Ze_ro

Kind of disappointing with Mega Man Universe just around the corner... --Zero

When I first found out about this years ago, I was really excited... while the music is awesome, unfortunately, it has very tiny pauses any time you move, which really gets annoying after a while. Ideally, you should get something with an RGBI port on it so that you can take advantage of the VDC video modes... Commodore made the 1902 specifically for the 128, and they look great paired together. I think the 1084S also has appropriate ports, and maybe some other later monitors made by Commodore. Yeah, there were a bunch of games that were released like this, and not necessarily limited to just C64/A8 mixes. Things got even more interesting later on... there's at least one game that came out on a 3.5" disk that worked in IBM PC's, Amiga's, AND Atari ST's! The logistics get pretty interesting. Anyways, the 128 has a lot of really interesting features... but most of them are directed at productivity applications or programmers. The machine came out at a time when IBM PC's were getting popular, and the C64 seemed more like a game machine, so Commodore designed the 128 to seem more like a real computer. On the development side, the machine has a much more advanced BASIC with lots of helpful functions, a built-in Machine Language monitor, and a sprite editor. The VDC chip provides an 80-column mode that was incredibly useful for stuff like word processors and telecommunication software, and CP/M opened the door to mountains of existing business software (albeit a little late, as CP/M was pretty long in the tooth by the time the 128 hit the scene). Combine this with a real keyboard, twice as much memory, a 2MHz mode, GEOS, and the much faster 1571 disk drive, and suddenly you had something that looked like a lot more than just a game system. If you just want to dick around without spending a fortune, I'd recommend at least picking up a 1571... it's faster, it can do double-sided disks, it's required for CP/M, and it makes GEOS a whole hell of a lot more fun (180k per side is rough). You can also use it to read PC formatted disks using Little Red Reader, which can be an interesting way to transfer files... though an X1541 cable is probably a better choice overall. It would also be worthwhile to buy a fastload cartridge. There are a ton of different ones out there, and the faster and more compatible ones are more expensive... but even a cheap one like the Epyx Fastload will help out with C64 stuff. RAM Expanders and 1581 drives are really nice, and help a lot with GEOS, but they're pretty expensive, and not all that useful outside GEOS. If you want to get the most out of the 128, the 1541-Ultimate is the way to go. Yeah, it's expensive, but the list of features is tremendous, and it really is worth the money if you get a lot of use out of the machine. It replaces all your disk drives, tape drives, cartridges, and REU's (In fact, all the hardware I mentioned in the previous paragraph), and does a far better job at all those tasks than any official hardware you'll ever find. --Zero

It depends on what kind of monitor you're planning to hook it up to. If you've got something that doesn't support PAL, then your question is answered right there. Try to find a 1084S and an appropriate RGB cable, then you can use either format (Feeding a PAL signal into the composite or luma/chroma jacks on an NTSC 1084S will not work well though). Ultimately, I don't think it really matters what hardware you have, as long as you are using the correct software on it. Most games exist in both NTSC and PAL versions, and for those that don't, you can usually find fan-made hacks and fixes (including WHDLoad versions). Since the CF card you bought is from the UK, it's almost certainly meant to run on a PAL machine, so you might have some issues with NTSC. --Zero

Important Note: This competition is over and no further scores will be accepted. Welcome to the second High Score Club Variety Pack! Rules for this competition are a little different, so please read: This competition combines four games over a two week period. The deadline for posting scores is Wednesday November 10th at 1:00 AM (Central Time, UTC-6). Scores for each game will be listed separately, with reduced scoring awarded for each game (5 points for first place, 4 for 2nd, 3 for 3rd, 2 for 4th, and 1 for all other scores). Scores are also combined for a final ranking, with Combined Score = (Pooyan Score x 15) + (Bermuda Triangle Score) + (Time Pilot Score) + (Fast Eddie Score). These scores will then be ranked and scored as per normal High Score Club rules (11 points for 1st place, etc). This means you could score up to 31 points if you post the #1 score for all four games. Alternatively, even if your scores are low, you can get 5 points just for participating. You do not have to play the games in any specific order, and you can submit updated scores for each game separately. You do not have to play all four games. If you leave out one game, you will still be counted in the final ranking as if you had scored 0 for that game. Scores for individual games will still be capped at the point where the score rolls over. No additional capping will occur for combined scores though. For this competition, there will be no bonus challenges, and no points awarded for best tips (don't worry, they'll come back next time!) Game Information Game Name: Pooyan Bermuda Triangle Time Pilot Fast Eddie Released: 1982, Konami 1982, Data Age 1983, Coleco 1982, Fast Eddie Left Difficulty: N/A B / Novice B / Novice N/A Right Difficulty: N/A N/A B / Novice N/A Game Mode: Game 1 Game 1 Game 1 Game 1 Last Played: New! New! Season 2 Week 9 Season 4 Week 34 Current High Scores 22,870 (oyamafamily) [+5] 12,355 (JacobZu7zu7) [+4] 11,440 (Scrabbler15) [+3] 8245 (Deteacher) [+2] 2665 (toymailman) [+1] 2330 (roadrunner) [+1] 1655 (madbutscher) [+1] 1105 (LarcenTyler) [+1] 1050 (SeaGtGruff) [+1] 1045 (rmaerz) [+1] 790 (Chuck D. Head) [+1] 437,200 (JacubZu7zu7) [+5] 105,850 (toymailman) [+4] 62,550 (Deteacher) [+3] 44,750 (Scrabbler15) [+2] 19,800 (oyamafamily) [+1] 18,150 (roadrunner) [+1] 16,050 (Miss 2600) [+1] 12,500 (Chuck D. Head) [+1] 11,550 (Mangia-Boy) [+1] 10,550 (madbutscher) [+1] 7500 (LarcenTyler) [+1] 5200 (rmaerz) [+1] 1550 (SeaGtGruff) [+1] 51,000 (toymailman) [+5] 41,700 (Miss 2600) [+4] 38,100 (oyamafamily) [+3] 37,600 (JacobZu7zu7) [+2] 35,300 (Scrabbler15) [+1] 23,700 (LarcenTyler) [+1] 23,000 (Deteacher) [+1] 16,300 (roadrunner) [+1] 15,700 (Mangia-Boy) [+1] 12,100 (SeaGtGruff) [+1] 8400 (Chuck D. Head) [+1] 4600 (madbutscher) [+1] 100,000 (Deteacher) [+5] 100,000 (oyamafamily) [+5] 100,000 (toymailman) [+5] 49,810 (JacobZu7zu7) [+4] 29,240 (Scrabbler15) [+3] 21,720 (Mangia-Boy) [+2] 21,140 (SeaGtGruff) [+1] 20,730 (roadrunner) [+1] 17,840 (rmaerz) [+1] 17,040 (Miss 2600) [+1] 6650 (Chuck D. Head) [+1] 3230 (LarcenTyler) [+1] Combined Score 709,935 (JacobZu7zu7) [+11] 500,950 (oyamafamily) [+10] 309,225 (Deteacher) [+9] 296,825 (toymailman) [+8] 280,890 (Scrabbler15) [+7] 90,130 (roadrunner) [+6] 74,790 (Miss 2600) [+5] 51,005 (LarcenTyler) [+4] 50,540 (SeaGtGruff) [+3] 48,970 (Mangia-Boy) [+2] 39,975 (madbutscher) [+1] 39,400 (Chuck D. Head) [+1] 38,715 (rmaerz) [+1] Current Standings toymailman [148] JacobZu7zu7 [126] Scrabber15 [125] Deteacher [113] oyamafamily [109] zylon [61] Jifremok [54] Zoyx [53] roadrunner [52] Chuck D. Head [47] Miss 2600 [38] keilbaca [30] ClassicGMR [29] LarcenTyler [26] SeaGtGruff [26] pis [21] HatefulGravey [17] Mingy Jongo [13] doctorclu [13] Pioneer4x4 [12] MrJimbo [8] Mister VCS [7] satan165 [7] 4Ks [4] dooglehead [3] ed1475 [2] littleman jack [2] pacmanplayer [2] Austin [1] rmaerz [1] MIKE5200 [1] SpaceDice2010 [1] Hints and Tips As always, you really should read the manuals. In case you don't have the manuals, AtariAge has typed or scanned versions of all four manuals (except Time Pilot). Please see their individual pages linked above for hints and tips (They will not be reprinted here). --Zero

