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JJohnson

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Posts posted by JJohnson

  1. Posted

    4 hours ago, alex_79 said:

    None of the above. The 2600 has a very simple hardware and almost everything is handled via software. The polling rate of the joystick and how the game reacts to a button press is determined by the code in the cartridge itself, and what you experienced is exactly how that particular game is supposed to behave, as you can see by reading the manual linked by @CapitanClassic:

     

    It's good to know it's intentional behavior but dang, that's frustrating that it's so limited.  

  2. Posted

    5 hours ago, CapitanClassic said:

    Have you read the instructions? (“It's NOT that common, it DOESN'T happen to every guy, and it IS a big deal”)

    https://atariage.com/manual_html_page.php?SoftwareLabelID=459
     

    have you tried frying the cart? (I.e. holding down the game reset switch while flipping the power on/off. That will let you fire-off twice)

    I got the game from an eBay auction without the manual, so I haven't at all.  If there's a homebrew Space Invaders, the fire rate needs to be increased a lot.

     

  3. Posted

    Hi folks, 

     

    I was playing Space Invaders game 33 with my father-in-law, and we noticed the fire button didn't fire every time we hit the button. Has this happened to anyone else? 

     

    Is it the button being worn out or dirty, not designed to take rapid input, or the machine itself (atari Jr) not being able to handle rapid input? As in, press fire several times in a second, and it registers maybe two of five presses. 

     

    Has anyone else had this issue? 

    • Confused 1

  4. Posted

    I've been playing Berzerk, and while it's a cool game, it's very very easy to be put in a place where you either get hit by an enemy missile, touch and enemy, or touch the wall, all with one-hit death.

     

    My idea to 'improve' Berzerk would be to add a life meter of some kind so you get a few hits before you die, say 5 hits, and every time or every other time you hit a robot, you get a recharge 'battery' to restore the life meter.  

     

    My second idea would be to make the mazes actually mean something.  They seem random as it is.  What if they led to a confrontation with 'evil otto' and when you destroy him, you win?

     

    Third idea - make it two player, preferably at the same time.  So, same amount of recharges for the life meter, meaning you kind of have to work together to get to the next screen.

     

    Just two ideas that I think would make it more fun to play the game.  I am not very good at programming, especially for the 2600, but I know plenty of people on this board are very skilled at this.  Is this a doable change to the game?

  5. Posted

    On 3/28/2021 at 12:41 AM, Video said:

    Coleco was simply a way more powerful machine than 2600.

     

    I never bought the idea that coleco made the 2600 version had on purpose. It could have been better, but it was playable and followed the largely "good enough" mantra for the time.

     

    Imo, the coleco version even looks better than the Nintendo version.

     

    What is weird is the intellivision version. It should have been better, but seems much like the 2600 version. Maybe a cheap conversion of something?

    More powerful, I don't doubt.  It came out afterwards, didn't it?  And the 2600 was 1977 technology trying to do something other than Pong.  I guess that's why the 5200 was released.  It should certainly have more homebrew games as should the 7800.

  6. Posted · Edited by JJohnson

    On 3/25/2021 at 10:51 AM, KaeruYojimbo said:

    https://medium.com/swlh/how-i-spent-my-summer-of-1982-59638293f358

     

    Donkey Kong and Pac-Man have both been discussed a lot (I mean a lot) on this forum. Dig through the old threads if you're really interested. Don't believe that "Coleco made the 2600 port bad on purpose to make the Colecovision look better" garbage that still gets spread around sometimes. The Colecovision has more powerful hardware, allowing for much nicer looking graphics. Also, Coleco only gave Garry Kitchen 4K for the 2600 port, limiting him to just the 2 screens. But it's one of the first 2600 games with an asymmetric playfield, has pretty hi-res graphics for the VCS and no flicker. Technically, it's a pretty impressive game for the time and the platform.

    Good info.  I was looking in the 'let's compare' video on DK and was wondering, if there's no space limitation, make an 8k, 16k, 24k, 32k, 64k, whatever game, could the Atari 2600 theoretically make a DK with more arcade-like graphics, as in, DK doesn't look like a gingerbread man, Mario has 3 colors on him in a relatively more accurate manner, and Pauline is a little more detailed?  And can it be done without flicker tricks?

  9. Posted

    13 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

    While the question on extra RAM has been answered there are a few other mods or upgrades you can get on a 2600:

     

    - UAV (Composite and s-video output) which, you already mentioned

    - RGB (Depending on how you configure it and what you buy, you can get RGB, Composite, S-video, & Component). Also provides pause/unpause feature if extra button is added to the system

    - Winz (Has a board upgrade that also provides for s-video, composite, and I believe the pause/unpause) I've not installed this myself as yet

    - Standalone pause/unpause (This feature can be added by itself as a dedicated mod)

     

    That is what I can think of off the top of my head that I'm immediately aware of.

