Chadivision

I just noticed that for some reason the manual scan for Backfire is missing from this site. (I used the contact page to let the site admins know.) In the meantime, if anyone is trying to figure out how to play, here is a quick description: You control one gun at a time. Press up or down to switch guns. The active gun is a lighter color. Left and right move the active gun side to side, and the button fires. If the enemy ships get across the screen, they move one row closer to the top or bottom. If they get to the row right next to one of your guns, they cause the "rumble" effect. That was added to prevent the player from just waiting and shooting them point-blank. Also, on this last line you get zero points for a kill. It's just a last-ditch attempt to try to save a life. If they escape the side of the screen on the final row (top or bottom), you lose a life. That's when you see the animation of both guns freaking out, and you hear the crazy sound effect. The other ways to lose a life are to get hit with a shot bouncing back at you off of a barrier, or by one of your guns shooting the other. So you want to move while shooting, in case you miss. And try to avoid having your guns lined up with each other. The fast-moving UFOs in the center are a critical part of the game. One gives you points, one gives you an extra life, and one...the most important one...rolls back the difficulty level temporarily. If you fail to hit the UFOs, you quickly get so many barriers on the screen that its nearly impossible to hit the ships. It's a very difficult reflex-based game. In retrospect, I wish I'd ramped up the difficulty a little more gradually. It definitely takes some practice, but once you get the hang of it, I think there's some fun gameplay in there. I just didn't want anyone being frustrated because of confusion over how to play. If you're frustrated because the game is way, way too hard...yeah. I get it. Sorry about that.

I was really upset today because I thought that my Cuttle Cart (also known as my most prized posession in the world) quit working. I was relieved to discover that the problem was with the CD player that I was using to transer the ROMs (the headphone jack quit working). So that was good news, but it left me without a way to get the ROMs into the Cuttle Cart. Then I remembered hearing about the PocketPC version of the PlayBIN program. I downloaded it to my PDA and transferred all of my ROMs, and it works great. Now I can transfer any game I want from my PDA into my 2600. I feel really high-tech and low-tech at the same time!

I ended up playing Frostbite for most of the night. Although that is a pretty fast-paced game it was really kind of relaxing because it's basically about reflexes, so I pretty much just zoned out. It has been awhile since I've done that. I hooked up my CD player to my Cuttle Cart (I've got over 500 games burned to CD's) and spent a couple of hours playing--a great way to unwind.

Thanks, Al. Hi, Stan. Not much is new.

My name is Chad, and I'm an Atari addict... It's been six months, two weeks, three days, and eleven hours since my last game. It got so bad that I actually learned 6502 assemby and...[sob]...started writing games...

Thanks. By the way, does anyone have any suggestions for atari games to play for stress relief? I was trying to think of some nice, relaxing 2600 games (to play at the end of a tough week), and about the only one that I could come up with was "Frogs and Flies." If I play some of my favorites (Frogger, Cosmic Ark, Fast Eddie), I'll probably end up getting even more stressed out and smashing my TV. Then again, smashing my TV might be kind of therapudic.

I don't know if anyone noticed or cared, but I haven't been by this board in quite some time. Well I'm back now, and I'm planning on playing some Atari this weekend (been awhile). It should be fun. Sorry for the worthless post (then again, if I was really sorry, I wouldn't have posted it).

I just wanted to let everyone know about four Ebay auctions that I have going right now. Atari 2600 Star Raiders Cartridge and Keypad Atari 2600, 15 Games, 2 Controllers, 1 Set of Paddles Atari 7800 Bundle with 15 Games (Atari 2600 compatible) Broken Atari Systems and Controllers (use for parts)

I have a couple of stories at... http://Writing.Com/authors/chad_lare I'm sorry. I had the link in my signature, but I should have also included it in the post itself.

I love Atari, and I like to write fiction, so I got to thinking...I would love to write a story for an Atari 2600 game. Is anyone programming a homebrew that could use a good story? If somebody else could do the art, we could create a comic book or an illustrated short story that could be packaged with the game. Or you could post the story on the web with a link to your game in the Atari Age store. I'm pretty flexible as far as genere and I don't want any of the royalties from the game...just credit for writing the story, and I would still reserve the right to republish the story later if the opportunity arrises. By the way, don't judge my writing talent by the story that I put in the Backfire manual. That was intended to be kind of cheesy (like all of the tacked-on stories in the original Atari 2600 game manuals).

My tag is "Chad Lare" (not the most original one ever) So far I have only palyed Halo2, but I also have Ghost Recon and Crimson Skies, so I'm sure I'll play those online at some point.