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted. Journey to the Razak Solar System and help the Yars battle an evil enemy. Game Information Game Name: Yar's Revenge Released By: Atari, 1981 Left Difficulty: B / Novice Right Difficulty: B / Novice Game Mode: Game 6 - Ultimate Yars Post your scores right here in this thread, and I will add them to the list. Remember to play the game with the recommended game mode and difficulty settings as shown above so that your scores will be consistent with everyone elses. The deadline for posting scores is Wednesday October 27th at 1:00 AM (Central Time, UTC-6). Challenges Easter Egg - Make the programmers initials appear on-screen and take a screenshot, and you get 2 bonus points. Scrabbler15 [+2] Deteacher [+2] Zoyx [+2] oyamafamily [+2] Chuck D. Head [+2] toymailman [+2] Mingy Jongo [+2] SeaGtGruff [+2] JacobZu7zu7 [+2] dooglehead [+2] keilbaca [+2] Miss 2600 [+2] Current High Scores 1,000,000 (Zoyx) [+11] 1,000,000 (oyamafamily) [+11] 1,000,000 (Mingy Jongo) [+11] 403,786 (toymailman) [+10] 297,518 (Deteacher) [+9] 293,724 (JacubZu7zu7) [+8] 251,428 (Chuck D. Head) [+7] 247,365 (Miss 2600) [+6] 240,471 (Scrabbler15) [+5] 234,527 (keilbaca) [+4] 214,642 (roadrunner) [+3] 188,247 (zylon) [+2] 76,677 (SeaGtGruff) [+1] 50,528 (ClassicGMR) [+1] 38,833 (dooglehead) [+1] Best Tips oyamafamily [+2] TwinGalaxies Top 3 (Game 1, Difficulty B)(None for this mode) Current Standings toymailman [136] Scrabber15 [118] JacobZu7zu7 [116] Deteacher [102] oyamafamily [94] zylon [59] Jifremok [54] roadrunner [49] Zoyx [40] Chuck D. Head [38] Miss 2600 [30] ClassicGMR [28] LarcenTyler [26] keilbaca [24] SeaGtGruff [23] pis [21] HatefulGravey [17] doctorclu [13] Pioneer4x4 [12] MrJimbo [8] Mister VCS [7] satan165 [7] 4Ks [4] ed1475 [2] littleman jack [2] pacmanplayer [2] Austin [1] rmaerz [1] MIKE5200 [1] SpaceDice2010 [1] Scoring Points in Yar's Revenge Each Shield Cell Destroyed by Missile - 69 points Each Shield Cell Destroyed by Zorlon Cannon - 69 points Each Shield Cell Eaten by Yar - 169 points Destroying the Qotile - 1,000 points Destroying the Swirl Before it Charges - 2,000 points Destroying the Swirls in Mid-Aid - 6,000 points + Extra Life Hints and Tips The Manual As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy and a scanned copy available online. Here are the hints it provides: When you destroy the Qotile, or a Swirl, there will be an explosion, during which the Yar stays on the screen. Use this opportunity to make up your own victory dance. And watch out for the Ghost of Yars! You'll see his mean streak, so stay off it! The Qotile continually changes colors. The color sequence is your cue to the appearance of a Swirl, and gives you warning to plan your attack and defense. If you fly over the Qotile as it changes to a Swirl, it will destroy you, so be careful. We played this game once before in the High Score Club, you might want to check out that thread for more hints. oyamafamily If you want to take a rest (for example: eat a sandwich, go to the bathroom or drink the water), DON'T move your controller after completing the wave (via destroying Qotile or Swirl), or lose your life. Read carefully the tips and strategies showed on previous HSC for Yars' Revenge. Get at least 5 TRONS to make the cannon appear. TRONS are units of energy which you can get at the following way: 1 TRON for each cell from the shield, 2 TRONS via touching the Qotile, and 4 TRONS via catching the Zorlon Cannon shot after it bounces off the shield (according to the manual). The maximum number of TRONS which Yar can collect is 255, but PAY ATTENTION: this number is not displayed on the screen. To make the Zorlon Cannon appear, bounce the Yar against the left side. ATTENTION: If you press FIRE button accidentally, the risk of losing your life is EXTREME. Before shooting the cannon, keep away the Yar from the left side until the neutral zone region (but out and near this zone); at the moment you shoot the cannon, move the Yar vertically. ATTENTION: If the Yar is destroyed by Missile, Swirl or Zorlon Cannon, you will lose ALL the TRONS collected. Shields in RED (0-70,000 points) and GRAY (150,000-230,000 points): When the Qotile turns to yellow, and orange in sequence, keep away the Yar from the right side of the screen, and try to hit the Swirl in mid-air to score more points quickly and get extra Yars, but WATCH THE MOVEMENTS OF THE SWIRL. Also, BE CAREFUL WITH THE ZORLON CANNON when you shoot, and KEEP AWAY from Destroyer Missile. Shields in BLUE (70,000-150,000 points) and PINK (more than 230,000 points): The Qotile turns to the SWIRL when the colors are RED, BLUE, and LIGHT GREEN. In this situation, Swirl sometimes fires immediately. It's a good opportunity to max your lives via destroying the Swirl in mid-air and increase your score quickly. But BE CAREFUL with the Swirl, Destroyer Missile, and the Zorlon Cannon. Remember: after scoring 150,000 points, the Swirl will remain in mid-air to hit the Yar. When the Yar is in the Neutral Zone, you cannot operate fire commands or be destroyed by Missiles, but the Swirl, and the Zorlon Cannon destroy the Yar in the zone (according to the manual). --Zero

