r_type2600

The short breaks are actually where I see the anticlimax - the harvest is so fun IMO because it has that touch of an all-breaks-loose glutony feast (Das Grosse Fressen), a nice contrast to the careful tactics of the actual game. Short breaks would distract from that mood, I find.

Actually, to have to remember the value of the veggies before going for the highest ones just adds another welcome gameplay element, IMO. Like a high-speed memory challenge... Besides, one would only see the value after picking up the veggie; so not really much of a hint...

Uh.. I stand corrected ... and converted You asked for it! Besides some earlier suggestions (session Hi-score/ Demo instructions) which would most likely still break any realistic ROM boundaries, just another observation I made playing the arcade game: There, picking up a veggie would display its value. Nothing that's really being missed though. And it definetely would be anticlimatic in the veggie harvest screen! Cheers, Eric

Color-coding for the different levels is a clever additional touch of polish! Though I would personally prefer the score display remain white during the standard games. After all that's the most standard color for scores...and the different difficulty levels would still remain perfectly differentiable. It's simply more arcade-authentic that way, and emphasizes the standard aspect best. The green/pink/orange coding for the levels on the title screen is nice though and could remain unchanged - inconsistency is not really an issue here, I find. Eric

This WIP homebrew makes its title all honour as it goes probably unnoticed from most, hidden in the blog Glad I discovered it, looks very promising and is already good fun, despite the simple concept. I love its atmosphere (great title/cut scenes so far) and also how it succeeds in recreating the simple charme of that stone-age classics. (Btw, I hope you keep the garish pink on the death scene - makes for a nice shock contrast to the ingame colors) A couple of suggestions: - the game itself is very silent right now, I believe a few basic sound effects would add nicely to the mood, without detracting from the archaic charme of the game. (For instance some footsteps sound for the player while exploring.) - it would be very nice to see the warning messages of the original text version integrated in the game. Not only would it be a great reverence to the classic, but increase the atmosphere, IMO. One way to do this without hampering the flow of the gameplay might be to expand the visual clues for each cave to a short sequence: First a short sound effect to match the clue (heavy breath for the wumpus, windblow for the draft, flapping for the bat), then a display of the message at the bottom of the screen, finally the colored block clue appearing in the cavern (as in the current version). With that it might not be so easy anymore to "race" through the caverns as in the current version, but it would increase the exploration feel, IMO. If that is an issue, one could think of a disable option for a faster game (similar to the TI version's Express mode concept). Looking forward for the next versions of this great little game! Cheers, Eric

Hi Simon, Got the game(s) a while ago, and must say, you topped yourself with this package! Sure, the price was a bit high, compared with other homebrews, but certainly worth it, considering all the neat extras that are included. The white clamshell box works very nicely, hope you will stick to this kind of packaging for your future releases, that way creating a kind of brand identity for your games... The game itself is much fun and a welcome addition to the VCS library. Can only recommend both collectors and gamers to pick this up from the AA store once available! Looking forward to "Rasterfahndung" btw, seems to feature some rather unique gameplay Cheers, Eric

I must admit that I've been only remotely following Four-Play (FP) as it did not appear to be particularly exciting as a videogame - at first. Another game to fill the board-games library of the VCS, joining the early Atari and Activision efforts, and one I would have to pick up as a collector sooner or later, but not one of the most thrilling of the latest homebrews; so I thought, to be frank. But I am glad to say I had to revise this perception after checking out the latest version of FP! For one the game plays very smoothly and the AI is impressive. I actually really enjoyed playing the computer, and to my surprise discovered that, while remaining a thinkers game, the simplicity and shortness of a round almost give FP action game qualities. A very satisfying gaming experience! The other appealing factor which I think contributes to enhaling charme and memorability to FP is the clever title (and label) created by Nathan. In short, I would say that FP at this stage is a very good game and I hardly see anything which should be improved on the core game itself. However, I feel that with a few additions the game could be, with relatively little effort, be turned into a great all-around accomplished new game gem for the 2600. Some suggestions: - a victory jingle to accompany the flashing of the winning tiles at the end of the round. - a couple of tournament modes, like "best of 5" or " best of 9". Would greatly improve the long-term appeal of FP. - building on the tournament modes, a couple of fancier End-Game screens/animations to motivate and recompensate the players. Would be a great opportunity for Nathan's memorable "tilies" to make a re-appearance and come to life, injecting further character to FP. I realize that you prefer to focus on other projects now, but it would be great if you could consider some of the above, whenever you get motivated to take another look at Four-Play. Maybe as a "+" version Cheers, Eric

Definetely ready to be released, I would say. Could not find any technical glitches (only got to the pumpkin level though), and all the small fine-tuning has nicely smoothened the gameplay. Great new title logo! I was sceptical on departing from the arcade-style one as I feared it would reduce a bit the authentic appearance of the game. Glad to see this worry blown away, Nathan has really proven his artist spirit on this one! Not only is it aesthatically far more pleasant than the rather drab arcade logo, but it manages to fully capture the flair (kinda flowerpower era) of the original. One miniscule observation - the pumpkin and butterflies are exactly the same color, which makes them blend somewhat. This is not so noticable on the later levels with mixed bugs, but a bit distracting on the butterflies only levels. Would it be possible to increase the orange tone on the pumpkin? Fantastic game! Eric

