Firstly, thanks for the incredibly detailed breakdown. I really apprecaite it. That gx gy graphical coordinate trick is great! I was so focused on calculating the absolute pixel math on the fly every frame that I missed the optimisation, just pre calculate the starting pixel and increment it by 32 or 16 when moving! Eliminating those multiplication cycles to the point where you don't even need FRAME anymore is exactly the kind of magic I love about 8-bit BASIC coding.
I originally used INKEY$ just to easily catch both QWERTY and AZERTY keyboards, but you are right that INKEY() or JOY() is the proper way to shave off those cycles.
Thanks for the heads-up on the cavern width variable (w>2). I'm learning a lot here. I'm by no means the finished article. Much appreciated. I don't think I can submit an update now, with your help, fair play mentioning 1.1 only that prompted me to do a 1.0. When the competition is over I'll put a super optomised version on my account and will credit you with suggestions made.
I agree, I hadn't considered it when I started writing, as you'll know, it was hard enough to cram it all in, it probably took me longer than it should have but once I'd started, I had to finish.
I took a look at "Revisited the Exit" and it's brilliant. Really impressive to see how you managed to iterate on your 2022 versions and squeeze the reworked game into the PUR-120 category. That takes some serious optimization skills. Awesome work!
Hey love this! I put myself under pressure to resolve the 1.0 requirement as you were quite right, and once I realised, I couldn't take the easy way out and say 6128 only! I'll make sure I consider ROM upgrades in future. I'd be keen to see how to get around two TEST commands, I'll email you, thank you
It's a fair point well made. I've just spent a few hours removing FRAME and COPYCHR$ to make a 1.0 and 1.1 compliant version. I want to be judged on the 1.1 as it's enhanced over 1.0. I appreciate you spotting it, this is my first entry and hadn't considered the difference in ROMs, I won't make that mistake again. I've updated the instructions, put an astro.bas and astro1.bas on the disc and submitted an update. Thank you
