Venture Official Release

[Mclaneinc]

I'm not trying to start a flame war here -- but do want to state that both of my cartridges were sealed quite nicely. Without tape. The clear clamshell packages are also a VAST improvement over Video 61's old white boxes, which were fragile and often arrived crushed (and in one case, pancake-flat) despite adequate packaging.

 

No flame war needed, its just some very early versions arrived in a bit of a shoddy condition, again I say EARLY versions....Later version were fine and dandy.

 

I just pointed out that Sal said he didn't have to explain himself to anyone which from a ex retailers POV is a disastrous statement, you might think it privately but to actually write it in the very forum your customers most likely come from is both rude and daft. You tread a murky path when you rely on the quality of the software alone, Sal has had some great items but if a customer(s) complain with a valid point you give them an answer without the added swipe.

 

I like Sal and I love seeing Atari 8 bit stuff of superb quality coming out now...

[Jetboot Jack]

Just wondering if I can order the cart from Video61 being UK based, or is the game still restricted to US purchasers only?

 

I have bought lots of Video61 carts over the years and would like to keep the collection complete :-)

 

sTeVE

[Kjmann]

Just wondering if I can order the cart from Video61 being UK based, or is the game still restricted to US purchasers only?

 

I have bought lots of Video61 carts over the years and would like to keep the collection complete :-)

 

sTeVE

 

Yes. Overseas Sales are available.

[Kratters31]

Wow I just bought this game from Video61 and I have to say you guys did a great job at making a great game on the Atari 8-bit. Nice graphics, color, and sound and taking advantage of Atari graphics. Nice to choose options of how to shoot and choose to play something similar to the Coleco or Arcade version, or play this "Challenger Mode" which add more monsters to each dungeon. require something extra to get through some of them, and a fourth map screen. Over all it is a great game done on the Atari 8-bit. What do you guys plan to do next?

[Kjmann]

We have two games scheduled for release soon.

 

The first is Tempest Elite. A revamp of our Tempest Xtreem With more webs, a dual pokey Stereo soundtrack, New Digital Sounds, and Full VBXE Support as well as Standard Graphics support.

 

The second one will be released a bit later on. it is an RPG thought up by Peter himself Called "Secretum Labyrinth". I have done the sound track and SFX for it and peter has done pretty much everything else. This one is HIS baby. it will be a lot of fun, combining play elements from Zelda, venture, Adventure, Intellivision D&D and a lot of our own style, just to mention a few things.

Edited March 10, 2014 by Kjmann

[+CharlieChaplin]

Errm,

 

calculate: Tempest-Elite - Tempest = ?

.

.

.

Elite !

 

 

Just a "small" suggestion for your next A8 program

 

 

-Andreas Koch.

[+davidcalgary29]

We have two games scheduled for release soon.

 

The first is Tempest Elite. A revamp of our Tempest Xtreem With more webs, a dual pokey Stereo soundtrack, New Digital Sounds, and Full VBXE Support as well as Standard Graphics support.

 

The second one will be released a bit later on. it is an RPG thought up by Peter himself Called "Secretum Labyrinth". I have done the sound track and SFX for it and peter has done pretty much everything else. This one is HIS baby. it will be a lot of fun, combining play elements from Zelda, venture, Adventure, Intellivision D&D and a lot of our own style, just to mention a few things.

 

Great news! I'll be buying two copies of each.

[Mclaneinc]

David Braben may not be impressed

 

Although the quality of Sals releases are superb, just a shame he won't put them...Oh never mind

 

Can I have a free copy of Tempest Elite or Adventure for being an annoying pain in the ass..

Edited March 11, 2014 by Mclaneinc

[peteym5]

David Braben may not be impressed

 

Although the quality of Sals releases are superb, just a shame he won't put them...Oh never mind

 

Can I have a free copy of Tempest Elite or Adventure for being an annoying pain in the ass..

You want game? $50 at Atari sales.

 

Want it for free? NO GAME FOR YOU!

 

Edited March 13, 2014 by peteym5

[peteym5]

Don't want anyone to think I am mean, I am easy going and have a great sense of humor. I am doing the finishing work for Tempest Elite and Secretum Labyrinth. I am exploring concepts and solutions to help make future games. I don't want to be doing too many games at once and get nothing done. I do recycle programming code and modify it for future games to save time.

