A Yankee in Iraq, a 50 fps SHMUP

[Ast A. Moore]

Just realized I’d never created an official thread for Yankee on SC, so I was puzzled as to where to post updates on it. Well, here it is.

Hot off the press, v1.3.0. It’s the biggest update to date. My personal developer notes span a few pages, so instead I’ll just post the user-friendly release notes here:

New features:

• AY sound FX have been added (128K owners, rejoice!).
• Rapid fire (more than one bullet on screen).
• The copter can now crash into the ground or collide with ground units. You’ve been warned.
• The original “safety net” righthand boundary has been removed. You can now fly close to the righthand edge of the screen (at your own peril).
• The blast wave from a bomb explosion can now kill you. Keep a safe altitude, pilot!
• Controls have been slightly reworked. Using a joystick no longer requires an extra key on the keyboard for dropping bombs. Just press and hold “Fire” and it’s bombs away! Both Sinclair/Interface II joysticks are now supported—you can use either port. In the menu, in addition to the cursor keys and “0,” you can now use “Q” and “A” to choose, and “ENTER,” “M,” or “SPACE” to select, a menu item.
• Bullets now have a greater range. They also move faster and their speed is carefully calculated relative to that of the copter at the moment of firing.
• Copter inertia has been recalculated to be even more realistic.
• More points are now awarded for hitting ground units with bombs.

Visuals:

• A nighttime stage has been added.
• The design of the daytime stages has been augmented with the visuals of the sun and clouds.
• All the stats in the HUD are now scrolling counters.
• Extra copter/plane explosion animation frames have been added.
• Intermediate boss destruction sprites have been added.
• Border flashing during explosions is now beam-synced to prevent visible tearing.
• A few extra parallax layers have been added to the ground.
• An updated font
• A couple of decorative elements have been added to the HUD.

Improvements:

• A laundry list of code refactoring and optimization (trust me, you don’t want to know)
• Plane explosion animations are now allowed to finish if a plane has been hit while the player lands on a base.
• A new AstraLoad™ 3 turbo tape loader. Loads the game in about 30 seconds.

Bug fixes:

• Fixed an issue where a stray pixel from a shadow could remain stuck on the ground under rare conditions.
• Fixed a single misplaced pixel in one of the planes’ sprites.

Download link and instructions: A Yankee in Iraq.

Have fun, share your high score, kill a beaver, save a tree, stay calm, and always know where your towel is.

[Pegaz]

I like this new version indeed, the game is now definitely improved on several levels.
Gameplay is still simple but addictive, it's not an easy game but it's certainly challenging.
Well done!

[MatGubbins]

As each turn on this game lasts about 1-2 seconds before getting killed, how about not having any enemy fighters or missile bases for the first 10 seconds so that we can get a feel for the strange inertia controls, gently building up to a lone fighter in from the right that can be shot down, repeat a few times. Later, bring in the missile bases that have a slightly less targeted missile, later (much later), bring in the odd enemy from the left.

[Ast A. Moore]

I like this new version indeed, the game is now definitely improved on several levels.
Gameplay is still simple but addictive, it's not an easy game but it's certainly challenging.
Well done!

Thank you! I aim to please. My aim’s not accurate a 100 percent of the time, but I do try.

As each turn on this game lasts about 1-2 seconds before getting killed, how about not having any enemy fighters or missile bases for the first 10 seconds so that we can get a feel for the strange inertia controls, gently building up to a lone fighter in from the right that can be shot down, repeat a few times. Later, bring in the missile bases that have a slightly less targeted missile, later (much later), bring in the odd enemy from the left.

Thanks for the feedback, Matt! You know, it’s so strange to read or see reactions from people who have their first go at Yankee. Theirs are the complete opposite of what I feel. I was actually a little disappointed after I’d added the rapid firing and an adjusted, slower-on-the-uptake, missile features. I felt the game had become way too easy and only found solace in the fact that, as a recompense, the player could now focus on getting a higher score. I actually had plans to increase the number of fighter planes and have them shoot at you in a future update.

