johnnywc

Hi! The game does support Sega Genesis controllers. The issue is that it also supports the multi-tap (which allows 2 joysticks in the left joystick port) and the detection scheme is the same for each. When you plug in a Genesis controller, the game is detecting a multi-tap. An easy work around is to start the game with the Genesis gamepad button 'C' held down; the game will detect it as a normal joystick (since you don't need both buttons) and it will work fine. I may add a prompt when you power on the game that asks if you have a multi-tap to make it more intuitive. The game is actually designed to be like the arcade, which reaches it's peak difficulty at level 6 (on standard). For NOVICE it starts off slower and hits maximum speed at the 8th level. Also with Novice there is one less monster (max 5) until level 7 (and expert has one extra monster). The game also gets harder after level 7 as the wizard will teleport more frequently and the Worlord mazes (more open spaces) appear. I agree the game does get difficult pretty fast as it did in the arcade, but we would certainly be open to making NOVICE easier. Thanks for the feedback!

Sneak peak at the bonus keeper stage:

Thanks! Nathan has done an *amazing* job with the sprites and animation, plus the awesome title screen animation. He certainly makes my job much easier!

Small update: progress on the platform level, and the first appearance of Zelda! See the level in action on Facebook or YouTube!

We're most likely just going to keep him facing left/right (like in the video) or perhaps add in sprites that show him moving up / down (like the chef in Burger Timer when he's moving up/down a ladder). The loss of horizontal resolution (8 pixels vs 16) plus the fact that we can't use multiple colors would mean a pretty ugly Zeke if we went with the arcade-like solution. Since the change is just aesthetic (he will still jump the same way and collision detection will be the same) it's not a huge loss IMO; I'm sure people will get used to it pretty quick (I already have! ).

Title screen added! (thanks to Nathan for the graphics and suggestion to use the Yars' Revenge 'neutral zone' effect for the inside of the letters ) Check out the video on Youtube or on Champ Games's Facebook page!

That's great to hear, I'm glad you're enjoying it! Dave Dries did an exceptional job on the manual, as well as Nathan and Mike with the graphics and sounds. Once you've had a chance to play a bit, be sure to leave a review in the Atari Age store!

Update: Thanks to Nathan, we now have animal sprites (and I got them running around the cage). He's also updated the bonus item graphics (and I have the timer semi-working). Here's a link to the WIP in action. Apologies in advance for the sub-par video quality, this looks much better on Stella and a real CRT. I may have to let the professionals (Nathan ) handle the video captures going forward Zoo Keeper (2600) WIP - animals in action! EDIT: Here's a screenshot (thanks TJ!) showing 12 animals on the perimeter (max 16 in the arcade). I have some ideas on how to reduce flicker (sprite copy on top/bottom and sprite merging on the side) ... it also looks much better in motion, especially on a CRT! Up next: having the animals spawn in the middle cage and have them try to break thru the bricks.

Great score Nathan - you're more than 1/2 way to my high score on the full version...

Yes, I believe that's exactly what is happening! You will not see this effect in Stella unless you set the TV Effects to S-video or Composite. I currently have an option to disable this effect using the right difficulty switch for those who prefer a more solid PF or if they're using an HD display that can't simulate this effect.

Hmm, I will PM you the test ROM so you can see what it looks like on a real CRT and in Stella.

Thanks TJ, I know Nathan had mentioned adding an issue at some point. I think he said that the old versions of Stella were able to do this but something changed in 5.x where the capture isn't the same. I will try the very high phosphor effect and see if that helps.

