Exile In Paradise

Stranded on Earth...

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nostromo:top [2023/08/27 17:47] – [CODE] robertnostromo:top [2024/07/16 20:22] (current) – [UPDATES] robert
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 | MAIN STORAGE | 4KB RAM | | MAIN STORAGE | 4KB RAM |
 | EXTERNAL STORAGE | ROM Cartridge, Cassette | | EXTERNAL STORAGE | ROM Cartridge, Cassette |
-| CONTROLS: 48-key "chiclet" Keyboard |+| CONTROLS | 48-key "chiclet" Keyboard |
  
 2015-11 NOSTROMO: [[https://jimgerrie.blogspot.com/2015/11/]] \\ 2015-11 NOSTROMO: [[https://jimgerrie.blogspot.com/2015/11/]] \\
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 ==== UPDATES ==== ==== UPDATES ====
  
-Finally ... an AX-2 NOSTROMO for CoCo Update? Really? +**NOSTROMO** feels much more like a game now that the following work: 
-TL;DR real life interrupts exploded late 2021 and the hits just kept coming until recently. +  * The alien stalks the corridors around the storage rooms 
- +  * The crew can knock down walls to break into store rooms 
-Late 2021 to early 2022 ... distractions dealing with the dregs of some CoCo community drama give way and by April 2022 I am making good progress again converting the Z80 disassembly into progress on the 6809 version. +  * The crew can only carry five items max 
- +  * The crew can drop items in the escape shuttle 
-May 31 2022 - my wife is hospitalized (she has since recovered nearly completely) but then my son ends up in hospital (he's recovered too) ... then later my daughter (and yes she's okay too)... and then when everyone is finally back home ... CoCoTALK! is "retired" unexpectedly and it takes an all hands on deck scramble to carry on as the [[https://thecoconation.com|CoCo Nation show]] which leads into early this year ... where work goes into overdrive leaving me very little after work focus. +  * The tally of items carried and stored in the shuttle now update
- +
-2023 UPDATE: New year development picking back up after a very rough 2022 ... starting with a restructuring of the entire working / development directory to take better advantage of the new Pulsar editor which has evolved from the ashes of the Atom editor discontinued by Microsoft last year. +
- +
-Along the way as possible, I've kept poking at the Z80 disassembly converting small pieces here and there until hitting a really frustrating blocker in the "move player around the map" code which has been months of tests, fails, and disappointments. +
- +
-2023/06 UPDATE:  +
-... which tonight I found was caused by my own mistranslations of some of the Z80 logic. +
-I have not given up... and tonight I started at the top of the F600 player move block and just started recoding instruction by instruction following the original Z80. I found and fixed a couple of logic / flow stupidity I'd incorrectly added... which got me chugging up to the main problem I've been stumbling against over and over no matter what I tried... the code that checks where the player can move or not on the map. +
- +
-Tonight I finally got the keypress, direction set/check, player update, direction test and other pieces in ASMF600 ... working? Really? After so much reality interrupt and so many occasional tests and fails I had practically given up - but now it works? +
- +
-... I've finally gotten the real ported code back to the same interactive spot I'd gotten the CoCo3 only screen mockup up to back in 2021. The player moves. Next - the wall and treasure collision / pickups ... then the alien move.... its finally working enough to start making progress again.+
  
 +Some of the remaining work to complete include:
 +  * Timer display (timer coded, display remaining)
 +  * The time expired screen
 +  * The alien killed you screen
 +  * The level completed screen
 +  * Score tally
 +  * Next level goal logic to update number of items needed of each type
 +  * Game configuration interface to choose video, audio, controls, expansions
 +  * 17 x AY-3-8910 audio cues playable through sound drivers
 +  * Joystick control (written, needs to be integrated)
 +  * Hallway display 1 and 2 for time trial
 +  * The alien animation screens for level 7 and beyond
 +  * The game over play again screen
 +  * The ASCII and AX-2 logo screens (already mocked up)
 +  * The NOSTROMO intro screen (already mocked up)
 +  * Do I need to add a PMODE 3 screen for Dragon output?
 +  * Debug the item placement to fix the occasional mis-placement into the wall
 +  * Correct the wall display blocks for SG4 mode after the CoCoVGA font change
 +  * Take advantage of red/blue artifact colors on RG6 screen)
 +  * Add artifact color switch
 +  * High score display for screen shots
 +  * Help Key mode for later levels
 ==== CODE ==== ==== CODE ====