That fixed version of E.T. from Neocomputer.org (and E.T. in general)

[+Random Terrain]

He was asked to make a blockbuster game, and in that he failed.

How many games have to be sold and not returned to the store for it to become a blockbuster? If you can believe Wikipedia, "E.T. met with initial commercial success. It was among the top four on Billboard magazine's 'Top 15 Video Games' sales list in December 1982 and January 1983. The game eventually sold 1.5 million units, becoming one of the best-selling Atari 2600 titles."

 

Is over a million enough to count as a blockbuster?

[p.opus]

Pac-Man sold 7 million units and it is almost universally panned. It is the highest selling 2600 game of all time. Pac-Man sold 5 times more units than Space invaders, yet Pac-Man is viewed as a dissapointment, and Space Invaders is hailed as "The Killer App" for the 2600. So sales numbers alone can't be used as a criteria.

 

You can make the argument that ET could have never made back it's investment, given the outrageous amount of money paid for the property. But it is my opinion that ET could have sold 1/3 the amount it did, and still would have been considered "classic" if the gameplay warranted it.

 

Atari was marketing ET at little kids, LITTLE KIDS. As a result, it should have been a pickup and play kind of game. It wasn't. That's not in dispute.

 

Perhaps there was a disconnect between Atari management and HSW on how this game was going to be sold. But even the most ardent HSW supporter can agree that the complexity of ET was much more suited for older players, and not the 6 to 10 year old set.

[+Random Terrain]

But even the most ardent HSW supporter can agree that the complexity of ET was much more suited for older players, and not the 6 to 10 year old set.

I heard that most Atari employees were high as a kite back then, so he could have thought that kids were purple spaghetti monsters with extremely high IQs.

[p.opus]

I heard that most Atari employees were high as a kite back then, so he could have thought that kids were purple spaghetti monsters with extremely high IQs.

You're probably right.

 

In fact ET is much like the movie Pink Floyd The Wall. Both are better experienced when stoned.

[SoulBlazer]

You're probably right.

 

In fact ET is much like the movie Pink Floyd The Wall. Both are better experienced when stoned.

How can someone NOT put Yars Revenge in their top 10 Atari 2600 list? That's just mind blowing to me.

 

Sabteour is a fun game also, too bad it didn't come out.

[p.opus]

How can someone NOT put Yars Revenge in their top 10 Atari 2600 list? That's just mind blowing to me.

Easy. The insect theme wasn't appealing to me. It feels like "half" Star Castle. I didn't buy the neutral zone where you were safe from the drone but still could be tracked by the big cannon. Finally,I didn't like that you had to nibble the shield or touch the Quotle to bring up your own cannon.

 

But everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

[recompile]

 

Now the real reason for this thread: I wanted to talk about the one bug in E.T. which I personally felt - even way back in 1982 - was its Achilles' Heel, and which is still not fixed in the Neocomputer.org rom. When exiting a pit, as soon as E.T.'s neck finishes retracting, his entire sprite moves down one pixel. The fallout of this is that if one exits a pit from the top of it (as opposed to the bottom or the sides), as soon as E.T.'s neck retracts, his sprite shifts down a pixel, so his feet touch the pit, and he falls right back in.

 

 

The fix for that is really simple, but has an irritating side-effect: When you stretch your neck to use a power zone, you move up one pixel. I wasn't able to find a way around that, so I left that particular fix out.

[Lynxpro]

Some people are blaming HSW for what he did but he was the only Atari programmer to step up to the plate and work on the project under its insane deadline. What if he hadn't done so? The game would've been assigned to someone else with an even shorter deadline. They probably would've made something far worse because it was a requirement and not a personal challenge as HSW took it to be.

[froggeret]

This fixed version includes:

(1) Pit / Feet Fix - You can continue pushing UP while exiting a pit without falling back in.

(2) All Neocomputer fixes from 2013, BUT with the default / Color mode with ORIGINAL difficulty and energy scoring (i.e., energy reduced for walking, running, or hovering, and leftover energy added to score at the end of a round), and B&W mode with their easier difficulty (energy) option.

(3) Ninja ET only with 3 candies given to Elliot, and 3 held by ET at the end of a round.

E.T._CompletelyFixed_Final.bin

[Jstick]

This fixed version includes:

(1) Pit / Feet Fix - You can continue pushing UP while exiting a pit without falling back in.

(2) All Neocomputer fixes from 2013, BUT with the default / Color mode with ORIGINAL difficulty and energy scoring (i.e., energy reduced for walking, running, or hovering, and leftover energy added to score at the end of a round), and B&W mode with their easier difficulty (energy) option.

