p.opus
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Posts posted by p.opus
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I like Robot Tank. But I absolutely hate the fact it lacks a traditional scoring system. I own Robot Tank and Battlezone. Battlezone isn't bad. But I do agree the difficulty makes it a bit frustrating.
I just try to remember that all these games were designed to shake you down faster than a mob enforcer. They're just staying true to their roots.
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Mine never leaves the machine....Unless I just need to get that feeling of inserting a cart into the 2600. That tactile feel brings back a flood of good memories, so sometimes I just have to take it out and put it back in......I'm wierd like that.
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Carts that smell like cat pee. You may have discovered the new number one reason for buying a Harmony cart.
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While I like the different weather depictions and an actual damage system. I have to agree with the If you can't see the enemy they don't exist argument.
The same problem exists with Starmaster, but since Starmaster doesn't have a radar screen showing the enemies relative position to you, it doesn't stand out. In fact I hadn't even noticed that issue in Starmaster until it was brought to my attention, that's how well it was disguised.
Robot Tank is another story. You see the enemy on your radar, he's right there, and the manual even suggests that you put the enemy behind you to avoid enemy fire. Had they eliminated the radar and simply given you visual clues (left or right) then the fact that you can SEE the enemy is behind you and not firing would not have been so distracting. The 360 Radar was a necessity, it was one of the "cool bits" from battlezone, so the developers had to include it. But the fact that they don't have the AI fire when they are not in your field of view just really blows the illusion.
I believe Robot Tank is technically superior to Battlezone in almost EVERY way. However it's this one thing that really breaks your suspension of disbelief and for me makes it unenjoyable. It's like a huge zit on that cheerleader you liked in high school.. She was beautiful but you just can't get over that zit....
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I'd like to know more about this. I've tried warping out accross the board in the hopes that the enemy fleet would follow me and leave the station in the lower right corner alone. Never worked though. They always surround it first and make it their mission priority to annihilate it. It took me an infuriating amount of times to finally clear the little bastards fast enough before they blew up that starbase on the Wing Commander level. As for the Starmaster level it always get killed. I can still get a high enough score for the patch qualification though. That wasn't possible for the WC level. If the base was lost there was no way to get the 7,600+ points necessary.
Check out Thomas's last post in the Starmaster High Score thread. He gives detailed instructions on how to maneuver your cursor at what time to prevent the enemy from surrounding your first base. You still have to be fast and good. But, it is possible.
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For me it's the pew,pew,pew sound that plays before the beginning of each wave of Missile Command.
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Yes. This is how you create a game that has many of the familiar aspects of an arcade game (cough... Tempest) but work within the constraints of system to provide the person the same visceral experience within the limitations of the platform.
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No, I meant the map screen allows you to use a strategy.
oh, it allows you to exploit the AI.... (grin)....
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Don't look now but we've got a troll. Don't make eye contact. Just back slowly out of the thread and hope it disappears.
Oh darn......I didn't even get to break out this:
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Why not? Everyone pretty much agrees that it is not a fair game, and the only legitimate strategy is to drive backwards all time which is lame. It might as well have a built in time limit like Sea Wolf where your turn just ends. This game deserves to be in the landfill with E.T., and I'm going make sure they get there. Going to start buying them up on ebay and harassing sites which post the dump until they are all taken down and this port is forgotten.
First World Problem <facepalm>....Oh, and reality check. no one died and made you king....sorry.
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There also is some strategy involved, especially in the higher levels. Just clearing the sectors as fast as possible won't save the first station.
Hint: You have to use the map.
I have used the map. Perhaps I'm just not fast enough. If I'm not mistaken, the speed at which a station is destroyed is dependent on how many enemy ships are adjacent to the station. That's where I start. The station usually dies while I'm still trying to clear the sectors directly adjacent to it. I know it depends on the sectors that are occupied above, below, right and left of the station. I'm not sure about the diagonals
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It seems they set out to not to make a bad game but an unfun game. Can we say ET is simply unfun? There is nothing compelling about the gameplay, even though you can probably figure it out after a while.