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted. The downtown skyscraper has burst into flames, and only you can rescue the helpless hundreds trapped within. Quickly, you helicopter to the scene, and dispatch your men to battle the deadly flames. How many survivors can you save? Game Information Game Name: Towering Inferno Released By: US Games, 1982 Left Difficulty: B / Novice Right Difficulty: B / Novice Game Mode: Game 1 Post your scores right here in this thread, and I will add them to the list. Remember to play the game with the recommended game mode and difficulty settings as shown above so that your scores will be consistent with everyone elses. The deadline for posting scores is Wednesday October 20th at 1:00 AM (Central Time, UTC-6). Challenges Theme Avatar - Chance your avatar to a picture of a fire fighter for the week, and you get 3 bonus points. Miss 2600 [+3] Chuck D. Head [+3] Scrabbler15 [+3] Deteacher [+3] JacobZu7zu7 [+3] roadrunner [+3] Zoyx [+3] toymailman [+3] Current High Scores 2996 (toymailman) [+11] 2852 (Deteacher) [+10] 2492 (JacobZu7zu7) [+9] 2439 (Chuck D. Head) [+8] 2150 (Zoyx) [+7] 2144 (Scrabbler15) [+6] 2068 (Miss 2600) [+5] 1238 (oyamafamily) [+4] 1078 (SeaGtGruff) [+3] 553 (ClassicGMR) [+2] 310 (roadrunner) [+1] Best Tips Scrabbler15 [+2] TwinGalaxies Top 3 (Game 1, Difficulty B)2129 (David B Yancey) 1731 (Alan W Hewston) 1516 (Robert Macauley) (Emulator) Current Standings toymailman [122] Scrabber15 [107] JacobZu7zu7 [104] oyamafamily [90] Deteacher [89] zylon [59] Jifremok [54] roadrunner [45] Zoyx [30] Chuck D. Head [27] ClassicGMR [26] LarcenTyler [26] keilbaca [24] Miss 2600 [22] pis [21] SeaGtGruff [20] HatefulGravey [17] doctorclu [13] Pioneer4x4 [12] MrJimbo [8] Mister VCS [7] satan165 [7] 4Ks [4] ed1475 [2] littleman jack [2] pacmanplayer [2] Austin [1] rmaerz [1] MIKE5200 [1] SpaceDice2010 [1] Scoring Points in Towering Inferno Put Out Flames - 1 point each Rescue a Survivor - 25 points each Hints and Tips The Manual As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy available online. Unfortunately, it doesn't provide any specific hints. Miss 2600 Dang those flames are erratic! Probably like real flames are for firefighters. The walls can be an enemy, too. Try to stay clear when you can as they will really slow you down. A couple of times I got stuck on a corner and my firefighter was frozen. I had to move the joystick a few times to free him using up valuable time. Deteacher If there are a lot of flames, don't play with fire. Just try to cut a clear path to the window and get out...you score the real points by rescuing the survivors. If you need a break, you can clear out all the flames. The timer stops and no more survivors will perish. This is a nice built-in pause feature. You can shoot water through walls and put out fires on the other side. This is quite beneficial, especially if you are hard pressed for time. It will cut down on the number of flames you may have to just rush past in order to get out of the room. SeaGtGruff Try to stay away from the walls as much as possible, because if you touch them while you're trying to run, you'll get stuck. You don't have to touch the window to get the people, and touching the window doesn't get them-- you just shoot the window with your hose. "Shooting through the walls and putting out the fire on the other side" doesn't mean the fire *in* the walls. You can't shoot the fire inside the walls, so don't even bother trying. Scrabbler15 On the first couple of levels, douse all the flames. In addition to 1 point for each flame, there is a 20 point bonus for dousing all the flames. Level one can be worth 125 points (+-) with three people saved and all the flame points. Also do this on any level where there are fewer flames that can be quickly cleared. Shooting one of the single flames can result in all three flames in the set being doused. It seems to work best hitting the leftmost single flame. Your guy can shoot with his gun on the left or the right. The gun will move in the direction the guy is moving. Once the shoot button is pressed, the gun stays on the same side until the button is released. Switch the side that the gun is on when it is advantageous to do so. Attack the flames. It's easy to end up waiting for the flames to come to you. There is not enough time on the later levels to sit around waiting for something to happen. Run around the flame and attack it from the other side, if possible. The flames are situated in rows. If there is an empty row between the flames, it provides a sort of safe zone to shoot at the flames above and below. Try to stop in the middle of a row when you move. This will be close enough to douse a flame, but far enough away to prevent getting burned. --Zero

I always find it kind of funny that no one knows about it, but in the 2600 Archives here on AtariAge, there are three different maps for Pitfall II, as well as a complete walkthrough with tips. --Zero

Sorry for the lack of updates on this week... Work has been crazy lately, so it's been hard finding the time to get things done (and when I have had time, it's hard to summon the will to do anything productive) --Zero

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted. Perhaps I've gone too far. I'm in an underground cavern beneath Peru. It seems to be a complex maze, perhaps eight chambers wide and over three times as deep. Niece Rhonda has disappeared, along with Quickclaw, our cowardly cat. I am beset by all manner of subterranean creatures in this vast, ancient labyrinth. And all because of a rock--the Raj diamond. It was stolen a century ago, and hidden here. Old friends, if ever you see this diary, I hope you'll read it and come to my aid. Help me find Rhonda, Quickclaw and the diamond. On the way, let's also look for a stone-aged rat. A large university wants it for research. Finally, lots of stolen U.S. gold bars were ditched here. The more bars we recover, the more "brownie" points we'll get at journey's end. Game Information Game Name: Pitfall II: Lost Caverns Released By: Activision, 1984 Left Difficulty: N/A Right Difficulty: N/A Game Mode: Default Post your scores right here in this thread, and I will add them to the list. Remember to play the game with the recommended game mode and difficulty settings as shown above so that your scores will be consistent with everyone elses. The deadline for posting scores is Wednesday October 13th at 1:00 AM (Central Time, UTC-6). Challenges Patch Challenge - Cliffhangers - Score 99,000 points or more, and you get 2 bonus points. Perfect Evaluation - Score 199,000 points, and you get 3 bonus points (on top of the 2 points from the patch challenge). oyamafamily [+3] Deteacher [+3] Zoyx [+3] Scrabbler15 [+3] Current High Scores 199,000 (oyamafamily) [+11][+2] 199,000 (Deteacher) [+11][+2] 199,000 (Zoyx) [+11][+2] 199,000 (Scrabbler15) [+11][+2] 198,459 (toymailman) [+10][+2] 198,264 (JacobZu7zu7) [+9][+2] 192,563 (Chuck D. Head) [+8][+2] 184,067 (LarcenTyler) [+7][+2] 184,000 (SeaGtGruff) [+6][+2] 106,830 (Miss 2600) [+5][+2] 102,558 (roadrunner) [+4][+2] 102,203 (pis) [+3][+2] 68,900 (MisterVCS) [+2] 21,492 (doctorclu) [+1] 18,573 (ClassicGMR) [+1] Best Tips JacobZu7zu7 [+2] TwinGalaxies Top 3 (Game 1, Difficulty B)199,000 (lots of people...) Current Standings toymailman [110] Scrabber15 [91] JacobZu7zu7 [91] oyamafamily [74] Deteacher [73] zylon [59] Jifremok [54] roadrunner [39] ClassicGMR [25] keilbaca [24] Chuck D. Head [17] LarcenTyler [17] HatefulGravey [17] pis [16] Miss 2600 [15] Zoyx [14] Pioneer4x4 [12] SeaGtGruff [12] doctorclu [12] MrJimbo [8] satan165 [7] Mister VCS [5] 4Ks [4] ed1475 [2] littleman jack [2] pacmanplayer [2] Austin [1] rmaerz [1] MIKE5200 [1] SpaceDice2010 [1] Scoring Points in Pitfall II You start off with 4000 points. 5,000 points for every gold bar 15,000 points for the primitive cave rat 20,000 points for the Raj diamond 10,000 points for Rhonda's safe return 10,000 points for Quickclaw's safe return Hints and Tips The Manual As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy and a scanned copy available online. Here are the hints it provides: Time your approach to condors and bats so that you run exactly below their highest elevation. A free-fall down an entire shaft can be a short-cut to the river below. This particular jump must be timed, though, to avoid colliding with bats on the way down. If you're unintentionally falling down a chute of ladders or past many levels, hold the Joystick to the left or right. The underground wind will slowly move you in that direction. Don't get discouraged if a bat gets you whenever you go from a ladder to a gold bar. Listen up. Stay low on the ladder, wait until a bat is just over you, then climb up quickly and run to the gold bar. You'll barely miss the next bat, but miss it you will. Finally, not everything you see is always easy to get to. Some things can be so close, yet so far away. Like Quickclaw, for instance. And the rat...who, incidentally, can only be subdued from behind. JacobZu7zu7 During the FINAL (up hill climb to the RAT/Kangaroo) all the bats, birds, scorpions. You can actually STAY on the ladders and wait for the bats to pass! You just move up with Harry's head peaking out but(below the BAT)... and make sure your feet have clearance from the BIRD. This way you don't have to run under the bat as much (as it will pass over your head while you're on the ladder!), it works pretty well! Just get the idea of where you need to be on that ladder, I thought I was gonna hit the BIRD with my feet but it never happened. You can also run into the hole of the ladders from the top and it sets you in the down position, although I like to move the controller/joystick down, manual each time I go up or down a level. Just to be sure... The best way to time the birds, is watch them swoop down.. then when they start to raise up, quickly run under.. and if it looks like you will clip them, stop for a half-sec and start running again past. If you feel off rythum, walk back into the nearest screen, then get back to the screen with the bird, and it will be reset for you. So do planning on how you will pass by all them creatures! The frog is actually kinda slow jumping back to the left and right! The most important thing to remember is that, when on a ladder... wait for the frog to "clear/finish" his jump, and when he does.. get off the ladder early and run, you can get off the ladder (without even climbing all if it) by pushing the joystick to the left or right, and you can make it while the frogs on the other side.. then quickly move and then jump. Jumping is best when done at the last minute, (last piece of land or very close to a scorpion) DON'T JUMP EARLY! It has disasterous results. Harry only can jump so far and high, so you don't want to make him jump a "Harry" early. --Zero

