Bad Omen is a Breakout clone for the Sega Genesis. However, unlike other Breakout clones, the goal is not to destroy all the blocks, but to move the ball past the obstacles to defeat the boss.
I think that this run might be interesting because of the way the paddle works. You have two paddles: one which stays on the bottom of the screen and another which can be moved up and down. In a TAS, that means you can push the paddle up near the blocks to speed through the levels. The ball is a little unpredictable in how it bounces, though, and none of the levels allow you to just take a straight line up the center, so there is a little strategy involved in this.
I might be willing to try this out, but I will be moving slowly, so if someone who can do this quicker is willing to pick it up that would be great.
I played this for a little bit and I couldnt believe my eyes. The game is greater than I thought. It sure is laggy though.
I hope someone TASes this in the near future. I think it will be an interesting twist on a Breakout TAS.
Joined: 8/6/2006
Posts: 784
Location: Connecticut, USA
This game looks very interesting. The fact that you can rotate the paddle would definitely add some entertainment to the run. How does 2 player work by the way? (I only watched a YT video). If it's simultaneous play, the entertainment factor would spike again.
I've started one, but it's not great. The hit detection is so bad, and the angle the ball bounces when it hits something seems random, as opposed to being remotely based on where it hits the paddle or the angle it connects at. You can see this happen a couple of times in my WIP.
Rotating the paddle isn't that entertaining, as each stage goes something like this:
* Set up place to blow through the next segment of the level
* Blow past the segment as fast as you can.
* Hit a roadblock, fight the random angle generator to get back to step 1.
* Repeat steps 1-3 a couple times.
* Boss Fight. Some levels have bonus bosses, some levels have actual challenges. EX: Level 1 is 'hit the boss until he dies', level 2 is 'get bonus points while the timer ticks down'.
* One last screen before the end of the level, usually designed to eat time.
* Tallys up bonus points, shows you next levels' boss.
Stages 1 and 2 are straight lines, then the stages start offering branching paths. You rotate mostly to navigate said paths. I've played up to the fire world, which appears to be the next-to-final level.
The B button changes the speed of the ball, in theory. The lower-right corner counts from 1 to 3 when you push it, though I'm not sure how much impact that has yet.
I used a file marked Bad Omen (J) [p1]. As it turns out, the American name is Devilish, and I have one marked Devilish (U) [c][!]. I suspect that anyone else looking to work on this should consider using Devilish, instead of Bad Omen, unless an interesting reason to use the (J) release is found.
I haven't found any interesting glitches, and there's not much written up about this game. It's not a memorable title, so I wouldn't expect there to be much floating around the net about it.
If I were to flag my WIP, it'd be Aims for Fastest Time/Loses No Lives/Electrocutes a Pinball. My WIP TAS is available at http://www.mediafire.com/?fk8d11jtyil3258. I'm recording it and will try to have upload it to YouTube, for increased visibility.[/url]
Link to video
