AtariAge at OVGE 2005

Atari 2600 programmer Andrew Davie (author of Qb for the Atari 2600 and 8-bit computers) has been hard at work developing a sophisticated graphics engine for the 2600, which he has been using as the basis for a Boulder Dash port to the 2600. Boulder Dash was a popular game on the Atari 8-bit computers created by First Star Software, who created several other notable titles on the 8-bit such as Astrochase, Flip and Flop, and Bristles. Boulder Dash found its way to many other platforms over the years (even an arcade game), but never to the Atari 2600 or any other Atari game consoles. In Boulder Dash you play the role of Rockford, who must collect diamonds in 16 dangerous caves, while avoiding falling boulders, dangerous butterflies, and other obstacles along the way. Once Rockford collects a minimum number of diamonds (different in each level), a gateway to the next level appears.

Creating a version of Boulder Dash for the 2600 has been no small feat, but Andrew has most gameplay elements now in place, and several levels should be completely playable in time for the show. An even bigger treat for showgoers is that Andrew Davie will be personally attending this year's Oklahoma Video Game Expo, demonstrating the game and discussing Atari 2600 programming to all who are interested.

If you'd like to learn more about Andrew's Atari 2600 version of Boulder Dash (which he has been developing with the blessing of First Star Software), you can read this thread in our Homebrew Discussion Forum. Andrew has posted many movies and pictures from the game which should whet your appetite if you're a Boulder Dash fan. Here's a movie that shows a minute and a half of gameplay:

• Atari 2600 Boulder Dash Gameplay Movie

Crazy Balloon is a port of the 1980's arcade underdog from Taito, which is the grandfather of games like Kuru Kuru Kururin. In Crazy Balloon you must carefully navigate your balloon through many varied levels full of different dangers. The final version will contain most obstacles and levels of the original arcade game, as well as some new dangers created exclusively for the Atari 2600 version.

Author Manuel Rotschkar (whose previous games include Seawolf, Star Fire, and Gunfight) plans to have this game finished in time for the 2005 Mini Game Competition. You can follow development of Crazy Balloon and download the latest binary from this thread in our Homebrew Discussion Forum.

The Atari 2600 won't win any awards for raw computing horsepower, but there is one game that's well suited to its AI capabilities: Rock, Paper, Scissors! You heard right, Billy Eno (author of Warring Worms and Warring Worms: The Worm (Re)Turns) is developing a version of this classic schoolyard game for the Atari 2600. Would you believe that there's a World RPS Society that actively promotes Rock, Paper, Scissors, including tournaments held at both local and international levels?

Game play works as follows: The game is started when both players are holding their fire buttons down.  This causes the fists to rise, or "start the prime."  Once one of the players releases their fire button, the down stroke begins, which sets the timing of each of the subsequent "primes."  During the final down stroke, or the "approach," the players choose their final throw by pressing left for paper, right for scissor, or nothing for rock.  The winner is indicated on the screen. Game variations will exist for single-player mode, and for choosing the number of rounds to be played.

Author Billy Eno will be present at the show, demonstrating Rock, Paper, Scissors in person!

Adventure II is the much-anticipated, unofficial sequel to Atari's classic Adventure on the 2600. As the game is being written for the Atari 5200, it will be larger and more detailed than the original, while still remaining faithful to the traits that made the classic Adventure memorable even after 25 years. AtariAge will have a new demo of Adventure II at the 2005 Oklahoma Video Game Expo, so visitors to the show will have the privilege of being the first to see the game's latest progress!

You can learn more about Adventure II by visiting Ron Lloyd's Adventure II Development Page.

Man Goes Down - no it's not rude, just an accurate description of the gameplay. You see, you control this little guy, negotiating platforms that continuously scroll up the screen. Get pushed off the top or fall off the bottom and it's game over. There's fruit and other goodies to collect along the way to help you on your journey down. There are 12 different items to collect in all! If you haven't tried this great homebrew game, be careful, as you may become addicted to it at OVGE!

AtariAge sponsored a Man Goes Down Label Contest to design an original label to be used for the game. One of Nathan Strum's many submissions (pictured to the left) was selected as the winning entry! You can view all the wonderful contest submissions here.

Fans of Amiga computers will immediately recognize the nature of the Amiga Boing Demo 2.0. To help demonstrate the power of the Amiga, the Amiga Boing Ball demo was created. The demo consists of a checkered red and white ball bouncing within the confines of the screen, changing direction when hitting the walls, all the while spinning. With this demo running in the background (as the Amiga could multitask, which was a fairly unique feature at the time in personal computers), it as a powerful statement of the Amiga's capabilities. This demo ultimately became synonymous with the Amiga, and even today it used as part of the official Amiga identity.