No it won't! The 1084S handles 50Hz video just fine, but it can't handle the PAL colour signal, so you'll still just get black and white. Believe me, when I bought my first CD32, this was exactly the setup I had... a PAL CD32 and an NTSC 1084S. I had read somewhere that as long as you plugged it in via S-Video, that it would work fine... but no, I still didn't get colour (In fact, I have two different models of 1084S, and neither worked). So I decided to buy one of these things. It's not a "real" PAL to NTSC converter, it just converts the colour signal, which was all I needed. Unfortunately, it totally ruined the picture quality to the point where I preferred playing in black and white. I eventually broke down and bought an NTSC system. However, if you're willing to do a video mod, you can hack the CD32 to output an RGB signal. If you hook it up to a 1084S like this, you will get colour. Most of the expansion modules for the CD32 have a standard Amiga RGB port on the back, which is great for solving the video problem. Check out this site. Anything with one of the blue icons to the right has a gameplay video you can watch. Basically, most of the games are SNES quality, sometimes with additions like CD Audio or FMV. What makes the CD32 interesting is all the classic Amiga games that are essentially CD32 exclusives in the console world. Games like Alien Breed, Superfrog, Beneath a Steel Sky, Simon the Sorcerer, Frontier, Super Stardust, Liberation, Super Methane Bros, Super Skidmarks, and many others are popular in the computer gaming world, but in the console world, the CD32 is the only place you can get them. Another interesting field of games on the CD32 are games that are, at their heart, classic 8-bit games, but which have been beefed up with tons of extra features. Fire Force is essentially Rush'n Attack, except with far more variety in game play, lots of weapons, buildings you can enter, etc. Jetstrike is essentially Choplifter, except with a huge variety of mission types, 60 different vehicles to pilot (including some weird stuff like a dragon and a gyrocopter), all kinds of different weapons to load on your jet, etc. I have a black keyboard that I bought a few years back that is just a rebadged CDTV keyboard with the proper cord added on. It's very easy to modify these things, so I'd be careful about anyone claiming they have some sort of prototype. When I bought mine, it was specifically advertised as a conversion, but it still cost me something like $60... but I wanted a black keyboard to match the console. I still need to get a CDTV floppy drive to complete the set. --Zero

Well, I know almost nothing about Pippen.... but when it comes to CD32, I'm your man! It just so happens that I'm co-editor of AmigaCD32.com. Between Ice and I, we have almost every game released for the system, and a good chunk of the hardware too. The site is still in the early stages, and we still have a lot of work to do, but there are lots of pictures, and even video of quite a few games. The FMV module is almost completely useless (and way too expensive). The CD32 can use a normal Amiga 4000 keyboard (or a 2000/3000 keyboard with a little work). In fact, a keyboard is a very nice addition, since most games on the CD32 are straight ports from the Amiga computers, and thus will have some level of keyboard support (Games like Frontier and Liberation are far more fun with proper controls). If you're going to own a CD32, you really need to buy an Amiga mouse (PC mice will NOT work)... not just for the boot menu, but there are a lot of games that support mouse control. The expansion modules will allow you to play many normal Amiga computer games on floppy disk, or WHDLoad games from a hard drive... but the expansions are far too expensive to deal in. You're better off getting a normal Amiga computer if that's what you want to do. No! This is a common misconception, and it gets a little complicated, so bear with me: You can access a boot menu by plugging a mouse into controller port 2 and holding both buttons while you turn the system on. This menu allows you to boot in either "NTSC" or "PAL" mode.... but despite what the menu says, it really only allows you to switch between 50Hz and 60Hz. You cannot change the colour encoding. If you try to boot a PAL CD32 into "NTSC" mode, you'll likely just end up with a black and white picture because your TV won't understand the PAL colour signal. If you live in North America, solving the whole "video issue" with the CD32 can be an incredibly annoying problem. What you really need is an NTSC system and a display that can handle a 50Hz signal. Trying to find an appropriate display is very hard because no manufacturer actually advertises their products capabilities properly, so usually the only way to find out is to try it and see what happens. I can confirm that a Commodore 1084S monitor is a great choice here though. In the past, there were 3 or 4 games that I claimed didn't work... but with further experimenting, most (all?) of the problems turned out to be something different altogether. There is a bug in the CD32's BIOS that (from what I can tell) doesn't properly free memory after showing the boot logo, so there are a few games that will end up crashing because they run out of memory (they don't usually crash right away either, they'll just lock up before the first level starts or something). The way to get around this is to turn the system on with no game, wait for the animation to finish, and THEN put the game in. Somehow this results in the memory being available and the game finally works. This problem affects F17 Challenge, Kang Fu, Fears, Theme Park, and maybe others that I forgot about. In any case, I now believe that NTSC CD32's in PAL mode are 100% compatible with PAL games. --Zero

Tossing a chip on the board is the easy part. Programming the FPGA to perfectly recreate the custom chips is not so easy. For example, check out the C-One. It's meant to be a C64 motherboard built around an FPGA... but if you look into things a bit more, the whole thing is plagued with problems, and even after being out for years, the C64 core is pretty far from perfect... and that's old, well-known 8-bit chips it's dealing with. It's unfortunate too... I'd love a good flash cart for the SNES, but not being able to play anything with custom chips really hurts it for me. --Zero

