Indestructotank?

[lordofthegeeks]

I spent a minute making a couple do these work?

[bananaman]

I assumed that nobody would combo above 255. It is hard for me to display the code because it is intertwined with creating the new "explosion" and the increase in exp for the collision. This is the basic jist of it, but remember that I have other code intertwined with this.
ld a,(combo)
inc a
ld (combo),a
ld e,a ; d is already 0 at this point
add hl,de
add hl,de ; hl already holds your exp
ld (level_experience),hl

This means that combos are huge. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 for each hit. So it is the cumulative effect of 2, 6, 12, 20, 30, 42. This is equivalent to n^2 + n. I actually add your exp immediately after each hit, that way you don't have to end your combo to start a new level.

Your purchasing exp is your level_exp / 10. That way I can keep it in one byte. The potential problem with this is if somebody holds on to their exp too much. I currently am using an increase of 1.325 per level for the needed_exp, compared to 1.3 for the real game. The problem with this is that on the last level you can actually gain too much experience and wrap the purchase_exp. I am probably going to reduce the increase to 1.25, because this means that you should have gained enough exp to buy all the weapons before a normal person wraps the purch_exp. To compensate, I am going to reduce the fuel per level, so that it is still difficult, I will also reduce the starting levels needed exp to probably 50 instead of 100, then I will also make it so that you don't see the purchasing screen before the first level.

I also am going to add in a teacher key / pause button so you don't have to wait for the end of a level to pause. I will also add in a level counter that displays what level you are on. Finally, I drew a pretty nice sprite for the tank. But I want to make 2 more that are slightly on an angle. That way if you are moving left or right the tank is slightly angled.

I'm off to work though. I will be there for 8 hours and then I'm out for thanksgiving break. I might have time tonight, but probably not until tomorrow to finish this up.

[GloryMXE7]

the one thing i didnt like in the original game was the fact that if you ran out of feul while in the air you would blow up exspecialy when you are trying to get back down to receive the exp that could possibly let you beat the level

[simplethinker]

That's what makes it challenging. Usually in a game with a free-mode, the part where you have time limits is a breeze after a lot of practice. In Indestructotank, even if you have gotten good in free-play, all the bombs keeping you in the air keeps the main game challenging.

[GloryMXE7]

I guess your right its still frustrating though

[simplethinker]

Games should be frustrating. What fun is there if you can easily do level after level without any problem? Screw-ups and mulligans make you enjoy a game longer :biggrin:

[GloryMXE7]

yeah i know that

[bananaman]

My game actually credits you with the experience as soon as you hit the enemies. No worries about trying to find your way to the ground. But that doesn't mean that it will be easy. I could beat the original indestructotank every time with my eyes closed. I have only successfully beaten mine once.

I think that I will make multiple difficulty levels. The difference will be in how much starting exp you have to purchase enemies before the first round. I will have wimp, beginner and normal. Wimp will let you have 20 exp to start, beginner 10, and normal none. This should make it significantly easy to beat wimp, but challenging enough to keep you trying for normal.

[bananaman]

Game completed.

I just uploaded it to the server. Hopefully it will be added to the archives soon. Have a fun time trying to beat insane. I have successfully beaten normal, but insane will be a true challenge.

[DigiTan]

Lookin' good. (Hmmmm....I gotta get RW and going at that pace)

Well, I gotta be a little of a wet blanket here: when you get the "Gave over" screen, there's no timeout on keystrokes, and it flings me all that way back in the GRAPH mode. It would be cool if it took you back to the main menu/highscore, or something to that effect.

Also (and maybe this was requested), being able to level-up in mid-air made things considerably easier than originally. Being able to get down at the right times demands some tank skillz as well. And I kinda miss the scrolling.

But overall, good game. My tanks crashed, but the game didn't. Overall good menu layout. Keep in mind I'm only emulating here, but the fun factor is the real deal Holyfield. To paraphrase the great General George S. Patton: "Nobody ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by smashing through anything that moved!"

[GloryMXE7]

how true LOL

[bananaman]

[Bronco]

There was "scrolling" in the original.

[GloryMXE7]

in the Anniversary eddition there was scrolling verticaly

[Bronco]

....Dude. I just tried Insane....I lost because only three enemies flew by! It really is insane

[bananaman]

Yeah, about that.

Currently the probability for enemies works like this. Every 8 frames, an enemy has a chance to be released. A random number is generated between 0 and 60 + total enemy frequency. Then it scans each enemy type to see which enemy was created, or if none were created.

This means that on insane for the first wave, there is a 5/65 chance that an enemy is created (7.7%). On insane, there are currently 140 possible chances for enemy creation per level. This means that on a good level, you might get 10 or 11 enemies, and since you need to kill 9 enemies to beat the first level, it is insane.

This formula works well in that as you increase the frequency of enemies, the actual percent chance doesn't shift dramatically. When you are completely maxed out you have a 50/110 or 46% of enemy creation. As opposed to a 50/60 would would produce way too many enemies. I am adjusting this formula slightly so that it is level dependent. The new formula is...

total_enemies / (total_enemies + level + 35).

This will make it so that on insane's first level it will have 5/40 or 12.5%. This should make it easier to get through the first few rounds. I believe that it takes 21 levels to max out the frequency. So on the final level it will be close to 50/106 or about 47%. This should make insane a little less dependent upon chance to beat the first few levels, but I don't perceive anyone beating through all 21 waves anyways. Hence the name insane.

[Bronco]

Well since I know that now, I'm going to wait for the formula change before I try insane again

Amazing product btw. Soo much better than the first release

[bananaman]

I have a question regarding highscores. If I allocate storage at the end of the program like I would for a sprite, and I store data there, will the OS copy the program back into memory after execution so that the data can be retrieved at a later running of the program?

Bronco:
With the new formula in place, you can consistently beat the first level. It starts to get insane again around the 4th or 5th wave.

[Bronco]

Well, it won't do it automatically. You'll have to implement some SMC if I understand what you're talking about. You'll have to point to the program in memory yourself and then write to it.

I think?

[GloryMXE7]

i tried insane nothing appeared at all on the first level