KAZ

That game might actually help me in figuring out how to program 2600 games. If I can somehow look at the code for this game, I can maybe find the letters P E P S in the code somewhere. If they are replaced, maybe I could have different letters. Hacking sounds easier than programming in general. You just have to know what to change from an existing game's code somehow.

Oh I see....it is called Pepsi Invaders. I was searching under the name "coke wins" for some reason Thanks!

It is called: "Coke Wins". The Space Invaders are letters spelled out as Pepsi. The flying saucer above looks like a can of pop. I can send you guys the rom, and screenshot too. I don't know where I got the rom from, I thought it was from here, but I looked, and you don't have it on your site. A fairly cool hack of Space Invaders, at least!

I was at the Midwest Classic, and I picked up my copy of "Mr. Roboto". I tried it out today, and I was VERY impressed. Knowing full well the limitations the Atari 2600 has, it was an amazing musical score in the game. It truly makes you want to play. It is basically Berserk with music, plus the intro screen.

Tommorrow, I have to go to the bank...so I'm going to inquire about the money order. Maybe I'll get my money back, and I can redo it...

It probably helps to remember that when you played these games long ago, you may have spent like literally hours a day playing them. With more responsibility nowadays, you might play a game like once a week.. But I think that our "learning curves" are higher, and if we put in even half the time we used to on games, we would do incredibly well. I'd think that today, we could probably "see through" the games, and figure out how the computer "thinks". Perhaps even by looking at the coding itself (which I don't know how to do, you could figure out how the computer works on various games). On a slightly unrelated topic...sometimes I think I suck worse at tennis nowadays than I did back in high school (when I played like every single day). But I've noticed that this isn't true. I've broken 3 rackets (their strings) in like 5 outings. Back in high school, I could go almost half a summer without having that happen. It means that I hit the ball like probably three times harder than I used to. If I were to play my former self, I have a feeling my sheer power alone could defeat "him" (me). See my point?

Get a friend...start with Dragster...and once you get "sick" of that...move onto Surround. Try the 7th or 8th game modes...where you can move diagonally, those are fun. Finish it off with a grand game of Artillery Duel! And while you are at it with your friend, play him in ONE game of frustrating boxing, and then play best of three in Ice Hockey. It doesn't get better than that my friend, I'm serious. I'd match the fun of the line up of games I've suggested to anything the playstation or later could offer.

I was looking at the stuff that a buyer has purchased on Ebay in the past. http://cgi2.ebay.com/aw-cgi/[email protected] I was just looking at this, wondering why they would be interested in Atari stuff... I saw them bid on an Atari item, and was simply curious. Seems like they buy alot of woodworking/hardware type items... What the hell is a "pilaf"? I'm just trying to see a trend...but some of the purchases define category. I just couldn't figure this person out. Usually you find a "theme" with things a buyer buys...but this one has me confused. [ 06-07-2002: Message edited by: KAZ ]

And the funny thing is about a month and a half ago I BOUGHT Stampede for the Atari 2600. I bought Rage Racer like 3 or 4 years ago. Back then, of course, it costed more like $20-30 (or more, I can't remember). Times have changed... I have nothing at all against Stampede, it is a dam fine 2600 game...but I'm sure you realize the "irony" that it would cost the same as a game like Rage Racer... [ 06-07-2002: Message edited by: KAZ ]

Excellent...if I ever get a larger place, in order to have a room devoted to Atari and classic gaming stuff...having Atari paintings like this would be absolutely PERFECT to have in this room. Makes me want to even more find a way to make this a reality. Someday..

The 2 new in boxes (very nice addition), and the fact that it is a 6 switch Atari makes it an ok find.... Considering that you lost 3 other auctions, and the lost time and effort with that, it is fine that you finally just paid the money and got what you were after. If you had paid over 100 bucks, I might have been pretty shocked. Here's the only reference I have to my experience, as I bought an Atari 2600 black vader just 1 month ago: Here is the link...see what you think of how I did on this. I was a "newbie" on this message board when I bought it, so judge for yourself how well or how bad I did based on cost and the stuff I got: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...ADME:B:EOA:US:2 I used buy it now because I thought the price had a chance of rising even above that amount.

This is the first game I've encountered (of the limited I've encountered at least) that proves to be somewhat resistant to cheating. Game Genie codes work fine...even allowing you to race cars you normally couldn't on any race track on any Grand Prix. You can place first in any race via a code, and you can shut off the time limit and everything. So how is it resistant? Well it would seem that you CANNOT get a gold trophy when you try to use the 1st place code. You must earn all the gold trophies there are. I have heard rumors that a secret track can be unlocked if you attain enough gold trophies... Gold trophies prove VERY difficult to get. Supposedly the FIRST time you race any given track, you MUST get a 1st place. You can, of course, reload from a previous file...but once you pass a class, there is no way you can go back to get a gold trophy on a class you "failed". This is awesome, actually. I wish more games were resistant to cheating (sim games especially). It makes any achievement that much more important. Otherwise it works on "the honor system", how can anyone but yourself know that you didn't cheat to make that huge city, or great sims house? Unless they watch you play the game.

