FROGS for ATARI STe update V1.1 tailored to events and parties

[simoncam]

FROGS for ATARI STe is out for almost a year.

After having the game been played on several events and especially on the massive GAME CITY VIENNA 2019 I figured it is time for an update. This update is tailored especially for event use but also hold some nice additions for a regular retro party.

- TIMER GAME: in addition to playing towards a fixed score, V1.1 introduces TIMER GAMES to get the most points within a set timeframe. The “SCORE” option now reads: 10 / 20 / 30 / 40 / 50 / 60 Sec. / 3 Min. / 5 Min.

- ARCADE MODE: there always has been a “hidden” menu control.
Within the menu keyboard-key (1)-(5) switches game options and
key (6)-(0) loads setup pre-sets.
With V1.1 pressing (A) (Arcade) locks down the menu as it stands. The only option available is to start the game. However the keyboad control (0)-(9) remains active.
Pressing (A) again, brings the menu back to normal mode.

- AUTO AI frogs: A frog that is not moved within the first 15 seconds is taken over by the computer and starts to play by itself.

- Graphical tweaks: Lilly Leaves now bounce when a Frog lands on them, and the winners ceremony has some additional animation. And there is a funny surprise in the menu screen as well.

- More ponds and a new language: New pond-maps available created for the PIXELPOKAL April 2019 in Hannover. And “Froggisch” has been added to the language selection.

- Some minor bugs have been fixed.

Comments, more ideas and bug reports are welcome!
Free download at https://www.hd-videofilm.com/frogs

[TrekMD]

Oh, cool.  Thanks for letting us know. 

[zapiy]

Thanks for the update mate.

Great ideas you have implemented there.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[simoncam]

I made a showcase video: 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zwWHqBDd6U

[zapiy]

Nice additions and great video work too.

[simoncam]

After rigorous testing at Ejagfest 2019 I can announce:
FROGS for ATARI STe V1.1 ARCADE UPDATE is out (no beta anymore!)
If contains several bugfixes and even a new screen scrolling effect. (I did it! I finally figured a way how to do a nice screen scrolling FX at least on a STe in GFA Basic!!! Ok, real good ST coders might read this with disbelieve and pity, but this is a big one for me!!! Hahaha!)
Free Download at: https://www.hd-videofilm.com/frogs

Bug fixes:
§R5411B – Bug in Auto-AI. Frogs once pushed by another frog were not picked up by the new Auto-AI even if they have never been moved by a player - Fixed.

§R3411B – Bug in Auto-AI on ST. Auto-AI did work on standard ST – Fixed.

§R3311B – Bug in MIDI Gaming. Time was not correctly displayed in slave – Fixed.

§R2811B – Bug in MIDI Gaming. End of a timer-game was not correctly reported to slave – Fixed.

§R4911B – Bug in timer-game. Game screen changing abruptly on end of timer-game – Fixed.

§R4411B – Bug in MIDI gaming. Sky was not rendered correctly on slave – Fixed.

§R23108 – Memory management on 1MB Atari STe. 1MB Memory management failed on ATARI STe causing game to crash when switching to „CLASSIC C64“ skin mode - Fixed.

§R3511B – Bogus bug numbers. In bug fix report, bogus senseless bug numbers have been used to impress readers – Fixed.

- 512K machines opened the game and crashed without warning due to to less RAM. Now the game loading is cancelled with a proper message (see new user options)

- Standard ATARI ST with Blitter (Mega ST). Blitter chip was utilized but additional animations and graphical FX have not been played – Fixed.

Known Issues:
- 1MB machines have barely enough RAM to play the game with all graphical FX. If the system is booted from hard drive, the hard drive-driver might just use some vital KBs. If so, the new scrolling FX might be omitted. Boot from floppy is recommended on a 1MB system.

New user Options:
There is a new file in the DATA folder “MEMORY.DAT” that controls memory usage in FROGS. It holds 3 numbers in KB that are seen a minimum requirement in free RAM. Users might want to experiment with these numbers on a low-RAM STe system:
◦   1st number – minimum threshold KB RAM needed to load the game at all – Default 500.
◦   2nd number – minimum threshold KB RAM to load DAM sound samples (frog fight sounds) – Default 650
◦   3rd number – Minimum threshold KB RAM to enable the screen scrolling FX – Default 750

[zapiy]

Fab work mate, love this game.

[davyk]

Have watched the video and I like the design of that game. It has a real nostalgic feel to it and a nice smart look.

A quick question - does the winner wear the shades into the next match?

There's a feature of Bomberman Generations on the Gamecube where the winner of the last match is golden and shiny - such a simple thing but it adds huge bragging rights and spice for targeted revenge vendettas in multi-player matches.

[simoncam]

Hmmm... interesting Idea!
In fact no, the shades are only carried into the menu, but not into the next round. Maybe an Addition for a next Version?

[zapiy]

Great idea lol..