Pyramid Plunder Public Beta

[Arkhan]

lol, you can shoot the suggestions up right here if you want, or just post them on Aetherbyte.com or something. 

Scroll Mode 0 is not going to be in a the real game.  it's basically just there for shits and giggles

[TheOldMan]

I like the default setting of 3...
not so much to make the game too easy (I think 7 certainly does that)....
Having a scroll border of 0 is problematic for me though.

Glad to see I'm not the only one that thinks 3 was a reasonable compromise.
I'll probably leave it at that for the real game, and leave the option in the debug menu to change it.
Yeah, 0 would be a pain. Especially without the radar

if I reboot (run + select), it takes me back to the system startup screen

Yeah, that's how the joystick polling works: run+select does a complete reboot. (actually, it jumps to the reboot interrupt)
That's part of Huc and the CD-Bios. I suppose with a lot of work I could change that, but it may be too much trouble... (irq routines are a pain to get right). Lemme think about it, and see if HuC is actually using the cd-bios joystick routine or the software routine. I might be able to hack the software one....

If you want them, who should I send the suggestions to?

All suggestions go to Arkhan. Then he asks if they are do-able. Not sure there is gonna be much added, though. We're already pushing the space limits on the cd card
(Which is why I haven't added a 6th ghost....yet)

[Bonknuts]

Yeah, that's how the joystick polling works: run+select does a complete reboot. (actually, it jumps to the reboot interrupt)
That's part of Huc and the CD-Bios. I suppose with a lot of work I could change that, but it may be too much trouble... (irq routines are a pain to get right). Lemme think about it, and see if HuC is actually using the cd-bios joystick routine or the software routine. I might be able to hack the software one....

 There's a vector for it (among the other interrupt vectors). Huc7CD or whatever manual should show it. There's also a bios call to change the selected vector too (if you don't want to do it manually).

[Arkhan]

LOL, remember when I tried f*cking with soft resets awhile ago before insanity was done?

I thought i had it, and all it did was the same reset as before, lol.

I recall seeing it all in the docs.

but hey, it's not like commercial games have reset features...

I'd rather disable the reset altogether so you don't accidentally reset your friggin game.

[Keranu]

LOL, remember when I tried f*cking with soft resets awhile ago before insanity was done?

I thought i had it, and all it did was the same reset as before, lol.

I think there was at least one CD game that was capable of doing a soft reset. Probably a post about it on here somewhere.

I'd rather disable the reset altogether so you don't accidentally reset your friggin game.

Not a bad idea, I've accidentally reseted games during crucial moments!

[Arkhan]

I once reset shadow of the beast on accident during the jetpack stage and got so pissed I drop kicked a C64 into a wall.

[TheOldMan]

I think there was at least one CD game that was capable of doing a soft reset.

Replacing the reset irq address would work. The problem is what other effects would that have? First, I'd have to squeeze it in somewhere where it would always be available (ie, the boot page, maybe). Then, I'd have to figure out a way to flag that it was a soft reset (as opposed to system on) so I could clear some extra memory.

I'm not ruling it out, but it's not as easy as you might think....especially with the cd interrupts involved...
Like I said, I'll look into it.

[Bonknuts]

Could your new hook (pointed by vector replacement) just change a variable and that's it? Handle everything else on huc's side? Having a custom soft reset routine would be fancy though

 The only game that I know that does it is Spriggan Mark 2. It asks you to verify that you want to reset.

[ParanoiaDragon]

I once reset shadow of the beast on accident during the jetpack stage and got so pissed I drop kicked a C64 into a wall.

Now that...I would like to see, Arkhan dropkicking a C64!  Kodak moment!

[esteban]

I once reset shadow of the beast on accident during the jetpack stage and got so pissed I drop kicked a C64 into a wall.

Now that...I would like to see, Arkhan dropkicking a C64!  Kodak moment!

I don't care what hardware is being abused, but the violence must stop now!

Arkhan, the machines are turning against you...

[Arkhan]

I DO NOT.

OK MAYBE JUST A LITTLE.

[TheOldMan]

Could your new hook (pointed by vector replacement) just change a variable and that's it?

As far as clearing memory? Sure. HuC might even do that for me when it realizes it has loaded overlay 0.

But at the very least, I have to call cd_exec_overlay() to load the title screen and/or level 1 (whichever).
And I don't want Tuoko's problem of having 2 different sets of startup code; screwing with the Huc Cd boot code
is a sure problem, especially if -any- routines move. (It's going to throw off the return from the RAM execution portion of cd_exec_overlay(). )
Then there's the problem of -which- reset routine gets called. Is it the HuC one, or the Bios one? Bios is mapped in at bank 8 on a cd, right? So the irq vector -might- be going through bios into the HuC code. Or maybe not...
Like I said, I need to look into it.

[Arkhan]

hopefully this time, it goes better than when I tried to do it back when Insanity demos were released that were supposed to reset after 10 mins... lol

[TheOldMan]

Could your new hook (pointed by vector replacement) just change a variable and that's it?

Like I said, I need to look into it.

...Or, I could just shut the reset function off in the polling routine (via joyena).
Then I can trap it myself in the main loop.

Yeah, the reset function is gonna get changed, henrycsc.

[Arkhan]

Update:   My thesis defense is sometime this week.

I already started fixing the maps to remove tedium.

Some of them are still large, but are not as obnoxious, meaning, I've removed some of the senseless "have to use as much tiles for bars as possible!" setup, and have created more corridor-like-portions instead.

Once they're all done (I am current on like may 24/30), and I've given them a once over, you can expect a new and improved beta to see if it makes you all hate your lives less while playing!