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LocalH

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Posts posted by LocalH

  1. Posted

    The bad thing about Zip disks was that a physically damaged disk could "infect" drives with the "Click of Death" (where the damaged disk literally ripped the heads off and left them dangling, which would then subsequently damage disks inserted afterwards). The actual clicking was just the normal head retraction mechanism in use when there is difficulty reading the disk.

  2. Posted · Edited by LocalH

    Graphics are slightly different but the sound is spot on and game play is close to the original.

     

    I haven't had enough time to play it but I'll be spending a few hours on it tonight to see what the fuss is all about :)

     

    Gameplay is identical to the original. Aside from extra lag frames if running on a non-turbo system, everything works. Jumping off a powerup works (by letting up on jump and pressing it again before touching the powerup), wall jumps work (by catching Mario on a tile boundary and pressing jump during the first frame that his standing sprite displays), that one jump works in 8-1 between the secret area and the Starman, where you can jump at full speed off the top platform and always stomp a Paratroopa. Even the minus world trick works (although whether it's world 36 or a different number due to different tile assignments), although it dead-ends at -3.

     

    This is as literal as a Super Mario Bros port could get. I bet if you could compensate for differing lag frames, and corrected for the input system, even a TAS might have a chance of working with this.

    • Like 1

  4. Posted · Edited by LocalH

    I heard years ago that the Amiga mouse works the same as a 1351.

     

    This is not true. The Amiga mouse can not go into joystick mode. Also, the Amiga mouse has a completely different pinout from the 1351.

     

    This "trick" absolutely requires a mouse that can emulate a standard digital joystick. I don't think the Sega Mouse does, but I'm not sure. If one has a Commodore 1350, that mouse will work too, without requiring the right mouse button be held on powerup (as the 1350 only supports joystick emulation, with no proportional mode like the 1351).

    • Like 1

  5. Posted

    It's the half-line per field in the NTSC standard that triggers the interlacing. 262 lines (including blanking) is the closest non-interlaced picture height to the actual NTSC standard of 262.5 lines per field. This is why, on systems where one can control the total number of lines to be output, it's possible to output a true interlaced signal with some ingenious coding. As well as with the 2600, I've also seen where someone used a test bit on the Commodore 128's VIC-IIe chip to output an extra half-line per field and generate interlaced output.

  12. Posted · Edited by LocalH

    I'm not sure if there's an advantage to using the original code. The look and feel can be easily reproduced.

    The advantage of using (or at least porting) the original code is making the game control identically to the original. There are a few crappy Super Mario Bros clones for the Genesis, for example, that were programmed from the ground up (admittedly rush jobs by people just looking to make a few bucks). There is one good and accurate port, done by Mairtrus. He actually uses the original graphics data (converted on-the-fly), a palette provided by me, emulates the sound hardware, and ported the code more or less directly. The only real difference that I'm aware of is that the minus world bug doesn't act the same (world 36 is not the "looping 2-2" of the NES game, but then again the FDS version of SMB also had a different minus world).

     

    It would definitely be possible, but it would be easiest to do if there were a full disassembly of arcade DK out there as much of the heavy lifting would already be done.

     

    Edit: Looking closer at that mockup, I decided I wanted to see what it'd look like at 1:1 pixel resolution. I did not aspect-correct the original-style DK logo (as this was a quick and dirty job, it would need to be vertically squished to look proper on an NTSC console, or slightly vertically stretched to look proper on PAL), nor did I quantize the logo to 16-colors using Genesis-style 9-level RGB. However, I felt such a layout might look a little better, and the logo fills up some of the extra space well. Might even throw in a "©1981 NINTENDO" on two lines in the classic font if you want to use up a couple more rows.

     

    dkgenesismockup.png

    • Like 1

  14. Posted · Edited by LocalH

    Apparently the Famicom disc system has a hidden message revealed when pressing select+start when reseting the system, then when the screen is black hold right+a to see the message.

    I looked it up, and

     

    2C33 INTERNAL ROM

    PROGRAMMED BY TAKAO SAWANO

    NINTENDO CO.,LTD. DEV.NO.2

     

    The ".," is a single tile (same one seen on the license screen after "NOW LOADING..."). My guess is that this is actually an easter egg hidden within a dev testing feature, as holding Select+Start while resetting (but not mashing Right+A)

  16. Posted

    Microsoft had their copyright message show up on the CoCo if you tried clearing the screen to an invalid color.

    And it seems to me they hid messages in some other basics they originally wrote but companies bought the rights for. I can't remember off the top of my head which ones though. Maybe it wasn't a message but a specific behavior so they could identify their basic.