(3) Ninja ET only with 3 candies given to Elliot, and 3 held by ET at the end of a round.

 

Nice, I'm going to try this version out as I've never properly sat down to figure out the original, despite owning it since it was originally released...

 

Thanks!

[Video]

Revisionist history. Sales are a perfectly fine judge of what is good (in context, back in the day) I've said many times that Pac Man wasn't considered bad till me Pac Man came out. Lots of people bought it back in the day, and more importantly PLAYED it. It wasn't till the internet I heard anyone say it sucked, yet it's now taught as gospel and for some reason retroactively applied to "back in the day"

 

ET is the same boat. What did well was floating on movie tie in, nothing more, nothing less. When it came down to it, people didn't generally like it, and a LOT out and out hated it. Yet again, revisionist history. "People don't like it cause they didn't read the instructions" yeah, because it never was a new game played by kids in 83 or anything. I got this bitd and while I didn't perceive it as outright sucking, I never saw it as good, and pits aren't even the big reason for me, it was adventure and like games as far as I was concerned, yet far smaller than games from YEARS earlier.

 

This game never had been in my regular rotation, I still occasionally play it, but not regularly. Mostly, it's an interesting idea, with a few bugs, and to small. But I'd never suggest it was great by any real standard, outside of its a neat concept. Nobody knew who this dude was, more revisionist history, Atari programmers weren't credited bitd.

 

Wasn't there something like 5 million of these planned (if not produced) I'd say a pretty titanic failure when you only sell 1/4 of what was intended

[pacman000]

Hitting one out of the park, is a generous description. He is credited with creating the "best selling original Atari title".

 

While it was technically an original game, everyone, including me, at the time saw it as an unofficial "Star Castle" clone, which he was asked to make in the first place.

 

There is no doubt that he was a very capable game designer, but I think the recent love affair and rush to canonize HSW is a response more to the documentary Atari: Game Over, and the unfair blame he got for ET than to his actual greatness as a game designer. None of HSW's games are on my top 10. And while ET is nowhere near as BAD as it was claimed to be, there is no doubt that it was one of the 2600's biggest disappointments. And it can be argued that one of the reasons for that disappointment is the audiences failure to connect with some of his design decisions.

 

And while it is commendable the effort he put into ET, it should also be mentioned that he was asked to make a game, not commissioned to do a work of art. Atari was not asking HSW for his interpretation of the movie. He was asked to make a blockbuster game, and in that he failed.

Technically, the game sold well. But Atari needed a Space Invaders level hit to reignite their console sales.

[froggeret]

After receiving some feedback, I updated my E.T. Completely Fixed version. It now includes:

(1) Pit / Feet Fix - You can continue pushing UP while exiting a pit without falling back in.

(2) All Neocomputer fixes from 2013, BUT with the default / Color mode with ORIGINAL difficulty and energy scoring (i.e., energy reduced for walking, running, or hovering, and leftover energy added to score at the end of a round), and B&W mode with their easier difficulty (energy) option.

(3) Ninja ET only with 3 candies given to Elliot, and 3 held by ET at the end of a round.

and JUST ADDED...

(4) Character Freeze / Bug Fix - No longer will ET have to move in order to unfreeze a character that is "stuck" to him.

 

Please use this version instead of the one I previously posted.

 

 

E.T._CompletelyFixed_Version2_Final.bin

[almightytodd]

I'm glad to see continued interest in this game. If you haven't already, I strongly recommend you take a look at the Random Terrain website about E.T...

[scrummy]

I played it when it was new, and thought it was interesting but difficult and too frustrating for me. I do remember a friend in my neighborhood who thought it was a very neat game. Watching Keith play it was more entertaining than playing it myself, and I could see the how the game was meant to be played. It wasn't a game I would have had any interest in buying, but it was a curious thing to check out. HSW is a fascinating, talented, and cool dude. He did a thing and it has earned a spot in our consciousness. I'm not sure what that should mean to me beyond that. I never heard any of this horrible game business until much later. I think it came from people who bought the game for a few dollars and or downloaded a rom for free. These gamers have the attention span of a gnat. Now, that I've said all of that. I think I need to readdress this game with a little patience. It would be a benefit to my relaxation to slow down and try to master this puzzle.

Edited December 3, 2018 by scrummy

[azure]

After receiving some feedback, I updated my E.T. Completely Fixed version.

 

 

If I had this version in 1983, I would have played a lot more E.T.. I read the manual a few times, but I still could not get a handle of the game due to those pits. Raiders of the Lost Ark was one of my favorites, but it had a polished feel to it. E.T. felt rushed.

 

If only HSW had just a couple more weeks to fine tune this one...