[Mclaneinc]

Lol...You do know it was a joke Peteym5, its based on that long running thing about digital downloads

 

Of course your work and Sals is worth paying for, its superb...Keep em coming but kick Sal in the soft bits re the downloads

 

As it happens I'm putting the cash together to get one of the carts at the moment, I'd rather play it than moan about it but when you are unemployed and rely of sickness payments things like carts are a huge luxury hence I also had hoped for a DD BUT that's just the explanation. Might wait for these new ones to come out for a better choice, not brought a cart in years

 

Thank you and Sal for keeping the good stuff coming..

[peteym5]

One issue is that the Atari games are not easy to copy protect like games you download for a Windows PC, iPhone, or other modern devices. Those things save codes into cryptic files and the programming checks back with a server that you have a legitimate copy. These retrogames are made to run on hardware before the internet. Not too many programmers are going to release their games for downloading for years after they did their game.

[Mclaneinc]

The problem Pete is that copy protection is a challenge, I don't know how far in Atari history you go back but I am from before home computers or even simple games machines like pong or tennis. I grew up and worked with all the home computers from day one and I'm not going to tell lies, I hacked and cracked the odd thing BUT I also sold stuff for my living so I'm from both sides of the fence.

 

So I'm well aware of the good reasons for copy protection and appreciate how hard it is to keep your product viable but for some copy protection is nothing more than a challenge, I'll put my hand on my heart and swear I've not cracked a game since the old days and with my 'skillz' being simple coder I wasn't that good at doing that stuff anyway, I was lucky if you will to be around some of the real stars of cracking and could get what I wanted then but these days I'm purely a fan, a collector and a rubbish player.

 

The thing is that you will never protect a game well enough to make it uncrackable in the old stakes, in fact the more you try the more you make it a target for the budding 'hackers'. I'll bet but again I swear I've not seen any of your products, that whatever you have produced has been dumped by one or two of the buyers simply for fun, not to spread but as a challenge.

 

The point being, these days 99.9% of us are simply blown away to see quality stuff still appearing on our prized machine, we don't give a rats ass about spreading, copying or warez no matter what we were like in the day, we are simply grateful customers being ultra happy that some gifted person is still feeding our habit, THAT'S why I barked on about digital downloads, not because they are easy to spread, but because for some $50 is a hell of a lot of cash, its no disrespect to the hard work gone in to the making of the game, its simply that people like me don't have a 'working man's budget', I get a very basic government benefit that I'm very grateful for, the internet is a huge luxury to me, because of my mental state and other illnesses the Net is a massive plus for me but I also have to think about my 14yr old daughter and my wife, things like games are a HUGE luxury so when I see a good game on the C64 I'm lucky that most folk do it as a digital download for small amounts and I jump at those, and on a side note, they say there's no honour amongst thieves but actually the known sites DO NOT put the digital downloads on their lists out of respect for the fact its on sale, TMR can verify this if he wants.

 

I love the stuff that's out there, to see new stuff is BRILLIANT, its a real buzz to play a new creation on my beloved Atari or C64, I'm in huge debt to you guys who make new stuff and yes, protect it to safe guard the item but most of all please keep producing, we the players and collectors are eternally grateful but I know Sals stance on DD and that's a done deal, no questions about it now, but I beg others to give it a thought, its genuinely tough for some of us to buy these things, I want you to make money but you would be stunned how many folks partake in the DD's while the hard core will go for the physical product ie there's a lot of money to be made on DD's, there is a market and on the C64 its a nice little turn over.

 

But in the end for people like me its about playing....

 

Just trying to put this notion that everyone is out for a cracked version to bed, in the heyday maybe, now its about the fact someone still cares enough to produce for us.

Edited March 14, 2014 by Mclaneinc

[+Allan]

The best copy protection on the Atari (or any system) is an attitude among people who buy the software to not pirate it. Look at all the games for different Atari systems. You don't see people sharing homebrews here on Atariage when authors don't want them to. Not only are the moderators on top of such sharing but the members in general are very good about not uploading stuff that an author doesn't want to be 'shared'.

