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Trebor

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Posts posted by Trebor

  1. Posted

    54 minutes ago, nadir said:

    That was similar to my struggle with trying to decide to buy it or not.  I wanted to buy it to make it worth the developer's efforts as it's an impressive game.  However, it's really not my style and I know I wouldn't play it much.  I opted to not buy and hope that others would buy it that would play it.

    Honestly, it's not really my style either.  I originally was hoping and thinking it is more action/adventure based and less puzzle.  The game though is that amazingly good, I had to play it through, and very glad I did.  It's fantastic!  Additionally, the developer can still be supported...

     

    http://www.penguinet.net/Games/Rikki_Vikki/Purchase/index.php

     

    Currently, it is on sale through January 5 for only $1.99 under Steam:

     

    image.thumb.png.036aab82cbdff3895d254e67b7329bb8.png

     

     

    Further, it can be purchased via Humble Bundle (No DRM) at the regular price of $9.99 with the option to leave the developer a tip:

     

    image.thumb.png.59052c3e1ea0b29bd00dcf9e26dc2571.png

     

    • Like 1

  4. Posted

    Amazing how much is learned over time, as well as the variety of approaches and techniques that can be applied. 

    Here is a similar end result, but with 101 sprites and no flickering or slowdown of movement:

     

     

    7800basic is a fantastic piece of software.  The above is just one example.

    Much of the explosion in 7800 game development is a strong testimony to it.

    • Like 4

  5. Posted

    On 12/22/2020 at 6:37 PM, pacman000 said:

    Any favorites?

    Rygar - Absolute favorite 8-bit console game.  I never saw or played the Arcade game in its heyday, and was actually disappointed to experience the Arcade original years later under emulation (Via REM!) circa '97, as it vastly differs from the NES port.

     

    I perform a complete playthrough of NES Rygar at least once a year for over 30+ years.  Three times this year.

    • Like 3

  6. Posted

    1 hour ago, sramirez2008 said:

    Hmm. So no issues upgrading with the POKEY installed? I kept getting an error and had to remove mine, then it completed just fine.

    You likely have one of the earlier carts with that issue.  Fred mentioned fixing the issue with newer carts that went out.  5l4k3r just recently receiving his cart, already has one with the fix in place. 

     

    Fred also related, "...for the small number of carts out there without the fix, there are plans to improve the Harmony programming software to work around the communication issue. For now, though, try removing the POKEY, do the update then reinsert."

  8. Posted

    3 hours ago, Muddyfunster said:

    I'll add a snowflake mode for you mate :)

    Thanks to 2600 Ms. Pac-Man, I often refer to an easy difficulty setting as 'Teddy Bear' mode. 🧸 :-D

     

    When I hear something is described as heavy, my mind references Back To The Future and the conversation between Marty and Doc Brown...

     

    Marty: Are you telling me that my mom has got the hots for me? 

    Doc Brown: Precisely.

    Marty: Whoa, this is heavy...

    Doc Brown: There's that word again, heavy. Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the Earth's gravitational pull?

    • Haha 5

  9. Posted

    5 hours ago, Swami said:

    I had to use a different usb cable as the first one did not allow me to recognize the cart

    Some USB cables are charge only, lacking data receive and transfer wires, they have only positive and negative lines present.

    It drove me nuts due to not knowing that tidbit several years back when working with the Harmony cart.

     

    *EDIT:  Sorry, responded to the quoted portion before seeing RevEng's and Jinks' spot-on posts above.  Both beat me to the punch...lol.   

    • Like 2

  10. Posted

    5 hours ago, Swami said:

    Also, with the Diagnostic cart, I got a frowny face with X4 under it???

    Thanks to the information provided by John Harvey for the below details...

     

    =============================================================

    Error codes

    While disassembling the code, I found some of the error codes.
    Note that the error code is sent to the "Yuk face" routine as a hex code on the Y-register, which
    is then translated.  $0 thru $9 translate to 0 thru 9, and $A translates to "X".

     

    Here is the list that I've accumulated:

     

    01 - Failure to debounce either the reset switch or select switch
    02 - RAM $0480 - $04FF error
    03 - Diagnostic cart is running on a 2600 (cannot store to $2000)
    04 - Status flags or stack error
    05 - Failure of a PIA Timer
    06 - Control port failure; occurs if not using proper diagnostic plugs or if the SWCHA ports are
         broken
    07 - INPT failure; occurs if not using proper diagnostic plugs or if there is a failure in one of
         the INPT registers on the PIA
    08 - diagnostic plug failure (if I remember right, this has to do with not having the 47 k-ohm
         resistors on the plugs.  I will re-investigate later.
    11 - RAM $0140 - $01FF error
    12 - RAM $0040 - $00FF error
    14 - $FFF9 error-- Either the left nibble at $FFF9 does not contain a valid bank size (i.e. > 48K)
         or the right nibble isn't 7.

