Prehistoric Times Home Brew

[Byte Knight]

The concept and theme looks interesting to me. Just too bad there isn't more coverage, a video, more screenshots, etc. With the economy the way it is, $20 seems like a lot money to throw down for what could be and probably is a turd.

 

This game reminds me though to pop The Humans in on my Amiga :-)

 

Hey folks, look at the screenshot - you're going to pay $15 for a game featuring blocks and rectangles representing trees in a forest, a plane crashing into a signpost and a crab crawling into the forest.

 

It sure smells like crap to me.

 

I have an idea - don't buy it!

[Rev]

Would you spend $15 on this home brew, "Prehistoric Times," based on this screenshot alone?

 

I do not like to bite the hand that feeds, but, judging by this screenshot the game looks like a piece of crap. I applaud the efforts of the homebrew programmers but it does not look like their was much effort put into this. Perhaps someone trying to make a quick buck?

this looks cool

[Byte Knight]

I thought I'd mention that this appears to have been written with bB version 0.35, which is about 3.5 years old. I suspect this because I removed the HMOVE line from the left of the score well before version 1.0 that was itself released over 2 years ago. It's not clear why someone would choose such an old version. If he had used the latest version, he could have fairly easily made the game look better.

 

All the more reason that he should be on the batari Basic forum. He could have avoided a lot of these slams if he would have tested his game out there first...

[VectorGamer]

The concept and theme looks interesting to me. Just too bad there isn't more coverage, a video, more screenshots, etc. With the economy the way it is, $20 seems like a lot money to throw down for what could be and probably is a turd.

 

This game reminds me though to pop The Humans in on my Amiga :-)

 

Hey folks, look at the screenshot - you're going to pay $15 for a game featuring blocks and rectangles representing trees in a forest, a plane crashing into a signpost and a crab crawling into the forest.

 

It sure smells like crap to me.

 

I have an idea - don't buy it!

 

I won't. The reason I started this thread was to see if anyone would say that there would be value in buying this cart. So far, no one has.

[gambler172]

Would you spend $15 on this home brew, "Prehistoric Times," based on this screenshot alone?

 

I do not like to bite the hand that feeds, but, judging by this screenshot the game looks like a piece of crap. I applaud the efforts of the homebrew programmers but it does not look like their was much effort put into this. Perhaps someone trying to make a quick buck?

Hi

Maybe i would buy a cart.But this guy,never contacted me,cause i live in germany,although i wanted to pay for extra shipping.I got no answer,so he can keep it.....

greetings Walter

[accousticguitar]

Maybe the programmer wants to capture the feel of some of the old games like Miniature Golf - I don't know and I don't know why you would want to. But, to each their own I guess. Is their a market for this?

Miniature Golf is a great game!

[godzillajoe]

You would think that after NERDS and Last Ninja that people would be more selective.

 

But nope, slap together anything, make a cart, call it "limited release" and some people will open their wallets

 

Make a shiny box and you're guaranteed to sell them all

 

I could use a few bucks, maybe I should get in on the racket

 

Look, I made an ant that you can move around.

 

This will be an exclusive release in the future.

 

$45, send me a PM to pre-order

 

ant.bin

Edited April 10, 2009 by godzillajoe

[VectorGamer]

You would think that after NERDS and Last Ninja that people would be more selective.

 

But nope, slap together anything, make a cart, call it "limited release" and some people will open their wallets

 

Make a shiny box and you're guaranteed to sell them all

 

I could use a few bucks, maybe I should get in on the racket

 

Look, I made an ant that you can move around.

 

This will be an exclusive release in the future.

 

$45, send me a PM to pre-order

 

ant.bin

 

 

Will these carts be numbered and shipped with a certificate of authenticity?

 

This is a really cool game! : ]

[+Random Terrain]

Will these carts be numbered and shipped with a certificate of authenticity?

 

This is a really cool game! : ]

Darn right! That's the greatest game I've ever seen! It makes me want to get naked, pour honey all over my body, then lie down in tall grass.

 

If godzillajoe could get Adam Ant to sign the cartridges, I bet he could get at least $200 for each one.

 

[Impaler_26]

You would think that after NERDS and Last Ninja that people would be more selective.

 

But nope, slap together anything, make a cart, call it "limited release" and some people will open their wallets

 

Make a shiny box and you're guaranteed to sell them all

 

I could use a few bucks, maybe I should get in on the racket

 

Look, I made an ant that you can move around.

