Tiny Bobble Beta Released - A new Bubble Bobble arcade port

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by DamienD

Damn it; looks like it the end of the road for me finishing the game on beta 0.92

I'm on level 95, have a save state but game is constantly freezing at different intervals.

<snip>

Guess I'll have to start again with beta 0.93; many hours wasted

Well, at least I managed to take some screenshots whilst testing beta 0.92, which HOL can use

[ztronzo]

Originally Posted by BigD

Is there any way to save the game on an actual Amiga? Save states are handy on emulator and it's great to be able to pick up where you left off on games like Blue War III on the Atari ST!

Action Replay cartridge should allow saving states or modifying the level address.
another workaround would be to decrunch the game and modify the startup level.. but so far I am unsure what decruncher it uses.. I guess I gotta play through all levels again. Its worth it though! Such a fun game!!!

[DamienD]

How are you supposed to kill the last enemy on level 97?



Water and lightning bolt bubbles appear every now and then, but they come down the right hole, travel left and then go back up the left hole. The water bubbles don't help and I've tried pushing the lightning bolt bubble all the way to the left but have been unsuccessful

Edit: don't worry, watched a YouTube clip of the Arcade level 97... difficult to do though and the lightning bolt bubble seems to stay around the first level platform height. I'll keep persisting.



Edit 2: Hmmm, I've put a green bubble in first like shown in this YouTube clip, but the damn lightning bolt bubble never moves up

[ Show youtube player ]

[mrupp]

This port is realy aaaaaawesome! Excellent work!
Here is what I found while testing 0.93:

- EXTEND with player 2 (pl. 1 was dead): the letters on the LEFT side spin, and the animation for pl. 1 is shown incl. spelling NICE 1P!

- When a player re-entered the game, both texts are shown over each other on the upper left/right: "PUSH" and the score.


- When clearing the last enemy after HURRY UP! and right after the ghosts appear, the music stayed fast tuned until the next level came up instead of going back to normal straight away (this one's not easy to reproduce, must be just the right timing to occur I guess).

- Whenever I tried running it from Workbench, there would be a Guru. But running it from disk or from "Boot without SS" it always worked. This are the configurations I tested with:
- A500 with Vampire v2 OS 3.9
- A600 2 MB ChipMem (no FastMem) OS 2.1
- A3000/030 OS 2.0
- A4000/060 OS 3.1.4
- Vampire v4 Standalone (here I had quite some graphical glitches but they might as well be caused by the Vampire chipset implementation which is quite good but not perfect yet)
- WinUAE A500 default config

Wish list:
- a (saveable, if possible) highscore TABLE would be very nice, like in the old Amiga version (or did I miss it somehow?)
- key P (or any other) to pause the game

Keep up the great work!

[idrougge]

Level 30, two player game on CD32 with SX1, game suddenly quit to DOS.
Edit: I was playing with a two-button joystick, it seems the game quits on RMB.

Taking a potion bonus fills the screen with flowers, some of which then remain superimposed on following screens, also causing screen garbage during screen transitions.

[Aladin]

Originally Posted by idrougge

Level 30, two player game on CD32 with SX1, game suddenly quit to DOS.

Player 2 didn't accidentally press both buttons (Red & Blue)?

[mcgeezer]

Originally Posted by pink^abyss

Thanks!
Regarding Pause and 2nd buttons: I have no experience on these topics (rarely needed for demos) . If anyone wants to share some code snippets then i will take a look at how complicated it is.. but nothing promised

Set the output pins from mouse to Joystick on the POTGO control register.

	move.w	#$cc00,$dff034		; Reset POTGO ports1+2 pin 9

then...

read the 2nd button on pin 9 from POTINP from either bit 14 (port 2) or bit 10 (port 1)

btst	#14-8,$dff016 ; read 2nd joystick button port 2 (bit 14)
btst	#10-8,$dff016 ; read 2nd joystick button port 1 (bit 10)

More in the coders section if you need more.

Geezer

[DamienD]

Graeme my friend. I know you've set "P" to pause in Rygar: Legendary Warrior

Could you also help pink out with code for that too?

Originally Posted by pink^abyss

Thanks!
Regarding Pause and 2nd buttons: I have no experience on these topics (rarely needed for demos) . If anyone wants to share some code snippets then i will take a look at how complicated it is.. but nothing promised

[Leander]

Really AWESOME, thanks!!!

[mrupp]

Some things I noticed comparing to the arcade version:

- in the arcade version, the last remaining enemy gets fast & angry

- jumping and changing direction in midair has more lag in the arcade version which makes it all the harder. I like it much better in the Amiga versions (old & new).

- This might be a (small) bug: when picking up a potion and collecting all bonus items I had to wait until the timer was running out before it went on calculating the score. That's not the case in the arcade version.

