A good E.T. game... What should it be like?

[Richi_S]

E.T. started my interest for the 2600.

And I think that poor little guy deserves something better than the videogemae we all know.

So I'm thinking of a better E.T. game...

 

I would suggest two different games:

1. You are the Rescue Ship, dodging your way through space, trying to locate the beacon. When entering the earth-orbit you have to avoid detection by earth radar.

2. You are Elliott helping E.T. by transporting him on your bycicle from one spot of the movie to the other. E.g. you need to find certain obstacles for the radio, bring him to the forrest where he installes the radio, help him to escape "the authorities" (that would be the final and hardest level).

The stages could be 2D or even 3D stages. With a small map that shows the city, where you are and where to go. This would make the game non-linear. You cold even let the bike fly or jump when E.T. is on board.

 

Also

- The game should be non violent. (Shooting Asterioids, jamming radar is ok)

- Instead of dropping you in the stages, bettween the stages some text should tell the storry.

 

What's your oppinion on that issue?

What would you suggest to make a more appealing game?

[VectorGamer]

Instead of Reeses Pieces, E.T. eats M&Ms

 

E.T. is a pissed off roid rage mutha that murders and maims...he kills characters from other games like Superman, Evil Otto and the Robots, Pac-Man, Mario, Taz et al

 

You are Eliot commissioned to destroy E.T. using your weapons equipped bicycle (ala Mega Force) before he kills everyone in Sunnyvale and departs via the Cosmic Ark.

[+Random Terrain]

http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/155287-annoyed-by-et-haters-online/page__view__findpost__p__1906164

 

This is pretty much the game that Steven Spielberg initially requested, a version of pacman featuring E.T.

Pac-Man style game:

 

• The walls would probably be green to simulate a maze of trees.
  _
  
• The FBI agent and Scientist enter the maze from off screen instead of the middle box and roam the maze, looking for E.T.
  _
  
• E.T. must collect candy pieces to keep his life force up.
  _
  
• Elliott's house would be in the middle and E.T. could hide inside for a certain amount of time and his life force would not drain while in Elliott's house (if we're talking about a little kiddie game, there would be no time limit. It would be like a pause feature for when a kid needs a break or things get too tough).
  _
  
• If the FBI agent or Scientist touch E.T., he loses some life force and Elliott comes running to rescue him and escorts E.T. back to his house. (While safe in Elliott's house, E.T.'s life force does not drain.)
  _
  
• The power pellets would be replaced with orange pumpkins and when E.T. touches one, he'll get a ghost costume (like in the movie at Halloween) for the usual amount of time you'd expect in a Pac-Man game when the monsters turn blue. Unlike in Pac-Man, nobody turns blue, but if E.T. touches the FBI agent or Scientist while in his ghost costume, the bad guy will get scared and go running off the screen for a short time.
  _
  
• Instead of fruit, phone pieces would appear after a certain amount of time or after a certain number of candy pieces have been eaten. There would probably be more than 3 phone pieces to collect. After all phone pieces have been collected, the ship would come for E.T. (if you want an ending to the game).
  

[Herbarius]

Instead of dropping you in the stages, bettween the stages some text should tell the storry.

I fear that's not really feasible for the Atari 2600, because of the relatively small ROM sizes, the extremely small RAM size and the fact it doesn't have any built-in capabilities to handle text... stuff like that (story etc.) belongs into the manual.

 

 

About my own suggestions, I already posted them in that other thread, but here they are again:

• reverse order of game variations from easiest to hardest (i.e. switch variation 1 and 3)
  
• after levitating out of wells, when you are to place E.T. on solid ground, you should be allowed to push "up" as well
  
• proof-reading of the manual (correcting false statements like about the number of candy pieces)
  
• including a "reference card" alongside the manual which provides a handy overview of all the "power zone" icons.
  

 

One other improvements that I thought about but "dropped", as I thought it's unrealistic/hard to implement on the hardware, is to make the collision zone of E.T. with the wells around his feet only... I think that's the reason why many of the "haters" talk about "falling into the wells all the time", because they see E.T. in side view, but the terrain is from a birds-eye perspective... so you might expect E.T. can move along below pits as long as his feet touch the ground.

