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sloth-machine

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Posts posted by sloth-machine

  2. Posted · Edited by sloth-machine

    I checked my local Wal-Mart. Just got in a fresh stack. I bought a couple. One for me and one for a gift. Very cool tee (and it's the softer ringspun cotton). Gotta say, it's pretty awesome to still be able to buy Atari products in a brick and mortar 40 years later and counting.

  3. Posted

    Atgames wired flashback controllers are great. They are my go to controllers. I have a tough time going back to my originals. Flashbacks are really smooth, so I can actually set them on a book on my lap or a table and play it like an arcade stick.

     

    Sometimes the give of the stick is a bit 'too' much, but for most games it's perfect for me.

  4. Posted

    SW Empire Strikes Back doesnt have any bosses. It is a never ending stream of mutant camels.

     

    I wouldnt count Dragonfire either. You always fave a dragons fireballs on each screen. Otherwise you might as well start counting DK or DK Jr.

     

    Yeah, that's why I but them in the 'maybe category.

  7. Posted · Edited by sloth-machine

    I tried 13 different units and not one of them had a screen you could see well. 12 of the 13 had to be held at an angle or all the colors were wrong, and the last one had to be held perfectly still and at a precise distance.

     

    The controls felt cheap and cheesy but they worked fine, and I didn't notice any volume issues. Just awful screens and poor emulation.

     

    I did notice out of the few I tried, some had brighter screens than others which affected the colors. But viewing angles were all the same, nothing were it had to be held at an angle though. Still, not bad for a handheld you can find for 20-30 bucks new on ebay.

     

    I have to say that I have played more Atari on the flashback portable in the past few days compared to the whole last year on my actual consoles, which is good.

  8. Posted

    I've warmed up to the flashback portable 2017. I made this topic in frustration but I do enjoy the portable.

     

    I own a clip on Bluetooth controller for my android phone but it's quite cumbersome to put on, sync up and get it ready, when in all that time I could have just quickly played a few games on the flashback portable.

     

    I like everything about it, screen and emulation is manageable. But that d pad sucks. Glad to know the 2018 model will be improved with the d pad. I will definitely pick one up.

  9. Posted

    So my local store got in a bunch of the 2017 models on clearance, all new in the box. Always curious on this thing, I picked one up. I powered it on and quickly noticed the volume did not work, no matter how much I fiddled with the volume up...it can only be turned up so much...

     

    Exchanged it for another. This time the Dpad did not function properly. Right and Down worked but Left and Up did not. So I thought third time is a charm, not exactly. Still issues with the Dpad, it was better. But I really had to mash it hard to get it to respond. I thought about taking it apart at this point. But, I paid for a fully functioning unit so I just decided to return it for my money back.

     

    Once I got to the store again (same place I get my groceries, so it's not out of the way) I see they still had plenty left. I just had to try once more, and finally got a normal working unit. I asked the store if these were opened returns but the employee said no. I understand that the Atgames consoles are not premium gaming systems, but it was quite a hassle.

     

    Anyone with similar issues here?

    • Like 1

  14. Posted · Edited by sloth-machine

    I really appreciate Raiders for what it is, basically a puzzle/adventure game. There was no preset design mold to follow that were later paved by games like King's Quest. The game was just a bit too ahead of it's time, or I shoukd say, ambitious. At least the manual gave you hints. I remember watching my friends older brother play this. Seeing him explore the ruins while using 2 controllers made me think this was a game for grownups haha.

     

    When I finally got to play the game I was confused as hell, so I thought "Well, I haven't seen the movie yet, after I watch it, the game will make sense." Nope.

     

    Look at mych later games like Zelda 2 and Castlevania 2. They are impossible without buying Nintendo Power. Even modern games like Dark Souls require guides for the cryptic parts of the game.

    • Like 2

  15. Posted

    The 2600 was given to me from my parents with a bunch of games in the mid 80s when I was 7 or so. BUT the first game I bought with my own money (it was post crash, so games were cheap) was a fresh boxed copy of Yars' Revenge and it was awesome....still is.

  16. Posted

    Battlezone.

    The fact that on RT if you cant see the bullets you cant be hit is a deal breaker. Turns all that fancy weather, damage, and whatnot into a baby game.

    In Battlezone any shot fired at you can kill you.

    Also battlezone has to be the largest and best 2600 sprite ever. I prefer this to vector graphics...

     

    This, this and this. There is no joking around in Battlezone. It was a beast of a game back then in the arcade and it was pulled off very well on the 2600 even with the different visual style.

    • Like 2

  18. Posted

    I always thought the graphics in Intellivision were uglier generally speaking than Atari 2600 graphics. The higher capability allowed for it whereas with Atari, the limitations prevent it from being able to get ugly. A square, for instance, cannot be ugly, but a poorly drawn Donald Duck on MS Paint could, for instance.

