Nostalgic

Unfortunately, the rather bizarre way in which 2600 playfield graphics are produced would make a horizontal scrolling game nearly impossible. There are 40 "pixels" which are stored as 20 bits, which are either reversed or copied on both halves of the screen. To have an asymmetric playfield, you have to change the playfield bits in the middle of a scan line. To make things worse, the bits aren't read in the same order; some bytes are read low to high and others high to low. Games like Defender and Vanguard can manage because they repeat the same pattern over and over, making calculating the bit shifts simple. The only game I know of with large horizontal-scrolling platforms is Mountain King, which manages with very simple platforms (i.e. lines). Couple this with having to keep the "state" of each platform unit in RAM (question mark or regular, what it hides, if anything) and you have a very challenging time ahead of you. It could be done... with a lot of patience and by not attempting to copy the graphics all that closely.

It appears that self-contained video game systems are becoming popular again. Yesterday in the mail I got a catalog from Spilbury, a puzzle and games seller. One new item being offered is a Protech Video Games System. It has 52 games built into a single controller that plugs directly into a TV. Games that are listed are Arabian Champion, Raid On Bungling Bay, Zippy Race, Track & Field, Tennis, Formula 1 Race, Golf, Sky Destroyer, Baseball, Antarctic Adventure, Excitebike, and Ninja Fight. The unit is on sale for $29.88. If you want to see it, go to Spilsbury and search for item number 2959. I am curious... what system did these games come from? At first glance I'd guess the NES, but since I never had one, I'm not sure.

Strangely enough, some newer games might actually be more suitable for the 2600 than ones from years past. There's a "virtual air hockey" game - I can't recall the name, but I think "Beat" or "Beats" is in it - in which you use five buttons to push forth beams of lights to deflect other lights down five tubes at your opponent. You'd lose out on the techno soundtrack, but the graphics could be very simple. The Dance Dance Revolution series might also be doable. All it would require is some icons on the screen and a keyboard controller - or maybe a Joyboard! Namco's Mr. Driller could be a candidate. It's a puzzle game, a vertical scroller with colored cubes that you drill through to reach the bottom of the level.

The major obstacle to doing Qix might not be the sprites so much as the memory. With no screen memory in the 2600, you'd need a huge block of RAM to store the areas that have been filled and those that haven't. You might be able to pull it off as a Supercharger game, since everything is essentially RAM at that point. However, given the playfield resolution (40 wide pixels), you'd need to use sprites for the filled areas. To do this, you'd probably have to resort to a display like in Suicide Mission, with flickering sprites completely filling the screen, acting as the display itself. (I wonder why this was never used to simulate vectors in more games...)

I'd have liked to see Super Pac-Man, though with the hardware limitations that would have been a flickering nightmare. Maybe Pac & Pal wouldn't be so bad since there's less objects on the screen (at least from the screen shots I've looked at). I wish that there had been an NTSC release of Klax. Maybe Marble Madness could have been done - just imagine Crystal Castles with vertical scrolling and proper trackball support. I also wouldn't mind Donkey Kong 3, provided more care was put into it than the ports of the other Donkey Kong games. I, Robot would be nice. A stunted version with a strictly overhead view and no viewer-killers might be possible.

"wOOtie"??? All the computer players, from what I recall, just follow the ball once you catch it. Essentially, the two players not diagonal from you will try to line up with your shield. Just move toward the center while holding the ball, then quickly dash to the edge of the screen and release it. This works particularly well on the bottom-right player, as it is painfully slow. The fact that the edge bricks are double-size makes it even easier. Use the "ghost" shields to defeat the computer opponent on the diagonal. I can't say much for what to do if you're playing a game with no catch and no lightning balls, as I never play those variations.

A TI calculator emulator? Now I have seen everything... Seriously, it sounds like porting games on highly limited platforms such as graphing calculators to the 2600 isn't a bad idea. I remember in high school some classmates had an HP calculator with a game similar to Minesweeper. That was quite popular. If there is such a thing, could someone post a link to a collection of calculator games? This might inspire the programmers out there to scrounge for ideas.