Now, your comment got me thinking that perhaps instead of making the game even easier, I should add a trainer mode. Or even a standalone trainer. The player could then master the inertia, then move on to avoiding flying objects that do not harm him, and, finally, practice targeted bombing of dummy missile launchers before loading up the game.

I think this merits a poll.

[djnzx48]

I played the new version and I like all the little touches that have been added. I found it to be quite challenging, although I did manage to destroy multiple missile bases (something I struggled to accomplish in the earlier versions). A major obstacle I experienced with the previous version is that if you missed a base, it was pretty much impossible (for me at least) to avoid the resulting missile it launched. That aspect seems to have been improved with the removal of the safe zones at the sides of the screen, allowing for more room to maneuver. Besides that, I imagine the game would become easier with more practice.

[Ast A. Moore]

A major obstacle I experienced with the previous version is that if you missed a base, it was pretty much impossible (for me at least) to avoid the resulting missile it launched.

You need to fly up and right to put some extra distance between yourself and a missile, or position yourself higher in advance. (You’ll also score more points if you manage to hit the missile launcher from higher up.) But the best strategy seems to be to use inertia to drop a bomb ahead of yourself and quickly start pulling back.

That aspect seems to have been improved with the removal of the safe zones at the sides of the screen, allowing for more room to maneuver. Besides that, I imagine the game would become easier with more practice.

Oh, absolutely. You can image how much practice I’ve had.

Here’s a short video of the gameplay. I wasn’t trying to get a high score; just needed some footage for Twitter (and almost blew myself up on a bomb). Maybe it’ll help with the strategy.

[Juan F. Ramirez]

I didn't know the first version so I came across quite a nice surprise. Amazing game with the 'flavour' of the classic years, sounds, movements, graphics,... really good! i like it!

And yes, too dificult!

[Ast A. Moore]

Mkay, here’s a quick update, v1.3.1. I’ve added the difficulties setting. Choose between easy and hard. Hard is the same as the previous version. Easy gives you a very tame missile and eliminates the fighter plane flying left to right. The remaining plane appears with a slight delay after a stage begins or after you lose a life.

Also replaced the in-game screen “dissolve” effect with a simple wipe. Experimental.



Haven’t worked out a new scoring system yet, and will probably introduce a third difficulty level, as well as a difficulty ramp-up throughout the game. I’m open to your suggestions as always.

Download link and instructions: A Yankee in Iraq.

[Juan F. Ramirez]

Errrm, I've played the 'easy version' and I saw nothing changed, as difficult as usual!

Anyway, I insist on it's a very cool game.

Hard as hell, but cool.

[PROSM]

The new easy difficulty is just right for me! Hopefully I'll be good enough some day to play it the original way - I'm not holding my breath though!

Really well put-together game, Ast! The fluid animation is incredibly impressive.

[cmonkey]

Easy mode has certainly made the game a bit more playable. I can now manage to survive past the first missile base without rage quitting and deleting the game! It's still a very hard game, even on easy, but I guess that's just because these days games are dumbed down so much that it's unusual to find a game that offers the player any kind of a steep learning curve. If you'd released this in '85 then nobody would have batted an eyelid as it would have fit in nicely with the rest of the brutally hard games released then!

Did you do all the play testing yourself during dev or did you have beta testers?

I'm curious as to why you decided that you should only be able to destroy the ground bases with a bomb and the fighters with your bullets? Seems weird when you drop a bomb and it goes straight through a fighter and then destroys the missile base. Surely a bomb would be able to destroy a fighter? Likewise why can't you destroy a missile base with your bullets? Instead they just pass straight through the missile bases without causing any damage at all. Seems a little counter intuitive?

I'm not trying to take away from your accomplishment here, you've done a great job and it is a great game, albeit very difficult, just trying to understand your thought process during design.