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted. Marooned on the ice planet Krybor, you watch legions of eerie creatures scream overhead. They hover ominously. They give you no quarter. Attack and destroy them, or be destroyed! Armed with your Laser Cannon, you confront the ultimate challenge: SURVIVE! Game Information Game Name: Demon Attack Released By: Imagic, 1982 Left Difficulty: A / Expert - Aggressive Demons Right Difficulty: N/A Game Mode: Game 1 Post your scores right here in this thread, and I will add them to the list. Remember to play the game with the recommended game mode and difficulty settings as shown above so that your scores will be consistent with everyone elses. The deadline for posting scores is Wednesday October 6th at 1:00 AM (Central Time, UTC-6). Challenges Survivor - Score 50,000 points or higher, and you'll get 3 bonus points. oyamafamily [+3] toymailman [+3] JacobZu7zu7 [+3] Current High Scores 394,465 (oyamafamily) [+11] 144,725 (toymailman) [+10] 61,220 (JacobZu7zu7) [+9] 34,990 (zylon) [+8] 31,295 (Deteacher) [+7] 30,505 (Zoyx) [+6] 24,740 (Scrabbler15) [+5] 18,385 (doctorclu) [+4] 15,520 (Chuck D. Head) [+3] 11,110 (pis) [+2] 10,975 (keilbaca) [+1] 7385 (roadrunner) [+1] 7330 (littleman jack) [+1] 6150 (ClassicGMR) [+1] 6000 (SpaceDice2010) [+1] 3990 (Miss 2600) [+1] Best Tips JacobZu7zu7 [+2] TwinGalaxies Top 3 (Game 1, Difficulty B)1,556,345 (Paul Zimmerman) 1,005,340 (Frankie Cardulla) 758,980 (Todd Rogers) Current Standings toymailman [97] Scrabber15 [86] JacobZu7zu7 [77] Deteacher [66] oyamafamily [60] Jifremok [54] zylon [51] roadrunner [38] ClassicGMR [24] keilbaca [23] LarcenTyler [17] HatefulGravey [17] pis [14] Miss 2600 [14] Chuck D. Head [14] Pioneer4x4 [12] SeaGtGruff [12] Zoyx [8] MrJimbo [8] doctorclu [8] satan165 [7] Mister VCS [5] 4Ks [4] ed1475 [2] pacmanplayer [2] Austin [1] rmaerz [1] littleman jack [1] MIKE5200 [1] Scoring Points in Demon Attack During wave 1, shooting a Demon will give you 10 points. Every odd-numbered wave after the 1st, the point value of a Demon increases by 5, up to a maximum of 35 points at the 11th wave. During wave 5, shooting a split Demon will give you 40 points. Every odd-numbered wave after the 5th, the point value of a split Demon increases by 10, up to a maximum of 70 points at the 11th wave. During wave 5, shooting a diving Demon will give you 80 points. Every odd-numbered wave after the 5th, the point value of a diving Demon increases by 20, up to a maximum of 140 points at the 11th wave. Hints and Tips The Manual As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy available online. Unfortunately, it doesn't provide any specific hints. We played this game once before in the High Score Club, you might want to check out that thread for more hints. Scrabbler15 Read the tips in the thread from last time. There are lots of tips and ideas on different ways to approach the game. I'll just add some of my thoughts to add to these tips. For the small oo ships, try using a duck-in-shoot-duck-out-the-same-side method. I had been trying to do the cross-under-and-shoot thing, but I found I was more consistent the other way. If the small ship is chasing across the screen or if you're gonna get trapped in the corner, you have to do the cross-under-and-shoot and take your chances. Sometimes the lowest level gets lower than usual and kind of bears down on the ship. If you can shoot one of the upper level demons, it seems to take the pressure off and the lower level demons will move back up to their normal height. For the wider demons, once you get the bottom one split, go for splitting the rest. When the half-a-demon starts diving, keep shooting the bigs ones. The little ones will chase the ship, so you're gonna end up getting them anyhow. But in the meantime, the whole level can be cleared in a splitting/diving festival. JacobZu7zu7 On the wave with the big green demons who look like Frisbees, These can be tricky, it's very tough to run under them, so what I do, is "wait" next to the demons fire, and for the lowest demons fire to dissolve, then quickly get under and shoot! Then swing back away before the demon fires again! This works like a charm to get passed this wave, around the (800 points) stage. When you reach the first wave when demons SPLIT It's best to aim for the demons in the second and third rows above, by hitting these in two, or even destroying them over and over you can get rid of many waves of demons. That way there's less demon fire to dodge all the time, however you have to avoid or shoot the birdies that fly down at ya... which brings to the next tip. On the splitting demon waves. Now to destroy the demon birds flying down at ya, you either try to get under them and shoot, and if that doesn't work, swing to left or right next to the "demon-bird" itself above, and then quickly get back under it, and shoot again! This usually puts the birds in shooting range to kill 'em. Keep swinging left and right of these birds to kill 'em, and if you can't swing far away, hopefully away from any demon ships firing above! YOU SHOULD TAKE A RISK and kill the birds flying down, so you can concentrate more on finishing the wave. Only if you can get a good shoot do you want to run from the birds, as they can make you run into demons fire. Having trouble getting backed into corners by Demon fire? Well, maybe a little known fact, I discovered "the bottom row" demons move or mimic your movements most of times, especially later in advanced waves. So, by moving the joystick left-right swiftly (consistently), you can move the demons away from your ship!, and they don't push you into the walls! Just make sure you don't move under the lowest Demons fire range, UNLESS you plan to escape to other side, or kill 'em. THOSE TINY Demons that split two fire lasers at once... These are tough, this is the MOST important (2) waves in to "wiggle" the joystick left/right in a bit faster clip then before, and TRY to destroy the two top Demon rows, and leave the bottom one alone if you can, this way you can eliminate more demons near the top and not have to deal with the two laser fire which is hell difficult, to swing across beneath. --Zero

Making a CFL game should be fairly easy... There are actually far more rule differences than most people think, but a lot of them are pretty obscure and could be safely ignored without ruining the game. I would think EA could just hit the Madden engine with a hammer a few times and get a workable CFL game over the course of a weekend. I can't imagine a CFL license would be very expensive (hell, the CFL would probably pay THEM for the advertising alone!) If distribution is an issue, then selling it exclusively in Canada (And maybe Baltimore) would seem to simplify things a lot. In fact, when Ubisoft localized Curling DS, they released it as a Canadian exclusive. Another option of course is just to include the CFL and Canadian rules as an option in Madden. In fact, EA did something very similar by including the CHL in NHL 11 (of course, there's no rule changes involved, but still). Anyone who thinks that there is no demand for a CFL game is dead wrong. Obviously, it's not as big a league as the NFL, but it's not some back-woods minor league either. The league has a long, rich history that pre-dates the NFL. It's serious business in Canada. If there is enough demand to make games based on Professional Bull Riding and National Professional Paintball League (which folded before the game was even released), then you can't tell me the CFL doesn't deserve a video game. --Zero

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted. ESCAPE! Your mind throbs... trapped in the Room of Doom, with fiendish gunmen trying to annihilate you. Shots come from secret portholes that mysteriously open and close. Watch out! the gunmen have unleashed a hydra-headed monster; it relentlessly pursues you. Don't panic! Your marksmanship can stun it, but only for a moment. Should you remain in the Room of Doom too long, the monster becomes invulnerable to your bullets. Dodge the gunmen's firepower; shoot them in return when the secret portholes open, and then escape! ... but where? The next Room of Doom awats. An even more diabolical chamber with rapid-fire gunmen and devious monsters trying to destroy you. Can you survive through the full gauntlet of rooms and escape unscathed? Game Information Game Name: Room of Doom Released By: CommaVid, 1982 Left Difficulty: B / Novice - Start at Room 1 Right Difficulty: B / Novice - Start at Room 1 Game Mode: Game 1 Post your scores right here in this thread, and I will add them to the list. Remember to play the game with the recommended game mode and difficulty settings as shown above so that your scores will be consistent with everyone elses. The deadline for posting scores is Wednesday September 28th at 1:00 AM (Central Time, UTC-6). Challenges Your Own Room of Doom - Post a picture of your own game room (or even just your Atari collection and setup) and you'll get 1 bonus point (please post a picture and don't just link to an imagebucket account). Miss 2600 roadrunner toymailman zylon Scrabbler15 JacobZu7zu7 doctorclu Current High Scores GOOD GAME (oyamafamily) [+11] GOOD GAME (Deteacher) [+11] GOOD GAME (toymailman) [+11] 27,375 (JacobZu7zu7) [+10] 26,525 (Scrabber15) [+9] 19,875 (SeaGtGruff) [+8] 17,375 (zylon) [+7] 17,075 (keilbaca) [+6] 9325 (roadrunner) [+5] 1525 (doctorclu) [+4] Best Tips JacobZu7zu7 [+2] TwinGalaxies Top 3 (Game 1, Difficulty B)40,200 (Robert T Mruczek) 32,725 (David B Yancey) Current Standings toymailman [85] Scrabber15 [76] JacobZu7zu7 [64] Deteacher [55] Jifremok [54] oyamafamily [49] zylon [43] roadrunner [32] ClassicGMR [24] keilbaca [17] LarcenTyler [17] HatefulGravey [17] pis [14] Chuck D. Head [14] Miss 2600 [13] Pioneer4x4 [12] Zoyx [8] MrJimbo [8] satan165 [7] Mister VCS [5] 4Ks [4] SeaGtGruff [4] doctorclu [3] ed1475 [2] pacmanplayer [2] Austin [1] rmaerz [1] littleman jack [1] MIKE5200 [1] Scoring Points in Room of Doom Shoot a Gunman - 75 points Shoot the Monster - 50 points Hints and Tips The Manual As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, Atarimania has a scanned copy online for your viewing pleasure. Unfortunately, the manual doesn't offer any specific hints. keilbaca Here's my tip: You have LOTS of time in the earlier levels. You can milk shooting the monster that chases you in the early levels until time runs to about 5 seconds left on the top. You get no bonus points for completing a level based on time, so milk that monster. JacobZu7zu7 Always shoot down the floating monsters... they are worth points and also it helps get them out of your way, before they close in on you. In early rounds before (room 10) you can stay pretty close to the wall and shoot straight ahead at your targets, make sure you are lined up properly just BELOW or level to the gunmen... so that your bullets go through the opening... this will hit the gunmen and sometimes, before he can even get a shot out at you! The sparklers in the room are tricky you don't wanna hit them, so more often stand in between them and not above or below them, you can arrange your firing angles more easily this way. In later stages, (room 10 and up) the speed of the gunmen's fire goes up considerably, so a good strategy is to stay against the wall (yes you can touch the walls) and wait for a door to open, and when it does, make sure you are situated on an angle... and fire away (after) the gunmen has shot his bullet! you probably may have to adjust your position slightly. Sneak attacks near the wall, work best when the game is too fast to move from the gunmen's bullets. This starts to accor around room 10, or when you hit about 10ks, so be prepared to change techniques around that time. -To do these sneak attacks, you should stand on the RIGHT side of where the door is opening. If you are at the left, by the time you have the door open, you wont be able to get the range you need, so always be to the right of where the door opening, then SHOOT quickly! --Zero