I only had the chance to play I, Robot on a couple of occasions. Once was at a local arcade soon after the game came out and once was at Videotopia at the Baltimore Science Center a couple of years ago. I was hooked. I thought it was an original, innovative, and fun game. Why did it fail? Was it because the greatly advanced graphics and controls meant it could not be ported to home systems? Was it because it was so different people didn't know what to make of it? And why, with today's technology and emphasis on 3-D gaming, hasn't this game been a candidate for a retro-update?

Both Ms. Pac-Man and especially Jr. Pac-Man are good arcade ports. I happen to like Millipede quite a bit. It plays very well and the only complaint about graphics to be made is that the shooter and mushrooms are all just blocks. Stargate/Defender II is one that made me say "wow!" I've never played the arcade version of Q*bert's Qubes, but the 2600 game itself is very good. The colors rotate on the cubes, the motion of the enemies is smooth (unlike with the Q*bert port), and control and sound is sharp. It wasn't until I got the Atari Greatest Hits package that I learned that both Super Breakout and Warlords were originally arcade games. Super Breakout on the 2600 is solid and Warlords, even with the change from scoring points to winning rounds, is fantastic.

I got my first Atari 2600 when I was about seven years old. I was pretty consistent about playing it, along with games on my Atari 8-bit computers, up through high school. It helped that I had a number of friends with 2600s and a couple with 8-bits. My interest faded when I went to college, but returned after I graduated. My parents bought a few games for my birthday, either directly from Atari or through Radio Shack Unlimited. After I left home for good, my interest in the 2600 grew quiet, except for a couple of months after the release of Stella Gets a New Brain, but I still enjoyed classic games, either at the arcade ( insert plug for Pinball Pete's) or in PC or Playstation emulation collections. I made sure to keep an older TV around and the 2600 connected so I could scratch a gaming itch if it came around. Earlier this year my interest really resurged. I bought some games from Collectors' House and at CCAG and started playing more often. I figure that, like many interests in life, it goes in cycles, so there are high points and low points. It seems that every so often I'll buy new games to go along with the high points. Sorry for the long answer to a short question. I fit right in the age bracket first mentioned and plan on occasionally buying games as time goes on.

quote: Originally posted by Zeptari: Every once in a while i think of what MM2 might have been like!! Wonder no longer: KLOV: Marble Madness 2

quote: Originally posted by Trebor: So you give the 8 digit number and perhaps you'll get a T-Shirt. You think Craig Pell still gives them out? Wonder if 12 have done it? Is there a list of names? I solved game 5 about five or six years ago. I wrote to Mr. Pell and gave him my address at the time. He said that due to expense he was waiting until all 12 people had sent their names in so he could have all the shirts made at once. I haven't seen a shirt yet.

I think you may have stumbled on what might be a bug in dealing with saved games, but I'm not sure. I did notice that after I won a game, if I loaded another that it may not work properly. I don't know if the bug still exists in version 1.7. The reward for going beyond simply bringing the chalice back to the starting castle is an Atari logo. There's even a bit more in game 5. However, the logo should appear in the inner room of the starting castle.

I have no problems running Midnight Magic on my six-switch (not heavy) 2600, other than when I can't get the cartridge to fit. The later (dark red label) cartridges need to be forced into a six-switches' slot because the cartridge is just a shade too wide. Make sure you get the cartrdige in there firmly.

There's another Michigander on the list? We must be spreading! Anyhow, I picked up Tac-Scan at the most recent CCAG and was pleasantly surprised. I've never played the arcade game, so I can't make comparisons. (From what I've seen on other sites, it's dangerous to do so, as it will breed disappointment.) My advice, beyond what was already said, is to never fly straight for long. It usually puts you right in the line of fire since the enemy ships only shoot straight. Also, since the ships are usually in a diagonal line, flying on a diagonal will normally make them all miss your fleet.

I was an east coast Atari fan... about 20 years ago. I lived in Pasadena, Maryland when I was very young, and that's also when my family got the Atari 2600 that I still have to this day. I've been in Michigan now for about 17 or 18 years. I noticed there seems to be quite a bit of support in Ohio judging from the crowd at CCAG. Also, our very prolific Tempest is a Michigander, and I've seen at least two others here. (One wonders why there's been no gatherings in Detroit...) At any rate, I'm not way up north, out west (relatively speaking), or overseas.

