40 replies to this topic

[Cybearg]

After about a month and a half of frustration and fun, I have three game releases for the Atari 2600. I hope that you enjoy them.

If you would like to see any of these games on cart, please let me know!

Heartbreak

Download
NTSC - PAL60 - PAL50
Special: Support for the Atari Driving Controller and high score saving via AtariVox or SaveKey

About
There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance the next time.
- Malcom X

Heartbreak is an colorful original arcade-style game inspired by Breakout. The game was designed and prototyped for the 2013 Global Game Jam competition and won Best Game Mechanics and Player's Choice awards in the local chapter.

Thanks to Omegamatrix for developing a kernel for Heartbreak and to ACrystal2011 and StaticHamster for testing! Extra thanks to the AtariAge.com homebrew community for all the help in getting things to work!

How to Play
Use right/left or clockwise/counter-clockwise on the Atari Driving Controller to rotate the blocks clockwise and counter-clockwise, respectively.

Lives
Each game mode has 9 lives before heartbreak (loss), with 3 hits per each of the 3 heart sizes. All heart sizes are restored at the beginning of a level.

Scoring
Red and Blue game modes give points for each broken block and bonus points for the heart size (600 for large, 400 for medium, 200 for small). Yellow and Green games give points only for cumulative ball bounces, so try to keep that ball moving!

Game Modes
On the title screen, choose left/right, select, or rotate clockwise/counter clockwise on the driving controller to select the desired game mode.

Red
Fire when the heart is pulsing the desired color. Match primary colors to a block of the same color or a block that contains the primary color until all blocks are broken. White blocks will give a heart size back. Avoid hitting blocks that are black at the start of the level.

Yellow
Fire when the heart is pulsing the desired color. Press fire at any time to change the ball's color to the current color of the heart. Keep the ball bouncing by matching primary colors to a block of the same color or a block that contains the primary color until all blocks are broken. White blocks will give a heart size back. Avoid hitting blocks that are black at the start of the level.

Blue
Fire when the heart is pulsing the desired color. Match primary colors to a block that does not already contain the current color until all blocks are white. Avoid matching colors to blocks that already contain the currently-selected color.

Green
Fire when the heart is pulsing the desired color. Press fire at any time to change the ball's color to the current color of the heart. Keep the ball bouncing by matching primary colors to blocks that do not already contain the current color until all blocks are white. Avoid matching colors to blocks that already contain the currently-selected color.

The Way Colors Work
Tip: Remember your finger paints:
Red + Yellow = Orange
Yellow + Blue = Green
Red + Blue = Purple
All Colors = White
No Colors = Black

Special Functions

Switching Controllers
To switch between a standard joystick controller and an Atari Driving Controller, simply plug in the desired controller at any time. It will be detected automatically.

Increased Difficulty
For a greater challenge, set the left difficulty switch to A (Pro). The ball will speed up over time.

Saving High Scores
If a valid AtariVox or SaveKey is detected in the second controller port, the current highest score will be displayed on the title screen when the game is turned on. High scores are automatically saved on the title screen when the player loses or toggles reset to return to the title screen.

Erasing High Scores
To clear the high score, hit fire while holding select when in one of the four game modes. The current score will be saved as the new high score the next time the player returns to the title screen.

Muting the Heartbeat
If you prefer not to hear the heartbeat while in game, toggle the Color/B&W switch to B&W.


Fix-It Felix Sr.

Download
NTSC - PAL60 - PAL50

About
Before the Magical Hammer was passed on to Fix-It Felix Jr., his father had to keep things in order.

Fix-it Felix Sr. is a parody remake of the game Fix-It Felix Jr. featured in the Disney film Wreck-It Ralph. Fix-It Felix Sr. is a simple, colorful, and fun arcade game.

Thanks to ACrystal2011 and StaticHamster for testing.

How to Play
Avoid ducks and falling bricks while fixing broken windows by hitting the fire trigger.

Broken windows in the row Felix, Sr. is standing in are indicated by blank spaces in the indicator at the bottom-left of the screen. If the window Felix Sr. is in front of is broken, the indicator will be red. If it is green, the current window is in good condition.

Lives are shown with the indicator at the bottom right of the screen. Keep an eye open for the pies that get set out on window sills--they give you an extra life!

You gain points for each window repaired, eating pies, and completing a stage by fixing all broken windows.

Special Functions

Pausing the Game
To pause the game, toggle the Color/B&W switch to B&W.

Joy Ride

Download
NTSC - PAL60 - PAL50

About
The sun is setting behind the city across sapphire-blue waters. What better time to go for a joy ride to enjoy such a beautiful evening? Only one problem--you seem to have taken the slow road.

Joy Ride is a fast-paced avoidance game inspired by Gate Racer by Atarius Maximus.