- Picking up a shoe in the arcade version made the player much faster than in the Amiga version. But it was actually too fast for me, so I prefer the way it's done here.

- If the other player is hit by a lightning shot, he's immobilized for about a second in the arcade version (with an extra animation) but not in the new Amiga version. Afaik that feature was also present in the old Amiga version.

Cheers!

[DamienD]

So testing beta 0.93 and now back up to level 85.

Three things to report.

1) Collecting E X T E N D seems to give me 5 lives, before pickup I had only 2 lives. This has happened twice.

2) Also after collecting the E X T E N D, the next level screen was black and never recovered, had to load a save state from a few levels back.

3) Game is crashing / freezing for me again. It started around level 83. I'm using save states but don't think that's the issue.

[DamienD]

Ok, that's enough testing for today.

Up to level 95 but it's constantly freezing. Have reloaded the save states about 20 times.

I would say the freezing started from around level 75.

As above also, anytime I collect E X T E N D now, the next level will be black.

pink; I'm using an "68020 / AGA / KS 3.1 / 2MB Chip & 4MB Fast RAM" configuration.

Has anyone actually finished this game as yet?

[BigFairy]

I got to level 20 and 30 without dying but did not get the BONUS diamond cave thingy?


Game works on my real pal A500 with 1mb expansion and hxc sd floppy emulator

[LordNerd]

Hi Pink,

First and foremost, your conversion is outstanding: it’s hugely playable, on par with the arcade and superior to the Xbox 360/Wii remake Bubble Bobble Neo. GFX and SFX are spot on, and seeing the Amiga make justice to the coin op is a dream come true. Seriously, congratulations for this achievement and thank you from the bottom of my heart for this unexpected gift.
I would go as far as saying that even though it’s not arcade perfect, as far as Amiga renditions go your Tiny Bobble is a fine reinterpretation of the original that deserves to be unique.

Here are some observations that you might take into consideration while refining the game for the final release:

- Is bottom/top screen wrapping supposed to work for letters too? I was closely chasing a letter that was exiting the screen through a gap in the bottom, I fell though said gap right after the letter, but then only I reappeared at the top of the screen. I thought I made contact with the bubble while both sprites were offscreen, since my fall speed is higher, but I was not awarded the letter.

- Try firing bubbles while pushing against a wall, so that the bubbles burst as soon as they are created inside the wall. Each bubble awards 10 points in the arcade, but here you’ll notice strange score increases instead.

- In the arcade the horizontal speed while falling is lower than when walking on a platform. Here instead the dragon seems to always move at the same speed, it’s very maneuverable and I like it quite a bit, even though it is not faithful to the original. Not a fan of the small difference in speed when getting the shoes though. They are almost useless a powerup.

- I’m no real expert of the arcade logics, but the silver portal collectible logic (as long as you don’t die a silver portal appears at level 20, 30, 40, get it to enter the bonus round, etc) is one of the few secrets me and my friends knew at the time, and it was so attractive (because of the high challenge/high reward involved) that while playing the C64 versions in co op we often restarted the game if one of us died before level 20. Such disappointing performance was not tolerated and strong insults followed. It’s a pity that this logic is missing, but the game is great anyway.

- Are there any cheats that can be inputted before the game starts, like in the arcade? What about super mode? Not very important features to me but curious to know.

- Finally, I too would love the option to use button 2 to jump. IMHO of all the features that could be added this is one of the top priorities. But the implementation should be smart and avoid what I call the “Amiga Mortal Kombat joypad fiasco”: basically, if the player chooses to jump with the button, then “up to jump” must not be active. Only 1 input type should be allowed for the jump at any time. Otherwise the purpose of using the button 2 on a joypad for greater accuracy is compromised by the fact that you can jump by mistake if you aren’t very precise with the directional pad. Mk 1&2 on the Amiga had both 1 button and 2 button control schemes active at the same time when playing with a joypad, meaning you could still do a swipe by mistake when trying to pull out a special.

[skyzoo73]

Originally Posted by LordNerd

Hi Pink,

First and foremost, your conversion is outstanding: it’s hugely playable, on par with the arcade and superior to the Xbox 360/Wii remake Bubble Bobble Neo. GFX and SFX are spot on, and seeing the Amiga make justice to the coin op is a dream come true. Seriously, congratulations for this achievement and thank you from the bottom of my heart for this unexpected gift.
I would go as far as saying that even though it’s not arcade perfect, as far as Amiga renditions go your Tiny Bobble is a fine reinterpretation of the original that deserves to be unique.