It seems strange to me that people in an ATARI forum are complaining about having to do the same difficult task over and over again. That's what we grew up on. The only difference is that now you can actually win. If I didn't want repetative, frustrating games, I would have to throw away my entire 2600 collection (including "Backfire".) I have been stuck on missions plenty of times, but that's what I love about GTA. You can just go do something else for a while and come back to it later. Also, don't overlook the possibility of using a new strategy. Some missions (like the dance mission) are just a matter of getting it right, but others allow you to approach the situation in different ways. I got stuck on the level where you have to use the forklift to load the crates into the back of the truck. I was loading the crates and letting the other guy do the shooting. After I realized that it wasn't working I tried getting off of the forklift and shooting the enemies and loading the truck during the time that it takes for the enemies to regenerate. After I changed my approach it only took me a couple of tries.

Sorry. I just noticed that you said that you were using the code disc (which I wasn't), so I guess my last post doesn't really apply.

tantone56, What problems are you having with your PS2? I have an older one that was giving me a bunch of disc read errors (mostly with San Andreas, but with some other games too.) I called Sony and they gave me an address to send it in. They fixed it for free and now it works great.

Maybe Rockstar should re-release the game with "white boy" subtitles. It would be something like this. CJ - "Yo holmes, what up?" Subtitles - "Greetings sir. How are you this fine day?"

In order to get CJ up to 100% fatness, I invoked a strict "no running" policy and put him on a diet of 11 beef stack meals per day. When I hit the maximum fat level there was a popup that told me to go to the gym because being fat gave me an increased chance of a heart attack. Is it just saying that, or can you actually have a heart attack? As soon as I got him really fat the controller started randomly vibrating every once in a while. Is that a warning that he is about to keel over? I guess compared to all of the other things that can happen to you in San Andreas, a heart attack would not be such a bad way to go.

I found a strange glitch in the game. I went into a Cluckin' Bell in San Fierro. I jumped behind the counter and beat up the guys in the chicken suits, then I jumped back onto the counter to leave, but I got stuck. I tried to get free, but I couldn't get back onto the floor. I kept trying to get free and somehow I fell off of the world and kept falling. There was no level geometry at all. It was just black. I fell for about 30 or 45 seconds, then I hit a white floor and died. The moral of the story is... Fast food really will kill you.

Sorry. The pictures in my last post are in reverse order, but you get the idea.

I don't know if anyone else has mentioned this or not, but you can get into the Los Santos airport without a pilot's license OR standing on an ambulance. Here's how (sorry for the crappy pictures)...

I love the PS2, but there is one thing that really bugs me about it. It has two memory card slots, but most games will autosave to the first card slot and will completely ignore slot two. You can go into the browser to copy files back and forth and there are a few games that allow you to acess either card, but I usually end up swapping cards back and forth.

I called Sony and they said that I can ship my PS2 and they will fix it for free. Apparently they will repair or replace it as long as it wasn't damaged due to neglect or abuse and you have not opened the case. I just assumed it only had a 1 year warranty. That's great service considering that I have had my console since early 2000. My brother's PS2 has been broken for about six months. I called him to let him know that he could send it to Sony for free. He said "will they do it if the seal's broken? I just opened it up today." In the words of the immortal Homer Simpson... DOH!

Has anyone else had problems with San Andreas loading? Mine worked fine until last night. I had to reset the console several times. It finally worked, but it took a long time. Once I got it to load, the game ran with no problems. I just tried to play it again and I can't get it working at all now. The disc isn't dirty or scratched and my other games work fine. It's been a while since I cleaned my PS2, so I'm going to try that. I've also emailed tech support to find out what they recommend.

I went to the airport, but I couldn't get inside because the ticket thing said "out of order". Do you have to unlock that first, or can you get to the planes some other way? I didn't thoroughly explore the whole area. Just for the record, I don't really consider the strategy guide to be cheating. I was just being my usual sarcastic self.

Here are some of my favorite parts about it. 1. The freeway. It's fun to stop a car and create a pile-up behind you. 2. Cool weapons. You've gotta love a game where you can suffocate someone with a fire extinguisher. (The only thing better than that is dropping the refrigerator on those guys in Manhunt.) 3. Gang warfare. They took the property ownership to a whole new level. Now you don't just own buildings, but you can control entire areas of the city. 4. The massive size. I can't wait to unlock the other cities, but until then I can explore a city as big or bigger than Vice City. 5. The gym. I've only been there about four or five times and I am already at maximum muscle. If only it was that simple in real life. 6. Upgrading your cars with nitros. Now you don't have to settle for low and meduim speed car crashes. You can do it the right way. Has anyone unlocked either of the other two cities yet? I hope this game is like Vice City in that you still go back and do missions in the first section even after you unlock the additional sections. One of the few things that I didn't like about GTA3 was that when you unlock the 2nd island you are more or less done with the first island. You can go back if you want, but there isn't much else to do there. Is the skydiving part in the first city? I want to try it but I haven't found it yet. I'm not one of those cheaters who bought the strategy guide (although I don't mind asking them for help!)

I have problems with Imagic carts on my 7800. I can barely get them to fit in the slot.