Carl Mueller Jr

Hi all, My website has moved to the following address: http://carlmuellerjr.blogspot.com As before, it contains the steps you need to take to order any of the above game ROMs listed in the title. There is also detailed information about what is included. Thanks, Carl

Just follow the directions on my Blogger page. Basically, send payment to cmjrd2k@gmail.com, and send a note to carljr17@hotmail.com to let me know you've made payment in which ROM you wanted (you may also be required to send the first five digits of your DRUID, if it's an LTO Flash! ROM). That's it. Rest assured that you will get your ROM, I've had no dissatisfied customers. Thanks, Carl

I'm very sorry for all the trouble. I have not received any mail from you. Why not send me the details through Atariage, and I'll get back to you with the ROM?

It's my birthday, somebody please buy a ROM. :-) Carl

I am pleased to announce that D2K Special Edition ARCADE ROM is now available for LTO Flash!. Check out my blogger page for more information: Http://www.carlmuellerjr.com Note that this ROM will not work under emulation, it specifically for the LTO Flash!. This is the only kind of ROM that will ever be offered for the special edition, so please don't ask for exceptions. Thanks a lot, Carl

Hey everyone, Just letting you know that the D2K ARCADE ROM is now only $10, and will remain that way in perpetuity. Also note that D1K and Ms. Pac-Man are no longer free downloads. If you have them, please continue to use them for your own personal use, but please do not distribute them in any form (including source code). I'd like this stuff to be free, but $10 is a pretty big deal to me these days, and I find people are just not willing to make the donation without a little… encouragement. Thanks, Carl http://www.carlmuellerjr.com

Hi all. I turned 45 in December. Living with disease since age 17. I did the first Intellivision and early homebrewing stuff in my early 20s (early 90s). Time really flies :-(

I don't want to state (or restate) the obvious, but I really believe the EXEC was really instrumental in the early success of the Intellivision. With the initial 4K cartridge restriction, and without code for interfacing with the hardware, a macro language for sound effects, impression routines for graphics, collision routines that dispatch only on collisions the game is interested in, etc. etc., there is no way they could have been as sophisticated as they were. I would go as far as to say they could not have offered anything much more advanced than a typical Atari VCS game at the time, and considering the heftier price tag of the Intellivision, it would have been a dealbreaker. Intellivision may not have test marketed successfully, and we probably would not even be talking about it today if it wasn't for David Rolfe's brilliant idea, design, and execution. I suspect the Pretty Dumb Idea was perhaps a smaller ROM size and/or a more conventional approach (routines that cartridges simply called to, rather than the EXEC being the main program that dispatched to cartridge programs). I think it's utterly brilliant that cartridges essentially contain tightly compacted data tables that describe things such as which object collisions it's interested in, where graphics tables are located, etc. and need only include routines for custom behavior, allowing cartridges to be even trimmer, the extra space allowing them to be even more sophisticated, include more animation, etc. The EXEC may be criticized for updating objects at 20 Hz and splitting up tasks, but it did have to fit in 4K. There would not have been space to unroll code to update GRAM, and the 10-bit ROM restriction also meant no packing (allowing for the "SWAP" trick to buy even more cycles). And obviously, it also had to be programmed to be more generally useful.

As long as you're still taking ideas, this would be my personal ideal for an add-on module that expanded the stock capabilities of the Intellivision: - ECS support (8-bit RAM, second PSG, two controller ports) - Intellivoice support - Tutorvision support (3 additional pages of GRAM) (should also actually be compatible with Tutorvision cartridges, which we will no doubt see reproductions of soon). - Clean composite and S video-out (may only be possible with Intellivision II or modified a model 1) Not only would this be 100% Intellivision (and no one could argue that), but the additional three pages of GRAM would add significant capability to the Intellivision, including a bitmapped display. You could also do things like preloading sprite animations in GRAM, freeing up precious VBLANK cycles, making things like true software sprites far more practical (in a way, breaking the 8 sprite limit). Also simplifies programming large scrolling backgrounds, so you don't have to worry about reloading GRAM for different areas of the map. I can see RPGs, text and graphical adventures, driving games, vector games, first-person perspective games, etc. etc. being particularly stunning under this configuration. It also has the advantage that developers need not modify their development systems (or very little), emulators would only require slight tweaks for the additional GRAM pages, and having a single all-in-one add-on unit would be pretty slick, particularly if there was cases for both the Intellivision I and II. Heck, even I buy one of these things and I don't even own an Intellivision at the moment. Carl

