Atari 2600 Mecha Simulator

This project is a real Atari 2600 (4K) assembly game that simulates a first-person mecha cockpit view inspired by Star Raiders. It is designed to assemble with DASM and run on actual 2600 hardware or accurate emulators.

Core View & Cockpit

• First-person cockpit view with a centered crosshair.
• Heading strip across the top with N/NE/E/SE/S/SW/W/NW markers.
• Cockpit UI at the bottom with a gear selector: R2, R1, N, 1, 2, 3.
  • Neutral (N) is the starting gear and is boxed.
  • The box moves as gears change.

Controls

• Up/Down on joystick: shift gears.
• Left/Right on joystick:
  • Normal: turn the legs (movement direction).
  • Hold joystick button: twist the cockpit/torso up to 90° left/right.
• Button double-tap: toggle pause.

Movement & Gearing

• Gears represent forward/backward movement and speed:
  • R2, R1 = reverse (slow/fast).
  • N = neutral (no movement).
  • 1, 2, 3 = forward speeds.
• Turning changes the direction of travel (leg heading).
• Torso twist changes only the view (cockpit heading), not movement.

Ground Motion

• The ground is rendered with moving dirt/rock pixels.
• Motion scrolls and shifts based on leg heading, while the camera perspective responds to torso twist for spatial realism.

Bobbing & Footfalls

• Gears R1, R2, 1, 2:
  • The view bobs in proportion to speed.
  • Each footfall causes a small screen shake.
  • A stomp sound plays in sync with footfalls.
• Gear 3:
  • The mech rolls on skates with no bobbing.
  • A distinct skate whine replaces stomps.

Audio

• Deep engine hum always present.
  • Pitch increases with forward/backward speed.
  • During pause, the hum stays on at a steady pitch.
• Stomp sound for footfalls in walking gears.
• Skate whine for gear 3.

Tanks & World Model

• The world uses a 32x32 grid with the player and four enemy tanks.
• The map does not wrap: leaving the map starts a 10-second countdown.
  • If the countdown reaches 0, the game is lost.
• Tanks slowly rotate in place:
  • One full 360° rotation takes ~1 minute.
• Tanks are projected into the cockpit view using:
  • relative position,
  • heading/torso alignment,
  • depth mapping,
  • and directional offsets to mimic rotation.

LIDAR Detection

• Tanks can scan the player if the mech is within the front 45° arc of a tank.
• While scanning:
  • A red LIDAR bar fills under the compass.
  • Closer tanks fill the bar faster.
    • Very close tank: ~5 seconds to fill.
    • Far tank (half map): ~60 seconds to fill.
  • Multiple tanks can contribute to the fill rate.
  • The tank flashes red on the pause map while scanning.
• To stop LIDAR scanning:
  • Place the crosshair on the tank to break its lock.
  • That tank is forced to rotate 45° further before it can detect again.

Pause Screen

• Double-tap the button to toggle pause.
• Paused view shows:
  • Black background with blue PAUSE text.
  • A centered 32x32 map.
  • The player and tanks with facing indicators.
  • Tanks flash red on the map when LIDARing.

Off-Map Countdown

• Leaving the 32x32 map starts a 10-second countdown.
• A bar below the compass displays the countdown progress.
• If it reaches 0, the game is lost.