    PET BASIC v2 - WAIT 6502,1

     

    Note that this egg was specifically added by Microsoft for PET BASIC V2. The text "MICROSOFT!" is stored in ROM, backwards, using screen code (with the top two bits set for obfuscation) and written directly to screen memory, rather than using ASCII and CHROUT. Interestingly, Microsoft themselves must have forgotten the use of those 10 bytes to store "MICROSOFT!", as every version of 6502 BASIC post-1978 still included the 10 bytes, and still using PET screen code, as well as the later 6800 and 6809 ports as seen in the TRS-80 MC-10 and Color Computer (but none of them contain the egg code). No later version of CBM BASIC contains either the egg code, nor the 10 bytes of "MICROSOFT!" - Commodore removed them from the source when they discovered its existence.

    • Like 1

  17. Posted

    I don't have originals to trade, I'm just wanting to look through that collection of cracked games. Any demoscene stuff in there? I doubt it is, but those printed labels sound awfully close to my old collection from back in the day (which had been passed to me from my uncle, and which I sold for about $75 as a whole, including a C128, 1541-II, 1571, and Super Snapshot v1 cartridge), and I was thinking that it might have been traded through multiple hands until it ended up with the people you got the stuff from. Might you post a picture of one of the labels? Where (in a general sense) are you located?

     

    The only reason I ask is because my old collection had a few demoscene prods that I have been unable to find on the net to this day, and I would love to find them again.

    I am in Chantilly VA. it looks like these games came from somewhere in PA. I don't know who had them before that though. can you explain what a "demoscene prods" is and how to tell if I have any? I'm new to collecting, in this area of games, and I'm not sure. I'll upload pictures in a few mins

    Demoscene

     

    If you see anything that looks like it's not a game, but still has a "group" name (similar to a cracking group name, since the demoscene was borne from the cracking scene), then it might be from the demoscene.

  18. Posted

    I don't have originals to trade, I'm just wanting to look through that collection of cracked games. Any demoscene stuff in there? I doubt it is, but those printed labels sound awfully close to my old collection from back in the day (which had been passed to me from my uncle, and which I sold for about $75 as a whole, including a C128, 1541-II, 1571, and Super Snapshot v1 cartridge), and I was thinking that it might have been traded through multiple hands until it ended up with the people you got the stuff from. Might you post a picture of one of the labels? Where (in a general sense) are you located?

     

    The only reason I ask is because my old collection had a few demoscene prods that I have been unable to find on the net to this day, and I would love to find them again.

  19. Posted

    I think I'm about to be ill. :sad:

     

    This could set a very bad precedent - it becomes not just about a handful of Atari users, but the whole emulation scene...all of those who enjoy being able to play games on platforms from common to arcane.

    I was under impression this was already settled case law in the US. Emulators are legal as long as they don't reproduce BIOS images without authorization. Someone needs a good IP lawyer to fight back with to not only win, but file a countersuit against "Atari".

    • Like 1

  21. Posted · Edited by LocalH

    That is why all the consoles now put up a splash screen with the company name. The first company to win a lawsuit (was it Sega?) did it on the grounds that the software was claiming that it was authorized by them since it came up right after the splash screen.

    I don't know if anyone won such a case, but SEGA certainly didn't. The case was SEGA v. Accolade and SEGA initially won, but Accolade appealed and won the appeal. Even if a console says the equivalent of "PRODUCED BY OR UNDER LICENSE FROM BUMBLEFUCK ENTERPRISES LTD", if your program code/packaging/advertisements make it very clear that, no, you actually aren't licensed, then you're in the clear on that front. Doesn't mean you still can't get in trouble as far as copy protection, etc. That's why Datel's method of pressing PS2-compatible discs was legal - they basically cut the center portion out and grafted it onto their own discs (not sure how the hell they did it, but they did), and Datel is very clear that their products are unlicensed. So it doesn't really matter that the console displays the product name on bootup. Notice that even on current-gen consoles, where you have to bypass copy prevention in order to run your code, they never, never go after the homebrew coders, only those actually hacking the security itself (and even then that's like playing Whack-a-mole with a weak Nerf mallet). That basically hinges on the fact that it's not your code displaying the trademark, it's the console itself.

     

    "Atari" here simply forgets that trademarks can legally be used descriptively, they just can't be used deceptively (for example, if Andrew were claiming he were Atari then they would be in the right).

    • Like 3

  22. Posted

    Wow, this turned into a big dick-waving contest instead of constructively discussing this issue. This is serious, "Atari" is claiming copyright over code they don't own. If this is allowed to continue, then it spells the end of homebrew console development as we know it. You guys also want other hardware manufacturers to start doing this too? Better that it be brought to public attention.

     

    And no, I wasn't the one who submitted it to /. I see no problem with it having been submitted, though.

  23. Posted · Edited by LocalH

    Atari looks like it might just be the new Acacia. Wonder if the EFF would get involved?

     

    I'm the owner of atari2600.org -- I registered the domain on 05-Sep-2000 and have had it ever since. Over a decade.

