Gateway

Hey, wanted to say thanks for posting the ROMs and making the game. It is a fun little game ( still trying to outsmart that bird! LOL! )

Hey guys! Got my game on Saturday! #286 Got the signed transparent cart and CD with extras. It was a long wait, but the quality is top-notch! My favorite feature is, of course, the LED lights flashing in response to action in the gameplay. Definitely a cool feature for Atari homebrew projects. LED enhanced carts I own include: Star Castle 2600 Silver Globetrotter TronMan from Neo Games Happy Holidays from PackRat Videogames - I know there have been others over the years but can't remember specifics at the moment. If Scott's molds are still usuable for future homebrews then more LED enhanced projects will be welcome! Thanks, Scott!

My poster showed up on Friday and my Star Castle 2600 showed up on Saturday! Excellent work! I got #2. The bonus items are great too, especially Hozer, LOL. What game code is used for the Hozer face? :thumbsup: Many Thanks to Brian O., Ed Fries, and Cebus (and anybody else involved) for their efforts!

Glad you were able to add this to your collection after all this time! Also, kudos on the fixing up and parts added. Very eye-catching! :thumbsup:

I like your game idea. Sounds interesting! All I can offer (as I have been learning myself) is that you have to "think backwards" when it comes to the Atari 2600. What I mean is, as great as it would be to take a modern game idea and scale it down to the limitations of the 2600, sometimes you have to start very basic and get a few objects moving on the screen first and then add more and more of your game until you run out of ROM space. Keep in mind a few things about the 2600. It is one of the more difficult platforms to program for.. and you may find it easier to start with a more forgiving system with more sprites and memory available. Remember the 2600 only gives you 128 bytes of RAM and redraws the entire screen 60 times per second. You have to build the program kernel from scratch for each new game you code. Also keep in mind that batari Basic makes the process much easier( and gives novice programmers like myself a chance to actually get simple games working ), but it also has the limitations of a "canned" kernel- thus, the hardest part of the game is already programmed but it only allows a certain set of parameters for your game. That is where adding assembly routines comes in to workaround the limitations (or you can change the batari Basic code itself, if you know what you are doing, to add unique features). To the best of my knowledge, batari Basic's standard kernel only allows one color per width of the screen(going from top to bottom). The playfield (left to right) is 20 pixels wide, then repeats/is reflected for 20 more pixels. So you will have 40 pixels across that make one line of the same color. Depending on vertical resolution, you can have a different color each line from top to bottom and that's it: playfield: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx and so forth.. Others here may know some of the programming tricks you can use to change the color mid-scanline but you have to have enough cycles to do so. The multipsrite kernel only allows one color for the entire playfield(reflected). The above may sound very limited but there are still many fun games that can, and have been, designed using the above-- and a few that expanded on the above limitations by adding assembly routines and bankswitching, etc. To have complete control of your game mechanics and design, you may have to program it from scratch in assembly. However, another option may be to try and use the standard kernel with the SARA chip, which gives you an extra set of variables and another 128 bytes of RAM to work with. Also, the latest version of batari Basic is the DPC+ kernel that gives you multicolored sprites and more options. Not sure if that helps, but wanted to suggest that your game idea is not impossible on the 2600, but could be very ambitious! Others will probably have better suggestions to give than I have. Good luck!

Congrats on reaching 10 years! I also will hit the 10 year mark in a few days. I remember most of these Hacks and I have learned a lot from you and from your batari Basic programs over the years. Also your CYOA utility. Thank you for all of your contributions so far. Here is to another 10 years!

Fantasy and RPG games are always welcome on the 2600! I agree the text screen for showing stats may have to be shown elsewhere, so the game screen would clear and show the text on screen by using the select switch for example, then you would need to redraw the game screen. If all of the screen's elements and their locations are in memory, then that shouldn't be a problem. I guess what I mean is: your biggest challenge will be how to use the limited space on the screen. If you haven't already, take a look at some other homebrew 2600 games that use some of the elements you are talking about that would fit into an RPG game. Also, AA member theloon has a discussion here about using simple words perhaps at the bottom of the screen that you could select from to use during the game: http://www.atariage....nt-battle-menu/ Dungeon homebrew: http://www.atariage....ct_detail&p=895 Skeleton+ homebrew (as LS Dracon mentioned): http://www.atariage....ct_detail&p=226 Ature homebrew: http://www.atariage....age__hl__ ature The above games are just examples of what has been done on the 2600 and to help you visualize some ideas for your project. Note that Skeleton+ was done in pure assembly and the others I listed were done using batari BASIC. The 2600 has yet to have a true RPG game in its library although others have attempted it in the past with mixed results, so I am looking forward to see what you can/will create.

I live maybe an hour away from you. This would be awesome to own, but alas, I am unemployed at the moment (laid off) so it's not in the cards for me, plus I don't have the room for it, LOL. Maybe someday.. Good luck!

Okay, I am in!

Color me intrigued! LOL at "the thief". My initial impression was that the thief was a well-endowed woman with her arms behind her back? Or maybe that is a guy with games stuffed inside his shirt? The plot thickens! Looking forward to hearing the story about this game. Keep up the good work!

