question about ballblazer

[stilth60050]

I hope this is the proper foreum for this question. I am new to the 7800, just play it to remind me of my 2600 gameing when I was young.

 

I recently purchased the ballblazer for my atari 7800, and it sounds nothing like the game does in reviews on you-tube. I am useing an old CRT TV from the 1990's. Hooking my 7800 up with a cable connection, not with the VHS (like I did with the atari vcs). All my other games sound normal (7800 & 2600 games). Is there something special with the ballblazer music?

 

Thanks

[AdeptRapier]

I hope this is the proper foreum for this question. I am new to the 7800, just play it to remind me of my 2600 gameing when I was young.

 

I recently purchased the ballblazer for my atari 7800, and it sounds nothing like the game does in reviews on you-tube. I am useing an old CRT TV from the 1990's. Hooking my 7800 up with a cable connection, not with the VHS (like I did with the atari vcs). All my other games sound normal (7800 & 2600 games). Is there something special with the ballblazer music?

 

Thanks

 

Do you not hear any music at all? Ballblazer uses a special chip on the cartridge, maybe it's bad in your cartridge.

 

AdeptRapier

 

[stilth60050]

I hear music but it is not right, does not sound like the u-tube. It is not good, maybe it is the cartridge. That is easier to replace then parts in the 7800.

 

Thanks,

Tom

[shadow460]

The Pokey chip in the cart handles all of Ballblazer's sound. I would think if it went bad, you'd get no sound at all. Do you have Commando? It uses a Pokey chip for the music only. Some homebrews also use the Pokey chip as well. If you have something else handy that uses it, even another Ballblazer, that would tell you if your cart is giving you trouble or if it's the console.

Edited June 30, 2009 by shadow460

[guyjin]

it should. Is there any chance that you could record what yours sounds like, and put it somewhere we could listen to it?

[Math You]

it should. Is there any chance that you could record what yours sounds like, and put it somewhere we could listen to it?

Ah, another Classic Game Room fan

[stilth60050]

It is hard to discribe, it has parts of that. Say that was a band of 12 instriments playing. I have the same but 6 of the instriments taken away.

 

I do not have the ability or knowlege of how to record and post. Sorry, I am not a teck, just enjoy atari games.

 

Thanks,

Tom

[guyjin]

it should. Is there any chance that you could record what yours sounds like, and put it somewhere we could listen to it?

Ah, another Classic Game Room fan

 

Yeah, I'm spending more time here 'cuz his forums are down

[etschuetz]

Okay, I have this on both the 5200 and 7800 consoles. Neither of them sound exactly like the copy in the video. Neither of them. The sound from the 5200 version is nearly, if not completely, identical to the the 7800 version. That extra set of tones at the beginning of the video sounds added in. Sorry. And my copy of Ballblazer on 7800 sounds great.

[kool kitty89]

Okay, I have this on both the 5200 and 7800 consoles. Neither of them sound exactly like the copy in the video. Neither of them. The sound from the 5200 version is nearly, if not completely, identical to the the 7800 version. That extra set of tones at the beginning of the video sounds added in. Sorry. And my copy of Ballblazer on 7800 sounds great.

 

I think the tones are definitely there in all other versions (the fractal algorithm generated never ending riffs), though they do sound a bit loud. The version in the CGR video seems almost identical to the XE version, which does look and sound a bit different from the 5200/A8-bit version. The famicom's port has these tones almost inaudible though.

 

Here's an example of the Atari XE version:

and the 800 version to compare directly:

 

The additional tones don't start until 1 minut into the game's intro/attract mode. (so you'd need to wait awhile to actually hear it, very quiet at first, but gradually increases in volume, on the CGR video he'd just had the intro going for awhile to get it that loud)

Edited July 8, 2009 by kool kitty89

[etschuetz]

Okay, I have this on both the 5200 and 7800 consoles. Neither of them sound exactly like the copy in the video. Neither of them. The sound from the 5200 version is nearly, if not completely, identical to the the 7800 version. That extra set of tones at the beginning of the video sounds added in. Sorry. And my copy of Ballblazer on 7800 sounds great.

 

I think the tones are definitely there in all other versions (the fractal algorithm generated never ending riffs), though they do sound a bit loud. The version in the CGR video seems almost identical to the XE version, which does look and sound a bit different from the 5200/A8-bit version. The famicom's port has these tones almost inaudible though.

 

Here's an example of the Atari XE version:

and the 800 version to compare directly:

 

The additional tones don't start until 1 minut into the game's intro/attract mode. (so you'd need to wait awhile to actually hear it, very quiet at first, but gradually increases in volume, on the CGR video he'd just had the intro going for awhile to get it that loud)

 

Okay, that A8bit version sounds like the 5200/7800 version. So, the question is "Why does those small rhythmic tone that is supposed to be in the back ground of the main music come off so loud in that one video from CGR?" I would guess it has something to do with maybe how the system is hooked up?

[kool kitty89]

Okay, that A8bit version sounds like the 5200/7800 version. So, the question is "Why does those small rhythmic tone that is supposed to be in the back ground of the main music come off so loud in that one video from CGR?" I would guess it has something to do with maybe how the system is hooked up?

 

It seems to bet louder the longer you let it run (either at the title screen or after finishing a match), so he may have has the music going for awhile when he made that clip. Otherwise it could be some issue with his video capture equipment.

 

One odd thing is it seem like those tones aren't present when ballblazer is played on the Prosystem emulator (the main theme is there but the fractal generated rifs don't seem to come in). Maybe there's still problems with POKEY emulation, or perhaps it's a problem with my computer as I've only gotten the sound to work right one time (for whatever reason) and the rest of the time it's all distorted and often laggy. (it definitely has nothing to do with the settings of the emulator, it just happened to work one random time when I booted my computer...)

 

Anyway I just wanted to try it out I don't own the game or a 7800 anyway and I mainly got the emulator to just see what they were like. (I'm not planning on going out of my way to get one, but if there's one at a local used game store, thrift shop, garage sale etc. for a reasonable price, I'll pick one up and ballblazer would be at the top of my list) Otherwise I might try the old DOS version, but seeing the age, I doubt it would be very comperable. (an EGA version with Adlib support would have been awsome though, not to mention MT-32 support for that music!)

 

EDIT: I just checked and realized that it wan't Balblazer but the 1990 remake/sequel "Masterblazer" that came out for PC (And Amiga and ST), I'll have to check that out. (that 1997 PlayStation remake seems rather questionable, plus I don't have a PS1/PS2/PS3)

Edited July 12, 2009 by kool kitty89

[Justin42]

IIRC, Ballblazer was designed to add tones based on the movements of the players in the last game... so it's normal for the first time you plug in the cart for the music to have a lot less effects than what you hear in that video at first. Play a game or two and see if it sounds more like it.

 

(edit: or maybe I fell for market-speak back in 1984 when I first read about the game and it's just fractal added. )

Edited July 12, 2009 by Justin42

[GroovyBee]

One odd thing is it seem like those tones aren't present when ballblazer is played on the Prosystem emulator (the main theme is there but the fractal generated rifs don't seem to come in). Maybe there's still problems with POKEY emulation ...

The current PC version of the ProSystem emulator does not support the random number generator register called RANDOM (obviously! ) in POKEY. This causes the loss of the fractal sounds in Ballblazer.