Thanks to StaticHamster for testing.

How to Play
Use up/down/left/right to avoid hitting cars for as long as possible. Collect power-up pellets (up to 3) and hit fire trigger to clear the road of traffic for a while. Watch out for the slow lanes!


Special Functions

Pausing the Game
To pause the game, toggle the Color/B&W switch to B&W.

Attached Files

•  heartbreak_final_NTSC.bin   4KB   366 downloads
•  fixit_final_PAL50.bin   4KB   235 downloads
•  fixit_final_PAL60.bin   4KB   254 downloads
•  fixit_final_NTSC.bin   4KB   671 downloads
•  heartbreak_final_PAL50.bas.bin   4KB   161 downloads
•  heartbreak_final_PAL60.bas.bin   4KB   182 downloads
•  joyride_final_NTSC.bin   2KB   384 downloads
•  joyride_final_PAL60.bin   2KB   172 downloads
•  joyride_final_PAL50.bin   2KB   154 downloads

[AVoltoro]

Have you considered putting these games on cartridges, because they sound awesome.

[gambler172]

Wow 3 new games

[Greg2600]

Nice work on those. A little on the hard side, and I couldn't figure out what to do in Fix It Felix.

[Cybearg]

Nice work on those. A little on the hard side, and I couldn't figure out what to do in Fix It Felix.

Move to a window that causes your indicator bars to turn red and hit the fire button to repair it. The left indicator shows which windows are broken on the row that Felix is standing on. If they're all fixed, it will have a solid line, a gap, and then another solid line (which represents the three windows on the left side, the gap between, and the three windows on the right).

Just look for the areas where the indicator bars turn red and hit the fire button. Keep an eye on what it does to the lower left bar. I'm sure you'll see the connection after a couple times.

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

very cool thanks! I spread the word on several classic gaming Facebook groups!

[Algus]

You made a 2600 Fix-It Felix? I FREAKING LOVE YOU

edit: I know you probably run the risk of a C&D if you do a cart for Fix-It Felix but can we have permission to have Albert do custom carts for us?

[ComputerSpaceFan]

Move to a window that causes your indicator bars to turn red and hit the fire button to repair it. The left indicator shows which windows are broken on the row that Felix is standing on. If they're all fixed, it will have a solid line, a gap, and then another solid line (which represents the three windows on the left side, the gap between, and the three windows on the right).

Just look for the areas where the indicator bars turn red and hit the fire button. Keep an eye on what it does to the lower left bar. I'm sure you'll see the connection after a couple times.

Ahhh I get it! And wow this is awesome! A really fun rendition of the Fix It Felix game. Admittedly it helps to have your instructions above, I was also lost about what I was supposed to be doing here. But now that I know I am loving this game! Well done!

Edit: I just noticed if you leave the game in "attract mode" when you start, there are red arrows that point at you and point at the windows so kudos to Cybearg for including instructions in the intro. I was just too dumb to understand what it meant.

Edited by ComputerSpaceFan, Wed Mar 27, 2013 6:37 PM.

[Omegamatrix]

It's good to see HeartBreak finally released! Obviously I'm biased, but I found that game to be a lot of fun.


Also, there isn't a lot of games that can use either a joystick or driving controller. Actually I can't think of any off hand. You can also swap the controllers well the game is running and it will work. Just plug and play.

[Algus]

Been playing Fix-It Felix Sr. for a bit...



Maybe my high score isn't so good lol.

Some thoughts:
I actually like this way better than the official version. The official version is fun but it is very slow in ramping up the difficulty. You have to clear like 8-9 screens before the ducks even come. In this version Ralph has good speed and less area to cover so he is much more of a threat. The ducks come early and often and I've had several times where I'd get all three packed close together so it was really hard to dodge them. I also like how I have to check each window to see if it needs repairs.

I like that the food gives you an extra man instead of making you invincible. If you focus it seems like you could go quite awhile. I'd stock up to full and then try to save the food pickups for if I did get hit (since I suck that was usually always). Sound effects are good, colors are good. I'm really impressed by the variety of buildings. I keep seeing ones I haven't seen before. I think you did a great job of capturing the feel of the game (as it is depicted in the movie) while making it a lot more enjoyable to play than the official version. If I had a wishlist it would be to toggle Ralph's speed (difficulty switch) and maybe control frequency of ducks and powerups (and speed of ducks?) via game select. It is awesome as it is though.

Also to rephrase from earlier...I would love to have a cart of this. If you can do it without getting in trouble from Disney (maybe this is to small a project for them to notice?) then my preorder is ready at your convenience lol. If not, I'd love to have permission to have Albert do a custom cart for me.

Thank you for the game. Made my night.

