Conquest of Mars revision 2

[+johnnywc]

Hello all,

 

After some constructive feedback regarding the difficulty of Conquest of Mars, I have made a few changes that will hopefully make this game more enjoyable to play.

 

Here are the list of changes:

 

- delay between shots has been reduced so you can fire quicker

- fuel consumption is slower

- visual cues have been added to the laser gates level to show you where the 3 laser gates appear

 

If you decide to download and test, your feedback would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks!

 

TIP: You can skip to any level/stage by pressing and holding SELECT on the title screen and then pressing the button. I plan on making this a PRACTICE mode that will be selectable from the title screen instead of a cheat/easter egg.

 

com_rev2_NTSC.bin

com_rev2_PAL60.bin

[+TrekMD]

Nice game.

[NML32]

I just played it for the first time and I really like it.

 

Is this version avalible from the AA store now?

Edited January 24, 2009 by NML32

[Albert]

I just played it for the first time and I really like it.

 

Is this version avalible from the AA store now?

Not just yet, it needs to go through testing to make sure there are no problems with it before we start churning out carts based on this revision.

 

..Al

[Ryanw]

I haven't played this game before just now but two things were apparent immediately: Extremely addicting and hard as hell! Perfect combo in my book

[jrok]

I'm not going to comment on the changes too much, since I loved the original so much. I'll assume that the 'nerfing' elements do work well for critics who want their blankies, but thankfully none of the intense goodness of this game have been lost in translation.

 

This is a GREAT, HARD game, in the tradition of great coin-gobblers like Defender and DK, but without the one-armed bandit aspect of having to feed a quarter in every forty-five seconds. I love the polish and professionalism of this game. As far as I can tell, it is one of the most unsung homebrews in terms of relative greatness. It really harkens back to the days when individual virtuosos, not giant corporate hives, ruled the gaming world.

 

BTW I think this new version is begging for a HSC '09 competition, just to see what everyone can do with the nerfed gates. My trigger finger is ready.

Edited January 25, 2009 by jrok

[Impaler_26]

I just played revision 2 a bit...

 

The visual cues in the laser gates level really help, it's still challenging to get through them but now i'm sure i can do it if i practice long enough. So this change already get's a big from me!

 

I'll play it some more and report back tomorrow...

Edited January 25, 2009 by Impaler_26

[sandmountainslim]

Since I already own the cart I am not gonna play the newest version

Don't wanna risk liking the new version better than the one I own.

Wp

[haroldoop]

That's a really awesome game for the Atari 2600. Congrats!

[vdub_bobby]

- visual cues have been added to the laser gates level to show you where the 3 laser gates appear

Played this very briefly in emulation and this seems much better - those levels, before, seemed to be essentially memorization tests. Now, memorization will help, of course, but quick reflexes and a steady hand could get you through.

 

IMO, a fair game should be beatable the first time through - of course, it should be hard enough that virtually no-one can do this - the point is that deaths should be fair to the player; he should never feel like there was no way to prevent his death. I felt like the old version went too far towards unfair.

 

All that to say: thumbsup: to the new version; I'll likely buy this one.

Edited January 25, 2009 by vdub_bobby

[gambler172]

Hi John

Great work,like all your games....

greetings Walter

[supercat]

Not just yet, it needs to go through testing to make sure there are no problems with it before we start churning out carts based on this revision.

 

What's the ROM size? 16K? Would it be practical to make a 32K ROM that combined old and new versions, and allow an 'upgrade' option for owners of the original (so then owners of the original that didn't upgrade could sell their "rare collector's edition" carts for 5x the price )?

[Albert]

What's the ROM size? 16K? Would it be practical to make a 32K ROM that combined old and new versions, and allow an 'upgrade' option for owners of the original (so then owners of the original that didn't upgrade could sell their "rare collector's edition" carts for 5x the price )?

Yes, it's a 16K ROM presently. Not sure I really want to offer both versions on the same cart, though--we'd need some means of switching between them, which ideally would be a menu and I'm not sure there's room for that. Plus the manual would have to be substantially updated. We'll have to see what the final version of "Revision 2" ends up looking like.

 

..Al

[Mayhem]

Is one of the difficulty switches or the colour/b&w used? If not, could have that to switch between versions on boot.

[+johnnywc]

Is one of the difficulty switches or the colour/b&w used? If not, could have that to switch between versions on boot.

 

Unfortunately the Color/BW switch is used to pause the game and the A/B switches enable/disable the missiles from the enemy cannons. The versions are virtually identical (except for the small gameplay tweaks and the cavern cues) so having both versions on one cart wouldn't be worth it.

[+Cafeman]

I tried this newest version last night. It's still very very hard. I would probably not do well with the original.

 

*hugs blankie*

[ZylonBane]

I tried this newest version last night. It's still very very hard. I would probably not do well with the original.

The original is actually easier. The rockets wave in particular is a LOT easier, since they don't come as fast, and you can shoot more quickly.

 

It would be interesting to see a version of CoM that borrows some of the ideas from Caverns of Mars' sequel, Phobos.

[mos6507]

Unfortunately the Color/BW switch is used to pause the game and the A/B switches enable/disable the missiles from the enemy cannons. The versions are virtually identical (except for the small gameplay tweaks and the cavern cues) so having both versions on one cart wouldn't be worth it.

 

Whatever happened to having game variations with the select switch? Not enough RAM?

[vdub_bobby]

Game variations are cool, but the scale of the changes he's making sounds more like a 1.01 revision (or, to keep with tradition: COM+) than anything else.

[NML32]

Any updates to the revision?

[+johnnywc]

The reviews are in!

 

The Video Game Critic has graciously taken the time to re-review Conquest of Mars with the updated laser gates:

 

http://videogamecritic.com/2600cc.htm#Conquest_of_Mars

 

Thanks again to everyone for their suggestions!

[+SpiceWare]

Congrats!

[Shawn]

The reviews are in!

 

The Video Game Critic has graciously taken the time to re-review Conquest of Mars with the updated laser gates:

 

http://videogamecritic.com/2600cc.htm#Conquest_of_Mars

 

Thanks again to everyone for their suggestions!

 

Wow how time flies. I play tested the hell out of the first non-SARA version back when folks didn't even know this was coming down the pipe.

 

Now if there was only a hockey game of the same quality for the 2600

[+Nathan Strum]

The reviews are in!

 

The Video Game Critic has graciously taken the time to re-review Conquest of Mars with the updated laser gates:

 

http://videogamecritic.com/2600cc.htm#Conquest_of_Mars

 

Thanks again to everyone for their suggestions!

 

 

Finally! Nice to see the game get some redemption.

 

Now that that's out of the way… any plans to get back into programming?

[NML32]

It's been a while and I forgot about the game. Just ordered a cart.