For a period of time the Amiga Boing Demo was ported to just about every platform imaginable to demonstrate that, "Hey, we can do this, too!" And of course, the Atari 2600 was no exception! Several years ago, Rob Kudla created a simple version of the Amiga Boing Demo for the Atari 2600 as a tech demo that he posted to the Stella programmers mailing list.

More recently, David Galloway (djmips in our forums), updated Rob's demo to make it truer to the original Amiga demo. His changes include:

• The ball is now larger
• The world the ball bounces in now has gravity (as opposed to the ball moving at a constant velocity and in a straight line)
• The spin of the ball switches when it bounces against a side wall
• PAL/NTSC switch using the B&W switch
• Corrected the number of scanlines to 262
• User control of horizontal speed and gravity (wtih joystick)
• Random change of horizontal speed (after bounce with side wall)

"Steer your WUMMEL around a geometric grid to avoid collisions with enemy RAMSHIPS and fire upon these ships for points. Run over the twirling stars for more points. A level is complete when either all the enemy ships have been destroyed or all the stars have been collected. Watch out for the deadly Spectars which are programmed to hunt down and destroy your WUMMEL!"

Scott Huggins, whose port of the arcade game Astro Invader to the ColecoVision is debuting at the Oklahoma Video Game Expo, has another arcade port that is nearly complete. His second title is a port of the 1980 Exidy Arcade game Spectar. At present time, the ColecoVision version of Spectar is about 95% complete, and supports one or two players. Scott also plans to include Targ (the predecessor to Spectar) as well.

Atari 2600 fans Chris Walton (cd-w), Fred Quimby (batari), and Bob Montgomery (vdub_bobby) have been hard at work creating 1K entries for the 2005 Minigame Competition. For the Oklahoma Video Game Expo they've put together a menu-driven cartridge featuring five of their games:

• Hunchy - Hunchy is inspired by the classic arcade game Hunch Back (released 1982), which is loosely based on the novel "The Hunchback of Notre Dame" (1831) by Victor Hugo. You play the role of the hunchbacked bell-ringer Quasimodo in his quest to rescue the gypsy girl Esmeralda from the cathedral of Notre Dame. To succeed, you must jump across the roof of the Notre Dame, avoiding the guards and an assortment of missiles. There are 16 screens to complete, increasing in difficulty as you progress. Hunchy has an infinite number of lives, and you will need them all! You can learn more about Hunchy here.
  
  
• Jetman - In Jetman you play a battle-hardened gas station attendant in outer space! Your job is to refuel the rockets as quickly as possible, while coming under heavy fire from forces unknown. Jetman is inspired by the classic Ultimate 8-bit game JetPac (released 1983). There are 16 space craft to refuel in increasingly hostile conditions. You can learn more about Jetman here.
  
  
• Nightrider - As the Nightrider, you must ride for freedom or die! Hostile government forces are in helicopter pursuit as you make your futile bid for freedom. To stop or hesitate will mean certain death, but the rugged terrain will also bite you without warning. The faster and further you ride, the more your freedom is worth. You can learn more about Nightrider here.
  
  
• Zirconium - An exotic alien species is invading our galaxy! The cubic zirconia, based on elemental zirconium instead of carbon, have tried to block your approach to their boxy mothership with their geometrically perfect space mines. You, as the intrepid space captain Joe Diamond, must think outside the box as you battle your way through their blocky blockade. Your ship's armor can only withstand a few collisions, so take good aim at the obstacles and don't miss the power packs spread throughout the galaxy! You can learn more about Zirconium here.
  
  
• Rocket Command - Interterrestrial beings are erupting from the earth's core in an attempt to take over the surface! As the Rocket Commander, you have installed a battalion of rockets at the top of the volcanic crater where the magma beings are launching their craft. It's up to you to destroy these molten enemies before they launch into the sky! If your rockets destroy enough invaders, your leader will allow you to install more rockets to continue your campaign. You must be on your toes, because there's not much time to aim when you are down to your last few rockets! You can learn more about Rocket Command here.
  
  
• M-4 - Back in 1977, Midway released an arcade game titled M-4. This is a pretty simple game, where you take control of a tank where your goal is to accumulate as many points as you can within a 90 second period of time. You can score points for hitting the wall (well, you only get one point for this), hitting an opposing tank, hitting a car, and hitting an airplane (which scores the most). Every time you or hte other tank gets hit, the walls are rebuilt and the tanks are retgurned to their starting positions. The timer then pauses for a moment, and the game then resumes. You can learn more about M-4 here.

Hunchy	Jetman
Nightrider	Zirconium
Rocket Command	M-4