RetroTechie wrote:Control keys are non-intuitive IMHO. Better would be if position of the control keys on a ZX81 keyboard (and common PC keyboard!) matches the direction of movement on the screen. For example A, Z, K, M would be easier to use. Or a re-define keys option - just wishing.
I learnt long ago that everybody prefers their own set of keys, and so all my games have the option to redefine them - just press 'R'.
RetroTechie wrote:Not dying immediately on impact with a ghost makes the game a little too easy perhaps. For example when cornering with a ghost right on your tail, in original Pac-Man you can juuust make it, or juuuust not make it. This "squeeze through the eye of a needle" is part of the fun. With a health bar, it becomes a bit more "relax, just watch your fuel gage" which is easier but less fun / challenging.
I played with the concept of 'lives' in the game, but with it being an isometric game the area of the maze which is visible at any time is quite small. Compare that with having the whole maze visible in the original and it become difficult to track where the ghosts are, and the available lives would be quickly lost. In Pac-Mania you had lives but could also jump, but I was never a fan of that mechanic. I believe the concept of a 'spirit' health bar is the best solution to this - both in terms of playability and also in the terms of the back-story and characters (i.e. a ghost can't 'die').
RetroTechie wrote:In original Pac-Man, you go same speed as ghosts in empty corridors, a little slower while eating pills, and ghosts are slowed down in that corridor that wraps from one side of the screen to the other. Would be nice to have that in this game too.
These were all tried, but I felt that the variable speed of the player/enemies made the game appear somewhat jerky within the reduced resolution of the ZX81. Keeping everything running at the same speed (although halving it when a power-pill is eaten) makes the game easier to look at. I could have done the same with the enemies in the tunnels, but I always felt that was a weak mechanic - why should the enemies go any slower just because they were in a certain part of the maze?
It's worth remembering that it's not meant to be a carbon-copy or recreation of the arcade game, but a personal interpretation of it which I think best fits the ZX81. The same is true of my last game - Impact! - which is (I think) one of the best versions of Asteroids for the machine, but makes various compromises to work best on that hardware.
RetroTechie wrote:Note that all of the above is just
minor nitpicks! The game is very cool technically, and gameplay is very much fun. I like!
Thanks. The main thing to me is that you have been playing it, and enjoying it.
RetroTechie wrote:I suggest including a few notes (like you have on your site with each game) in the download zip. Such .zip files have a habit of finding their way into other archives, and people who find it there only get a .zip with a .p file in it, but no "what's this?", "where did it come from?", "who wrote this?" etc. Same goes for a screenshot or two (personally I prefer plain 256*192, black & white .png for that). Something like the "Inlay.txt" you included in some downloads, is fine.
I often do, as you have seen in the past, include instruction files with my games, but they all feature the name of
Bob's Stuff within the game, and that can easily lead the curious back to my website and/or facebook page, where I can easily add as much information as required. Some of the concepts in this game are special however, and so such a file as I have previously produced might well be included in the future. (I have also found that such a file is usually dropped however as the game is posted around / included in compilations or emulators)
RetroTechie wrote:Any chance of releasing source code for any of your games?
Sorry, but that's very doubtful. I don't believe that having the source code is of any real benefit to anybody as it is purely Z80 assembler. I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have about the coding or my methods however, which I think is more beneficial to anybody learning to write such a game.
but practice is that real life interferes with people's hobbies all the time. Sometimes software is used in ways original author didn't think of. And one man operated, retrocomputing related sites go dark regularly. Also note that with source available, enhancements could be done by others without any effort whatsoever on your part. If that happens, you have the option to sit back and do nothing, point someone to the bugfixed version, or put that improved version on your own site.
but I believe that software should be distributed with source, unless author has a good reason NOT to do so (commercial interests, legal obligations, patent issues, not wasting money on support calls, whatever). Hoping that people will "see the light" in case none of such reasons apply...