Nicely done! Did you have to amplify the signal at all? Also, the RGB signals are available on the expansion port too... or were you trying to keep that free for other things? --Zero

Sorry, but you missed the cut off I hope everyone had a lot of fun with this competition! It was quite a change of pace, and I'm very pleased with the way it turned out. The scoring for this week was quite a bit different from the way things usually work, so I encourage everyone to check their scores, and let me know if I made any mistakes! --Zero

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no futher scores will be accepted. That nasty old troll, Ollie Ogre, is at it again. He is chasing poor Daisy Damsel all across the neighborhood! So what are you waiting for, hero? Get out there and stop him! You have the blueprint (plans) for the only contraption that can knock him off. All you need now are the parts with which you build it and they're hidden in the houses of the neighborhood. What you don't need are the bombs you may pick up and encounters with fiendish Fuzzy Wuzzy! But if you complete your contraption in time you'll be able to stop Ollie and save Daisy! So get a move on already! Daisy's counting on you! Game Information Game Name: Blueprint Released By: CBS Electronics, 1983 Left Difficulty: N/A Right Difficulty: N/A Game Mode: Default Post your scores right here in this thread, and I will add them to the list. Remember to play the game with the recommended game mode and difficulty settings as shown above so that your scores will be consistent with everyone elses. The deadline for posting scores is Wednesday September 22nd at 1:00 AM (Central Time, UTC-6). Challenges Design a Contraption - Design a contraption that could be used to save your girl from monsters (draw something, make something out of Lego, write a story about how it works, anything) and you'll get 3 bonus points! The crazier and more Rube-Goldbergian the better!Scrabbler15 [+3] JacobZu7zu7 [+3] Miss 2600 [+3] toymailman [+3] Current High Scores 20,000 (Scrabbler15) [+11] 20,000 (toymailman) [+11] 12,000 (JacobZu7zu7) [+10] 11,775 (Deteacher) [+9] 6750 (roadrunner) [+8] 3275 (keilbaca) [+7] 2850 (oyamafamily) [+6] 2775 (ClassicGMR) [+5] 2625 (Miss 2600) [+4] 275 (doctorclu) [+3] Best Tips JacobZu7zu7 [+2] TwinGalaxies Top 3 (Game 1, Difficulty B)264,825 (Scott Stilphen) 198,050 (Mike K Morrow) 115,200 (Rodrigo Lopes) (Emulator) Current Standings toymailman [71] Scrabber15 [62] Jifremok [54] JacobZu7zu7 [49] Deteacher [46] oyamafamily [43] zylon [43] roadrunner [24] ClassicGMR [19] LarcenTyler [17] HatefulGravey [17] pis [14] Chuck D. Head [14] Pioneer4x4 [12] keilbaca [10] Zoyx [8] MrJimbo [8] satan165 [7] Miss 2600 [6] Mister VCS [5] 4Ks [4] SeaGtGruff [4] ed1475 [2] pacmanplayer [2] Austin [1] rmaerz [1] littleman jack [1] MIKE5200 [1] Scoring Points in Blueprint Attach a Part - 100 points Defuse a Bomb - 25 points Knocking off Ollie Level 1 - 200 points Level 2 - 400 points Level 3 - 600 points Level 4 - 800 points Level 5 and up - 1000 points Note: You are awarded bonus points for using less power on your shots Hints and Tips The Manual As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy and a scanned copy available online. Here are the hints it provides: Save your speed supply for times when you'll really need it like maneuvering through the houses on the upper blocks of the neighborhood or when you unexpectedly pick up a bomb with a short fuse. Once you pick up a part, you'll be able to avoid Fuzzy Wuzzy by ducking into any nearby house. As long as you have the part you won't be able to pick up anything else. Blueprint is, most of all, a memory game. Younger players (as well as absent-minded ones) might find it easier to play as a team. One member moves through the houses while the other member keeps track of where they've already been. JacobZu7zu7 The Neighborhoods First round, [3] pieces of the contraption are hidden, you should be able to memorize where the parts are being dropped off since there's only 3. Basically just run to each of those houses and complete contraption and the level. Second round, [5] hidden parts now... and this round is tricky.. pay CLOSE attention to what areas the pieces are hidden, you don't have to be exact, just be sure what part of the neighborhood has the 5 pieces, and try to memorize the where the last piece is as you don't want to forget suddenly after doing well finding the others parts easily. By recalling where the last piece is it helps you finish up the level smoothly. Third Round +, From now on, there are [8] missing pieces/parts of the contraption...the best way I done these levels so far, is by memorizing where the first 2 or 3 missing parts are, and also, the last 2 parts. also I try memorizing which houses have no parts at all, which is only 2 houses! so I avoid them and start my search, quickly tracking down the first few parts, and maybe making a few guesses in mid-game. A few errors seem inevitable, but with some luck or if an easy pattern develops for you, you can do well and finish without losing a life! IT'S PROBABLY MORE IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER WHICH 'CORRECT' HOUSES YOU HAVE ALREADY BEEN TO AND FINISHED SEARCHING, THEN IT IS TO MEMORIZE THE HOUSES THAT HAVE PIECES IN THEM! BY KNOWING WHERE YOU HAVE BEEN HELPS QUITE A BIT IN THE LATER STAGE OF THE GAME, AND IT WILL PREVENT YOU FROM GOING TO THE SAME PLACES OVER AND OVER AND HOPEFULLY NOT LOSE CRITICAL TIME IN SAVING DAISY. THE TOP HOUSES ARE TOUGHEST TO RUN BACK DOWN, AND DEFUSE A BOMB!SO TRY TO BE AWARE HOW MANY PIECES ARE HIDDEN UP THERE... MISTAKES MADE AT THE TOP HOUSES, SEEM TO BE THE MOST COSTLY OR TIME CONSUMING. Beginner tips, Practice , practice, practice... focus, focus, and relax! Read the whole manual. It gives you the idea of how to play and what to do. Pieces of the Contraption need to be completed in sequence from bottom to top. This is the only way, to advance you to shooting down Ollie. Ollie is chasing Daisy, and THAT Troll needs to be SHOT before you can advance to the next level... you have a Contraption to fire at him to save Daisy, you ONLY can save Daisy when all pieces of your Contraption are collected and placed in the "correct" order! Best and fastest use of the Contraption is by,... pulling the joystick up/away from you till you see the meter read (I) straight up (right top corner)...this means the weapon will fire directly upwards, and also seems the fastest... this aim works best for me, in shooting down Ollie. To hit Olle "most times" accurately, wait till Daisy is about to run across the screen, she will be near the edge of the left side, (with your contraption aimed UP) hit the fire button at the moment Daisy is about to cross the screen at the left, this should hit Ollie on his return to the middle... although Time differences in how fast or slow you completed the Contraption effects how accurate your timing is in hitting Ollie. YEAH, so make adjustments to this, you can move the Contraption left and right, but I found this no real help...as I memorized my aim and shot "straight down the middle", and I recommend that area to hit Ollie. Bombs, these need to be disposed at the BOMB PIT, the right corner of the screen, it's a red circle, put the Bomb in that red circle... moving diagonal to the bomb pit ACTUALLY SAVES TIME! So if the color of the bomb turns red, you should cut an angle holding the joystick down/right. Hit the pit right in the middle...till you hear the fuse go out! If you complete a level very quickly, you can dump off 3-5 bombs for about 50 to 200 points extra on your score. Only do this if you have good consistent aim against Ollie. Button pressing Hold the button down when you search the houses!! You will move at a much faster pace... though when the color reads RED, you have run outta' gas, and need to find the next part for you to become a quick mover again... and when you do... hold that button down! Fuzzy Wuzzy, one way you can escape him besides running away is, by hiding in one of the houses till he is gone, try to run to a save house with no bombs if you can, also use caution when you are near him, try to stop and check his movement before going on your way, he can double back and hit you sometimes. Scrabbler15 First, I numbered the houses in my mind like this - _1_2_3_ _4_5_6_ __8_9__ 7_____10 As the pieces are going in the houses, I count out loud each of the first five houses. I keep repeating the order of the first five houses while I watch where the other three pieces are going. I can usually get the last three pieces right without using the numbers. I found that if I count higher than five numbers, it's too many for me to remember to keep the order right. After I get the last three done, I call out the five numbers, e.g. One Three Six Seven Ten. Whatever the last number called out is where I go next. In the example, that would be Ten. Then I call out the four that are left and go to the last one, which now is Seven, and so on. A big advantage in getting the order right is that every piece placed adds to the 'green speed' time. So most of the round can be played at top speed. It also means getting to Ollie quicker, which brings me to the way I take the shot. I never add power to the gun. I take the shot at lowest power when Ollie passes under the left edge of the scoreboard at the top of the screen. Ollie will lap the screen twice and then run into the bullet. It also means maximum bonus points for the hit. --Zero

