Gemintronic

Cheating really depends on your vision for the game. Also, how tied you want to be to extra hardware when it comes time to physically create yer game. Making a 4k ROM game physically is something almost anyone can do. DPC+ requires AtariAge to make it for you. So, if "from scratch" matters enough your options change. Personally, I'd try making a 4k game first and move your way up.

I'd read through Random Terrains website and compile a few examples from the bB boards here. batari BASIC does the heavy lifting by providing graphic kernels you can choose from. You decide what tradeoffs and features you need: https://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-batari-basic-commands.html#kernelopchart The short answer is, if you want Smurfs level graphics you need to study up on the DPC+ kernel. That requires AtariAge boards for physical carts so get a subscription for the discount.

I don't remember any one company making only bad games. The smaller companies tended to make simple games that could be played without manuals thus good times ensued. Things like the Space Shuttle were technically impressive but impossible to play. Guess what I'm saying is that stinkers and stunners were a grab bag no matter what the company (for me). It's only when I got to the NES generation that companies had a clear, bone deep instinct for making poopy titles.

Adventure 2000 Someone should make a legally distinct game along those lines. Possibly letting you play the annoying bat instead of the usual fare.

I usually have a counter variable that increments each start of the main program loop. Maybe he could use that to get extra range? if counter{0} then resultvar = rand&3 + 1 else resultvar = rand&3 Not the best code but I hope people see where I'm getting at.

I use a PSP to play back 4k ROM conversions to my Starpath Supercharger. Usually, I use the .WAV format. I don't see why it wouldn't work for other tape based systems.

What you want is probably possible using the DPC+ kernel. That being said, the 2600 is limited and unusual. You might want to play around with the examples / code samples to get a feel for what's possible when starting out. Also, really explore Random Terrains website and all its glorious bB info! https://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-batari-basic-commands.html On the VCS it's usually best to find interesting things it can do and design a game around that - instead of designing the game first and forcing your expectations on it. Kind of bass akwards, I know.

I think new, original video game characters with gameplay similar to older titles we love is the way to go. With copyright trolls and content creator destroying YouTube policies anything else is scary.

Option #1 DPC+ is AtariAge technology. So, I'd consider getting a subscription for the discount when ordering carts. Option #2 The multi sprite kernel allows you to use 1 real sprite and 5 other "time shared" virtual sprites and can use boards from anywhere. But, there are gotchas and quirks in my opinion. UPDATE: In either case sprite flickering can become an issue. So, you might think having over 5 sprites is great.. until you see how badly they flicker when on the same horizontal plane.

The catch is game mechanics cannot be protected. But, that is being attacked and made irrelevant because you don't need to win a lawsuit: just afford the costs.

Does this get worse towards the holiday season or are unauthorized repros just a random unfortunate thing?

To further complicate what constitutes a style I guess it isn't just fidelity or quality of artwork: It's also the existing base of audio/visual content. I wouldn't say Donkey Kong or Pac Man had the best spritework - BUT, many recognize them as Atari 2600.

@PlaysWithWolves What a style means to me is how clearly it can be identified with the hardware. The far limits being hardware with upgrades (i.e. DPC, MMC5, extra RAM etc..) and demoscene tricks that don't actually work for full games. I'm not a purist though. For instance: I'd say Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon does a great job of distilling the NES style. Its graphics are *just* a little farther than possible but it doesn't scream fake. It mostly maintains the 8x8 pixel tile shape in objects. Also, the 4 colors per tile (1 transparency + 3 colors) is mostly followed.

The 2600 is deeply entrenched in the era where hardware was unique and audio/visual output reflected that. I can usually tell when a "look alike" modern retro game comes up short. A big hint is when they use too many colors per horizontal line in either the sprites or background.

I agree. It would prevent the laziest of pirates though. Sometimes that's enough.

Yeah. No. Please do not contact Atari for anything at any time. If they even smell you could be getting in the way of profiting from the brand it's over. They don't have to win a lawsuit: they just have to drain your money with litigation. I'd suggest adding the feature to obfuscate the ROM inside Javatari. Maybe have a seperate version for people who would love to publish their 2600 games on the PC (for profit) Also, make Javatari an add on / extension / wrapper for Unity and YoYo Games Game Maker. I would definetly buy a license for something that embeds Javatari into a Unity or Game Maker project.

Are there write ups on the types of scrolling techniques that would be successful here? Large world map scrolling has been hard for me to learn how to code.

Appologize in advance for double posting. But, I just remembered Stranglehand has procedural title screen music. Every time you power off / on or lose a game and go back to the title screen the "music" slightly changes. Badly coded source is in the link

Side question: will SpiceC use dasm, something built from scratch or a combination of dasm and a pre-existing ARM compiler?

Harmony Encore supports the BFSC (256k with SuperChip RAM) format. The UnoCart does too except you may need a firmware update. So, if you want to go big choose those.

Almost all of these cards expect to serve up specific picture file formats. Many mention additional power draw when using wifi. Probably will try this myself someday anyway You might want to contact the brewing academy directly. Maybe there's a way to use an STM32 USB programmer to upload not just firmware but also the ROM binary.

Y'all have given me way more time and advice than I deserve. So, I've been quietly installing rB+ and visual IDEs. Poking at the tutorials. Hopefully I'll obtain that new flash cart since I've just got the JagCD for now. My plan is to have multiple titles for multiple systems next PRGE. Give WAVE 1 GAMES some friendly competition Well, not really. My games are either weird or simple as heck!

Maybe not. Some homebrew developers get hot or cold about projects Katy Perry style. At least speaking for myself. He did "heart" my post so maybe we'll see the technique I proposed used somewhere.

Besides CyranoJs suggestion I wonder if splitting the limbs into separate sprites would help optimize things. Have a main body sprite that the legs move with to simulate frames of animation.

Me and John Hancock relied heavily on procedural generation for [email protected] of Chaos https://atariage.com/forums/topic/237201-update-sold-out-limited-edition-atari-2600-game-catacombs-of-chaos/?tab=comments#comment-3217349 Basically, using various bits from x, y, dungeon floor and world seed variables to determine the current room layout. The real problem was finding an algorithm that didn't make the dungeon layout repetitive. Also, shifting bits around enough leads to going over cycle.