Sirius, Plutos and Rampart Prototypes Released! For Real!

[JonnyBritish]

I have many parts around to make more of these, although at this point, pretty much most 7800 fans have these already.

 

I would take both games if you do some!

 

Same here

 

Should have added, although now based in Chicago I used to live near Newcastle which is on the Tyne...so these guys could be said to have a reminder of home :-) sniff...

[the.golden.ax]

I own CPU copies of these games, and they are WELL worth it. You won't see better 7800 graphics (yet) ;)

 

AX

[PAC-MAN PRIME]

This is my first time hearing of these for the 7800. I just dl'ed and tried them and... WOW. Sirius and Plutos are amazing! If it hasn't been mentioned already, I really hope there are plans to complete these to play on the 78XM.

 

 

 

I have many parts around to make more of these, although at this point, pretty much most 7800 fans have these already.

If you are actually considering assembling and selling some of these, please mark me down for a copy of each.

[+GroovyBee]

You won't see better 7800 graphics (yet) ;)

 

I have to disagree with you on that .

[+GroovyBee]

If it hasn't been mentioned already, I really hope there are plans to complete these to play on the 78XM.

 

Nobody has directly asked for them to be done.

[Justin42]

I have many parts around to make more of these, although at this point, pretty much most 7800 fans have these already.

 

I'd also take one of both...

[Austin]

If you are actually considering assembling and selling some of these, please mark me down for a copy of each.

 

In case CPUWIZ is busy, there are others here as well that can make these carts for you. Not sure the policy on asking for repro carts in the AA marketplace, but that may be a good place to start.

 

If it hasn't been mentioned already, I really hope there are plans to complete these to play on the 78XM.

Nobody has directly asked for them to be done.

 

Hi GroovyBee, please finish these games for the Atari 7800 Expansion Module.

 

PS, please add music.

 

[PAC-MAN PRIME]

If you are actually considering assembling and selling some of these, please mark me down for a copy of each.

 

In case CPUWIZ is busy, there are others here as well that can make these carts for you. Not sure the policy on asking for repro carts in the AA marketplace, but that may be a good place to start.

Thanks for the tip, Austin!

 

 

 

 

If it hasn't been mentioned already, I really hope there are plans to complete these to play on the 78XM.

Nobody has directly asked for them to be done.

 

Hi GroovyBee, please finish these games for the Atari 7800 Expansion Module.

 

PS, please add music.

 

Haha, yes GroovyBee, will you or any other 7800 programmer please finish these games for the Atari 7800 Expansion Module (with POKEY enhanced music please )?

 

- Robby

[DracIsBack]

Do these games need to be 'finished?'

 

They seemed pretty 'done' to me? This isn't like Chuck Norris where you need to use the cheat to get past certain levels or Klax where it won't work on some 7800s.

[+AtariNerd]

I was just thinking the XM would allow them to be put on a simple, cheap cart, without the fussy extra components, saving vintage hardware and buyers a little cash. Great for those who wanted a physical cartridge and not just a ROM. Didn't know CPUWIZ and others where so willing and had the wherewithal to offer workarounds and their expertise, though.

[DarthCloud]

I was just thinking the XM would allow them to be put on a simple, cheap cart, without the fussy extra components, saving vintage hardware and buyers a little cash. Great for those who wanted a physical cartridge and not just a ROM. Didn't know CPUWIZ and others where so willing and had the wherewithal to offer workarounds and their expertise, though.

 

My understanding of the XM is that it just integer in one device new RAM, POKEY, HSC and Yamaha audio so you still need to build a cart to hold the binary in a ROM. Those games don't seam to use any special hardware in it.

 

So XM or not, you still need to kill another game to hold the ROM

[+AtariNerd]

I was just thinking the XM would allow them to be put on a simple, cheap cart, without the fussy extra components, saving vintage hardware and buyers a little cash. Great for those who wanted a physical cartridge and not just a ROM. Didn't know CPUWIZ and others where so willing and had the wherewithal to offer workarounds and their expertise, though.

 

My understanding of the XM is that it just integer in one device new RAM, POKEY, HSC and Yamaha audio so you still need to build a cart to hold the binary in a ROM. Those games don't seam to use any special hardware in it.

 

So XM or not, you still need to kill another game to hold the ROM

 

Yes, very true. ...but it wouldn't neccesarily need to one of the less common added RAM carts or a cart you've somehow added a SRAM to yourself. If you could find some way to properly map it the XM's memory, you'd only need a basic ROM of sufficient size. I'm probably totally baseless, not knowing much about programming. Of course, this would effecively make them XM-only...

[CPUWIZ]

Anyone who wants a set of Sirius & Plutos, with high quality labels, send me a PM.

[PAC-MAN PRIME]

Thanks CPUWIZ. I can't wait to get 'em!

 

 

 

Do these games need to be 'finished?'

