rockman_x_2002

File this one under conquests at the flea market ! I'm on vacation this week, and today, I picked up a fully working, practically new Commodore SX-64 for frankly a cheap price. I'm super-excited, because I never thought I would lay eyes on one of these outside of maybe a classic gaming convention or some such event, let alone actually have one in my possession. But lo and behold, here it is, and she works great. It's a bit comical, actually, as I was able to get a discount of the sticker because it lacked the power cable with it, and I brought that detail up (nothing a quick trip to Walmart and a few more dollars couldn't fix, of course). The lady that sold it at the flea market had no idea what it was. She apparently thought it was some sort of fancy old military radio system or something like that (it was in a booth along with some of that type stuff: shortwave radios, scanners, reel-to-reel recorders, and the list. I just let her keep right on thinking that as she rung up the price, of course. I've also picked up quite a number of Atari 2600, Intellivision, and Colecovision games while I've been here, as well as one Commodore 64 cart (Frogger II: Threedeep), which I have been able to test out on the SX-64 and can confirm that it's fully working. I'm also taken aback at just how great the screen looks on these things, as well. Everything is nice and sharp and clear, which I wasn't expecting given such a tiny screen, even though I knew in back of my mind it's a CRT. So, for you other SX-64 owners out there, I do have a question. Has anyone tried a 1541 Ultimate II cart out on the machine and, if so, what's your experience with it? I know the built-in disk drive is set to automatically be device #8, and I'm assuming I will need to disable the internal drive in order to use the 1541 Ultimate II as Device #8 instead. I've not been able to do much research on that, and I'm just now starting my Googling of information like this, so if anyone can give me some pointers and places to look (beyond the usual resources like Lemon64, of course, which I will certainly peruse), that would be awesome.

I've started listening to your podcast, and I've yet to catch up to date, but I like the feedback segment. It's pretty awesome to hear what other Atari 7800 owners have to say about these games. Summer Games (Solid): I hesitate to place this in "Hall of Fame" territory because there are other, much better ports of this game available out there. However, this one is a solid port, and more elements are present in the 7800 version. There's a good variety of events, and the graphics are well drawn. I think the simple controls lend themselves to the 7800's joystick, so that's pretty decent as well. As Retrogamer81081 pointed out, the only major drawback is the fact that this game lacks the closing ceremony, and it would've been nice to have had the skeet shooting event in here as well. Still, it's quite a nice port and one of my go-to games on the 7800. Super Huey UH-IX (Meh): This one is a difficult one for me because I look at it through rose-tinted glasses. I got this game as a surprise Christmas gift one year, and had never heard of it at the time. As a kid, I really enjoyed this game and played a lot of it. There is a certain degree of challenge to the game in the simulation mode, and the arcade mode is fun in short bursts, although it grows to be repetitive quite quickly. The major drawback for this one, though, is that there is exactly one simulation mission to do, and once you've mastered that one, there's really no more substance at all to this game, which is very unfortunate. The graphics certainly look great, and while the controls lag a bit, they're serviceable. I honestly feel like the game would've been much better had there been more missions to fly, and if those missions would have occurred over varying terrain (not just grassy fields, but over water, in the desert, etc.). The lack of variety, the very limited scope of one single simulation mission and a very repetitive arcade mode, and somewhat laggy controls are what really hold back what would otherwise be a fairly decent title on the 7800. I would dearly love to give this game a Solid because I enjoyed it so much growing up, but objectively I can't do that in good faith. I hate to give it a "Meh" as well because I believe the game deserves to be somewhere in between those two ratings with an "it's okay". But, of the choices, "Meh" fits this one best, I'm afraid.

"If ifs and buts were candy and nuts, why we'd all have a merry Christmas!"

I bought a power supply from them a year ago. Power supply works great, actually. But it did take them a while before they shipped it, I seem to recall. Might not hurt to contact them, though.

An absolute behemoth! The project's kinda been on hold due to other goings-on, but I'm hoping to get back at it soonish. For what it's worth, I have found the volume control on the Dead Angle board now. Hiding right there in plain sight, too. Not that it matters since that's getting replaced, but it's nice to know.