The game had an impossible development schedule, six weeks instead of six months. HSW also had tremendous hubris and instead of creating just "another pac-man" which Steven Spielberg had actually suggested, HSW had grandiose plans in an impossible time frame. The software equivalent of "A Bridge Too Far.
Problem was, Steven had a better idea of the demographic than HSW did. Steven knew his audience. It was the kids that were the same age as Gertie and Elliot in the movie. A simple to pick up game that allowed those kids to control ET eat Reese's Pieces and "phone home" would have been a blockbuster.
Instead we got ET with special powers that can only be used in certain areas on the map. The pits or craters that ET fell into continually and hid his "phone pieces" were nowhere to be seen in the movie. "Daddy, these pits weren't in the movie".
Add to that a complicated scoring metric that encouraged players to collect the Reeses Pieces, but penalized the player for using them to extend his life.
The game isn't at all intuitive, and even has you scratching your head after reading the manual. Some pretty high brow concepts for the 5 to 10 year old set.
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The one belonging to Andrew's spouse and/or deity, assuming he has signed himself over to any.
(We're referring to Andrew Davie, one of the programmers of Atari 2600 Boulder Dash and the principle reason why the port exists.)
Maybe you didn't confuse the releases, but you did confuse the issue a bit with the "bitter publishers" comment. As Albert pointed out, there is no "bitterness" related to the 2600 version. A deal was struck, executed, and then done. Everyone got what they wanted out of it and then moved on. Davie has stated he is not inclined to rerelease the game in any format, online or otherwise, but that isn't bitterness, just motivation to stick to what he said he would do.
As for the Intellivision deal, maybe there is some bitterness there, but I got the impression the bitterness only flared up after the author stated there would be no ROM release due to slow sales and other people began crying foul. But either which way that's a discussion for another thread.
Reading Davie's statement I understand what you are saying, but reading his last sentence I can also see how someone might take it as a sense of frustration or bitterness that it took so long to sell the remaining unsold copies.
In any case...H2O under the bridge. It is what it is....time to move on. Thanks to all that responded.
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Thanks for all. I see clearly now.
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A tale of two bitter publishers, "the people have spoken"...
Oooooh.... I had no idea.....didn't mean to pick off a scab.......okay....nothing to see here....(whistles innocently).
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Still waiting for someone to beat my Starmaster high scores.
I've seen those scores. You must have been psychic. I find it unbelievably difficult to keep that first space station alive at the Starmaster Level. I mean you need to be almost perfect and be really fast to clear those sectors or that first station is toast.
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Having completely missed the boat on Boulder Dash, (I didn't even have a 2600 when it was released) I am wondering if there will ever be a re-issue.
I have heard that the game is pretty amazing on the 2600. I could technically upgrade my Harmony Cartridge to allow me to play the demo, my money would be better spent just purchasing the cartridge outright. Especially considering that the demo only includes two levels of the game.
Finding this game in the wild, is nigh impossible. The folks that spent the money for the limited release are not allowing it out of their sight, and for good reason. And while certain folks balked at the relatively high asking price during initial release, I guess we all know who's laughing now.
So the question is, are there any plans to ever do a re-issue of Boulder Dash? Or is it one of these games that due to it's extremely limited release will simply circulate between collectors with each transaction increasing due to the rarity of the title?
I've searched the forums and really haven't found anything regarding whether or not a re-issue of this title is within the realm of possibility.
Thanks in advance for your responses.
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^ NOT shooting someone in the back used to be a code of honor my friend!
That's like being killed by a Predator who's cloaked. Only douchebags behave like that.
You are confusing code of honor with tactics.
Even when warfare was civilized, flanking maneuvers were used to gain a tactical advantage. The idea of placing the enemy behind me so he won't shoot me is the equivalent of peek a boo. If I can't see you, you're not there.
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Super cool. The closest I came to the games industry was as a game tester for Microsoft. My one credit is as one of the core testers for Close Combat III the Russian Front.
