Donkey Kong Junior Remix

[homerwannabee]

There is one thing that I found really frustrating about DKjr that I'm making a post just because I'm happy about fixing it:

DKjr > If Jr reaches out to knock a fruit and also touches an enemy in that same frame; Jr dies even though a '400' point sprite appears to confirm that Jr touched the fruit.

DKjr Remix (and DKjr Fixed) > Enemy fruit smash takes priority.  The enemy gets smashed and Jr lives.

That is all

Glad you are working on even the little things.  This is definitely shaping up to be something awesome.

[Sock Master]

Glad you are working on even the little things.  This is definitely shaping up to be something awesome.

Yeah, I'm looking at all kinds of little details.   I've changed so many little glitches that I've stopped counting.   Normally I wouldn't want to modify so many things, but this game really needs it.   A lot of the logic in the game was too hacky.   I do try to keep things within the original intent/spirit, so I don't think most players will even notice... well, I bet they won't notice most of them when they play Jr Remix -- but I think they'll then notice more when they go back to original Jr.   (You don't tend to notice when something works like it ought to.  You do notice when something is amiss.)

One of the more obvious changes I made was to Jr's auto-grabbing of vines.   In the original game it's impossible *not* to automatically grab/climb a vine if it's near Jr.   I made it so it's possible to let go of a vine when you climb down onto a platform.  And also, not auto grab a vine if he walks past one.   (You can grab the vine by jumping or pressing UP.)   Mostly this was to give Jr more freedom of movement.

[Sock Master]

I'm starting to do some of the hardware integration now.  We have an interesting issue to deal with because there are two different kinds of DKJr boards out there, Donkey Kong Junior and Donkey Kong JR. and the two boards have different graphics ROMs.   Luckily I'm going to rig the kit to be able to detect which ROMs are on the PCB and it can then automatically display a "Remix" title screen that will work with the PCB's graphics set.

[TheSunshineFund]

Looks awesome.  Can't wait to try it.

[Sock Master]

I always wanted to include a fixed version of DK Jr along with DK Jr Remix but a few issues have been bothering me about how to go about doing this..   If I made original DK Jr, fixed DK Jr and DK Jr Remix all selectable by holding the jump button down, it's going to be a little confusing which version of regular DK Jr is booted up - especially to any random passerby coming up to the cabinet.

After a lot of thought, I came to the conclusion that it would be most convenient if DK Jr Remix itself simply allowed one to play whichever version of DK Jr they'd like without having to switch games.
This means it's going to save two high score tables, one for Jr Remix and one for Classic Jr.   The game is just going to cycle between them in demo mode.

I'm not sure if this is the best way to go..   During the intro sequence when Mario is pulling up DK's cage, if you push the joystick to the left - it'll play the classic Donkey Kong Jr stages and if you push the joystick to the right (or not touch the joystick) - it'll play Donkey Kong Jr Remix.

[treborlicec]

I always wanted to include a fixed version of DK Jr along with DK Jr Remix but a few issues have been bothering me about how to go about doing this..   If I made original DK Jr, fixed DK Jr and DK Jr Remix all selectable by holding the jump button down, it's going to be a little confusing which version of regular DK Jr is booted up - especially to any random passerby coming up to the cabinet.

After a lot of thought, I came to the conclusion that it would be most convenient if DK Jr Remix itself simply allowed one to play whichever version of DK Jr they'd like without having to switch games.
This means it's going to save two high score tables, one for Jr Remix and one for Classic Jr.   The game is just going to cycle between them in demo mode.

I'm not sure if this is the best way to go..   During the intro sequence when Mario is pulling up DK's cage, if you push the joystick to the left - it'll play the classic Donkey Kong Jr stages and if you push the joystick to the right (or not touch the joystick) - it'll play Donkey Kong Jr Remix.

As a huge fan of DK Remix, I would prefer consistency between the DK Remix and DK Jr. Remix.  I like the Jump button switching.  It works fine for DK/Remix/Deranged.  Just one fan's opinion.  I like how you have Luigi making an appearance.