Given that information, then, I might explore that idea. I still want to do a POKEY-only soundtrack, but I might additionally do something that would kinda combine the POKEY and SID together for some interesting effects. Another thought, too. What about two POKEYs on a cart, working in tandem? I know Atari used multiple POKEYs in some of their arcade games, so I'm guessing that'd work here as well?

Going on that thought, I wonder what technical voodoo would be required to get both a POKEY and a SID on a 7800 cart. SID for the music, and POKEY for the SFX. On topic: Incidentally, it's been fairly busy for me the last couple of weeks, so I haven't had a chance to really work on any more music yet. But the "Mission 1" BGM is still on my plate to do next. Hopefully I'll be able to get to that sooner rather than later.

I myself have more or less given up on thrift stores. There are a couple here locally that, on occasion, will get the odd item in here and there, and sometimes I'll pick those up on occasion if it's something I need or feel like I might later down the road. Once I picked up a couple of Tandy CoCos (one 2, one 3), and that was a decent find (apparently old machines that were donated from a local school). But those are very few and far between. Yard sales I tend to have a bit more luck, but these days, the folks who had this stuff have long since by now rid themselves of it, either through other yard sales over the years, eBay, donations, and yes, sadly, I presume even the trash. Where I tend to find the most luck, however, are stores that specialize specifically in retrogaming stuff. The prices are a bit higher than you'd find purely in the wild, but I tend to find that the prices are more fair than eBay and the like. While there's almost never anything truly rare there, I have found a few carts for various systems that I don't already have. Plus, I'm in there often enough that the owners know me and know that I collect retro stuff, so whenever something truly rare does come in that they wouldn't normally sell to just anyone walking in off the street, then they'll shoot me a message to let me know it's there before they stick it out on the shelf. The only thing that's really scored me, though, was an Odyssey 2 in its box (fairly worn but at least in decent enough shape), and a couple of carts for it. I see more Atari 2600 and 7800 stuff than anything else. Then 5200, Colecovision, and Intellivision. But what truly surprises me is that, over all these years, I have seen exactly one Commodore 64 game, and one boxed C64 (practically new). For a computer that was so popular back then, you'd think those would pop up frequently, but they really don't.

That does make sense, and I can see that being a motivation that led to the creation of this particular character set. But this character set was in play even during the black and white display days. Also, some games used a different character set entirely, like Space Invaders (which is somewhat similar to the character set the Colecovision uses). One thing, too, that, to me, makes the character set immediately identifiable is the manner in which it renders the zero. There could have been many other different ways to style a zero character, but this one was chosen. While I do think it's possible that many different people could have come up with similar-looking 7x7 character sets for 8x8 tiles (assuming a 1-pixel border for each character), I do feel like independently from one another, there would be at least a few minor variations. A pixel here or there or, again, in the case of a zero, a completely different look. Somewhere along the line, this character set became the de facto standard that everyone else eventually used.

The font I'm referring to is the same one that is used in Pac-Man, Donkey Kong, and even a number of Atari's earliest raster games (like Football and Canyon Bomber). So the font has been around since at least as far back as 1977, since that's when Canyon Bomber came out then.

After searching high and low across the internet for this information, and coming up very much empty-handed, I'm going to turn to our community in hopes that someone might be able to answer. We all know the character set, of course. We've seen it on a myriad of classic arcade and home video games over the years, and yet, I haven't been able to find out exactly where this timeless typeface originated. What company was the first to use the raster font in a video game? Was it designed specifically for video games, or did it have another intended purpose before gaming came along? And who, exactly, was behind the design for the font anyway?