I don't think it's beside the point when you're trying to assess how a game's collision detection is handled and you incorrectly report that it's flakiness is due to the EXEC, an operating system that it does not actually use. And actually, there are hardware flaws in the Intellivision. For example, moving object #1 will not collide with the screen border.

I was only referring to how they were referenced in Intellivision programming circles, there is no evidence to support that they were ever called MOBs at APH, Mattel, or any place else that developed Intellivision software.

Microsurgeon does not use the EXEC except to read the hand controls. Even if it did, collision detection isn't a problem with the EXEC because the hardware will record all collisions and set latches so that interactions, even if they occurred a few frames before will not be missed. If the object has changed its internal ROM database pointer between the time the hardware recorded the interaction and the time the EXEC gets around to dispatching, you will miss the collision however. I don't know what's going on with Microsurgeon, but I've known since I was a kid that it was very particular with where you shot the background. Anyway, it's definitely not the hardware.

By the way, as far as I know the Intellivision was the first game console to actually support smooth scrolling. Even the Colecovision, which came out more than two years after the Intellivision, lacked smooth scrolling in hardware.

Space Armada does not really use software sprites. The game does sequence background pictures for animation, but it does not actually shift their patterns to give the illusion of movement. Instead, the screen scrolls and the background patterns remain fixed, only to change when animations occur. The shields, weapons fire, and ship are all moving objects, so their positions are modified to hide that the screen is scrolling. (Normally, moving objects move with the background.) It might be fun to make a list of games that do use true software sprites. Right now I can only think of Wormwhompper and He-Man. Ms. Pac-Man originally used software sprites for the ghosts' eyes, but it was eventually removed because it slowed down the game too much. The code however remains, and can be viewed in the source code. Carl

Actually, they were never called MOBs back in the day. This was an abbreviation coined by Joe Z. and adopted by the homebrew community. When I initially reversed engineered the hardware back in the early 90s, I called them MOs, but for some strange reason that never caught on. :-(

That's great, but the owner of the thread has suggested that the expander's graphics are somehow on-spec with the Intellivision III. I just wanted to point out, that this is not going to be anything that one could claim was an actual Intellivision III, which I personally would rather see made rather than this "expander". This sounds more like an MSX-compatible system changer than anything else. If people find that exciting, fine. But for me it's just not Intellivision.

Folks, before we start accepting this "expander" as the Intellivision III, think about what that would really require. From what I can tell, in order to build an add-on module that truly upgraded us to Intellivision III power, it must have: The prototyped Super-STIC (STIC 1B) which we know, at a minimum, provided double resolution (320x192), more moving objects, and "infinite" color. It actually existed, so there should be notes on registers, bit fields, and so on -- perhaps in Papa Chandler's notes? -- that would give us more information on its capabilities. The same CP1610 in the Intellivision (there was no plans for an additional CPU), with extra RAM for keeping track of all the new objects. The incorporation of the Intellivoice hardware for Intellivoice compatibility. A second PSG (à la the ECS) for three more channels of sound (stereo capability). So in total you should only be working with 2 AY8914s, each with their own RCA out. That also means technically you should have an extra two joystick ports, and the original intent was for wireless capability. Ray Kaestner represented Mattel's programmers at APH while the new EXEC was being designed. He should have a pretty good idea about Intellivision III capabilities. There must've been a lot of code dedicated to updating the STIC 1B. That same code would reveal more about its capabilities, like number of sprites, bits per pixel, and any other features. Maybe contacting Ray Kaestner about this new EXEC would get you somewhere? Otherwise, there should be no association between what Intellivision III was and what the new Intellivision Expander is. Based on what I have read here, you would be better off calling it the "Intellivision Changer II", because it seems to function as did the original Changer, to allow you to play games made for a different system on your Intellivision (rather than technically expanding its capabilities). For me, unless it truly follows the designs of the proposed (and largely developed) Intellivision III as listed above, it's not really Intellivision. Anyway, good luck. Carl

