Mr SQL

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csaXq8S7LB8 Here is a clip of BREAKANOID playing on a real 2600! The sound and gameplay are captured well enough to see the difference from the emulator but the animation and phosphor trails can't be filmed properly off of the CRT television - at 15 seconds the action gets so fast the camera is unable to track the ball and drops frames instead of showing the fluid animation.

Hi Boisy, welcome to the board, great to see another 6809 engineer from the 80's! I agree it's a tremendously powerful chip - so powerful Tandy, Dragon Data, et al. were inclined to leave it to power everything - no hardware based sprites or collision detection! It would be really interesting to see the 6809 equipped with the powerful sound and graphics accelerator hardware of the Atari XE/XL. I would imagine the 400/800 with their more exposed architecture would be easier models for this kind of mod. Looking forward to hearing about it!

Jeff, yes, anyone who would like to order Breakanoid may pm me or ask to order on this thread and I will pm them

So we plugged the Harmony in... and the first thing I noticed was the sound - the games weren't just sounding better, they were sounding exactly like I remembered them, and playing like I rembered them. And on an old television, looking exactly like I remembered them. Playing the games now became an experience which triggered rich memories associated with the precise audio visuals and interactive stimuli that had initially accompanied them. Made it feel like the 70's and the 80's again! Thanks for the magic

save2600, you're welcome, thank you and everyone who offered advice and ideas to make Breakanoid more fun! I will take a look at analog input options, I need to get some paddles and see how they respond in simulated analog mode first as I notice that the mouse in stella offers analog style paddle acceleration like we were talking about (not the "map to every coordinate" analog) and that the effect works nicely both with and without the magnetic paddle. The Genesis d-pad works really well with Breakanoid running on a real 2600 and only thinks it's a paddle The d-pad identifies itself to the hardware as an analog paddle which prevents it from being used as a controller option with paddle games - that's one thing I have to keep in mind if I add paddle support, I don't want to break d-pad support!

Jeff, great question! You only get rights to create one cart - if you want to make another cart with a different version of Breakanoid (or with the same version) you have to purchase Breakanoid again. Carts are collector's items that can be traded or sold - you can trade or sell a Breakanoid cart. You can play all the versions of Breakanoid for personal use in an emulator like Stella or on a real 2600 with a Harmony cart - with Harmony you can play new Breakanoid versions created with the Breakanoid construction kit immediately after you build them! Additional personal use rights for Breakanoid: Breakanoid owners may share the new Breakanoid game versions they create provided they PM me first to verify that the person they wish to share their custom version with also owns Breakanoid.

The demo binary is updated - Breakanoid now plays best on real 2600 hardware! Breakanoid is tremendous fun on a phone emulator and in Stella, but subtle differences in the gameplay and display (and not so subtle differences in the sfx) turn up the fun factor even more when playing on a real 2600!

It's the .bin he's selling for $20. Cart options through the AA Store abound as per post #53... Breakanoid is fully tuned for the Atari 2600! And it plays even better on the real hardware than in the emulator! I will update the demo binary at the beginning of this thread just as soon as I have sent everyone who's ordered the game the fully tuned version! save2600, I'm selling the Breakanoid binary, an alternate levels binary and a construction kit for building new Breakanoid games (it builds new binaries) for $20 - and the rights to put whichever version you like best onto a cart. Collectors who want a game cart have more choices to choose from, including unique one-off Breakanoid games built with the construction kit!

jdrose, thank you! When I was tuning it the other day I noticed a very perceptible difference running the game on the real hardware, particularly with the sound effects, seems to have more ambiance.

NLM32, Thank you! Excellent questions - your new level should be solid (no phantom bricks) all the way down with the fully tuned binary (about to send it out to you). To edit another level besides the first one that appears by default in the editor just open it's associated text file ("screen 1.txt", "screen 2.txt", etc) and paste it into the orange and yellow windows, replacing the first level.

One of my friends had a Tron cab when I was in middle/high school. Frankly, it was awesome. Still surprising that there isn't a decent port of the game for home consoles -- the only one I know of that exists at all, actually, is "Electron" for Tandy CoCo. goldenband, agree the 6809 port was well done! I enjoyed playing that version too I'm surprised there wasn't an official 2600 port from the arcade.

Breakanoid was just released for the 2600 yesterday; it comes with an alternate levels version and a construction kit so you can design your own Breakanoid level screens and colour themes. Breakanoid also comes with the rights to get it on cart once you decide which version you like the best.

The Alternate Levels version of Breakanoid is now available! http://www.atariage....0-order-thread/ Featuring a dozen great designs from the Atariage forums and the Breakanoid beta testers: And a Breakanoid Construction Kit for designing new Breakanoid levels and editing Breakanoids expansive colour themes directly in it's 160-entry colour table to create effects like fades, mosaics and rainbow patterns:

Breakanoid Full Version released today! It's January 8th and the full Breakanoid release package will be sent to everyone who's ordered it. This is now officially an order thread - anyone who orders Breakanoid now will recieve the full release package which includes the following: The full version of Breakanoid with all the levels unlocked! The alternate levels version of breakanoid: The alternate levels version features three winning level designs from the AtariAge community (thank you tremoloman!) and several levels designed by the Breakanoid beta testers. The Breakanoid Construction Kit: Previously called the Breakanoid Level Editor, it's better termed a construction kit because in addition to letting you draw your own levels for Breakanoid you can edit Breakanoids huge 160 entry colour table; Breakanoid is a colourful game and can display up to 35 colours on screen at once and stores different colour themes in it's colour table. Pixel artists will be able to create pleasing fades, mosaic and rainbow patterns with the Breakanoid Construction Kit to go along with their artistic level designs. The Breakanoid Construction kit runs on the windows platform and outputs a new Breakanoid binary - it lets you edit the colour table and level designs right inside the Breakanoid ROM image to construct entirely new and unique Breakanoid games. Rights to put Breakanoid on one cart: . . . but which Breakanoid? I've been asked about offering Breakanoid on cart directly but AtariAge currently performs this service for $25 and this gives Atari fans a lot more flexability to choose which Breakanoid to put on cart - you can decide to put the Alternate Levels version on cart or select one of your own custom versions that you've built with the construction kit - pixel artists may create special one-off carts that become collector items! Instructions and cart Labels: Breakanoid comes with instructions that can be used as a colourful cart label (great reference to have right on the cart), a control sheet and instructions for the Breakanoid Construction Kit. Please note: Both the Breakanoid binary and the alternate levels binary are being tuned for better performance on the real 2600 hardware and will be resent to everyone who has ordered the game once tuning is complete.

Csonicgo and bones, thank you for the kind words, Breakanoid is all about fun, I've wanted to play this on the 2600 for many years! Breakanoid status update: I've finished the Level Editor on schedule, still need to finish the alternate levels version of Breakanoid and tune the binary for the real hardware. Here's a screenshot of the Level Editor in action: In addition to editing the Breakanoid levels and colour palettes, the Level Editor can also be used to edit the playfields of other games directly in the ROM binaries!

atari2atari, thank you! I feel similarly, always wanted to play this kind of game on the 2600! No plans to support multiple paddles and balls with Breakanoid - those are my favourite features in Super Breakout, but the action in Breakanoid really turns up when the combination turns to speedball power-ups and blasting with the laser cannons while while simultaneously trying to catch the special items. save2600, excellent analog idea! My idea of an analog implementation was to map the paddle on the screen to every point on the physical paddle which would defeat the challenge strategies required for catching the power-ups while staying within range of the ball (right now it's tempting to go out of range). Your description of using analog just to add inertia to the paddle (faster and slower movement) would maintain those game strategies. I may implement something like that if it doesn't make the game too difficult or break the inertia from the magnetic paddle. Since the movement is fast already it should work reasonably well now with digital paddle control. I need my beta test team to be able to try this with actual paddles to know for sure if analog inertia would be an improvement; I've ordered a real 2600 for the beta team (and optimizing the screen refresh on the real hardware) - I will have to get some paddles to explore this option

Two more really cool level designs by tremoloman with a classic Atari theme! Space Invaders:

I'm not sure... are you able to use the paddles? They may work but the game has digital controls, save2600 was referring to analog paddles which I am not reading.

Thanks rockfistus! The alternate level design contest is underway! This design by tremoloman has such a great theme it's also featured as an illustration in Breakanoid's instructions:

Thank you everyone for the positive feedback and encouragement! I've updated the demo download in the opening post with the latest enhancements. Mark, great idea! I've added a draft of the game instructions and controls to the opening post as well. rmarez, yes the new demo binary is in the opening post (new again now). save2600, the rare power-up has been added (yellow power-up), agree analog paddle control would be a great feature too. I am working on resolving the screen roll on the real hadware, thank you for testing it on an FB2 as well as the original 2600's!

rmarez, did you try the new demo binary? I could add more of a prompt if it's still not clear when you've lost a ball. save2600, the rare powerup adding a life sounds like a great idea. And yes there's a display for how many lives you have; please let me know how the playability is doing on the 2600 when you get a chance, it should be better tuned now

Nice! Yeah, if it were me, I'd probably just have the magnetic paddle as a temporary special power up instead. Thanks for taking the constructive criticism as just that. You're welcome save2600, thanks for the ideas and the feedback! I tried making the magnetic paddle a power up but one of my beta testers wanted to be able to keep it on all the time as a game variation which also seemed a good idea so I've linked it to the B&W/colour switch - you can toggle it on and off anytime midplay. Speaking of powerups, what do you think about adding one for extra lives or continues? Here's a list of some of the other enhancements and changes that were requested: Losing a life now freezes the action for a moment for clarity (a new ball could be launched too soon otherwise making it hard to discern). Timing adjustments: Screen roll shake and shimmer should be resolved on the real hardware! The super speed power up is now reduced to medium speed when you lose a life (staying in speedball mode was too hard). I've updated the demo binary in the opening post.

GroovyBee, all great points, Harmony is a great tool and I have put it on my Christmas list Agree nothing beats playing on the real hardware!

In my opinion you really need to test the game yourself on real hardware before you have carts made and ship it. GroovyBee, Breakanoid will absolutely be playable on the real 2600 hardware by it's release date, January 8th! Once a developer has completed a professional commercial release it is beta testing and more beta testing coupled with tuning and more tuning that optimizes the games fun factor. This is what I'm intererested in; IMO this formula worked great in the 80's and works even better now

I'd say it "ruins" the game as it's definitely annoying and as a player, you know it shouldn't be there. Especially on what one would expect out of a professional/commercial release. save2600, thank you for the details! I agree 100% that it needs to be playable on the real hardware and I am tuning Breakanoid now to resolve these issues. I am also implementing your idea to make the magnetic paddle an option - not sure if it would be better to have it difficulty switch selected or make it one of the special power ups you can catch