Once again, last night I was visited by the now-infamous Reef Store Dream, or at least something similar. Typically, these dreams begin and end in the store itself. They typically follow a set pattern: I'm in a flea market, thrift shop, or other such venue, where I stumble across a box of retro gaming equipment (not always Atari but more often than not, it is). Typically there are a few items that I've never seen before, such as rare games that have never been seen before, or interesting bootlegged carts that are hacks of known games but interesting nontheless, usually with funky labels on them. Well, last night's was different in that the dream opened up with me at home, and I had just bought a few items from such a store. Among them were a few 2600 carts, all commons it seemed, and I began my usual (real) ritual of testing them out to see if they worked. I started with the first game on top, which I saw was a blue-label Infiltrate, according to the end label. There were two of these in the box, sitting next to one another. I popped in the game, turned the 2600 on, but what came up on the screen was very clearly NOT Inflitrate, but instead some other game entirely that I had never seen before. Also strange was the fact that the game on the screen had a "Copyright 1984 APOLLO" message where the score display was, which I found strange knowing that Apollo closed shop in 1983. And then I looked at the front label on the cart and saw that this game was, in fact, not Infiltrate, but a prototype of Inflitrate 2! And that's where the twist comes in. Never before in the history of these Reef Store Dreams have I ever actually had the opportunity to play a game like this. In this one, I did. The game started out with a blue screen and a black bar across the top for the score, displaying the copyright message in red. Hitting reset put three lives up, and a score of "000000" in digits that looked like a segmented LED display. Then a very crude airplane flew across the screen and your guy, who looked like the player sprite from Commando dressed in a black wetsuit, jumped into the water. You then had to make your way down the screen toward the bottom as it scrolled, avoiding or shooting at the other enemy divers in the water, and the occasional submarine. Once you reached the bottom of this level, you would see the bank of the river you crossed. Your guy would jump out of the water and his wetsuit would change into something more like a spy outfit (think James Bond). Then the screen would turn green and you would would work your way through a level on land. The land level had obstacles and buildings arranged in it, so you had to kinda maneuver your way around those, which added a little more difficulty than the earlier water level (which was mostly open). You would then cross this grassy area (again going down the screen toward the bottom), shooting enemy soldiers and tanks along the way, until you reached a grey bunker base (I assume concrete). Entering the base changed the game into something more akin to Berzerk, with a maze-like layout. You went from room to room, killing the enemy soldiers until you reached a room with a hot-air balloon, being guarded by a guy with a machine gun. Kill him, and then you were able to jump in and take the balloon, which would float up to the top of the screen. As the scene switched again, you were now above the base and the grassy area where you were before, except this time in the balloon. The balloon was outfitted with a machine gun, and you were fighting your way through a squadron of small fighter planes, and the occasional larger plane with more heavy firepower. As you made your way back up the screen, toward the river you crossed to get to the base, you also had to fly the balloon next to prison towers, where you would rescue hostages. After you crossed the river, the balloon would go to the middle of the screen to "land" and let the hostages out, where you would get a certain amount of points for each one you rescued. The game then reset, and you did all of that over again, except the layout of the level was slightly different, and the enemies were a little bit quicker as well. I was able to play through the game a couple of times before I woke up and realized it was all just a dream. But it was so strange in that I was able to actually visualize this game so clearly. It was a strange mix of Commando and Berzerk, with a small bit of Sky Jinks thrown in, and yet somehow, it seemed to flow very well. It was also fitting with the Infiltrate name in that you were actually infiltrating an enemy base. It's not only the first time I've played a game like that in a Reef Store Dream, but the first time I've practically "designed" a non-existent game in my sleep. At any rate, I thought I would share it with you all and entertain you a bit with it.

The NES version is the better of the two, in my opinion. That being said, the Lynx isn't a bad port at all, and for a portable version of a home console game, it's actually very well done. It's more difficult to make out what things on screen are, due to the smaller screen plus the lower resolution and all. However, the game is still a faithful recreation of the NES game, and just about all the elements are there. The gameplay itself translates quite nicely, so if you're used to playing this game on one console, the experience helps tremendously on the other. So it boils down to whether you want the game on a home console or the handheld. Either way, you're going to have a good (albeit very frustrating) time. Ninja Gaiden III is, hands-down, one of the most difficult games I've ever played.

