Thomas Jentzsch

If anything would be malfunctioning, then it would be James' brain. I hope you are not assuming this? The human brain is blending fast flickering pictures, but it doesn't do that for static ones. So the phosphor effect works only on the former (the optimal blend value depends on the user and the display). For the latter you need way higher values to achieve a similar result.

It is even simpler. The tanks constantly flicker at 30Hz, so the flicker is constant in any situation. Remember, the kernel was originally designed for an 1K game where there is not enough ROM space for any elaborate flickering. And since it worked very well, I decided to keep the kernel and invest the bytes somewhere else.

That looks like hefty phosphor. Which values are you using?

The helicopter in Robot City is done from a missile, flickering between two tank colors.

How about multi button controllers? Has anyone ever thought about combining two joystick inputs into one controller? So that you have e.g. a directional stick plus lots of buttons (6 in total). Or a directional joystick and a hat with two buttons. I know this would have worked without a QuadTari. But now you can do 2-player games too.

The games do not create a valid TV signal while reset is pressed.

He he, your code assumed the value in a variable.

You are right.

Valid design decisions. Though emulator players will have an advantage now.

I would start the timer when the player starts moving. I suppose you cannot reposition the ball? I missed teleports and secret/bonus screens. Looks like I have to pay more attention.

Some suggestion for the game: the game should stop at the begin of a level/new life (especially for new levels this would be very helpful) the timer should become more granular (using the ball) and the player should be alerted when the timer is running low some bonus items which are optional would make the game easier for casual players and harder for people going for top scores a bonus screen every n-levels (e.g. collect as many bonus items as you can until the (short) timer runs out ideas for additional game elements: teleports, chasing enemies, one-time-walls, bombs (for destroying walls)...

The problem is the frustration level. What is a challenge for one is already frustration for someone else. IMO the games used to be more challenging back then, providing more long term fun. Today many people want to play through a game without too much hassle. It's almost like completing a to-do list. The score is the prize. The higher the better you are. And if you want to see more levels, you have to get better at the game. I am for extra lives, but not as generous as you request them. Maybe every 100, 200 points or so. Or every 5-10 levels.

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AFAIK no. And AFAIK the Flashbacks have not enough CPU power anyway.

Some good info can be found here. As you can see, the number of TIA variations is quite large. We tried to cover some more common glitches in Stella (Options/Developer/TIA). But it turns out, that modern mods also affect the timings (see James' console). So it will be very tough to cover each and everything.

How about providing more info? Links, screenshots etc.?

I like the packaging very much too (actually much more than the winning one, but I might be biased here ). David created some great art for my game.

I have no such plans. And my To-Do list is too long already. Sorry.

Thanks to everybody who supported the development of my game. You are part of the success too.

That looks more like AStar.

Noted

Cool stuff! Great idea to combine puzzling with some action.

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I had a closer look at the voting category details: Overall 1412 (2019: 853, +66%) votes have been cast in 14 (8, +75%) categories. The average number votes per category is 101 (107, -5%). The maximum number of votes per category is 118 (134, -12%), the minimum is 86 (81, +6%) Atari 2600 Homebrew is the most popular category in 2020 (and 2019), Atari 2600 Music + Sound came last in 2020 (last but one in 2019) Atari 8-Bit/5200: Best Homebrew has the largest votes increase (81 -> 99, +22%), Atari 2600 Homebrew Packaging has the largest votes decrease (127 - 103, -19%). Overall the 2600 categories decreased slightly, 7800 and especially 5200 increased. 50% of the votes have been cast until 1/19 (4 days). Thoughts: The growth of total votes is fine. The slight decrease per category is no surprise, not everybody has the time to check 14 categories. IMO this shows that the number of categories should not be further increased. The lower difference between maximum and minimum votes IMO shows that the categories are chosen right and the more modern platforms get more attention. The decrease of packaging votes is probably just an aftermath of last year's voting in this category. The voting period is long enough, maybe shift a few days and extend the nomination period.

Have you tested with the very latest release? The R77 now allows switching between paddle and joystick controllers without rebooting. Maybe the change helps the QuadTari too.