Herbarius
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Posts posted by Herbarius
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I've noticed one of my joysticks (originally from a Darth Vader 2600) has trouble when pushed to the right. Doesn't recognize the movement half the time. I switched over to the other joystick, and that one's fine. Not to usurp the original poster, but could the contact be broken?Steve
The metal "dome" that is used to register the movement could be broken... This doesn't mean it won't work anymore, but won't work as well...
Try opening the joystick, there's that white stick that's the actual joystick handle (without the rubber top) and on the bottom it has some kind of "ring", look at it, you can see where the things are which are pressing down the directional "domes"... First check if there is damage to the "ring" itself, does it seem to be broken somewhere? Try fixing it with duct tape. Also you can use some duct tape to make the "bump" that presses down the dome for the Right direction a little stronger... But before you put the screws back in try the joystick and see if it only moves right if you press right, and not all the time... Also assure that if you press right and then release it, it will stop moving right.
Actually you can tamper with those joystick alot and get them to work without soldering and without ordering replacement parts... In fact when I opened mine, which I got with the system, I saw they'd already been "fixed" that way, but it degraded further so that was no longer sufficient, so I had to improve on it
Similar with my QuickShot joystick I got together with my C64 (and which is my favourite controller to play Enduro). It didn't work very well, especially the fire button, so I decided to open it and try to fix it... When I openend it I found it had already been "fixed" with some tin foil, however it fell off or something like that, so I knew what trick to use and that I just had to improve it a little...
Usually the controllers work perfectly fine after you "improvise-fix" them. But depending on how "good" you repair-job was it may need "servicing" every now and then. (My CX-40 does need that... The QuickShot did never go bad again so far!)
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yea problem is i have a flat screen on the wall and taking it down is not an option so its connected to a vcr and the vcr to another channel that isnt 3 but when i turn it on it says channel 03 so i guess it works. anyway the power supply should come tomorrow so ill see you then and keep you updatedSounds like it's a modern TV, so "channel 03" doesn't mean a damn thing, because you can tune every channel yourself. It propably has some kind of auto-search feature, plug in the Atari, power it on and let your TV search for it.
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I'd vote for Pole Position. All it does it look pretty good - at least at first. After you see the opponent cars it doesn't seem that beautiful anymore (a friend of mine said when he first saw them he thought they are fences
).But of course it's not about the graphics but the gameplay. But this is where it really starts, because in my opinion the gameplay stinks. The control scheme is really awkward, and the car moves in a sluggish way. Only having indirect influence on your car's speed is what bothers me most - you can switch gears and brake, but it'll accelerate on its own. Also, at least for me, it's incredibly hard, I never managed to even to beat the qualifying lap. And I really tried a couple of times, read the manual, tried to get in the mood and to accept the game, but it didn't work out.
I rather play Enduro, it has a nice difficulty curve and also has a lot to offer in the visual departement, the day/night transitions are just awesome
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I like it as well. I knew well in advance that it's far inferior to the Arcade version, but tried it anyway. I've nothing comparable for the Atari yet, so I'm basically stuck with that. So if I want to play "the real" Pac-Man I'll use an Emulator on my PC but if I want to play a maze game on my TV, it's 2600 Pac-Man time
I prefer game mode 5, while I switch the difficulty to A or B depending on mood. If I want to chase down the ghosts, I'll choose the novice setting, if I'm on for a more challenging run, I'll switch to expert.
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Oh, and I just got the Speech Enhanced Berzerk from the AA store...... Dude.... seriously.... it's worth buying, just to watch the look on peoples faces when you tell them an Atari 2600 game has speech in it. You can win lots of beer money betting on it.
But doesn't that require plugging in an addon? If you'd bet with me and it turned out you use an add-on, I'd feel cheated and declare the bet nullified.
Maybe you should also bet with people whether the Sega Genesis would read CDs.
To be ontopic:
I remember sometimes if I play something at their PC, friends tell me not to slam the keys that hard on the keyboard. Sometimes it's not even when playing a game, but just slamming the ENTER key which seems to almost shock some people. I must say quite a few people seem to be overly sensitive to that issue...
