Donkey Kong Advanced

[Ian]

Man... that game is awesome and hard.... playing on the keyboard isn't ideal. Can't wait to put it in my cab! Great job thanks!!!!

[Rattus]

Put this on my cab last night and have played a few games and I think it's GREAT thanks very much for releasing this. For some reason I couldn't get LControl 105 to work on my cab after mapping with the config, it worked on the keyboard but not the cab (PC - Jpac - cab) didn't matter as the third button mapped OK. Also Refresh seems to just Quit for me instead of restarting?

As for your ideas for upcoming releases in the first post, although I have not got through the third level yet I'm all for more levels. BUT I'm totally against the idea of having an END to the game instead of looping back to the start at a harder difficulty. One of my favourite things about the classics is they have no end, if you can get it to ramp up in difficulty each loop up to a point where it is VERY difficult after about 4 loops, but still possible then that would be awesome.

[Ophelius]

Put this on my cab last night and have played a few games and I think it's GREAT thanks very much for releasing this. For some reason I couldn't get LControl 105 to work on my cab after mapping with the config, it worked on the keyboard but not the cab (PC - Jpac - cab) didn't matter as the third button mapped OK. Also Refresh seems to just Quit for me instead of restarting?

As for your ideas for upcoming releases in the first post, although I have not got through the third level yet I'm all for more levels. BUT I'm totally against the idea of having an END to the game instead of looping back to the start at a harder difficulty. One of my favourite things about the classics is they have no end, if you can get it to ramp up in difficulty each loop up to a point where it is VERY difficult after about 4 loops, but still possible then that would be awesome.

Dude! My game looks soo sexy in your cab! Thanks for giving it a good home! And thanks for posting pictures. I think you have the official high score so far (21200).

I think you're right about not having an end, it wouldn't feel like a donkey kong game.

Not sure why you're getting key conflicts. It sounds like something internal is conflicting with the game's key presses. And by Refresh do you mean Restart? Make sure the Restart key code isn't the same as the Quit code, not sure. Like I said there's something conflicting. The reset works for me and it just brings you back to the title screen. Does the reset work with a keyboard on your regular pc? Let me know if you get to the bottom of it.

Anyways, thanks again.

[pbj]

A fairly easy idea for additional levels is taking the existing levels from the arcade game and flipping them left->right.  That was always the dream with Konkey Dong.

 

[wp34]

Gotta say, this is one of the best homebrews I've seen. What's next? (Do Popeye!)

That game desperately needs a fight Bluto level like on the Nintendo Tabletop version.

This please.  Popeye is one of my favorites and it could stand an update.   

[Le Chuck]

A fairly easy idea for additional levels is taking the existing levels from the arcade game and flipping them left->right.  That was always the dream with Konkey Dong.

 

Good call!

[pbj]

Stretch enabled.  Konkey Dong engaged.

 

[Generic Eric]

*shazzle*

What else have I missed?  This looks great!

[Mike A]

I need to get this installed on my vertical cab.

[Hutt]

Dude, this is badass... I stumbled upon this after reading through the BananaRoyale thread (which I'm still trying to figure out how to get running)...
But this just worked... remapped a few keys and perfect. I'm redoing my cabinet frontend at the moment. This will be a welcome addition!
Thank you for the great work.

[Ophelius]

Dude, this is badass... I stumbled upon this after reading through the BananaRoyale thread (which I'm still trying to figure out how to get running)...
But this just worked... remapped a few keys and perfect. I'm redoing my cabinet frontend at the moment. This will be a welcome addition!
Thank you for the great work.

Thanks man, send me a screenshot if you put it in your cab. Would love to see it.

[Le Chuck]

Dude, this is badass... I stumbled upon this after reading through the BananaRoyale thread (which I'm still trying to figure out how to get running)...
But this just worked... remapped a few keys and perfect. I'm redoing my cabinet frontend at the moment. This will be a welcome addition!
Thank you for the great work.

Hutt, try here: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,153361.0.html

[EMDB]

Thanks for this great Donkey Kong version. I added it to my cab which already contained pretty much all decent donkey kong versions as I really like this classic (from Atari 2600, 7800, NES, Colecovision, Arcade, Pauline Edition and now also DK advanced). I already incorporated it in my Hyperspin wheel but need to make some a dedicated wheel and theme. It really looks great on my LCD with scanline generator as you can see in the 2nd screenshot!

