New old Game for the ATARI ST – LASERBALL 2014

[simoncam]

Dear ATARI Fans.
In 1991 I wrote a game called “LASERBALL” for the ATARI ST. It was published as Public Domain Software.
It is a nice little puzzle game about guiding a Laser beam to a red ball.

Now in 2014 I could not resist to take a second look at the game. It started with bugfixing. And ended up in a much bigger and completer game than it ever was in 1991 (for example: the game engine that was originally designed to run levels of 10x10 squares, can now operate with levels of 200x10 usquares). With new graphics by Melanie Schober and a music Soundtrack by xFalcon. I had great assistance in the German http://www.atari-home.de Forum in researching as my brain has lost some programming skills.
And I did not want to stop at the game itself. I have a full Layout being developed for a fictions poster and even a packaging design. Also a full instruction manual exists ready for download.

Development has not stopped yet – almost every week I publish a new Version with smaller or bigger improvements. But I think it is at a stage now where I like to publish it to a wider audience of ATARI Fans.

Main Features:
- Puzzle game with 32 levels
- Trainer Mode with 10 training levels
- “Modern” features like “continue last game”
- High Score list
- Multi Player Mode (ok… not realy… only one after the other…)
- Drag and drop level editor with level management tool.
- PDF manual and concept art.
The game and the manual are all in German. However, with the trainer mode it should be self-explanatory.

EDIT: the newest Version is now in German+English. Manual will follow soon.

EDIT 2: Laserball 2014 got it´s own Homepage: http://www.hd-videofilm.com/laserball/

Screenshots and concept art here:
https://www.facebook.com/laserball2014
Download:
http://www.hd-videofilm.com/atari
I hope you have fun and the game will find some fans.
Best regards from Austria,
Thomas

[Jake/Depression]

Cool. Thanks.
(What Atari machines it is tested already? We can test it in some others.)

[lotek_style]

Hey YM Rockerz schreibt man mit Z Apart from that a nice little game

[lotek_style]

Oh and I couldn't resist to add it here: http://demozoo.org/productions/124439/

[simoncam]

I have am running it on a Steem Emulator with TOS (I think 1.04). Of course the original was running on a real ATARI. But there have been many changes to the code since then.

Sorry for the misstyping. It will come on my list for the next Update! (there are more misstypings in the game )

[simoncam]

Ohh! And thanks for sharing!

[StickHead]

Wow! Exciting news! It's always great to get a new game to play on the ST. Look for a playthrough on my YouTube channel soon!

[simoncam]

Ok. I updated quickly for a correct spelling of YM Rockerz... Game and Artwork has been replaced with a updated Version.

@StickHead: That would be great! Looking forwad to it! Dont be to hard in your review. After all ist is just a joy project - not a professional product Have fun with it!

[yerzmyey]

I don't know German language, so I wasn't able to start the game, after the intro.

[darwinmac]

I am attaching a very bad English translation of the manual using Google Translate. I did some minor changes to the wording when it was obvious to me how the sentence would be phrased in English.

@simoncam - It is a nice puzzle game. Great job! I am still learning how the different objects work. Your PDF manual is very nicely done. I could not duplicate your layout in my English translation. I am happy that you decided to release an updated version in 2014. It appears the mirrors that have red borders cannot have their orientation changed like the mirrors that have green borders. Am I correct or am I simply missing something? Thanks for the extra step of supplying the game in .ST format. It saved me a step to convert it to that format when using it in Hatari.

@yerzmyey - This may help you to figure out how to play the game. You need to guide the laser and hit the red ball within the time limit. If you hit a black ball, your game ends. There are different objects, starting with the mirrors, that affect the laser's path. You will want to start with the Trainer. It gives you a better idea on how the game works.


Bob C

[simoncam]

I am so happy, that you try out my game.
Thanks for translating the Manual.
You are absolutely right: Mirrors with red Borders can´t be moved. Green ones can be turned and moved. Green ones may turn to red if you "burn down" a "C" object.

As now a wider -non german- ATARI fan group is playing the game I am thinking of putting a multi language Function as a top priorety to my update list. But the implementation may take some time. I keep you posted.
Have fun!
Thomas

[yerzmyey]

OK, thanks!

