Boing2600! update

[Boing2600! update]

Yeah, but this one has bigger balls.

[Close to what Atari could have done?]

One thing that would be nice in an improved DK (though not easy probably) would be to make Mario jump in a proper arc, as opposed to the "step up, step down" he does in the 2600 game. Something like that would probably help on the elevator screen, since that one relies on jumping simply to get around (not to mention no other screen requires you to jump to higher/lower platforms.)

[Any update on the Flashback 2.0?]

Looks like just Asteroids will be a graphic hack of Asteroids.

 

I never realized that 2600 Asteroids flickered when I was a kid, only until I was older and looked at games in a more analytical way. It's the 'nice' steady 30 frame flicker which isn't that noticable, even less so on the 'vector' hacks. I'd rather have some flicker than hobble the movement and gameplay myself.

 

Has Space Duel got the one player "two ships tethered together" mode? That was always fun in the arcade version.

 

Are Space Duel and deluxe built on the base of the original 2600 Asteroids code, or just made to have a similar look?

 

I'm full of questions it seems.

[Close to what Atari could have done?]

Looks pretty good to me. Too bad Mario can't jump/fall off the girders yet.

 

In my mockup pic, I figured the ball and/or missiles could be used for the elevator platforms. (ball for one set, missles for the other, so the color differences in my pic) Makes sense to me since there's no hammer on the elevator screen, which used both the ball and one missile on 2600 DK (I think)

 

On the subject of changing playfiled colors for the ladders, I played with it on my mockups. Looks good for the rivet and conveyor screens, not too bad on the ramps, but pretty crappy on the elevators, especially if the ball was used for the moving platforms (they would change colors as they moved up/down the screen)

[Any update on the Flashback 2.0?]

Sorry to bug.

 

Both Space Duel and A. Deluxe look quite promising from the pics. Since both games were enhancements to the original Asteroids gameplay, and I was curious how much they would have in common with 2600 Asteroids, and it looks like quite a bit, at least visually. Now I can't help but wonder how much flicker there is compared to 2600 Asteroids as well, especially with more variety of moving objects in the new games.

[Close to what Atari could have done?]

'you're smoking wackey weed' etc.

 

Well, I used -all- 2600 sized pixels in those images, kept it to the number of scanlines a 2600 has and limited the colors per scan line.

 

I still maintain that in the right hands, 2600 donkey kong doesnt have to look like the monochromatic coleco port. One of the 2600s greatest strengths is it's color pallette, and the ability to change colors every scan line. I believe that can greatly help a 2600 dk port.

881814[/snapback]

 

probably doable on the rivet or conveyor belt screen, but the ramp and elevator screens have platforms and ladders sharing lots of horizontal lines. Gotta admit I wasn't thinking about that much on my mockups, staying with a similar design to Coleco's version.

 

Hmm, I guess my two-player size Kong sprite could be useful if a "How high can you climb?" screen were implemented.

[Any update on the Flashback 2.0?]

...And still no screenshots of Asteroids Deluxe or Space Duel, huh?

[Close to what Atari could have done?]

Mockup concepts for the remaining two screens. Trying to keep these somewhere in the realm of believability.

[river raid 2600 source]

I'm not very good at River Raid, but I haven't seen any tanks in the 2600 game.

[My first games-in-a-stick]

The Jakks Atari Paddle seems to be above-average as well, at least to me.

[Attention all homebrewers!]

Finally, someone who knows (and gets) Frantic Freddie!

 

For me, it was fun to try to stay alive and avoid clearing the screen until the music looped. I kept thinking there oughta be some kinda bonus for holding out.

 

My fave was the rendition of Paul Simon's "Kodachrome"

 

(we now return you to your regularly scheduled topic )

[Attention all homebrewers!]

Hmm, guess I need to Make a Website for my campaign to port the C64 game Frantic Freddie to the 2600 then.

 

(screen mockups and such buried deep in the homebrew forum somewhere)

[What is your rarest 2600 game?]

Rarest I got are Crazy Climber and Mr. Do's Castle - both 8's I think.

[Close to what Atari could have done?]

I remember back when I was a kid, I tried to draw what I thought Donkey Kong would look like on the 2600. I had no real idea about 2600 limitations back then, but my concept was kinda similar in look to 2600 Pac-Man. The big thing about it was that the ramps didn't slope, looking something like the first screen of Kangaroo. I was impressed 2600 DK actually had sloping ramps at the time.