[Ophelius]

Thanks for this great Donkey Kong version. I added it to my cab which already contained pretty much all decent donkey kong versions as I really like this classic (from Atari 2600, 7800, NES, Colecovision, Arcade, Pauline Edition and now also DK advanced). I already incorporated it in my Hyperspin wheel but need to make some a dedicated wheel and theme. It really looks great on my LCD with scanline generator as you can see in the 2nd screenshot!

That looks amazing! I had no idea you can get an external scanline generator. Looks way better that way. Anyways, your screenshot was added to the game's homepage. Thanks

[Titchgamer]

Just gave this a quick go on the lappy, I will load it onto my machine next time I have a uploading session.

Thanks, Fun game 

[Hutt]

Dude, this is badass... I stumbled upon this after reading through the BananaRoyale thread (which I'm still trying to figure out how to get running)...
But this just worked... remapped a few keys and perfect. I'm redoing my cabinet frontend at the moment. This will be a welcome addition!
Thank you for the great work.

Hutt, try here: http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,153361.0.html

Thank you Sir! I'll be sure to check that out ASAP!

[pbj]

Those scan lines are going the wrong direction....

[EMDB]

Those scan lines are going the wrong direction....

Sure. I like them anyway 

[Minwah]

First I like to say thanks Ophelius for making & sharing this, it's got some nice ideas which are well implemented I've only had a few goes so far but am already very much enjoying it.

However, I do have a bit of a problem with the video. I'm trying to run it vertically in a mode closest to it's native mode as possible. Firstly am I right in thinking it is 224x256 like the original DK? If so, the closest mode I have available is 256x240 (in normal horizontal orientation terms). When I use this mode (or anything else I've tried, more or less), it seems to stretch/distort the picture (in both axes) *even* with the 'stretch' option turned off. See attached pic...for example you can see the 0's are stretched vertically, and the left part of the second H in 'HIGH' is stretched horizontally.

It seems like perhaps the 224 is being scaled up to 240? Not sure... Compared to MAME running DK in the same mode (unstretched), it fills more of the screen.

If I turn off rotation and try say 320x256, I do get a nice 1:1 (+ borders) unstretched picture.

One other thing about the gameplay itself - should the heart always be there when you start a level (assuming you haven't already collected it)? I noticed once on a new game that it wasn't there on level 1.

Thanks!

[yotsuya]

Just gave this a quick go on the lappy, I will load it onto my machine next time I have a uploading session.

Thanks, Fun game 

Oh ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---, he cracked out the "lappy"!

[Ophelius]

First I like to say thanks Ophelius for making & sharing this, it's got some nice ideas which are well implemented I've only had a few goes so far but am already very much enjoying it.

However, I do have a bit of a problem with the video. I'm trying to run it vertically in a mode closest to it's native mode as possible. Firstly am I right in thinking it is 224x256 like the original DK? If so, the closest mode I have available is 256x240 (in normal horizontal orientation terms). When I use this mode (or anything else I've tried, more or less), it seems to stretch/distort the picture (in both axes) *even* with the 'stretch' option turned off. See attached pic...for example you can see the 0's are stretched vertically, and the left part of the second H in 'HIGH' is stretched horizontally.

It seems like perhaps the 224 is being scaled up to 240? Not sure... Compared to MAME running DK in the same mode (unstretched), it fills more of the screen.

If I turn off rotation and try say 320x256, I do get a nice 1:1 (+ borders) unstretched picture.

One other thing about the gameplay itself - should the heart always be there when you start a level (assuming you haven't already collected it)? I noticed once on a new game that it wasn't there on level 1.

Thanks!