 

Allan

[Mclaneinc]

Yes, I think when an older system gets new items the morals of the folk change greatly, I noticed this on the Dreamcast forums a while back, someone was looking for a pirated version of a shoot em up called Sturmwind that was released last year, literally the WHOLE forum told him to just go out and buy it, he got a hell of a lot of flack.

 

The fact that someone had put so much hard work in to a new game for their old system just bonded them together, was nice to see.

 

I am however happy to share the old stuff unless people who own copyright say something, there's so many missing little bits the only way to find them is by doing something like the Games that weren't C64 site does, they actively look for stuff that may have been released or not by appealing to people to check their disks, its done a wonderful job of finding some real gems.

 

I wish there was more of the same on the Atari, Atarimania does it but (PLEASE ATARI FROG, make packs of stuff available rather than one by one, please!) and it works, anything that is on there that the owner or author requests removed is done.

 

But like all on here I respect the authors request and would never swap a commercial game that is retailing still.

[akator]

I respect any software author's decision regarding how the software is published.

 

That said, I wish more homebrew authors published their games with the option for paid downloads in addition to physical media. I would happily pay for a download (and as others have expressed) then *not* redistribute the software.

 

As strange as it sounds, I simply don't play most of the homebrew I already own unless I can use it on a flash cart on real hardware or via emulation. I've already got dozens of physical homebrew titles that are rarely played and because of that I rarely buy physical copies anymore. Obviously many prefer the nostalgia of physical media and swapping carts, but I just want to maximize my gaming time and enjoy the experience more by leaving a single flash cart in the system and selecting the game from a menu

 

As a side note, I sometimes wonder if my preference to not deal with physical media is from time spent in arcades all of those decades ago. Select the game you want, put in a quarter, and play. Get tired of the game and move onto another machine. In a lot of ways menu driven flash carts are similar to that experience...

[+davidcalgary29]

 

As strange as it sounds, I simply don't play most of the homebrew I already own unless I can use it on a flash cart on real hardware or via emulation. I've already got dozens of physical homebrew titles that are rarely played and because of that I rarely buy physical copies anymore. Obviously many prefer the nostalgia of physical media and swapping carts, but I just want to maximize my gaming time and enjoy the experience more by leaving a single flash cart in the system and selecting the game from a menu

 

As a side note, I sometimes wonder if my preference to not deal with physical media is from time spent in arcades all of those decades ago. Select the game you want, put in a quarter, and play. Get tired of the game and move onto another machine. In a lot of ways menu driven flash carts are similar to that experience...

 

I respect this. I really, really do. I'm a tactile guy myself, though, and half the fun for me is exploring the packaging and documents of a physical release, and that's why I buy the carts. The CV scene is particularly great for this -- great care has been put into the packaging of many new homebrew titles.

[akator]

 

I respect this. I really, really do. I'm a tactile guy myself, though, and half the fun for me is exploring the packaging and documents of a physical release, and that's why I buy the carts. The CV scene is particularly great for this -- great care has been put into the packaging of many new homebrew titles.

 

I agree completely that packaging is important and amazing. I love nicely packaged stuff.

 

My personal problem (and a stupidly trivial problem at that) is that my appreciation of the packaging and physicality has a short lifespan. Look, wow, pretty, smell it, fondle it, appreciate all of the physical aspects. But after that first few days, I have to figure out where it lives. And I can't afford a bigger house, so something else I own has to leave for something new to fit.

 

I don't have to worry about finite space with a purchased ROM

[peteym5]

We are trying to come up with different ways to market these games, different deals, ways to manufacture the cartridge. However any type of downloading is pretty far down the list. I may be doing limited demos and make those available for download, but never a full version of the game. Putting games on cartridge does provide a good level of protection. I know they still can be hacked. The decision of not doing the digital download is not mine alone.

[Mclaneinc]

A limited demo would be ace..

 

Just to give the person a taste of the game..

 

As for the downloads, all I would ask is that after the buying has stopped you think about making it freeware, not any time soon but way ahead in the future so it gets archived and not lost forever?

 

Like the downloads idea, its just a suggestion and no more than that, its your products, you do as you feel, we are just grateful you guys bother to make brilliant new stuff..

