SpiceWare

Looking at just the picture detail you get: 720p has an image that's 1280x720, or 921,600 pixels. 1080i has an image thats 1920x1080, or 2,073,600 pixels. Based on that, the 1080i is better because it has over twice as much detail. However, and this is a biggie: if your set only shows 720p then anything 1080i will have to be scaled down(tossing out lots of pixels) if your set only shows 1080i then anything 720 will have to be scaled up (extrapolating data that's not really there). This tends to soften the image. as such, you'll always get the best picture if your set is receiving a signal that it natively displays.

Just discovered an obscure bug today! David Mrozek was having a problem with the lower-right shield being flipped. In this section of the code: KernelGameBottomCode SUBROUTINE sta WSYNC cpy BLyOddRow; 3 4 php ; 3 7 cpy M1yOddRow; 3 10 php ; 3 13 cpy M0yOddRow; 3 16 php ; 3 19 ldx #ENABL ; 2 21 txs ; 2 22 READ_TWO_PADDLES;23 45 ldx #8 ; 2 47 sta REFP1 ; 3 50 <---- should have been stx REFP1 ldx #0 ; 2 52 stx REFP0 ; 3 55 dey ; 2 57 lda Player4X ; 3 60 sec ; 2 62 sta WSYNC ; 3 65 Just below the macro READ_TWO_PADDLES, the ldx #8, sta REFP1 should have been ldx #8, stx REFP1. The macro READ_TWO_PADDLES is MAC READ_TWO_PADDLES ldx Paddles2Read ; 21-23 3 lda INPT0,x ; | 4 bpl .save1 ; | 2 3 .byte $2c ; | 4 0 .save1 sty Paddle1,x ; | 0 4 lda INPT2,x ; | 4 bpl .save2 ; | 2 3 .byte $2c ; | 4 0 .save2 sty Paddle3,x ; | 0 4 ; +-23 worse case scenerio ENDM so the last data value read into A would have been either INPT2 or INPT3 depending which 2 paddles were being read for the current frame (one frame reads paddles 0 & 2, the next frame reads paddles 1 & 3). INPT2 and INPT3 only return a value in bit 7, the other bits are undefined, and as I understand it normally return the same bits as the address. INPT2 = address $A, INPT3 = address $B $A=%00001010, $B = %00001011. The 8 used to flip the sprite = %00001000, so the "normally returns same bits as address" explains why it works for most people as the bit for 8 is turned on for both $A and $B. ROMs: mm20071129NTSC.bin mm20071129PAL.bin Source: Medieval_Mayhem.zip

Opportunity A - I've accepted a position with Spacedesign, makers of software used in the design of spacecraft. I'll be starting there in 2 weeks, on December 10th. Opportunity B - to be revealed sometime before the end of the year.

Just contacted Fred and have one reserved for me

Atari Time's 2600 Game Rankings may be a good place to check out. A number of the games have decent reviews as well.

Nice review! The joystick is in the right port because it follows the Arcade version where 1 player games use the right joystick. If you've never played the arcade version you may wish to boot up MAME and give it a whirl!

Good to know - I'm planning to get a PS3 in December or January. Looks like the 5 free movie offer is good thru 1/31/08.

Did the battery come with tools to open the iPod? When I bought a new battery for my old 20GB iPod, tools were included with it.

Reminds me of the term Geek and how it used to be bad, but now there's things like the Geek Squad.

Will do so after work.

I noticed a bug in the debugger - the label doesn't get updated. You can see in the PROMPT area that it knows byte $80 is labeled SPbeat, but when 80 is clicked on in the RAM display the Label: field stays blank.

Congrats! A bit tied up with stuff at the moment, even put my reviews on hiatus, but I'm sure I can make time for some play testing starting in December.

thought it looked familiar, just realized this topic's from the start of the year

completion progress? I didn't think anything was posted about the holiday cart until it was added to the store.

Yep - the top 2 corners are the reverse of what you expect - turn the paddle clockwise and the shield goes counter-clockwise around the castle. The bottom 2 corners work as you'd expect. I use the difficulty switches in Medieval Mayhem to let you control the way the top players respond to the paddles. Difficulty B = the warlords way, Difficulty A = the "natural" way where clockwise = clockwise.

It's correct, I hit 41 today. Thanks!

This looks familiar... Is that a helicopter flying down a canyon?

Ah - didn't realize it was being rated against current systems. Thanks for the explanation.

Good article. Was the overall score intentional? I'm also curious as to how Audio only rated a 3.0? And I now know where Mayhem got his avatar from.

My guess would be no, when I reviewed it I tried the CBS Booster Grip as well as Sega and Amiga CD32 gamepads. None of them worked with Stelladaptor. I suspect the extra wires in the connector confuse the Stelladaptor into believing a paddle controller is plugged in.

S-Video will provide a better picture than composite. This(click for large picture) is what I get with my S-Video Atari. Nathan's done a good comparison of 2600 video mods. The following images are from his page. composite example: S-Video example: Note the alternating dots in the score, Harry and the Activision Rainbow in the composite mod - that's due to the comb filter having to separate the color signal from the B&W signal. An S-Video connection keeps those signals separate.

From wiki So each line could have 8 colors, 4 on the left and 4 on the right, plus each line could have a different set of 8 colors.

It works extremely well - I did a search on ebay, didn't see any Ballys available. Know anyplace that sells them? I was originally thinking 8K for MM, but once I found out the fireball movement tables were going to take 2K I planned to use 16K. Even that wasn't enough and I ended up at 32K. For the AI I don't have different AI routines, just different speeds they can react. In the Kids version they move slowest, Medieval version they move fastest. Also each additional fireball increases their speed, so there's 6 speeds the AI players can move at.

Impressive! I think your avatar should be updated to look similar to mine

I've had a couple interesting opportunities come up that's going to delay further reviews for a bit, possibly until early next year.