thegoldenband

5. Marble Madness 4. Tempest 3. Mortal Kombat II 2. Galaga 1. Robotron: 2084 (Honorable mentions galore: Fire Truck, Tron, Star Wars, Donkey Kong, Major Havoc, Space Harrier, Double Dragon, Rampart, etc.)

Unfortunately, this one doesn't -- or, rather, it has a strict no-returns policy. Yes, yard sales have been very good to me and my girlfriend lately (as I noted above)! For me, this would have been a starter unit in the sense that I don't have any other hardware or carts at the moment, but since my parents should still have 50-60 games in storage that I can retrieve over the holidays, my main priority would be to get a working system -- something I can use for homebrews and/or party games, like Medieval Mayhem. Something Radio Shack'll have, I hope? Will the same hardware work for a Commodore 64, or a Tandy CoCo 2? With our multiple systems, we really need to pick up some sort of A/V switching unit just to deal with the RCA cables alone.

That's assuming it works, of course! This thrift store sells all electronics as-is, with no returns allowed -- so for all I know the thing could be completely dead, and I'd be throwing $15 away. If it were guaranteed to work, and had at least a working power supply, that'd be a different story. I suppose I should add that (a) I'm a student and don't have a lot of spare cash, and (b) I don't currently have another 2600 (the old one is in storage somewhere at my parents' house), so I can't cannibalize the joysticks and power supply from a different unit. Plus, for that matter, I don't have a switch box.

...a bare CX2600/CX2600A VCS, with no power supply, joysticks, switch box, etc., as-is? They wanted $15 for it at a local thrift shop, and I passed. I don't recall whether it was a heavy sixer or not -- it might have been a four-switch model -- but it was definitely wood-grain (not the 1982 revision). Meanwhile, at local yard sales, I got a Dreamcast for $1.50 (2 controllers, no games, no power or AV cords), and paid $15 for a N64 (4 controllers, 4 games) and two Playstations (2 controllers, 5 games). I already have a DC, and plan to give it as a gift to a friend; finding new power and AV cords might be a hassle (especially the latter), but for a buck-fifty...!

My grasp of the technical fine points of both systems is very limited, but I just wanted to say that this is a fine idea, and I suspect that a good version should be entirely possible. I look forward to seeing the results of your work. (Another great Odyssey 2 game I'd love to see ported is Loony/Looney Balloon, though I think I'm the only one who likes it!)

It looks and plays great! Did you decide not to use my tune, then? No worries if so, just asking...

I played it extensively many years ago, but I don't remember much in the way of gameplay specifics. In fact, I can't remember whether I beat it! There's what looks to be a decent FAQ at Gamefaqs, so you and I (and my sister, from whom I borrowed the game) are definitely not the only ones to play it.

Thanks, and definitely -- just let me know which one when you're ready, and I'll give you the source code! I'd also prefer to give priority to projects that are going to end up on carts, since that's more useful to me from a professional standpoint. (Saying "I've contributed music to a commercially released game" has more cachet than "I've written music that ended up on a game that never got finished.") Here's another tune, far closer to the usual "classic" Nintendo platformer style, I think: marioesque_13.bas.bin Both of my last two tunes have been finished on the 13th draft -- odd, that.

I didn't see these replies until just now -- thanks for the kind words! I use the same basic engine for all my tunes, based on Kisrael's code linked towards the start of the thread. Here's the source for the "air theme": airthemenew_final.bas The whole thing is a lot simpler than I would have thought -- if I understand correctly, all 2600 music is taking place in intervals of 1/60 of a second, so in some sense your basic tempo map is already set up for you. The trickiest thing is doing the split-second channel switches needed for drum effects, but remarkably, you can "steal" the first 1/60 second of a bass note or other sound for a hi-hat hit, and it's basically not perceptible at all. Here's my latest tune, in which I do some of those quick-switches: sept13theme_13.bas Note that I'm NOT a programmer, so the source is sloppy, undocumented/uncommented, and basically a disaster. With some time and effort, it could be made dramatically more elegant -- for instance, in my one-channel "boxing theme" (in the K.O. Cruiser thread), I was able to reuse the same data for different iterations of a loop. BTW, I've started a new thread for my Atari 2600 tunes in the homebrew forum.

