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SmileyDude

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Posts posted by SmileyDude

  1. Posted

    Dunno if this is the right spot, but I'm posting a little demo I wrote for the 2600 :) It's a fairly basic rotating copper bar demo. In fact, it's an adaptation of a program that I played around with on the GBA. This is my first 2600 program of any substance, so please be gentle :) I mainly wanted to release it so it doesn't just rot away on my hard drive :D Hopefully, someone can get some use out of it...

     

    Binary and source are included -- enjoy :)

    3dcopper.zip

    • Like 1

  2. Posted

    You know, the idea might seem dumb, but it actually has some merit -- you are still able to plug your cart into any Atari 2600 out there, and play a game that would've been impossible without any outside assistance.

     

    This is another variation along the lines of Andrew's ChronoColor demo -- it's something that just would not have been possible to pull off back when the 2600 was in it's heyday, but now with the powerful PCs we have for development, emulators for debugging, and the ability to build carts with virtually unlimited amounts of storage, we can do so much more with it.

     

    BTW, Andrew, I'm not trying to trivialize your effort -- there is obviously a lot of skill and thought that goes into your code. And, from what I understand of tearex's idea, someone would still need that skill to do anything worthwhile on this.

     

    Personally, I would love to be able to have a cart that had a modern CPU in it (ARM based? :D ) that could feed the 2600... that would be pretty neat to play with. You still have to deal with limitations of the 2600, so it's not like you're going to be able to have really modern looking games, but it does give you some more power to do some neat stuff with the 2600.

     

    Heck, I would settle for another 6502 that could work in tandem with the CPU -- maybe have some dedicated RAM/ROM for the cart 6502, and then some RAM that would be available for code to run on the 6507 in the 2600. At least this way, it would satisfy the purists, because everything on the cart was at least out when the 2600 was being produced :)

  3. Posted

    Nice -- I was actually contemplating a GBA port of GTA awhile back. I'm too busy right now to actually take it up, but having something like this might spur me to start working on it :)

     

    For a first pass, I was thinking of doing pretty much a straight port, with the original graphics. The second pass would be to update the graphics, sounds, menus, etc, for the GBA :)

     

    I spent sooo much time playing GTA as a kid... that and Jumpman Junior. Mostly because those were both cart based, and my lowly 400 with the 410 was just too slow :D Ahh, those were the days :)

  5. Posted

    So, from what Eckhard is saying, it sounds as if the TIA latches the value of the PFx register when it starts drawing, and uses that value, even if the original value changes. Does that sound right?

     

    BTW, I've been working off the assumption that as long as the instruction finishes on or before the cycle on the chart, that should be fine. For example, PF0 finishes at 6502 cycle 28, so as long as my STA PF0 finishes at cycle 28 or later, it should be fine. But, I've been waiting for the TIA to finish drawing a particular portion of the playfield (i.e, I'm stuffing the values into the registers as early as I possibly can, and I'm just waiting for the register to be free again), so my assumptions may be completely wrong. And considering what Eckard said, it might not matter anyway :)

     

    So, does anyone know for certain how the timing works for these fringe cases? If I reverse my example above, if I have a STA PF1 that takes 3 cycles, and I start it on 6502 cycle 25, since it finished on cycle 28, will that display properly? Logically, it should work since the instruction is finished at cycle 28, and the TIA shouldn't be drawing until when cycle 29 begins...

  6. Posted

    Ok, I understand why it wasn't recommended to use the undocumented/illegal opcodes when the machine was still in production. But, correct me if I'm wrong, AFAIK there are no 2600's that have problems with these opcodes, right? And any new hardware/software that can run 2600 programs is going to have to implement these opcodes in the exact same way, right?

     

    Personally, I don't see the problem -- unless there are 2600s out there that just won't work with them...

  7. Posted

    Omaha thrifting sucks.

     

    That's odd -- when I lived there, I thought that the string of thrift shops in South O. was the best I've ever seen. I was always able to find Atari stuff there. Now that I'm in the Boston area, I have yet to find anything even comparable. The thrift shops are the only thing I miss about Omaha :(

  8. Posted

    I wonder if they could make similar players for the NES and Super NES.Iw ould buy them in an instant!

     

    You and me both.

     

    All signs are pointing to the inevitability of a mod chip for the GC coming out soon. The homebrew scene is starting to awaken for this machine, and once it gets going, you can almost be certain of a NES and SNES emu to come along. Sure, it would be nice to have something like the GB Player for the NES and SNES games, but I think having emulators would be the next best thing :)

     

    BTW -- there already is a NES emu for the GCN -- Animal Crossing has a limited number of NES games included with it, and Metroid Prime has the original Metroid as well (if you have Metroid Fusion for the GBA, that is). I would personally be very happy if Nintendo put together a compilation disc with a ton of NES games on it and the emu. That would be worth quite a few bucks out of my wallet... oh well, I guess I can dream ;)

  9. Posted

    Which is too bad; how cool would it be if they did it in software, and could do 4 player games on one GC, splitscreen...

