Article: The making of Pitfall! for the Atari 2600

[VectorGamer]

http://www.crunchgear.com/2009/06/29/the-m...the-atari-2600/

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Well, there are 255 levels, not 254.

 

And the levels are generated from a random number sequence.

[yuppicide]

That was an interesting read. Especially how 250+ screens can be made out of less than 50 bytes of code pretty much.

[chrisbid]

Creating this enjoyable sequence in the game required a small programming tweak. In the original design, to jump from one alligator head to the other the player had to move the joystick and jump at exactly the same time. “This proved to be almost impossible to play. So I changed the code to allow you to direct Harry’s jump to the side, if you moved the joystick within a small instant from the time you pressed the button to jump. From a programming standpoint this was a tiny change, but it changed the gameplay from nearly impossible to an easily learned skill.”

 

these control touches are often overlooked in our hobby, but are critical in converting a good game idea into a good game. to this day, games with controls that are too stiff or too loose often ruin the experience.

[Herbarius]

Nice for sharing that article, I like to read stuff like that

 

However, I hate it when sites don't offer printer-friendly versions, or like this one, half-ass printer-friendly versions... Yeah, that BS to the right disappeared, but still the width of the page isn't utilized properly, also it's two parts that you'd have to print seperately...

[+GroovyBee]

Nice for sharing that article, I like to read stuff like that

I'd recommend that you get "Racing the Beam" by Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost then. Theres lost of background in there about VCS games development.

[Atari2600Lives]

Nice for sharing that article, I like to read stuff like that

I'd recommend that you get "Racing the Beam" by Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost then. Theres lost of background in there about VCS games development.

 

 

Nice article of my all time favorite game.

[VectorGamer]

Nice for sharing that article, I like to read stuff like that

I'd recommend that you get "Racing the Beam" by Nick Montfort and Ian Bogost then. Theres lost of background in there about VCS games development.

 

It is a good book although the authors tend to go off topic at times...

[SeaGtGruff]

This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared in E129.

Darn, that makes me wonder what they might have edited out.

 

Michael

[Godzilla]

still a cool article. thanks for sharing.

[+Random Terrain]

During the early days of Activision all their games were original concepts, not home versions of arcade games.

 

I think there's an old thread around here comparing certain Activision games to arcade games. They may not have the same names, but the games are pretty much the same.

[Wickeycolumbus]

During the early days of Activision all their games were original concepts, not home versions of arcade games.

 

I think there's an old thread around here comparing certain Activision games to arcade games. They may not have the same names, but the games are pretty much the same.

 

Yes, there was. Here is a link:

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=145002

[BydoEmpire]

Very cool read, thanks for sharing!

[+thegoldenband]

And the levels are generated from a random number sequence.

I looked at your terrific disassembly (with my very, very limited ASM skills), but wasn't able to understand how randomness plays a role in the room generation:

 

; Scene generation:
; The 255 scenes are randomly generated through a "bidirectional" LFSR. This
; means, that the process of generating the next random number is reversible,
; which is necessary to allow traveling though the jungle in both directions.
; The random number defines the scene with the following bits:
; - 0..2: type of object(s) on the ground (logs, fire, cobra, treasure etc.)
; - 3..5: type of scene (holes, pits, crocdiles, treasures etc.)
; - 6..7: type of the tree pattern
; - 7   : position of the wall (left or right)

But a LFSR is deterministic or pseudo-random, not truly random, right? Or am I misunderstanding something?

Edited July 28, 2009 by thegoldenband

[Thomas Jentzsch]

But a LFSR is deterministic or pseudo-random, not truly random, right? Or am I misunderstanding something?

Yes, it is deterministic (almost all random number generators are).

 

That's why the screens always appear in the same order.

[maximebeauvais]

nice...thanks for sharing !!!

[VectorGamer]

During the early days of Activision all their games were original concepts, not home versions of arcade games.

 

I think there's an old thread around here comparing certain Activision games to arcade games. They may not have the same names, but the games are pretty much the same.

 

Yes, there was. Here is a link:

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=145002

 

Nyuk-nyuk...I got flamed for that one!!! : ]

[Pitfall Harry]

During the early days of Activision all their games were original concepts, not home versions of arcade games.

 

I think there's an old thread around here comparing certain Activision games to arcade games. They may not have the same names, but the games are pretty much the same.

 

Yes, there was. Here is a link:

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=145002

 

Nyuk-nyuk...I got flamed for that one!!! : ]

 

I never thought Activision's Checkers and Bridge were particularly original concepts either.