CapitanClassic

Almost back in the zone. 275785 - CapitanClassic

I similarly have a bunch of JRPGs on stuff that I probably will never get around to playing. Took Japanese in college and can probably read and pronounce the Kanji after a small refresher, but for translating it, it would require a much larger commitment than I probably ever would want to make. Plus, it seems that so many fan translations get released all the time, there almost isnt a point.

Ok first round at this. 46852 - CapitanClassic

https://stella-emu.github.io/faq.html https://stella-emu.github.io/docs/index.html

Can’t say I care for the controls on this one. Pooyan G1(B/B) - 3350

Controls different than the a800 version https://atariage.com/manual_html_page.php?SoftwareLabelID=372

I like Pooyan, but only on the a800. Don’t remember liking the NES port or the arcade (on MAME). This week is going to be interesting.

Well, that was disappointing. Not playing my best. Not going to quit until I break 300k. I wasn’t able to pull off my trick to continually kill spiders for 900 / 1200 points while 1-3 centipede segments roam the bottom screen. That is usually the trick I use to build up lives until I get into the zone. Millipede G1(B/B) - 185246 (135k)

After 3 tries I was able to get 11500 CapitanClassic Donkey Kong G1(B/B) - 11500 2 board, no death

Thanks for the status update.

Maybe we need to adopt the Shareware software distribution model for Atari 2600 roms. From my understanding, the software developers only get about a $5 royalty for each game that they sell through the AtariAge store. I would guess that Al makes at least $5 himself for each game sold, with the majority of the cost going towards production of the boxes, manuals, and melody boards. (Al needs to be compensated for assembly time) BitD, software developers would give you free "demo" shareware versions of the software that everyone was free to distribute on floppy disks, BBS, or other means to anyone interested. Distribution isnt the issue any more, shareware was trying to solve the issue of software developers getting their games to the largest array of people, with only limited shelf space in Electronic Boutiques (or other software stores), so that if 1% or 5% of the people chose to buy their games they could make enough to make updates or sequels viable for the developers time. With the ubiquity of the internet, the cost of getting your software to people is nil. Any money you send to a developer is a small way to compensate them for their time. Maybe more Developers need to link their PayPal, Venmo, Patreon, BitWallet, or PO Box in the profile page or signature line. That way, the small percentage of people who enjoy their work, but are also willing to support it can give them something. (Patreon support percentage is like YouTube engagement. Only maybe 10% will thumbs-up a video, only 1% will make a comment, etc. The less barriers you have between you and people wanting to give you money the better.) This is all baring some contract that developers likely sign with AtariAge for exclusive distribution for X years, to give Al time to recoup batch printing costs.

ZilchSr, what do you use for your recording HSC solution. Back when I started in the new HSC: S3, I was running one of those junkie HP notebooks that were all the rage before tablets, with non-standard resolutions and windows XP. I don’t think I ever figured out how to record gameplay with Stella, so I tried a few other emulators. I think an offshoot of MAME, but for consoles was the next thing I tried, but the file size grew too rapidly (or maybe it just recorded screenshots 60 times a second, and I used Microsoft Movie Maker to paste them all into a continuous video. I don’t remember, but it was awful. I eventually found another emulator I think, but it seems to only record video and no sound. I think I posted a couple YouTube videos with gameplay hints for California Games and Dragonfire using that emulator/recoding method. These days I run an intel i5, and Win7, so I know there has to be a better solution. Something that can compress the file size as it generates the recording (Atari 2600 is only 192x168, so the file size shouldn’t grow that big for 2 hour gameplay I hope.) Hopefully ignoring the 2x/3x pixel video setting in Stella and only saving the original resolution video while my eyes get to see the magnified view.

I love Stella, but you gotta love the visual streaking caused by sprites on a real CRT from a real Atari, (or AFB2). While playing in the high score club last season, Circus Atari just wasnt the same without the real TV (Partially due to my lack of a Stella Adapter, but also because the clowns were easier to track on the CRT )

Certainly. I could see myself playing 2600, 5200/a800, or 7800 games on this system, because they are Atari branded. My big hope is 800 support, since I owned both a VCS and 800XL bitd. 800 support will be interesting, since most games will need at least 3 additional keys, Start, Select, Option and the AFBX really only has 2 assuming Rewind and Menu cannot be remapped. (Menu certainly cannot, since you need a button to exit Emulation and go back to the main menu.)

