MayDay
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Blog Comments posted by MayDay
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wow... that's crazy... glad to see you are okay. Hopefully the insurance will still cover it, since it was arson?
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The biggest fallout is that I've gone from a "2lk" format for the tile artwork (as shown in the yellow photo) to a "3lk" format for the playfield, with a "2lk" format on the sprite overlays (not shown). Moving around a few details, that makes fora 24-scanline-tall row.which also means redesigning some stuff for you... I'll get started on it tomorrow, no chance for me to do it tonight I'm afraid.
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I also like Housecall from Trend Micro (www.trendmicro.com), I used to use it in tandem with another program, but found it worked as well by itself as the two together. Online, free, just follow the prompts.
-JD
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I had forgotten the perks as well... tickets out the gazoo, chinese food, free shirts, access to lots of sweet equipment, and of course the people you meet (who would otherwise pay you no attention!)
It's really pretty amazing some of the stuff they line up as trade outs, and I'm sure it will only increase as summer comes along.Last week: monster truck tickets (passed), royals tickets (should have passed), nutcracker ballet duckets (passed), plus I met the mayor, two councilmen (who incidentally all were defeated in their re-elections), a polo, several personalities from the town, etc. The food, the friends, the fun- no other profession comes close!
Trust me, that's several years out of the business speaking. Despite my nice little drive each morning, I really am glad I got back into it. Based on your post, I'm guessing you feel the same. -JD
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I had a lot of the same kinds of thoughts on my my last job, knowing I would be laid off eventually. In this case you already have some pre-warning, and while that's little consolation, at least it's something. I'm sorry to hear your minigame will suffer as a result. I understand it will take some time to get your feet back under you.
Anyway, I know myself and SpaceInvader (see her blog) were in the same boat as you not too long ago. I think that's two good examples of the forced change leading to an eventually improved situation over time. I had been looking for a new job anyway, but you always seem to look a little harder after you don't have your current one to fall back on.
Good luck with the search.
-JD
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To answer the question .. "what do you do in radio"I've been an on air DJ, do some production and voice work, but mostly I sell commercials.. I've been in the biz for about 10 years and for the most part radio as an industry has been good to me... It's just an ever changing business.. and that makes it hard to stay put for a long time.. I'm hoping this latest gig will be solid for several years at least..
lol... you're one of THOSE radio people. j/k... BTW, Kansas City (Missouri, not the copycats to the west) is market 31. Jacksonville is market 52 according to Nielson (television figure). Hope the new job treats you well, and remember to go easy on your production peeps.
-JD
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Been reading some stuff lately about Sony's issues with the PS3 and Blu-Ray, and IMO if Sony takes until the end of the year to get the PS3 out, MS will built up a sizeable lead, since I would imagine that they will solve the shortage problem fairly soon and a year is a long time for gamers to wait for the PS3 while the 360 sits on the store shelves with more and more games available.However - assuming Blu-Ray doesn't go the way of BetaMax, I think Sony will catch up eventually because the PS3 will have HD built in.
But I'm starting to think that Sony is close to having bit off more than they can chew.
I couldn't disagree with this more. It's becoming more and more apparent that BluRay is winning out (as it should!) and will be the new disc storage standard. And while it's sure to get replaced soon, it will be around long enough to make it worth Sony's while. As storage capacity continues to increase ever more quickly, I think each new standard will have a shorter and shorter life... something we're just off the edge of the cusp from right now.
Secondly, Microsoft doesn't really have any games for the 360 yet. Of course they have games you can play, but there is mostly a bunch of EA (another crappy company) style sports games which are largely incomplete- and most still play better on the old standard and year. There are hardly any console specific games which would lend to buying a 360, and definetely no "must haves" within those.
Finally a lot of geeks hate Microsoft, myself included. I don't feel I'm letting this cloud my judgement (or saying Sony is better). However, from the video industry I have come to see how utterly reliable their products are, and own very little equipment without their name tattoed on the side. You will of course pay a little more for it, but it's the only one of the six major video brand products which hasn't failed me in some aspect on a shoot.
Basically, until 360 gets a game or two that kicks PS2's ass, I don't think anyone except Santa will be running out to buy one. Not that they'd be available, even if you wanted to go purchase one. Sony has owned the games market for the last decade, and I think gamers will repay that with brand loyalty... at least until it fails them in the future.
-JD
Something that's gone unmentioned here though... I think PC games could cut a much bigger chunk from their dominance than either Microsoft or Nintendo. With MMP online games becoming ever more popular, I think it will start to grab people by the masses away from the console market. Why spend $400 just for the box, when you can buy the game and pay 5 or 10 bucks a month to play on something you already own.