Correct, the original DK had a 7:8 aspect ratio with a resolution of 224x256. My game is being drawn internally on a surface of 448x512 which is the same aspect ratio. If you play in Windowed mode, you are seeing the surface drawn unaltered. If you are playing it in fullscreen, the software stretches the surface to fill the screen while maintaining the aspect ratio. So if your screen's resolution is set to anything but 448x512, it has to stretch or shrink the image to fill the screen. If the Stretch option is selected, it will fill the entire screen which would change the aspect ratio. If your computer is set to a low resolution, you will notice more stretching artifacts like the example you provided. If you want a more mathematical explanation of what's going on and why it does this, let me know. So, in order to get the best picture in full screen, it's better to choose a much larger resolution than what you selected. Basically the resolution you're choosing is much too small. Pick the largest one possible. I would say minimum 1024x768 is large enough to not notice the stretching artifacts, but try for a res even higher than that if you can. Hope that helps

The heart can only be picked up once per level. If you already got it, it won't appear if you die and start the level again. If you're saying you started the level and it wasn't there at all, then there's a bug. Let me know which you mean.

[Titchgamer]

Just gave this a quick go on the lappy, I will load it onto my machine next time I have a uploading session.

Thanks, Fun game 

Oh ---steaming pile of meadow muffin---, he cracked out the "lappy"!

Yup, makes a change from my Iphone

[Minwah]

Correct, the original DK had a 7:8 aspect ratio with a resolution of 224x256. My game is being drawn internally on a surface of 448x512 which is the same aspect ratio. If you play in Windowed mode, you are seeing the surface drawn unaltered. If you are playing it in fullscreen, the software stretches the surface to fill the screen while maintaining the aspect ratio.

Ok, thanks for the explanation. That does explain what's happening.

So if your screen's resolution is set to anything but 448x512, it has to stretch or shrink the image to fill the screen. If the Stretch option is selected, it will fill the entire screen which would change the aspect ratio. If your computer is set to a low resolution, you will notice more stretching artifacts like the example you provided.

I understand.

So, in order to get the best picture in full screen, it's better to choose a much larger resolution than what you selected. Basically the resolution you're choosing is much too small. Pick the largest one possible. I would say minimum 1024x768 is large enough to not notice the stretching artifacts, but try for a res even higher than that if you can.

The problem is, I'm using a low resolution 15khz CRT arcade monitor. I can run it as high as 640x480 which improves the artifacting, but this is an interlaced mode. This means flicker, and basically defeats the point of using a low res arcade monitor...

Would it be possible for you to implement an extra option, for 'manual scale factor'? Basically what I'd like to do is specify a resolution as I am (256x240), but scale the surface (448x512) by 0.5 to achieve 224x256. The scale factor (if specifed) could override the 'stretch' option. (Edit: the scaled surface would need to be centred in the overall screen)

If it seems like I'm the only one wanting this, I'm pretty sure it will be useful for many others - ie those that have 256x240 mode available, but not 256x224 (due to hardware/driver restrictions). Anyone using ArcadeVGA, Soft15khz and possibly CRT Emu_Driver (depending on hardware) will have the same problem.

The heart can only be picked up once per level. If you already got it, it won't appear if you die and start the level again. If you're saying you started the level and it wasn't there at all, then there's a bug. Let me know which you mean.

That's what I thought. In that case I think there's a bug. I played one game and got the heart on level one, and got to level 2 or 3. Died (all lives). Started a new game, and the heart wasn't there. I took a pic if it helps (only got 900 pts so you can see I haven't already got the heart):

[Ophelius]

Correct, the original DK had a 7:8 aspect ratio with a resolution of 224x256. My game is being drawn internally on a surface of 448x512 which is the same aspect ratio. If you play in Windowed mode, you are seeing the surface drawn unaltered. If you are playing it in fullscreen, the software stretches the surface to fill the screen while maintaining the aspect ratio.

Ok, thanks for the explanation. That does explain what's happening.

So if your screen's resolution is set to anything but 448x512, it has to stretch or shrink the image to fill the screen. If the Stretch option is selected, it will fill the entire screen which would change the aspect ratio. If your computer is set to a low resolution, you will notice more stretching artifacts like the example you provided.

I understand.

So, in order to get the best picture in full screen, it's better to choose a much larger resolution than what you selected. Basically the resolution you're choosing is much too small. Pick the largest one possible. I would say minimum 1024x768 is large enough to not notice the stretching artifacts, but try for a res even higher than that if you can.

The problem is, I'm using a low resolution 15khz CRT arcade monitor. I can run it as high as 640x480 which improves the artifacting, but this is an interlaced mode. This means flicker, and basically defeats the point of using a low res arcade monitor...

