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First Spear

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Posts posted by First Spear

  1. Posted

     

    More on the idea of having a charity marathon 'con branded Desert Bus:

     

    A specially-labeled cart of "Desert Bus" with a tiny logo of the sponsor on it (like the original Mattel carts of Football, etc). And a kind of CNC machined "overlay" to go on top of a 2609 console with the same name and branding. Hmm, even bus-charity branded overlays.....

     

     

    I can't stop... Kind of like the bus...

     

     

     

     

    That sounds like a great charity event type of idea actually at a 'con. Get sponsors for participants of n minutes or hours of driving, start the bus at the beginning of a 'con and check the logs of miles and time at the end. Maybe just add a little flavor to the game by adding "billboards" and get commercial sponsors (eg the hosting hotel of the 'con) to donate and show their billboard in Intellivision lo-fi glory as the bus passes by maybe every 4 hours or something.

     

     

     

     

  2. Posted

    That sounds like a great charity event type of idea actually at a 'con. Get sponsors for participants of n minutes or hours of driving, start the bus at the beginning of a 'con and check the logs of miles and time at the end. Maybe just add a little flavor to the game by adding "billboards" and get commercial sponsors (eg the hosting hotel of the 'con) to donate and show their billboard in Intellivision lo-fi glory as the bus passes by maybe every 4 hours or something.

     

     

     

    A bunch of us should tag team drive the bus at an Expo somewhere to finish the game! ;-)

  4. Posted

     

     

    I managed to "toast" out 1980 Intv I, playing Armor Battle for 2 days straight basically never turning the unit off, just rounds of kids taking turns over and over. The unit was on the carpet all the time....

     

    I remember reading an old article by Joe Santulli mentioning the very first Intellivision system models would have problems with over heating. I seem to remember him mentioning a marathon baseball game and his Intellivision starting to smoke/etc..

  7. Posted

    I like the idea, but I think the closest we'll ever get is Thin Ice. There are a finite number of background tiles available on the screen, and a limited number of shapes that can be used. Since the screen isn't bitmapped, doing freestyle lines to make shapes would be "impossible"*.

     

     

    Qix.

     

    *I have to put that in quotes because I would love for someone like intvnut to prove me wrong... ;)

  8. Posted

    My 1-man jury decision is in:

     

    Óscar is an Intellivision beast!

     

    Oh, and also, Princess Quest is a great game. :)

     

    A little on the hard side: my 7-year-old played it once and then got frustrated and went upstairs to watch TV. Which was good, since that gave me more time. :)

     

    What is the total size of the ROM?

     

    How did you make the graphics (MOBs)? Two tiles wide and double-high, stretch-mode?

     

     

    This is a masterpiece. Now that I have this to alternate with Boulder Dash (not that I ever finished Kroz), I have a full range of excuses/distractions.

     

    Thanks!

     

    post-31694-0-30483100-1428983504_thumb.jpg post-31694-0-88122800-1428983504_thumb.jpg post-31694-0-44137100-1428983505_thumb.jpg

     

    • Like 8

  10. Posted

     

    I have read that site over and over a few times. It does have some historical info, but does not have the same fire as a real interview might. Kind of like how Ken Smith's recollection of the choices he made in doing Sea Battle eclipse all of the text on the BSR site about the game.

     

    But thanks for the link, it might be useful for others who google/bing for the same thing in the future....

     

     

     

    A website dedicated to David P. Chandler, the lead designer of the Intellivision. Maybe it answers some of your questions:

     

    http://papaintellivision.com

  11. Posted

    I have a question for Keith that is not exactly a question for Keith -

     

    "Can you provide any insight into why the hardware was what it was, or throw the Intellivisionaries some leads to any of the hardware engineers or management leads that delivered the console?"

     

    It would be cool to hear about why some of the design decisions were made (eg why the AY-3-891x for sound was chosen, or why the controllers multiplex, or why the graphics modes are they way they are, etc). There is a ton of software information out there, relatively speaking, but very little from the hardware folks. We mostly know how the stuff works, but not why it was done. We can guess in 2015, but we don't know.

     

    I was just thinking about how someone can ask Woz about what he was thinking when he made the Apple ][, and he'll talk for hours on end, and that it might be cool to get something similar from a Mattel Electronics hardware guru.

     

     

     

    As discussed in our Intellivisionaries Episode 5 thread a while back ( http://atariage.com/forums/topic/221183-intellivisionaries-episode-5-is-up/ ), I am looking for questions to ask Keith Robinson. All the ones already asked in that thread have been sent to him, but if anyone else has more for him, please post them in this thread, and I will make sure he gets them.

     

    I will have him in the studio next week to get answers to them, which will [hopefully] be in episode 9 toward the end of May.

     

     

    • Like 1

  17. Posted

    I like this idea a lot, using Truckin' as a model for the graphics/gameplay. Also including bug splats on the windshield from time to time would be cool.

     

    Truckin' had a nice pseudo 3D / first person view - showing the hood of your truck with the road in front of you. If you used that perspective, I think it would not only make the game more interesting, but keep it true to the original. Maybe just show a bit of dashboard and 1/2 or 3/4 of the steering wheel, moving as you 'steer' down that long, straight road...

  18. Posted

    Programming sub-question: how are you keeping track of time (8 hours+) in the game?

     

     

    [snip]

    Here's the thing - the entire "game" is driving a bus through almost mind-numbing scenery for 8 hours. In realtime. With no pause, no savegame, and nothing to do but hold down the gas. The bus slowly drifts off the road and can get stuck, so you need to actually play it - for 8 hours. Once you get to your destination, you gain one point. And have the option to drive back. Rinse, and repeat ad nauseum.

    [snip]

     

     

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