 

However, it may as well be that people "back then" didn't have that problem, because games in general weren't as sophisticated graphically and really a lot of games used this "environment is birds-eye, but characters are side-view" approach.

Edited December 28, 2009 by Herbarius

[holgibo]

My ideas for a better E.T. game:

 

- The different screens should be like a simple maze, with locked doors.

- There should be more useful things, not only the 3 pieces to build a phone. First there should be different keys for the doors. Second, a "invisible" tool would be nice, so you could walk around and search after the phone pieces. When you hold the "invisible" tool, no other item can be carried.

- A "power" bar would be good. E.T. must eat things to stay alive.

[Herbarius]

A "power" bar would be good. E.T. must eat things to stay alive.

 

That's already in the game...

[Kurisu]

My ideas for a better E.T. game:

 

- The different screens should be like a simple maze, with locked doors.

- There should be more useful things, not only the 3 pieces to build a phone. First there should be different keys for the doors. Second, a "invisible" tool would be nice, so you could walk around and search after the phone pieces. When you hold the "invisible" tool, no other item can be carried.

- A "power" bar would be good. E.T. must eat things to stay alive.

 

So. what you are asking for basically is Haunted House?

 

Hmn.. That would make a nice hack. ^_^

[holgibo]

 

 

So. what you are asking for basically is Haunted House?

 

Hmn.. That would make a nice hack. ^_^

 

Haunted House is one of my favorite games. But for E.T. there should be a more difficult maze.

Edited December 29, 2009 by holgibo

[holgibo]

 

That's already in the game...

 

You are right... I forgot about the candy. Today I played E.T. (hadn't played it for years). So this thread brought me back to this game - and again, I hate those pits.

[Buyatari]

E.T. started my interest for the 2600.

And I think that poor little guy deserves something better than the videogemae we all know.

So I'm thinking of a better E.T. game...

 

I would suggest two different games:

1. You are the Rescue Ship, dodging your way through space, trying to locate the beacon. When entering the earth-orbit you have to avoid detection by earth radar.

2. You are Elliott helping E.T. by transporting him on your bycicle from one spot of the movie to the other. E.g. you need to find certain obstacles for the radio, bring him to the forrest where he installes the radio, help him to escape "the authorities" (that would be the final and hardest level).

The stages could be 2D or even 3D stages. With a small map that shows the city, where you are and where to go. This would make the game non-linear. You cold even let the bike fly or jump when E.T. is on board.

 

Also

- The game should be non violent. (Shooting Asterioids, jamming radar is ok)

- Instead of dropping you in the stages, bettween the stages some text should tell the storry.

 

What's your oppinion on that issue?

What would you suggest to make a more appealing game?

 

 

If you were tasked with creating an ET game that would sell such a huge print run you have a huge task ahead of you. These things would help you meet that goal. With this title you need to go all out and you wouldn't do these things for every game. The release of this game should be an event like nothing Atari had done before.

 

1. Universal acceptance. The type of game anyone can enjoy.

 

2. Simple. Playable by an 8 year old on the first try without instructions.

 

3. Player should relate to the character. Play as Elliot not ET.

 

4. Increasing difficulties. Start out with 1 being easy and 3 the hardest. Harder difficulties should include stages not included in the easy stages to entice players to work up to harder difficulties. They would have different endings.

 

5. Great box art. I think they nailed this one already.

 

6. Great instructions. Something people will want to read not something they have to read to play the game. Perhaps in the form of a comic book or a story.

 

7. Standout cartridge. Instead of a black cart go red or blue etc.

 

8. Advertising. They did a good job with this already and had a great cmas commercial. Atari ET posters and displays should be seen everywhere games and toys are sold.

 

9. Freebies. Include something that ties into the game that a kid can use outside of the game. If it is a bike racing game then include a sticker for bikes etc. Something kids will see other kids using and want with only one way to get it.

 

10. Reward for accomplishment. Something simple for meeting a requirement in the game a la Activision. T-shirt iron on or patch saying I RESCUED ET. Also include a second prize for meeting a harder requirement. Perhaps the T-shirt or a ballcap instead of just the patch. Shipping and handling required.