Okay, maybe because I usually buy cheap keyboards and other people buy fancy wireless ones which cost a lot of money... But if they cost that much, they should at least be sturdy, shouldn't they? I NEVER broke a keyboard because I slammed the keys too hard (however I spilled drinks over one or two, which killed them). If the cheap ones are sturdy enough, the expensive ones should be as well. If not, it's a waste of money. After all it's a keyboard, it has keys to be pressed, not to be looked at.
And come on, it's not even THAT hard, I sure could do it much harder... And it's not everytime, I guess it depends on how "important" that command/URL/line of code/whatever is... I just want to get that little bit satisfaction you won't get if you just push the key down gently. How anti-climatic is that
PS: I don't say keyboards can take infinite amounts of abuse. I just say that slamming the return key with a little temper is NOT abuse
My sister managed to kill a keyboard by randomly punching at the alphanumeric keys REALLY hard (not just once, but multiple times over the course of several weeks). I don't know why she did that, propably was frustrated because something didn't work like she wanted.
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Even back in the day it wasn't unusual to just copy a game more or less and release it as a new game. That (amongst other things) eventually led to the 83/84 crash.
Also it's debated whether Freeway was inspired by Frogger or not; I read somewhere that Freeway came out earlier, even if just slightly earlier. Also, if it was a Frogger clone, you would be able to move left/right.
Yes of course Kaboom! is not original in any way. It's a variation of the Avalanche game. But again I wouldn't blame Activision, there have been too many clones of that game to count, even continuing to modern times, you may find a game like that today that is advertising some product or as a free flash game online.
I can't say anything about Dragster/Drag Race. To Chopper Command/Defender... I think again Defender spawned a whole genre of games and Chopper Command was just one of them.
Yes of course they did copy stuff from others. Star Master is basically a variation of that one Star Trek game. But it's not an unusual thing, and if you look at other companies that copied game ideas, you can see their games have usually been worse than the original.
However, compare the 2600 "Star Trek: Strategic Operations Simulator" to Star Master: I think the latter has much more polished gameplay, it's more fun to play, better controls.
Some of you mentioned Enduro. Again, very polished game, day/night transition, really good gameplay. Compare Pole Position. I mean, look at the 2600 Pole Position, play it for a while. Then play a round of Enduro. Be honest: Pole Position 2600 is not a very good game. Enduro is. I've both carts and I honestly tried to like Pole Position, but it just didn't work out. That's the only game of the only 7 games I have got so far that I really dislike! Maybe because with Enduro I have an alternative to compare.
So to conclude, maybe Activision was a bit unoriginal, but not a lot more than other game companies. They also had some very original titles, think of Pitfall!.
But more important, Activision games, original or not, had that very high quality. The games have a polished feel, it seems everything fits together like a jigsaw-puzzle. Even Atari didn't do it as well, of course there were some games that were of such high quality and polish than the Activision titles, but inbetween there is lots of "trash", while Activision had a much smaller library, but almost every game can be considered grade B or better.
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I didn't know that. If it'll prolong the life of my Atari, I'll unplug when I'm not playing.Note I was talking about the power adaptor, not the console itself. If it dies, you can still replace it with an universal adaptor. Of course it's still a wise idea not to waste it but to prolong it's livespan as well. The console itself would propably not be hurt by being plugged in all the time. (Of course a lightning bolt could do it
)PS: In fact if you want to keep your original Atari power adaptor in good shape you shouldn't use it at all. Put it away in a dry environment, if possible without a lot of temperature changes and instead use an universal adaptor to play. Because if you face it: Eventually it WILL die if you use it, no matter what you do. Then again, even if you don't use it, it will still deteriorate just because of it's age, however a dry environment with a constant temperature should preserve it as long as possible and it maybe would even work if you would plug it in again 20 years from now. Maybe even 30-40, but that's overly optimistic.
However, what purpose would it serve to keep a piece of equipment in working condition if you don't intend to use it...
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*bump*
"What's it called, Centipede? The should've called it Blocks!"
