Okie Dokie Documentation
Product: Okie Dokie
Type: Puzzle Game
Platform: Atari 2600
Release Date: Wednesday December 4, 1996
RetroWare is proud to present Okie Dokie!
1. Overview
Okie Dokie is a fast moving puzzle game that challenges you with 30 preset
puzzles and 435 random puzzles. It seems simple enough, turn off all of
the squares. Well, there's a catch! Every time you select a square, it
gets "flipped" -- if it was on it turns off and visa versa. To complicate
things further, any square directly to the left, right, above, or below the
square is also "flipped."
A counter keeps track of the number of moves you make. So you think you
are hot stuff for completing level 1 in 756 moves huh? Well, it can be
completed in 14 moves!
2. Setup
A. Supercharger
To use Okie Dokie with the Supercharger, you will need to
download the okiedoke.zip file. This file contains two .wav files,
okiesfst.wav (superfast loading) and okiefast.wav (fast loading).
While okiesfst.wav loads fastest, okiefast.wav may be more reliable
to load. Now you have two options:
i) Play the .wav file directly into your Supercharger
by plugging the Supercharger into your soundcard
or external speakers.
ii) Record the .wav file onto a cassette tape (or CD)
and use the cassette (or CD) to load the game.
B. Emulator
It is recommended that you use AtariPC 1.3 or a26 beta 1.5
Okie Dokie. See the instructions for the emulator you are using
to see how to load a ROM image. Okie Dokie is a 2k ROM image.
C. Atari 2600
The ROM image can be burned into an EPROM to be played as a
normal Atari 2600 game. If there is enough interest, I may make
a small quantity of cartridges with label and manual.
3. Selecting a puzzle
When Okie Dokie starts, you will see a scrolling message say "SELECT
LEVEL". At this point, pressing Select on the Atari 2600 VCS will bring
the message "LVL01" up underneath the Okie Dokie playfield.
Level 1 is a special puzzle and does not necessarily indicate that it
is any easier than level 2. In fact, level 2 is far easier that level 1!
There are 30 levels - each one with a unique puzzle to solve. Level 31 is
a special level that generates 1 of 435 possible puzzles randomly for you
to play with.
You can press select at any time to select a new puzzle, but if you
are currently working on a puzzle it will be erased, so be careful! Any
time you press select during a game or after solving a puzzle, the level
selection will begin at level 1, no matter what level you were previously
playing. Holding Select down will cause the level number to increase
automatically.
4. Starting the game
Pressing Reset on the Atari 2600 VCS will set the "moves" counter to
0000 and randomly pick 1 of 8 different tokens to be used for the puzzle.
If you have a favorite token to use, repeatedly pressing Reset will
eventually allow you to use it.
If you have selected level 31, pressing the Reset button will cause
the playfield pattern to rapidly change. Releasing the Reset button
will start 1 of 435 possible puzzles that is mathematically guaranteed
to be solvable!
5. Using the joystick
When you start a new puzzle, you will be able to move a pointer around
the puzzle with a joystick plugged in to the left controller port of
the Atari 2600 VCS. Moving the joystick will move the pointer in the
corresponding direction. If you are in the top row and move the joystick
up, the pointer will "wrap around" the puzzle and end up in the bottom row.
The "wrap around" feature works for all other directions as well.
Pressing the Fire Button while the pointer is under a token causes that
token to disappear. If there is no token above the cursor, a token will
appear. This happens to each square to the left, right, above, and below
the position the token is pointing to as shown in figure 5.1.
_ _ _ _
^ = Pointer | | | |
X = Token X X X
_ _ _| |_ _ _ _ _ _| |_ _ _
| | | |
X X ---> X
|_ _ _ ^ _ _ _| |_ _ _ ^ _ _ _|
| | | |
X X X
|_ _| |_ _|
figure 5.1 - Result of Pressing Fire Button
6. Solving a Puzzle
When you successfully solve a puzzle, a short tune will play and you
will no longer be able to move your pointer around. To play the same
puzzle again, press the Reset button. To select a new puzzle, press the
Select button to browse through the available puzzles.
Simply solving a puzzle doesn't mean you have mastered it. Level 1
can be completed in 14 moves -- Can YOU do it in 14 moves? Level 2 is very
simple and can be done in 4 moves, but don't be deceived! not all puzzles
are that easy!
7. About Okie Dokie
Okie Dokie was written using an Amiga 1200, a Supercharger, the DASM
assembler by Matt Dillon and Makewave by Bob Colbert. The goal was to
limit the program to 2k to get the "feel" for what classic videogame
programmers had to contend with.
While the game was written to be played on a real Atari 2600, it has
been tested on various emulators and works flawlessly on Atari13 and
a26_b15, though the sound only seems to work correctly on Atari12 (older
version of Atari13). Emulator authors are welcome to include the game with
their distribution archives.
Okie Dokie and its source are freeware and may be distributed freely.
8. Disclaimer
Bob Colbert and RetroWare make no guarantees, written or implied, on this
software. We are not responsible for any damage due to the use of this
software.
9. Misc
If there is enough interest, a small batch of cartridges may be produced,
e-mail rcolbert@novia.net if you are interested.
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Please send any comments, questions, or suggestions to:
rcolbert@novia.net
Enjoy the Game and keep an eye out for new Atari 2600 games from RetroWare!