     

    That would be nice, but I don't think that the GC's hardware is up to doing 4 GBA emulators at once. Especially considering that a lot of PCs have hard enough of a time just handling one GBA emu. The GBA is decepitively hard to emulate -- 32-bit RISC chip, running at 16mhz, and a kick-ass video chip as well. I guess that the PowerPC chip inside the GC could handle it, but it wouldn't be an easy thing, that's for sure :)

     

    Much cheaper for Nintendo to simply put a GBA chip inside the box, and let the hardware do it's thing :)

  10. Posted

    I have no problem with this -- pretty nifty, IMO :)

     

    Personally, if I did something like this, I wouldn't be satisfied until I had the keyboard working :) But, nonetheless, this is very cool stuff :)

     

    And, btw, I think that most people getting choked up over 1 less Atari 800 should be more upset at the people who just throw them away without even thinking about giving it to the local thrift store. I'm sure more 800's (and other Atari hardware) have been thrown away in perfectly usable condition than anyone cares to know :(

  11. Posted

    I know what you mean when you talk about the "wall of kiddie" at the local (EB, Gamestop, etc.).  Even stuff that's not licensed crap aimed at the 8-year old set usually has bright colorful packaging.  Advance Wars and Super Puzzle Fighter II come to mind.  

     

    LOL -- so, bright packaging means kiddie? I'm sure you didn't mean it that way -- I mean, adults can like more colors than Black, White and Grey, right? :D

  12. Posted

    That's true.  I don't know how the power of a GBA compares to a 486, though.

     

    That's tough to gauge properlly -- the GBA has a 16mhz 32-bit RISC processor. The added registers that comes with a RISC chip is very handy. A good assembly programmer can get a lot more out of a ARM chip than a similarly spec'd 486. The problem is that the 486 isn't similarly spec'd -- they are much faster in the megahertz deptartment (well, depending on which 486 you are looking at :) ).

     

    But, then again, the graphics chip in the GBA is much more capable than any PC video from that era -- so, for a lot of games, the difference in video alone can make a big impact.

     

    Another limitation on the GBA is RAM -- I don't remember exactly what was standard on 486s back in the day (4 megs?) but whatever it was, it was more than 256k + 32k + 96k -- that's all the GBA has RAM wise. And the 96k chunck is video RAM, so it's not exactly usable for game data. This is certainly going to be a factor in keeping track of those dead bodies :)

  13. Posted

    The best I've been able to find was a G&W Gallery 2 for the GBC for $2 at one yard sale, and a box full of N64 games for $5 apiece (this was 2 years ago). Those were both on the same day, nonetheless. Since then, it's been a complete washout :(

     

    I sure miss the thrift shops of Omaha... I had a bunch of good finds back there. :(

  14. Posted

    I'm more interested in the homebrew possibilities for the GCN than for piracy. Most of the games I buy are first party titles anyway, so I have no problem spending money to support Nintendo -- especially since they've done pretty well at making the games :)

     

    Anyway, it's already possible to run code on the GCN -- it just requires using PSO and exploiting a network bug to fool it into running arbitrary code. I've already seen some demos written for the GCN -- I guess now we just need a set of Atari emulators to make it complete :D I know I'd love to have a disc with a 2600, 5200, 7800, and 8-bit emu and a ton of games on it.

  15. Posted

    Wow -- I'm impressed. This is good stuff -- both the original and the new version. As far as a vote goes, I'm more impressed with the newer version. It makes me want to go out and get a 130XE to add to my collection. It's a shame that at least a 64k version couldn't be made, but I completely understand why.

  16. Posted

    BTW Hamtaro isn't just for kids, I have played the game before and actually liked it.

     

    Well, my six year old was pretty dumbfounded when Hamtaro poped up on TV one day... he was pretty much convinced it was a baby show. It would be pretty tough to get him to play the GBA game after that.

     

    It's a shame that there are a number of good games that have some sort of license attached to them. The same goes for Pokémon -- most people who play it say that it's not a kiddie game, and that it's really good. But anyone who hasn't played it is gonna say it's too kiddie.

     

    I'm just happy that games like Advance Wars were released without some kind of licensed name. Can you imagine how popular the game would be with the older gamers if it had the characters from Yu-Gi-Oh in it? Sure, they would've gotten a bunch of sales because of the license, but on the otherhand, they probably would've sold less copies overall and less systems, since I'm sure that game has brought in quite a few older gamers.

  17. Posted

    Bad because if you stupidly forget to bring the charger cord along you are screwed. We went on a 5 day trip recently and my youngest son brought along his GBA SP. But he forgot and left the cord at home and by Day 3 his GBA SP was dead with no way to charge the battery.

