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About this blog

Mostly Atari-related projects, and other ramblings. Home of the Artie the Atari comic strip.

Entries in this blog

 

Spider-Man: Far From Home - Spoiler-free review

I saw Spider-Man: Far From Home a couple of weeks ago while on vacation, but since I was on vacation, I didn't feel like typing up a review at the time. I had other, vacation-y things to do.     Also, while I think the forum changes at AtariAge have been a welcomed and much needed upgrade, I don't care for the changes in the blogs at all. In fact, I've all-but stopped visiting the blogs. The main page is a cluttered mess with banners that should be hidden unless you want to view them, 
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

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Homebreviews - part 46: Arcade Assault, Vol. 3

Now it's the 2600's turn for some arcade action! But the ol' gal has some new tricks up her sleeve, even though two of these games have been on the 2600 in one form or other for over 35 years. And yes... I copy-pasted some of my Scramble review from the 7800 version. Nice to see you're paying attention. I probably need to make my reviews a little more succinct though. My review for Pac-Man 4K is actually larger than 4K. Pac-Man 4K I probably shouldn't have to describe Pac-Man any more
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

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Homebrew Art, part 2 - Backfire contest entry

Backfire (2003) Backfire was the second contest I entered (and lost). At the time, since I was still just getting back into drawing, I opted to make the label using 3D software (the long-defunct Infini-D) instead of illustrating it. The different elements were rendered out separately, then combined in Photoshop so I could tweak transparency and position, and add effects. What I was trying to go for was something reminiscent of the Imagic labels - where they kitbashed models and photographe
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

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Shifting priorities, with a "manual" transmission

Well, it turns out that not only am I designing the manual for RPS, it looks like I'll be writing it now, too. But that's cool, since I created new characters for the game, and I kind of relish the idea of writing their back-stories.So this moves it to the top of my "things to do" list, and I ended up getting a pretty decent first pass at the layout done last night. I haven't started any of the writing yet, since I wanted to see how much space I was going to end up with, but between some e-mails
Guest

Guest

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The most useless blog entry - ever!

Well, after being on vacation for a few weeks, it's about time to dust off the blog and start updating it again.   However, this isn't that update.   But I'll have something in here soon.   I'll post some opinions on the Flashback 2, write up a way-too-in-depth look at why the XBox 360 is going to lose out to the PS3, maybe add some thoughts about Apple's move to Intel, and also start up another "how-to" series - this one being about creating animated sprites for the 2600.   Meanwhile, t
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Guest

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The Good Dinosaur - Spoiler-free movie review

Because there apparently aren't enough animated dinosaur movies out there already, and because Disney didn't learn their lesson from the last one of these that they made, we have Pixar's The Good Dinosaur. We had a screening of it at work the other week, and while none of the creative team were there to present it, the reps from Disney and Pixar who were there, felt under some obligation to tell us how "close to the heart" this film was for all of them, and how this movie was all about the "powe
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

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Cos and effect

Well, the San Diego Comic Con happened recently. One of these days, I must really go and see it. Not because I'm into comic books (I was cured of that particular disease years ago), but because of the whole spectacle of the thing.   Yes... I'm talking about Cosplay again.   This is what happens when Gorfs intermarry   There's a rather impressive bevy of barely bedecked babes, people who've packed on ponderous poundage, comedic creative costuming, and just some stuff that you have to see
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

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Homebrew Art, part 7 - Go Fish! contest entries

Go Fish! (2005) This was the sixth label contest I'd entered, and with it my three-contest winning streak came to an end. But it was a good run while it lasted. Go Fish! is Bob Montgomery's take on games similar to Intellivision's Shark! Shark! I started with sketches in Painter. Each element was drawn on a separate layer so I could move them around as needed. Note in the first sketch there's a giant shark head looming in the background. I'd eventually move this into my second contest e
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

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Homebreviews - part 47: Arcade Assault, Vol. 4

Well, this brings us to the halfway point of the current crop of Homebreviews! The frequency of these will be slowing down some, as I have other projects piling up that need my attention. But I'll still continue to piece away at the rest of these in the coming months. Meanwhile, here are two of the best arcade ports ever to grace the 2600. And no, I'm not biased at all. Draconian Full disclosure: I worked on this game, designing the in-game graphics, converting the arcade level layouts,
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

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Let's look at this from a standpoint of status...

What do we have on the spacecraft that works? ;)The RPS Manual is nearly finished now. The only thing left to do is finish up the instructions on how to play, and list the game options.You'd think that would be most of the manual right there. But no. I wrote an introduction to the game, a "getting started" page, character descriptions, created new background illustrations for each page, re-formatted the label artwork to fit the cover, and then made the back cover.But that's all done now, so I'm
Guest

Guest

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One down, umpteen to go!

I think the forums are slightly wonky. First, daylight savings time hasn't kicked in yet. And second, October gained an extra day:And even though this is going to throw the Trick-or-Treaters into a tailspin, I like it. I can always use an extra day here or there.Since I wasn't really able to do any more work on RPS or the MiniGame MultiCart (pending various approvals), I decided to finish up the Solar Plexus label. Now I just need to get the Photoshop file to Jess, and that project's all wrappe
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Guest

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Making Labels - Part 5

Part 5 - Shading: Bonus Tutorial     How to chrome almost anything   I was taught some of this stuff by a guy who used to work at GM designing cars. He could crank out a rendering of a car in 30 seconds that was better than anything I could do in 30 minutes. It was pretty humbling, but I learned how to draw chrome.   Here's the thing to remember about chrome: it's just a surface that reflects everything around it.   So what you're really drawing is the environment the object is in. Not
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And then...

I've just been buried at work lately.   And by lately, I mean since early August. Non-stop. Tons of (unpaid) overtime.   I worked 90 hours one week. 20 hours in one day.   And those weren't even in the same week.   But things are starting to calm down. A little bit.   I had to supervise two major construction projects, including the building of an all-new computer lab for running Maya. We were put six weeks behind schedule due to construction issues (and asbestos removal), but fortun
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

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Another update on stuff

Did you miss me?   Funny thing about going on vacation and still having internet access - nobody knows when you're "gone".   Anyway, I'm back. Here's my current to-do list: Artwork, label and manual for Lady Bug - In progress Manual for Four-Play - Soon Juno First title screen Label and manual for the AtariVox Bitmap for Bob - Soon-ish Finish RPS manual - Waiting for game to be finished Finish MGD manual - Waiting for game to be finished Start editing "Stella at 20"
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

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Homebreviews - part 43: Paddle Battle

It's time to get out the contact cleaner and get those paddles working! Or is it... ? Brik (Atari 2600) Brik by Repixel8 features two paddle-based games on one cartridge. Or rather... one paddle-based game, and one that should have been. The main game, Brik, is an attempt at an Arkanoid clone. You move a paddle (called a "bat" in the manual) back and forth across the bottom of the screen, bouncing a ball off it to knock out patterns of blocks above you. If you let the ball
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

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Rollin' Along

Today's episode is brought to you in color!*     *But only because it makes the joke work better.   41 < PreviousIndexNext >
Nathan Strum

Nathan Strum

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