Re: Vector programming

> After installing my Tempest MG kit, it occurred to me, maybe some future MG
> kit could include a 'cartridge' slot, to make adding new games easier...

Someone wrote to me regarding the Tempest Code Project and asked what I
saw happening regarding the future of Tempest. I thought I would share my
response (software and hardware) with the group and see what feedback
exists out there --

I see a lot happening in Tempest's future. The obvious side of this is the
software. And the obvious side of the software is modifying the existing
game. From what I've dug out of the code so far, it isn't going to be
halfway difficult to make some good changes. Here are a few of the simple
ideas:

As the level of difficulty increases, the player is no longer on the edge
of the tube, but goes inside the tube. This gives them less time to
respond, and a slightly worse visual cue on how close the enemies are.
Most of the game logic is already here. He re are two snapshots, one
playing the game outside the tube, and one playing the game inside the
tube:

http://arcade.gameshop.com/temp1.gif
http://arcade.gameshop.com/temp2.gif

A few wrinkles in the code here and there have to be ironed out to do
this, but nothing serious. It looks like they may have had this very idea
when they were creating the game.

It is possible to play with the behavior of the various enemies to a wide
degree. You can control how fast they come up the tube. You can control
what directions they move. A lot of this can be changed with little effort
to put an experienced player into a frenzy. (Heck, just a 2x fast green
spiker would be a bitch.)

There are also little things that can be played with, like the Superzapper
duration and number of shots. The number shots a player can have on screen
at once. The speed the player moves at. I personally like the idea of
hitting the slam on the coin door for the Superzapper, but I don't think
anyone else would. :)

One of the greatest areas of improvement in Tempest, IMHO, is the sound.
The Atari hardware is capable of so much better. In fact, I'd like to
sneak in a few digitized samples here and there when I get the chance.
Something cool for the logo would be a whispered voice to say "Tempest"
in the same manner it is said for the TV show "Sliders".

But also on the software side are the new games. But I'm hoping that the
major downfall of the Tempest hardware (the X-axis only spinner control)
doesn't force everyone down the road of Pong, Arkanoid, and something akin
the home computer game "Threshold" . Major Havoc made very good use of
the simple controls, and I'm hoping that people will be innovative when
they start programming the platform.

My real hope for Tempest is beyond the software.

What I hope to see Tempest turned into is the successor to the Vectrex. An
at-home color vector "game console" system. Mind you, an expensive one.

Two ideas on the hardware side (the first coming from Christopher Candreva
the Vector mailing list, and if you are reading this) would facilitate
this:

Clay's Tempest multigame is good. But it isn't cost effective if you
expect to be plugging in new games now and again. What I'd like to see
happen is someone (Clay, specifically) build a cartridge system for the
Tempest hardware. It would allow for Tempest owners to have access to the
latest software, and it gives software authors the possibility of a minor
reward for their efforts.

In addition, it could allow for bank selecting which would make digitized
sounds (which are incredibly memory hungry) realistic for use in those
games. Not to mention more complex software. Imagine if your game ROM
contains each shape, rendered at 18 positions on each axis, for a total
of ~6000 unique viewing angles. Nice graphics, right? 32k of ROM is great,
but wonders can be done with 128k, or 256k, and almost as cheap.

The other hardware change I'd like to see is the addition of a joystick.
There are enough inputs left on the Pokey chips (3 slots on Pokey #1 and 4
slots on Pokey #2) to make this a simple reality. My personal preference
here is for them to be wired into a simple DB-9 male connector that
conforms to the pinouts of the Atari joystick.

Atari joysticks are very cheap, and this way, someone could either mount
a real arcade joystick on their Tempest control panel (blasphemy!) or
having a less intrusive Atari joystick running out the back. But more
importantly, it opens up the door to creating (or porting... Space Duel?)
games that allow up-down-left-right binary movement.

An alternative joystick idea would be to interface the standard PC
joystick into the Pokey. It would allow for analog up-down-left-right
movement and for *two* fire buttons. The problem there is slightly
increased complexity in coding (joystick calibration and handling analog
movement instead of digital movement). The disadvantages might be
outweighed, though.

Anyhow, this is just some of the low hanging fruit that is out there.
There are a lot of possibilities for this platform. If you don't mind,
I'll cross-post this to #rgvac and get some feedback on this.

-- 
jcm
jmccorm@galstar.com