[Sock Master]

As a huge fan of DK Remix, I would prefer consistency between the DK Remix and DK Jr. Remix.  I like the Jump button switching.  It works fine for DK/Remix/Deranged.  Just one fan's opinion.  I like how you have Luigi making an appearance.

Using the jump button (from attract mode) to switch between DK Jr. Remix and regular DK Jr. will still work the same way as it did on the DK Remix kit.   The new thing I've mulled over is that DK Jr Remix will *also* allow you to play the original DK Jr. stages/level order without needing to switch back to DK Jr.
The difference in this case will be that this version of "Classic DK Jr." will be running on the DK Jr Remix engine.  It's going to include the improved control response, glitch and bug fixes, 1 million points digit, 2 digit level display, etc... that is part of DK Jr Remix.   Classic will also have it's own high score table.

It'll still let you switch to the original DK Jr ROMs and play the original, unmodified DK Jr.   But there will be a new version of DK Jr as part of DK Jr Remix as well.   All 3 will save their own high score lists too.

It's not all actually implemented yet, I'm still working on that but that's the plan right now.

[aarontruitt]

My DK Jr cab will not be turned on until Remix is installed! Can't wait.

[Sock Master]

I've finally posted up a video of DK Jr Remix's gameplay.

It shows most of the new screens and the current state that the game is in.   I'm still tweaking stuff a bit, but it's looking and playing pretty solid.

Next time I post a video, I'll see if I can get Youtube to keep it at 60 frames per second.  The downconversion to 30fps messes up the effect of the light bulb a bit - it has sparks that travel on the platforms both above and below the light bulb, but in the video it only shows about half of the effect.

[homerwannabee]

I've finally posted up a video of DK Jr Remix's gameplay.

http://youtu.be/n7mSO0jtVTQ

It shows most of the new screens and the current state that the game is in.   I'm still tweaking stuff a bit, but it's looking and playing pretty solid.

Next time I post a video, I'll see if I can get Youtube to keep it at 60 frames per second.  The downconversion to 30fps messes up the effect of the light bulb a bit - it has sparks that travel on the platforms both above and below the light bulb, but in the video it only shows about half of the effect.

Wow, this is really good.  Fantastic job!

[TheSunshineFund]

Looks awesome John!  Great work

[FrizzleFried]

Looks great thus far!

I have a suggestion for the first level.  Make the vines to the right of the "bridge" shorter to prevent someone from being able to jump up to them... add a vine to the middle above the bridge.  That forces people to go all the way to the left to jump up then work their way back right.

[FrizzleFried]

If you take my prior suggestion,  perhaps you might want to take this one too?   If you do shorten those vines to the right... if possible... make the "bridge" a spring board... you could then either springboard across to the LEFT... normally... OR you could springboard to the left then SUPER spring board back to the right to catch the shortened vines at the right...

Just another thought...

[Sock Master]

Looks great thus far!

I have a suggestion for the first level.  Make the vines to the right of the "bridge" shorter to prevent someone from being able to jump up to them... add a vine to the middle above the bridge.  That forces people to go all the way to the left to jump up then work their way back right.

A number of the new screen designs actually started out having longer paths to complete the stages, but over time - after playing them over and over, I ended up shortening the paths, tweaking things here and there.
I wanted to make sure it didn't feel like an obstacle course - being forced to go a certain way.  So it ended up with the player having a choice - you could go the long way if you really want to use that extra fruit, but you're not forced to.

There is one thing, though..  Like DK Remix, it's possible to make the stages vary slightly when they repeat.   I could make a few of them slightly different the 2nd/3rd time you see them in the game.   I actually ran out of ROM space, so that's putting a bit of a limit on how much I can change things in the game now.

[treborlicec]

Hey, John.  Do you plan to offer a trainer/pace mode in this kit?  Love it on DK Remix.