[+therealbountybob]

A limited demo would be ace..

 

Just to give the person a taste of the game..

 

As for the downloads, all I would ask is that after the buying has stopped you think about making it freeware, not any time soon but way ahead in the future so it gets archived and not lost forever?

 

Like the downloads idea, its just a suggestion and no more than that, its your products, you do as you feel, we are just grateful you guys bother to make brilliant new stuff..

Yes limited demos would be great

I never could get the Tempest Extreme Demo working on real hardware

[+Allan]

We are trying to come up with different ways to market these games, different deals, ways to manufacture the cartridge. However any type of downloading is pretty far down the list. I may be doing limited demos and make those available for download, but never a full version of the game. Putting games on cartridge does provide a good level of protection. I know they still can be hacked. The decision of not doing the digital download is not mine alone.

Maybe you should sell and market your own games. Then you can decide how to market them. You are a talented programmer and you seem to do 90% of the work. You should be the one who decides how you market your own games.

 

Allan

[peteym5]

Actually that is why I have decided to do a few of my original games instead of cloning something that was something done on another system. I am still going to work with Lance and KJMANN12 for music and manufacturing the cartridge, but later I may bring in others to help market and sell my games. It is also a question of trust, knowing the history of things going on. There has been source code stolen and someone else selling a game like what happened with Warlords on the 8-bit (Castle Crisis).

 

That being said, I have considered finding help getting my games out a little faster. Have people do some secondary work like designing title screens, fonts, sprites, etc. This RPG / Adventure I am doing, I am considering letting others to derive their own Role Playing / Adventure type game from what I am starting. Of course my game will need to be release first so someone will not just do a slight variation of it and call it their own. It must have like a whole new map, some new characters, back story etc. Its basically like Adventure on the 2600 on steroids, Goes Screen by Screen. Has some elements similar to Zelda and Dungeons & Dragons thrown in. As we know limited memory may be an issue, the bank switching cartridges and Atari's with extended memory help get around it. As been said, have to work with people that can be trusted.

[peteym5]

Going back on the ideal of finding some help with a future game project. I have this game called Megaoids, a Asteroids type game I did in Turbobasic like 20 years ago, inspired by Blasteroids by Atari Arcade. Even at compiled speeds, still has pauses and we can see when it is initializing the levels. I would like the have it ported to assembly and be able to put it on a cartridge. At Assembly speeds in a VBI, I can probably do more elaborate effects with it. However I am busy working on another Atari project right now. So if someone is interested helping with this one, send me and Sal a PM.

 

The Sound Effects were done with Atari Sound Commander, Compute Magazine November 1986. It basically cycles data to the Pokey registers in an attach VBI, loads in Page 6. If it is to be ported all to assembly, the sound commander will be just a part of the whole VBI. http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue78/021_1_Atari_Sound_Commander.php

 

I have several ideals of my own Asteroids game, like using player/missile graphic multiplexer, Antic 4, VBXE, etc. However, there were several Asteroids type games already done and is why I am probably making this more of group project.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Megaoids ML.zip

PetesGames.atr

[peteym5]

I recall about 2 years ago when I was making Venture, someone stated about the ideal of putting it onto a 16K cartridge instead of a 32K cartridge. The problem was even with using a compression routine, it would take some work to make it fit. Video 61 stated he can make and sell these games at lower costs. I have just started playing with these Atari compression routines for other games to make them do more. I may consider trying to see if it is possible to do it for a 2nd run of Venture. I would have pull myself from other projects just to see if it is even possible. For now, the 32K Cartridges at $49.95 will remain available. Atari Sales still has several more available.

 

I have Inflater working and modified it to decompress faster by merging sub-routines in with a main loop, reducing JSR calls and some semi-unrolling. Can't use self-modifying code if executed in cartridge ROM area. I looked at that Exomizer but the version I have is messed up and does not decompress correctly to RAM locations. Can someone provide me with a working version of Exomizer? I need to set these up to work from cartridges.

 

I am glad to see people are enjoying Venture. I think I did a good job with it. I am working on another Role Playing / Adventure type game now and is geared for a bigger 64K cartridges. Waiting for some on the music, sound, and audio to be completed.