Supergun Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 So it is only a 4K game then huh? Probably not much more to the game then. What about sound? You have yet to report on that. Does it have any audio at all? (sound effects) What do the difficulty switches do? What does game select and reset do? Joysticks? Paddles? 2 players? SPEAK! I command you to speak my son! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gao Posted June 15, 2013 Author Share Posted June 15, 2013 So it is only a 4K game then huh? Probably not much more to the game then. What about sound? You have yet to report on that. Does it have any audio at all? (sound effects) What do the difficulty switches do? What does game select and reset do? Joysticks? Paddles? 2 players? SPEAK! I command you to speak my son! I think it had sound, but I don't really remember it. You'll have to ask CPUWIZ about that. It uses joysticks and seemed to be only one player. I think reset just starts the game, and I don't recall select doing anything. I think the AB difficulty switch controlled wither enemies shoot or not. Again, CPUWIZ can go ahead and correct me if any of this is wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 The "Jim's Toy" looks like a "hack" or a "re-working" of the VideoSoft logo Interesting hypothesis. Got a picture of the two side by side? I'm not 100% familiar with the Videosoft logo (I never got into PAL stuff). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 Yep, although, Reset doesn't do anything for me on a Junior (have not tried anything else). When you die, you need to hit Fire and Back, to restart (clever!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supergun Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 (edited) Ask and you shall receive... Anybody perhaps know a programmer named "Jim" who may have worked for Amiga or Video Soft? Edited June 15, 2013 by Supergun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gao Posted June 15, 2013 Author Share Posted June 15, 2013 Yep, although, Reset doesn't do anything for me on a Junior (have not tried anything else). When you die, you need to hit Fire and Back, to restart (clever!). Never knew about the back and fire thing. That is kind of interesting. I'm probably misremembering reset then, since I first played this thing on a junior. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 Ask and you shall receive... They do look a lot alike. I think you're onto something here. The 'I' at the end of Jim's Toy must be the T from Videosoft. Very interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 They do look a lot alike. I think you're onto something here. The 'I' at the end of Jim's Toy must be the T from Videosoft. Very interesting. I doubt it, if someone is clever enough to edit the characters, he would not just get rid of the over-extending line, but also the T. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supergun Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 I doubt it, if someone is clever enough to edit the characters, he would not just get rid of the over-extending line, but also the T. No, I mean your over thinking it though. This was an eprom cartridge, a work in progress if you will. The "initial" modifying of the VideoSoft logo would have just been "good enough" or sufficient to at least "hide" the name video soft from prospective buyers or interested individuals who may have been looking at the game at some point for evaluation or consideration, etc. They would have eventually gone in there and made a more permanent change, such as placing the actual company logo of whomever was going to release it, or heck deleted it all together. The point is it makes sense that it was not "perfectly done" because this was not "ready to be masked" anyhow. (and of course the entire VideoSoft or Amiga theory could be wrong too, I am just explaining this tidbit away) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimefighter Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 So now that leaves video of "Jim's Toy" being played to be put up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 From a coder's perspective, I doubt there is a relation to Video Soft. Except for the bar, all characters are different and not even at the same position. And why would anyone leave the bar if it is much easier to start from scratch? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supergun Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 (edited) Well, the bar logo varies from game to game and is also in different positions. For this game it could have been at that position originally. Edited June 15, 2013 by Supergun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gao Posted June 15, 2013 Author Share Posted June 15, 2013 (edited) Well, the bar logo varies from game to game and is also in different positions. For this game it could have been at that position originally. While it seems strange to just leave a bar if ones overwriting a logo, it could be that someone made it look like the Video Soft logo on purpose. Like hypothetically, this was a pet project of someone working at Video Soft (Jim?), and this is a proof of concept that he presented to whoever there made decisions to produce games. The graphics may largely be placeholders (meaning they never intended to release a game with swastika looking enemies), and since he was going to replace the graphics anyway, he put in his own signature or inside joke or something where the company logo would go, and kept the bar to make it clear what it was (or perhaps as some sort of inside joke). Comparing "Jim's Toy(i?)" to the Video Soft logo really demonstrates how relatively awkward looking that is as well, with inconsistent letter sizes and possibly two different forms of "i" for some reason. Edited June 15, 2013 by Gao Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 Well, do we know if anyone at Videosoft was named Jim? That might help prove or disprove the theory. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Wonder007 Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 I think this game is Tank Blitz, an unreleased proto from Milton Bradley. This game would have had a special controller and the odd way of resetting this game (press button and down) is perhaps programmed that way to accommodate the special controller..... see: http://www.atariprot...0/tankblitz.jpg (scroll down). Of course, I may be totally wrong but you never know....does anybody the name of the programmers from Milton Bradley? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supergun Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 That's an excellent theory as well. I always forget about that third game in the Milton Bradley series that never made it out the gates. So it is possible, of course. However I did look at the scoring fonts of Spitfire Attack & Survival Run and they are just a completely different style. Anything is possible at this point though. We will figure this out eventually, we just need to keep digging, (of course, as I said earlier, we could end up finding out it was programmed by a "recluse". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 Maybe CPUWIZ could run CloneSpy and check if any other game has some code sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 Don't you need an ancient OS for that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted June 15, 2013 Share Posted June 15, 2013 Don't you need an ancient OS for that? Any 32 bit Windows should work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted June 16, 2013 Share Posted June 16, 2013 (edited) I can't come any further than Tank Blitz either. CPU, do you recognize this board type being from a certain company? Edited June 16, 2013 by Rom Hunter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted June 16, 2013 Share Posted June 16, 2013 No, never seen this kind before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Wonder007 Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 Another thing: with the presence of reversed swastikas and the word "Blitz" in the Milton Bradley proto title, the term "blitzkreig" was a military strategy used by the German forces during World War II (see following link for more info: http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Blitzkrieg) which would connect the 'Blitz" in "Tank Blitz", the tank which is part of the blitzkreig World War II military strategy and the swatiskas that identified Hitler's Germany during the same time. I have researched other possible Atari 2600 tank-related proto possibilities in my vast prototype documentation and resources but could not find anything. I am starting to think that this is a proto to Tank Blitz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cebus Capucinis Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 Another thing: with the presence of reversed swastikas and the word "Blitz" in the Milton Bradley proto title, the term "blitzkreig" was a military strategy used by the German forces during World War II (see following link for more info: http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Blitzkrieg) which would connect the 'Blitz" in "Tank Blitz", the tank which is part of the blitzkreig World War II military strategy and the swatiskas that idendified Hitler's Germany during the same time. I have researched other possible Atari 2600 tank-related proto possibilities in my vast prototype documentation and resources but could not find anything. I am starting to think that this is a proto to Tank Blitz. If it is, that's even cooler than it being some random new game! A shame it doesn't have the controller with it, I wonder if there were any working prototypes of that running about. Doubtful, since that would have been after the game was done, and the one in the pic is likely just a mockup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Foxsolo2000 Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 Another thing: with the presence of reversed swastikas and the word "Blitz" in the Milton Bradley proto title, the term "blitzkreig" was a military strategy used by the German forces during World War II (see following link for more info: http://en.wikipedia....wiki/Blitzkrieg) which would connect the 'Blitz" in "Tank Blitz", the tank which is part of the blitzkreig World War II military strategy and the swatiskas that identified Hitler's Germany during the same time. I have researched other possible Atari 2600 tank-related proto possibilities in my vast prototype documentation and resources but could not find anything. I am starting to think that this is a proto to Tank Blitz. How may other tank related prototypes are still out there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rom Hunter Posted June 17, 2013 Share Posted June 17, 2013 Starpath's Last Line of Defense. And 20th Century Fox' Patton. But I don't think these are correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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