MAC-42

Actually, I did need the reminder as this example is precisely what I needed. For some reason, though, I forgot all about its existence. So I'll take it as a very kind reminder and I really do appreciate it.

Well, yes, RevEng. I guess you did. Please note the time of my previous post as I'm entering it in the record along with my plea of vapidity. Thanks for reminding me.

Here's a question. I'd like to use a PNG to create a number of identical sprites. (Think, for instance, a line of bug ships in Galaxian or a group of robots like in Berzerk or Robotron.) I know I can create as many copies of the PNG and call them individually in the code, but it seems that using a single file would be more efficient, at least on account of the fact that I'm lazy and don't feel like copying the image and renaming all the copies. Is it possible to do this or something like it at this point?

My Pole Position II cart, over a couple of months, started getting flakey. It eventually conked out in the middle of a game and never came back. Tough as they are, they can go bad--my daughter's Genesis Gauntlet IV cart never did work correctly, for instance. I, too, picked up a copy of Dark Chambers recently and mine works well. Sad to say, my first bet would be a bad cart. Someone please correct me if I'm overlooking something.

Well, Perry, for what it's worth.... I'm soooooo totally tired of listening to the 2600 music when I listen to Dig Dug. But it's up to you, of course.

I find Karateka playable...after a fashion, and with great focus. And even then it's not so easy to play. Poor controls. I'm masochistic enough to consider that added challenge, but most people don't have time for that kind of punishment.

Ah, something new to play on the 5200! Thanks, Aking!

It's here! Well, it's been here for several hours now, but I'm only just able to fool around with it. My wife's grandmother was in-state for what may be her last time. Priorities and all. This seems to be the case with mine. I'm glad I asked now, as I would have just assumed that mine was a dead duck. As I said, I've played a few of these on my Aquarius over the years and am very much looking forward to their Intellivision counterparts. I'm dying to try out Utopia on my elder daughter, so maybe the shiny newness of the Inty will entice her. I'm not sure how she really feels about the Aquarius. For my part, I tend to swab the card edges with 90% isopropyl. At least I do with my other systems. So far, I haven't hurt the Intellivision or its goodies yet. Someone please stop me if I'm doing it wrong!

Again, thanks for the information, folks. Well, the Aquarius uses a cut-down version of the disk and number pad system. It's similar to the Intellivision's, only smaller. It's not my favorite control scheme, but it's not the worst. *Eyes his 7800 gamepad viciously*

Thanks for the input. I own a 5200, so cleaning controllers (not to mention occasionally dismembering them) is just part of the weekly household chore routine for me. That doesn't sound too bad. I'm really looking forward to playing Night Stalker on this. Played it all the time on the Aquarius as a youth (and still do a bit today), but it really looks much nicer on the Intellivision.

I'm an Atari boy, as you can see from my signature. Grew up with a 2600 and later a 7800, always wanted an XEGS and a Lynx. I did get an Aquarius for Christmas when I was young, but that was that, really. I've never even seen an Intellivision in person before. Saw them on TV, of course. I've watched reviews over at Classic Game Room. Even played the games in emulation once or twice. It's always been a part of my awareness, but I just don't have any direct familiarity with it. For a while now, though, I've thought of picking one up, and the chance finally presented itself on eBay recently. Picked up an original version Intellivision with a nice stack of games. (And I didn't overpay for it!) Nothing that stands out too much, stuff like Night Stalker, Snafu, etc. The familiar things, from what I know of Intellivision games. According to tracking, it should be arriving today. Now, it should be working just fine when I unpack it and hook it up. But I thought I'd ask you folks what common issues I might expect in terms of things that might be wrong with it if this is not the case. Any power issues, known problems with the controllers, thing like this. Also, an idea of how easy or hard it is to repair things would be helpful. I know enough about a soldering iron not to grab the wrong end of it...usually. I can handle a lot of basic repairs; I'm not a fan of desoldering and replacing whole ICs. (This reflects laziness, perhaps, more than a lack of ability.) Anyway, any thoughts or advice on what I might expect would be appreciated. Thanks!

