ECS!

[Tempest]

I finally have my ECS hooked up for probably the first time since I got it back in the early 2000's (a nice brown one to match my original system). So what can I do with it? I know there are a limited amount of officially released games that used it (many educational) but what homebrews make use of it? Any cool projects that use it? I seem to recall some sort of terminal program being in development at one time.

[+JasonlikesINTV]

There are 6 official ECS games. You should definitely try World Championship MLB and Melody Blaster. Melody Blaster isn't spectacular, but the concept is awesome and begging for some homebrew action. I'm seriously hoping someone makes a Guitar Hero controller mod and makes a Melody Blaster/Guitar Hero type game. Um, Heavy Mattel!?

 

Space Patrol (homebrew ) utilizes extra sound channels. There may be others (homebrews).

 

Look here under ECS for the 6 titles:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/214218-cmarts-original-125-checklist/

Edited April 18, 2018 by JasonlikesINTV

[jaybird3rd]

The best overall (IMHO) ECS game—and also the most common—is Mind Strike. Scooby Doo's Maze Chase looked like fun in the brief time I played it, but I haven't revisited it in years. Joe Z. successfully used the ECS as a serial terminal, but it requires the Cuttle Cart 3:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/168660-intellivision-as-serial-terminal/

The ECS is begging for better homebrew support; I can see lots of potential for four-player games. I just wish I had more time to tinker with it.

[Tempest]

I have a cuttle cart 3 so I can look into that. I also have the music synthesizer that I can try out melody blaster. I dont own WCMLB and that one doesnt work with the CC3 (well not with voice anyway). Ill have to read the manual for Mindstrike because I couldnt figure it out on my own.

 

How is Mr. Basic? That one always seemed interesting to me.

[mthompson]

Deserter Bus, a bonus game included with Desert Bus, uses the ECS for additional sound.

 

Number Jumble is technically an ECS game, but it runs without it.

 

And then there's Super NFL Football, unreleased by Mattel but given the treatment it deserves by Intelligentvision. If you like sports games, it's worth getting an ECS just to play Super NFL.

Edited April 18, 2018 by mthompson

[+Lathe26]

World Cup Soccer is the only game that supports 4 players via the ECS. This fact is not documented on the box or in the instructions and was only discovered in the last couple years. Thus, it is the only game from the original 125 that has unofficial ECS support.

[Kiwi]

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/277250-entry-2018-deep-zone/

This game in progress using the extra sound channel from the ECS for the music and voice. It sounds pretty good from I played off jzintv emulator.

[Intymike]

There are also quite a few music pieces that use the additional 3 sound channels of the ECS for 6 channel music.

[Tempest]

And then there's Super NFL Football, unreleased by Mattel but given the treatment it deserves by Intelligentvision. If you like sports games, it's worth getting an ECS just to play Super NFL.

Is that one player or is it still two players only?

 

I just wish I could bypass that ECS screen that pops up every time. I know the new flashcart has a way to do that, but I don't believe the Cuttle Cart 3 does.

 

Wasn't there a game that didn't work with the ECS plugged in?

[mthompson]

Is that one player or is it still two players only?

 

Super NFL Football is either one or two players.

[mr_me]

The other unique thing about World Cup Soccer and the ECS is two player cooperative mode; two players playing on the same team against the computer. You can't do that without the ECS.

 

I think the Atarisoft games conflict with the ECS ROM and that includes Dig Dug. Congo Bongo too.

Edited April 18, 2018 by mr_me

[Tempest]

. I think the Atarisoft games conflict the ECS ROM and that includes Dig Dug.

That's it. Did anyone ever patch these?

[mr_me]

That's it. Did anyone ever patch these?

Someone should hack Mind Strike and World Series to play without the ECS.

[+intellivotion]

As far as it concerns the homebrews and the games programmed back in the day but released in physical format recently, here is a list that might be useful: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/264340-intellivoice-home-brews/?p=3739819

[mthompson]

As far as it concerns the homebrews and the games programmed back in the day but released in physical format recently, here is a list that might be useful: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/264340-intellivoice-home-brews/?p=3739819

 

Yeah, I forgot that Ultimate Pong's "Pong 4" game lets four players compete in teams of two when the ECS is present.

[mthompson]

Someone should hack Mind Strike and World Series to play without the ECS.

If that's possible, the same should be done with Super NFL Football. It doesn't really use the keyboard in a meaningful way.

[jaybird3rd]

Someone should hack Mind Strike and World Series to play without the ECS.

The reason they require the ECS is because they need the extra ECS RAM (at least Mind Strike does; I'm not sure about WSB). So it's not just a matter of "hacking" the games; you'd have to add the RAM in some other way (by putting it in the cartridge, for instance). Certain features of Mind Strike also require the ECS keyboard.

[mr_me]

The CC3 and LTOFlash can both emulate Intellivision RAM.

 

Does Mind Strike not run without the ECS? You do need the ECS and keyboard to start a game.

Edited April 18, 2018 by mr_me

[mthompson]

Does Mind Strike not run without the ECS? You do need the ECS and keyboard to start a game.

 

It does launch without the ECS present, but it won't start without a keyboard press. Same with World Series Baseball. That always struck me as a crappy ploy on Mattel's part to justify selling you a keyboard. Otherwise, they could have just made an expansion module to add memory and sound channels.

 

Something I've been wondering: How difficult is it for a programmer to go in and significantly modify the old Mattel titles? Do you have to be a jedi coder to do more than change the title screen?

[mr_me]

I think that something like changing Mind Strike to accept keypad '1' rather than keyboard '1' shouldn't need a jedi. Even with just a hex editor you might be able to search for the keyboard memory address and change it to the keypad memory address. Or it could be more complicated needing disassembly.

[Gernot]

 

How difficult

 

i guess the Q should be "how unlawful".

[mr_me]

Hacking a game itself might not be unlawful/illegal, but distributing it along with the original game code certainly is. If you're concerned about it, once you've hacked a rom file you can isolate the changes and only distribute those changes and leave it to the end-user to merge the files. If the hack is simple enough it could be distributed as a simple CFG file.

[+SoulBuster]

Can you put a regular controller in the Keyboard port and make any selections? Maybe it is just port specific and not specifically the keyboard.

[mr_me]

Even if that worked you would still need the ECS Computer Adaptor. The idea was to make the games work with only the master component.

 

If you plugged in hand controllers rather than the ECS keyboard and started ECS Basic or Music would you get any response at all?

Edited April 18, 2018 by mr_me

[mthompson]

i guess the Q should be "how unlawful".

 

That's a separate question. I was curious about how difficult it is to alter a program's behavior, add levels and features, etc. Does it take superhuman ability or merely a near-genius understanding of what's involved? Judging by how few people have done substantial updates to legacy games, I'm guessing it's tough to pull off.