my Boulder Dash Clones for the Atari and Mac

Rocky · Post by **Rocky** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 9:36 pm

Daimonds have not been crushed by boulders? O.o It will be easy to fix that.

The walking animation is still too slow I know. Please don´t hesitate to give me any feedback you like, it is helpful for me!

CWS · Post by **CWS** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:00 pm

First I must say I like your title screen!

Some important things that have to be corrected:

1) no snapping possible at the moment. It would be the best if you define the left CNTRL-key as "Firebutton" for snapping. Diamonds lying one field near Rockford can be collect by pressing the Firebutton and the direction key without moving. Also dirt can be digged without moving. And Boulders can be pushed the same way.

2) Physics engine seems to have some troubles. Boulders are falling down on the left or right side while lying on dirt. This should only happen if boulders are lying on walls (not titan walls, only brick walls). Sometimes boulders kill Rockford if he is standing under it and walking down. This should only be the case if Rockford stops walking.

3) Animation for Rockford is not correct. Walking up and down is the same animation as walking left or right. If Rockford is walking left and then up, the animation for walking up is the walking left animation. If Rockford is walking right and then up, the animation for walking up is the walking right animation.

4) The inbox should blink Inbox and Space. Not Inbox and dirt. So it's more visible.

5) Diamonds can also kill Rockford (same as boulders).

Did you try GDash on Mac? It's easy to compile on MacOS X and it's a wonderful clone. I've written a little installation manual for installing the linux source code on MacOS X on the second page of the GDash topic. With this great version you can try some things by your own to make a good clone!

And if you like, try Power64, the C64 emulator for MacOS X. Best emulator ever. If you need some Boulder Dash games for C64 look at http://www.gratissaugen.de/erbsen/general.html

Rocky · Post by **Rocky** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:22 pm

Whow, great feedback! Thank you!

The ant is currently not beeing crushed by diamonds because I have read that it is able to catch falling daimonds!

CWS · Post by **CWS** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:24 pm

Rocky wrote:Whow, great feedback! Thank you!

Rockford is currently not beeing crushed by diamonds because I have read that Rockford is able to catch falling daimonds!

That's not true. In Boulder Dash Rockford can not catch falling diamonds. It must be some other clone. In the original game this is not possible.

Rocky · Post by **Rocky** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:31 pm

I have read about that daimond catching here:

http://www.elmerproductions.com/sp/pete ... /0006.html

The instructions are related to the C64 version. They say something about holding the fire button to catch daimonds. What do you think about that?

CWS · Post by **CWS** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:38 pm

Rocky wrote:I have read about that daimond catching here:

http://www.elmerproductions.com/sp/pete ... /0006.html

The instructions are related to the C64 version. They say something about holding the fire button to catch daimonds. What do you think about that?

You can catch diamonds by holding the fire button. That's right. But not if they are falling. Only if they fall and stay lying down on the ground. Only the lying diamond can by collected. While they are falling it's not possible to collect them.

Try it on Power64 or GDash. You will see how it works.

Rocky · Post by **Rocky** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:40 pm

I have the Power64 here, but I don´t know how to play it, will say, I set up the keyboard as joystick, but the emulator doesn´t listen to my keys, so I was not able to do much with the Original in Power64. =(

CWS · Post by **CWS** » Mon Mar 31, 2008 10:57 pm

Some help for Power64:

Go to "Joystick Einstellungen", I suggest useing cursor keys up, down, left, right (click on each direction and press the key you want) for Joyport 1 and 2. Cntrl for fire, activate "Joystick #1 aktivieren" and "Joystick #2 aktivieren", "Joystick aktivieren (Generalschalter) should also be activated.

As there is still a bug in joystick driver (some troubles since MacOS X 10.4), open Ablage/Tastaturbelegung and look if some keys are red outlined. If so press these keys - the red outline disappears. The joystick keys will work now.

Now load Boulder Dash disk image "Laufwerke/Laufwerkw.#8/Diskette einlegen/Diskette auswählen". Double click on the Boulder Dash game in the directory window. It will start automatically.

Now use CTRL, up, down, left, right for playing Boulder Dash. If there is no reaction try switching joystick ports by pressing Apple+J.

It should work now!

Register Power64 - it's the best C64 emulator I've ever seen. The programmer is a friend of mine. I'm beta tester since version 0.8 (I think 1995 or so).

Rocky · Post by **Rocky** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 12:24 am

Okay, I will try it again with the Power64.

One of the fiew things that are still going wrong and where I have really no idea to fix it is:

"Sometimes boulders kill you if you are standing under it and walking down. This should only be the case if you stop walking."

CWS · Post by **CWS** » Tue Apr 01, 2008 10:43 am

It's a nice description at

http://www.elmerproductions.com/sp/pete ... /0000.html

But try it on a C64. You will see how it works!

Rocky · Post by **Rocky** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 12:16 am

On my web site you can view all the levels of my clone for the Atari Falcon030, made by myself in 1995. My goal was it to make a very colorful clone for the Atari Falcon030 with a decent level design: -> klick me <- There is also a video preview available: -> klick here <-

CWS · Post by **CWS** » Fri Apr 11, 2008 8:26 pm

Wow! Version 1.5 is a really BIG improvement!

Game (scrolling and movement) is running a little bit jerky but if feels much better than all older version!

Keep on going! You are on the right track...

Rocky · Post by **Rocky** » Sun Apr 13, 2008 1:51 am

Thank you! I am happy to see that you like it. I am busy working on version 2.0 with complete new graphics. That´ll be a another big improvement I think.

Rocky · Post by **Rocky** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 11:34 am

Today we jump from version 1.5 to 2.5. The new one includes a complete new graphics design. I hope you will like it. =)

CWS · Post by **CWS** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 1:29 pm

Wow! Your game is really getting better and better!

New graphics look nice!

Collecting diamonds or pushing boulders without moving should be made via a "firebutton" and not the keys for every direction. Simply use CTRL for that. Gameplay is still jerky, there are also speed problems as it seems that it does not run in a constant speed. When Rockford is standing still the usual waiting animation sequence should be played. The animation sequence for walking up and down are the same as for left and right.