Personally, I like both the C64 and the A8 computers, in spite of only having a C64 since "back in the day", and not actually owning an A8 (something I would love to correct in the not-too-distant future). But I have no bias toward either machine as I see strengths and weaknesses in both of them, and that includes both the SID and POKEY. I love to do music on both of those chips, as well as the NES's 2A03, although admittedly I would say I have a bit more experience with the 2A03. But thankfully, that translates in the ability for me to be able to take just about any song from any game produced for the NES and make a pretty faithful conversion to the POKEY, as I've done here. To answer your question, I use a couple of different tools. The first is for creating the POKEY music itself. For that, I use Raster Music Tracker, which you can find here. For NES music, I use a program called Famitracker, which can be found here. Converting music from the NES to the POKEY (or vice-versa) is fairly simple since the interface in both of these programs are somewhat similar (even though they keyboard commands are vastly different). If you can read music, then it's easy to read what the notes are to a particular song. The work involved for me is usually adjustment of timing, instrument tone, etc., since the POKEY and the 2A03 are so different from each other. So, with the title screen done for Double Dragon, I suppose the next logical step would be porting over the music for the first stage in the game.

Well, as promised, I've continued my work on Double Dragon's title screen tune for the POKEY, and now it's pretty much complete. Thought I would share the final product with everyone, or what's close to the final product, at least. DoubleDragonXM_Title_Final.mp3

On top of that, being an Activision release, they likely wouldn't have had access to the POKEY anyway, and wouldn't have opted for it if they had. Budgets and cost-cutting and all that crap, I would imagine.

Long as we're playing woulda-coulda-shoulda concerning Double Dragon on the 7800, I thought I'd try my hand at converting the title tune into POKEY music, listening to the NES version as a source. It's not done, but I have to say it's not turning out too badly just yet. Here's a small 27-second sample MP3 for you to check out of what I've gotten done so far tonight. DD_Sample01.mp3