Would it be possible for you to implement an extra option, for 'manual scale factor'? Basically what I'd like to do is specify a resolution as I am (256x240), but scale the surface (448x512) by 0.5 to achieve 224x256. The scale factor (if specifed) could override the 'stretch' option. (Edit: the scaled surface would need to be centred in the overall screen)

If it seems like I'm the only one wanting this, I'm pretty sure it will be useful for many others - ie those that have 256x240 mode available, but not 256x224 (due to hardware/driver restrictions). Anyone using ArcadeVGA, Soft15khz and possibly CRT Emu_Driver (depending on hardware) will have the same problem.

The heart can only be picked up once per level. If you already got it, it won't appear if you die and start the level again. If you're saying you started the level and it wasn't there at all, then there's a bug. Let me know which you mean.

That's what I thought. In that case I think there's a bug. I played one game and got the heart on level one, and got to level 2 or 3. Died (all lives). Started a new game, and the heart wasn't there. I took a pic if it helps (only got 900 pts so you can see I haven't already got the heart):

Ok, I understand the problem. I don't think it will be a problem to implement the option for custom scaling. I have to put a bit of thought into the best way to go about this to accommodate the most people. Expect an update in a few days. For now, you'll have to live with the scaling artifacts.

As for the heart bug, you are correct. An internal flag for the heart wasn't properly being reset after the game was done. That has been fixed. Thanks a lot for all this great feedback. 

P.S. What's that red blob between the 2 spinys in your screenshot?

[Minwah]

Ok, I understand the problem. I don't think it will be a problem to implement the option for custom scaling. I have to put a bit of thought into the best way to go about this to accommodate the most people. Expect an update in a few days. For now, you'll have to live with the scaling artifacts.

Brilliant, many thanks!

As for the heart bug, you are correct. An internal flag for the heart wasn't properly being reset after the game was done. That has been fixed.

Excellent, good work.

P.S. What's that red blob between the 2 spinys in your screenshot?

Just the reflection of a lamp.

By the way I think you've done a good job on the difficulty. I like that the levels seem to get progressively harder, although I haven't got past level 3 yet...

[EMDB]

Some small observations:
1) I expected to be able to kick the turtle once it is on its back like in Super Mario Bros.
2) In Europe we had the Japanese version of DK in the arcades (dkongj romset in MAME). This had a feature (among other differences) which was really nice: when you are at the top of a ladder (even with the next layer) the barrels could not come down that ladder. That would be a nice addition 
3) I really hated not being able to put my full name at the hiscores but only 3 characters. Could you make it a bit larger (e.g. ?

[Ophelius]

Ok, I understand the problem. I don't think it will be a problem to implement the option for custom scaling. I have to put a bit of thought into the best way to go about this to accommodate the most people. Expect an update in a few days. For now, you'll have to live with the scaling artifacts.

Brilliant, many thanks!

As for the heart bug, you are correct. An internal flag for the heart wasn't properly being reset after the game was done. That has been fixed.

Excellent, good work.

P.S. What's that red blob between the 2 spinys in your screenshot?

Just the reflection of a lamp.

By the way I think you've done a good job on the difficulty. I like that the levels seem to get progressively harder, although I haven't got past level 3 yet...

Hey Minwah, I've uploaded a new version that can help you. I added a bunch of rendering options in the config tool. Choose the Custom Size option and select 224x256 with your resolution of 256x240 and rotate it 90 degrees. I believe that should center it nicely with no stretching artifacts. You can also move the on-screen position with the Offset boxes as some of those old crt monitors don't place the image correctly. I think that should do it. Let me know if I need to tweak things or if you find bugs.

[Malenko]

are all the levels based on backtracking?

[Ophelius]

are all the levels based on backtracking?

Since the playing area is very small, in order to make the levels seem larger and more challenging I have the player go back to previous locations to get items/switches in order to lengthen the total path you need to follow. I know it may feel like by backtracking you're not making progress, but that's just an illusion. The last level doesn't really have backtracking, only the first 3.

[Ophelius]

Some small observations:
1) I expected to be able to kick the turtle once it is on its back like in Super Mario Bros.
2) In Europe we had the Japanese version of DK in the arcades (dkongj romset in MAME). This had a feature (among other differences) which was really nice: when you are at the top of a ladder (even with the next layer) the barrels could not come down that ladder. That would be a nice addition 
3) I really hated not being able to put my full name at the hiscores but only 3 characters. Could you make it a bit larger (e.g. ?