[Spud]

Easy is too easy to the point of being dull.

Hard is still too hard. I think I need a medium level difficultly.

My top score on hard is 1040.

Frustrating things I find:

1. planes appearing immediately from behind in line with your copter on start, no chance to avoid it. That's unfair. Give me some invulnerability for a couple of seconds to give me a chance to get out of the way? Or be a bit more selective about where they spawn the start.
2. I want my bombs I drop to detonate the missiles from the ground things. That would give me a fair chance of getting away with it occasionally if I dropped one in time to.
3. I'd kind of like my bombs to be able to hit the fighters on the way down (and exploding if they hit). I think that'd be quite cool.

I appreciate it is your game though, so do as you please. I want to enjoy playing it but I find it too frustrating still. It's smooth as butter though and you've obviously put a tonne of effort into producing a polished package which I admire tremendously.

[Spud]

My top score on hard is 1040.

1070 actually!

[Ast A. Moore]

I want to thank you all for the comments; I enjoy reading them all, including—and, perhaps, especially—the criticisms. I only wish I had more of that back when I released the very first version of Yankee.

Now, I’ll attempt to address some of your points.

Errrm, I've played the 'easy version' and I saw nothing changed, as difficult as usual!

The new easy difficulty is just right for me! Hopefully I'll be good enough some day to play it the original way - I'm not holding my breath though!

Easy mode has certainly made the game a bit more playable. I can now manage to survive past the first missile base without rage quitting and deleting the game!

Easy is too easy to the point of being dull.

Hard is still too hard.

I hope you can see my predicament, gentlemen. It’s probably impossible to make a game balanced enough to suit every player. The new, easy, mode has made . . . a change, definitely; whether it’s a welcome change is highly debatable.

Did you do all the play testing yourself during dev or did you have beta testers?

Back in 2017, before I released v1.0.0, I posted several early betas on WoS. People did say it was a tough game but not to the point of being unplayable. They also made a few interesting suggestions, some of which have actually made it into the game.

I, of course, do a lot of play-testing myself, but that’s ultimately what’s made the game so hard play (or me so good at it).

Seems weird when you drop a bomb and it goes straight through a fighter and then destroys the missile base. Surely a bomb would be able to destroy a fighter? Likewise why can't you destroy a missile base with your bullets? Instead they just pass straight through the missile bases without causing any damage at all.

Umm. Hadn’t thought of it in this way. I seriously doubt it is possible to drop a bomb from a helicopter and destroy a fighter plane (in reality, I mean). Not that I ever intended for Yankee to be a flight sim—of course it’s a pure arcade-like shoot-’em-up—but it just hadn’t occurred to me.

As for destroying missile launchers with bullets. Before version 1.3.0 it was impossible to descend below a certain fixed level. You couldn’t crash into the ground—which was a boon—nor could you shoot at missile bases. While I was working on v1.3.0, I briefly considered including the ability to destroy them with the gun, but, again, thought it would be too unrealistic. I’m nor sure a 20mm Gatling gun can do a whole lot of damage to a SAM (surface-to-air missile) unit. Most are pretty heavily armored. I could probably make it so that it takes quite a few hits to destroy it.

1. planes appearing immediately from behind in line with your copter on start, no chance to avoid it. That's unfair. Give me some invulnerability for a couple of seconds to give me a chance to get out of the way? Or be a bit more selective about where they spawn the start.

Ha! Believe it or not, I myself have fallen for that many times. You kind of tend to think the planes are chasing you and intentionally spawn at the same vertical coordinate as the copter. This isn’t the case. The planes’ Y-coordinates are generated randomly each time they respawn. You only notice it when they hit you, so you tend to think it’s intentional. I recorded many RZXs while testing and debugging, and upon playback it always became clear that there was no funny business going on.