Gosh, Paul, thanks a lot for these conversions. It's great that the 5200 can benefit from the 8-bits like this.

Well, the ghosts did pause in their movement in your copy when I had a look at it, ON. In my case, I didn't make it to the second maze. (Ha! Like I'm any good at Jr. Pac-Man! ) They did, however, return to a normal movement pattern after I lost my first man. Wonder what it is that causes that initial pausing.

Thanks, ON. I'll take a look when you can upload it. Would you like a copy of the xex I have to try it out? I can upload it for you, just say the word. As I recall, it comes from the archives found in this thread over here.

@Official Ninja - By the way, the ghosts never paused on my XEGS last night. I made sure to stop mindlessly running long enough to actually pay attention.

I thought I'd summon you by mentioning your name, Aking. Well, the Atari load screen came up, but as it transitioned to the game itself, it crashed. It froze at the end of the load screen, both in emulation and in my Atarimax SD cart on real hardware.

I tend to think that Allan is correct, which is why I mentioned this course of action. Besides, I'd like to learn how to do conversions anyway; Aking and Paul Lay can't be allowed to have all the fun.

No. No, I never noticed that. All I noticed was the hoofbeats of Jr's invisible feet as I try to run as far and as fast as I can from those bloody heat-seeking ghosts! I plan on playing a little after the kids go down for bed, so I'll have a look then.

Not a problem, CPUWiz. I run Macs here myself, but I'd crawl across broken glass on my belly to use Windows 95 in order to make this work.

Well, Allan, you're getting ahead of me now.... This was my thought, you see. If Glenn converted 5200 JrPac to the 8-bits, one would think that it would be fairly trivial convert it back to the 5200. This was really at the root of my question. So, maybe we'll just have to see if it can be converted, eh?

I've been playing Jr. Pac-Man on my XEGS lately as opposed to my 5200 because I think I've noticed something. Maybe someone can tell me if I'm imagining things or not. Does the Glenn the 5200 Man conversion of Jr. Pac-Man fix the power pellet bug that prevents you from completing a maze? I mean, I'm sure that's what I'm seeing. I've tried kamikazeing into a ghost when a toy reaches a power pellet several times now and I've been able to play on. I really am seeing this, right? (Pardon my impression that I'm hallucinating. It's been a very long, hard week and we're not done yet. )

Really? I bought one European gamepad from Best for $17 last year. Did the prices go sky-high when I wasn't looking? @Angband - I picked up a 7800 a year ago on Craigslist for $40 with a great big pile of 2600 and 7800 games, the joysticks, and a trackball. You can certainly go with the Best Electronics option--and you'd be hard-pressed to go wrong with it if you want to spend the money, at least according to folks around here who have purchased them. I would definitely recommend, though, looking around for a good deal. They are out there to be had if you're patient. As far as games, there is a vibrant homebrew scene for the 7800 that will probably only be expanding with some recent developments in the community. She doesn't have the glitz, maybe, of the NES, but I think the Atari 7800 is definitely worthy of your consideration.

My kids are hogging the TV--oh, the joys of spring break--so I'll chase them off when their show is over and give this a look. Thanks!

I finally had some time to sit with this and slug it out with the thing. I ran into the same color issue as Allan did, but switched to Gimp and got it all sorted out. After that, things just sort of fell into place. I got a sprite on the screen! And then I realized that I forgot to loop the thing. Fixed it up, and then made the sprite move! And now I have an idea for that little sprite! Thanks RevEng and the gang! (Hey, it's gotta start somewhere, eh?)

Mine arrived today. Wow. Even without the sound, it is a fantastic thing to play. (I play enough DK in MAME to fill in the sounds in my head anyway. It's something of an annoying habit. ) Thanks again to Perry for this game!