Atarius Maximus has udpated Cave In, which was previously known as “Adventure Game”.

Quote:

I’m really trying to get this finished up! This will probably be the final version, I just have to force myself to play this game for the 3,883rd time (just a guess) to try and make sure there are no major gameplay bugs. I haven’t found anything in a few playthroughs on level 1 today.

This *is* going to be released on cartridge, the last step for me now is to supply Al with the final binary. I’d like to try this one last time on real hardware too, which means I’ll have to dig for my CC2 which has been in storage with all my other Atari related stuff for a long time. So, here it is, what hopefully is the final version of Cave-In.

Just as a review from a previous post, here are the known issues that will remain in the game in the final release:

1. You might get stuck in a wall. I’ve experienced this once or twice in the hundreds (over a thousand, maybe?) of hours of playtime I put in, but it’s been reported by at least one person who’s playtested the game. Since I was never able to consistently reproduce the problem, I can’t say with 100% certainty that it’s fixed.

2. If you drop the shield inside the inivisible maze, it changes to half size when dropped. A minor issue that I’m not going to fix.

3. The Healthpack/gun upgrade may appear in an inaccessible location – I’ve minimized the probability of it happening, but it might happen. If you’re really trying to get one, shoot the enemies in more open areas of the screen.

4. If you switch directions with the bullet in mid-path, it switches paths too. It’s a compromise for ROM space at this point, I’m not going to change it. Every adventurer needs a handgun with guided bullets, right?

5. Lastly, in the locked caves, rocks will start falling after you kill an enenmy. The first rock to fall will fall from the position that the enemy was killed, after that they will fall from the top of the screen to the bottom. There isn’t enough ROM space to resolve this problem, and I consider it to be minor anyway.

Here are some other issues that might be perceived as bugs, but are actually in the game by design. They’re not bugs.

1. You cannot exit locked caves once you’ve entered it until you have found the crown piece.

2. You can kill enemies by pressing fire when you’re holding the shield – even if you don’t have the gun. Think of it as swinging your shield at them.

3. Enemies will die after attacking you 7 times. This was put in to give you a fighting chance when you don’t have a gun – think of this as hand to hand combat and you will always (eventually) win the fight.

4. You drop your gun if you lose a health block (10 hits) in games 2 and 3. A quick note about how the health system works: You start with 80 units of health, represented by 8 blocks on the on-screen health meter. One unit of health (1 block on the screen) represents 10 points of health. For every 10 health points you lose, one block will disappear on the screen.

5. You lose a heatlh unit with every room change in game 2 after you have 3 blocks left, and all the time in game 3. Once you’re down to 3 blocks left, you have 30 units left, or 30 room moves. You’ll have to plan carefully to make it back to the health recharge room when you get low on health.

6. You can’t re-enter the boss room once you’ve killed it.

7. The screen is supposed to shake when you touch a wall or fire the gun. Some people like it, some don’t, but that’s how I want it to be.

8. When you get down to three health blocks left, your character is injured and will move more slowly. This is in all three levels.

9. Lastly, there is an easter egg that no one has found to date. It does provide an in-game bonus, so it’s worth finding. There is also one “cheat” in the game, I’ll let you all figure out what it is and how to activate it.

Here are the differences between the three difficulty levels:

Game 1 – Beginner
Enemies move at normal speed and never have a fast attack
No health reduction when changing rooms
Keys are always hidden in the same rooms
You start out with your gun, and you will never lose it.

Game 2 – Intermediate
Enemies move at normal speed with occasional fast attacks
1 point health reduction when you change rooms only after you are down to 3 health blocks left
Key locations are randomized
You start out with no gun – you will have to find it, either in the hidden room or dropped by an enemy.

Game 3 – Advanced
Enemies move at top speed all the time
1 point health reduction when you change rooms at all times
Key locations are randomized
You start out with no gun – you will have to find it, either in the hidden room or dropped by an enemy.
Falling rocks in the locked caves will fall twice as fast

Steve

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/108757-cave-in-was-adventure-game-preview/page__st__325