1. I'm sure not being able to kick the koopa is making people frustrated haha. I could have easily implemented that, but made a decision not to since it adds to the challenge by keeping the koopas around.
2. This game is trying to emulate the original US version of DK so the way the ladders work is how it was in the real game and that's how I want to keep it.
3. That's how it was in the original and a lot of early arcade games. It's meant to be for your initials and not a full name.

Thanks for your input

[Minwah]

Hey Minwah, I've uploaded a new version that can help you. I added a bunch of rendering options in the config tool. Choose the Custom Size option and select 224x256 with your resolution of 256x240 and rotate it 90 degrees. I believe that should center it nicely with no stretching artifacts. You can also move the on-screen position with the Offset boxes as some of those old crt monitors don't place the image correctly. I think that should do it. Let me know if I need to tweak things or if you find bugs.

Many thanks Ophelius, that is brilliant! I had chance to quickly test it last night, and it works perfectly. I didn't need to use the offsets as it the picture was centred anyway, but that is definitely a worthy addition.

I'll try to get a good picture of my cabinet running it when it's light enough...but attached is how the screen looks now.

Thanks again!

[Rattus]

Yeah I agree with keeping three letters like in the classics. If your name doesn't fit then change it like I did in the 80s ☺
The ability to go up and down in the letter selection is a very welcome addition even though it is not technically authentic I will let that one slide 😉

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

[Ophelius]

Hey Minwah, I've uploaded a new version that can help you. I added a bunch of rendering options in the config tool. Choose the Custom Size option and select 224x256 with your resolution of 256x240 and rotate it 90 degrees. I believe that should center it nicely with no stretching artifacts. You can also move the on-screen position with the Offset boxes as some of those old crt monitors don't place the image correctly. I think that should do it. Let me know if I need to tweak things or if you find bugs.

Many thanks Ophelius, that is brilliant! I had chance to quickly test it last night, and it works perfectly. I didn't need to use the offsets as it the picture was centred anyway, but that is definitely a worthy addition.

I'll try to get a good picture of my cabinet running it when it's light enough...but attached is how the screen looks now.

Thanks again!

Awesome, I love it when things just work

[Ophelius]

Yeah I agree with keeping three letters like in the classics. If your name doesn't fit then change it like I did in the 80s ☺
The ability to go up and down in the letter selection is a very welcome addition even though it is not technically authentic I will let that one slide 😉

Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk

As long as it mostly feels like the original, I don't mind removing a few choice annoyances 

[yotsuya]

Here's another vote for keeping just initials. It just isn't the same if you're able to spell out DIK and FUK .

[thomas_surles]

Cant wait untill i build my tully kong caberet so i can put this on there.

[Rattus]

Finally got to play some more of this, I noticed that at the settings I had previously I was getting some screen tearing that I had not seen on my first play but was actually quite obvious and crappy looking.
So I downloaded the latest version and played with the settings as discussed above, I found that setting desktop to 640x480 in settings manually rather than auto detect then custom size 448x512 so far gives me the best results. It doesn't fill the screen vertically but is very close horizontally and doesn't look stretched and 99.9% of the screen tearing is gone, I did still notice just a little bit once.

Played about 10 games in a row trying to get through the third screen and finally did and made it to the seventh screen on my second man and died multiple times game over. Timing the barrels is challenging on this screen, I'm too tired after night shift to work out a proper strategy but I'm sure I will get there

Cool to see and extra man for getting through round four (I assume it wasn't for score) it would be nice to see the difficulty increase on the second lap through, perhaps more enemies and some more barrels or something and less time? or a larger bonus time that counts down quicker so rewards getting through faster.

[Ophelius]

Finally got to play some more of this, I noticed that at the settings I had previously I was getting some screen tearing that I had not seen on my first play but was actually quite obvious and crappy looking.
So I downloaded the latest version and played with the settings as discussed above, I found that setting desktop to 640x480 in settings manually rather than auto detect then custom size 448x512 so far gives me the best results. It doesn't fill the screen vertically but is very close horizontally and doesn't look stretched and 99.9% of the screen tearing is gone, I did still notice just a little bit once.

