voiddweller Posted September 16, 2002 Share Posted September 16, 2002 I have Sean Kelly's Multicart (menu driven edition) and played Millipede with my CX-53. Great game, but it seems to be a little slow or choppy compared to Centipede. Also, the trackball doesn't fully respond right- away (no up or down movement) when the game starts. The first player has to die first, then it kicks in. I play Centipede regularly and the CX-53 responds normally. Is the choppiness of the game and response of the controller normal for this game? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inky Posted September 16, 2002 Share Posted September 16, 2002 I have Sean Kelly's Multicart (menu driven edition) and played Millipede with my CX-53. Great game, but it seems to be a little slow or choppy compared to Centipede. Also, the trackball doesn't fully respond right- away (no up or down movement) when the game starts. The first player has to die first, then it kicks in. I play Centipede regularly and the CX-53 responds normally. Is the choppiness of the game and response of the controller normal for this game? Thanks. Millipede, IIRC is only a prototype and therefore may not be 100% playable... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voiddweller Posted September 16, 2002 Author Share Posted September 16, 2002 "Millipede, IIRC is only a prototype and therefore may not be 100% playable... Hi, Can you verify these issues or are you just making a general statement about Protos? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inky Posted September 16, 2002 Share Posted September 16, 2002 "Millipede, IIRC is only a prototype and therefore may not be 100% playable... Hi, Can you verify these issues or are you just making a general statement about Protos? Thanks! Well, I know it is a prototype. A quicksearch of the 5200 section of the site will bear that out, but I don't know how complete it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voiddweller Posted September 16, 2002 Author Share Posted September 16, 2002 ...but I don't know how complete it is. Thank you for the response. Before posting, I did a search and was not able to locate specific information on the "incomplete" aspects of the Proto. If you are able to play it or happen to see a related thread, please let me know. Thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted September 16, 2002 Share Posted September 16, 2002 I'd be happy to check it out as well.. but unfortunately my sean kelly multicart does not have Millipede.. and my lack of a 5200 tracball also doesn't help as well. Sorry I couldn't help, but just thought I'd reply anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clay Cowgill Posted September 16, 2002 Share Posted September 16, 2002 Is the choppiness of the game and response of the controller normal for this game? My impression is that that is normal for the 5200 trakball. After programming with it for a while, I have a newly found distaste for the trakball. :-/ The problem is that Atari made the trakball emulate the operation of a joystick for all intents and purposes. Spinning the wheel in a particular direction results in a simulated 'deflection' of the joystick. Unfortunately, that completely eliminates the advantages of a real trakball (to report a relative change in position over a period of time). Games like Missile Command use a pretty involved software implementation to try to get it to act like a "real" trakball, but that seems to result in very choppy behavior from what I've seen... (Completely isolating Missile Command's trakball reading code and placing it in a standalone program results in the same twitchy/spastic motion as it does in Missile Command.) -Clay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voiddweller Posted September 16, 2002 Author Share Posted September 16, 2002 My impression is that that is normal for the 5200 trakball. After programming with it for a while, I have a newly found distaste for the trakball. :-/ ...-Clay Thank you for the reply. My experiences with CX-53 seem O.K. using Millipede. The irregularities at the start of the game are the most pronounced. Most of the slowness and hesitation seems to come from the game's graphics. The lack the smoothness and arcade feel found in the 5200 port of Centipede is missing. Has anyone played Millipede using the Multicart or burned it onto an ROM cartridge? Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrRetroGamer Posted September 17, 2002 Share Posted September 17, 2002 I have also found that Millipede on the multicart is not as fluid as Centipede. I have not noticed any issues with using the trackball with it however. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Allan Posted September 17, 2002 Share Posted September 17, 2002 I have played Millipede quite a bit and I don't really see anything that would indicate that it was not complete. This is one of my favorite 5200 prototype games (or any 5200 game.) It does seem a lot different then Centipede but after playing it a while I like it a lot better. To me, the graphics are much better and frankly it's smoothness is fine by me. The characters are bigger (and brighter). I think the difference is that the programmer used a different approach with the graphics. The spiders may not be as smooth but the overall feel of the game is great. I never play centipede any more. To me Millipede is much better. Keep playing it, it will get a addicting. And once you get used to the trackball you won't go back. My score doubled the first time I played it with the trackball. It's great. The only downside with the trackball and the second multicart is that there is no way to select a game with the trackball and once you start the game, Millipede checks to see if you have a trackball or a joystick plugged in. You have to hit the power button with the stick plugged in, then select the game with the stick, hit the fire button, and then, without moving the stick at all, unplug it and plug in the trackball. Unfortunately I can't recommend doing this because if you ever had a build up of static electricity while doing this, you could fry your 5200. Hopefully Sean will one day modify his code on the newer multicart to be abale to use the trackball to pick a game as well. Allan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrRetroGamer Posted September 17, 2002 Share Posted September 17, 2002 The only downside with the trackball and the second multicart is that there is no way to select a game with the trackball and once you start the game, Millipede checks to see if you have a trackball or a joystick plugged in. Allan Makes me glad I still have the last version of the DIP SWITCH multicart in my collection! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voiddweller Posted September 17, 2002 Author Share Posted September 17, 2002 ... The only downside with the trackball and the second multicart is that there is no way to select a game with the trackball and once you start the game, Millipede checks to see if you have a trackball or a joystick plugged in. You have to hit the power button with the stick plugged in, then select the game with the stick, hit the fire button, and then, without moving the stick at all, unplug it and plug in the trackball... Thank you for the reply. This confirms what I have experienced. The circus routine with selecting the mulitcart game gets tiresome, too. In the actual game, the Millipede and Spider motions are not very fluid, but the essence of the arcade game is still there. I loved the coin-op game and I really want to love this version, so I'll keep at it. Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted September 17, 2002 Share Posted September 17, 2002 I think the major difference between Centipede and Millipede while using the trak-ball is that Millipede has no acceleration. In Centipede you character can whip across the screen as fast as you can roll the ball. Roll it slow, you move slow. In millipede you have a fixed speed. You can roll it as fast as you want, the character is only programmed to move at one speed. I'll confirm my thoughts tonight as I have not played Millipede in a while. Mostly because the control in centipede is far superior. Charlie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NE146 Posted September 17, 2002 Share Posted September 17, 2002 Well that makes sense based upon what Clay said above.. Which sucks because then whats the point of a trackball? That sounds like trying to play 2600 Centipede with the trackball with the game only able to read digital inputs, and thus you only move in one speed. PEEWWWW! Although of course I'd imagine in Millipede, more than 8 directions to move are available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CPUWIZ Posted September 17, 2002 Share Posted September 17, 2002 The only downside with the trackball and the second multicart is that there is no way to select a game with the trackball and once you start the game, Millipede checks to see if you have a trackball or a joystick plugged in. Allan Makes me glad I still have the last version of the DIP SWITCH multicart in my collection! Well, you don't really need anything else, considering you have a "one of a kind" Millipede cart. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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