Stable Kernel and Beyond
Now that I’ve got my stable kernel, I can start working towards some of the ideas I have in my head.
Firstly, I’m not the biggest fan of the playfield score I’ve been using. I’m making a 1 player game, so there’s not much point in having 2 separate scores.
8bitworkshop have some great resources on different things you can do with the VCS, including how to display a 6-digit score. So I’ve replaced the top of the frame with that. The VCS has a few “NUSIZ” (NUmber, SIZe) flags which can stretch the sprite horizontally, or display it 2 or 3 times. By setting this to display 3 times, you can use both the P0 and P1 sprites, and with precise timing, swap the rendered sprites as the screen is drawing to display a 6-digit number.
I figured the player will have a number of lives to use, so I’ve also added a lives indicator at the top based on a similar principle, switching the “NUSIZ” flags to repeat the sprites the right number of times for the current count.
You’ll see I’ve got a new design for the player, too. And a rough idea for the game: You, our intrepid hero, must make your way through the rooms of a maze-like tower, trying to reach the top.
I’ll be procedurally generating each room, and filling them with monsters and items, as well as the ladders you’ll need to find to reach the next floor. What happens at the top? Well, we’ll see when I get there.
This is starting to feel like an actual game now…