Superman (2600) Indiana Jones (2600) Star Trek: SOS (2600 & ColecoVision) Ducktales (NES) Chip & Dale Rescue Rangers (NES) The Simpsons (Arcade) Alien vs. Predator (Arcade) D&D Tower of Doom & Shadow Over Mystara (Arcade) X-Men (Arcade) Pinball games are an interesting genre here... almost all pinball machines based on a license are actually very good. If you look at IPDB's top 10 list, the top three games are TV show licenses, and #4 is a movie license. While I'm mentioning pinball machines, it's only fair to add that the Pinball Hall of Fame releases are also very high quality... though they don't aim for a quick popularity cash-in like most licensed works do. --Zero

http://chrisfenton.com/homebrew-cray-1a/ This guy implemented a Cray-1A in a Xilinx Spartan-3E 1600 FPGA development board... and then went and designed a 1/10th scale model case to put it in! I'm a little unsure how he can claim it to be binary compatible and cycle exact when his main problem seems to be that he has no software to run on it, but whatever. The hardware reference manual he links to is very interesting also. I've always dreamed of owning a Cray, though the logistics of it are completely ridiculous (y'know, like having a 150kW power source for the cooling system, and reinforcing the floor to support a 10,500lb machine and all that fun stuff). --Zero

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted. Welcome to the first ever High Score Club Variety Pack! Rules for this competition are a little different, so please read: This competition combines four games over a two week period. The deadline for posting scores is Wednesday September 15th at 1:00 AM (Central Time, UTC-6). Scores for each game will be listed separately, with reduced scoring awarded for each game (5 points for first place, 4 for 2nd, 3 for 3rd, 2 for 4th, and 1 for all other scores). Scores are also combined for a final ranking, with Combined Score = (Kaboom Score x 20) + (Squeeze Box Score x 10) + (Atlantis Score) + (Astroblast Score x 5). These scores will then be ranked and scored as per normal High Score Club rules (11 points for 1st place, etc). This means you could score up to 31 points if you post the #1 score for all four games. Alternatively, even if your scores are low, you can get 5 points just for participating. You do not have to play the games in any specific order, and you can submit updated scores for each game separately. You do not have to play all four games. If you leave out one game, you will still be counted in the final ranking as if you had scored 0 for that game. Scores for individual games will still be capped at the point where the score rolls over. No additional capping will occur for combined scores though (For example, if you can max out the score on Astroblast, it will still count for 5 x 999,990 = 4,999,950 points in the combined total). For this competition, there will be no bonus challenges, and no points awarded for best tips (don't worry, they'll come back next time!) Game Information Game Name: Kaboom! Squeeze Box Atlantis Astroblast Released: 1981, Activision 1982, U.S. Games 1982, Imagic 1982, M Network Left Difficulty: B / Novice - Large Buckets B / Novice - Slower N/A Your Choice - Manual/Autofire Right Difficulty: N/A Your Choice - Manual/Autofire N/A A / Expert - Faster Game Mode: Game 1 Game 1 Game 1 Game 1 Last Played: Season 6 Week 2 New! Season 5 Week 4 Season 3 Week 8 Current High Scores 50,755 (zylon) [+5] 16,572 (toymailman) [+4] 15,366 (keilbaca) [+3] 6693 (Zoyx) [+2] 6378 (Deteacher) [+1] 3952 (JacubZu7zu7) [+1] 3219 (Jifremok) [+1] 2411 (Miss 2600) [+1] 2316 (Scrabbler15) [+1] 1287 (oyamafamily) [+1] 330 (roadrunner) [+1] 153 (LarcenTyler) [+1] 71 (ClassicGMR) [+1] 182,940 (toymailman) [+5] 126,100 (Scrabber15) [+4] 42,850 (JacubZu7zu7) [+3] 38,960 (Deteacher) [+2] 15,730 (Miss 2600) [+1] 10,020 (oyamafamily) [+1] 9180 (keilbaca) [+1] 8910 (Zoyx) [+1] 7250 (roadrunner) [+1] 6580 (zylon) [+1] 4410 (ClassicGMR) [+1] 4280 (LarcenTyler) [+1] 3910 (Jifremok) [+1] 999,990 (pis) [+5] 999,990 (Deteacher) [+5] 999,990 (toymailman) [+5] 999,990 (oyamafamily) [+5] 457,040 (Scrabbler15) [+4] 454,800 (ClassicGMR) [+3] 208,520 (Jifremok) [+2] 143,810 (JacobZu7zu7) [+1] 122,910 (keilbaca) [+1] 82,800 (roadrunner) [+1] 76,900 (zylon) [+1] 59,420 (LarcenTyler) [+1] 38,500 (Zoyx) [+1] 33,200 (Miss 2600) [+1] 141,450 (zylon) [+5] 52,410 (toymailman) [+4] 48,125 (JacobZu7zu7) [+3] 46,505 (oyamafamily) [+2] 21,370 (Deteacher) [+1] 18,850 (Zoyx) [+1] 12,425 (keilbaca) [+1] 7300 (Scrabbler15) [+1] 6520 (Miss 2600) [+1] 5050 (roadrunner) [+1] 4360 (ClassicGMR) [+1] 3600 (pacmanplayer) [+1] 1120 (Jifremok) [+1] 1020 (LarcenTyler) [+1] Combined Score 3422880 (toymailman) [+11] 1865050 (zylon) [+10] 1800860 (Scrabbler15) [+9] 1624000 (Deteacher) [+8] 1358455 (oyamafamily) [+7] 999990 (pis) [+6] 891975 (JacobZu7zu7) [+5] 584155 (keilbaca) [+4] 522120 (ClassicGMR) [+3] 355710 (Zoyx) [+2] 317600 (Jifremok) [+1] 271320 (Miss 2600) [+1] 187150 (roadrunner) [+1] 110380 (LarcenTyler) [+1] 18000 (pacmanplayer) [+1] Current Standings Jifremok [48] Scrabber15 [43] toymailman [42] JacobZu7zu7 [36] Deteacher [29] oyamafamily [27] zylon [21] roadrunner [19] HatefulGravey [17] Chuck D. Head [14] Pioneer4x4 [12] LarcenTyler [12] ClassicGMR [10] MrJimbo [8] satan165 [7] Mister VCS [5] 4Ks [4] SeaGtGruff [4] pis [3] ed1475 [2] Zoyx [1] Austin [1] Miss 2600 [1] rmaerz [1] littleman jack [1] MIKE5200 [1] Hints and Tips As always, you really should read the manuals. In case you don't have the manuals, AtariAge has typed versions of all four manuals. Please see their individual pages linked above for hints and tips (They will not be reprinted here). --Zero