[darwinmac]

A multi-language function within the game would be great. Unfortunately, living in the U.S., I never learned any other languages besides English.

If the game had been in Spanish, I might have been able to get by without a translation.

Bob C

[simoncam]

I will do it! I already have a nice concept in my mind, that sould be doable within a relative short time. So the next update will be dedicated to the multilangauge function.
I will basicaly hold all the texts in an external file - one per language. And languagefiles will be automaticaly scanned on start of the game.
I will do the German Version and (with my best intentions try) an english Version.
So everybody is invited to do additional translations then. it will not be hard to do... just editing a shot textfile. So who is interested to translate, please let me know.
I will let you know as soon as the language addition is up and running.
Thomas

[simoncam]

Hi!
I could not let go and pushed it hard. It is not fully tested and the translation is more than bumpy.
But here it is:
The first Multi Language LASEBALL! Starting with German and English.
Basicaly the software scanns automaticaly for independent language files in the data folder. So it is totaly open for more languages, if someone like to translate the language file.
After Bugfixing I will provide a discription of the language file and its simple concept.

Again: this is a test Version and it may have serious bugs... so handle with care!
download the "language" Version on http://www.hd-videofilm.com/atari

Have fun!

[Eero Tamminen]

Works fine with EmuTOS too!

EDIT: the previous version, didn't test the new one yet.

[darwinmac]

Thanks for providing a multi-language version so quickly! I will try it tonight. I am not worried about perfect English. From your replies, it is obvious your English is much better than my non-existent German.

Bob C

[simoncam]

Hi!
I am now pretty confident that I did not miss a major bug in my multilanguage version.
The latest version can be downloaded from http://www.hd-videofilm.com/atari
It comes now with English and German.
I hope within the next days I can provide a Romanian and French version.
Anybody who like to help me in building other languages is most welcome:
You may load the “LANG1.DAT” file in the DATA directory in a text editor. The file is fully documented inside. It is easy to use: Just make a copy and name it the next Language Number, for example “LANG3.DAT”. Start translating according to the documentation included in the file. Save the File.
On Startup the new language will automatically pop up in your language menu and you can test it.
It would be great if the ATARI fans could make this little game a real multi language Game. 
(The in-Game-Display is limited to basic Latin Letters, no öäüéè… sorry)
I also attach the a language File here.

I hope to be able to translate the official Manual into english by this Weekend.

[darwinmac]

It looks great. Now, I know how the game works. I am just embarrassed by the fact that I am still stuck on level 2.

Thanks for fixing the bee cursor appearing on the language screen. That was the only problem I found. Turning off the timer should make it possible for me to figure things out. 60 seconds is too short of a time for me right now.


Bob C

[simoncam]

you might not Like to hear, that lev 2 can be done in less than 20 seconds

[darwinmac]

you might not Like to hear, that lev 2 can be done in less than 20 seconds

I am sure that is the case since it is only level 2. I am just missing something obvious. I will conquer it eventually.

Bob C

[simoncam]

Hmmm... that is a usefull Hint. I may should do some more simple levels between 1 and 2.
in level two you must use one mirror to block another ones movement to eventualy open the door.
maybe that helps...

[simoncam]

Hi.
I just uploaded the english Version of the Laserball manual.
And beside some minor improvements, the game itself has now 7 additional "entry Levels". These Levels should slowly prepare the player for the gameplay. Not as simple as the Trainer mode, but with slowly increasing difficulty.
http://www.hd-videofilm.com/atari
Happy download!

And like my Laserball facebook page!
http://www.facebook.com/laserball2014

[darwinmac]

Thanks for the English manual. The level difficulty seems to make more sense now. Before, I went from the first level that took no thought to the second level where I did not have enough time to figure out the maze before the time ran out. I really wondered what I was missing since it was only level 2.

Bob C

[simoncam]

The great thing in 2014: thanks to Internet and forums, I can read helpfull inputs and include them in my game... in 1991 as teenagers we (my brother and I) just want to make it as difficult as possible, not giving a second thougt about frustration of players when it becomes to hard to soon. There was no feedback like "I dont get this!". It is so great that 25 years later I can make the game better with the help of fans of classic computers!
So thanks for any helpfull post here!