By the way, some of my older tunes can be found here.

Hey, all -- I thought it might be nice to have a thread for newly-composed Atari 2600 tunes -- composed, that is, by me and by anyone else who might want to participate. Part of the idea is to put more music at the disposal of homebrew authors, so that if someone needs a tune for their game, they can look here first and see if anything's a good fit. If not, hey, at least it's better than having 'em sit moribund on one's hard drive. My effort of the day was cued by my girlfriend's suggestion to write something "Nintendo-style, with hearts and flowers and cutesy stuff". Not necessarily my forte, but I gave it a shot: sept13theme_13.bas.bin It's just a quickie job, so the "solo" gets a little weedy at times. It's not all that full of hearts and flowers etc., but I can imagine it working for a light-hearted, Bump-'n-Jump-style driving game -- perhaps using both channels for the title screen, and just one channel (bass + drums) for gameplay.

Pixelboy, thanks for your reply. Interesting -- the Wikipedia page lists it as 2K. Should I correct it? If there are reliable tech specs somewhere on the web, I could use them as a cited reference. These are only available in cart form, right? Both of those are things I'm sure many of us would love to see in finished form. Black Onyx was particularly exciting, since it's a translation of a very seminal game. Did Time-Bandit post ROMs of his Gulkave WIP? I'm still trying to figure out which titles are exclusive to the SG-1000 and related systems (other than the sports and board games, that is). Besides Girl's Garden, the candidates seem to be: Golgo 13 Space Slalom Pacar Orguss Dragon Wang Am I missing any? Was Safari Race remade for the SMS? What about Space Armor (on the Othello Multivision)? One of the things I like about the SG-1000 is that its library is small enough so that you can get familiar with all of it, but it's a robust enough machine that most of the games are worthwhile. Plus the graphic architecture feels familiar, since it's so similar to the ColecoVision, MSX, and TI.

Interesting. Since the SG-1000 has twice as much RAM (if the specs I'm seeing are correct?), it would certainly make sense that there would be difficulties. Still, from what I've read, there have been at least a few successes, no? I seem to recall that Lode Runner was successfully ported, Bruce got Black Onyx done, and it sounds like Gulkave was nearly done. Given that everyone seemed pretty enthusiastic, I'm just curious if anything ever came to fruition.

Playing thread necromancer here, but I've been getting into the SG-1000 library lately, and I'm wondering whether any of these ports ever came to fruition -- other than Black Onyx, which I believe Bruce finished, or almost finished (right?). Did anything ever happen with Girl's Garden or the other games? While I'm at it, a few SG-1000-related questions: - Have the full set of Othello Multivision ROMs been dumped? There are three or four I haven't been able to find. - Has anyone made a comprehensive list of which titles are unique to the SG-1000? (Heck, I'd love a list like that for every game system.) - Is it me, or are the colors screwy on many SG-1000 games in the SMS Plus emulator?

Just got around to checking this one out. Very, very cool. I'm only just discovering the Channel F, but I like the unique flavor of the system -- it seems like it has a few tricks up its sleeve, in terms of things it can pull off that other systems of the time can't. (Just as those other systems can do lots of things that the Channel F can't, of course!)

The NES is still probably my favorite system for gameplay, but the SNES offers my favorite overall "experience", if that makes sense -- relative to the uncanny valley, it's perfectly placed for my tastes -- and the sound hardware is fantastic. There are a lot of games with awesome atmosphere and mediocre gameplay (Drakkhen and Lord of the Rings come to mind). Other than games already mentioned (most of which come highly recommended), here are a few I remember particularly enjoying: Actraiser Flashback The Lost Vikings Mega Man X Out Of This World Space Megaforce Super Tennis (the best-playing tennis sim I've played besides Super Monkey Ball 2) There are also a bunch of first-rate ports, like Mortal Kombat II and Prince of Persia, as well as a pile of fun games I've only played in emulation (Magical Taruruuto-kun - Magic Adventure comes to mind).