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I have my Atari plugged in all the time and I plan to keep it that way. However, I usually turn off the power strip if I don't want to use the Atari for a longer time period (from an hour upwards). What save2600 said about it is surely important, propably more important than the risk of a lightning bolt. The AC adaptors naturally have a limited livespan. If it's plugged in, it will "work", regardless whether your 2600 is ON or OFF. It's easy to tell, you just have to touch it and you'll see it is warm. I think it even has to work HARDER, if the Atari is off, however it hardly makes a difference because of how little power the 2600 actually uses (compared to maybe a TV, CD player, lightbulb, etc.). So by leaving it plugged in you waste a lot of it's livespan without even using it. It's not uncommon to hear stories of people who left their Atari AC adaptor plugged in by accident - for months or even years and afterwards they find out it's dead. (In fact, that's what happenend to stupid me
) So, I've two different but related questions, perhaps someone can answer them.
1. I noticed this: Play Atari for a while, then turn it off (on the console itself), but leave the TV running for the moment. Then disconnect the power supply at the back of the Atari. When you now turn the console switch to ON and watch the TV you'll see the game coming up for just a fraction of the second. So there obviously is some power left in capacitors in the 2600 after you turn it off and by trying to turn it on while the power supply is not connected it is of course used up in a blink of an eye.
My question is, would it prolong the lifespan of the Atari if you "flush" the capacitors like this everytime you turn it off? My idea is the energy left in the capacitors could increase wear to the system. However, I'm not sure, maybe it's not a good idea and it would even shorten the lifespan, because it's not "healthy" for the capacitors to be flushed empty like that. Or maybe it just doesn't make any difference.
Anyone here, perhaps with some deeper knowledge of electronics, who can say something about that?
2. Is it important to remove game cartridges from the cartridge slot when you don't use them or is it okay for them to be plugged in maybe for days without being used? (with the Atari turned off, powersupply disabled) In this question I think it's more a matter of mechanical stress to the cartridge slot and the cartridge board than a matter of electronics. Has someone a recommendation?
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I understand what you said about Pitfall, that going underground are shortcuts... Propably it is, but I somehow fail to believe it... After all you cover the same distance, don't you? Can't you even see the ground above you?
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the ones where the ghosts randomly jump around the map...how do you do that?Just play it in Stella.
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Maybe when it comes out on Blu-ray we'll be able to see!I noticed that Atari right away You can't see what's in it though...
By looking at the picture I would say the cartridge slot is empty...
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Not backwards, just rotated oddly.I think it's the natural way one would map the two buttons A and B onto a SNES-like button layout.
I still find it weird the SNES has the A button at the right and the B button on the bottom, however as the games are made for this configuration it's alright. I think it's very important that Super Mario All-Stars has the option to either use A and B like they are labelled or to use B for A and Y for B.
Why do I think that way? Well, look, the NES has two buttons, A and B... A is on the right, B is left of it. Often you'll have to use both buttons very quickly or in a coordinated way (like executing a run-jump), and the most feasible way to do that is to press the B button with the tip of your thumb, while you'll use...basically you press it with the thumb's first joint, counted from the tip (or am I the only one who does that?).
So, on a SNES-like button layout, the thumb just naturally comes to rest on the buttons which are B and Y on the SNES, and it's even easier to use the buttons in the way I described above... try that with the buttons labeled A and B
Also I find the A button on the SNES controller should be the least important button in any good game (of course let alone SELECT and START), because it's hardest to reach. You'll need a split second longer to press the A button than any of the other 3.
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From what I recall, it was based on an old text game, Colassal Cave Adventure. I saw Nolan Bushnell interviewed about the game in the Atari Anthology and he brought that up.I don't think its based on it or related to it in any way, the same name is propably a mere coincidence... I don't want to argue with Nolan Bushnell, but I guess he was mixing stuff up in the interview again.
The text game "Adventure", also known as "Colossal Cave(s)", was the first classical adventure game (which spawned numerous sequels and competition, later added graphics and led to such great titles as Monkey Island)
The 2600 game "Adventure" however, was the first action adventure game, also spawned some more titles on the system (like ET, Superman), however Zelda on the NES was the breakthrough this genre needed to thrive.
