Ryan Witmer

OK, time for a new release. I'm calling this beta 1. There are no known bugs remaining, and the game is now feature complete. I've finished implementing the CPU player, so now you can have exciting curling matches against your Atari 5200 SuperSystem! I plan to put this build through some heavy testing over the next couple of weeks, and if it holds up, the is the final code. I can't seem to edit the original post anymore, so here's the beta 1 file right here: rs_curling.zip

I'll only be there for a few hours, but this would be a really cool thing to have, especially if one of the 5200 Podcast guys find me. Ryan Witmer Average Software Burien, WA

I've never seen both podcasts in a room at the same time. Very suspicious.

Oops. Just realized that I left some debug code in that last build. Just posted a new one.

I've just posted alpha release number 3, see the first post for the download. I really think I've cleaned up the last of the collision bugs this time. These bugs were very difficult to track down because I couldn't create a reproduction case on my emulator. I just had to play the game on real hardware and make observations and notes on when the issues occurred. I had at least three fixes that I thought would do the trick, but it turns out that each of them held a small piece of the puzzle. What was happening was very interesting. I'm using a real-world physics formula to calculate the deflections from rock collisions. The problem is that the rocks on the screen are approximations of circles, and due to the chunkiness of the 5200's graphics output there were certain situations that looked like collisions, but when you plugged all the values into the formula you got nonsense results back because in reality, a collision couldn't possibly occur under those circumstances. Fortunately, I've only seen this issue come up in one specific collision case, so I engineered a hack to "round off" the collision space to weed out these garbage results. My testing has looked pretty good so far, although there still might be some edge cases I haven't caught. Either way, I'm now moving on to implementing the CPU player, which is the only major feature missing from the game. I'm still not entirely sure how I'm going to do this, but I intend to come up with something, even if it's awful.

I have the older USB based one, as well as the newer SD card one. My situation is a little different though, since my primary use of these has been for development. I do all my programming on my PC and test in an emulator, but I need the Atarimax to test on real hardware, and it's been a lifesaver, especially for RealSports Curling which is nearly impossible to play in an emulator due to the analog control requirements. I'd love to look into 7800 development, but the lack of a good cart like the Atarimax is keeping me out for now. I've seen a few of them in the works, but I haven't looked into that scene lately.

Just wanted to post an update: I'm still hard at work on this. Unfortunately, I've discovered a nasty collision bug that I have a lot of trouble reproducing, so it's very difficult to diagnose and fix. It's really bad, sometimes it just locks the game up in some kind of endless collision loop, so this is something that absolutely needs to get fixed. Tonight, my most recent attempt at a fix failed miserably. I have some new ideas though, I'll get this thing eventually. Then I can dedicate myself to coding up the CPU player.

This just reminds me that I need to dust my console collection.

Maybe so, but the Video TouchPad has the coolest name.

4-port 5200... YAAAAAAAY!

2-port 5200... BOOOOOOOOO!

That looks like one of those old tourism posters. I feel like I need to book a flight to Montreal now.

There are a few games, 2 or 3 I think, that don't work with the 2 port BIOS. The only one I know for certain is Pitfall, I think Mountain King might be one of the others. I'm intensely curious to know exactly what it is in the 2 port BIOS that messes those games up. I know the 2 port BIOS added code in anticipation of PAL support and there's a location in the cartridge it checks to determine if it's a PAL cart, so it could be that the incompatible games just happen to be identified as PAL carts and won't boot. I'm very paranoid that my own games will stumble into whatever hamstrung Pitfall and friends, and since I don't have a 2 port 5200 to test on, I'll never be sure.

I've just posted alpha release #2. The first post has been updated with details.

That's exactly the sort of art I want, but I have no artistic talent whatsoever, so someone else will have to step up.

You guys are actually going to make me finish this thing, aren't you? I'm planning a second alpha release on Sunday. I've done some work this week fixing a few bugs, in particular I found a nasty mistake in one of the math functions used by the collision code. I'm also starting to get some ideas on how to do the CPU opponent. I'll talk to Albert this weekend about a cartridge release. I'd love to have it in the store, even if I have to write a manual (that part isn't very fun). Of course, I'll need some label artwork. Even if it doesn't make it into the store, the ROM will always be available so folks can have custom carts made if they want.

