Scumdogg Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 I finally got my 2600 set up again post-move (3 months later...), and got to dive into the stack of games i've acquired since then. I have to say, above everything else i gotten recently, Gremlins just really blows me away for some reason. I stop being able to catch the Mogwai with any effectiveness around the 3rd or 4th wave, but i'm better at the Gremlin-shooting screens. I played it a handful of times and hit around 75,000 points. Anyone else play this game? Any tips i might be missing out on, or does it eventually just hit the impossible mark? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
godzillajoe Posted April 1, 2007 Share Posted April 1, 2007 It's sorta OK but the 5200 version is so much better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scumdogg Posted April 1, 2007 Author Share Posted April 1, 2007 I don't have a 5200. They're incredibly rare around here, for some reason. Like finding a sack of diamonds in the street rare. I have no idea why. But yeah, as soon as i get one, i will definitely be hunting down Gremlins for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StanJr Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 It never hits an impossible mark. Pretty soon you will get so good, and learn enough of the tricks to play forever. It is a very fun game though. Love Gremlins! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 I spoke with Scott Smith awhile back and he had this to say about 2600 Gremlins: They gave us a copy of the script for the movie. I was supposed to read it and then come up with a game. The cover letter said that this movie would be "just like ET" (which, as you know, was a huge hit). I read the script and considering how violent it was, I was skeptical. If you saw the movie, you know it was a) violent and b) not the hit Gremlins was. Anyway, I can't think of any huge inspiration; I just made it up. They then had us fly out to Burbank and meet with Spielberg and Chris Columbus. They heard the ideas, liked them and gave final approval. I remember thinking Spielberg was pretty intense. When he focused on you, it was clear that nothing else in the room mattered. I don't remember what he said, just the intensity of his focus. I had about 3 months to do it. Figuring out how to write the kernel (that's my remembrance of what they called the code that followed the beam down) was really hard for me. I remember someone who sat down with me one day and finally got the light to turn on. I remember giving him $1K of my bonus (for completing Gremlins) and him being not too appreciative. I don't think I used his kernel, but I wouldn't have gotten the game done without him. I believe the kernel I used was a modification of the one he showed me. Once I understood how to do the kernel, I don't think there were any major problems except doing the PAL version. I remember Mimi and I working on it. Mostly I was just eliminating scan lines (common practice to produce the PAL version was to simply blank the "extra" scan lines). Mimi and I were on the second floor of one of the Atari buildings working on the PAL version when a 6+ earth quake hit. I told my wife it was the first time I had felt the earth move when I was with a woman. She was not amused. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scumdogg Posted April 3, 2007 Author Share Posted April 3, 2007 Cool bit of info there, Tempest. Thanks. The process of game development (especially for a license) in those days never ceases to interest me. I can't imagine getting a movie script and having to boil it down to "Mogwai + Sandwich = Bad....yeah....that's the ticket!". I have a lot of respect for anyone who can make a decent game out of a movie *today*, and much more so for anyone who could accomplish it on the hardware of 25-30 years ago. Even though "Fast Food" has elbowed its way into the spotlight on my system, i still can't seem to stay away from Gremlins. The game amuses me to no end, and i'm getting consistently better at it. I'm all excited to get a 5200 now, if that version is better than this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supercat Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 I had about 3 months to do it. Figuring out how to write the kernel (that's my remembrance of what they called the code that followed the beam down) was really hard for me. I remember someone who sat down with me one day and finally got the light to turn on. I remember giving him $1K of my bonus (for completing Gremlins) and him being not too appreciative. I don't think I used his kernel, but I wouldn't have gotten the game done without him. I believe the kernel I used was a modification of the one he showed me. How many Atari games and protos use the multi-resp trick? Gremlins' use of the trick is not as sophisticated as Galaxian's, but it's interesting nonetheless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 I had about 3 months to do it. Figuring out how to write the kernel (that's my remembrance of what they called the code that followed the beam down) was really hard for me. I remember someone who sat down with me one day and finally got the light to turn on. I remember giving him $1K of my bonus (for completing Gremlins) and him being not too appreciative. I don't think I used his kernel, but I wouldn't have gotten the game done without him. I believe the kernel I used was a modification of the one he showed me. How many Atari games and protos use the multi-resp trick? Gremlins' use of the trick is not as sophisticated as Galaxian's, but it's interesting nonetheless. I don't know but Mark Ackerman, who used it in Galaxian, actually got a patent for the idea. Tempest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grimbasement Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 I'm anxious to give this game a try. I just scored a lot of 12 with 3 r4's and an r5 in a mis categorized auction on ebay. And Gremlin's was one of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
supercat Posted April 3, 2007 Share Posted April 3, 2007 I don't know but Mark Ackerman, who used it in Galaxian, actually got a patent for the idea. Did any games prior to Galaxian ever do a multi-resp on the Ball? There's a transistor in the TIA whose sole function is to make the Ball appear immediately when it's triggered (instead of a scan line later); I wonder why it's there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jpfalcon2003 Posted April 9, 2007 Share Posted April 9, 2007 It's sorta OK but the 5200 version is so much better totally agree. A future 7800 version would be nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.