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daniel3302

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  1. More stuff from the basement, from 10 years after closing.
  2. daniel3302

    Intellivision Memorabilia

    Misc stuff I found from BSR days
  3. Once upon a time Tower of Mystery was supposed to be a "voice-optional" game. I remember attending a recording session where a voice actor recorded the phrases that were to be included in the game. However, that never got incorporated into the game before ME folded, and it certainly was not added when Tower of Doom was released by Intv.
  4. Hi All, sorry for the delay in trying to answer your question about the panic button. Frankly, my recollection was that the panic button was part of the arcade game. If it wasn't then my guess is it was added to make the game a little more survivable, as the goal was not to eat quarters. However, after nearly 40 years, I really can't say for sure. As for the delay, shortly after this thread was posted I had a family crisis involving Covid, followed in April with my diagnosis with prostate cancer, and treatment lasting the rest of last year. I was finally feeling like I can open up a bit, and then along came omicron. Oh well. Stay safe out there!
  5. So I just found and added to my gallery the bookend to these documents - my offer letter from Mattel
  6. That sounds right, Steve. The credit on the back is "Custom Photography Photography Associates: Barnes, Nowell, Ross & Ross"
  7. Just found a photo of myself from a Daglow Decles vs Minkoff Measures softball game!
  8. Seeing the list of attendees, I would have liked to come out and see everyone, but personal obligations preclude that. Please send my regards to the other BSRs Daniel
  9. It was 35 years ago, so my memories are a bit fuzzy, but I do not remember ever using the KC for game development. As I recall, we had a double row of cubicles (4x2) with a PDP-11 at the end of the row serving the 8 programmers (or maybe it was 3x2 and only 6 programmers). I only remember using the video terminal and the MC with the "magus board". Two side memories just jostled by that description of our work environment - 1) I remember Ray Kaestner worked on the other side of the cubical wall from me, i.e. we were on the same row of cubes. Presumably, this is why the Loco-Motion machine showed up at the end of our row one day (as Ray was originally to be assigned that game - I was working on a LUCKI game at the time). Well, it was the proximity of that distraction that led to my instant addiction which led to my inspiration that led to my demonstration that led to me being assigned to Loco-Motion! 2) The other game distraction of mine was Hack ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hack_(video_game) ) which was played on the PDP-11 via the video terminal and keyboard (not KC). I remember that Mark Kennedy also played and once made the comment that the keyboard was pressure-sensitive and the harder you pounded on the appropriate key, the stronger your hit against whatever monster you were fighting would be. Of course he was pulling my leg, but at the time, he said it so earnestly and so dead pan, that I just wanted to believe him! Anyway, you should be able to see that my implementation of Tower of Mystery was strongly influenced by my addiction to Hack!
  10. I am pretty certain that the ToM double t-card contained the EEPROMs I burned as the doors were closing and they were hustling us out of the building (well, figuratively, but it was the last week). intvnut dumped the t-cards and told me that it is a unique version compared to existing rom dumps.
  11. I have just shipped my supply of Mattel memorabilia away to the National Videogame Museum. I hope you all get to enjoy it there. Included were: 1 T-card Loco-Motion 2 T-card Thunder Castle 3 T-card Royal Dealer 4 T-card Tower of Mystery (2-card set, final ME version) 5 EE-PROM set Tower of Mystery (11/12 proms) 6 Double T-card Y-adapter (may need repair) 7 Powered Double T-card Y-adapter/power supply 8 Blue Whale development cartridge 9 Blue Whale serial communications adapter 10 Loco-Motion Development notes and BSR reviews 11 Tower of Mystery Development notes 12 Mattel Electronics Personnel communications 13 Mr. Sound Usage Document 14 Loco-Motion Game completion Award plaque
  12. Here are the official documents I saved from my time at ME. Starting off with my Annual Performance review: Clearly this was after Loco-Motion was complete, and I was busy finishing up Mr. Sound, and the nature of my second game (which was to be Tower of Mystery) had not yet been determined. Later that year, after much lobbying from Keith, Don, and others, and also due to brain drain to other game companies, Mattel finally put together an incentive program. The details were presented to us here: A few weeks later we had to sign release waivers, cause that what corporate lawyers are for. But even with that, there were more rounds of layoffs, morale fell through the floor, and those who were left were looking to leave on their own terms, rather than wait for the next round of RIFs. As a last-ditch effort to keep the core of talent that remained, additional incentives were added to keep the remaining staff. To no avail. The end was coming anyway. Note the irony of the date of this last notice, compared to the date of my next annual review as noted on the first document! Thanks for letting me share an all-too-brief period that brings me much joy in its remembrance.
  13. I can't tell you how many brilliantly creative new ideas I have had, ... only to discover that it wasn't so new.
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