I'm a Linux guy, so I can't help you there, but you seem to have some good suggestions from others. I will warn you though, if my embellished "press release" didn't make it clear enough, that this game requires analog control, and some emulators don't handle that very well at all. I have never gotten it working very well in Atari++, which is the one I use for development. Naturally, this made my work extremely difficult, hopefully you'll manage to get it working. Much appreciated, this is just a really fun hobby for me, and I already have another game in the planning stages. I had to make sure the 5200 had a sports game that the Intellivision didn't.

Curling is about to get REAL on your Atari 5200 SuperSystem! Hear the roar of the stones as they slide down the ice! Experience the tension of sweeping the final shot of a critical end! Do you go for the tricky takeout, or do you take the safe play to blank the end? "Chess on ice" comes to your living room and now the decisions are yours to make! RealSports Curling features a true analog aiming system that takes advantage of the advanced design of the Atari 5200 joystick. Only the SuperSystem could provide this level of control! The sweepers aren't left out, as the 5200 joystick becomes the curling broom you always knew you wanted. Sweep too hard and you'll ruin the shot, not hard enough and you'll wreck on that guard! Several exciting play modes await you! 2, 4, or even 8 human players can test their skills against each other (some modes require a 4 port Atari 5200 SuperSystem). Cooperate with your buddies or just play solo against a skilled CPU opponent! You can even watch the SuperSystem play against itself! Customize your team with extensive options, including left and right-handedness, hairstyle, color choices, and even Norwegian style curling pants. The possibilities are limitless! RealSports Curling features: Selectable game lengths. Play anything from a quick 1-end game to a full 10-end contest! 0, 1, 2, 4, and 8 player modes! (The 8 player mode and some 4 player modes require a 4 port system) True analog control that unlocks the power of your 5200 joystick! Norwegian pants! END SALES PITCH This is alpha release number 3. I believe this release fixes the last of the collision bugs. I'm now head-down on implementing the CPU player. This is the last remaining feature. This earlier post offers some instructions on how to shoot. If you don't know the rules of curling, you can find those online quite easily. The download includes not just the ROM, but the complete assembly source, if anyone is interested in that. rs_curling.zip

The 2600 homebrewers need to start making use of that Star Raiders "Video Touch Pad." There's a lot of potential in that thing.

Star Raiders is NOT more complicated than the 2600. Have you ever tried programming for that thing? It's nuts!

Yes, that's how I test on real hardware. To address the original topic, Pacman Arcade is incredibly awesome. I bought it a few weeks ago from the store and I've enjoyed every minute of it.

Indeed. I have the mechanical aspects of this in place already, but the CPU player has no brains yet. It just keeps throwing the exact same shot over and over.

Haven't posted here in quite some time, because the stuff I've been working on has just been such a pain. The most difficult part of this project so far has been the collision code, and I totally expected that to be the case. I've made three attempts at coming up with a system for this, and they all reached a state where I thought they worked, but testing revealed serious flaws. I decided I needed to solve this once and for all, and came up with yet another system. There are two problems involved with collision: detecting that a collision has occurred, and properly responding to that collision. My new model properly solved the first problem, but totally fell flat on issue number two. Then, I found this formula on Wikipedia. Not the first one, with the trig functions, but the second one, expressed entirely in terms of vectors. This was the magic I had been looking for. Over the past week or so I've been implementing this formula. There were some bumps along the way, and quite a few mistaken assumptions, but I've finally got it working. I believe my collision code is complete. Is it perfect? No, it isn't. There are rounding errors and various other inaccuracies that are basically impossible to avoid on the 6502. Doing this kind of math on this chip was really hard, and I'm sure there are better ways to do it than what I did. But hey, it works! Or at least I think it does. I still need to do some hardcore testing to verify, but what I've done so far looks promising. Right now, I'm busy trying to flesh out the sound effects. Once I'm happy with that, I plan to make an alpha release. This release will include everything except CPU play, which is my final hurdle. I have to admit that I have no clue how to even approach this, but once I dig into the issue I'm sure I'll come up with something.

My plan at the time was actually to do Pac n Pal and an original pinball game first, (I had this weird idea for "Countermeasure Pinball") then after having done both a Pacman game and a pinball game, combine what I learned to do Baby Pacman. Somehow I ended up on this curling project instead.

Bob is currently doing Baby Pacman for the 7800 and it looks fantastic, or at least as fantastic as that game can look. Baby Pacman was actually on my "games to make wish-list" but Bob stole my thunder. Maybe after I see his version I'll be inspired to try it. If I ask really nicely, maybe he'll even give me the code and I can do a semi-port of his version.