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Space Rocks (2600)


SpiceWare

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I'll probably remove the 2/5 minute option if we make another TE. I'd replace it with something else, most likely to select solid/vector style as some 2600s/TVs don't display vector style very well.

Display is pretty solid on my CRT. I haven't played Space Rocks on a flat panel, but I'd imagine the Venitian blinds effect would look atrocious. All games with flicker exhibit this effect on flat panels.

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Display is pretty solid on my CRT. I haven't played Space Rocks on a flat panel, but I'd imagine the Venitian blinds effect would look atrocious. All games with flicker exhibit this effect on flat panels.

 

on my 7800, unmodded and hooked up to an old TV, the vector version looks really bad.

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on my 7800, unmodded and hooked up to an old TV, the vector version looks really bad.

I haven't tried it on my 7800 yet. I don't imagine it would look bad though since it uses the same TIA chip. In fact the picture is slightly crisper because my 7800 is AV modded. But the RF on my original 4-swith woody is about as clean as an RF signal can be thanks to the refurb job and the F-coupler I installed on the rear of the case when I first bought it three years ago. There is a giant ferrite RF block on the internal 1 foot coax inside, and the RF output is about as crisp as technically possible, without a fancy pre-emphasis filter like they use on commercial cable boxes.

Edited by stardust4ever
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on my 7800, unmodded and hooked up to an old TV, the vector version looks really bad.

 

For what it's worth, I play mostly on a cheap 2003 Sylvania TV I picked up last year at my local Goodwill for $5 before they stopped selling TV's ... Mostly it was fine, except for dark green rocks, which were VERY hard to see. I had to fiddle with the brightness/contrast settings quite a bit to increase visibility but eventually found a combo that worked. Another factor maybe is that I was playing on my 4-switch Woody, which has a noticeably poorer RF signal than my Light Sixer. I haven't tried on my 7800 yet but as a rule, it seems to have a picture that's better than the Woody but worse than the Light Sixer.

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  • 4 months later...

Just "discovered" this game. Very addicting. Love the magna mines that explode in to little ships that follow you. Very original finding.

Thanks! Do note that the magna mines aren't original, they're the Killer Satellites from Asteroids Deluxe.

 

If you'd like to see something original, check out Stay Frosty and its sequel.

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  • 6 months later...

Anyone have issues with playing this game on a six switch? My four switch it works fine, but on my light six, nothing comes up.

 

 

The stand alone cartridge uses a Melody board, which underwent a minor revision that turned out to be not so minor after all - it was incompatible with sixers.

 

We found this out after Stay Frosty 2 was released. You've 2 options - do a minor hardware mod (per reply #35) to your sixer, which will also make it so that other problem games like California Games and River Raid II will now work, or contact Al about swapping the cartridge for one that's compatible with sixers.

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The stand alone cartridge uses a Melody board, which underwent a minor revision that turned out to be not so minor after all - it was incompatible with sixers.

 

We found this out after Stay Frosty 2 was released. You've 2 options - do a minor hardware mod (per reply #35) to your sixer, which will also make it so that other problem games like California Games and River Raid II will now work, or contact Al about swapping the cartridge for one that's compatible with sixers.

 

Was this revision done to a later release of the cart? I bought mine when it was first released in the AA store and it works just fine on my non-modded sixers

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Was this revision done to a later release of the cart? I bought mine when it was first released in the AA store and it works just fine on my non-modded sixers

 

Not all systems are affected, or I certainly would have heard about it before Stay Frosty 2 shipped. :)

 

..Al

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Interesting. Are there differences within models of six switch units that might account for it working on one and not the other?

Al already answered, "probably".

 

I had so many incompatibilities w/my 1st 7800, the final NTSC run with Serial staring with X, I ordered a 2nd one to play Beef Drop & Scramble!

If one or both had the timing change that lets 1 Atari Cart work - Dark Chambers? I removed that because it breaks Supercharger and Robot Tank (my favorites) and a few others! That's 1 of the 7800's 8 variations.

 

I have 2 Princess Rescues, a boxed cart and a loose cart.

One would play perfect on all machines (woodgrain 2600's), but the other would not be able to make a far right jump. It was if, I remember correctly, a gray floor in Level 2. Same cart, jump works fine downstairs, but refuses to jump on the upstairs Atari.

Al did swap me for another, but it also wouldn't jump at that spot on one machine.

And that's was not a DPC+ game, but It could be anything: the board in the cart, my Heavy 6, Light6, Light 4...

 

So there have to be many variations in original hardware, age of the parts, improper voltages, failing caps or voltage regulators, etc.

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[..]

So there have to be many variations in original hardware, age of the parts, improper voltages, failing caps or voltage regulators, etc.

 

It'd be nice to loosen the spec someplace so as to avoid eventually fragmenting the market. Or develop a comprehensive test procedure to ensure each version of the console can be bought into specification without any ambiguity.

 

Hopefully over time other cartridges will either continue to work, all or none.

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