Scott Stilphen

Heheh....you'll see

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=1942663902 Seems that the last cart shown here is a 4-in-1, which includes Donald Duck! What's up with that?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...item=1942650358 I'd like to see how the A/V mod was done...

Yes, I meant trying to get 3 Amazing's total. No, Matthew Hubbard wasn't that pleased about it, and if he'd known about it before it got released, he would have fixed it - http://digitpress.com/archives/arc00122.htm

Follow the link in my signature to the 2600 section.

The triple "Amazing" is the holy grail I don't know if it's even possible. I got to within about 200k and the game suddenly got super fast.

Nice work Gabriel! That's exactly what it is. Possible proof of the planned 2600 Fail Safe (or Countermeasure) game?

It's not Battlezone or Slot Racers. Maybe it's artwork for a non 2600 game (5200, 7800, 400/800, arcade)?

This would make a good contest, except that I don't know what it is This picture is in a 1983 Rev. 1 system manual. The cover has a picture of a 2600 'vader' system. On the back, it's referred to as the CX2600AR.

Does anyone have a picture of one?

I never knew there were 4-channel systems made. Wonder if they were only made for a limited area. I have 2 "heavy 6'ers" - one is channel 3 only (SN 73100J), and the other is 2 & 3 (SN 81462521). There's no sticker/marking on the bottom denoting what channel. Does anyone have a manual that mentions having to use channel 4? The earliest system manual I have is dated 1977 and it mentions having to use channel 3. I also noticed that the lower case molding is different between them. The channel 3-only system is actually a bit heavier! I high-lighted 2 of the more obvious ones in the following pics (the first 2 are of the channel 3-only model). Besides not having the tv channel switch, the heat sink on the daughter board is also different (red boxed area): I also tooks some pics of the original gray ac adapter. I've never seen the original joystick - are there any pics of it online somewhere?

I have both models so I decided to open them up and take some pics. The first is the CX-22 and other 2 are the CX-80. I didn't notice any jumpers on the 80 pcb (where would they be?):

I have both models so I decided to open them up and take some pics. The first is the CX-22 and other 2 are the CX-80. I didn't notice any jumpers on the 80 pcb (where would they be?). I have a CX-80 manual (Rev A - in 8 different languages), and there's no mention of it being ST mouse-compatible (which would confirm that my model isn't) - does anyone know if that's mentioned in a later revision (or perhaps right on the box)? It also mentions to put the 400/800 Missile Command into trak-ball mode, you have to hit CONTROL+T (not just "T")

The link to download the NTSC version isn't working. Also, on the conversions page it states Thomas Jentzsch did an NTSC version, and the link also doesn't work.

Thanks to jhd, I tracked down a copy of that book and made a clear scan of the photo (which is b&w):

The earliest carts I've seen with those holes are dated 1986. Do you have any dated earlier?

Matt Reichert found a bug in the 400/800 version, and we suspect it's in the 5200 version. Here's what you have to do: 1. Beat the game once 2. While your remaining time is being added to your score (during the congratulations screen) press reset. 3. Start a new game What you'll see is that your time is still being added to your score, but it uses the current timer (which starts at 9990). So you end up with mega bonus points and 0000 left on the timer. I haven't tried it yet but I would assume the timer would start up again eventually by itself if you sat there long enough. Anyway, once you get to the river scene you'll find out that you now have infinite air because the air meter is tied into the timer which is now at 0000. For whatever reason the timer gets reset once you hit the boulder screen, but it starts a 9990 so you'll once again get mega bonus points when you beat the game.

Somebody has GOT to get a tape of that!

The first 2 on that list simply don't work at all, or crash after a few seconds. What other details do you need? (blank screen devoid of any colors, loud, annoying tone plays continuously, not much fun to play...)