     

    I used it to demonstrate and share my software efforts on the machine. Generally, freely downloadable demos and videos of work-in-progress. If you have a look at the site on the wayback machine you'll clearly see that I've never associated it with the Atari company, used their logo, nor have I implied any endorsement by them. Like I'd want to. It's simply a hobbyist site which was used for a while to promote Qb, then as a placeholder for the [stella] mailing list, and more recently it's hosted some videos of my latest 2600 efforts.

     

    I suspect I have a very valid case for "nominative fair use", however I have little chance of fighting the big company on this. I believe I have to show up in a USA court to fight usage if ICANN respond to a trademark claim; hardly an option when I live on the other side of the planet. I also suspect that this is the thin end of the wedge.

     

    Say goodbye to your hobby, everyone.

     

    Cheers

    A

    One problem with "Atari's" action here with regards to your domain - utilizing TESS, I was unable to find an active word mark for "Atari 2600". The original mark was active from January 17, 1989 to July 24, 1995. I suggest you contact an IP attorney for advice as to what to do, unless you already have. If it turns out they have made a wrongful threat against you, that may be grounds to return the favor and file suit against them. It is legal (at least in the US, where it seems that jurisdiction stands) to use a mark to refer to the mark owner, or to descriptively refer to the product covered by the mark.

     

    I do fear, however, if people start rolling over for these cases now, this will only encourage "Atari" to continue, and maybe even go further. I fear this may even be an attempt to strongarm homebrew developers into stopping development under threat of (baseless) legal action. Faced with such a situation, I'd guess that all but the most high-profile and/or wealthy ones would crumble simply because they wouldn't be able to afford dealing with such a suit if it were filed (and nothing says that "Atari" couldn't file suit even without merit, such types of cases happen all the time). I am not speaking to any specific individual with this statement, merely acknowledging that if "Atari" is successful here, then it's likely to snowball into a massive debacle. And if thing were to go just right in any related court proceedings (and especially if there is a "hidden benefactor" that assist with legal fees and advice) that this may be the initial steps into an all-out war on all independent development on "game consoles". Noone in their right mind would accept such restrictions on standard commodity PCs, but the general public wouldn't think twice about it since they don't generally think of consoles as computers. This would especially apply to newer consoles that require bypassing copy prevention in order to run homebrew code - currently, it's only the act of bypassing the security that is illegal. Don't think for a second that N/M/S wouldn't love to make the simple act of developing code on their consoles illegal, even if you yourself don't contribute or have anything to do with distribution of the means to break security and run your own code.

     

    IANAL, I just have a layman's interest in copyright/trademark/patent/related issues. I also only performed a search through word marks, since we're not dealing with design marks here regarding atari2600.org. This scares me as a fan of all homebrew development for all consoles, even though I have never written a single line of code for an Atari machine. If this were to go to my (hopefully extreme) conclusion, then say goodbye to the possibility of a demoscene on any game console (of which there are several now, however small).

     

    As far as the letter to pps, screw them. The only thing they could have a legal leg over is the Fuji. As sad as it is to have to remove the symbol, without that they can send you all the letters you want and it doesn't mean anything. If it were up to me on this one, I'd keep the Fujis and just tell them the legalese equivalent of "go piss up a tree", and I'd use the hundreds of other independent productions that include the Fuji to demonstrate a history of non-enforcement. As for anything regarding the A8 machines, I am unable to find any word mark relating to any of them, dead or live. I'm not aware that any of the actual machine names were trademarked in the first place.

    • Like 1

  24. Posted

    I think it'd be a good thing if Nintendo started releasing things on other platforms again. Not to direct competitors like the other consoles, but a little bit just to expand their market share. It's been a long time since we've seen an official Mario game on a non-Nintendo platform (for most of the world it'd be the various Mario Bros port, for Japan of course SMB Special).

     

    Of course, I also want Nintendo to bring back support for SGB enhancements for any future GB/GBC compatible devices or software (VC, etc). Fat chance of that happening too since they like to act like the SGB doesn't exist.

  25. Posted · Edited by LocalH

    Unfortunately, inaccurate thread. He was seriously considering 64 but went with 22.

     

    Commodore himself talked about his decision via Twitter Wednesday afternoon:

     

    I guess word is out that I will be wearing 22 this year. It was a really tough decision that I went back and forth on many times ... wearing 64 would have been neat and cool, but I just didn't feel like this was the right year to do it. In my opinion getting an ... opportunity to play in Detroit is a special thing, and I felt like I needed to wear a # that is special to me. 22 is that # for me ... I really appreciate the interest and support the #64 generated, I wish @Commodore64 all the best with there computers, as a matter a fact I ... am going to order one when I get to Detroit, and I will get in touch with @wyshynski about the $64 pledges, and I will match it and donate ... money to charity. Which charity that is I don't know yet, but I will figure it that out in sept when I get to Detroit.

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