LynxVGL Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 This project is unbelievable. That is some serious coding chops right there. To say I'm stunned by Ballblazer running with that kind of smoothness on a 2600 is a an understatement. Wow. Just wow. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iesposta Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 Thanks, I'm now optimizing the code so it will be smaller and I'll be able to add more features. I'll add music if there is enough rom space left. Sound effects are a must-have I guess, so those should be added first. I've not thought about PAL yet, but if I can make a PAL-version by just changing some parameters in the assembler, then that should be no problem. If you want, I could try and make the music a very small routine. In my Mappy TIA Music Demo, I took the 1 minute 20 second song data of 8668 bytes down to 823 bytes, and ended with a thought to cut 122 more bytes out. http://atariage.com/forums/topic/233403-mappy-tia-music-demo-enjoy/?p=3150703 Video down below that. Plus Ballblazer tune minus repeating parts is less than 5 seconds. I had an hour of reply I just lost when I went looking for that link, saying you not only proved Ballblazer could be done but topped that with Ballblazer in a game all in 4K, and that the 2008 & 2015 Pac-Man 4K are masterpieces, but the new Pac-Man 8K is about to become the greatest overall 2600 game of all time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted November 9, 2015 Share Posted November 9, 2015 If you want, I could try and make the music a very small routine. Here's a link to that in case you need it: atariage.com/forums/topic/130990-anyone-think-ballblazer-is-possible-on-the-2600/?p=1615377 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+sramirez2008 Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 Thanks, I'm now optimizing the code so it will be smaller and I'll be able to add more features. I'll add music if there is enough rom space left. Sound effects are a must-have I guess, so those should be added first. I've not thought about PAL yet, but if I can make a PAL-version by just changing some parameters in the assembler, then that should be no problem. Wow!!! I just found this thread. Man, now I really wish I could have attended the PRGE. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+CyranoJ Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 That looks utterly fantastic One point, if you go past a player on the right, the reflected view for the other player should show you passing on the left. In the video, it passes in both views on the same side. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted November 10, 2015 Share Posted November 10, 2015 Looking good. Keep at it! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tickled_Pink Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 I am suitably impressed. Now ... can you do Rescue on Fractalus as well? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FujiSkunk Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 I've just now checked this out and looked at the latest ROM. This is beautiful! You even have more detail for the areas outside the playfield than the 5200 and 7800 versions! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Propane13 Posted January 3, 2016 Share Posted January 3, 2016 Glad this project is still alive! I had almost forgot about it. Looks great! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+selgus Posted January 10, 2016 Share Posted January 10, 2016 Wow, amazing how far you have gotten with this, and after all these years, the passion is still there. Congrats! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacrosCode Posted July 8, 2016 Share Posted July 8, 2016 Unbelievable!! Incredible!! :-o Please keep on going to finish this masterpiece!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atwwong Posted September 17, 2016 Share Posted September 17, 2016 I first saw this thread at the beginning when it was just a scrolling demo. Back then I was impressed. Now I am speechless! To see the labour of passion and effort (and all the history) that has gone into making Ballblazer for the 2600 a reality! Awesome!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KidGameR186496 Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 if you want it,i can do a box for it for free 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted September 18, 2016 Share Posted September 18, 2016 Even if this project doesn't get finished it's nice to know our venerable VCS can handle it. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+OLD CS1 Posted December 14, 2016 Share Posted December 14, 2016 Bumping for justice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tradyblix Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 (edited) I used to play this on the 7800 in the late 80s. Before I got the nintendo ( I got it several years late due to my parent's financials.). This was by far my favorite game on that system, and to have it on the 2600 in a version this good is amazing. Just found out about it. Can we make custom carts for it ? Did anyone setup a proper label ? Edited January 25, 2017 by tradyblix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted January 25, 2017 Share Posted January 25, 2017 Yes, it is quite the piece of work, isn't it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland p Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 (edited) Wow, another year has passed... I've been very busy at work, working on a new product for the last year (and still not finished since requirements grew...). So not much time (and maybe I'm just lazy). If I continue, I think I should go for 8K instead of 4K. Edited January 26, 2017 by roland p 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzip Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 But even so, you are still right - I've owned, and liked, Ballblazer for 20+ years, but take away the fantastic audiovisuals and there isn't a great game underneath. A good game, but not great. What do you mean? Someone released basically the same game in 2015 and called it 'Rocket League', and many think it's the greatest thing ever Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland p Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 zipp, that post is from 2008, I'm not sure if vdub_bobby has been visiting the forums lately. His profile says 'Last Active May 27 2016 4:24 AM' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keatah Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 Wow, another year has passed... I've been very busy at work, working on a new product for the last year (and still not finished since requirements grew...). So not much time (and maybe I'm just lazy). If I continue, I think I should go for 8K instead of 4K. Heh heh yes why not.. In kid's layman's terms, 8K is more stronger and more powerful than 4K. So if it enables extra game logic, detail, and allows for more rules and things - then definitely use 8K. And especially if it removes frustration and roadblocks. There's only so many times code can be refactored and compacted before the effort to get 1 more byte means a complete re-write. <- that's my experience in programming BBS software in the 80's. Fitting in spinning cursors and clock routines and stuff like that. I assume it also applies here. I think we've seen enough 2K and 4K magic. It can be too limiting. For real. Leave the notion of "Look! It's only 4K!" to the democoder scene. Put it behind you and expand your horizons with new possibilities. In today's day and age (even on the VCS) bigger games are fully the norm. They're also acceptable, because, well, many great games are 8K. Of the official Atari-Sears releases the number of games for each memory size: 2K - 41 4K - 36 8K - 65 16K - 31 Forgive me for lecturing. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RevEng Posted January 26, 2017 Share Posted January 26, 2017 If I continue, I think I should go for 8K instead of 4K. Looking at it another way, Ballblazer is a 1984 title. Judging by my ROM directory... in 1983, a little less than half of the games were >4k. In 1984, >4k games outnumbered 4k games 8:1. There's no doubt in my mind that a period 2600 Ballblazer game would have been >4k. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KevinMos3 Posted January 28, 2017 Share Posted January 28, 2017 This also works great on the Flashback Portable, in case anyone was wondering. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland p Posted January 28, 2017 Share Posted January 28, 2017 That looks utterly fantastic One point, if you go past a player on the right, the reflected view for the other player should show you passing on the left. In the video, it passes in both views on the same side. At what timecode was that? This also works great on the Flashback Portable, in case anyone was wondering. Indeed I was Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+nanochess Posted January 28, 2017 Share Posted January 28, 2017 I know only the fame of Ballblazer and little of the game mechanics, can someone give me some heads up on how much is missing from it to make it a complete game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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