Great to see you expanding into platform territory, Johnny! I must admit that I had passed on Mappy so far, but it looks to be a rather entertaining game concept and an original one on top. In any case, I tried to educate myself on it, and a google search prompted a couple of rather nice fansites, which you may want to check up as a reference: http://www.fourhman.com/mappy/ Especiall the "screens" page may be useful: http://www.fourhman.com/mappy/screenshots.htm This one is Japanese, but provides screenshots of conversions to even the most obscure systems: http://tbs701.hp.infoseek.co.jp/mappy.html I am sure that the 2600 version will outshadow quite a few of these Good luck, Eric

Cool poll, great to see you not only considering bringing us more fantastic ports but also planning original game designs, Johnny. Nice concepts here, hopefully you will find time to advance these in between your ports As for the arcade ports, despite a preference for Space Panic, I voted for Baby-PacMan, as that would really touch new ground on the 2600 and add furhter diversity to the Champ Games library Cheers, Eric

Plays great, just wanted to check up the new version, and spent another 2 hours "playtesting" on the fly Could not find any bugs, no screen rolls. One observation: when you pass over a veggie on the harvest screen, there is no sound indicating that you actually picked it up. Of course the score increases properly, but the silence feels a bit flat. Doesn't need to be anything fancy, the dot or letter sound from the game screen would be good enough, just something. As long as that would not interfere with the background music, and you have enough ROM, of course. Other than that, I could just think of some additional presentation pizza (already mentioned before). Obviously, that is subject to free ROM. Superb game! Thanks again! Eric

Been a long time since I've played and beaten these ones, but you can win, and the endings are quite nice in both games. If I recall correctly Xenophobe had somewhere between 21 to 23 levels. What's also makes it worthwhile to get to the ending in Xenophobe is that the last level has a completely different setting. Not aware of cheats, but with 8 lives, you should really be able to finish it one day As for Lynx Rygar, it has 23 levels (IIRC, could be 21 also). Don't know about cheats, and a pretty difficult game. I used to try to max the score in the earlier levels for extra lives and learn the spots and actions where power-ups would appear to optimize the character as soon as possible. Both great games, they even manage to keep you coming back after beating them (especially Rygar). Have fun! Eric

Somehow feels like Christmas in July, with everyone posting their wishlist for arcade conversions to Santa Johnny Can't help to post another request... What about Space Panic? The first ever platformer (if I recall correctly), another sleeper hit, original and addicting gameplay, no license worry, and a good warmup for Donkey Kong... Getting back to Lady Bug, great to see you have now included the last game score & veggie level display in the demo gameplay screen, Johnny. Perfect. In fact, with that, the demo "game over" screen has now lost its function, and maybe you'd like to consider dropping it? May free a couple more bytes... I also like the Lady Bug animation on the title screen - it is minimalist, but very elegant Cheers, Eric

You stopping writing 2600 games All well with a Post World Cup Depression, but please, don't kick us a "Zidane"... (btw, the EC finale in Vienna is in less than 2 years from now...cheer up!)

One more to join the legion of admirers for this marvelous arcade translation! Simply amazing... Hard to think of any further improvements for a such a masterpiece, just a few comments on itsy-bitsy details: - on the "game over" demo screen, is it possible to display along with the score the corresponding reached level (vegetable)? Right now, I believe, it always shows the cucumber. Since reaching ever higher levels is at least an equaly motivating challenge, it would be nice to have this reflected. - staying on the same screen: this may just be a personal preference, but would it be possible to (also) remember the high score/veggie for the whole gaming session? Should add yet another motivation factor. - on the game screen: I notice that it is possible to enter the bugs' lair and walk on them as long as they have not exit. Not sure if this is an overlook or intented ( forauthenticity with the arcade game?). Certainly negligeable, it just feels a bit unnatural... - this one is just an idea thrown in for consideration, since I think it would not require too much work to implement it. Question is whether it would add to the presentation? What about having an enemy bug run accros the screen after some time to enliven the title screen, before switching to either of the demo screens. To add a surprise element, the bug could randomly be entering from a different side. (idea inspired by the 8-bit Millipede title screen and its spider) I can't make any suggestions to the gameplay or sound, since they already are perfect! Hats off again for puting all this effort and love into another awesome port of a gameplay gem! Eric

Now that's one creative mod : Coolball

I was a bit afraid that those new conversions would be quick rush jobs mainly to serve as fillers and marketing baits, ultimately further commercialise and water down our memories of good old classic gaming (RetroAtari DS anyone?). However this looks like a perfect recreation which will directly stimulate our retrogaming nerves Sure enough, Pong is not exactly the most complex arcade conversion one could imagine. But if that screenshot is any indication, it seems like Curt and the recruited programmers (guess we now have the answer for the slowing output of some of our respected 2600 homebrewers) have given as much attention to detail to these conversions as we classic gamers do to our hobby. I love the yellow border and authentic Pong logo, even it was only to hide technical limitations. This version of Pong looks like to become a memorable addition to the 2600 library, here's strong hopping that the other new games have been given the same treatment! What about some Lunar Lander info, Curt, since that was also already mentioned in Atari's press release? Cheers, Eric

My vote would go for the original, realistic artstyle - The icon-style graphics are highly attractive (as expected from salstadt), but they would distract from the amazing job done so far in faithfully recreating PoP on the 2600, IMHO. That said, a second PoP-style game with icon-style graphics and different setting/plot and levels would of course be most welcome Eric

I guess you refer to the multi-part "3D" mobiles - not the flat doublesided hanging poster-mobiles (like Tempest, Yar and 8 others). So far I´ve seen 3 more in addition to the ones you mentioned: Phoenix (check ebay - there´s always a couple of these going cheap since one guy discovered hundreds of this) PacMan Millipede There could be more (Raiders ?) Cheers, Eric

I second this theory Marco! Cheers, Eric