The easy mode does delay the respawn of the plane (the only one) for a considerable amount of time before a level begins (or after you lose a life). Maybe that should be something to consider for a medium difficulty setting. Better yet, an ever decreasing delay throughout the game as part of the difficulty ramp-up scenario.

Still, it’s pretty easy to avoid the planes coming in from the left; just start moving right (and, preferably, up) as soon as the game begins.

By the way, in case you haven’t spotted it yet, the planes are always on a slight descend. It’s technically easier to avoid them by going over them, and you’ll have a better chance of hitting with with the cannon if you aim at shoot slightly below them. Works best if you’re shooting at a plane some distance away.

2. I want my bombs I drop to detonate the missiles from the ground things. That would give me a fair chance of getting away with it occasionally if I dropped one in time to.

Whoa, that’s a most unusual request! Again, a super unrealistic scenario in reality, but seems like a look arcady feature. Next thing you’ll want is getting point for shooting missiles in flight, eh? An interesting idea, though.

3. I'd kind of like my bombs to be able to hit the fighters on the way down (and exploding if they hit). I think that'd be quite cool.

So, another request for destroying the fighter planes with bombs, huh? Well, I ain’t turning that into a poll! Nah-uh, not a chance.

My top score on hard is 1040.

1070 actually!

I figure that’s about a third down Stage 1. I usually get to Stage 2 with around 3200 points. Keep on trying!

1070, gentlemen. Any takers?

[Ast A. Moore]

Right. Another small update (v1.3.2), which should—hopefully—satisfy the majority of players (yeah, I know—wishful thinking).

Still, in this release:

New:

• A third, Normal, difficulty setting
• A new scoring system that greatly increases your score depending on the selected difficulty level

Visuals:

• The difficulty setting menu item is now properly animated
• The copyright message has been moved back down one line (to correct an oversight introduced in v1.3.1)

Misc.:

• A few minor code optimizations

Download link and instructions: A Yankee in Iraq.

[Magnus]

Love the updated version and the "easy" mode, which is challenging enough for me. A very enjoyable game!

[Spud]

That's more like it, 2160 scored on normal, made it to level 2.

Noticed the yankee in iraq logo corrupted at some point.

[Ast A. Moore]

Noticed the yankee in iraq logo corrupted at some point.

Curious. Do you remember how that happened exactly and how was it corrupted? (Wish you had an RZX recording of that.) Which machine (emulated or real) were you playing on? Any extra peripherals attached to it (i.e. Interface 1, Kempston Joystick, DivIDE/DivMMC)?

[Spud]

Noticed the yankee in iraq logo corrupted at some point.

Curious. Do you remember how that happened exactly? (Wish you had an RZX recording of that.) Which machine (emulated or real) were you playing on?

Unfortunately not. I did nothing unusual to be honest. Switched difficulty from hard to normal is the last thing I remember but who knows. Haven't seen it since. The corruption was that the graphic was offset half way down, so was still recognisable. I was emulated on Fuse for the acursed Macintosh.

New high score for me; stage 3 and 3370 on the board.

[Ast A. Moore]

The corruption was that the graphic was offset half way down, so was still recognisable. I was emulated on Fuse for the acursed Macintosh.

Hmm. I’ve also been testing it on Fuse on the Mac. Which Spectrum model were you emulating?

New high score for me; stage 3 and 3370 on the board.

That still on Normal or have you finally switched to Hard?

[Spud]

It was emulating a standard 48.

Normal mode still.

[Ast A. Moore]

It was emulating a standard 48.

Try the 128K or the +2—there are neat AY sound FX. Makes all the difference (for me, anyway).

[djnzx48]

Definitely an improvement. The normal difficulty makes the gameplay much more accessible without being boring. That said, I can now finally manage the first stage on hard difficulty.

[Ast A. Moore]

That said, I can now finally manage the first stage on hard difficulty.

Now that is an improvement. What’s your top score on hard?

[djnzx48]

Not an amazing score by any means, but from memory it was 1430.