Wilmunder's Star Raiders II released

[luckybuck]

Yes, a SR III with an all view, not just aft view, multiplayer, up to 8 members, with one Atari as just a server and multiple monitors for each player and more Battlestar Galactica stuff is a dream I have for more than 3 decades. Alexa...

[Tempest]

Okay, I am going to speak some blasphemy.

 

There really isn't that much difference between Star Raiders II and Last Starfighter.

 

Basically, the zylons invade, attack starbases, and attack planets. Your job is to save your cities and bomb zylon cities.

 

Yes, the AI in Last Starfighter is non-existent. The AI in SR2 isn't much better. The horrible reticle aiming is where the challenge is. Otherwise it's just swapping between forward and aft view.

 

Truthfully, if they would have done better with the Fly Fighters in LS, given us an aft view, and made planetary battles better, LS would have been a perfectly acceptable SR2. Certainly the bombing campaign in LS is better than SR2. I love the banking on planets. The whole thing is a little reminiscent of Rescue on Fractalas (Behind Jaggi Lines). But again, that frustrating reticle aiming makes me want to bash my monitor in.

 

Wait, are you talking about TLSF vs the Star Raiders II that Atari released during the XL/XE's lifespan or the Star Raiders II prototype we've been discussing here? If it's the former then of course there's no real difference, it's the exact same game (literally) with the serial numbers filed off. If you're talking about the later, then I have no idea what you mean as they are VERY different games.

[Snowflake]

Sure, but you have to go back in time, Aric was under great stress, no time to do it the way, he wanted. Further, please take into account, that the game was never published, because it wasn't finished! Seeing it from today with all the knowledge and experience, sometimes becloudes an objective view on the performance the authors have made in the golden age.

 

I've always kind of wondered about that. What would Star Raiders look like today? I don't mean that travesty that came out a few years ago. I mean a ​real​ Star Raiders.

 

It's possible. There's a game engine called 3D GameStudio which I've always fancied would do a good Star Raiders. I've worked with it a few years ago just for giggles.

[luckybuck]

@ Tempest: http://www.atarihq.com/atcomp/lastsr2.html

 

@ Snowflake: Yes, you are right, we now have the capability to do it, but there is a person missing, who actually is doing it. An app is under way for iPhone, hope, it can be finished soon. :-)

Edited November 21, 2017 by luckybuck

[commander]

:-)

Edited June 11, 2018 by commander

[luckybuck]

I am quite sure, Aric will be pleased! :-))))

 

Thank you!

 

Btw, you remind me, that we really have to made a manual for SR II...

 

Thanks again. :-)

[commander]

not only a manual...

 

Does anybody have done a design template for the bigbox paper boxes of the 1st Atari 800 Games? It deserved to be placed into one ot these boxes :-)

Edited June 11, 2018 by commander

[luckybuck]

Yes, very true, but Aric has really given us all he had. So sad. :-(((

[+x=usr(1536)]

Does anyone know if any portions of the code from this game were reused elsewhere?

 

I'm not going to go so far as to say that I played this BITD - but the sequences with the planets look extremely familiar.

 

Granted, it could be being confused with something else, but I'm not sure that it is.

[doctorclu]

I thought the same thing. Maybe it was a demo? Maybe there were portions of the code that were stand alone programs that were forwarded around the BBSs at the time?

 

But when a saw SR2 a few years ago I thought to myself that a lot of it looked familiar.

[Gunstar]

 

Wait, are you talking about TLSF vs the Star Raiders II that Atari released during the XL/XE's lifespan or the Star Raiders II prototype we've been discussing here? If it's the former then of course there's no real difference, it's the exact same game (literally) with the serial numbers filed off. If you're talking about the later, then I have no idea what you mean as they are VERY different games.

No, it is not the exact same game. First, TLSF has no bases to refuel at, your only option is to orbit the sun to refuel, and then there is also the Frontier you have to defend on top of the usual SR2 stuff, and also on the planets you can move forward or backward in TLSF and in SR2 you can only move forward (slowing down or speeding up). And a few other differences, but the overall experience of playing both games is a different experience. It's clear to me that everyone that claims they are the identical game has never even tried playing one or the other, or both for very long or at all, because the differences become obvious just a bit into either game.

