242 replies to this topic

[RCorcoran]

Sorry for the lack of response to this.  I apologize to all concerned.

O.K., here is the deal.  As far as CGE is concerned, we were all swamped (Todd ran the 4 Atari 2600 events,  Brien King ran the CV tournament and I ran the Robotron event as well as the TG booth).  Due to the hectic tournament schedule, Todd was unable to give a "public" demonstration, however, he did have time after the show Sunday and was able to accomplish 32.50 which we did capture on VHS.  

I hope this answers some questions and finally puts to rest the Barnstorming issue.  If not, let me know and we can talk more about it.  

[NE146]

Quote

There's no harm done and since it's such an open sore for the video game community

lol I think a lot of people were interested (as was I) but I don't think it could be called an "open sore"

.. I mean come on, get real, not like it's anything major. How about some debates regarding highscores on cooler games for a change Because lets face the fact, Barnstorming sucked butt anyway

[MegaManFan]

[quote="Jeffy Arensmeyer"] 
Looking through the photos taken at CGE, Todd was a referee for Twin Galaxies on some of their contests, as seen [url="http://www.atariage.com/features/cge2k2/view_picture.html?ImageName=pictures/TheShow/DSCN2980.JPG"]here[/url].

Ah, so that was Todd?  Too bad I didn't say hi to him, but now that I know who he is from that photo maybe I'll catch him next year.

[Jeffy Arensmeyer]

Albert said:

...This was our first showing at CGE as a vendor, so it was a big learning experience for us...

Never would have guessed it.    From all of the photos I've seen, you guys looked like one of the more prepared booths on the floor.  Your booth looked great:!:

And I totally understand your situation.  You weren't there to handle any part of this, but rather to promote your site, make a little cash and have fun.  I hope everything went well, from a business standpoint.  It looks like you two work really hard for something you truly love and we all appreciate it very much.  

RCorcoran said:

...I apologize to all concerned...I hope this answers some questions...

Thank you.  And, yes, it does help to finally hear, at least, a score.  Todd looked like he was having fun himself, but thank you to him for stopping long enough to run a few games.  

ò¿ó            
 

[Jeffy Arensmeyer]

NE146 said:

...not like it's anything major...

You gotta admit though, it was better than some of the "How do I straighten my joystick cord?" or "Favorite video game character Part 74" or "Quick! Look at Ebay" threads that we are so often pelted with.  

ò¿ó            
 

[mica1]

So after reading all these POSTINGS what would be concidered a good score / time on Barnstorming? I have a 33.15 and have yet to get below the 33 second mark. Is there any special joysticks that I could use to attain a better time? Ive been reading some other posts on this game but the methods are mostly the same so im specualting your time and speed is with in your joysticks responces. Yes?

[D.Yancey]

mica1 said:

So after reading all these POSTINGS what would be concidered a good score / time on Barnstorming? I have a 33.15 and have yet to get below the 33 second mark. Is there any special joysticks that I could use to attain a better time? Ive been reading some other posts on this game but the methods are mostly the same so im specualting your time and speed is with in your joysticks responces. Yes?

Make sure both your difficulty switches are set to "B".  One side makes you fly lower through the barns and the other creates more birds if they are set to "A".  Make sure you develop a flight plan in which you do not fly all the way to the top of the screen; any excess vertical movement causes you to lose time.  A joystick in proper working condition is a must.  Any quivering movements created by a fgaulty stick will lose time for sure.  Hope this helps!

[mica1]

Thanks for the tips David they were very helpful. This is one of my favorite game titles. Simple game play but very challenging.

[joy panzoukis]

I never realized that Barnstorming was such a popular title and such and touchy subject . Todd Rogers always seems to be stiring things here and there reguardless if  he wants to or not. But I too would have loved to have seen this 32.50 being performed its almost like a programed score.

Joy Panzoukis

[Godzilla]

Jeffy Arensmeyer said:

NE146 said:

...not like it's anything major...

You gotta admit though, it was better than some of the "How do I straighten my joystick cord?" or "Favorite video game character Part 74" or "Quick! Look at Ebay" threads that we are so often pelted with.  

ò¿ó            
 

i dig that avatar. i think its funny that u chose a nichibutsu (sp) game to show when zoomed in on the atari logo

[joy panzoukis]

So am I to belive that Barnstorming is played simular to games like Sky Jinks and Skiing the less you move the better your time will be and what about those confounded birds does anybody have some simple methods for evading them? Is it easier to let off the gas rather then hitting a bird I think the timing is close to the same.

Joy Panzoukis

[StanJr]

I'm 99% sure you can navigate the geese successfully on game 1 without ever slowing down via the brakes.  There is a definite and precise pattern to slipping between them and the windmills.  It takes a LOT of playing and memorization, but I've almost done it several times and I think I CAN do it, its just a matter of making it happen!

Todd would know.

[D.Yancey]

Yes, you can navigate game 1 without ever slowing or having a collision.  You can even find a successful path without going all the way to the top row of the screen in order to acheive the best times.  As Joy pointed out, any vertical movement causes lost time.  Once this path is found and memorized, closely skimming the birds, barns and windmills becomes the most important part of the game.  Good luck everyone!  The 5ht Ghost can give some great hints on this one or on Sky Jinks too!!

[supercat]

Thomas Jentzsch, on Fri Jul 19, 2002 1:12 PM, said:

I think the sound doesn't effect the gameplay at all, but I'll check and maybe hack it into the game again.

Sound and CPU loading wouldn't affect a Barnstorming time, but it would seem plausible that the game might increase a player's speed as a reward for flying extremely close to a windmil.

[Cap5750]

Thomas Jentzsch, on Thu Jul 11, 2002 9:27 AM, said:

Technically, I'm 100% sure it's not an emulator problem and a slower running VCS would cause the whole game to run slower not only the clock (because both is done with software).

I had a bad power supply on a C-64 once....okay...more then once, but one time in particular, I could still get things to work, but any game with a clock moved at a much slower pace. I remember playing Omni-Play Basketball and my roommate asking me how I was having such high scoring games.

Forgot to mention...on those games where the clock ran slower, everything else was exactly the same as a normal game would be expected.

Edited by Cap5750, Sat Jun 4, 2005 6:51 PM.

[Luigi301]

If the timer chip isn't getting enough power, it's underclocked, and if it's underclocked, the crystal isn't running at its proper speed, and the timer slows down.

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Luigi301, on Sun Jun 5, 2005 4:16 AM, said:

If the timer chip isn't getting enough power, it's underclocked, and if it's underclocked, the crystal isn't running at its proper speed, and the timer slows down.

The 2600 has no timer chips.

[Robert M]

Thomas Jentzsch, on Sun Jun 5, 2005 12:18 AM, said:

Luigi301, on Sun Jun 5, 2005 4:16 AM, said:

If the timer chip isn't getting enough power, it's underclocked, and if it's underclocked, the crystal isn't running at its proper speed, and the timer slows down.

The 2600 has no timer chips.

More importantly, if you did under or overclock an Atari 2600, the TV signal would go out of spec and could not be displayed.  I believe the margin for the clock tolerance before the image would go bad is < +-2%