Peter Engelbrite Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Many people know that the working title for the Lynx was "Handy". What you might not know is that for a brief time Atari had named it the Atari Portable Entertainment System. When I pointed out that the acronym would be A.P.E.S. they changed it to Lynx. The very first name for the Lynx was: "The Electronic Nuclear Toaster". There was a time when the project was top secret, even within Epyx. There were security locks on the doors to the Lynx development area and the Nuclear Toaster was the official (well, semi-official) name for the project. There was a sheet describing the toaster taped outside the door. At one point one of the Epyx programmers opened up the ceiling tiles and crawled over to take a look (I knew it was you, Kevin). Eventually the secret was out and it was known as the Handy. 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Laird Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Wow thats a great story and so cool to have a real legend of the wonder that is the Lynx here on AA. The Lynx still is my favourite machine and still wows me every bit as much as the first time I played on one back in 1990. I would love to hear more stories especially about any of the Epyx games that went unreleased. Would have been funny if they had stuck with the original name 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Engelbrite Posted June 10, 2010 Author Share Posted June 10, 2010 Here's that printout: 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Wow, that is cool. I'm glad they didn't call my most favorite portable game system the A.P.E.S. Lynx definitely rocks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cebus Capucinis Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 I don't know, you could have had a whole spin-off from Donkey Kong and all sorts of monkey-themed games with the Atari A.P.E.S. That would have been pretty cool in my book! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+atari2600land Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Then you could have had a game called Planet of the A.P.E.S. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cebus Capucinis Posted June 10, 2010 Share Posted June 10, 2010 Then you could have had a game called Planet of the A.P.E.S. +1! I would play Planet of the A.P.E.S. every day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimtene Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 (edited) Peter, I love games you worked on like Todd's Adventures in Slime World, & Gates of Zendocon! Anything you could tell us about the cancelled adventure, Barbarian Bodyguard, for the Lynx? Edited June 11, 2010 by Nimtene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Engelbrite Posted June 11, 2010 Author Share Posted June 11, 2010 Peter, I love games you worked on like Todd's Adventures in Slime World, & Gates of Zendocon! Anything you could tell us about the cancelled adventure, Barbarian Bodyguard, for the Lynx? Sure. (before I start: No, I do not have the source code) I was very disappointed when Lynx development was canceled (that project was not specifically canceled - all Lynx development was canceled because Atari refused to pay anything for them). It had a princess and a bodyguard on a quest together. The bodyguard was a macho barbarian who had strength abilities, and the princess was physically weak, but had magic ability. As they went along, they would come across spinning coins. One side had a powerup for the bodyguard, the other a powerup for the princess. Only one would get the powerup, so they had to choose. If you played single player, you could switch between them. In two player, one would take the bodyguard, the other the princess. The players could get pretty separated and would need to for some puzzles. Most puzzles would need some action from both. From a game theory point of view, I felt that asymmetrical, co-operative play had some real potential. The technology had some interesting technologies: The characters had a hierarchical animation system so that the upper body could be attached to the waist and move, then an arm could attach to that, then a hand to that. The motion be added so that the global position of the hand would depend on the arm, which would depend on the upper body, which would depend on the waist. It made for very fluid and non-repetitive animation. While it was an intrinsically 2D game, it incorporated 3D perspective in the background, so they could walk past a line of columns receding into the distance and it would work in perspective. It also had uneven ground, so they could climb hills and such. The major technology was done, and I was starting on implementing the gameplay when development stopped. I had some landscape, some powerup graphics, the barbarian, the princess, and a pig guard. Game development is one of the few circumstances when you can say "I like your pig head" and it's not an insult. We were kicking around what we should call someone who has magical powers (the princess), when one of the other programmers said: "Hey I know an actual witch, let's ask her!" When I said I would rather not, he got very upset (I think she was his girlfriend). I really annoy my son when he's talking about some innovation in a new game, and I say - yeah, I invented that in such and such game: they took my idea and ran with it. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ninjabba Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 This is the most interesting read I'm having today! From the creator of one of my favorite platformers Slime World even!! Hierarchical animation system.. I have no idea how that would work out on the Lynx, but surely sounds innovative for its time (& a lot of work), and I can't help myself but ask.. are there any screen shots of this game? And thank god you pointed them out about the A.P.E.S. acronym! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 Sure. (before I start: No, I do not have the source code) I was very disappointed when Lynx development was canceled (that project was not specifically canceled - all Lynx development was canceled because Atari refused to pay anything for them). It had a princess and a bodyguard on a quest together. The bodyguard was a macho barbarian who had strength abilities, and the princess was physically weak, but had magic ability. As they went along, they would come across spinning coins. One side had a powerup for the bodyguard, the other a powerup for the princess. I really annoy my son when he's talking about some innovation in a new game, and I say - yeah, I invented that in such and such game: they took my idea and ran with it. That sounds like it would have been a cool game. It's unfortunate that Atari canceled development and that you don't have the code! I bet you enjoy telling your son about your video game inventions! LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Laird Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 Such a shame you don't still have it but it sure sounds interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland p Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 Hi Peter, It's really cool to read these stories! Thanks for sharing. By the way, have you seen my redeye prototype? RJ Mical told me he wanted to make a product out of it, but I never heard of him again after he told me that. Do you have inside stories about the redeye? regards, Roland. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carmel_andrews Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 Peter, I think you missed a word from the original name for the lynx, as far as I remember going by the CES launch reviewed in ACE magazine (a UK based multi format games rag) the original name for lynx was the mouthful that is 'Atari portable colour entertainment system' or APCES for short Nice to see another ex atari staffer and developer on AA peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnBuell Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 Here's that printout: I SWEAR, I think my grandparents had that actual original toaster. Wasn't it a JCPenney model? Probably made by somebody else with JCPenney slapped on it, much like they do today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Atari Joe Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 Was there ever any consideration of boosting the resolution and making a console version of the LYNX for play on the home television set? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Engelbrite Posted June 11, 2010 Author Share Posted June 11, 2010 I would not be at all surprised that APCES was floated. Maybe the tried that for awhile after the realized the ramifications of APES. I don't have anything at all on Barbarian Bodyguard. You probably already know this: the multiplayer communications was originally designed to be infrared (hence redeye), but they just couldn't get it to work reliably. The bandwidth was low, so the games typically passed controller information rather than game state information. While much more efficient, it also meant that there if a player dropped out, the entire game had to freeze. Modern multi-player games can have some player lag, then catch up when a player comes back. Anyway, towards the end of development, infrared was dropped because it was deemed too unreliable. Has anyone investigated a computer interface to allow multiplayer Lynx games over the internet? THAT would be cool! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrekMD Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 Multiplayer Lynx games over the internet? That would be awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland p Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 There was some brainstorming about lynx>internet, I started a thread about it: http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/134489-hardware-idea-comlynx-to-lan/page__p__1622572__hl__comlynx%20internet__fromsearch__1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roland p Posted June 11, 2010 Share Posted June 11, 2010 You probably already know this: the multiplayer communications was originally designed to be infrared (hence redeye), but they just couldn't get it to work reliably. The bandwidth was low, so the games typically passed controller information rather than game state information. While much more efficient, it also meant that there if a player dropped out, the entire game had to freeze. Modern multi-player games can have some player lag, then catch up when a player comes back. Anyway, towards the end of development, infrared was dropped because it was deemed too unreliable. Reliability was an issue for me too. I sended all 1's by making little pulses, one for each 1. At the receiver side, the pulses where made wider, into 1's again. The sender blinded the receiver so they had to be seperated, but you still needed to aim it precisely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Engelbrite Posted June 11, 2010 Author Share Posted June 11, 2010 Maybe the easiest would be for the Handy emulator folks to add internet redeye. While we're wishing - a web based, multiplayer Lynx emulator might be a viable business model - charge for advertising. If some of the original ROM property owners show up, give them a cut (although most would qualify as abandonware). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shaggy the Atarian Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 The concept behind that barbarian games sounds like what they did in Trine, at least a little bit. I hadn't heard of Barbarian Bodyguard before, thanks for sharing! As for a ComLynx internet device, that would be far more exciting to have than something to project the Lynx image onto a larger screen, which is what most Lynx hardware projects seem to focus on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gregory DG Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 Peter! Good to see you on AA! Guys don't forget that Peter also programmed 2600 California Games, one of the best for certain. Still have your interview on my site. What have you been up to lately? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Engelbrite Posted June 12, 2010 Author Share Posted June 12, 2010 Peter! Good to see you on AA! Guys don't forget that Peter also programmed 2600 California Games, one of the best for certain. Still have your interview on my site. What have you been up to lately? Thanks for keeping that up (boy I look young in that photo). Educational software pays the bills... I'm active in Second Life (I bet that out-geeks you guys), where I make steampunk buildings, I'm doing iPhone stuff (look up maggots and BrainRot - a couple of things I did just to try things out). I'm selling my Music Machine 2600 (http://Engelbrite.com/musicmachine) probably on Game Gavel next week. You can play it in emulation at http://engelbrite.com/musicmachine/game My full resume is at http://Peter.Engelbrite.com. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nimtene Posted June 12, 2010 Share Posted June 12, 2010 (edited) Thanks so much for the story about Barbarian Bodyguard! Very interesting to hear all the details! Sounds like you were certainly on the brink of some revolutionary gameplay developments! Are there any screen shots of this game? I swear I've seen a single screen-shot in some gaming magazing, back in the day. (Despite the fact that Peter's Atari Times interview says that no screen shots were ever taken.) -- I'll try to see if I can locate it this weekend! Edited June 12, 2010 by Nimtene Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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