I would like to see an add-on that allows you to connect a 2600 to modern TVs. I know that there's a modification you can make to a 2600 to do this, but I don't have the electronics skills or the comfort level needed. I also don't want to open it up! If it were possible to simply route the 2600's output that normally goes to the switch box into a new kind of switch box, that would be very nice.

In order for Stella to recognize a game as using paddles rather than a joystick, there must be an entry in the profile (stella.pro) for that game. Download the latest version of stella.pro (as a ZIP) file from Stella Profile and put it in your Stella directory. This profile file has entries for hundreds of games.

One big obstacle to rereleasing the 2600 is that many people who are fans of the games still have their old systems! What would be nice to see is someone selling 2600s that are modified to use modern video/audio jacks rather than the old RF switch boxes. I'd like to hook up my 2600 to the same TV as my PlayStation and DVD player, but I don't have the skill to modify my 2600 to allow it, nor would I want to risk frying it in the process. If someone offered new or near-new 2600s with the composite video modification built-in (and done through the case rather than having it open), I'd probably buy one.

I recently picked up the 2600 Mario Bros. at a recent show, but was unfortunate enough to end up with a PAL version. Is anyone interested in a straight one-for-one swap? I'll give you my PAL Mario Bros. for your NTSC Mario Bros. I am looking for a complete set of box, cartridge, and manual. The box I have is pretty beat up but the cartridge and manual are in good shape.

I am curious about how some 2600 games behave when you "roll over" the score and/or the level counter, if there is one. For example, if you roll the score in Yars' Revenge back to zero, the game difficulty drops to the easiest level. The same happens in Defender if you pass level 99 (or 100, I can't remember which). From what I've heard, a number of the Activision games display !!!!!! when your score passes 999999 points. Are there any particularly interesting things that happen, such as the arcade Pac-Man's split-screen after the 255th level?

quote: Originally posted by Burgel: b) Basic, VB, and C++ are the only languages I can program in with any degree of confidence. I am currently studying 6502 assembly language. I have a few game ideas for the VCS I would actually like to program. If you haven't already, I'd suggest subscribing to the Stella listserv. Many of the modern-day 2600 programmers, as well as those just interested in the inner workings, are subscribed. They post their works in progress and get help and advice. Send an e-mail to [email protected] with no subject and a message body of 'subscribe stella "your name" ' (without the single quotes). Beginners are most welcome. I've gotten a lot of help from the list, both from direct advice and reading through the archives.

I think part of the gender difference you're seeing might be attributable to age more than gender. Video games were very much a male-dominated interest back in the late '70s and early-to-mid '80s. After that, probably with the advent of either the NES or SNES, girls and women started playing more. Among my friends who are very close to my age (27), there aren't female gamers. Those who are a number of years younger (19-21) seem to enjoy them more. Somebody said you see primarily teens in the arcades these days. While that seems to be true (at least from what I've seen at Pinball Pete's in Ann Arbor - forgive the plug), many of those teens are female. Maybe the reason you don't see many women posting here is because you're looking for a cross-section of Atari 2600 fans and people who are active in message boards. I am, though, at a loss to come up with any concrete reasons...

quote: Originally posted by neilinoz: I tried using the "print Screen" button on my keyboard, which supposedly sends the screen onto the clipboard. But I think VGR must have spiked it or something because all I got was text. VGR didn't spike it... it really is all text. Indenture is a text-mode game. The standard font used to display text-mode characters was modified to show objects instead. Customizing the character set was a common technique used in creating games for older computers. For example, take any Antic or ANALOG magazine and you'll probably find a game that uses altered characters in one of the text modes.

I managed to solve both of the extra games (4 and 5) in Indenture a number of years ago. This included figuring out what the tokens do. I also managed to get to the "last" screen, which you'll know what it is if you get to it. As far as the tokens go, I won't give the secret away, but just give some thought to what they are and how they operate and their purpose will come to you - mostly like in the form of "I can't believe I missed that!"