Fifth entry.. scoring and finer details
Greetings pinball fans!
Over the last few days, I have added some more of the key game play details.
I trashed the old way of storing scores.. basically I used to keep one long variable, and would constantly break it up into separate digits to display them. So I switched to a separate 8 bit variable (in an array) to store each digit.. code deals with the rollover. So if tens gets to 10, I clear that to 0 and ripple an increment up to 100's, and so forth. That way, the code just mashes the nibbles together (4 bits is a nibble) and preps them for the interrupt to spew them out.
Next, as I studied the original game operation, it was clear that a switch event might queue up 5 increments of 10 points.. such as the standups behind the rubbers. So I have an array that holds a 'rack' of score increments, so that events can rack up onto the rack, and a separate thread can dole out the increments one at a time. This is key, as there is a sound for each increment, and a short delay before the next one.
I wrote code to keep track of the bonus for the game/ball. I also wrote the thread that splits up the value amongst the 1-20 lamps on the playfield, which was one of the hardest threads of the game yet. I have not yet written the thread that rolls the bonus onto the score at the end of a ball.
So then I started on some of the finer details. I made the 1-6 targets function much more like the original ones, with flashing when not earned, and fast flash and sounds when earned the first time, and a score increment when the target has already been earned. I also made a thread that acknowledges a 1-3 or 4-6 to earn your shield, and then 1-6 to clear the targets, but no ball lock stuff yet. I light up the shield, and if earned, I kick the ball save when the ball rolls out in the outlane. It kicks back very well.. I now suspect that the reason that my Firepower never kicked back very strongly and consistently was that the original processor and code could not get there fast enough.
I did the rubber standup targets, as mentioned above, and also the rollovers in front of the ball locks. I also did the two return lanes, and the out lanes, at least the unlit score routine. When lit, other things happen, and I have not gotten to that yet.
Much to do.. thanks for checking in!
Chris~
Over the last few days, I have added some more of the key game play details.
I trashed the old way of storing scores.. basically I used to keep one long variable, and would constantly break it up into separate digits to display them. So I switched to a separate 8 bit variable (in an array) to store each digit.. code deals with the rollover. So if tens gets to 10, I clear that to 0 and ripple an increment up to 100's, and so forth. That way, the code just mashes the nibbles together (4 bits is a nibble) and preps them for the interrupt to spew them out.
Next, as I studied the original game operation, it was clear that a switch event might queue up 5 increments of 10 points.. such as the standups behind the rubbers. So I have an array that holds a 'rack' of score increments, so that events can rack up onto the rack, and a separate thread can dole out the increments one at a time. This is key, as there is a sound for each increment, and a short delay before the next one.
I wrote code to keep track of the bonus for the game/ball. I also wrote the thread that splits up the value amongst the 1-20 lamps on the playfield, which was one of the hardest threads of the game yet. I have not yet written the thread that rolls the bonus onto the score at the end of a ball.
So then I started on some of the finer details. I made the 1-6 targets function much more like the original ones, with flashing when not earned, and fast flash and sounds when earned the first time, and a score increment when the target has already been earned. I also made a thread that acknowledges a 1-3 or 4-6 to earn your shield, and then 1-6 to clear the targets, but no ball lock stuff yet. I light up the shield, and if earned, I kick the ball save when the ball rolls out in the outlane. It kicks back very well.. I now suspect that the reason that my Firepower never kicked back very strongly and consistently was that the original processor and code could not get there fast enough.
I did the rubber standup targets, as mentioned above, and also the rollovers in front of the ball locks. I also did the two return lanes, and the out lanes, at least the unlit score routine. When lit, other things happen, and I have not gotten to that yet.
Much to do.. thanks for checking in!
Chris~
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