    Yeah I agree, The 2600 has such a smoothness to it in gameplay that made up for the visuals (something that is very rarely addressed). It's why I have a tough time playing 5200 and Atari 8 bit computer games, most ports run rather choppy and slow compared to the 2600. Like Jungle Hunt as a quick example. It's so buttery smooth on the 2600's hardware despite the visuals. Not on other consoles.

    • Like 2

  20. Posted · Edited by sloth-machine

    Agree with everyone about the room randomizer, though I'm not sure how hard it would be to hack something like that in. The item locations are currently pulled right from a table. It might be easier to randomize the room sequence, so that when you get to the exit you have no idea what level comes next. And I've often thought about the beyond Level Z problem....but I have not been able to come up with what *should* happen. Should it just end? Should you be given a whole different quest, with different room arrangements, treasures etc?

     

    CDS, your Gauntlet hack is just incredible and I encourage any Dark Chambers fan to download it here on the forums (http://atariage.com/forums/topic/238273-dark-chambers-to-gauntlet-conversion/). It's one of the few hacks that literally feels like a whole different game and plays just like Gauntlet. This and Dark Chambers compliment each other nicely!

     

     

    On topic, if anyone would do it, it could be you :) You have seemed to have explored the code the best with the excellent Gauntlet hack and DC speed hack. A randomized would make the game basically a Rogue-like. I still play Adventure just because of level 3.

     

    Maybe beyond level Z is when the randomization actually starts indefinitely. Kind of like endless secret levels. The random levels could be numbered instead of alpha for basically endless progress and gameplay (haha, easier said than done). To top it off, It would also be cool to have a level select from A to Z and to the start of the Randomizer, almost like a replacement for a password system so you don't have to start over every time. Ok...please stop me if I am requesting too much here :) :) I just have an appreciation for the game. It's one of the only Dungeon Crawlers on the console.

     

    All these added features with the speed hack could truly make it 'Dark Chambers Enhanced'.

  21. Posted · Edited by sloth-machine

    So wondering... is Dark Chambers basically copy of Gauntlet? Everything seems similar overall.

     

    This all stems from a game called Dandy released in 1983 before Gauntlet and Dark Chambers.

     

    Gauntlet was created 2 years later in 1985 as "inspiration" from Dandy. Dark Chambers is fully based off Dandy and is much more similar to the original game play.

     

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dandy_(video_game)

    • Like 2

  22. Posted · Edited by sloth-machine

    I really enjoyed both for different reasons. But I like Dark Chambers more.

     

    I never played Secret Quest back then, but if I did I'm sure I would have had the patience that it requires, especially the fact that it's a Zelda style adventure and I loved Zelda once I nabbed a copy in 89'. However, now a days I don't have the patience and I never spent enough time with it to really tell, the mapping does get crazy, and the password system is a chore. Secret Quest is definitely not as accessible as Dark Chambers.

     

    Dark Chambers on the other hand feels more arcade like, I can just jump in. It's pretty much Gauntlet for the 2600. It's easy once you memorize the maps, yes...but the same can be said for a lot of games. I wish Dark Chambers had a random mode that would move around the exits and power ups, ala Adventure. Although, to stretch out the life of Dark Chambers, I tried speed runs (never helped the fact the game runs at a snails pace, haha) and avoided potions and powerups to give me a handicap. I did play this one back then, I remember my local department store sold the redbox games for dirt cheap (5 bucks) and I was able to score a bunch of games to tide me over until my parents got me and NES for Christmas that year. Dark Chambers was my NES-style game before I got an NES. I spent a lot of great hours on that game. I never bothered mapping it out, I would just wander around until I stumbled upon the exits. I still play it that way. There is a Dark Chambers speed hack in the programming forums, it's great. Makes the game much faster paced.

  23. Posted

    One thing that has always intrigued me with good 2600 arcade ports, even to this day it the technical restraints developers had to face. Later games like Pole Position, Dig Dug or Gravitar would never seem possible with hardware designed for such limited shelf life in 1977, yet it's pulled it off very well. I play 2600 games always with that in mind.

  24. Posted

    The reason I prefer most 2600 arcade ports compared to the actual arcade (Dig Dug, Crystal Castles, Missile Command, Pole Position, Asteroids, etc) is from the nostalgia of playing the games at home as a kid. I didn't get to frequent the arcades back then, so the Atari was my home arcade. I could play these awesome games in comfort of being alone, taking my time to soak them in.

     

    In an age of easily accessible MAME, I still prefer my 2600 to play these classic arcade games. In a way, the actual arcade seems foreign to me.

    • Like 4
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