Scott Stilphen

Len, the VCS only outputs RF on channel 2 or 3. Most people use channel 3 since that's what the system was factory-set to. I think some Nintendo or Sega systems had you choose between either channels 3 or 4.

NE146: They both use paddles

Yoshi's Boxx Check out the 3rd photo down on the right side. Hmm, something looks so damn familiar..... pics

Later, Imagic corrected the error in the program, allowing you to play indefinitely. It wasn't an error- Fulop intentionally programmed it to end b/c he didn't think anybody would ever get that far. 2 days(!) after its release, he was proven wrong so he went back and changed it so that it kept repeating. I'd still like to see both ROM versions available online. And I still think Stan needs to get a new system

To quote Thomas: "Whenever you move the plane up or down, the throttle is disabled during that period and the plane slightly slows down. This is checked every frame. So, if you move the plane only a little bit more in total (a few pixel), then your time will become higher."

Adrian: Check the last link in my post above for descriptions of all 4 episodes

The latest issue of "2600 Connection" has an article about AII that I had done about a month before AtariAge posted their story on it. Unfortunately for me, the guy sold the game and the rest of his collection a few months before I found him. Missed having my first exclusive by thatmuch

Any other hints? I've tried doing this for 15 minutes, but can't find this bug. From the start (game 1), 3 screens to the right is the pot screen. I'm jumping between screens 3 and 4 and hitting the pot that drops from the right-most window as soon as it appears, w/o anything happening (pots continue to fall)...

Barnstorming is a pattern game, so if the 32.50 is possible, and Todd remembers how he did it, then it should be possible to reproduce it.

Thanks Stan, for finding one of the few corrupted pictures on my site jk Hopefully I'll get those fixed with the next update (soon).

Well then you can throw out the Asteroids arcade world record b/c in my experience with the game, there's no way to get that score in the amount of time claimed w/o using the UFO hunting technique IMHO, scores on prototype games should not be accepted (some are listed in the book) and I know that Ron agrees. I also think games with known timing issues (ex. Superman, Night Driver) should also be excluded.

HSW is going to this year's CGE, although it doesn't appear he'll have a booth this time out. Hopefully someone can ask him when (or if) the last episode (#3) will ever be produced/sold? Btw, here's the progression of all his known websites: http://www.virtualvoices.com/atari/ (older front page) -> http://pw1.netcom.com/~hsw/hsw.html (older business site) -> http://home.netcom.com/~hsw/ (personal site) -> http://www.scottw.com/ (business site)

I don't see the backgrounds being distracting at all. The orignal arcade stand-up version had a background not unlike the remake screens, and it never took away from the game. Lords of War was a great remake for the Amiga- it had backgrounds, powerups, and even an "ending" (after about 2o levels), although the screen scrolled a bit and the action was much slower. The 2600 version is great, but like all the others, it pales next to the original.

Then chances are they didn't disassemble them yet If you can, have them check before they do.

If Todd's score is an old record, then why isn't it listed in the TG book (which came out in 98 )? The high score listed is an impossible 30:01, with a 9/26/95 date! TG has mentioned several times that quite a few older scores (from the 80s) have been closely scrutinized, with a number of them being discarded. Apparently newer bogus score submissions can also sneak by the TG refs. Not to take anything away from them- it's not an easy job, and they certainly got my respect for their efforts, but I mean, if somebody REALLY wanted to falsify a top score, the tools are easily obtainable to modify the code (altering a game's scoring, timer, etc.) and be able to play it on a real system and videotape it. I just hope I didn't give some unscrupulous people any ideas... Btw, there's a neat frying trick that can be done with Barnstorming-

Rob Fulop claims Atari produced a version of MC that they removed his initials from. So far nobody has been able to prove this. To check if you have a copy tht doesn't, on game #13, end the game w/o any points scored or tallied from cities or unused missiles (make sure to use up all your missiles). The letters “RF” (for Rob Fulop) will appear in the right-most city.

Ron, when was this? I never heard that story before. Are there any newspaper articles or other info about it online anywhere?

I don't believe it is. It's not listed in the TG book (1st edition) In fact, none of the Barnstorming scores are his.

So if Todd doesn't agree to release the video footage of his record game, then what's to stop someone from taping it? It will be in plain view of some 2K people. From what Thomas and Jeff have said about the game, technically it shouldn't be possible, so I'd be very interested in seeing how that time can be achieved with a real (unmodified) cart. His strategy could inadvertently take advantage of some programming quirk or bug in the game. A possibility? You bet. No one knows that better than me I should point out that TG's rules on challenging someone's scores (pg 30-34)- a challenger with a reasonable complaint (which Jeff has) will be heard, and the player who's score is in question must agree to duplicate his game in front of witnesses, or the score will be removed. Which is I guessing is what happened with that 30:01 score listed in book Why wouldn't someone want to share their knowledge of how they beat a particular game. If I spent 20+ years playing a particular game, I'd be more than happy to share the info (but that's me). It's like going to see Hendrix or Van Halen in concert, and they have their backs turned to you the whole time, b/c they don't want anyone stealing their technique. Todd is well-known in the TG 'realm', but his scores are just as open to scrutiny as anyone elses - TG's words, not mine.

Did I mention that Star Ship has 2-player co-op versions....just like Pong?

Never understood why violent games such as those weren't banned. It's a travesty, I tell ya

that's cold, man........ Hey, it was novel at the time (when nothing else like it existed- gotta keep that in mind ) but yeah, when Star Raiders and its clones came out, they showed what a 1st-person space game was all about.

Agreed- having chess matches between older systems is a neat idea.

You're joking again, aren't you? That might be true for Ms Pac and Jr. Pac, but what's the point of having 2 yellow ghosts and 2 green ghosts, and making the colors so light that they all look like the same color?

He did a great job with it. Personally, the flickering doesn't bother me as much- at least you can see the ghosts now! Btw, if you check out the picture I have on my Easter egg entry for this game, you'll notice that the ghosts and power pills are not all the same color! It's easier to notice with an emulator. From a programming standpoint, what would be the reason for doing this?