You won't be able to play the .bas file directly, but the .bin file should play just fine in the Atari 2600 emulator of your choice (at least, I hope it does!). I use Stella, myself.

Sorry to litter this thread with music WIP posts, but I've added a hi-hat and dub-style delayed snare to the track, and I think it works pretty well. Check it out: boxingtheme_17.bas boxingtheme_17.bas.bin All this in only one voice, which is kinda cool! Devin, will this do the trick? (The code's a little variable-heavy, but could certainly be streamlined.)

Thanks! If you want to use it in the game, please do -- it'd be my pleasure. Here's the bBasic source code: boxingtheme_8.bas It's coded in an extremely un-economical way -- given the amount of repetition, it should be possible to streamline it tremendously. EDIT: Here's a version with "snare drum" added: boxingtheme_10.bas boxingtheme_10.bas.bin

Devin and Nathan, thanks very much for the kind words! Programming music for the 2600 is a lot of fun, despite my limited knowledge of bB (let alone my nonexistent knowledge of ASM!). Devin, here are a couple quick attempts at a "boxing theme". Both are written to use only one voice. boxingtheme_4.bas.bin This one's more elaborate. Note that as programmed, it technically uses both voices, but only one is sounding at a time, so it should be possible to reprogram it. boxingtheme_8.bas.bin This one's simpler/more minimalist, and literally only uses one voice at once. Maybe this would be better for gameplay, since it takes up less (aural) space. It has a bass drum beat, but it's very very crude, as I'm only beginning to look at the noise channel/drum sound effects in the 2600. (EDIT: Slight update to #8.)

Glad to see this game has been revived. Atari2600land, it looks like you're not using my tune for the title screen anymore? No problems if so, just wanted to check. (I rather like the little tune you've got there now, actually.)

Devin, the game is coming along very nicely! I have a bunch of tunes that I've written in Batari Basic that might be of use: http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=116958 Right now, the only one that's "claimed" is the one I called "underwater theme" (and I'll have to check on that, I'm not sure if atari2600land is still using it for Gosub 2). Off the cuff, I wonder if some combination of the first two, "main theme" and "new theme", might work -- perhaps one for gameplay, and the other for a title screen? For gameplay, you could mute one of the voices as needed, or completely if need be. I also have a few other fragments not posted on that page. Of course, I'll understand if none of these are a good fit. (Maybe I should take a shot at a "boxing theme" -- I haven't written any new 2600 tunes since that thread was posted last Thanksgiving!)

That mod, however, is a great idea. Easy as can be, and it works like a charm. No more losing your saved games because your NES goes into a blinking spasm!

Super Monkey Ball is fun, but Super Monkey Ball 2 would be my choice. It's easily the best party game I've ever played.

I haven't seen instructions, but the big trick with this game is that once you reach roughly 64 points in a round, the balloon reduces its swing just enough for you to fit it through the exit corridor. (Or at least that's what I remember reading, and once I bore that in mind, I started doing much better.) Other than that, it's really just about letting go of the balloon in places where it can drift upward for a while. As you practice, you'll get a better sense of the rhythm of the birds, so that you won't be caught needing to grab the balloon just at the wrong time, i.e. when the bird appears. The game is basically a series of loops: let go of balloon, jump on rides, go back and grab balloon, and repeat, while dodging birds and the walls. When you're getting ready to exit, you can repeatedly catch and release to score extra points, until a bird appears -- you don't want to exit until you're sure a bird won't attack as you leave, since you have no chance of avoiding it. Also, the rides always let you off in specific places, so you can take advantage of that -- the slide, in particular, can be used as a way of getting from point A to point B quickly. Your guy moves very slowly, so it helps to get a boost. I've also seen some weird warps when leaving the carousel, especially in level 1, though that's probably a no-go for high score club purposes (I didn't use any, FWIW). Oh, and it's important to remember that you can't stay still while holding the balloon for more than a second or so -- if you do, the wind blows it away. I didn't know this for quite a while, and that damned wind was frustrating the hell out of me!