 

11. Exclusive catalog of ET game memorbilia. Should you fall short selling that many games a small catlog of 10 or so exclusive ET items related to the game might help bridge the gap. Make it attractive to all groups with some inexpensive items and one or two "rich kid" items that kids would drool over. Example of basic items include posters,mugs,school supplies etc. Tie the items into the game with the "ET game" and Atari logo on it. Also if the game is a bike racing game (which is a good idea for such a game) include the bike,helmet,bike light,reflectors,pads etc. Offer some items in both boy and girl.

 

12. Deluxe ET go home edition. Add 10-20 bucks to the price. Use an exclusive box and cartridge art along with an exclusive pack-in.

 

13. ET exclusive Atari system. Atari made more games than they had systems for. So you also need to sell systems to sell that many games. Produce a new model with an ET design and include the delixe version of the game. Use a new system box design based on ET and try to make it attractive to the person who already has a plain Atari 2600. Won't hurt if someone with an Atari buys another.

 

I would go with a racing game in multiple stages. Include the van rescue with scientists trying to climb back in as a race against against time for one stage. Include a bike race to the finsh as more of an obstacle race. Race left to right as a side scroller avoiding obstacles in front of you and the FBI from behind you. With the bike race include some jumps for extra points and a special shortcut tunnel that is hard to reach by jump for an easter egg.

[Herbarius]

Generally, to make a game based on a movie license, and to go the safe route, has always been and still is, to take an already established and popular gameplay concept and adapt it for the movie, like including the movie characters, locations and so on...

 

Look at the very popular movie games that came out the last couple of years, especially the different "superhero" games like Batman: Arkham Asylum, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and some more... notice something? Yeah, they're all basically the same game, but they are fun to play, easy to pick up... I would even say that goes a little too far, being a no-brainer... like having puzzles but giving away the solution (if you go to "tactical vision" or whatever it's called) instead of letting the player try until he gets it - that too is of course so no one gets frustrated with the game, so you see they're going the safe path.

 

 

So, concepts like "make a hack of Pac-Man" or "make a hack of Haunted House" aren't really that far fetched, given the time period.

Edited December 29, 2009 by Herbarius

[Christophero Sly]

Add a timer to E.T., like the one in Superman.

[+Random Terrain]

Add a timer to E.T., like the one in Superman.

Are you talking about the E.T. game as it is or a Pac-Man version of E.T.? The energy count is already kind of like a timer. Unless you jump in a well to pause the game, the energy count is ticking down as you move and use power zones. You run out of time when you run out of energy. You can add a little more time to the 'clock' by eating candy or getting saved by a merge with Elliott a few times, but after that, you're screwed. Time is up.

[ILA2600]

Activisions Barnstorming could be hacked into a ET game were you get Et to safty with a flying bicycle! :-)

[Christophero Sly]

Add a timer to E.T., like the one in Superman.

Are you talking about the E.T. game as it is or a Pac-Man version of E.T.? The energy count is already kind of like a timer. Unless you jump in a well to pause the game, the energy count is ticking down as you move and use power zones. You run out of time when you run out of energy. You can add a little more time to the 'clock' by eating candy or getting saved by a merge with Elliott a few times, but after that, you're screwed. Time is up.

I guess I misunderstood the OP's question. I'm talking about the original game; my suggestion is something I think would have improved it. Yes, the energy countdown sort of functions as a timer, but like you say, it can be stopped temporarily or increased by eating candy, so it's not an ideal way to compare your performance from one game to the next.

[KevinMos3]

Have you played the Atari 8-bit computer version of the game (E.T. Phone Home)? If so, what do you think of it?

[Gigabyte]

Hack Circus Atari so that one clown is ET and the other is the kid from the movie. Replace balloons with candy and voila, ET: the video game.

[+Random Terrain]

Hack Circus Atari so that one clown is ET and the other is the kid from the movie. Replace balloons with candy and voila, ET: the video game.

People would complain that the teeter-totter doesn't automatically move under E.T. to catch him.

[pis]

Hack Circus Atari so that one clown is ET and the other is the kid from the movie. Replace balloons with candy and voila, ET: the video game.

People would complain that the teeter-totter doesn't automatically move under E.T. to catch him.

 

Ha ha ha!

[Chris Leach]

I wanna see an e.t. that focuses on the bike riding part of the movie. Maybe E.T. takes over the paperboy route for a week....with his alien powers?