Going by that first catalog, it appears Labyrinth is Mindmaster, and the DP guide agrees. The chart on the Cyberpunks page is wrong. If you scroll down a bit, you'll see Dragonstomper beta "Excalibur" * Both the site and the Stella Gets a New Brain manuals state that Labyrinth was the early name for Sword of Saros (also, the box art used in the manuals is the early artwork for Excalibur/Dragonstomper). I've never heard of a Starpath proto being found on a labeled cassette. Hopefully the winner of that auction can confirm what it is. The Cyberpunk page also says the early name for Survival Island was Jungle. The Starpath catalog lists a Jungle Raid title, but from the description it's not the same game: You’ll have to fly low under their radar. Skim the tree tops. Watch the terrain closely. And lay your bombs right into their supply dumps. But be careful, they know you’re coming. So, are Jungle and Jungle Raid 2 different games, or did Jungle Raid evolve into Survival Island? Then there's Frantic, Clone Attack, and Last Line of Defense which also don't sound like any other Starpath titles.

Not exactly true b/c there's a few titles that won't work 100% on the original 6-switch model. The ones I know of are: BMX Airmaster California Games Carnival Centipede Ghost Manor Millipede Wall Ball See the DP Easter egg section for more details.

Both versions are 16K. The GCC version looks nicer (that title screen is sweet), but I prefer the Atari version. The graphics are a bit smaller so the screen doesn't look as 'crowded', and it's easier to locate the DDT boxes. Plus it just plays better IMHO.

Speaking of Crawford, I found this: From: KIM::SALWITZ 26-APR-1984 18:50 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK Subj: H Here we go again... Although I have many "real" concerns in my life (ie: World peace, Nuclear diarmement, Governmental sanity) I find myself from time to time getting really tense about something trivial. In Junes' Antic (page 79) there is an add. for a new book.. $14.95... "THE ART OF COMPUTER GAME DESIGN: REFLECTION OF A MASTER GAME DESIGNER" written by none other than... CHRIS CRAWFORD (ex Atari programmer). " ... Chris Crawford, Atari programmer PAR EXCELLENCE, teaches this and other noteworthy lessons... " peee-ewww. I have never met this man.. (ie.. I hold him no grudge) I have seen him on " Bits Bytes and Buzzwords" (2 weeks ago) He has been billed as THE Atari game Wizard (some say he isn't even a wizard.. let alone the ONLY one.) WHY ??? It should be noted that by all indications Atari itself responsible for this (grossly incorrect) billing. Mr Crawford has just helped it along. nothing else to say.. jfs. ( one of the Atari group of programmers.)

I never bothered to look through all the VAX stuff. I check out everything between 83-85. Is there any other VCS-related info for the other years? Franz's 'goodbye' letter was interesting. How about all the letters in Aug 84 when they had a round of layoffs?