     

    Error codes in the code that I haven't figured out (yet):

     

    1) Numeric codes:
    X0, X1, X2, X3, and X4 -- I found these codes in the following code segment:

     

    ;;;;;;;;; START CODE ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

    LF884:
         LDA    $F88B,Y  ; $B9,$8B,$F8
         TAY             ; $A8
         JMP    $F026

     

    LF88B: ; SIX error codes used by F884.
         dc.b   $A4      ; will display "X4"
         dc.b   $A1      ; will display "X1
         dc.b   $A2      ; will display "X2
         dc.b   $A0      ; will display "X0
         dc.b   $A3      ; will display "X3
         dc.b   $03      ; will display "03

     

    ;;;;;;;;;;; END CODE ;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;


    Note that there are also other errors that are not caught with an "error code".  For example,
    on the first screen where it says "7800 PRO SYSTEM DIAGNOSTIC TEST VERSION    1:00",
    you can also somehow trigger text that says "       BAD!!!!!".
    This is found at $EB87, the third chunk of character map data, to be stored at $191E.

    =============================================================

    @Mitch too provided some insight and results experience with "X4" as well:

     

    X4 - I got this error when I installed the standard NTSC OS in a PAL machine. I also
         got it once when I hit a console button at the color adjustment screen.

    =============================================================

     

    The Diagnostic Cart is a part of Trebors 7800 ROM PROPack.  Posting the image here for convenience as well for anyone else that would like to leverage it:

    Diagnostic Test Cartridge (19xx) (Atari).a78

     

    Want your own copy?  Best Electronics has it... image.png.1011d863935e6f85a4b2c59bfe63d385.png 

     

    @Swami Did you opt for the Universal NTSC/PAL BIOS with built-in Asteroids mod ("7800 Euro Operating System Upgrade") for your Best 7800 console?  The cartridge itself will not run at all on such a unit (I have both the cart and a Best Electronics mod with OS upgrade), but just the ROM image itself on a 'flash cart', I have not tried.

    • Like 2

  13. Posted

    2 hours ago, 7800 said:

    I don't understand the need or want for a passthrough to play carts... when this thing eliminates the need for carts. The roms on an SD cart play exactly the same as an original eprom cart. Another thing to know is playing games from and SD cart is not emulation (as far as i know), and anything is better than emulation in most cases, although I will say emulating the 2600 on Stella is WAY better than original hardware. Just my two cents.

    Imagine the notion of console game developers wanting to have their game on actual physical standalone cartridges. 

    They may even want to see a box and manual published for their game too. 

    A whole store could be built around this premise.  :-o ;)

    • Like 3
    • Thanks 1
    • Haha 5

  14. Posted

    3 hours ago, Muddyfunster said:

    Thanks for the commentary Mike. I don't pretend to understand the technical electronics side of chip design but I still find the narrative around this quite compelling. Please do update if the story on Gumby or Minnie continues.

    👍 Ditto (On all three statements :) )

     

    Certainly, there have been Gumby talks previously; however, never heard of a 'Mini Gumby' specifically being mentioned, or this amount of detail.  Maybe it was due to the very low attendance that year, per Marty.  Searching the forums for both CGE 2K12 and CGE 2012 yields zilch about 7800 specific material from back then. :(

    • Like 4

  17. Posted

    55 minutes ago, Swami said:

    I have one Atari branded POKEY chip from Best Electronics with original part number C012294 and two I got from somewhere with "Philippines" on them with part number C012294B. Any idea if they behave differently? I seem to recall having better luck with the Atari branded one, but it was a long time ago, so, I may have accidently used different 7800s with each. It could be something I check unless it is known they are functionally identical and a waste of time.

     

    POKEY Versions
    By part number:

    -C012294 — Used in all Atari 8-bit family computers, including the Atari XEGS, as well as the Atari 5200 console. The suffix on the chip refers to the manufacturer:
        -C012294B-01 — AMI
        -C012294-03 — Signetics
        -C012294-19 — National Semiconductor
        -C012294-22 — OKI
        -C012294-31 — IMP

     

    -137430-001 — Part number sometimes used in Atari arcade machines for POKEY.

