Feralstorm
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Posts posted by Feralstorm
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But it won't be market as a "Flashback 8 bit Atari computer"...
It would be the same "40 of your favorite arcade classics!!! Plugs right into your TV", but with more true-to-arcade graphics... probably won't even mention computer or Atari 800 or anything like that on the box. It'll just look like a mini 400/800 or something, maybe even with a fake keyboard... and people at the stores will just be like, "Cute, it looks just like one of those old '70s home computers!"
I think it would sell. No need to tell anyone it really is an 8-bit Atari computer...
True, it's not like the FB1 really called itself an Atari 7800, even though it was (sorta) designed as such.
The biggest issue I see with an Atari 400/800/5200 is that many games make use of a keyboard or at least extra buttons, which has to be incorporated into a cheap Flashback console in some form.
Can't imagine ANY 5200/400/800 system without Star Raiders!
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If the poll is to be believed, GCC Millipede is gettin' rarer all the time! Maybe I should sell my GCC-containing FB2 to a collector down the line, 'cause I sure can't play the durn thing!
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that'd be worth seeing, A game with variations that allow either mode of operation (Lunar Lander style and Jupiter Lander style) could be kewl.
In all honesty, I don't see FB2 Lunar Lander as all that bad, basically something that needs bugfixes and tweaks, not outright scrapping. The biggest would be fixing display issues, and finding enough CPU time to draw the playfield and sprites in one frame.
There's other things too of course, but that's a start.
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The design I would (metaphorically) kill for.. would be a FB system that combined 2600, 5200/Atari4-800, and 7800 with a form of cartridge access for all three. That's EXTREMELY pipe dream though, but I'd be willing to pay a bit more than an FB2 to get one.
...and then I'd hook the CC2 up to it.
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Since it's not totally consistent, I think it has something to do with the small differences between the FB2 "2600 on a chip" hardware and the genuine original article, and how different games' programming tricks react to them.
I'd be curious to know if a cart-hacked FB2 plays a Missile Command cartridge the same or differently than the built-in version (which seems to have no 'comb', but some visual glitches on the left edge of the screen, and by the missile cannon's ammo-meter)
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I feel like campaigning to get source code released for FB2 Asteroids Deluxe, Lunar Lander, and Caverns of Mars, so anyone with some 2600 programming smarts (sadly not me) can fix and/or improve them.
Don't think much of anything could save Space Duel. Scrap that and start over.
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I have Pitfall 2, which works just fine on my 7800.
my 7800 appears to be an earlier model (with exp. port) if that makes any difference.
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(looking at the 'hints')
Aw poo, I was hoping for a 7800 hardware compatible FB3 that I could attach my Cuttle Cart to.
Either way, I'm ready for the FB3 whenever it comes out.
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Why would I want to get one of these if I have a 2600 with A/V and a Cuttle Cart? Is there another benefit?Why do you assume that everyone already has a Cuttle Cart? I don't have one, and they're out of production. This would be a great product for people who didn't have a chance to get a CC.
He didn't assume anything. Note his use of the word "I", and not "anyone".
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I don't think its a matter of a "better" TV, but instead how it reacts to the signal from Millipede. You might actually be better off with an older TV with a nice vertical hold knob on it.
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Tell whoever is doing new any all-new games for the thing to start yesterday, and tell the money people to pay them better.
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The sound issue doesn't really bother me. Games with problems like jumpy screens bother me more.
I think what annoys me the most is that problems like that end up on the shelves. I understand that there are schedules and budgets to meet, but every game with "issues" (especially ones that affect casual consumers as much as accuracy-checking fanmonkeys) mean more consumers less willing to get the next product.
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If the poll is to be believed, GCC Millipede seems to be the rare one. Presumably it was swapped out early (earlier than the voice fix) for the Atari version (cause it don't roll)
I'd assume the Voice-fixed versions would either be all-Atari, or possibly all-GCC, Since Thomas said its not easy to fix the scanline number in the GCC version (and eliminate roll), Atari-Grames will likely decide it's cheaper to tweak the part of the manual that says "Alternate Millipede" than make sure GCC 'Pede works right.
Maybe PAL FB2's will have GCC Millipede?
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After seeing the Flashback 2 "Asteroids Deluxe" hack, I'd love to see an improved version (one would probably have to start over with the original Asteroids though.)