So you basically have two different genres of games, classic adventures and action adventures, which both genres having their roots in a game called "Adventure" by coincidence... However, if someone knows better, I'd be happy to be proven wrong and therefore learn more about it myself.
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No insurance claim either...Why not?
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Wasn't BASIC made when programming in general was insanely difficult? More so than today? (or even in the 90s).Yes, however, one of the motivations of the BASIC language was being easy to learn. Hence the name, which also stands as an acronym for "Beginner's All-Purpose Symbolic Instruction Code".
On 80s Home Computers BASIC was usually part of the Operating System, so every "computer buff" could at least program some simple program that converts units of measurement, solve simple mathematics problems, help them manage their record collection or something like that. These kinds of programs could even be easily ported from one home computer to one of another brand, only minor changes to the codes or no changes at all were needed.
But it indeed could also be used for games, even graphical games, you just needed to know which areas of the system RAM are responsible for generating Sprites or backgrounds or colors or whatever (the manual of the computer is imperative) and just "POKE" the necessary data in there... This stuff is a level harder than just text-based stuff, and it heavily depended on the hardware, so no "easy ports" here, you would have to mostly start from scratch on the new machine. But it's still easier to get into than using Assembly. The biggest drawback of BASIC was the slow speed, which was the main reason why most commercial games were "machine code" (making piracy harder was a smaller reason).
However, if you're talking about the Atari 2600 cartridge "BASIC PROGRAMMING", this is something completely different. It's not even the BASIC programming language, the title, written in normal upper/lowercase, would most likely be "Basic Programming", and not "BASIC Programming".
This cart can help demonstrate the simplest principles of computer programming, but is not suitable for ANY serious application, let alone games. The lack of RAM of the 2600 is propably the main reason for that.
And yes, it's quite different from langauges like C, especially if you look at the versions from the 80s. To illustrate the difference imagine one factory, where products are produced in a sterile room by people wearing white labcoats using high precision equipment, everything planned ahead, this would be C; while in the neigboring factory the products are assembled by bare hands and clumsy tools, the hands covered in oil, if something doesn't fit at once, they have to improvise, but in the end, it works and everyone had fun working on it - that's BASIC.
On one last note:
First of all...BASIC is interpreted, not compiled.Yes for the 80s and early 90s that's true, but there have been BASIC compilers around for quite a while today, and there are even some that dropped the option of running it interpreted.
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In my opinion, the Doom soundtrack always greatly contributed to what made the game great.
Don't having the music is a faux pas I can't let pass.
However, I do acknowledge this is my personal opinion. If you don't care as much for the music, as I do, I can completely see your point, as Jaguar Doom is an excellent port in every other respect.
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Oh, I see. Somehow it slipped past me that it was a kid's party, so my 4AM suggestion was a little extreme
But after all its nice everything turned out great and they had fun.
And of course watching someone play games, especially multiplayer games can be very entertaining, if you're in the right mood almost as entertaining as playing it yourself... After all I remember how much I enjoyed watching my father play PC games as a kid (even if I barely understood what was going on) and later how much my little brothers enjoyed watching me play
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This went on for a month, I would pick up the game, try to get through the town and get killed by those damn baby things and I would instantly shut off the PS1. I must have played the game about 6 times, maybe less over that one month period, never checking any cheat hints or anything, each time trying different things, wandering around the town but always with the same result of death.Finally, I played it one last time and of course died again, this time I did not shut the PS1 off, I just sat there in disbelief... then of course I saw what was going on... you HAVE to die first, because the scene dissolves and your character wakes up from dreaming he died horribly... it was a fucking dream sequence!!!
I'll never forget how stupid I felt and then went on to finish the game over the course of that week, always playing with the sound up and the lights off at night.
Don't feel stupid, it's not your fault if the game designers are literally tricking the player.