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Welcome to the world of Atari blogging. I too got laid off around Christmas (right when I got back from my vacation
). In the end, it's worked out to be much better and the change has done me a lot of good. I'm back to working in television again from something totally unrelated, but I've seen a lot of general broadcasting contracts. If there are any parts you're a little unsure about, I'd be happy to take a look at them and tell you what I think.Anyway, congrats on the new job. And, if in the future you're ever looking for information on the industry (market sizes, ownership information, etc.) be sure to look me up, I have a ton of resources (a filing cabinet full) and would be happy to help a fellow Atarian out.
-Jason
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Congrats on the apartment and the new fam. I don't know how your Dad will react, but just keep in mind that parents only want what is best for their kids (even if they don't always know what that is!
) Good luck with your new life, and remember not to ever let that Atari get too dusty!-Jason
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Is it possible to put orange scanlines on the opposite rows of your blue? I know you need the extra time to display stuff, but IIRC it never takes up very much of the screen (say more than 1/4th)? Plus, I don't think it's in very many of the rooms, but I'd have to go back and play it.
2 lines of playfield would probably be too big (?)for the door bubbles, but you could do something like this:
10
10
11
11
11
11
11
11
11
11
10
10
Add the blank rows back to it if you like too.
Just a couple of thoughts that probably won't work.
-JD
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Women's curling is fast becoming my favorite Olympic sport. The US team is attractive, which doesn't hurt, but mainly I'm sick of snowboarding and "extreme sports" and all that crap. Curling rules. If only it snowed/iced in Memphis often enough to play.Two of them are sisters too... which never really flipped my a/b difficulty switch, but I hear some guys are kind of into that thing. I have to say the US curling team in Salt Lake was much hotter.
Also, I haven't watched this year's Olympics much, so correct me if I'm wrong, but does anyone know why there isn't a Pakistani bobsled team? We could even send them Drew Carey, since John Candy is no longer available to coach. Bin Laden could come and tell his eldest son he has to go to school to be a doctor, which the son would refuse to do, and they crash in turn 14 during the final run. With the somewhat lackluster response to Cool Runnings, I always just knew there would be a sequel. Afghanistan, anyone?
EDIT- and as a side note, I once read shows with "X" in the title are rated 12% higher on average than other shows in the same genre when running during like time slots.
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Another idea for a chess variant:I always thought it would be cool to have a variant (probablyu only human vs human) that was like "real time" chess...every time you move a piece, the cursor resets to some "home" position, and besides that you can move as much as you want, no waiting for the other player...
With limited Atari controls, this is actually a pretty novel idea. I don't think it would work with say, a PC, as dragging and clicking would be too fast and ruin the concept. It would definitely be unique to a 2600. It's like blitz combined with not moving too fast, thus advancing an attack too far. You would have to change the rule to actually capture the king though, or stop play when in check or something. I think the actual capture would be the best though. I really wish this game was higher on the list, I was really excited when I found out somebody had this in the works.
-JD
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Wow, this is some of the coolest sprites on the VCS ever! Make it move!
I think this game (and a few others!) could greatly benefit from having a custom controller. Basically, any one player only game could have two wires and use the inputs from both controllers to make more buttons to choose from. I've started a prototype which i hope to finish in the next few weeks. I know I told Bruce-Robert about it, but I'm not sure if I mentioned it in the forums in general (I don't think so). Once the prototype is operational, I'll take some pictures and post them for you guys to see what your thoughts on it are. I just don't see any good way of controls for this game (as well as super mario bros., also mentioned) and think a few classic games (kung fu masters) could benefit from it as well if they were reprogrammed. That is, if anyone has interest in such an undertaking.
-JD
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I suppose one could also argue that unless time pressure is a factor the triple-repetition rule won't generally matter if the 50 move rule is enforced. If a position kept recurring, the 50-move rule will eventually kick in even if the repetition rule did not. If either player could expect to win by breaking the repetition he would do so; if neither player has such an expectation the game draws.Actually, yes... and this may not even be that hard to do. Just have a small subroutine where you track a variable (such as Fifty_Move_Check). Each time white (or black) makes a move, you incriment this by one. If a pawn moves or a piece is captured, this number is set back to zero. You could even make another subroutine where if the variable reaches say 46 or 47, the game could decide whether it was ahead, even, or behind in value and make a "decision" whether or not to accept/play for a draw based on cost of forcing this this variable to be reset. If this doesn't make sense (as I often don't), I'd be happy to explain further.
-JD
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You'd better hurry... Get a game in, you're running out of time!! tick tock, tick tock
-JD
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Got it. All except the math anyway!
Have any unused and original music just laying around? Just curious
-JD
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Wow, I hadn't seen that. Any word on the BD project? I imagined this looking like the mockup shows, 7x7 grid, with tiles 2x16 in dimension. That would start halfway across the screen and only use PF2 and PF1 (reflected screen). I think a variety of options are open though, depending on comprimises you make vs. time you have. With flicker, I think you can almost display anything you want, as shown by Andrew with BD and Paul Slocum with HSR.