Yes, thank you @Brad_from_the_80s, @MrFister, @Draxxon, @rocketfan (And anyone else I missed). This has made a good Atari 2600 replica machine into a great one. I have been reading the thread religiously and I am impressed with all the progress so far. I am slow to implement changes though and haven’t modified my AFBX after the 1.0 (or maybe 1.2) drop of themes, instructions, and rom sets. I too am looking forward to a combined Atari 800 dream setup for my AFBX. While I find the support for NES and other systems interesting, I have other emulator solutions for those systems. I can see putting maybe a handful of MAME games from the Golden Age of the arcade on the box (Galaga, Mr. Do, Ms. Pacman, etc), but I cannot see myself interested in hacking together a different controller for more button support, or playing non-Atari branded games on the system. I look forward to trying out all the improvements to box artwork and themes, load times, and library culling in the 3.2 collection.

I guess that means someone needs start on Steel Battalion for Atari 2600 - Quatari. Won’t exactly get 2 controllers and 40 buttons, but 2 sticks and 10 buttons ain’t bad. 😁

I would say the flicker is barely noticeable. Didn’t even realize the Helicopter was made up of two different colors and that it’s “true” color was the blending of two different colors over two frames. Without looking into it, I assumed the helicopter was made up of a missile, but I assumed the color was changed to a single “helicopter-color” that was different than the tanks on the fly. I would have guessed if two tanks and the heli were on the same line that flicker would have to be introduced, but from the sound of it, flicker may only be necessary if there were 3 tanks and the heli on the same horizontal scanline . With just 2 tanks and the heli, only “shimmer” would occur. This has piqued my interest. I need to look at it more closely is Stella (both with/(out) Phosphor mode on).

I’d rather be playing Omegamatrix’s version.

CapitanClassic Berzerk G9(B/B) - 4380 Venture G1(B/B) - 7300

I wonder if this is a matter of how old a gamer is, and what games they grew up with. The term “Nintendo-Hard” entered the nomenclature within the last 5-10 years, to mean the game is designed to be difficult. Nintendo is probably used, because games from the Nintendo generation were popular and there was a change in the focus of a game to get to and ending rather than a High Score (a remnant from the Arcade) It certainly is a design decision that requires some thought, depending upon the market you are trying to reach. Do you make a game with limited lives and no continues? (eg. Dragonfire. These games are well designed for HSC, and reward playing it safe) Do you make a game with additional lives earned by score? (eg. Asteroids. These games can be exploited by players to rack up infinite lives) Do you make a game with infinite retries? (This ensures that with dedication, more players will see all of the game that you designed) Back when I was a kid, it seemed like I had tons of time to play games. We might tolerate too difficult of a learning curve, because we didn’t have many other games to play. We did feel a large sense of accomplishment when we beat those difficult games though, because there was a limited amount of people who were able to. This was the design philosophy of the team that made Ninja Gaiden for Xbox (Org), they wanted to keep the difficulty high so gamers who completed it felt a sense of accomplishment. When a game is too hard though, many people don’t see all the awesomeness that programmers went to the trouble to create. (I think some Steam survey found that most people played way less than 50% (don’t remember the details), and of the games people had played similarly more than half the people never completed them. (This isn’t too surprising due to the Holiday Sales and the abundance of entertainment) I personally think the 2nd concern (too hard) isn’t much of an issue today due the availability of emulators and save states. If someone truely wants to see all of a game, emulators are the answer (and if just the visuals not the gameplay, YouTube/Twitch)

It voted for never played, Aquatron. I think I am an expert at Popeye, and decent at Qix. I have played the 800 version of Mountain King, but prefer the 2600 version. As far as Pole Position goes, I never was a big fan of the home version, when games like Great American Road Race and Pitstop II exist. I do like the Arcade’s, “Prepare To Qualify” speech synthesis. (Don’t remember if the 800 version has that).

3410 - Air Cadet Class 2 Really starting to hate bombers.

These planes seem to defy physics, while my bombs have to be spot on, they appear to be able to hit you if their bomb passes anywhere over your plane sprite (even when the shadow says they should have missed by several planes)

I haven’t found the sprite editor too useful. Instead I have used Alien Bill’s sprite editor tool. It is useful for showing animations between the frames. At the bottom of the screen, you can generate 6502 assembly or bBasic code. https://alienbill.com/2600/playerpalnext.html

From what I have heard, the Tinkernut installer and instructions are way out of date. I would recommend the information on the RandomTerrain website, especially the code snippets and examples. https://www.randomterrain.com/atari-2600-memories-batari-basic-commands.html#gettingstarted I also second the ADS extension for Visual Studio Code. The interactive development environment gives cycle counts for 6502 assembly instructions, auto-complete, single click compile and launch Stella, and a host of other nice features that makes programming easier. It also supports visual BB so you can program in that language if you want.