     

    Cool stuff.  Is pause that useful for the Atari 2600?  Could the Color/B&W switch/button be repurposed for the pause?

  11. Posted

    I'm just wondering if anyone has done a homebrew game where the second controller uses the keypad to allow more controls like missiles and lasers on a game while you use the first controller to steer. Is that possible? 

  14. Posted

    The regular RCA to COAX connector was my first try, giving me the mildly-static-filled screen above.  Try 2 will be using a COAX with a COAX-to-RCA connector to the Atari 2600.  Then I'm going to try a converter/modulator next if that doesn't work well.

    • Like 1

  15. Posted

    As far as I've seen, Centipede, Millipede, Missile Command, Crystal Castles, and quite a few others used trackballs in the arcades.  My question is, has anyone done any ROM editing of any kind that makes it possible to use a trackball on the Atari 2600 (or 5200/7800) and play those games listed with a trackball?

  16. Posted

    On 3/19/2021 at 10:59 AM, cvga said:

    I'd recommend...

     

    Beamrider - my all-time favorite game

    Enduro

    Demon Attack

    Space Attack - highly underrated, make sure you read the instructions

     

    There are also a bunch of incredible games in the AA store. Galagon is amazing as are a bunch of others.

    Speaking of the AA Store, I see lots of games in there, which is awesome.  My question on that is, which ones of those are remakes of the 2600 originals that are 'better' versions of them, like Pac-Man 8K vs. the original Pac-Man 2600?  Is there a Centipede/Millipede that uses trackball, or a better Ms Pac-Man perhaps?  Defender, Galaga, Galaxian, Space Invaders, Berzerk, etc.?  The games on that list are the games I remember most for Atari, and while I am working on building out my 2600 collection with the originals that work, I am not averse to modern improvements of the originals.

     

    And thank you, and to everyone else for giving me some fun games on the Atari 2600.

  17. Posted · Edited by JJohnson

    Hi all,

     

    I was wondering if there were any significance to the different cart labels I've seen on Atari 2600 games before.  I have seen silver label, text label, and artwork labels on my own carts.  I have two Space Invaders, one text, and one with a label, and I never knew why.  Different year?  ROM versions?

     

    And what's the deal with the numerous "## Tele-Games" cartridges I see on ebay all the time?  That auction itself has an 8 and a 12 Tele-Games cartridge.

  18. Posted

    I read there were multiple versions of the 2600, and I know of a few - Darth Vader, 6 switch, Sears Telegames (my version from childhood), and Telegames 2, but which was the very first one released?  Is there a list/pictures of the versions by release date?

  20. Posted

    2 hours ago, qrysdonnell said:

    If it’s a Jr what I’d recommend is instead of getting the female coax connector to male rca and putting that on an rca cable, get a female coax connector to female rca and plug that into the back of the Jr. and use a normal tv coax cable.

     

    I had issues getting quality rca cables that worked without interference and eventually settled on this solution for a few of my systems.

     

     

    Can you show me a picture of that?  Just to make sure I get what you're suggesting.

  23. Posted · Edited by JJohnson

    I'm just wondering which games folks find the funnest to play on the 2600 or are 'classic' or 'iconic.'

     

    So far I have:

     

    21 Video Olympics

    Asteroids

    Astroblast

    Basketball

    Berzerk

    Bowling

    Combat (a version with a silver outline and one without)

    Defender

    Football

    Galaxian

    Mario Bros

    Ms. Pac-Man

    Pac-Man

    Phoenix

    Pitfall

    Pole Position

    Space Invaders

    Spider-Man

    Star Raiders

    Street Racer

    Super Breakout

    Target Fun

    Video Olympics

     

    I think Donkey Kong, Frogger, Galaga/on, Missile Command, Centipede, Millipede should be on my list for sure.  Any others?

  25. Posted · Edited by JJohnson

    Hi guys,

     

    I'm trying to get my Atari JR and the Sears Tele-Games 2600 to work on my TV and it's not working.  Both have the power converter, the 2600 retro converter that is new (less than 1 year old).  So I then tried with just an RCA to COAX converter and got the attached video signal from both.

     

    My question is, do I need a new Atari 2600?  Or just a new TV converter, like this?  I just want to get a clear signal to the TV.

     

    Thanks for your suggestions!

     

    James

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