Chris++ Posted May 6, 2002 Share Posted May 6, 2002 Has anyone but me found this game vastly underrated? I think it's terrific. When I interviewed Rob Fulop for the newsletter, even HE didn't like it very much! I can't understand that. It's much more inventive than cliche' old Demon Attack. I hope I'm not alone in harboring a soft spot for this game. I finally beat it the other day. The ending is merely a nice little tune and a strange, somewhat cryptic message at the bottom of the screen that represents a highly abbreviated form of Imagic's address at the time. A funny thing: Fulop made a speech at the first Classic Gaming Convention (that's what it was called back then), and he said that one little routine he'd written into the code was a modified level-ending: When you rescued the mermaid, she and your hero (the dolphin, I guess) both dropped down past the bottom border of the screen -- and then bubbles came up! Imagic thought it was too sexy (??!!?) and made him take it out. Companies can be so funny. (Well, look at the whole 5200 for a good example...) CF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted May 6, 2002 Share Posted May 6, 2002 I loved Fathom...truly cool and not often mentioned in 2600 favorites lists. That's strange how Rob Fulop said he didn't like it. I have this old magazine article that goes over the development of Fathom for a bit and shows a little of what he was thinking as he was designing it. I should scan it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DuckandCover Posted May 7, 2002 Share Posted May 7, 2002 I've always found the game interesting and challenging. Pretty original too. I've never put in the hours and effort needed to solve it, but it's a game I've always enjoyed. It surprises me that more people don't think better of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted May 7, 2002 Share Posted May 7, 2002 I love Fathom, its the best! Its definitely in my top favs. I've gotten close to beating it (6th Mermaid), but I love to play it. Very original. Odd how dolphins and seagulls tend to go together. Both Fathom and Dolphin feature these two creatures working together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarian1 Posted May 7, 2002 Share Posted May 7, 2002 I agree that Fathom is still one of the most original games ever made. It's fun and I like playing it...until I couldn't find that last piece of the trident. I searched everywhere and I just couldn't find it. I think this was level 3 or 4. It's been a while though. Now it makes me want to fire it up again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moycon Posted May 7, 2002 Share Posted May 7, 2002 What happens at the end!!???? I didnt know that game ended. Probably nothing hu? Still I love atari games that end for some reason. Gives you something to shoot for!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Stilphen Posted May 7, 2002 Share Posted May 7, 2002 You can find a map and solution at http://www.digitpress.com/eastereggs/26fathom.htm Fulop also echoed the same feelings about his game when I interviewed him years ago. Here's his comments on it: RF: I never liked Fathom. SS: Really? I thought it was a good game. The layout is quite big. RF: It was an 8K game. That was the last game I did. I never knew what it was when I started. For all the other games, I had a vision for what they were going to be. Fathom started with a neat picture that Michael Becker drew of a dolphin jumping out of the water. He drew this graphic and we made a game out of it. There was never any vision of what the game was. It was this kind of "epic" where you're underwater, then you fly in the air. There's mermaids, too. It just never felt like a game. The best games are simple with a real vision of what it is -- like Pitfall (by Activision). The whole interview can be found on the old 2600 Connection site, at: http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Lair/9260/ [ 05-07-2002: Message edited by: Scott Stilphen ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stella'sGhost Posted May 7, 2002 Share Posted May 7, 2002 Yes, I only just got Fathom for the first time in Feburary, and it is quite well done! A huge surprise, though I knew it would be good because it was Imagic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Philflound Posted May 7, 2002 Share Posted May 7, 2002 Scott, your link does not work. Unless it's me of course. Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted May 7, 2002 Share Posted May 7, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Philflound: Scott, your link does not work. Unless it's me of course. Phil Just remove the trailing point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted May 7, 2002 Share Posted May 7, 2002 Thomas...get to work! We know you can do it... Actually didn't I ask a question a while back regarding the Cosmic Ark ship supposedly being in Fathom..but Scott already looked and didn't find the graphic for it in the rom? I wonder if anything was found to be odd...it would be way cool if this was still in the code and could be re-enabled...as it would be a much better ending then most of the 2600 games had back then...(Well, the ones that had endings that is...). Interesting stuff...really interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris++ Posted May 7, 2002 Author Share Posted May 7, 2002 Scott, I remember your interview really well. I was very conscious of not wanting my interview to read like a copycat of yours, so I actually left a couple questions/answers out of the article itself because I felt they echoed yours too closely. Being a copycat HERE, however, isn't as bad, so here's the link for yet another Fulop conversation, friends: http://www.geocities.com/flynnwins/ocgs/is...sue9/fulop.html And just in case anyone's motivated enough to fire up Fathom and activate the Easter Egg, you can find out how by going to the very bottom (sorta) of this page: http://www.geocities.com/flynnwins/ocgs/is...1/before64.html The following link is merely my "signature" on this forum, although I'd appreciate any feedback on how the new color scheme works (remember that it's a website for READERS and not people who like really flashy stuff): Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Stilphen Posted May 7, 2002 Share Posted May 7, 2002 Nice article. Btw, what's the rumored secret in Solaris? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris++ Posted May 7, 2002 Author Share Posted May 7, 2002 No idea! I'm not sure it's anything more than a rumor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Stilphen Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Chris Federico: A funny thing: Fulop made a speech at the first Classic Gaming Convention (that's what it was called back then)... Do you mean the first show that preceeded CGE, World of Atari? quote: ...and he said that one little routine he'd written into the code was a modified level-ending: When you rescued the mermaid, she and your hero (the dolphin, I guess) both dropped down past the bottom border of the screen -- and then bubbles came up! Imagic thought it was too sexy (??!!?) and made him take it out. It'd be great if this version still existed somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted May 8, 2002 Share Posted May 8, 2002 quote: Originally posted by Scott Stilphen: It'd be great if this version still existed somewhere. Somebody should have a look into the ROM and search if the code was only disabled and is still there. ...why is everybody looking at me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Godzilla Posted August 9, 2021 Share Posted August 9, 2021 Ok, I beat this game BITD and I got a full screen text about where to send for a t-shirt... Can anyone help me with this memory? I own fathom on many platforms, but the only one I remember putting in all the time to beat it was the 2600 version... And it was not the tiny text at the bottom... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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