 

This will be an exclusive release in the future.

 

$45, send me a PM to pre-order

 

ant.bin

Whoa, awesome! The bestest animation i've ever seen on the 2600! And effing cheap for only 45 bucks! I MUST HAVE THIS!

 

 

 

:D

[+Marc Oberhäuser]

Will these carts be numbered and shipped with a certificate of authenticity?

 

This is a really cool game! : ]

Darn right! That's the greatest game I've ever seen! It makes me want to get naked, pour honey all over my body, then lie down in tall grass.

 

If godzillajoe could get Adam Ant to sign the cartridges, I bet he could get at least $200 for each one.

 

 

I would, check my sig;)

[gambler172]

You would think that after NERDS and Last Ninja that people would be more selective.

 

But nope, slap together anything, make a cart, call it "limited release" and some people will open their wallets

 

Make a shiny box and you're guaranteed to sell them all

 

I could use a few bucks, maybe I should get in on the racket

 

Look, I made an ant that you can move around.

 

This will be an exclusive release in the future.

 

$45, send me a PM to pre-order

 

ant.bin

 

Hi Joe

Wow,this ant game is the best game,i ever played........

About this guys,i can say,that this Mr Apollo is not able to PM me,if he ships to germany or not.15 dollars for the game is a reasonable price.But if he posts a bin for testing,everybody could check it and decide,if he buys a cart or not.But it seems,that we can wait...............

greetings Walter

[VectorGamer]

You would think that after NERDS and Last Ninja that people would be more selective.

 

But nope, slap together anything, make a cart, call it "limited release" and some people will open their wallets

 

Make a shiny box and you're guaranteed to sell them all

 

I could use a few bucks, maybe I should get in on the racket

 

Look, I made an ant that you can move around.

 

This will be an exclusive release in the future.

 

$45, send me a PM to pre-order

 

ant.bin

 

Hi Joe

Wow,this ant game is the best game,i ever played........

About this guys,i can say,that this Mr Apollo is not able to PM me,if he ships to germany or not.15 dollars for the game is a reasonable price.But if he posts a bin for testing,everybody could check it and decide,if he buys a cart or not.But it seems,that we can wait...............

greetings Walter

 

 

I hope this game is on free play at TMG Expo next month. The only thing I am afraid of is pissing myself from laughter in front of everybody...

[sandmountainslim]

I for one don't trust this deal.

It seems to me the best programmers for the Atari frequent THIS place and all of the good games are play-tested and posted down in the programming section or the Homebrews section of AA.

If the developer of this Prehistoric Times was all that keen on Atari programming would he not be amongst those who develop games here for everyone to see?

Wp

[iangamer]

You would think that after NERDS and Last Ninja that people would be more selective.

 

But nope, slap together anything, make a cart, call it "limited release" and some people will open their wallets

 

Make a shiny box and you're guaranteed to sell them all

 

I could use a few bucks, maybe I should get in on the racket

 

Look, I made an ant that you can move around.

 

This will be an exclusive release in the future.

 

$45, send me a PM to pre-order

 

ant.bin

 

I only have a few words to say about this game:

 

The best game I've ever seen!

[videogametrader]

I picked up a copy of Prehistoric Times at Too Many Games and sent it along to my trusty Home Brew reviewer. I will try to get it in the next issue (#13, July 2009) of Video Game Trader. Peter can be pretty harsh on bad games. We shall see.

 

I did play it for about 4 seconds.. It looks interesting and is actually pretty challenging. We shall see.

 

Thanks,

 

Tom Sansone

www.VideoGameTrader.com

[VectorGamer]

I picked up a copy of Prehistoric Times at Too Many Games and sent it along to my trusty Home Brew reviewer. I will try to get it in the next issue (#13, July 2009) of Video Game Trader. Peter can be pretty harsh on bad games. We shall see.

 

I did play it for about 4 seconds.. It looks interesting and is actually pretty challenging. We shall see.

 

Thanks,

 

Tom Sansone

www.VideoGameTrader.com

 

Hi Tom:

 

Were you the guy that was manning the VGT table yesterday that I spoke to for a few minutes regarding VG Collector rip-offs and the 5200 controller?

 

Anyway, I played Prehistoric Times for about two minutes. The positive is that it gets a good grade in originality ("collecting meat for points" is not a phrase you'll hear too often in video game play instructions) but graphics are as bad as the screenshot and game play is missing the "repeat playability."

