Scott Stilphen

There are 2 versions of showgfx - a 7K and a 15K. I think the 7K one didn't require you to specify the start/stop bytes, and you used "->" instead of ">".

*GASP* What?!? Stan, you're my new best friend Yep, those are the initials. Probably the best way to figure out what you're doing is to play the actual cart and videotape your games. Between you and Nukey, we may finally have this one mystery solved!

quote: Originally posted by s-kelly: Now Stilphen...remember that beating I gave you at Philly last year? Remember getting your face burgered at CGE? (and people thought the rug looked bad...) Keep in mind that it's a long walk from Philly back to Chicago with 2 bad legs quote: Originally posted by CX2K: Aye! Tis true!! A finer round of fisticuffs mine eyes have never seen... Take a look at what time this was posted. Clearly the product of one-too-many Coronas...

You have to save it as a text file. Ex: showgfx.exe pacman.bin 0 4096 > pacman.txt Use Wordpad or a similar program to edit it, and then convert it back to a bin file with editgfx. Ex: editgfx.exe pacman.txt pacman2.bin

quote: Originally posted by Nukey Shay: Congrats! Yeah, it's obvious that this is the correct graphic for ET...though it looks quite different from the signature used in Raiders (so much for the similar routine theory). I must have looked at that code a half-dozen times, but today for some reason I just happened to see that. I was going by a description that I had for it (from someone years ago), who said it looked like the lowercase letters "db" together, and that it also vaguely resembled a sword handle (?), which we dubbed the "Warshaw sword". A few years after that, I had a chance to ask Warshaw about it, who said that they were Jerome's initials. As for Raiders, I'm guessing that the graphics for them are too large to appear as a single piece when using programs like showgfx or Romhack, which is why it's so hard to find. quote Go Nukey go!!

I'm using IE 5.5 - what version do you have? I'll use JPG's in the future.

Hmm...that's a new one. If I cut-and-paste it in, it works, but if I click on it, it doesn't! Not sure what the deal is with that.....

There's a link on my page to a map at Atari HQ.

You mean like this? Actually, it's not much of an ending (especially considering what you have to go through on that first level). And the ending to Solaris has been known for a few years now. I wasn't even the first one to hack an easier version of it (but I might be the first one to make a screen shot of it). There's a website (I don't have it, but a quick search should locate it) showing how someone used PCAE to make a version with unlimited reserve ships, but I could never get PCAE to run right on my PC, so I simply did the next best thing- make all the enemies "harmless"

Is there an actual ending to this game? Maybe now we can find out! Download my hacked version here!

Perhaps someone (like Nukey Shay, who's more of a "code-sleuth" than I'll *ever* be) can find out how they are triggered. If the above piece of code that I found is definitely it, then it might be possible to see where exactly that code is accessed in the program.

According to both Howard Warshaw and Jerome, Jerome's initials are in both E.T. and Raiders, but neither one remembers how to trigger them. Besides, these games were made at the time when Atari's management changed their attitude about Easter eggs and actually encouraged them.

Found a pretty nasty bug in the game. If you crash an AT-ST into the bottom mountain range, you're "rewarded" with garbled graphics:

I've messed around with hacking other games, and they all ran fine. What is it about Monty that Z26 is so picky about? Btw, I created a super-easy version of Solaris, just so I could get a screen pic of the ending for my Easter egg site. If anybody wants it, you can download it here.

Thanks. I'm still trying to find them in Raiders, but so far no luck...

Using Rasty's excellent ROMHACK program, I was finally able to find his initials graphics in the code. They appear right after the "© 1982 ATARI" graphics, and appear (as text) as: 1cd8 |----XXXX-| 1cd9 |----XX-XX| 1cda |-XXXX-XX| 1cdb |XX-XX-XX| 1cdc |XX-XX-XX| 1cdd |----XXXX-| 1cde |----XX---| 1cdf |.----XX---| (dashes put in for spacing) If you flip this around, you can see it's "JD", with the letters back-to-back and their height slightly offset to each other. At least we know now exactly how they look. If only I could figure out how they are triggered to appear in the game..... [ 11-08-2001: Message edited by: Scott Stilphen ] [ 11-08-2001: Message edited by: Scott Stilphen ]

Thanks for the program, Rasty! *Much* more versatile to use than some others. It's already "paid" for itself! (see my E.T. post) All it needs is an option to flip the screen (since most graphics are displayed upside-down normally). And the future option of being able to compare 2 ROM images would be awesome! (I know Tempest would like that feature). [ 11-08-2001: Message edited by: Scott Stilphen ]

Ran into another problem. If I change so much as one pixel and convert it back to a bin, the game won't run! Now what?

I tried using showgfx. All the items/enemies and such are easily found, but the backgrounds aren't (to me, anyway). I think part of the problem is the room layouts are all mirrored, and most of the 24 rooms are the same such as the rooms left and right of the starting room- the programmer probably used a small block of graphics and then repeated it to fill in the lower part of the screens?). Probably not the best project to try and modify for the first time If you or anyone else wants to try, please do!

quote: Originally posted by s-kelly: About the only thing I don't like about DPG6 is the cover. That's not to say I don't think the artwork is well-done - it is. I just think it should have been some sort of a more "universal" graphic. There far more than just the Atari 2600 in there. Yeah...spoken like a true Intellivision fan. The 2600 is the "it" classic system- now and forever. Even the government agrees! Deal with it

I'm trying to modify this screen, so that I can reach the other side, but I haven't been able to. Can anyone do this?

Yeah, the graphics suck, but what do you expect for 2K? It does take too long to get used to the control, but once you do it's a lot of fun. If you've ever seen two skilled players duel it out, it's really impressive to see. I was hooked on the game from just the catalog description It's like playing Pac-Man with a speed-up chip- you have to be thinking 5 moves ahead. Always wished someone would give this one an update...

Getting the hang of it now After a certain point, it doesn't get any harder (at the highest level - the bunker will always be 10 screens over to the left from where you start. One thing the game could use is a sound cue to let you know when your control of a SB or AT-ST is about to run out, especially when trying to detonate the bunker- if you get control of one too far from the bunker, you can suddenly find yourself reverting to a glider (at full speed) right in front of it, w/o enough room to slow down or turn. [ 11-07-2001: Message edited by: Scott Stilphen ]

On the 3rd level (and up), the top and bottom borders are blue, instead of red. If you pick up an Ewok, they turn red. According to Dan Skelton (http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/Lair/9260/ewok.html), this makes the glider easier to fly, but I don't see much of a difference. If you beat the 6th level, the screen will briefly say "Tribe Member!"

quote: Originally posted by Zeptari: Hey Tempest, I'm a big imdb.comfan...umm I mean The Last Starfighter.. She was in The Night of the Comet too.... Catherine Mary Stewart. She was in 'Weekend at Bernie's' and a couple other flicks. I think the CGE guys should get her for next year's show