 

They seemed pretty 'done' to me? This isn't like Chuck Norris where you need to use the cheat to get past certain levels or Klax where it won't work on some 7800s.

Well, yes they are pretty finished, and very enjoyable to play, but if some POKEY-powered background music and sound effects could possibly be added it would make them even better. That's all.

 

I'd love it if Rampart could be finished though, since the proto-demo isn't really playable. It's one of my favorite games on the Lynx and I would love to have a playable cart for the 7800.

[+cmart604]

Anyone who wants a set of Sirius & Plutos, with high quality labels, send me a PM.

 

 

PM sent for 7800 goodness.

[swlovinist]

CPU Wiz does top quality work and the carts look amazing

[Austin]

Do these games need to be 'finished?'

 

They seemed pretty 'done' to me? This isn't like Chuck Norris where you need to use the cheat to get past certain levels or Klax where it won't work on some 7800s.

 

Hm, yes and no. I haven't managed to finish Plutos yet, but Sirius could certainly use some work. For one, it's extremely short and it loops the same four or five stages endlessly. There is also no end screen, nor does the difficulty ramp up on multiple successful runs.. With that there's not much point in looping it. Some other tweaks would be great, too, such as removing many of those tiny background objects that kill you (ahem, two-pixel wide rocks that look like they should be in the distance), balancing the game better (i.e., at max firepower, you can destroy most bosses before they fully come onto the screen), and making enemy bullets larger so they are easier to see. Music would also help both games greatly. Shoot 'em ups like these were meant for music..

 

Anyways, I'm just joking about actually completing them. If it's possible, of course I say go for it.. But obviously I'm sure that would be a bit of an undertaking. That, and I don't feel these would be AA store-worthy without being polished up and lengthened. Regardless, it's still cool that we are able to play them as-is and wonder what they may have been like had more time been spent on them and they were officially released.

[+AtariNerd]

Quick message sent your way, CPU.

[PAC-MAN PRIME]

Do these games need to be 'finished?'

 

They seemed pretty 'done' to me? This isn't like Chuck Norris where you need to use the cheat to get past certain levels or Klax where it won't work on some 7800s.

 

Hm, yes and no. I haven't managed to finish Plutos yet, but Sirius could certainly use some work. For one, it's extremely short and it loops the same four or five stages endlessly. There is also no end screen, nor does the difficulty ramp up on multiple successful runs.. With that there's not much point in looping it. Some other tweaks would be great, too, such as removing many of those tiny background objects that kill you (ahem, two-pixel wide rocks that look like they should be in the distance), balancing the game better (i.e., at max firepower, you can destroy most bosses before they fully come onto the screen), and making enemy bullets larger so they are easier to see. Music would also help both games greatly. Shoot 'em ups like these were meant for music..

 

Anyways, I'm just joking about actually completing them. If it's possible, of course I say go for it.. But obviously I'm sure that would be a bit of an undertaking. That, and I don't feel these would be AA store-worthy without being polished up and lengthened. Regardless, it's still cool that we are able to play them as-is and wonder what they may have been like had more time been spent on them and they were officially released.

 

I couldn't have said this better myself, on all accounts.

[+GroovyBee]

If I mod them for XM RAM support that's all I'll be doing. No further changes would be made. Time is better spent coding newer games in my opinion. However, if anybody else wants to change them feel free.

[PAC-MAN PRIME]

Looky what came in the mail today!

 

Thanks CPUWIZ!!! These are GORGEOUS!

[+AtariNerd]

Looky what came in the mail today!

 

Thanks CPUWIZ!!! These are GORGEOUS!

 

Tantalizingly close...to dream...

[Lendorien]

If it hasn't been mentioned already, I really hope there are plans to complete these to play on the 78XM.

 

Nobody has directly asked for them to be done.

 

Consider the request made. Things like this make me wish I had any sort of knowledge and ability for this stuff so I could help out.

 

Perhaps a community effort to try and clean them up and finish them for release. While I agree that new games are definitely wanted, it's sad that two nearly complete games from the original 7800 era are languishing without ends.

 

With Plutos, I would think that adding an ending would be possible, something simple like text or something

[+AtariNerd]

Well, when they were first discovered, they were actually unstable as-is on a stock 7800 and only playable on a development system. Coders, primarily from this website, cleaned up the code to make it workable on stock gear. When you read references to them being "unfinished" from a few years back, you have to make note that that was the state they were in.

 

Hacking them and other similarly configured games to some day work on the XM might be nice bonus for the system. I think these may already work on the Cuttle Cart II, so owners of that can play on real hard-ware, already.

 

They are in a way, already finished as much as they were ever going to be. I think they are fine as they are . I wouldn't discourage anyone from going to town on them, though. (I have my own ideas, but have not the skill.

[CRV]

Speaking of Rampart, there's sound-related source code from Barry Leitch here.