[Atarius Maximus]

Excellent work, Cybearg. I like heartbreak a lot, the yellow option is my favorite. It's cool pulling out the driving controller. When I was helping you test it I played several rounds of Indy 500 when I was done... one of my first and favorite games. I played Joy Ride for a while tonight too, thanks for mentioning Gate Racer as an inspiration. I love quick and challenging games and it's definitely challenging! Definitely my kind of game and I'll be playing it more tonight. Haven't tried Fix-it Felix yet.

[Cebus Capucinis]

These look very cool, awesome work!

[jetset]

Incredible! I would love to see these on a cart!

[TrekMD]

Excellent! I have to download these and give them a spin!

[ACrystal2011]

Sign me up for the cart releases i had a blast testing heartbreak and fix it, these are awesome games

[Marc Oberhäuser]

Nice games but really hard.

[Nateo]

I agree with Algus up there - I think I like your Fix-it-Felix game better than the version Disney themselves cooked up. Really nice work.

[Algus]

Well I broke in my new Harmony cart with some Fix-It Felix. For some reason I had to switch my 2600 to Color before it would load (no I don't know why it was on B&W to begin with lol)

Anywho, I developed a bit of a strategy. Try to fix far left first and work out. This gives you more space to dodge ducks. There's no time limit so you can wait until Ralph moves to the other side of the screen before fixing windows. Speed/frequency of ducks does seem to increase as you progress but don't get impatient. I think the only reason I died was that I was trying to move to fast. And make sure to grab the pies before you fix the last window on a screen. They are worth points and you can use everything you can get since scoring a lot of points isn't really something that can happen in this game.

I promise I'll give Heartbreak and Joy Ride a go after lunch haha. I just really like this game.

[Cybearg]

Well I broke in my new Harmony cart with some Fix-It Felix. For some reason I had to switch my 2600 to Color before it would load (no I don't know why it was on B&W to begin with lol)

This is because the Color/B&W switch pauses the game, so you paused it from loading the game itself.

Glad that you enjoyed the game! I'm looking forward to hearing what you thought of the others.

[Omegamatrix]

This is because the Color/B&W switch pauses the game, so you paused it from loading the game itself.

There are ways to get around that, but it is much easier in assembly. I wrote this routine a long time back, that does it all. 7800 detection, retention of 7800 detection over a reset, pause for a 7800 or 2600, and the 2600 won't freeze upon power up as the "pause" for the 2600 is the opposite position the switch is in at power up. So if you booted up in BW mode, then color would be the pause, and vice versa.

 7800autodetection.asm   3.31KB   64 downloads

It won't compile as is, as it is just the routines and no overall program. The routine for 7800 detection was written by Nukey Shay, and I just added some things to it (like no 2600 freezing). It won't work for a 7800 on a Harmony in multicart mode because 7800 auto-detection was never implemented, although it was discussed. It will work for a 7800 on a Harmony if your rom is made as a single image, and not part of a multicart.



Other then that I tried Joyride, but I kept dying right away so I gave up. I loved the colors of the horizon in it though!

[Algus]

LOL @ me for being a noob. Once you said that, I immediately remembered reading that in the OP and thinking "That's a cool feature"

I'll have to play Heartbreak a bit more. It is definitely the most complex game here, but I think I'll like it a lot once I learn the various modes.

Joyride is pretty great. Hard as hell but in a good, "Well I shouldn't have done that" kind of way. I finally snagged a power up and loved the results. The trick seems to be to stay in the blue lane and only get in the other lanes if you have to. Even so my longest game has only lasted like 30 seconds. I'm afraid to get in the top lane, my reaction time isn't good enough to escape purpley death.

How much real-life research did you do before you made this game?

[Cybearg]

How much real-life research did you do before you made this game?

I forgot how much after the concussion. ;p

[Cybearg]

I was bored.


EDIT:

I managed to get to 013500 in Joy Ride, though I can't prove it sadly since I tend to reflex hit trigger when I die, thus losing the score. That may be a problem that needs changing, ditto for Fix-It Felix.

Edited by Cybearg, Tue Apr 2, 2013 8:21 PM.

[Algus]

Managed 7,000

I find this game to be really addicting, moreso than Fix-It Felix, Sr. I think it is because the games are so fast and every time I die, I feel like I can do better. Which is a filthy lie since it took me quite awhile to finally last this long lol. I don't think you should completely disable the fire button for restarting the game but maybe you could make it so one of the switches toggles the option? I do usually keep my console right next to me since so many games require messing with the switches but pressing the button is a lot quicker than hitting reset every time.

[Atarius Maximus]

I was bored.


EDIT:

I managed to get to 013500 in Joy Ride, though I can't prove it sadly since I tend to reflex hit trigger when I die, thus losing the score. That may be a problem that needs changing, ditto for Fix-It Felix.

Wow, 13,500? I haven't come close to that score yet. Can you share some strategy or tips?