BladeJunker

Thanks for the offer, but I did the work manually despite how tedious it was. Mostly I didn't want to have to transcribe them from a bunch of INTV screen shots. Here have a look at the sprite rip image.

jzIntv may be able to help you on both counts. You can use the "show_grom" utility that comes with it to dump the contents of GROM. I haven't posted the bitmap myself, but the show_grom utility will generate the bitmaps for you for each character. To make this easy, I'm going to assume you are on a PC and that you can just copy everything into one directory to do your work. Copy the file "show_grom.exe" from jzintv\bin into this new directory. Also copy in "grom.bin". Then in a command window, do this: cd \path\to\directory show_grom -h grom.bin > g.html This will make 256 files named "grom_00.gif" through "grom_FF.gif" with all 256 pictures available from the GROM. The uppercase alphabet begins at grom_21.gif. The lowercase alphabet begins at grom_41.gif. If you open up the file "g.html", you'll get an HTML table that shows all of the pictures. Each cell has one of the 8x8 GIFs. (Note: If you want to make the GIFs display bigger, you can use "show_grom -h -x 32 -y 32 grom.bin > g.html". This will display them as 32x32 images, although the GIFs themselves will remain 8x8. You can replace the '32' with whatever number you like. Modern web browsers 'blur' the bitmaps when they scale up. Rest assured the actual 8x8 GIFs are not blurry.) For the colors, well, I will state for the record that jzIntv's color table is far from perfect. That said, the file jzintv\doc\color\colors_new.png snapshots the palette that jzIntv uses. The colors look close enough, I know how hard it is to match analog colors. If better versions of the color palette come up I can exchange it, still nice to get an assessment on its accuracy. I see what you mean about the blur in the HTML output, many pixel art forums are quite annoyed by this zoom feature since they just want to inspect the pixels lol. Still I can form a larger "sprite rip" from these individual gifs into a png. I didn't know the INTV table contained so many extra graphics tiles within, neat. Thanks for your help.

Hello I'm a retro enthusiast who likes to draw pixel doodles/mockups and study hardware. The problem is I can't find a bitmap that contains the entire built in Intellivision font found on the system EPROM. As I could not find it even after hours of searching and since I'm not tech savy enough to extract it myself I was hoping someone here could help. I also need a bitmap approximation of the 16 colors used on the Intellivision IE. the RGB or something close to that for the sake of posting a pixel art guide for the INTV. This guide will also contain hardware specific limitations too but I need these basics for the pixel art types. Anyway if you can help that would be most appreciated.

I like the Golden Girls cover art and I think the INTV could use a unique homebrew like this. Perhaps a Leisure Suit Larry romp with these classic geriatric cougars.

I haven't used an Intellivision very long, bought my first one this year, I have more experience with the Colecovision. Despite this I am seeing a steeper learning curve with the INTV especially without manuals for games like Utopia I'm lost while 2600 games tend to just naturally be intuitive even with the first try but how could it not be with only Move & Shoot. Graphics wise I think the INTV is competent but it is definitely restrictive compared to the 2600, I have to cite Mattel's policy of no multiplexing as a clear example of tying the hands of game developers. There is an awful lot of graphics used over and over again which does get monotonous as in the fonts and the running man. I think the INTV could have done more than it did back in the day, just look at Donkey Kong original versus the awesome homebrew that's surfaced now. The 2600 joystick is adequate and fairly comfortable and the INTV Robot Areola ^_^ works well IMO but the button layout is awful on the INTV, I swear a 4 armed alien designed it since that's the only way I think I could use it well. Still when I turn the INTV controller horizontal and hold it like a gamepad its quite comfortable, perhaps future homebrew could support this or maybe a new controller with a reconfigured button circuit so old games played better. Anyway I'm going to have to give my vote to the Atari 2600 even though I like the INTV.

I quite like how this is shaping out, no need to stifle the design but this certainly could be the 2600 equivalent of Minecraft. Are you considering horizontal tunneling like Dig Dug or is that not in the cards?

I wasn't the kids that out voted me. It was my fellow scout leaders (mainly my wife). But like I said it was still a blast. Really that is a surprise, both in the wife aspect but also the leader vote. I say nix the leader votes and let the kids veto.

Don't feel too bad about the Atari being voted out since I have seen kids as young as 10 to 12 years old buying and showing an interest in 2600 games. I think in general kids have to grow into retro game playing as in becoming teenagers before they really appreciate gaming's past but there are exceptions. Still it sounds like a hoot and a holler.

I don't think owning a Harmony cart would stop me buying carts, I mean emulation didn't stop me from collecting. Actually the opposite happens too since I couldn't find a satisfactory Intellivision or Dreamcast emulator(Quick easy startup.) which motivated me to get the consoles just to avoid headaches & hair pulling lol. I think a Harmony cart offers more confidence in game purchases since you can try them out on the console before making a decision to buy. Its definitely great for trying out those rare games which vary between good and awful in quality (Solaris VS Vulture Attack), I'm not a completest so I only pursuit rare games that are actually fun. We should all definitely buy as many homebrew carts as we can since they need our support to continue this grand tradition ijs. Anyway congratulations on your purchase, its a great product I'd recommend to any Atari fan.

It's a toss up between I've Wasted My Life and Backgammon For Friendless People. I also like Wild & Groovy Moon Combat & Surprisingly Literal Translation of the Box Cover Art. XD

Actually found a Treasure Island 2600 game but it was only released in PAL regions. But it looks like some conversions for us NTSC gamers have been made. http://www.atariage....ns/page__st__25

Wow that is nice, very mint kudos.