I'll preface my story here by saying that up until a month ago I knew next to nothing about the inner workings of arcade cabinets except the general idea of how they work (i.e., it's made of wood, there's a computer inside with ROMs on board, joysticks, buttons, and coin switches buttons connect to it, there's a monitor for display, and a fluorescent ballast in the top). Since then I have learned much, but I need to know more. So, for a long time I've been interested in building my own MAME cabinet since I finally got a workshop/office built, and I now have the room for it. My original plans included building a custom cabinet from scratch, soup-to-nuts. However, about a month ago, I found out about a pawn shop in the area that had a Dead Angle arcade cabinet for sale that was in good working condition but physically beat up over the years. Used to be owned by the arcade in the mall some years ago when they were still an Aladdin's Castle. The pawn shop more or less just wanted the thing gone so they could reclaim floor space, and they were only asking $100 for it. I figured for the price, it might be cheaper to buy the game and convert it into the MAME cab. I'd never heard of the game before and played it in MAME and, while it's a decent enough alright game, I figure the cab could be better put to use as something else. Now, what I was expecting to find is a game slapped into your typical Dynamo cab or similar, as arcade operators were wont to do in the late 80s/early 90s. But when I got there I discovered that the game was actually installed inside a Bally-Sente SAC-1 cab, and from what I can gather after getting it home, it's played host to a lot of other games in it's lifetime, but I have no clue as to what the original game from Bally was, as all the serial numbers and identifying info from the sticker on the back have faded away with age. The cabinet itself definitely has some wear and tear. The front of the cabinet looks fairly beat up, the coin doors especially. There's some wear on the control panel metal as well, and the T-molding needs a total overhaul. The white plastic outer shell on the cabinet has yellowed with age, and I'd like to find some way to brighten it back up to its original color (Retr0bright, maybe?). The game boards have some age wear on them, but I found them generally in good shape. The game itself plays great, actually, and nothing seems out of sorts electronically. Joystick and buttons all seem to work, and the power supply (including the isolating transformer) are all in good shape as well. The coin mechs have been removed (or partially so), so inserting coins doesn't actually do anything except drop straight into the coin box without actually hitting the trigger. The only way to coin up the game is to open the coin door (easy to do, as the lock has been removed) and physically press the credit switch a few times. I found that the monitor is in fairly decent shape, besides just a small bit of electromagnetic buildup around the bottom left of the screen (slight, but it's there) and a small bit of interference coming from something, though I couldn't begin to guess as to what. There is also a lock in the back of the cabinet which hasn't been removed, and of course I don't have the key. I figure on taking that out and re-installing all brand new locks (and a new coin door), but that will have to wait for later. What I also found (or did not find, I suppose), is the volume control. I've searched high and low for this, and even downloaded the manual for both the SAC-1 cabinet as well as the Dead Angle game. It seems that the SAC-1 is expecting the volume to be controlled by the game board itself, and the manual for Dead Angle alludes to there being some volume controls somewhere. it would be very nice to find those, as for the meantime I've simply unhooked the speakers from the game. The alternative is to go happily through life with blown-out eardrums, of course, and I found that option less than satisfactory. So if anyone happens to know how to adjust the volume on a Dead Angle board, I would be forever indebted (until the PC is ready to install in the cab and the cab itself is being cleaned up and worked on, it would be nice to have a game to play in it in the meantime that you can't hear in the next county). For the conversion to a MAME cab, I have a Dell Dimension E520 desktop that was given to me free of charge. It has an Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 CPU (1.86 GHz) with 1GB RAM, but I have ordered more RAM for it to bump it up to 4GB and will later purchase an Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 (2.6GHz) to replace the CPU and give it a little extra muscle. I also have an ArcadeVGA video card from Ultimarc with appropriate connectors to get the machine connected to the RGB monitor in the cab, as well as an I-PAC input encoder, also from Ultimarc (and I will be ordering joysticks, buttons, etc., later). I'll be taking the guts out of the desktop case and mounting them inside the cab directly, of course. At some point I will upgrade to newer hardware, of course, but since this PC was free to me and minor upgrades in total will cost me around $40 tops, I figure it should be ample to run the earlier games that I enjoy most (pre-1995 or so). I've posted a pic of the cab, which is standing on a four-wheel dolly next to my Mustang LE pin right now. I want to keep it on wheels for the meantime until I can get it fully converted over to a MAME cab so I can roll it around and work with it. One thing I do like about this cabinet is you can actually access the innards from the front, as opposed to working totally in the back. But what I'm looking for right now are suggestions and gotchas that I need to look out for as I embark on this project. Also, for the record? That Bally-Sente SAC-1 is one more heavy SOB.

If I'm not mistaken, I should be on that 2014 list as well, if not the 2013 list even. I know I'm on one of them.

Could he have possibly meant Activision's Cosmic Commuter and said Avenger by mistake?

I've been following the thread and news about the XM. Curt, glad you're feeling better, and glad to hear the XM is going to be available more generally since I missed out on the opportunity to preorder one earlier. Would love to get one and enjoy some of these new, great games that are coming for it!

Definitely want a Concerto cart! I bought the Harmony back when they were first being produced and I absolutely love the thing. Best thing I ever bought for my 2600!

Well, it looks like after all these years, a port of Donkey Kong Junior has finally graced the Commodore 64. And a fine port indeed it is. It was released over on CSDb, and announced here in its forums. I just found the news tonight myself. Here's a youtube video of the game in action on an NTSC C64.

Congrats on finding a copy of Xevious. Probably one of my favorite 7800 games, and always on the top of my "go to" list.

Kinda have to agree. I mean I get where you're going with it, and the whole technical part of, "Lookie what I can do!" But still, the only way this would be to advantage would be if you could design a game that works fine on a 2600, but perhaps has advanced features on the 7800, it's a bit of a moot point. Something like how Nintendo did with the black cartridge Game Boy Color games. Played on a GBC, you got a full color game that took advantage of the faster CPU and GBC hardware. But the game would technically work just fine on a regular old Game Boy, albeit in black and white, and sometimes screen transitions would have loading times.