     

    -137324-1221 — Quad-Core POKEY used in Atari arcade machines Major Havoc, I, Robot, Firefox, and Return of the Jedi.

    • Like 2

  18. Posted

    On 12/21/2020 at 10:49 AM, mimo said:

    Liked I think, seem to remember it went "missing" 

    I thought it was found and was planning another trip (Circa 2009).

    Unsure if that ever came to fruition.

     

    Multiple copies were made ~six months after the original one took off on its travels.

     

    For those multiple copies, a game (Hack of Gosub for the 2600) was added instead of the 3 screen demo of the original.  It's also really a 2600 ROM though, along the lines of "Save Mary" being 'for the 7800' without needing any of the latter's memory requirements. It's not accessing MARIA for graphics.  It's all TIA with a small footprint 4K:

     

    image.png.127f9ec2d07ce701ec65e024b3e2ac75.png

     

    It's playable (Press Reset to start).  Travi continues to glide/float in the last direction it was pressed in without stopping...

     

    image.png.5b6c3a59df7e33cdc912616d5999a5dd.png

     

    ...Travi needs to reach that rectangle without touching the walls...

     

    image.png.29fa8e322d0f30aa3245a4a03cfa1e0c.png

     

    Travi evidently went from a Mogwai to a Gremlin while visiting Cousin Vinnie.

    • Like 2

  19. Posted

    On 12/21/2020 at 9:28 AM, FroggoGamer said:

    i've wondered about Travi the Traveler thing though. Is it even a playable game?

    No.  Original Travi is a three screens demo cart.  The screens are changed by pressing the fire button. First screen is the title/intro screen. Press the fire button and it brings up the second screen, a picture of Travi.  A third press of the fire button shows a map of the world.

     

    It likes (liked?) to travel.

  20. Posted

    In the 20202012 build, the Roachy is still listing as $300, but only requires and takes $200 when purchased in the store.

     

    Loving the Firing Dragon mini-game addition!

     

    image.png.64afb30350d11b9a959f975073285c73.png

     

    Different enemies with changed/Diagonal attack patterns too!

     

    image.png.0dfc4db7ec57c5fd470798b066e9b881.png

     

    Ohhh... and the Cosmic Ark-ish attack on Knight Guy!

     

    image.png.6e111d0c85af69c6cc0f10861d1668c2.png

     

    The Spinning Skulls are a nice touch to that mini-game, the upgrade to the obstacle course, as well as the status display in the 'Breakout Boss' battle.

     

    Just for some fun scares...

    image.png.abec44be8e3e5fee4d5573c3ffa3d7b0.png

  21. Posted

    14 hours ago, SmittyB said:

    Thanks for the video Trebor.

    My pleasure. :)

     

    In the video's beginning it may be noticed, there's a little back a forth between the options at the title screen. One reason was to show what was available, but another huge reason is to find where the paddle controls 'kick-in' and picks up the clock and counter-clockwise movements of the controller.

     

    One humble suggestion here is perhaps for a game to start without the ball or field moving - just allowing the paddle to move up and down. 

     

    It allows the player to find the 'sweet' spot for paddle movement.  Once the player acclimates to the paddle control and sensitivity, the button on the paddle control is pressed, ball is released, and then the game starts where it currently begins now.

    • Thanks 1

  23. Posted

    12 hours ago, christo930 said:

    I disagree with the graphics score. It should be higher.  IMHO, the graphics of an arcade port should be judged against the arcade and not a generalized graphics score.  It's not Bob's fault Stern decided to use the bathroom guy as a model.

     

    12 hours ago, Cousin Vinnie said:

    I agree, not faulting Bob- but if a kid saw this today, they wouldn't be like "Wow! Those graphics look just like the arcade's!" They would be like "Is this game from 1942? It looks terrible." Then you would have to tell them that looks aren't everything, whats important is whats on the inside... and when they are 50 and they look over at their old wife, they'll remember what you said so they wouldn't go chase no cous. You used Frenzy to save a marriage.

    Dude, this game almost got a perfect score. And man, Frenzy is an ugly azz game. Those robots... what were they thinking?

     

    I have to agree with Vinnie here.  Granted, much, if not all of this, is subjective. Nonetheless, just because a port matches an Arcade game - even exactly, doesn't mean it scores high(er).  If a horrible looking, sounding, and playing Arcade game is ported perfectly to the 7800, does not mean it earns high marks across the board. 

     

    What there should be perhaps present, when grading an Arcade port, is another category "Likeness to Arcade", or something along those lines.  There it would receive its higher grade.

    • Like 2
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