Ok! So.... Final post!
Since my last post (basically at the start of September) a lot has happened.
September work:
September was a whirlwind of a month for me, I had a lot going on and couldnt find a lot of time for this gamejam, which unfortunetly effected the end result that ill get into further down. I started the month learning assembly (Ive previously been using the much slower language on Commodore 64 - BASIC) but after a week or so I realized I really didnt have enough spare time to grasp assembly as well as I needed + rewrite + develop the game. So towards the middle/end of September I switched back to BASIC and continued from there.
End result: (Game Page to play HERE https://alex-adedge.itch.io/apollo-lander)
In the end, I rewrote the entire game in BASIC and gave the sprites an overhaul. I added in whatever features Id previously developed which were working well enough, removed features that werent working and fixing some bugs and errors and edge cases that were causing major issues. Theres still a few bugs or edge cases in the game and theres unfortunetly a few features I put a lot of time into (like bloody terrain scrolling) which didnt make it into the game at all since I didnt get them far enough along to be usable.
Im a bit dissapointed overall with the game itself, and Im looking on it more as a 'demo' or prototype, a quick level with a couple of features that lets you fly the lunar module around a bit and give you a feel for what a full version of the game I had in mind could be. But I really wish I could have gotten a few extra things done, such as undocking from the Command Module and rotating the LM to come in to land, and some scrolling terrain (horizontally and vertically) so you can fly around a bit more. And of course some more developed terrain, so you actually have a challenge to overcome when landing and finding a landing spot.
On the other hand, Im super happy I could spend some time getting into C64 development, and this is certainly not the end of the line when it comes to me doing retro gamedev like this!
Bonus!
At the end of August I'd been eyeing off actual Commodore 64s for sale locally, as Ive not owned one since the 90s (as I said earlier, it was the computer I initially grew up with, my introduction to computers and gaming). A couple of C64s came up that I was tempted to make offers for, or bid on, but overall Commdore 64s are super expensive in Australia so I either didnt bid or my offers were too low. Id either need to save up some solid $$ or get really lucky to own one again...
And thankfully it ended up being the latter! I got really lucky, and found a C64 on ebay which not many people were bidding on. I put in my maxium bid, and watched as no one outbid me - and the timer hit 0.
A day later (it was a local pickup just down the road) I had a C64 again. And after buying a few extra parts I needed (overvoltage protector, Video-to-Composite converter, etc) I fired it up and got the earliest version of my Apollo project (the lander landing part) running on the system.
For more & future updates, follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Alex_ADEdge
Overall a fun two months of experimenting and learning Commodore 64 vintage gamedev, thanks Dan for hosting!
Final game stats:
The most efficient (lite) version of this game (witten in BASIC) ended up being only 4,963 bytes! (its otherwise about 8kb with comments and spacing left in), a solid 27kbs left over.