I worked on others as part of the test team(Pinball arcade, Baseball, Midtown Madness, AOE expansion) They were basically bug bashes but I was only "assigned" to that game. Soon thereafter, the projects started drying up and with them our positions as testers.
I remember spending one afternoon playing with my test lead's Rokenbok just to see if we could get one car to replace another car's receiver.
Ed Fries was an amazing guy, He was head of gaming (this was prior to his work with X-Box.). The dude was a genius. That job was so fun. probably the best year and a half I ever had. The entire Microsoft games division was eventually folded, but what good times we had.
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There are some problems with Robot Tank, yes, but that doesn't make 2600 Battlezone any better. I don't even see how it is possible to continually get to the super tanks phase without favorable tank spawns. Another big problem is tanks spawning near you when you are fighting one of those yellow and black things that come at you.
100% agree. Battlezone for me is purely a "nostalgia" play for me. The sounds are spot on. I have found that if you are constantly moving, you last much longer. My strategy for arcade battlezone is death for 2600 battle zone. In 2600 battle zone, I bead on the tank just long enough to take a shot and then turn off him at about 45 degrees. The computer has a very difficult time hitting you if you are abeam of them moving. I still get killed, but it does let me last longer.
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I mean, I think that's a pretty short-sighted comment. I buy carts to play, not only to collect.
Regardless, people can commit piracy for whatever financial reason they want. Not wanting to line the pockets of yard-salers is in effect no different to robbing a department store because you don't want to "line the pockets" of the Macy's shareholders.
We'll have to agree to disagree on this point. Your analogy is flawed. When you "rob" someone, you, A. Deny them access to the goods they possess, B. by possessing such goods, you prevent the owner from selling it. I have done neither.
If you are unable to see the difference, I can't help you with that.
Go in peace.
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The thing that kill Robot Tank for me is the fact that if you put the enemy behind you, it won't shoot at you. This seems ridiculous. The user guide even promotes this as a strategy.
I'm sorry, but that's like telling a fighter pilot that if you want to avoid an enemy fighter, just let him sit on your six.
I'd rather deal with a desolate obstacle free playfield with no place to hide, than an enemy that is deadly if I'm pointing my gun at it, but turns brain dead when I turn my back on him.
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It's still bad, because it decreases the demand for the actual product.
Because of the first sale doctrine, people that own the games hold a transferable license. By pirating games that are no longer published and sold, you are still negatively impacting the secondary market.
I don't care about the secondary market. Those who want secondary carts, buy them to collect, not to play. As I have said, most of the games I have I have repurchased three or four times over, and quite frankly I have no desire to line the pockets of some guy because he stumbled across a cartridge in a yard sale.
I would be much more willing to pay 80 bucks if they released boulder dash than pay 40 bucks for a copy of H.E.R.O. that some guy picked up for .50 at a Goodwill.
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In my opinion, if the title is out of print, then there is ZERO difference between buying a used game and downloading a ROM. In both instances, the original copyright holder is getting ZERO benefit. I've purchased three flashbacks and all available Atari greatest hits. Thus I have purchased my license to use the software many times over. All the other ROMS I have are no longer available, so I don't see the need to pay for a used cartridge since I know the seller isn't going to forward any of his proceeds to the copyright holder.
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Any interest in redoing Star Raiders the "right way"?
in Atari 2600 Programming
Posted · Edited by p.opus
Perhaps Doug is happy with his work on Star Raiders 2600. He did mention that programming for the 2600 was a much greater challenge than the Atari 800, so maybe he had more satisfaction that he could even get something that resembled Star Raiders on the 2600 at that time. However in terms of gameplay it's a pale reflection to the original Atari 800 version and is even outshined by Starmaster. The decision to eliminate all the starbases and distill the enemy to a single fleet takes away all the tactical nuances of the game.
Your comparison to HSW is hardly applicable. Yar's was a game originally developed for the 2600. Star Raiders was a port. And while some compromises were to be expected, Star Raiders was so bare bones as to be barely recognizable.
And by looking at Solaris it's clear that Doug could have and did do better.