If nothing else works out, you could make a Hack of Journey Escape. The theme of the game is to move each band member safely away after the concert while avoiding groupies, photographers, etc. You could hack Steve Perry et al into members of your band. Also check out the Hacks forum for the 2600 to see if anybody there has already become familiar with modifying the code for the Journey game. http://www.atariage....wareLabelID=252 Good luck!

Hey, I am interested. However, before I order I have a question about the authenticity: Will the poster have some kind of watermark and/or signatures from you guys so that we know that it is the genuine article? God forbid somebody (Hozer ) makes a cheap knock-off on crappy paper in the future and tries to claim it is one of these excellent posters you guys have produced here. Thanks

Forgot to update: Guess what was wrapped and under the Christmas tree this year? My brother intercepted the mail when my copy (cart only) arrived and it got wrapped up with the same wrapping paper as 1/3rd of the other gifts under my parent's tree. The tag said "From: Atari4you" I "inherited" my parent's VCR-TV combo tonight and set it up in my room. Tomorrow I plan to pull my Atari 2600 out of storage and hook it up! Thank you and Merry Christmas!

Haven't seen mine yet either, but the snowstorm we had through the midwest earlier in the week has slowed everything down- plus the higher postal traffic during this time of year- so I expect it will arrive within a week from now.

The above is a great list! With one caveat from me: I would suggest "Twelve Mario Brothers plumbing" is too many syllables-- perhaps just "Twelve brothers plumbing" may work as those of us in the know will recognize the reference without alerting Nintendo if this list ever ends up on a T-shirt for example. We can start a new list, or we can debate use of the other suggestions in reserve. -- Reserve List -- Twelve Nathans Strumming Eleven products hyping Eleven Keyboard Controllers Typing Eleven Jag Fans Griping Eleven Developers Hyping Eleven Auction Watchers Sniping Eight traders bilking Eight Stella's Stocking(s) Seven Qotiles spinning Seven Ducks Attacking Five pac-man games --

That is interesting. Perhaps Al can add that tidbit as a Fun Fact on the main page. Another thought is maybe we can all come up with a definitive list of rhyming gifts here and the end result can be used on a future holiday item in the AtariAge store: i.e. text written on a T-shirt/poster/magnet, etc. Okay here is where we are at now. The next person can add a gift for 10, or suggest a better choice for a previous gift. If nobody can think of better rhymes after a while, we can plug the reserve items back into the list: On the 9th day of Christmas the postman brought to me... 09. Nine knights a-lancing 08. (Suggestions welcome rhymes with milking) 07. (Suggestions welcome rhymes with swimming) 06. Six geeks a playing 05. Fiiiiiiiive Warlords kings! 04. Four Phoenix birds 03. Three light pens 02. Two "Yorgle" gloves and A cartridge of "Chetiry" -- In reserve: Eight Stella's Stocking(s) Seven Ducks Attacking Five pac-man games --

Good so far! Keep those gifts coming! Eight Stella's Stocking(s) Seven Ducks Attacking Six geeks a playing Fiiiiiiiive Warlords Kings! (or five pac-man games) Four Phoenix birds Three light pens Two "Yorgle" gloves and A cartridge of "Chetiry"

Thanks Nathan, and I like the new avatar! godzillajoe has the right idea.. On the 3rd day of Christmas the postman brought to me... Three light pens Two "Yorgle" gloves and A cartridge of "Chetiry"

As Random Terrain might say, as long as you get them sent out before December 21st when the world ends, it's all good! No worries! Do what you need to do for your mother and best wishes for her recovery! Happy Holidays!

Not sure if we have done this before.. Just for fun, let's continue the days of Christmas/Hanukkah/Festivus, etc with Atari- related gifts you expect or wish you would receive this holiday season. It doesn't have to be strictly for the 2600, but try to make it fit the rhythm of the tune, i.e. "Five golden rings", etc. Just cut and paste the previous entries and add your day to the bottom of the list. If we get past 12 days, the next person can start a new 12 day list with new gifts. Keep an eye on who else may be posting in this thread at the same time to see if we can avoid the same day being used twice in a row. I will start: On the 1st day of Christmas the postman brought to me... 1. A cartridge of "Chetiry"

Fellowship is based on Dark Mage, but with some expanded code, IIRC, from Thomas Jentzsch. It plays more as Interactive Fiction because it follows the storyline of the book/movie rather than multiple choice gameplay. Looks like Packrat is under new ownership, but they are currently out of stock.. http://www.packratvg.com/index.html Also, currently out of stock at Gooddeal Games, but should be more soon at both stores. http://www.gooddealg...Atari 2600.html

Keep up the good work, solidcorp! I have the ROM to play while awaiting the arrival of my cartridge in the mail.

All the best to you, Bob. :thumbsup: Hope to see you here again in the future, otherwise may you find success in your non-Atari endeavours!

Got my copy of the game today! Looks great! I have played on emulators and my favorite of the three games is Snake!, but the other two games have their charm as well! If you haven't bought this game then I highly recommend it. Get a copy before they are gone! Kudos to Wickeycolumbus and his team that put this on cart. Great quality!

Forgot to post a few months ago.. Got my Candy Catcher game in the mail. Great label and packaging and good person to deal with!