Played about 10 games in a row trying to get through the third screen and finally did and made it to the seventh screen on my second man and died multiple times game over. Timing the barrels is challenging on this screen, I'm too tired after night shift to work out a proper strategy but I'm sure I will get there

Cool to see and extra man for getting through round four (I assume it wasn't for score) it would be nice to see the difficulty increase on the second lap through, perhaps more enemies and some more barrels or something and less time? or a larger bonus time that counts down quicker so rewards getting through faster.

I know there's no official score yet, but yours is the highest I've seen so far. 

-Sorry you're getting tearing. If your monitor is refreshing at 60hz, you can use the vsync option which should eliminate the tearing. If it does, then try again using Best Fit to see if that helps. Modern flat screen monitors tend not to have this sort of problem. It can be more noticeable on crt monitors, especially if the monitor is refreshing at a different speed than the game. I designed the game at 60fps since I live in north america(60hz NTSC). If you live in a PAL region(50hz) then the tearing might be more noticeable. Anyone else living in a PAL region notice a lot of tearing?

-The trick for the elevator stage is to always look ahead and anticipate where the barrels might be coming from. Don't be afraid to jump back to an elevator you came from in order to get out of the way of an upcoming barrel. And the only safe spots from the barrels are on the top-left ledge where the purse is, the ledge where the key is, where the heart is, and on that 1 block in-between the top 2 ladders. Everywhere else, the barrels can find you.

-You get an extra life every 25000 points. I might implement difficulty progression in the future, we'll see.

Thanks for your feedback.

[Rattus]

I'm not worried about the tearing anymore, like I said changing the settings already fixed 99.9% of it and it looks great I will have another look with fresh eyes after I have had some sleep, it has probably fixed it 100% and I was just seeing things.

I have the original arcade monitor in my Astro Cab - Nanao MS9 running at 15kHz

My next step is to work out how I can launch your game from my MaLa frontend, I know it's doable I should be able to find it just looking through the settings.

Thanks for the tips on the elevator stage, hmmm extra every 25k, I think people will be marathoning this soon if you don't get some difficulty progression happening. If you do decide to implement it don't rush it, difficulty progression can really make or break a game.

[Minwah]

-Sorry you're getting tearing. If your monitor is refreshing at 60hz, you can use the vsync option which should eliminate the tearing. If it does, then try again using Best Fit to see if that helps. Modern flat screen monitors tend not to have this sort of problem. It can be more noticeable on crt monitors, especially if the monitor is refreshing at a different speed than the game. I designed the game at 60fps since I live in north america(60hz NTSC). If you live in a PAL region(50hz) then the tearing might be more noticeable. Anyone else living in a PAL region notice a lot of tearing?

I've noticed a bit of tearing on level 3 (the elevators) BUT I haven't enabled vsync yet. I'm using a 60hz mode so should be ok...will enable vsync tonight.

I'm in a PAL region but I don't think that really matters as I doubt anyone would use a 50hz video mode for this.

-The trick for the elevator stage is to always look ahead and anticipate where the barrels might be coming from. Don't be afraid to jump back to an elevator you came from in order to get out of the way of an upcoming barrel. And the only safe spots from the barrels are on the top-left ledge where the purse is, the ledge where the key is, where the heart is, and on that 1 block in-between the top 2 ladders. Everywhere else, the barrels can find you.

Thanks for the tips. I haven't managed to master that level yet (far from it). I can get the first switch most times, and occasionally get the 2nd switch but normally die soon after. I've only got the key twice and didn't last long after that!

-You get an extra life every 25000 points. I might implement difficulty progression in the future, we'll see.

Not that I'm good enough to need to worry about it, but I think difficulty progression would be good too. I'm not sure how you'd do it on the first level, as there aren't really any random elements. I think that level is fine first time round but after getting through levels 3/4 it might be too easy the next time?

You could add wild barrels to the barrel board to increase difficulty on that one.

Level 3 is already too much for me, but if maybe reduce the no. barrels first time, and then increase each time round? Or maybe start with some of the laser barriers deactivated.

Out of curiousity, what's your hiscore? Rattus' is more than double my best