FB2 Asteroids Deluxe has some issues, but it showed me that it's possible to do a convincing version of Deluxe based on 2600 Asteroids. A few things I might suggest would be:
Add animation for rotating rocks (as seen in the otherwise useless FB2 Space Duel)
Change the behavior of the "snowflake". In FB2 Deluxe, the Snowflake is a modified rock (out when the round starts) that tracks you horizontally when split up. I might suggest changing it so the snowflake appears when all rocks that go one direction are destroyed (freeing up one player). It would also make it possible to allow the snowflake to move in almost any direction, and have the shards track you vertically as well (keeping a distance from each other similar to the Berzerk robots.) With the extra rocks pared down before hand, it might be possible to have the flake split into two, then four shards, instead of two, then two smaller like the FB2 version (same as rocks)
Just a thought. I see a lot of potential in FB2 games that was not properly realised. Don't get me started on Caverns of Mars
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doubtful, since I'm pretty sure the Adventure "heroic square" is the system "ball". Changing its shape would require either using a player sprite instead, or some kind of wierd gymnastics with on-the-fly ball positioning/size per-scanline.
I don't think any of that is possible (or at least practical) to do using a bit-hacker.
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I wish the new games would eventually get leaked or dumped or whatever, if only so the talented hack-artists could take 'em and make them into something good.
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No Quadrun voice (and GCC version as I said earlier) for me.
Definitely going to wait a while, then get another FB2, so I can get the fixed stuff.
wonder if any bug fixes are in the hopper for the jumpy new games?
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Yeah it always did that. Also when you shoot certain bugs.
The FB1 version of Millipede didn't have scrolling mushrooms IIRC
I got the GCC Millipede on my FB2. I'd love to see how it plays, but I can't see it through that damn rolling screen!
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Depends largely on whose trademarks/Intellectual property is being infringed. Some wouldn't care if it's basically harmless. Others might not be nearly so understanding.
The most likely thing (if there was a problem) is you'd get a cease and desist legal letter and have to quit producing/selling/
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GCC version for me, which is too bad, since its picture rolls like a mother.
Maybe there's a connection here... does your Quadrun talk or not?
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Dennis reported the HMOVE blank bars may be missing. Can anybody confirm this for other games?
Save Mary should prove this pretty obvious. Or Missile Command with non-black background. Check the left side.
It appears that some effort has been made to remove the 'comb' I've only really checked Missile Command so far, but the comb is not on the left side - it's all background color. However if explosions or missiles go to the left edge there is some distortion, so something is there, just not the well known black comb of yore.
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Considering FB2s aren't particularly expensive or tough to obtain (sooner or later), it would make sense for someone to offer a flat price for complete modded FB2 systems, instead of having someone send theirs in to be modded. Like 50 bucks or more for a FB2 modded with a cartridge port and switch to enable/disable the internal games.
Wonder how tough it is to put a switch in the cart port itself, activated when a cartridge is inserted, and the normal game selection when no cart is in the slot.
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Sounds like maybe someone needs to turn Nukey Shay loose on the source code of some/all of those new games.
Haven't gotten a FB2 yet, but I'm guessing short schedules are to blame for any shortfalls. Atari needs to start the coders going a few extra months in advance perhaps.
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I don't see much reason why this game couldn't be done with players/missiles/ball as long as people could accept two things: flicker and some minor compromises in the gameplay behavior. (you know, like pretty much every Atari 2600 port ever made)
My problem is, having never played the Odyssey game, I don't know the details of the gameplay. A few odd thoughts for a 2600 version are:
bee swarms might be doable with ball/missiles, by using one 'bee' per scanline, then repositioning the ball/missile semi-randomly for the next 'bee'. Might be rough on CPU time with a bunch of other moving objects to keep track of though.
Bee-bots should look like the robots from Berzerk (with antennae
)Personally, I think a lot is possible given the majesty that is 2600 Dig Dug. That has a ton of player objects running around independently (at least 8 or more) which could all end up on the same scanline - and the flicker ain't too bad either.
(and assymetrical changeable playfield too)
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Asteroids Hacks
in Atari 2600 Hacks
Posted
Ah well, I guess my real point was that it was a game I could actually play, even though it has definite issues. I'm better at it than I am at Arcade Lunar Lander anyway.
As for what's wrong with Space Duel, aside from the fact that it's more graphically glitchy than Asteroids Deluxe, is that it's not really Space Duel in my eyes, it's just Asteroids again with a two player mode and a half-assed 'bonus round', and IMO shouldn't have been made if they were going to use the 2600 Asteroids code base again. (I originally thought the same of Asteroids Deluxe, but the FB2 execution seemed serviceable given that compromises between Arcade and 2600 games are inevitable)
Arcade Space Duel is another Asteroids update of sorts, but with a lot more variety of objects and motion types. A more accurate 2600 Space Duel might be doable, either with a greater level of sprite flicker, or maybe using a display kernel similar to Starpath Suicide Mission. (which may require extra RAM I'm assuming)
And gotta have the two-ships-tethered-together mode!