In going through Jed Margolin's archive of Atari VAX emails (which mainly pertain to the coin-op division), I found a "thread" started by Franz Lanzinger (designer of Crystal Castles) stating his opinion on VCS versions of coin-op games (specfically CC). I'm sure it didn't help when Atari Age editor Steve Morenstern stated CC had flicker-free animation (HA!). Ed Logg also mentioned that GCC did their own version of Millipede! I've edited them, so that mostly only VCS-related info is here: From: KIM::FXL 30-JAN-1984 02:01 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK Subj: The first annual Jeff Boscole Memorial letter I do not however apologize or regret my negative feelings about the recent release of the Crystal Castles 2600 Cartridge. (In case you don't know, the cartridge was released without the approval of the coin-op design team, or anybody else in coin-op as far as I know). This is pure theft! And I do not even know who to blame for this!! It isn't the programmer, who is about as mad (or worse) as I am about this situation. He was given a unmakable release deadline (4 days instead of 3 weeks from when he was told). The game is much worse because of this (according to the programmer Peter Niday). He had no choice in the matter. Yet another unfinished, hurried, poorly tested game from Atari. Won't we ever learn? Games under license from other companies get reviewed by representatives of that company (Williams and Namco specifically). But games developed in-house are treated like they are in the public domain, while the original design team of in-house games is treated like dirt. This is not an isolated incident either. Atarisoft, as a matter of policy, takes Atari Coin-op games, lets outside companies "convert" them for home computers (like Commodore 64, Vic-20, Apple 2, TI-99 and IBM-PC), and then produces them, all without the creative input or advice of the original design teams (just talk to Ed Logg about Centipede, or ? about Battlezone). Atarisoft does not ask anyone over here at coin-op for approval for the final version, but they do show the final version of the game to someone in the legal department. On the more positive side, there is a chance that Atarisoft will contribute to the Engineering Product Bonus Plan in a manner similar to 2600, 5200 and 800 products. Wouldn't it be nice to have that guaranteed and in writing? And shouldn't there be designer credits on Atarisoft products? It's ironic that my name is on the packaging of the 2600 Crystal Castles cart, a product which I only saw an early version of. Yet when I told people that the message ("programmed by Franz Lanzinger") appeared in level 10 in the coin-op version I was told to take it out, or I loose an amount of bonus to be determined. Boy did that make me mad !!! I complained vocally, but only to be promised that a designer credit policy would be worked on. This policy is still "being worked on" eight months later. Now really. It's not that hard to do, just look at movies, books, not to mention Stern, Mylstar, Simutrek, Sente, even 2600 carts. If there were a policy right now, credits could be in in time for the Crystal Castles kits. As it is, I am still mad about the whole thing. Imagine Speven Spielberg directing a film, but not getting credit. How would he feel? Are we cogs in a machine? I am not a number !!! This isn't 1984!! (well OK, maybe it is). From: KIM::THOMPSON 31-JAN-1984 10:07 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK Subj: Another flame Another Jeff Boscole Memorial letter, in response to FXL's letter on Jan 30, 1984. Since I haven't been impressed by the results of VCS's releases, I DON'T want them to butcher, maim or mutilate my game for whatever reason. I can fully sympathize with Franz, since he put a lot of time and effort into his game. By the time my game goes into production (knock on wood), I will have put at least a year of my life into that game. I don't want someone to come along, and rip me off. I don't really care about royalties from the other games, I just don't want to have to apologize to anyone about a game that has my name in it, on it, or associated with it. While I'm still flaming, I feel that it WOULD be nice to have my name appear in my game somewhere. It would really be nice to be allowed to do this, since Star Wars had the names of the people appear on every odd wave going into the death star. It seems a little inconsistant to me that the Star Wars project could have their names, and Crystal Castles couldn't. For some reason, that appears to be favoritism, not policy. Return flames gladly accepted. Peter Thompson. P.S. If anyone can show me a good game for the 2600 that we produced, I will fully apologize, and then go out and buy it. From: KIM::LOGG 1-FEB-1984 09:54 To: @SYS$MAIL:JUNK Subj: More on FXL letter (or the second biweekly Jeff Boscole letter) First, regarding testing and review of 2600, 5200, 800,... software. In the past I was given carts to review, and in some cases they ignored my comments. In particular, for the 800 Centipede I saw a bootleg copy and send my comments back only get see the shit hit the fan because I managed to see the cart which should not have been possible. Months later I was officially given a newer version to test. I noted some problems and asked that the game play match the Coin-Op version in several aspects. I was told that it was too late because they couldn't make the changes in time for the release. More recently I attended a meeting to decide which Millipede cart for the 2600 should be released. The release date was less than a week away and I was told that the programmer had just gotten one version working within the last couple of weeks (and only possible thru 7 day work weeks and considerable lack of sleep). I should also point out that I sent the complete documentation of Millipede to the team leader responsible for the VCS cart months prior to this meeting. I also called and left my name and number with the comment that I was available for any assistance. I received no response