Here are some observations that you might take into consideration while refining the game for the final release:

- Is bottom/top screen wrapping supposed to work for letters too? I was closely chasing a letter that was exiting the screen through a gap in the bottom, I fell though said gap right after the letter, but then only I reappeared at the top of the screen. I thought I made contact with the bubble while both sprites were offscreen, since my fall speed is higher, but I was not awarded the letter.

- Try firing bubbles while pushing against a wall, so that the bubbles burst as soon as they are created inside the wall. Each bubble awards 10 points in the arcade, but here you’ll notice strange score increases instead.

- In the arcade the horizontal speed while falling is lower than when walking on a platform. Here instead the dragon seems to always move at the same speed, it’s very maneuverable and I like it quite a bit, even though it is not faithful to the original. Not a fan of the small difference in speed when getting the shoes though. They are almost useless a powerup.

- I’m no real expert of the arcade logics, but the silver portal collectible logic (as long as you don’t die a silver portal appears at level 20, 30, 40, get it to enter the bonus round, etc) is one of the few secrets me and my friends knew at the time, and it was so attractive (because of the high challenge/high reward involved) that while playing the C64 versions in co op we often restarted the game if one of us died before level 20. Such disappointing performance was not tolerated and strong insults followed. It’s a pity that this logic is missing, but the game is great anyway.

- Are there any cheats that can be inputted before the game starts, like in the arcade? What about super mode? Not very important features to me but curious to know.

- Finally, I too would love the option to use button 2 to jump. IMHO of all the features that could be added this is one of the top priorities. But the implementation should be smart and avoid what I call the “Amiga Mortal Kombat joypad fiasco”: basically, if the player chooses to jump with the button, then “up to jump” must not be active. Only 1 input type should be allowed for the jump at any time. Otherwise the purpose of using the button 2 on a joypad for greater accuracy is compromised by the fact that you can jump by mistake if you aren’t very precise with the directional pad. Mk 1&2 on the Amiga had both 1 button and 2 button control schemes active at the same time when playing with a joypad, meaning you could still do a swipe by mistake when trying to pull out a special.

I totally agree with you.


Another very important thing in my opinion, enemies get trapped in bubbles for too long.

[turrican3]

great, great work... It just miss the 2nd button for jump,
i hope someone will help.
2 could it be possible to put an option to add light wallpaper in the background instead of full black.
something very light which don't change the game really.
Why not a beautifull copper effect but very light. (just an idea).
If you don't like the idea no problem.
the result is already incredible.

[mcgeezer]

Originally Posted by DamienD

Graeme my friend. I know you've set "P" to pause in Rygar: Legendary Warrior

Could you also help pink out with code for that too?

Sure - Happy to help out with Keyboard code if he needs it.

Graeme

[DamienD]

Originally Posted by DamienD

How are you supposed to kill the last enemy on level 97?

<snip>

Water and lightning bolt bubbles appear every now and then, but they come down the right hole, travel left and then go back up the left hole. The water bubbles don't help and I've tried pushing the lightning bolt bubble all the way to the left but have been unsuccessful

Edit: don't worry, watched a YouTube clip of the Arcade level 97... difficult to do though and the lightning bolt bubble seems to stay around the first level platform height. I'll keep persisting.

<snip>

Edit 2: Hmmm, I've put a green bubble in first like shown in this YouTube clip, but the damn lightning bolt bubble never moves up

[ Show youtube player ]

Originally Posted by DamienD

Has anyone actually finished this game as yet?

I still can't complete level 97

If anyone wants to try; here is a save state.

[theq]

Been playing this game with joy on my A500+ with KS 3.1 and TF536

Found a couple of bugs too. Some that already has been mentioned before.

1. On level 16 enemies can go through the floor (posted earlier by ztronzo)
2. Fall speed is faster than the original (not necessarily a bug, but unfaithful to the original).
3. Bonus items still remains after killing the last enemy (not necessarily a bug, but unfaithful to the original).
4. I think bonus letters come too frequently (not necessarily a bug, but unfaithful to the original).
5. Music speeds up slightly after picking up a heart and killing the remaining enemies.
6. Enemy stuck inside the wall on level 33 (see attached photo).
7. Dying just above a hole on the bottom of the screen, you won't fall through and enter the top of the screen.
8. Dying and falling on a trapped (bubbled) enemy, kills it.
Edit; 9. Last enemy standing isn't getting angry after killing second to last enemy.
Edit2; 10. Lightning sound "pop/hiss" missing.

[nobody]

Originally Posted by theq

Fall speed is faster than the original (not necessarily a bug, but unfaithful to the original).
Bonus items still remains after killing the last enemy (not necessarily a bug, but unfaithful to the original).
I think bonus letters come too frequently (not necessarily a bug, but unfaithful to the original).

]

Second that, that's why it's way easier than the original. Also the last enemy needs to become angry and faster. All bubbles and bonus should disappear when last enemy is killed.