Is this a joke, or is there actually an enhanced version of the EXEC available? I remember the first time I talked to Keith. He called me from his ancient mid-90s cell phone from his car to talk about the emulator I had written. He wanted to use it rather than start from scratch, to get the Intellivision Lives collection out there as quickly as he could. I was honored to be a part of it, to make a small contribution to a new Intellivision revival. He was very cool, and as others have mentioned, laid-back. It was the best day of my life. I talked to a Blue Sky Ranger! They wanted to use something I'd written! What could be better? Keith made that possible. We use to exchange emails. We talked about his game, ECS basic, and other things. He was always very enthusiastic about Intellivision. Unfortunately, around when the collection was finally released, we had a bit of a falling out which I now understand was really my fault. I never heard from Keith again, which saddened me a great deal. But once I made an order through his website, and he ended up giving me my order free of charge! So, even though we weren't talking anymore, he still showed his appreciation for what I did. Very cool of him. Thanks Keith, for all the good memories.

Just to let everyone know, the "ordering" page for this ROM is now back up: http://www.carlmuellerjr.com The instructions are exactly the same as has been listed in this thread, but this page will show you exactly what you get, screenshots and all that. Please do not ask about the Special Edition. I do not know when or even if the ROM will ever be available. Also to note that I am now only asking $15 as a donation, but of course more would always be appreciated. Thanks, Carl

But doesn't the emulators support save states? You know, I still may go nuts with it. I plan to program a Python voice macro for Dragon NaturallySpeaking that will let you dictate text and characters and do all the complicated keypad input under the hood.

This picture is so awesome. I had no idea the Astrocade existed in 1978… I'm sure I would've loved it, not that I regret finally getting an Intellivision a couple years later, but… Probably would've went nuts with the BASIC cartridge! By the way, love your channel and looking forward to (hopefully) more Astrocade reviews. Carl

Looks like I missed this. If you'd be willing to knock off five dollars for there being no box or shrinkwrap, I'll buy the loose instructions and cartridge from you (with international shipping). Just let me know where to send the money or what to do. Thanks, Carl

Hi all, I'm posting this message to announce that D2K SPECIAL EDITION ROM sales have been suspended. Please do not send donations for the purposes of obtaining a ROM, if you do your donation will be refunded and no ROM will be sent to you. If you make a donation specifically as just a donation, make a special note that that's the case and it will be greatly appreciated I assure you. Tim and I have reached an agreement regarding intellectual properties and physical release rights. He has been immensely helpful and understanding, not to mention generous. I'm very grateful. We are going to work towards selling the remaining stock of D2KSE physical copies, after which ROM sales can be resumed. So in short, no ROM sales until after all copies of D2KSE physical edition have been sold. If you have not bought a copy, your purchase would be greatly appreciated. If you know a friend that might be interested, by all means please spread the word! My apologies to anyone I have inconvenienced. Thanks again, Carl

I would encourage everyone who has bought the ROM to state the reasons for doing so. (Because you only play games under emulation; you've bought the physical copy but also would like to play the game under emulation: you have a flash cart and never buy complete-in-box anyway, etc.) This might help to convince Tim that ROM sales are not going to eat into his complete-in-box sales in any way, especially after a year of exclusive complete in box sales only.