 

I stopped by the table shortly after 9 AM and was told "we are all sold out (of the $15 carts) but will be offering $20 carts <blah><blah><blah>."

[Mirage]

Really looking forward to a review on this. From your micro-review, rmaerz, I think I can see how it's going to go.

[IHATETHEBEARS]

Ok, I've had this game for a few days now. Is it the best Atari 2600 game in the world? No. But it's far, far from being the worst.

 

The one picture that has been shown is of the first screen. You have a spear which you have to toss at dinosaurs - who arrive on the screen one at a time. Once you hit them (which earns you points) you go and eat them by touching them. That also earns you points. Near as I can tell, you can spend as much time on this first board as you want. I recommend staying on this board until you have at least 30,000 points.

 

At any point, you can move your guy to the top of the screen and onto the next screen. On the next screen you're subjected to a series of boulders coming down at you. First there's one big boulder, followed by three smaller ones - side-by-side - then repeat. Your job is to maneuver around the falling boulders to reach the top of the screen. As a comparison, think of the second screen on Frankenstein's Monster as you try to avoid the bats and get to the top. The only difference here is that each time you touch a boulder, not only does it push you down a bit, but it also takes points away from you. If at any point your score drops to zero, your game ends.

 

Anyway, you have to get past the boulder screen four times. Each time the boulders get faster and faster. It's not too difficult to get past any of them. The big boulder is pretty easy to avoid. The three smaller ones are more difficult. But overall it's not too hard to get past this level.

 

The third and final board is a little more challenging. You start at the bottom of the screen. And as time passes, a maze grows all around you. Your job is to maneuver through the maze to get this chalice-type thing at the top of the screen. You cannot touch the walls! If you do, it's instant death and the game ends. Also, as each second passes, your score goes down. So you need to move! This board is the trickiest. And the maze corridors are thin at some points. So you have to move carefully. Also, the maze plays a cruel joke on you. As you're about to reach the chalice thing, a new wall comes up, blocking your path - while a new path opens up in another part of the maze. So you have to backtrack.

 

Get the chalice and you hear a happy tune. Then the game goes back to board #1 again, and you continue.

 

That's it!

 

It's a decent game, but nothing super. But I enjoyed it on some level. I don't think I overpaid for it. Others may disagree. But hey, it's a new Atari game.

 

And that's cool.

Edited May 6, 2009 by IHATETHEBEARS

[+save2600]

Thanks for taking the time to write a pretty honest review!

 

Any chance you'd be able to post a pic of the 2nd and 3rd screens?

[IHATETHEBEARS]

Thanks for taking the time to write a pretty honest review!

 

Any chance you'd be able to post a pic of the 2nd and 3rd screens?

 

Let me see what I can do. My cell phone doesn't take the best quality pics of the TV. But I'll give it a shot right now.

[IHATETHEBEARS]

Here are some pics. Sorry for the quality. Cell phones and big screens don't mix well. Anyway, the first two are of the second screen. The second one has only a brief glimpse of the big boulder. It's hard to get a good shot because the phone is focusing and doesn't snap right away.

 

The third and fourth pic shows the final screen. The third pic shows what happens when you're running straight up after the boulder screen and forget that the maze is immediately right in front of you once you get on the final screen. I can't tell you how many times I've instantly died by forgetting to slow down and crashing right into that maze wall. But the fourth pic shows me maneuvering through the maze. As you reach the top right corner on your way to the chalice thing, the new wall comes up just to the right of it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[yuppicide]

Yep. Thanks for the review. Glad to see it's not as bad as people originally thought.

[+save2600]

Very interesting. Judging by the pics, looks spartan as hell though. The boulder screen looks proto-aVCS-tec. Last screen looks kinda cool. Thanks for posting!!

[ls650]

Out of curiosity I recently bought a copy of Prehistoric Times. The cost was $19.75 US.

Rather than me reinvent the wheel, you can read a detailed review with screenshots here:

Videogametrader.com review

I think the review is very fair. I would definitely agree with this comment:

The biggest problem is the lava maze — your character moves quickly and there is no pause between the screens when they change, making it very easy to blunder your way into the lava as soon as the screen starts.

 

That review also mentions the instructions. What instructions..? I didn't receive any with my cart...

 

Overall, meh. PT isn't a bad game - but it isn't great either. It definitely can't be compared to the better games available from the AtariAge store, for example.