 

A better 2600 DK could be quite tough, since accurate recreations of two of the four screens would require assymetrical playfields.

 

ADDITION: Mostly for fun, I mocked up a couple screens of what an improved Donkey kong might look like, building on the looks of the Coleco game, and allowing for some flickering.. Only the ramps and rivets screens so far, because it's easy.

 

Also worked up a little idea for What Donkey Kong himself could look like if made from two player sprites intead of one double-wide.

[Attention all homebrewers!]

I'd imagine (not being a homebrewer myself, though I did make a few C64 games with Gary Kitchen's Gamemaker back in the day) it is just a tiny bit insulting to ask a question which implies no one in the homebrewing community does anything besides ports, when it's already obvious that's not true. (though admittedly I don't know the full histories of the games I mentioned, as you can see)

 

Yeah, old Ataris aren't necessarily the best programming environment if the goal is only to try out new ideas. Seems the primary reasons for game homebrewing (of any type) is as follows:

 

. Bringing your own game ideas to fruition (usually resulting in new and maybe original/innovative games)

 

. Desire to bring a particular game to a system where it doesn't exist, or is unsatisfactory (Example, Pac-Man for 7800 and 2600, respectively)

 

. Desire to challenge ones self by designing a new or existing game to the limitations of a given system

 

. Any combination of the previous three.

 

All I know is that when I or others campaign to get game ideas done by others, they're not interested.

[Most Comfortable Joystick]

I have a couple of those, but they never worked right. I was collecting Amiga memerobilia, so I didn't care so much if the sticks didn't work.

 

Wish I still had my old Tac-2, or Epyx.

[Close to what Atari could have done?]

2600 Donkey Kong was a 4K cart, so bumping up to 8K or more would go a great length toward a better DK game.

 

Coleco DK isn't that bad really, just kinda repetetive and a bit limited by havng only one barrel/foxfire per floor to avoid flicker

[Attention all homebrewers!]

JoustPong/Flap-ping

 

Man Goes Down

 

Space Treat

 

Oystron

 

And more...

 

 

Then again, arcade and other game ports are just as valuable, as there will always be folks who want a certain game for their hardware of choice. (Including the homebrewers themselves, otherwise they probably wouldn't bother.)

[Flashback 2.0 shown at OVGE]

Sounds much like a pre-release demonstration version without all the games in it. I think the same kinda thing was done for the demo units at the E3 show.

 

What did the menu screen where you picked the games look like?

[Most Violent Game]

How about Dig Dug? Your goal is to kill everything else by either crushing them under rocks or spearing them with the end of an airhose and inflating them until they EXPLODE! Imagine if that game was made in today's 3D rendered gorefest graphics!

[Sidcrowe's New FB2 Poll]

A game is what it is. Yar's return is already a rather different game from either the first Yar or Star Castle, so gameplay is what you make of it, and there's not really a "tradition" that needs to be followed.

 

That said, if it were my decision (and it ain't), I'd let it be a selectable option, either by game variations or difficulty switches.

[Homebrew appreciation thread]

I appreciate all the homebrews and hacks out there (and done a few hacks myself), even moreso since the 7800 homebrew scene has opened up!

[7800: Pac-Man Plus - Now with Manual!]

I do.

 

 

I seem to do best with the standards (Pac Man, Pac Plus, Ms. Pac) than the ones with 'complex' maze paths or open areas (Ms. Pac Attack, Hangly-Man)

 

A new Joystick might help there, my old-as-dirt Wico seems be getting a bit insensitive.

[Collecting Crappy Games]

From what I've heard (being only a casual collector myself) most of the rarest of the rare games are also pretty crappy. It's the conflict between getting something of worth to a collector, or something of worth to a gamer. The two do not always (or even often) mesh.

[Yars' Return and Caverns of Mars - Sneak Peak]

Now THAT's what I'm talkin'bout! Now where's that Space Duel screenshot?

 

Yar's Return looks interesting. If it wasn't already dismissed, I might've assumed that was a finished-up version of an earlier prototype, back when the intent was still to do a port of Star Castle.

 

Can't really tell much on Caverns of Mars yet, especially since I never player the original. Only criticism I'd make is that maybe the player's craft could use a smidge more detail to better match the computer version. Either way, if the game is fun, that's all that will really matter.

 

And Asteroids Deluxe! gimme a pic of that too!