So that's what you call yourself here(OldSchoolRetroGamer) it's long lol. Well already commented on the video but to anyone dropping by I whole hardily recommend a watch of this fine demo video.

Oh my god dude you're on that again lol. I have a friend who thinks in these terms, I just smile and nod my head while he explains why corporations should get tax cuts while poor people are too stupid to get bailouts from credit card debt. Don't get me wrong modern programming is a joke compared to what we have now but I still think everyone can go near a keyboard. Remember for the masses, not the classes. Can we really separate retro generations anymore since if you're not Current Gen Console, PC, or iPad you're on roughly the same island? Take the Retro Gamer magazine, it doesn't segment it just includes all retro into a single forum. I know in these modern times game designs aren't so much created as cut & pasted from pre-existing modules. I can't disagree with the no ability statement since it's true, most of them don't have a grasp of fundamentals so that won't bold well for the future of programming. Never said they were "worthy" of quality 2600 homebrew, I just inferred that they had money to burn on what they would regard as kitschy novelties, just business for funding necessities. Again stop fearing the masses, if they're really that stupid you have nothing about oh great leader of men. There isn't much point of one or few people seeing great works. Sure the 2600 is old but you could say the same thing about books or libraries being under appreciated but I wouldn't discourage anyone from trying to write the next great novel, and this is coming from someone who doesn't enjoy reading much. I'm not trying for flame war but you push my buttons sir. Still I like your copy protection to emulator cypher idea since unauthorized replication of carts should be stopped or fought at least.

I use 99% alcohol and cotton swabs, it drys fast but yeah the cotton fibers stick to 2600 boards constantly so alternative swabs are definitely recommended. One thing I discovered about alcohol and labels is that if the laminate veneer is worn down the alcohol can act as a solvent to the print, stripped a bit of color from a Goldeneye and Virtua Racing carts unfortunately so I thought I should warn you.

Sealed good luck getting proof lol. For any boxed VCS I personally would go as high as 80-100$ Canadian but it would have to be in pretty good shape and include all stock items inside with original plastic bags etc. . In my region of Earth its hard to get decent prices for VCS stuff on Craig's List, people slap the word Vintage into the title and expect $200 for a loose system. I'm getting another 2600 in a original box without innards with 17 loose games for $55 if that helps with your decision making.

So mostly Activision then eh? I do have a black label Video Chess, very plain but the quality seems really good for 1979.

Interesting stuff, has sticker glue improved over time to last longer or can we expect eventual "glue death" for all stickers at a set rate of decay?

I'm open to Angry Birds for the 2600. Crush The Castle may be better but Angry Birds taps into that mascot appeal that brings people in so effectively, if your mascot sucks obviously it doesn't work(See the 90s and the animal platformer explosion.). Control definitely has plenty of options and setups, no reason all controller types couldn't be supported. The true deal breaker is the physics simulation. I'd say approximation of effect would be a good route as in predefined animation of rectangles falling over or rotation where you let more standard sprite collision methods influence the movement of the pillars rotation clockwise or counter-clockwise. There would still be a physics simulation but most of the more heavy calculations of so many objects colliding with true physics math could be culled way down. I'm not an expert but even if you use the most basic display kernel I really doubt the CPU could keep up effectively and you'd still lose any chance of character recognition in the sprites if for example the pillars are rendered with the Player objects and the birds and pigs end up being red and pink squares. Thrust is a great example of physics in a 2600 game but there is only one ship with the rest of the game graphics being terrain so it has a lighter load in calculations to that of multi-pillared buildings getting hit by a projectile ijs.

Can I or should I move this subject to the "General Forum" since although it does deal in technical discussion in feasible concepts to Programming issues I wonder if I posted this in the wrong place? I'm still green to this forum structure.

Lol rain yeah I've seen water create splotches too. XD What kind of glue it is on 2600 labels since I wonder if my Nes, Genesis, Snes, N64, etc. will develop this problem in the future? Yeah I guess reprints would be the only way to go. Hard to say what I'll do since I don't own a modern printer, perhaps I'll try to get one that can do stickers so I don't have to muck about with tape which has always been troublesome for me (Balls of messed up tries. ^_^).

Very nice stash the 31 games, you so lucky. Moon Patrol, Dig Dug, Midnight Magic are some of my faves and everything else is solid stuff. Also the Light 6er looks to be in good shape, could use a cleaning. Ooh Asteroids, so simple but I can play it a long time.

Just checking if anyone knows why labels get that "bacon grease" spot look. Is it the glue aging, anybody figure out a way to reverse it?

Well that does create a paradox doesn't it with the heavy sixer actually having the speaker holders but the desire to keep units authentic. Still I agree about getting some experience first before modding or experimenting on a 2600 in very poor condition(Like wrecked status.) before doing such a mod on your perfectly working units. I guess you're right about the vibration, I've just seen some pretty extreme speaker blowout preformed by loudness enthusiasts. I don't know, some people want scanline filters in emulation and some don't. Personally I only consider the core hardware as authentic or static with external matters like sound and video output as alterable factors.

Well there certainly enough people trying to make Super Mario Bros type games among other Nes titles for the 2600 but its not easy given the hardware. I think Keystone Kapers is close too minus the platform jumping since it uses escalators lol. I agree with everybody here that the 2600 has plenty of games that are close in genre but aren't that much fun IE. Smurfs. I like Booby Is Going Home but its no Mega Man.