This week I worked on detecting T-spins and combos. I implemented a new module that is responsible for tracking both the lines cleared and lines sent to the opponent. This moves the previously existing functionality for lines cleared out of our top-level and adds the functionality of lines being sent to the opponent. Lines sent is influenced by a number of factors, some of which are how many lines are being cleared, whether or not the clear is a T-spin, how long is the combo, and is it a back-to-back. Of these, I only need to add back-to-backs and then the lines sent should be functionally correct.
In terms of ongoing progress, I had planned to implement the red bar on the side of the playfield this week. This bar indicates the number of lines of garbage that are about to load into the playfield at any given point. This was originally scheduled for last week, but I fell behind due to the Design Review Report. This week was also rather busy, leading up to spring break, and it was not completed this week either. We had planned that something like this might happen though, so I’ll now be implementing that over spring break as well.
I’ll be using this slack week during spring break to return to schedule. The plan for this week is to
- Upgrade from VGA 640×480 @ 60hz to SVGA 800×600 @ 72hz
- Detect back-to-back line clears to adjust lines sent to the opponent
- Implement the bar that indicates trash loading into the playfield from the opponent.
This is about on par to previous weeks so its good that I have the slack to make it up.
As a side note, being home for spring break, I needed a VGA monitor to be able to test and debug our implementation. I asked my dad for one and he pulled out this old dinosaur.