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It's too late for this, but my boy's last birthday party was a retro gaming event, rather than standard invitations I created some promotional flyers to hand out to his friends as the invitations. I also posted a few of the event flyers in the gameroom along with some other flyers from other gaming events that I could find. The kids mostly played either warlords on the Atari or Mario Cart on the 64 since both were 4 player games. They had a blast...Nice flyer you did there, but 1PM to 4PM? Rather short event, don't you think? Did it really end at 4PM or how long went the party on? Sufficient number of players provided, taking into account the different consoles and different games on each of them (because there is more players than systems, some are watching, while others play, but surely everyone wants to get their turn), as well as enough food and drinks (could be (partially) brought by the guests themselves - like who can make a cake, who makes a salad, and so forth) this could easily be 1PM to 4AM
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I'm constantly amazed by how people can participate in this hobby and not have a CLUE about anything more than three years old. Nintendo doesn't exactly keep the history of Zelda games secret, either. In the same way, I wonder how people can go see movies based on old TV shows and NOT know there's a TV show involved. WTF?When I was a kid, I used to get into arguments over the original Mario Bros., insisting that there WAS a Mario game before SMB. All the kids at my school called it "Mario 1", which to them meant that there could be no game prior to that one. And this was when the NES was still in full swing!
I was also explaining to my nephew that when he goes out and buys a game that he should buy a good game and not games based off of movies or TV shows (I know some are good, but as a general rule, it's easy to find something better). Then he turned around and said "But you do all the time! You have a lot of Sonic games and Mortal Kombat. You even have Doom!" I was like, "Uhh, no. The Sonic show was based off the games. And the Mortal Kombat and Doom movies were based off the games too"I don't really know why, but stuff like that REALLY pisses me off... mind you, I'm a very calm person, so I won't yell or anything like that, but it really breaks my heart in some way, it almost physically hurts to hear something like that and at the same time I feel sorry for that poor soul...
Some instances I remember:
Just having some chatter with a friend, he tells me he just played some Doom. And I'm like "Cool, yeah that's really fun." and "What a coincidence I also played Doom again last week." just going on talking a little about Doom, then I said "Do you go try to find all the secrets? I've really a hard time finding some of them, sometimes I rather finish the level instead of keeping to search..." and then I noticed he was really perplexed and it turned out, all the time he was talking about Doom 3 while I was talking about the original Doom! For god's sake, if you talk about a sequel, name it appropiately. After all, he DID know it was a sequel but just thought if he said "Doom" I would automatically assume he's talking about Doom 3. (Why would I?)
So another instance, ironically with that same person, nearly the same thing, but this time he honestly didn't know about the previous games. It was Prince of Persia, he explicitly referred to one of the modern Prince of Persia incarnationss calling it "Prince of Persia 1", I was like "Yeah, I remember it, we played that to death when we were little...", he again totally perplexed, he NEVER before heard of Prince of Persia 1 and 2... But AGAIN he argued I should have known he talked about one of the newer games, because those are so old, "they don't count"... WHAT? They don't count? *shiver*
One last thing, again the same person, we were playing Super Mario World on the SNES and then I showed him that one funny Super Mario Bros. Flash-Video ("Mario Twins") and he was like "Mhhh, I guess those enemies [Goombas] are from Super Mario World 2"... However, this was rather funny.
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1. You should definitely try Capcom's Disney-games like Duck Tales, Darkwing Duck, Chip&Dale Rescue Rangers. They're similar to the Megaman series (at least the graphics engine), but are based on the Disney cartoons and really done very well.
2. If you're looking for some really bad NES games look for a company called "Color Dreams", "Bunch Games" or "Wisdom Tree" (it's all the same company, just different names). If you know the Angry Video Game Nerd you propably heard of their Bible Games already
(all games they released under the name of "Wisdom Tree" are Bible games)3. I use Nestopia and would highly recommend it. However, if you're into hacking/debugging games, FCeux may be a better choice.
4. I particularly like "Pitfall - The Mayan Adventure". If you're into RPGs take a look at "Earthbound".
5. Dunno...
6. I use ZSNES and would highly recommend it.
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I've noticed that a lot of disks read fine but when I try formatting them they keep failing the format.I know this very well, I would like to learn why that happens
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Papercraft Pac Man
in Classic Console Discussion
Posted · Edited by Herbarius
Yes, I'd like to build this one: F-44 Rapier II
But, OMG, so many tiny parts to glue, I'm not good at stuff like this...