I'm not sure why you'd bother with a Japanese 32X... they're harder to find and more expensive, aren't they? The (Super) 32X bomber even harder over there than it did here. --Zero

For ranking purposes, ties are broken by a sort of "score percentile", which is only visible in the spreadsheet that I keep track of things. It might! But we'll see how it goes. --Zero

Important Note: This weeks competition is over and no further scores will be accepted. As commander of the desert crawler, Phoenix, your mission is bizarre yet vital. Flocks of fierce, mutating birds protect a giant spacecraft that is slowly draining your planet's resources. Shoot through the birds to reach the spaceship and stop the parasite within. Game Information Game Name: Phoenix Released By: Atari, 1988 Left Difficulty: Your Choice (toggles bird sounds) Right Difficulty: N/A Game Mode: Default Post your scores right here in this thread, and I will add them to the list. Remember to play the game with the recommended game mode and difficulty settings as shown above so that your scores will be consistent with everyone elses. The deadline for posting scores is Wednesday September 1st at 1:00 AM (Central Time, UTC-6). Challenges Beat The High Score - For this week, every time someone beats the current high score (as long as they don't already hold it), they'll get 1 point! Note that these points will add up over the week. Scrabbler15 [+1] toymailman [+1] JacubZu7zu7 [+1] Deteacher [+1] oyamafamily [+1] Current High Scores 999,990 (oyamafamily) [+11] 685,950 (toymailman) [+10] 274,340 (zylon) [+9] 268,090 (Jifremok) [+8] 264,450 (Deteacher) [+7] 215,090 (roadrunner) [+6] 170,320 (JacobZu7zu7) [+5] 125,190 (Scrabbler15) [+4] 87,170 (pis) [+3] 79,840 (ed1475) [+2] 68,320 (Zoyx) [+1] 66,820 (Austin) [+1] 66,360 (Miss 2600) [+1] 51,580 (Mister VCS) [+1] 48,170 (rmaerz) [+1] 48,150 (Pioneer4x4) [+1] 19,630 (littleman jack) [+1] 19,280 (Chuck D. Head) [+1] 18,260 (LarcenTyler) [+1] 17,160 (ClassicGMR) [+1] 15,540 (SeaGtGruff) [+1] Best Tips Scrabbler15 [+2] TwinGalaxies Top 3 (Game 1, Difficulty B)4,014,440 (Paul Zimmerman) 521,960 (Frankie Cardulla) 251,180 (Giovanni Flamand) (Emulator) Current Standings Jifremok [40] Scrabber15 [36] toymailman [31] JacobZu7zu7 [30] Deteacher [21] HatefulGravey [17] oyamafamily [15] Chuck D. Head [13] roadrunner [13] zylon [12] Pioneer4x4 [11] LarcenTyler [11] ClassicGMR [9] MrJimbo [8] satan165 [7] 4Ks [4] Mister VCS [4] SeaGtGruff [3] MIKE5200 [1] Scoring Points in Phoenix Point values are identical for the first two waves of attack by the small phoenix birds. You get 20 points for each small bird you hit while it is moving in a horizontal pattern; you get 80 points for each bird you shoot while it is actually swooping in at you. Point values are also identical for the last two waves of attack by the large phoenix birds. You get between 100 and 500 points for each large phoenix you eliminate, depending on its proximity to you when you destroy it. The closer the bird is, the more points you get. If you only wing one of the large birds, you get 20 points. The alien spaceship counts between 1,000 and 4,000 points in the first round - depending on its proximity to you when you vaporize the alien. In this case, the quicker you destroy the ship, the more points you'll score. If you survive long enough to confront the spaceship again, the highest score you can achieve increases by a thousand points in each round to a maximum of 9,000 points. Hints and Tips The Manual As always, you really should read the manual. In case you don't have the manual, AtariAge has a typed copy and a scanned copy available online. Here are the hints it provides: Overcome the temptation to fire away the first time the small birds appear. Instead, take a few moments to study their patterns. Observe what happens when you are positioned directly beneath the birds, and when you are not. Study the attack patterns of the lower birds. Learn how to move your laser cannon between the bombs without getting blown apart. In all phases of the game except for the second wave of small birds, you must press the red fire button each time you want to squeeze off a shot. However, in the second wave of small birds, you'll get continuous firing if you hold the button down. Don't waste lives trying to accumulate a lot of points in the early waves. Play it safe. Save your stamina for the large birds and for the spaceship, where the real big points are scored. For the first two times you encounter the alien spaceship, you can chip away the blue layer of the spaceship without getting bombed if you fire close to the edges furthest from the cockpit. Starting with the third encounter with the spaceship, however, bombs will fall from those edges and the alien's shots will be faster-paced and more accurate - just to make things more challenging for advanced players! At all times, you need two shots at the same point to create a hole in the blue layer. Use your force field sparingly and as a strategic device in emergency situations. If a bird brushes up against your force field, it will be disintegrated; but if a bird crashes into your unprotected laser cannon, you're both "dead ducks." The moral: Keep a watchful eye for low flying birds! We played this game once before in the High Score Club, you might want to check out that thread for more hints. Scrabbler15 On the first two wave levels, try to get all the baddies on one side of the screen. Shoot them as they move across the screen toward your ship. This works especially well on the second wave where you have auto-fire by holding the button down. Also, this method helps in always having space to move away from the bombs. On the first bird wave, move to the left when the level starts. Then get the bird on the third level first. Then the second level, then the first. These three lowest birds can be cleared before the birds can finish their first left to right pass. Always aim for the middle of the bird, but it's even more important here to clear the lower birds quickly. I think Deteachers tip from last time is probably the most important for scoring well (I do it the same way). After 4 or 5 shots at the mother ship, pull back on the stick to activate the shield. Keep shooting while the shield is on. Doing this makes it possible to get a hole all the way to the blue barrier before moving to the edge of the mother ship to shoot holes in the barrier. When ready to go for the kill of the mother ship, move back to the hole in the middle and activate the shield immediately. Then shoot while protected by the shield. I only use the shield on screens 3 and 4 in crisis situations (e.g. In the corner, three birds overhead, lots of bombs falling). Every time the shield is pulled on, there's a chance that the shield will go away at the same time a bomb is about to crash into the ship. Also, I think these screens are counter-intuitive, in that they require more patience than just shooting a lot. After I clear the bottom three birds, I really pick my shots more. I just clear screens 1 and 2 as quickly and as carefully as I can. If I lose a ship on one of the first two screens, I don't like myself much after that. Survival is everything. Miss 2600 I feel it is a real wasted life to lose one on the first two screens. I knock them out as quickly as I can whether they are diving or not. In the V formation, sometimes I can knock out half of them right off the bat. I can see the strategy of waiting for them to dive to get more points, but that would also increase the risk of losing a life that is needed more on the more difficult screens. Does anyone else find that the big-winged birds are easier to kill when they have both their wings? You have to hit them in the same spot regardless but for some reason I have a much harder time when their wings are clipped. I find I'm using the shield a lot more often then when I started. While the shield is on, I hold the joystick to one side so my ship will move immediately after the shield turns off and, hopefully, out of the way of bullets. It's not full-proof but it has worked for me. I also find myself using the shield to take out the final bird, although sometimes they fly in the opposite direction. zylon For what it's worth, I just blast through the first 2 screens as quick as possible. The difference in points isn't worth that much to me. The 3rd screen I start with first bird on right, then the 3 lower left ones. The 4th screen I fire just as soon as they appear and score a free kill in the center. Next I go left killing the lowest one as it passes over and kill the top one when it's by itself at upper left. Then, I head right taking out the other 2 low ones. On the mother ship, I just stay near the center firing away till I've got a through lane. Then use the shield and take it out. --Zero

Tape files also load super fast. So, even though the device is a 1541 emulator, you're actually better off using PRG, P00, or T64 files when it's an option... not only do they load faster, but they take up less space on your SD card. --Zero