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It has already been way too long since the SMS community saw a new homebrew release :) May I present Versus - a game about sibling rivalry and... table tennis! Game, cover art and source code downloadable straight from Versus' homebrew page .

Yay! Glad I could play a part in inspiration. I might have to look at the source and see how my demo compares code-wise.

I love the art! I wish I could see more of those characters! :)
Do you win against your AI?

Thanks! :) Yeah, it is just so hard for me to draw the characters, so no cut-scenes or variations this time, I'm afraid. Next time, I'm planning to really make most of the sound and gfx assets first, and then proceed to coding.

Regarding the AI. Yeah man, I win all the time :) But I know what you mean. My in-house playtester raised similar concerns today, so I'm proud to present version 1.01, with the option to enter a secret easy mode: On the pre-match menu of a one player game, hold player 1's joystick to the left, while clicking the "play" menu item. This will start the match, but with a reduced AI.

Why is it secret? Because secret cheat codes are cool, easier to hack in than new menu options, and most importantly: Your big sister cannot understand why you can beat the crab out of the AI, while she is having a really tough time with it... :) At least this is the situation here.

Nice and clean, love it.

The AI sometimes gets into a situation where you could both sit there not moving and in theory the game would go on for infinity and then the AI eventually loses by making a move. I got myself into those rally-to-death situations a couple of times so maybe that is something that can be massaged.

Thanks tripledonkey! I was indeed going for a simple and clean style, so I'm glad it is appreciated.

The AI is shamefully simple, so it could definitely need some massaging: It is less than 10 lines, basically just moving Ken's paddle up or downwards depending on the ball's y-coordinate. But then again: Would someone really want to play Pong against an AI in this day and age? :) I mean, I think of the AI as more of an imperfect wall to practice against. But the rally-to-death situations you describe are not pretty. Admitted.

Edit: I realize that "the rally to death" is not only an AI issue. The Atari 2600 Pong also lets you deflect the ball in a straight horizontal path (when it bounces of the center of the paddle). Adding this bounce type, along with some AI adjustments, might address the issue.

Really nice. I love the clean style and the characters. I also had quite a hard time beating the AI, so I think it's balanced quite nicely.

The only issue I had was that a few times the ball hit the very edge of my paddle and passed right through it when I expected it to bounce off. I don't know, maybe extend the reflective surface of the paddle a few pixels up and down to avoid this?

Thanks Kagesan! I'm glad you like it :)

I have uploaded a new version that tries to address the comments so far:

* Paddle deflective surface increased.

* New bounce: Straight horizontal (when ball hits the paddle's center).

* AI will try to vary the ways it will deflect the ball (upwards, downwards, straight), so it will try to take care of the 'checkmate' situations this way.

* Better AI behavior on secret easy mode. Before it was like the AI was driving with the handbrake applied. Now it is a more gentle wait. At least it looks better :)

* Also to stir things up even more: Pseudo-randomization of horizontal and vertical direction when serving ball. So you never know who is gonna get it, or if it is coming high or low.

The handy R-register is used for the pseudo-randomization.

Author	Message
hang-on Joined: 23 Mar 2013 Posts: 611 Location: Copenhagen, Denmark	New homebrew game: Versus Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2015 9:32 pm
	It has already been way too long since the SMS community saw a new homebrew release :) May I present Versus - a game about sibling rivalry and... table tennis! Game, cover art and source code downloadable straight from Versus' homebrew page .

homsar47 Joined: 16 Dec 2013 Posts: 69	Posted: Fri Apr 17, 2015 9:51 pm
homsar47 Joined: 16 Dec 2013 Posts: 69	Yay! Glad I could play a part in inspiration. I might have to look at the source and see how my demo compares code-wise.

Calindro Joined: 14 Apr 2013 Posts: 624	Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2015 5:25 pm
Calindro Joined: 14 Apr 2013 Posts: 624	I love the art! I wish I could see more of those characters! :) Do you win against your AI?

hang-on Joined: 23 Mar 2013 Posts: 611 Location: Copenhagen, Denmark	Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2015 7:05 pm
	Thanks! :) Yeah, it is just so hard for me to draw the characters, so no cut-scenes or variations this time, I'm afraid. Next time, I'm planning to really make most of the sound and gfx assets first, and then proceed to coding. Regarding the AI. Yeah man, I win all the time :) But I know what you mean. My in-house playtester raised similar concerns today, so I'm proud to present version 1.01, with the option to enter a secret easy mode: On the pre-match menu of a one player game, hold player 1's joystick to the left, while clicking the "play" menu item. This will start the match, but with a reduced AI. Why is it secret? Because secret cheat codes are cool, easier to hack in than new menu options, and most importantly: Your big sister cannot understand why you can beat the crab out of the AI, while she is having a really tough time with it... :) At least this is the situation here.

tripledonkey Joined: 08 Nov 2014 Posts: 92	Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2015 7:10 pm
tripledonkey Joined: 08 Nov 2014 Posts: 92	Nice and clean, love it. The AI sometimes gets into a situation where you could both sit there not moving and in theory the game would go on for infinity and then the AI eventually loses by making a move. I got myself into those rally-to-death situations a couple of times so maybe that is something that can be massaged.

hang-on Joined: 23 Mar 2013 Posts: 611 Location: Copenhagen, Denmark	Posted: Sat Apr 18, 2015 7:30 pm
	Thanks tripledonkey! I was indeed going for a simple and clean style, so I'm glad it is appreciated. The AI is shamefully simple, so it could definitely need some massaging: It is less than 10 lines, basically just moving Ken's paddle up or downwards depending on the ball's y-coordinate. But then again: Would someone really want to play Pong against an AI in this day and age? :) I mean, I think of the AI as more of an imperfect wall to practice against. But the rally-to-death situations you describe are not pretty. Admitted. Edit: I realize that "the rally to death" is not only an AI issue. The Atari 2600 Pong also lets you deflect the ball in a straight horizontal path (when it bounces of the center of the paddle). Adding this bounce type, along with some AI adjustments, might address the issue.

Kagesan Joined: 01 Feb 2014 Posts: 877	Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2015 9:48 am
Kagesan Joined: 01 Feb 2014 Posts: 877	Really nice. I love the clean style and the characters. I also had quite a hard time beating the AI, so I think it's balanced quite nicely. The only issue I had was that a few times the ball hit the very edge of my paddle and passed right through it when I expected it to bounce off. I don't know, maybe extend the reflective surface of the paddle a few pixels up and down to avoid this?

hang-on Joined: 23 Mar 2013 Posts: 611 Location: Copenhagen, Denmark	Posted: Sun Apr 19, 2015 9:22 pm
	Thanks Kagesan! I'm glad you like it :) I have uploaded a new version that tries to address the comments so far: * Paddle deflective surface increased. * New bounce: Straight horizontal (when ball hits the paddle's center). * AI will try to vary the ways it will deflect the ball (upwards, downwards, straight), so it will try to take care of the 'checkmate' situations this way. * Better AI behavior on secret easy mode. Before it was like the AI was driving with the handbrake applied. Now it is a more gentle wait. At least it looks better :) * Also to stir things up even more: Pseudo-randomization of horizontal and vertical direction when serving ball. So you never know who is gonna get it, or if it is coming high or low. The handy R-register is used for the pseudo-randomization.

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