I've been working on the game artwork and instructions, as well as putting together another pre-release - more of a snapshot of current progress than a major new release.

I'll probably start winding development down now and try to get round to creating the last sprites the game needs.

David,

I finally got a chance to test this again this evening - I specifically wanted to test the joystick support out as I don't think you've had any feedback on that yet. Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to work. I tested with the latest 2011-09-25 build and the earlier 2011-09-11 build. In both builds the joystick doesn't work on the title screen or in-game. I tested with Elkulator configured to use both the Plus 1 and the First Byte interface, though I assume you'd implement the support using the former.

The inlays look fab, though are really small at the moment - I assume you'll upload full size versions later. Any chance of a corresponding 3.5" disc inlay, if you're releasing an SSD too?

Sam.

That's right. Did you press J on the title screen before trying it out? Maybe I should just add a check for the fire button and automatically switch if it's pressed.



Thanks. The SVG files aren't in the repository at the moment, though the script to create them is. I'll probably include them, anyway, because they're not that large.

Any reason why you have to select joystick over keyboard at all? In Blurp, both forms of input are checked at all times, meaning you can start on joystick and switch over to keyboard halfway through your game if you really want!

Rich, are you checking joystick directions at all times? What happens if the user doesn't have a joystick plugged in?

Someone might interfere with the keyboard when you're on the joystick or vice versa!

Anyway, I think I managed to reverse the logic for the fire button check in existing code, so I've attached another archive to this message. At some point I might dig through other people's code to see how they did their joystick support.

Excellent instructions and inlay, very impressive, and the cover is very much in the style of the old Ultimate titles.

I notice a mention of a BBC version, is this correct? i thought this was an Electron only release?

Thanks!


It should work on the BBC without any problems, though maybe we'll have to enlist the services of Mr Brown from the stardot forums to make it work properly.

Seriously, though, it works in BeebEm, but it is a bit fast.

Sorry to derail: yes, I am. I added the joystick support in a rush, but yeah I guess this is going to be a problem if there's no joystick connected (presumably it'll get 0, 0 from the ADC all the time, which corresponds to right, down?). If you still have that disc image I sent you, could you see what your Beeb does without a joystick connected, and see if he's constantly moving right? Aaargh what a crap bug that will be.

So, if I want to check if there's a joystick connected, is the best way to listen for the fire button being pressed, and then flag it as 'connected'? (obviously this'll then break if you disconnect the joystick midgame).

No, I didn't press J - I didn't realise I had to! I think the latest build works much better - press Space for keyboard or Fire for joystick. Much better.

However, the joystick support still doesn't seem to work properly - it seems to fire most of the time on its own and the directions are completely messed up. Your character seems to head left on its own accord, although moving the joystick will interfere with the direction mostly at random.

I did double-check the calibration of my joystick but it made no difference, and it works OK in other games. Does it work for you?

Sam.

I don't have a USB joystick to use with Elkulator, so I have no idea if the code will work. Maybe I'll hack around a bit inside Elkulator and fake the joystick with the cursor keys and Alt or something.