March 8th, 2020 *** The latest demo ROMs (demo #2) can be downloaded in this post. *** December 23rd, 2019 The previous demo ROMs (demo #1) can be downloaded in this post. Hello all, With Mappy released and Wizard of Wor Arcade nearing completion (expected to be released in Spring of 2019), Champ Games has started a proof of concept for their next game: a port of Taito's Zoo Keeper! As some of you may know, Zoo Keeper was advertised back in the 80's in an issue of Atari Age magazine as 'coming soon'. Although rumored to be near complete, a prototype has yet to be found. However, a VHS tape was found that shows the animated sprites that were to be used, and the audio notes from the original Atari sound programmer Robert Vieira was also discovered and converted into a working ROM by Atari Age member Thomas Jentzsch. (apologies in advance if I got any of this story wrong!) Thirteen years later, Champ Games has decided to bring Zoo Keeper to the 2600! Development is still very early, but here is a screen shot showing the first screen, including the score, bricks, Zeke and the cage: NOTE: The bricks look solid with visible horizontal and vertical lines on a real CRT and in Stella using the S-video TV effect (giving it scan lines like a real CRT). Stella unfortunately does not capture an accurate blend of 2 frames, even with phosphor mode enabled (I believe this is a requested feature that may be in a future release). EDIT: Thanks to TJ, he was able to configure Stella to take a more accurate screenshot: NOTE: On a real CRT, these is a little flicker when the PF is displayed. Nathan Strum is busy working on the animal sprites and we're hoping to reach Robert to see if we can include his sounds as well. Here is a link to a Youtube video that shows an early WIP with Zeke building the bricks on the first level. More details will be posted here as they become available, or you can follow the progress on Champ Game's Facebook page. Thanks, John

Hi James! Awesome - I'll definitely try to join for a bit... thanks for the heads up!

Good find! Great, so it looks like we did implement it the correct way. Have fun!

Hmmm, that may be true... I have never played the NES version. Here is a video from youtube of the arcade version; it doesn't look like Goro gets high enough on the 3rd level (1st bonus level) to pop any balloons, but I may have missed something: https://youtu.be/X08oIPJPFX8?t=269

That's terrible! Luckily it's easy to find new systems/games (at least it was back in 1999 when I 're-discovered' the 2600) but nothing beats having the ones you grew up with. Thanks! Mike Haas is doing a great job with the sound fx - only a few more to go! Add in Nathan's amazing graphics and they make these games so much better - Champ Games is very lucky! The music in Mappy was done by Mike as well, and we're using the DPC chip to play it (same technology used in Pitfall 2) - it makes an amazing difference!

Thanks for the feedback, I'm glad you're enjoying the game! As Nathan mentions below, this is an issue that we *think* is related to the Atarivox+ as there have been numerous software tests done to try to eliminate the behavior but none have been successful. You mention an Atarivox Berzerk that seems to play fine (except for an occasional glitch). I was not aware an Avox Berzerk existed! Berzerk VE I believe uses samples on the cart; am I remembering that correctly? Is there a Berzerk with voice that uses the Atarivox? If so, maybe I can reach out to that developer and see if there's anything different between how we're implementing the speech that may fix or help the issue.

Thanks! WoW Arcade is coming along nicely and I'm looking forward to getting back to work on it after the holidays. In the meantime I'm working on a proof-of-concept for what Champ Games hopes to release at PRGE in 2019.. details to follow!

Thanks Steve! Good score to start, it definitely gets pretty difficult on the later levels. Any feedback about difficulty ramping, skill levels, etc. is greatly appreciated!

Hi TJ, My bad, it may just be the difference between the hills and the demo mode that is throwing me off. I thought it was just repeating the patterns of the hills but the difficulty would still ramp up (ie. the 2nd '1st' hill would be harder than the first '5th hill') but it sounds like Hill #1 should be the same difficultly each time (even the 2nd, 3rd, 4th time around), in the demo only of course. I may have gotten through the 5 hills, subconsciously expected hill 6 to be more difficult and when it wasn't it through me off. When it got difficult I must have been on Hill #4 or Hill #5. I'll play it again with this in mind and let you know my thoughts. Sorry for the confusion! John

Hmmm, it seemed to be that I was cruising along (maybe 10 hills or so) and at about 90K the ants starting coming out faster (the delay between the 'rounds' of ants seemed shorter) so I was caught a few times where I hadn't eaten enough of the dots when the spider came out. It could have been perceived, I'll play again. It could have been getting incrementally more difficult but I perhaps didn't notice since I'm so good at the game lol (j/k).

New high score. Great game! Difficulty ramp up seems a little slow, but when it does ramp up it catches you by surprise! No new bugs to report. Thanks, John

Hello! I believe this only happens on the 3rd and 4th bonus stages (level 11 and 15); from what I saw while playing, Goro will go up a little on level 3 but not high enough to pop a balloon; a little higher on level 7 and finally high enough on level 11. I'm pretty sure this was in the last public ROM posted. Hope that helps! Yes, I will most likely post the final version of the ROM sometime in early 2019. Have fun! John