Pyramid Plunder Public Beta

[ParanoiaDragon]

Naw, name her Amanda Hugginkiss!

*I'm looking for a Amanda Hugginkiss!  Why can't I find Amanda Hugginkiss?*

*Maybe you're standards are too high!*

[spenoza]

Naw, name her Amanda Hugginkiss!

*I'm looking for a Amanda Hugginkiss!  Why can't I find Amanda Hugginkiss?*

*Maybe you're your standards are too high!*

Fixed that for you.

You're welcome  ; )

[ParanoiaDragon]

Doh!  I know I'm bad with grammar, & all, but the you're thing I should've caught

[_Paul]

Or just take your pick from any of these: http://thechive.com/2010/06/25/parents-can-be-cruel-to-their-kids-and-hilarious-20-photos/

[esteban]

I think the main character should simply be named "Reginald"

[spenoza]

You could name him Reginald Cuthbert (or Cuftbert), but you might have Shamus Young and crew come knocking if you do.

[Keranu]

Dick Rambone

[Arkhan Asylum]

Dick Rambone

Richard Pounder

[Arkhan Asylum]

or, Richard Gozinya

[henrycsc]

Hey Guys,

Great Game!   

Since you asked, here are my comments about the scroll border.

I like the default setting of 3.  It does give you a little cushion when the bad guys are in your path, but not so much to make the game too easy (I think 7 certainly does that).

Having a scroll border of 0 is problematic for me though.  The biggest problem is more not knowing the mazes.  When you are at the end of any path, you stop at the crossing block but with no scroll border, you don't know if you're at the edge of the map or just against a wall.  You will literally need to hunt your way around each maze.  For me this would make a very enjoyable game frustratingly hard.  (This would be a nice option to have in the settings so that people who know the maps can go borderless.)

This is illustrated by these images from level 1-1

Is this the bottom?
/pp1v.jpg

Is this the right?
/pp2t.jpg

Or is this the bottom?
/pp3j.jpg
No real indication of where the wall breaks are until you pass that side.  So literally, you need to check every possible turn until you find an opening (for each wall).  Or am I missing something?  This would be hard on 1-1 but nearly impossible on some of the higher levels with lots of dead ends.

One visual clue I get with the zero scroll border is the loss of the bottom half of the bottom row... here
/pp4be.jpg

It's even worse depending on the settings of your monitor (and mine is probably not the best...)
/pp5ap.jpg

I do have a couple gameplay suggestions if you do want to add a "Devil Mode" to the game.   
If you want them, who should I send the suggestions to?

It is super fun guys.  It's obvious you have a lot of heart poured into this one.

Oh, another thing that I would ask is for a soft reboot.  In the beta, if I reboot (run + select), it takes me back to the system startup screen (using a LaserActive).  I'd love to have it take me back to the start menu.  Save the system start for a hard reboot.    It's a bug and I can replicate it 100% of the time.   

[Arkhan Asylum]

lol, you can shoot the suggestions up right here if you want, or just post them on Aetherbyte.com or something. 

Scroll Mode 0 is not going to be in a the real game.  it's basically just there for shits and giggles

[OldMan]

I like the default setting of 3...
not so much to make the game too easy (I think 7 certainly does that)....
Having a scroll border of 0 is problematic for me though.

Glad to see I'm not the only one that thinks 3 was a reasonable compromise.
I'll probably leave it at that for the real game, and leave the option in the debug menu to change it.
Yeah, 0 would be a pain. Especially without the radar

if I reboot (run + select), it takes me back to the system startup screen

Yeah, that's how the joystick polling works: run+select does a complete reboot. (actually, it jumps to the reboot interrupt)
That's part of Huc and the CD-Bios. I suppose with a lot of work I could change that, but it may be too much trouble... (irq routines are a pain to get right). Lemme think about it, and see if HuC is actually using the cd-bios joystick routine or the software routine. I might be able to hack the software one....

If you want them, who should I send the suggestions to?

All suggestions go to Arkhan. Then he asks if they are do-able. Not sure there is gonna be much added, though. We're already pushing the space limits on the cd card
(Which is why I haven't added a 6th ghost....yet)

[TurboXray]

Yeah, that's how the joystick polling works: run+select does a complete reboot. (actually, it jumps to the reboot interrupt)
That's part of Huc and the CD-Bios. I suppose with a lot of work I could change that, but it may be too much trouble... (irq routines are a pain to get right). Lemme think about it, and see if HuC is actually using the cd-bios joystick routine or the software routine. I might be able to hack the software one....

There's a vector for it (among the other interrupt vectors). Huc7CD or whatever manual should show it. There's also a bios call to change the selected vector too (if you don't want to do it manually).

[Arkhan Asylum]

LOL, remember when I tried fucking with soft resets awhile ago before insanity was done?