until a week or two prior to the above mentioned meeting. This leds me to believe that the game was not ready for help until the time of the meeting (thus verifying the hearsay that the game had just been developed in the last two weeks). Now for the good news! ATARI did select the VCS version of Millipede over the version done by GCC. I was told that GCC was instructed NOT to do this cart but they went ahead and did it anyway. I guess they felt that if they got it done first ATARI marketing would use theirs. Judging from the meeting I attended, I would guess that they were right. In any case I have worked with the VCS programmer since and hopefully the cart has improved. I do NOT mean to say that I necessarily helped but that the cart just needed time. I should point out that the cart was not released due to a bug! Now why didn't we think of this before? That sounds like a good strategy to follow. The only reason I was given why the cart was to be released within a week of the meeting was to have ONE week worth of sales for the first quarter. WHAT A SHITTY, GOD DAMNED, FUCKING CSDKFHAS FHLAVFHJ EXCUSE!!!! What ever happened to quality which the name ATARI is supposed to represent? Where was VCS management?? I would hope that someone would stand up and say "THE GAME IS NOT READY. WE WILL RELEASE IT WHEN IT IS DONE!!" Who are they trying to make look good? Why impress Warner with 1 weeks worth of production, when you can impress the consumer 2 weeks later? It seems short-sighted to make themselves look good at the expense of ATARI's reputation. Well enough of that, I want to get back on the subject of good news. Months ago I also reviewed a Millipede for the 800 (or 5200 I don't remember). I sent my comments back and just last week received a letter back for Richard Frick thanking me and giving me a list of changes they have implemented. When I talked to him he recalled when the comments came back and how the programmer grumbled about doing any more changes. However after the changes were made the programmer has become very excited about the new program. Now ISN'T that a heart warming story. It sure made my week. I hope we see more cooperation like that in the future. Second, as Franz hinted I never received a copy of Centipede to review from ATARISOFT nor was I even told about any Centipede carts. Ignoring the fact that is rather insulting, it is not in the best interests of ATARI. We should demand quality from any product ATARI puts its name on. Considering there is expertise here in Coin-Op to test and evaluate this product, they should be very interested in hearing from us. Since there were no designer credits, I guess it was hard for them to determine who to come to but they could have found out. For everyones information I was not told that my name would appear on the 2600 Millipede documentation. I had to ask Steve Calfee. In fact it seems logical that the names of all members of the Coin-Op team responsible for developing the game should appear. Can someone write down whether the ASTARISOFT software will bring royalties to Coin-OP? Ed Logg P.S. They (Marketing) released the 2600 Millipede on Monday before they could test the cart for the required 40 hrs. There was a screen roll failure after 35 hrs. So by the book they should not have passed the cart for release. From: KIM::DOWNEND 1-FEB-1984 17:22 To: @SYS$MAIL:ENGINEER.UAF to: Franz from: Chris Downend Subject: Response to Boscole Memorial Letter The Quality of 2600 carts is the pits - no doubt about it. The system was introduced in 1977 so it is SEVEN years old. I think Breakout and Space Invaders are decent renditions of the coin-op originals and those are 1976 and 1979 games respectively. But with 14 million 2600's out there, financial issues outweigh asthetic issues. I don't think the public would even buy Crystal Castles on a 2600 so everybody loses - you and Atari. Again, we've got new management and they have to learn from their own mistakes. By the way, Calfee knew the 2600 Crystal Castles was lousy and tried to stop it, but he was overuled. When Marketing wanted to do the same thing with Millipede (release the cart with a bug), Steve had to go all the way to J.J. Morgan. Fortunately, Morgan agreed with Steve and the release was postponed. One thing to remember though, Coin-op profits are small potatoes compared with Comsumer profits so every decision is heavily weighted toward maximizing profit in the Consumer arena. So, anticipate feeling screwed with respect to the quality of carts - it won't change - too much money is a stake. The virtue of Coin-op is extensive creative freedom (in game design and hardware base) since original work is the lifeblood of the Industry. Coin-op also gives you bearable schedules allowing you to do a satisfying job. And to my knowledge, Coin-op has yet to sacrifice quality to get an on-time delivery. Firefox was supposed to start production 1/23/84; millions in parts are all staged ready for production, but it has not started (1/31/84) because the software is not ready. Now for Credits: Coin-op credits are more complex than Consumer credits since more people are involved and people get their feelings hurt if they are left out and they feel they contributed just as much as so-and-so and so-and-so got their name on the game...see my point? John Ray has been working on this as well as trying to learn about being a Director and managing the Project Office. Maybe its could have happened faster, but John manages by concensus which takes even more time. John has apparently sent his recommendation to Van Elderen/Paul/Farrand for appproval prior to publishing the rules for credits on the audio-visual portion of the product. How does seven names in video for the audio-visual portion strike you?? We do not want 8kbytes of EPROM used up putting 500 credits in the game. By the way, Star Wars got their names in the game because they did it and did not tell anybody about it. If your ethics were equally low, Franz, you could have done it in Crystal Castles too. - Chris Downend