Donkey Kong (Demo)
Platform: Intellivision
Region: USA
Media: Cartridge
Controller: INTV
Gametype: Homebrew
Release Year: 2008
Developer: Carl R. Mueller
Publisher: Carl R. Mueller
Players: 1
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DKINTY
by Carl R. Mueller, Jr.

INTRODUCTION

As soon as the BIN is loaded, you should see the "How high can you get?" screen (there's no title screen yet).  This screen shows you your position in the board sequence, and level number (displayed in red, where the bonus is otherwise displayed).

The game is currently hardcoded for two players.  The screen which announces the player up has not yet been added, but you can tell by Mario's color scheme which player's up.  At the moment, you can use either controller to play.  Eventually, the left controller will be used for player 1, and the right for player 2.

EXAMINE YOUR CONTROLS

Pressing 1-4 will force a particular board to be played.  They are in this order: girders (1), pie factory (2), elevators (3), and rivets (4).  If you complete the board, you will move to the next board in the sequence.  It does not change your position in the sequence -- it merely substitutes the current board for another. 

Pressing 5 will pause the game at any point.  Multiplexed objects continue to plex during the pause.

Pressing 6 will advance your position in the board/level sequence.  This is just as if you had cleared the board.

Pressing 0 gives Mario the hammer.

Don't touch the other keys, or you may regret it!

The disk controls Mario.  The side buttons make him jump.  That's it.

FURTHER DEVELOPMENT 

The game has been coded very flexibly (unlike the arcade), so that other boards will be very easy to create.  It's possible to use any element from any board together on the same board.  For example you could have conveyor belts, elevators, and rivets on the same board if you wanted to.  Any objects can also coexist on the same board.  Flames, barrels, pies, and springs can appear on the same board, their entry points are configurable. The position of other objects such as the oil, barrel stack, Kong, etc. are also very easy to configure.  Kong can also launch barrels in either direction.

I do plan to add at least 4 more boards in an alternate (and selectable) version of the game. If you have a good idea for a new board that uses the existing functionality, by all means please let me know!

The engine also supports two players simultaneously.  I was thinking of having at least one or two two-player levels (these would not involve Kong, but would be a different kind of cooperative or competitive game).  However, I don't have any clear idea about how this game might work.  Also, it should be noted that with two players on the screen, there are only 2 MOBs available -- with plexing, 4 -- not leaving a lot to work with.  If you have any ideas for this, please let me know!

I plan to tweak the game play quite a bit.  I would still like to hear your comments regarding how the game play is.

KNOWN BUGS

- There's quite a bit of slowdown in the game -- further optimization is necessary.
- On the rivets board, Kong is occasionally left with a "funny face" after doing the chest pounding sequence.  I believe this is because there's sometimes not enough time to update the GRAM, and only part of his face is successfully restored.
- The rivets board is missing the end of board sequence (cutscene).  I'll do this later.
- When you get to the top girder on the pie factory screen, the board does not end like the arcade does (you have to climb up to the girl's platform). 
- The rivets board is ridiculously easy.  Like I said, I'm going to tweak the game play quite a bit.

Thank you for testing my game.

I'm open to any suggestions regarding the game play, graphics, sound, whatever!  I'm looking forward to your comments.

Carl
