///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// // Breakout clone for Nuon - Demo beta release 6 28/09/2004 // Historical README.TXT from author Stephen Anderson (mopar76@@neo.rr.com) // are included in this document, below my newest text. // Extra text and remote control added by justClaws (justclaws@@nuon.me.uk) ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// ***************************** ***** JustClaws (UK/NL) ***** ***************************** 28/9/2004 - I have taken on this code from Stephen. Perhaps we will continue together, but time for Stephen is a problem too (me too) but I will alternate this with my Jag projects. THANKS TO STEPHEN FOR PUTTING SOURCES INTO CIRCULATION! and w - Using the remote control isn't ideal. The N505 sends a stream of data, then nothing for a short time. This is very difficult when you are trying to catch a ball. I will make a single press set the direction, in future, then the bat will keep moving. A press on another key will stop it or reverse it. i.e. up will stop the bat. I know this will be strange at first, but it may work! (I will make this an option though.) All ideas welcome. - I intend to modify various things in due course - there are reasons for Stephen's frame rate problems relating, I believe, to the TTF text output, and optimisation req'd. Once this is OK, I will look at Stephen's wish-list too! JustClaws, justclaws@@nuon.me.uk, 28/09/2004. ************************* ***** Stephen (USA) ***** ************************* ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// //Just some simple info for this Beta release of my first Nuon Game - // coded from scratch. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// : Some code from the Nuon SDK has been used / modified. All of this is fully documented in my source-file (not included at this time since it is nowhere ready for any type of public release!!!). Code for triple buffering, playing WAV files, and reading the analog stick were slightly modified versions of SDK code. : All game logic, including the sprite collision-detection routine is my own code. Unfortunately, this means the collision detection is not 100% up to par at this time. : I still have quite a bit planned for this game. Animated title screen, and a closing credits screen are the minimum additions. : Slight game play tweaks will surely be made and collision detection will be greatly improved. : MOST NEEDED CHANGE will be to drop the integer values for ball speed, position, and starfield code. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// //Directions for burning: ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// : See the file BURNME.TXT (by JustClaws) ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// //Directions for playing: ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// : Insert analog controller in port 1 of NUON. : An alternative is to use your IR remote control, but control is less good. : Turn on NUON. : Eject tray. : Insert disc. : Close tray. : Sit back and wait forever as your NUON loads the table of contents from the disc :) (Waiting 1 minute is not actually impossible here.) : Press up or down at the title screen for options. : Press A to launch the ball. (On a remote, it should be PLAY) : Use the analog stick or D-pad to control paddle. : Press B to advance to next level. (On a remote, it should be SELECT.) ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// //Notes on game play: ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// : 5 lives per game - no extra lives are awarded at this time. : Unlimited levels. : Game speeds up at certain intervals (Level 4, Level 10). : Full stereo-sound. : After (3 or 5) ball to paddle hits, ball speeds up. : After (8 or 10) consecutive ball to paddle hits, second ball is launched (referenced as ball[1] from now on). All scoring is now doubled. : After (11 or 15) consecutive ball to paddle hits occur, a 3rd and final ball is launched (referenced as ball[2] from now on). Scoring is tripled. : Only the originally launched ball (referenced as ball[0] from now on) will cause you to lose a life. Therefore ball[1] and ball[2] can both be dropped but you will not be penalized. : All three balls will speed up after a certain number of consecutive paddle hits. Hope this makes sense. I slapped this readme together in about 3 minutes so I could get a working Demo released tonight. ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// //NOTE: ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// : I know the ball passes in front of the bricks. Unfortunately, I could not use transparent sprites for the bricks - the machine cannot render that many transparent sprites and still maintain a 60FPS screen refresh rate. If I pass the ball behind them, you can see they are really square. Sorry, but I had to cheat - don't tell anybody. : Also of little interest to most - my game logic does not slow the game down. Performance issues are strictly related to the rendering libraries I am using as well as keeping the code at a certain place in memory to avoid cache-thrash killing the game's static rendering rate. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// //SPECIAL THANKS GO OUT TO: //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// : Mike Fulton and Andreas Binner over at: http://www.nuon-dome.com/ (Dev Forums) for their help on coding issues I was having. (The historical NUON open dev forums were hosted by VMLabs.) : The YAK - for his sprite library that made my coding generally easier (the documentation is SPARSE to say the least). I've learned much the hard way. I'll try to keep it all documented. I plan to post the full source-code when the game is ready for final release (and is cleaned up a bit) as well as additions to the coding documentation. (JC: Stephen has done this now.) : Kevin Manne for helping play-test the game, posting it to Nuon-Dome for me, and for keeping this a secret for the last few weeks as I've been slowly key-pecking away in my limited free time. //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// //AND NOW ONE REQUEST - AND THE END OF THIS GARBAGE //////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// : Please, please, please leave me feedback on the game - good or bad. My e-mail is mopar76@@neo.rr.com. Leave feedback for me directly, or preferably, post to the forums. : This is my first "complete" game that I have ever coded on any platform, and trust me, this beast is not easy to do even simple stuff on and still expect any kind of decent performance while doing it!!! : I know collision detection is in need of repair - it is high on my list of fixes. : I may also ease up on ball to paddle collision to make it a little easier to get a hit. : I have quite a few things planned for final game release. No speculation on when it will be done. Any other things you think need improved upon, don't hesitate to tell me. : If by some odd chance you like the demo, please be kind and tell me also. Stephen Anderson, mopar76@@neo.rr.com, 4/01/2002. FIN.