/enriched the map;
* improved the graphics.
* Worked on the FORTRESS zone:
* improved/enlarged/completed the map;
* made the map easier;
* added the stars & hidden switches puzzles;
* improved/extended the graphics.
* Worked on the frontend:
* made it present by default the last item/zone played;
* inverted the zone selection controls (now: [UP] -> next zone, [DOWN] ->
previous zone);
* changed colors of unselected icons.
* Worked on the text reader (used by quickstart guide, intro and outro):
* rewritten in assembly (it was a mix of BASIC-BOSS and machine language, as
it was an adaption of the text reader used by MAH);
* added 0.5 lines spacing for easier reading;
* compacted the data and reorganized the memory allocation to reduce greatly
the size of the binaries;
* made it faster;
* reduced the rendering glitches as much as possible (without resorting to
buffering - double buffering would slow scrolling and triple buffering
seems overkill, although it remains an option for the future).
* Worked on the documentation:
* renamed the notice as "quickstart guide";
* improved/updated/extended the quickstart guide and the manual.
RETREAM - retro dreams for Amiga, Commodore 64 and PC
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Nice work! Shared the news on my blog.