I thought i had it, and all it did was the same reset as before, lol.

I recall seeing it all in the docs.

but hey, it's not like commercial games have reset features...

I'd rather disable the reset altogether so you don't accidentally reset your friggin game.

[Keranu]

LOL, remember when I tried fucking with soft resets awhile ago before insanity was done?

I thought i had it, and all it did was the same reset as before, lol.

I think there was at least one CD game that was capable of doing a soft reset. Probably a post about it on here somewhere.

I'd rather disable the reset altogether so you don't accidentally reset your friggin game.

Not a bad idea, I've accidentally reseted games during crucial moments!

[Arkhan Asylum]

I once reset shadow of the beast on accident during the jetpack stage and got so pissed I drop kicked a C64 into a wall.

[OldMan]

I think there was at least one CD game that was capable of doing a soft reset.

Replacing the reset irq address would work. The problem is what other effects would that have? First, I'd have to squeeze it in somewhere where it would always be available (ie, the boot page, maybe). Then, I'd have to figure out a way to flag that it was a soft reset (as opposed to system on) so I could clear some extra memory.

I'm not ruling it out, but it's not as easy as you might think....especially with the cd interrupts involved...
Like I said, I'll look into it.

[TurboXray]

Could your new hook (pointed by vector replacement) just change a variable and that's it? Handle everything else on huc's side? Having a custom soft reset routine would be fancy though

 The only game that I know that does it is Spriggan Mark 2. It asks you to verify that you want to reset.

[ParanoiaDragon]

I once reset shadow of the beast on accident during the jetpack stage and got so pissed I drop kicked a C64 into a wall.

Now that...I would like to see, Arkhan dropkicking a C64!  Kodak moment!

[esteban]

I once reset shadow of the beast on accident during the jetpack stage and got so pissed I drop kicked a C64 into a wall.

Now that...I would like to see, Arkhan dropkicking a C64!  Kodak moment!

I don't care what hardware is being abused, but the violence must stop now!

Arkhan, the machines are turning against you...

[Arkhan Asylum]

I DO NOT.

OK MAYBE JUST A LITTLE.

[OldMan]

Could your new hook (pointed by vector replacement) just change a variable and that's it?

As far as clearing memory? Sure. HuC might even do that for me when it realizes it has loaded overlay 0.

But at the very least, I have to call cd_exec_overlay() to load the title screen and/or level 1 (whichever).
And I don't want Tuoko's problem of having 2 different sets of startup code; screwing with the Huc Cd boot code
is a sure problem, especially if -any- routines move. (It's going to throw off the return from the RAM execution portion of cd_exec_overlay(). )
Then there's the problem of -which- reset routine gets called. Is it the HuC one, or the Bios one? Bios is mapped in at bank 8 on a cd, right? So the irq vector -might- be going through bios into the HuC code. Or maybe not...
Like I said, I need to look into it.

[Arkhan Asylum]

hopefully this time, it goes better than when I tried to do it back when Insanity demos were released that were supposed to reset after 10 mins... lol

[OldMan]

Could your new hook (pointed by vector replacement) just change a variable and that's it?

Like I said, I need to look into it.

...Or, I could just shut the reset function off in the polling routine (via joyena).
Then I can trap it myself in the main loop.

Yeah, the reset function is gonna get changed, henrycsc.

[Arkhan Asylum]

Update:   My thesis defense is sometime this week.

I already started fixing the maps to remove tedium.

Some of them are still large, but are not as obnoxious, meaning, I've removed some of the senseless "have to use as much tiles for bars as possible!" setup, and have created more corridor-like-portions instead.

Once they're all done (I am current on like may 24/30), and I've given them a once over, you can expect a new and improved beta to see if it makes you all hate your lives less while playing!

[roflmao]

Sweet!  Thanks for the update.

[Arkhan Asylum]

To everyone who played the PP beta and got to the spider levels:

I am sorry.

What the fuck was I thinking with the 5th board.  Holy. Fuck.

lol

[henrycsc]

I see this was posted on the Aetherbyte website yesterday "Pyramid Plunder is concluding as planned."

Details? 

[Arkhan Asylum]

I see this was posted on the Aetherbyte website yesterday "Pyramid Plunder is concluding as planned."

Details? 

Concluding as planned, meaning "being finished up, like we said", lol.

We're in the final stretches of the game. 

[Keranu]

Congrats! We still have half a year left to make 2012 the year for Turbobrew!

[henrycsc]

Finished up is more awesomer news!

Keep em coming KC!

[Arkhan Asylum]

http://www.aetherbyte.com/downloadables/pppb.iso


Latest public beta

GO GET SOME.

[esteban]

I'm still playing this build:



I'll get the new beta when I'm done with this one.

[henrycsc]

Downroaded!

Trialz beginz!