That's actually pretty clear, I almost understand that. If I knew more ms-dos, it would be even better... Thanks for the information, I will slowly try to continue to figure out the very basics of programming for the 2600... I'm further along in my knowledge than I was even last night....

OK, I think I found something useful for programming the Atari 2600. Ok, consider if I download DASM 2.02 for MSDOS. Then pretend for a second that I wrote the correct code into this program... How would I THEN make it into a usable format for an Atari emulator? I'm a newbie here, I'm really clueless.

Or this: I want to know how to write a story on my computer, but noone tells me where I write it at..they don't even mention programs such as "word perfect" or "notepad" Instead they tell me to learn how to spell words and about grammer They even try to insinuate that my "story" at the end of the whole thing probably won't be any good, because others have already made better stories than I ever could. That's just great don't you know? [ 06-06-2002: Message edited by: KAZ ]

Well the reason I wanted to know about eprom burners was because I wanted to know the final steps of making a cartridge before starting on the first part, so at least I'd know where I was heading. It is like telling me this: With a car you can go to destination A, B, C, and D. I want you to learn all about how you can get from A to B. I'm not even gonna tell you how to: 1. Start the car at all 2. What a car looks like 3. Where to even find a car See why would I want to know about getting from A to B, when I don't even know what a car is? ...learn all this theoretical stuff, tho you won't even know how to apply it PRACTICALLY at the end of it. I would just feel at ease if I knew all the components that I would need in front of me. Like a "blank bin" file to actually write my code onto (some have told me it is called an "Assembly program". Where is this at? I just don't have the foggiest idea about what the "car" looks like, so it is useless for me to learn coding, because I don't know where to write it at. I thought it was a simple question, of course the coding is really really hard, but where do you WRITE it at/on. What program do you need to do all this? That way I can actually start writing some test programs to try on my emulator. Can you understand my frustration?

Final Fantasy movies are just neat, I think. Take Final Fantasy 7 for a second... When you first fight that Diamond Weapon thing, there is that awesome cinema in there. When Sephiroth summons the "Solar System" at the very end that is cool as hell. Diablos summon in Final Fantasy 8 is just about the coolest thing I've seen in a video game...I summon just so I can see it again and again. I happen to love dragon's lair, but you made your point...and the way you phrased that was just hilarious: "I walk two steps, watch a nine minute movie" "I cough, and another movie comes up" I turn off the playstation, and yet another one comes up!!!

You are approaching 1000 posts! You should do a HUGE HUGE post somewhere celebrating this!

And in the year 2600...I wonder if any systems will still work. Wouldn't that be neat? What's that? no I will not be dead, whatcha talkin' bout? I'm thinking...with cryogenics and bologna sandwiches I'll be set for the next 2600 milleniums. My "coffin" will be one huge Atari 2600 (my "stasis" tube, if you will). First thing upon getting out of my tube in the year 2600, is playing a good ol game of RIVER RAID. [ 06-06-2002: Message edited by: KAZ ]

I put it on teddy bear stage for Ms. Pacman, just to hear how high the music would get when the ghosts are blue... It gets pretty high pitched...pretty neat. And that's the only reason I'd ever play that stage. Centipede is a plain good game, nuff said, I love it. I have a trak ball too, with or without it the game is fun. Missile Command is definitely GREAT with the trak ball.

I'm taking a look at The Dig. I'm still somewhat unclear where I'd put code even if I knew how to. Like a blank BIN file for example? Maybe there's a "blank 2600 template" of some kind on this dig site. I'm still investigating. This "template" would have all the necessary fields in which to construct either a playfield or to move objects around. hmmm, brain working 20% harder, ouch.

I'll bet I need some sort of text file to BIN converter.... Like you'd write the code into a word pad file (doc format) and then convert it to a BIN file, and away you go??

Before I go to bed I'm gonna ask one more question if you don't mind, this will assist me greatly! What is the absolute MINIMUM code necessary for a cartridge to "load" up in a real Atari 2600? How many lines in disassembly, and how many bytes does it take up. And if you wanted the game to just load up, and say the words: Welcome to Atari 2600 How would the code likely look? That would be an awesome beginning exercise for me to see first hand using my emulator. A first "game" if you will. [ 06-06-2002: Message edited by: KAZ ]

Wow, you know your stuff, excellent information. Just looking at this for like a minute, it looks like AA has a long road ahead of him. Unless I get there first. What file format does all this data need to be in to be accepted by an emulator? Is BIN an actual format? And is that same format the one you'd use if you were to burn it using an eprom burner, or something slightly different. I think if people realized just how difficult it is to program the Atari 2600 or any system for that matter, they would appreciate it 5 times more. My appreciation of Freeway is even strengthened by looking at this code.

This is the disassembly of Freeway: http://www.neonghost.com/the-dig/source/freeway.asm I got it from someone's useful link given in response to AA/IR's post. And how would you fit ALL this stuff into the size of 2k? How do they transfer this data into a cart? The text itself is well over 2k isn't it? Staring at this stuff for 30 seconds, and I'm lucky I still remember what 2+2 is. Ouch, my brain hurts. It is such a "simple" game too. Look at all that binary stuff at the bottom of the page, more pain...I can take looking at the screen for like 20 seconds, and then the pain starts [ 06-06-2002: Message edited by: KAZ ]