-JD
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You should immediately get a forbearance on your student loans. They will suspend payments for as long as you need them to and you won't go into default.I was a day or two away from making this call as you suggested, but luckily I found a new job today. I'm getting paid more, better benefits, and will enjoy the company a lot more than my old one. Not only that, but I'm now back into the industry my degree is in, so maybe I'll have a future in it after all (this excites my parents, you'd almost think they helped pay my way through college!)
. Getting fired (laid off, in PC terms ) really was a blessing. Thanks for all the kind words and advice people posted here.-JD
BTW- what's the difference between a forbearance and a deferring your loans? Two names for the same thing, or are they actually different processes? Just curious.
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Looks like an interesting game. I think it will be quite a challenge to fit the AI into 1K, but I'm sure you will have fun trying!Does anyone care to guess how I managed 7 sprites with color changes (without using z26 tricks)?Could the sprites simply be masks over the background colours?
Chris
Another way to possibly do it (it wasn't done in this case however) would be to widen the sprites and display two pieces with one sprite.
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Three bits will suffice for en passant since a given board position can accommodate at most five possibilities.Skill levels and/or variations could be set via difficulty switches.
To actually comply with tournament rules, you'd need a lot more memory than the 2600 has, even if the display kernel weren't a hog, because if a position occurs three times at any point in a game that yields a draw; tracking that would require logging all positions that have occurred. Even if you can't do that, something to watch for directly-repeated positions would be good.
I have played chess for a long time and only seen the 3 move repetition rule used once. As long as people know it's not part of the game's makeup I don't think it's a huge deal if you leave it out. Maybe you could spit out notation as you go along (not to be stored) that a serious player could write down and refer back to if they cared that much.
Interestingly enough, I think it's no big deal, but it was part of the Fischer/Spassky world championship match in Reykjavich. During game 17, in the midst of a potential Spassky comeback, Fischer conferred with the official who declared a draw from a game where he was down a rook for a knight. Following Fischer's draw, many western "experts" pointed to that moment as the momentum swing back to Fischer, and thought the draw crushed Spassky's spirit.
A quick google, you can find that game here if you want to click through it.
EDIT- it would help (some) that anytime a piece is captured, everything before that move can be reset (as they will not occur again). But, then there is also the 50 move rule, at which point you are way out of memory to track again.
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From supercat's suggestion in the previous post, in picture form. His version had one less line (11 instead of 12) so I just added one pixel to the top of each row.
EDIT- also changed the king to match the queen's new design.
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I tried to keep the queen's ring, but that made it harder to distinguish between the queen and king. I'm open to suggestions.This is what I was meaning... I slightly altered both the king and queen using the new dimensions you listed.
Chess logic coming anytime soon? I can tell you what it's rated!
Still working on Four-Play, and possibly another game for the 2006 1K contest.
Travesty!!
Your setup is awesome, much better than the striped version the original is. I know this game isn't your primary concern right now, but have you given any thought to having your engine contain opening lines or endgames? Or will it play entirely based on logic? I think at least a few of the most popular opening lines would help immensly to strengthen it's playing ability. Most high-level games today go 15-25 moves "by the book" with several games having followed each line for the players/computer to reference.-JD
EDIT- also, have you given thought to the most important part, which is what you're going to name the game?
How about Deep Fuji or X3D Fuji? -
That looks really good, Mayday! I went ahead and programmed the full board with your set, slightly modified. I made the queen less rookish, and made all the pieces taller. I was able to free 4 bytes from the self-modifying code and put them towards an extra line on the pieces. Now the dimensions are 3x13. The new screenshot and binary are in the first post.
I download the binary because I thought your mockup may not be exactly accurate... I don't understand how you have both the board and pieces displayed with the playfield, or am I missing something? It seems as if there are more pixels displayed than should be allowed...
I agree your crown for the queen is better than the one I designed. I also think you should leave the ring in the middle of the piece though so it matches against the king. Speaking of the king, I don't really like his crown either, but can't think of any better way to display the cross. Anyone with ideas?
Chess logic coming anytime soon? I can tell you what it's rated!
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in MayDay Today
A blog by MayDay
Posted
Has someone done this before? Your answer is so specific that I would guess you have either watched someone do this or have firsthand experience yourself. This is starting to get out of my ability level, I just thought I'd have some fun soldering around on a Saturday and see what I could come up with. I didn't realize the same pins would have to end up being read different ways.
So, I have a few questions: 1. Can an unmodified Genesis controller still be made to read at least the D-pad and two buttons? If so, I think that should be the standard for homebrews needing another button since it would be the most available option for the highest number of people. 2. If not, should supercat's suggestion be a standard? Do we need to have a standard? Does having another button ruin the integrity of the 2600, or are we just exploring it's full potential that way?