Edited June 12, 2018 by Gunstar

[Tempest]

No, it is not the exact same game. First, TLSF has no bases to refuel at, your only option is to orbit the sun to refuel, and then there is also the Frontier you have to defend on top of the usual SR2 stuff, and also on the planets you can move forward or backward in TLSF and in SR2 you can only move forward (slowing down or speeding up). And a few other differences, but the overall experience of playing both games is a different experience. It's clear to me that everyone that claims they are the identical game has never even tried playing one or the other, or both for very long or at all, because the differences become obvious just a bit into either game.

It's true they changed a few things here and there, but 98% of the game is exactly the same. To call it a 'different experience' is pushing it.

[Gunstar]

It's true they changed a few things here and there, but 98% of the game is exactly the same. To call it a 'different experience' is pushing it.

it's more accurate than calling it the exact thing "literally" (do you know the meaning? Litarally?) with the serial number filed off. And there's far more than a 2% difference. Why do you have the need to down play the differences to the point of exaggeration or out right untruth?

Edited June 12, 2018 by Gunstar

[Tempest]

it's more accurate than calling it the exact thing "literally" (do you know the meaning? Litarally?) with the serial number filed off. And there's far more than a 2% difference. Why do you have the need to down play the differences to the point of exaggeration or out right untruth?

Easy there. You're getting way too worked up over this for some strange reason. We have a difference of opinion that's all. If you don't like you're free to ignore it. If you want to do a write up of all the differences in detail then do that too. I'd be interested in reading that.

 

 

(do you know the meaning? Litarally?)

 

Yes I do. Do you know the meaning of spaz? Because you're literally being a spaz right now. Chill.

[+Stephen]

Don't make me pull this car over and report to a modera.... oh wait. Never mind.

[Tempest]

Don't make me pull this car over and report to a modera.... oh wait. Never mind.

 

Don't worry, I'm reporting myself.

[VladR]

What would Star Raiders look like today? I don't mean that travesty that came out a few years ago. I mean a ​real​ Star Raiders.

I presume you don't mean on PC/consoles, as there's couple hundred space games like that already.

 

Do you mean just vanilla 64 KB Atari ? Because quite a damn lot can be stuffed into game if we're talking 256 KB (let alone 1-4 MB)

 

Of course, such undertaking is easily 3-6 months, full-time...

[Mr Robot]

I've always thought that Elite was the spiritual successor to Star Raiders (Braben and Bell admit to creating Elite after seeing Star Raiders) so I expect Star Raiders today would look a lot like Elite Dangerous.

[luckybuck]

Maybe a little bit like Battlestar Galactica (2003) rendered in a computer?

[Gunstar]

I presume you don't mean on PC/consoles, as there's couple hundred space games like that already.

 

Do you mean just vanilla 64 KB Atari ? Because quite a damn lot can be stuffed into game if we're talking 256 KB (let alone 1-4 MB)

 

Of course, such undertaking is easily 3-6 months, full-time...

Wasn't Star Raiders 8 or 16K? And how much memory does Wilmunder's SR2 use? I think a lot more could be stuffed into just a 64K game.

Edited June 19, 2018 by Gunstar

[Atari030]

I would have thought something like Wing Commander would be a successor. In saying that, nothing comes close to SR.

 

Elite was more than a blast em up.

[luckybuck]

@Gunstar: SR I was 8 KiB, but every byte in the cart was used! Taking the xex file of SR II it is > 42 KiB... big job, great program. Maybe the test program for entry to the 6th branch? Yes, sure, there is space for up to 64 KiB and even more when bank switching. Aric's version wasn't final! He was stopped... Anyway, I am dreaming of a SR I version in a network, with one Atari as server, further, 6 monitors each player... :-)))

 

@Atari030: can't agree more... Would really like to see Cassiopeia on an A8... :-)))

[Swami]

Surprised this never got ported to the 5200...

[Gunstar]

I imagine it would take a lot to get SRII onto the 5200 since it is apparently about 42K, and at this point meant to be loaded into ram. But someone did put it on XEGS supercart (Ndary?). So It could be done, of course a lot more memory manipulation and changes are needed since the 5200 has a different memory map.

[Tempest]

Has someone gone through the game and seen how complete it is?  This is one of those prototypes I still need to review for my site, but I'm not a Star Raiders expert by any means so I've been putting it off.