     

    LOL -- I only laugh because I almost did this myself last weekend :) Luckily, I remembered to grab it before leaving the house. That would've sucked... especially since on the flight back, we sat on the runway for 2 hours (for a 2 hour flight). I'm sure that my battery would've died a horrible death if I hadn't charged it the night before.

     

    Besides, I'm sure that as a parent, you were a little bit happy to have your son away from the GBA for a bit :D

     

    BTW -- I know it doesn't help for that trip, or anytime you might be on a trip, but you can order spare parts directly from Nintendo. I picked up one of those handy headphone adaptors (what's up with that? First the omit the power adaptor connector on the original, and then the headphone jack on the followup :x ) from there along with a replacement screen and battery cover for the original GBA. Not too bad if you're in the states -- go to http://store.nintendo.com to check it out.

  18. Posted

    I can confirm that the Best Buy in Omaha on 144th and West Center was indeed selling these for $39.99.  Maybe I should pick one up for $10 now while I still can. :(

     

    Man, I had just about forgotten about that Best Buy -- it's been over 2 years since I lived in the Omaha area...

     

    Oh well, to add something helpful to this thread, KB Toys sells them... well at least some of them do. I went to a KB Toys in Stoneham, MA, and they said they won't/can't sell them. I then went to EB in Burlington, and they said the same thing. I went to the KB that's right next to them in the mall, and they sold it for $9.99.

     

    BTW, the first I had heard about these discs was one of the E3 releated announcements that said it was going to sell for $9.99. Then later it was announced as a bundle with the GCN.

     

    Best Buy is just wacked... I saw the $40 price while on a visit to Cincinnati... I had assumed that it was a mistake, but after hearing the reports of other stores with the same price, it looks like it was some bone headed decision at the corporate level. I'm just curious as to how many copies they've sold at $40... and of those, how many were parents that didn't realise it was only a demo disc and demanded their money back?

  19. Posted

    I never bought an SP.  No need.  Sure, I know about the backlight.  But I already bought the afterburner kits for my GBA's about this time lasst year.  So simply, the GBA SP has nothing new to offer.  Other than a cool looking (albit flimsy) clamshell design.  You may disagree with that, but wait a few months.  Those hinges will start loosening up and/or breaking.

     

    Yeah, those hinges do look like a source of trouble -- mine have gotten looser, but still not that bad. I'll give it a few more months before getting worried. Besides, there is a 1-year warranty on them :)

     

    Also, you forgot about the other feature of the SP -- rechargable battery. It certainly is nice to have a built in rechargable battery as opposed to the set that I was rotating through the old GBA. Plus, the battery seems to last a lot longer than those rechargables ever did.

     

    My complaint about the GBA SP is horrible colors they choose. Sure, they look nice at first, but then they start dulling up and getting scratched. Horrible looking. I can't wait until the black SP comes out... I'll be replacing the Cobalt one that I have.

  23. Posted

    4. No DVD player

     

    See what I mean? People get pissed off because it doesn't have a DVD player -- silly me, I thought it was a game machine :) (Not talking about you, MegaManFan -- just the people your list refers to :) )

     

    It's a good thing our beloved Atari's didn't have to deal with this. I can see it now:

     

    Salesman: This here is the Atari 2600 video game system. Plays all the cool games like Space Invaders. All the kids want one of these.

     

    Buyer: But does it play VHS tapes too?

     

    :D

  24. Posted

    It's about time Nintendo realized that one single good game will not convert the masses. And hopefully when they release their next system they will be able to take back market share from Sony. They realize that good PR does not a successful system make.

     

    What is this "one single good game" mentality about?? Last I checked, there have been quite a few good games to make it worth while to buy a GCN -- Zelda: WW, Super Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime, Animal Crossing, Super Monkey Ball (1 or 2), and more that I'm sure I've missed. On the other hand, I can't think of any games that make me want an XBox or PS2... maybe it's because I don't look at those consoles much, but even when I'm browsing at the local game shop, nothing makes me think "wow, that looks cool -- I think I need to buy an XBox now"

     

    On top of the games, the console is nice and cheap ($150 with a game), the controllers are excellent (Wavebird is awesome), and with things like GBA connectivity and the GB player that's coming out, it's even better.

     

    Damn, I'm beginning to think that public perception is going to kill Nintendo. From where I'm sitting, Nintendo seems to be doing everything right, and they're still getting blasted by everyone. Everyone bitched about the N64 because it was cart based, and once Nintendo moved to optical discs for the GCN, people find something else to bitch about. They're probably upset because there hasn't been a mod chip yet for the GCN and they can't just warez like the PS2 and XBox groupies can.

     

    I better stop -- I'm getting bitter just thinking about this. Gotta go play some more Advance Wars 2...

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